It was almost as if they had never been away. As the Bristol City squad gathered at the High Performance Centre on Monday, for the first-team players recognisable to most supporters, there was little to have changed in a visual sense.
Outside of new signings Rob Dickie and Haydon Roberts, it was the same old faces with friendships renewed after the summer break - albeit with a number of the players having holidayed together - and Joe Williams at the centre of 99 per cent of the jokes.
But while that may not sound particularly important, the fact they looked pretty much the same is of significance. Admittedly, we’re going back a generation now, but the early stages of pre-season are no longer about sweating out the cider and chips of the previous five weeks, but building on what’s already there.
To a man, every member of the squad looked in cracking shape due to the detailed post-season programme put in place by head of medical Dave Rennie to keep them at optimum levels of fitness outside of a match schedule. “I think you’ll see they’re fit,” said Nigel Pearson. “It’s how fit that is the real question.”
At the behest of Pearson, Bristol City threw open their doors for local media giving us the privilege of comprehensive access to the day’s sessions; from the gym, to the SDS Test and finally the pitches at the HPC.
Here are some of the main observations from day one of pre-season…
Absent with leave
Some housekeeping to get through first, for all those eagle-eyed spotters poring over Robins Uncut to see exactly who wasn’t present at Failand.
As reported on Monday, there was no Tomas Kalas or Han-Noah Massengo who are still, technically, City players but whose deals expire on Friday. The latter is leaving the Robins, while the former was pictured on Instagram still on holiday in Prague so don’t expect any radical change in the situation there any time soon.
There were a number of the players who were involved in June internationals for their respective countries including Anis Mehmeti, who played 38 minutes for Albania during their wins over Moldova and the Faroe Islands. City’s relationship with the Albanian FA meant they were provided with the data from each day’s training and during the two matches and were satisfied the 22-year-old was in a position where he could return and begin work.
That wasn’t true of five other players: Alex Scott, Tommy Conway, Mark Sykes, Ross McCrorie and Stefan Bajic were not at the HPC. In the case of the first two, it’s based on the volume of minutes they’ve played over the last 12 months, relative to their age, and they will join up with the squad on Saturday.
Sykes and McCrorie are scheduled to return later this week with the Republic of Ireland international having been part of two training camps - one in Bristol in May and the other during the June fixtures - so has been given extra time off. McCrorie, meanwhile, didn’t play for Scotland but did train and the Scottish Premiership season didn’t finish until the last week of May, so his summer break has been considerably shorter than others.
Bajic, meanwhile, is part of the France Under-21 squad competing at the European Championships in Romania, and has been an unused substitute for group stage wins over Italy and Norway with the final match of that stage tomorrow. With France having reached the knockouts, and the tournament running until July 8, Bajic could also miss the training camp in Austria.
The young team
We think we’ve got everyone in here but, in terms of outfielders, here are the Under-21 players who will be part of the senior squad for this week, and potentially beyond: Harry Leeson, Raph Araoye, Joe Low, Jed Meerholz, Owura Edwards, Duncan Idehen, Ephraim Yeboah, Elijah Morrison, Marley Rose, Seb Palmer-Houlden, Tommy Backwell, Dylan Kadji, Marlee Francois, Callum Wood and Omar Taylor-Clarke.
We say “potentially beyond” because their inclusion for the opening portion of pre-season is for three reasons: firstly, they help bulk the squad out and enable Pearson to conduct some 11v11 matches while in Austria or at the HPC. Secondly, of course, it’s a fantastic learning experience for all of them, even the ones who have spent time around the first team before, most notably Low and Taylor-Clarke.
Finally, Pearson and his staff want to have a good look at all over them over this time to first decide who will accompany the squad to Austria and then potentially be part of the games’ programme throughout July, and should anyone suitably impress over that period, the actual Championship season itself.
It’s about assessing development, and not just in terms of ability; attitude, aptitude, fitness, physical output, how they act and conduct themselves around the senior professionals.
To use last summer as a reference point, at the start of pre-season, City were leaning towards loaning Tommy Conway out but he made such an impression and showed so many indicators of progress, the time was right to consider him in the first-team.
It’s almost impossible to forecast exactly who among that group can make a similar breakthrough in 2023/24 - there’s a chance that none might - but Pearson and his staff need to see them for themselves so they start to profile what likely lies in store for them over the next 9-12 months; a return to the U21s, senior football or the potential to loan them out.
It was also interesting to see U21 coaches Alex Ball and Neil Swift involved throughout the day, particularly out on the grass as the players were engaging in ball-work. Even though it’s only pre-season and relatively light training at this stage, the pressure, intensity and scrutiny for these young men is always there. Having some familiar older faces to help guide them through it, very much aids their development.
