We’ve been here many times before. A familiar problem it may be, but it’s not exclusive to Bristol City; Nicky Maynard, Jonathan Kodjia, Joe Bryan, Bobby Reid, Josh Brownhill and, most recently, Famara Diedhiou, all had judgements of varying degrees towards the end of their time in BS3 to have had their “heads turned”, and as a result, performances quite visibly deteriorated.
It’s a well-worn phrase in football, sometimes it’s accurate, sometimes it’s unfair and sometimes it’s purely coincidental and, without delving into the various details of each individual example above, sometimes it is applicable and sometimes it isn’t.
But it happens, almost by default, because often we’re looking for a degree of context and culpability to place around an individual’s departure from the football club you hold dearest and, if we’re being honest, it’s a very easy observation to make.
It’s something that Nigel Pearson touched on two weeks ago and is in danger of, if not already, slowly creeping into the consciousness of elements of the fanbase with regards to the form and performances of Han-Noah Massengo.
Before we go any further we should lay out our position here and that’s quite simply, it is absolutely impossible, unless you’re capable of reading a player’s mind and/or they openly admit it (which isn’t going to happen) to assess such a thing has befallen an individual.
However, quite clearly there is cause and effect here: Massengo’s contract is soon to reach the 12-month mark, there is an offer on the table which remains unsigned and each week brings news of a different club having watched him in some capacity.
When you consider that in the context of a very notable poor fluctuation of form, it’s understandable to make the leap that the speculation and/or uncertainty is getting to the Robins midfielder in some capacity.
This may or may not be influenced by Pearson’s statements last month when he said, with reference to Diedhiou (albeit not naming the Senegalese) that: “What we can’t do where we’ve been the situation before as a club and that is players contracts running down and ending up with speculation whether they want to stay or don’t want to stay. It creates more negativity than it does than positivity.”
The key aspect to this from the manager is not that what we’ve just been harping on about is happening, it’s just that the natural conclusion that will be drawn and the subsequent noise is inevitable and doesn’t do anybody any good.
To quickly touch upon Diedhiou, for one reason or another - and both the striker, his representatives and Mark Ashton are all slightly to blame for how this played out - it all became a little uncomfortable, albeit a sorry subplot in what was a pretty miserable season.
But the warning signs are there to some degree with Massengo given City’s season edging towards a predictable and largely inconsequential finish (that’s in the grander scheme of the Championship, not to pour scorn on the league position that may or may not be achieved by May 7 and the work put in by players and staff) and the obvious economic realities of what has to happen if he doesn’t sign his contract; not only can City not afford to let him walk on a free transfer in 12 months time, but from an organisational and sporting standpoint it won’t look good.
City have spent millions in a transfer fee and wages and thousands of hours of time and patience in helping the 20-year-old grow into the player he is now, there has to be some return on that investment beyond a succession of mid-table and lower mid-table finishes, otherwise, as Pearson said, you’re essentially acting as a charity for a club who are likely to be bigger and more resourced that you.
However, to again compare with Diedhiou - which Pearson did, so it’s relevant - Massengo has openly spoken, and very maturely so, about the transfer to Watford last summer that didn’t happen, and it hasn’t impacted his season, at all.
As he told RMC Sport in December: “Yes, but maybe it was not the right plans or the wrong time.If it did not happen, it was because it should not be done. I am very serene with all this because I have confidence in myself and if I work well, things will come of themselves."
If it did not happen, it was because it should not be done. I am very serene with all this because I have confidence in myself and if I work well, things will come of themselves.”
Diedhiou’s situation eventually became claim and counterclaim, after sporadic periods of silence silence with a solitary egg-timer tweeted by the striker could be perceived as some form of message, or not as it proved to be. There was a vacuum and it was filled, just not by the facts or anything remotely tangible.
As Pearson said, in response to a question, about how the younger elements of the squad who will be subject of such transfer speculation can compartmentalise it and not let it affect their football, he said: “It’s really important to recognise that players in that sort of position that it’s alright showing maturity on the pitch because they are able to put in good performances, meaning they are able to deal with that external pressure and that is one of expectation.”
What was telling, perhaps deliberately or not accidentally so, is that outside of a brief comment on the concept of showing “maturity” off as well as on the pitch, he didn’t really address the question from the player’s perspective, more the club’s which is understandable given that’s his primary concern.
