Football Robins' McCrorie hails impact of new boss Struber

TWELVE weeks on from the second leg of their playoff semifinal defeat to Sheffield United, Ross McCrorie and Bristol City are now a matter of days away from kicking off their 2025/26 Championship season with a repeat of May’s meeting, away to the Blades at Bramall Lane.

- Daniel CLARKE

For the Robins, the three months since that second consecutive 3-0 loss have been tumultuous to say the least. Within weeks, Liam Manning had departed Ashton Gate for Norwich City, alongside assistants Chris Hogg and James Krause, and Gerhard Struber was named his successor.

The Austrian has, of course, brought with him his own set of tactics and principles of play. Throughout preseason, City have pressed high and looked to break quickly in transition. While such a change will always bring with it a period of adaptation, McCrorie feels progress is already becoming visible on the pitch.

“For me, I just want to carry on from last season and keep doing what I’m doing,’ the Scotland international said. “The gaffer has come in with a slightly different system, so all the boys were getting used to it again. The first two weeks in Portugal and here, he showed us new, different ideas, and we were still getting used to it. You can see in the last two games, Plymouth, and today, you can see the fruits of it when it did work, and I would say it worked the majority of the time”

Having kicked off their preseason preparations with a win over FC Farense during their training camp in Portugal, the Robins have had run-outs against Bournemouth, Newport County, Cheltenham Town, Plymouth Argyle, and, most recently, Real Vallodolid ahead of Saturday's trip to Sheffield.