Murder on the Bears floor
Professional athletes can be sadistic so-and-so’s when they want to be. As the City squad car-shared their way down Beggar Bush Lane to The Barn - the indoor training facility at the Bears’ High Performance Centre in Abbots Leigh - a small crowd gathered on the balcony overlooking the artificial pitches.
Bears stars Harry Randall, Callum Sheedy, Siva Naulago and Rich Lane, plus assorted staff were keen to see exactly what lay in store for Pearson’s squad over the next hour or so as Rennie talked the group through the fabled and feared SDS (single-double-single) Test.
“We just like seeing people suffer,” was their reasoning, coupled with intrigue as their own fitness development is measured through different methods. “They’d absolutely wipe the floor with us on this,” admitted Sheedy.
As a brief overview, it’s a more nuanced version of the bleep test which is the same distance run over and over again with a gradual increase in intensity and those involved are graded by how many levels they can move up. The SDS Test mimics the physical requirements of a football match more realistically, with different-length runs between lines of cones, intermittent turns - as opposed to regular and consistent ones - and then a declining rest period as each set of five is completed.
After around 30 minutes of what can be considered a fast jog between lines, it culminates with a full sprint up and down the course, with an apocalyptic voice counting out from the speaker as each player drags every last drop of energy out of their system to post a time.
“They would have been nervous about this last night”, said assistant head coach Curtis Fleming, acting as the chief source of encouragement on the sideline, with head of fitness and conditioning Paddy Orme also joining in for the first session, as the group were split into two.
For the likes of Andy King, those butterflies would have been accumulated from getting on 15 years of such torture, while for 16-year-olds Yeboah and Morrison, while also conducted in the U21s and U18s, they can’t have experienced it too often.
As the intensity builds, and in the humid confines of The Barn - chosen because you can regulate the climate to an extent which makes for neutral conditions - the body’s ability to take on oxygen becomes that harder, the clapping and “come on boys” grew in volume before the all-out sprint showcased whose fitness levels were at a premium.
Owura Edwards came out on top in the second session, with Nahki Wells and Harry Cornick not far behind, while in the first, the whole room was delighted to see Ayman Benarous absolutely blitz the rest of the field, followed by Yeboah.
The 19-year-old looked in absolutely fantastic shape, as he recovers from a second ACL sustained last December. And while Pearson and his staff will tread incredibly lightly in terms of introducing the promising midfielder back into the fold, he was also fully part of the squad during the ball work and looks set to accompany them to Austria.
First day at school
It was a big day for Rob Dickie and Haydon Roberts who have set foot in the HPC before to meet Pearson, sign their deals and then conduct their medicals but at that time, in early June, it was loosely populated by administrative and kitchen staff, the media team and Brian Tinnion and Phil Alexander. Plus, we shouldn’t forget Rob Atkinson as he continues his ACL rehab.
On Monday, the building was very much buzzing with excitement, chat, banter and everything else in between, as individuals who work five days a week together in what is a pretty intense environment 11 months of the year, therefore forming quite unique bonds, were able to see each other again.
For Dickie and Roberts, this was their first opportunity to meet their new colleagues and in the case of the more experienced centre-back, while daunting to a degree, he’s been used to such an experience having experienced loans at Cheltenham Town and Lincoln City, a transfer from Reading to Oxford, and then onto QPR.
Speak to anyone about Dickie, and they’ll almost immediately mention his character and manner; affable and friendly, and he worked the room, trying to say hello to as many people as possible, including even the media cowered in the corner of the room.
Roberts, still only 21, and having left the nest of Brighton for the first time, this was probably considerably more nerve-wracking and he was less gregarious as he finds his way around his new surroundings, which is completely understandable. But, based on anecdotal evidence from his time at Derby and the Seagulls, with the near-universal branding of being “just a great lad”, it won’t be long until he’s forming the necessary bonds.
Atkinson was also there. At one point almost trapped behind a glass screen in the rehab room with a heavy black cushioned strapping on his right leg pumping freezing cold liquid around his knee to aid its recovery.
He was able to join the rest of the squad as he made his way to the exercise bikes but as the squad then departed for Abbots Leigh and later, after lunch, to the pitches, he was once again left on his own.
A thoughtful man who even when asked in passing, “how are you doing?” paused for a significant enough period of time to suggest that, whatever his answer would be, it’s not been a pleasurable experience at all. You can only wish him the very best in the next stage of his recovery.
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