Once upon time players could trot out the familiar line, “I don’t read the papers” (which often wasn’t true but created a defiant image of not being aware of ‘noise’ around their future), that is virtually impossible in 2022 with most players - and, in fairness, Alex Scott stands out a bit in this regard as an outlier - active on social media. If they’re broadcasting on it, they’ve almost certainly consuming what’s broadcast elsewhere.
Just as a side point, what this also ignores slightly is while there are some transfer stories fabricated, exaggerated or deliberately obfuscated by the sheer vagueness of information, often what is reported, is already known by the player’s agent, and therefore the player, anyway. Putting it in the public domain just makes more people aware of it. Exhibit A - RMC Sport first reporting about Watford, four months after Massengo himself being aware of a bid being rejected.
In all honesty, those transfer rumours you’re reading about, quite often they’re yesterday’s news in the confines of the dressing room and football club.
Anyway, back to the issue at hand. We simply don’t know what Massengo is thinking regards to his future, and what offers he may or may have at this stage, beyond the one from City in January.
We can make a reasonable guess and that’s quite simply, nothing is clear yet. Massengo, for all his qualities, doesn’t have a definite next destination yet, or destination options plural, but is obviously aware of various clubs who could make approaches in the coming months. “Could” being the operative word, because if they don’t, or the financial packages presented to City aren’t of sufficient quality, the situation drags on deep into the summer.
What that adds up to is a whole lot of uncertainty, not only for City, but the player himself. A boy of 20, who uprooted his close family three years ago to make what was a considerably brave decision to move to another country, where he didn’t speak the language, and in a city which doesn’t have an overwhelmingly large French population either like, say, London.
As we know by now, Massengo is older than his years and has adapted exactly as well as could be expected, made a home for himself in Bristol with his younger sisters at school here, under the guiding influence of his father.
Without pretending to know him pretty well, we can only speak from personal experience and Massengo is a delight to deal with: friendly, polite, humble, with no aggressive ego to even have to remotely try and break down. There is almost an innocence about him, but also a seriousness.
Pearson and Lee Johnson have commented on what a fine person he is, and student of the game, revealing a sharp football mind and someone who wants to relentlessly work on their game; one reason why he moved to England in the first place.
But that penchant for knowledge and thought is likely to extend to matters beyond the pitch, and that sense of uncertainty and the slight state of limbo he’s in, will have surely been dwelled upon.
Even taking into account Massengo’s high emotional intelligence and maturity, you’d have to be a robot not to spend some time pouring over the possibilities. At base level, even with our Bristol City hat on, it must be exciting and what the future could hold, even if he is - as we’re told - completely happy where he is right now, in a personal sense.
What Massengo can control is his own game and the overall perception of where he’s at with regards to City, and in many ways it’s pretty sad that a 20-year-old should have to do this. But this is football and that is the unfortunate downside of being a coveted player.
Tonight’s trip to Barnsley could provide Massengo a route back into the starting XI. He may have lost his place at Blackburn due to the downturn in form but he was Pearson's go-to substitute, so clearly the manager still very much trusts him as part of this squad.
Should concerns over Joe Williams’ hamstrings having to withstand two games in four days still exist and, in truth, given City’s league position, is there any real need to test it, then Massengo is the logical replacement for the Scouser.
At his best, Massengo combined energy on and off the ball, with a real elegance and joy in possession as he looks to play on the front foot; we are only eight games removed from an outrageous performance at Deepdale that had Preston fans placing him alongside Raheem Sterling in terms of individual displays by an opposition player on their own turf.
But, then again, when he’s not at those levels, he can look a little lost on the field, ill-disciplined not in a vicious sense but a positional one and someone trying to force the issue a little too much. Like a drummer out of step. As what transpired at Ewood Park on Saturday where his impact was almost detrimental to the team, no more so than when he conceded the penalty to which Bradley Dack missed.
At some stage a decision will be made but there are games to be played before then and you hope, for everyone’s sake, that this doesn’t descend into an uncomfortable situation as with so little to grasp onto regarding league position, other aspects of the club take hold in maintaining supporter interest (and, yes, this entire article is perhaps soaked in irony because that’s precisely what we’re doing to some extent).
Maybe it also doesn’t matter and is just a general rite of passage for a footballer to depart a club with a degree of bad feeling. I mean, he’s already kind of done it at Monaco, albeit with supporters’ ire largely reserved for the decision-makers who allowed him to go so easily.
But it’d be nice, if Massengo does indeed leave City - and we should emphasise that nothing is decided but we just have to deal with the facts and they are, at this moment in time, leaning towards that eventuality - to see a player move on with goodwill behind him. Nine strong performances from these final nine games should certainly do it, Han.
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