Bristol City have made the decision to part company with manager Lee Johnson following the Robins’ 1-0 defeat at home to Cardiff City on Saturday.

That defeat was a fourth in a row for Bristol City which has seen them slide down to 12th place in the Championship table and fall nine points adrift of Cardiff in sixth place, and that means it is highly unlikely that they will now be able to force their way into the play-off places.

Johnson had managed to make steady progress at Bristol City since taking over in 2016 and had managed to steadily improve the Robins’ league position at the end of each season, including last term’s 8th placed finish and he did guide the club all the way the League Cup semi-finals in 2017/18.

However, despite getting off to a positive start to the campaign and being in contention for the top six during the first half of the campaign, Bristol City have fallen away in the race for the top six and will now be needing to find a replacement for Johnson ahead of next season.

Here then, we take a look at FIVE managers who the Robins should consider to take over…

If Bristol City are wanting a manager to come into the club with real experience of guiding clubs to promotion from the Championship, then they should definitely consider a move for Hughton who has managed to earn promotion with both Newcastle United and Brighton, as well as reaching the play-offs with Birmingham City.

Hughton has been out of work since leaving Brighton at the end of last season, but he has shown that he is capable of producing a team that is solid in defence and has the ability to have some real flare in the last third in the Championship.

Another manager that the Robins should consider is Charlton Athletic manager Lee Bowyer, who has managed to perform an excellent job at the Valley helping the club earn promotion back to the Championship via the play-offs last term.

This season Bowyer has managed to keep Charlton clear of the relegation zone for most of the campaign despite having the distraction of off the field concerns over the ownership of the club – and Bristol City could look to provide him with the stability he deserves behind the scenes to see how far he could take them in the Championship.

Another manager who has performed an excellent job over the last few years that Bristol City should consider is Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth, who guided the club to promotion from League Two in 2018 and has since got them challenging for promotion in the third tier.

Ainsworth has worked on a tight budget at Wycombe but continued to get the best out of all of his squad and he could be on course to lead them to the Championship after they secured a convincing win at Fleetwood Town in the first leg of their League One play-off semi-final.

Bristol City could also look at bringing Paul Cook into the club from Wigan Athletic, with the former Portsmouth manager having performed an excellent job at Wigan, helping them earn promotion back to the Championship in his first campaign in charge and then establish themselves back in the English second tier.

Wigan were on course to pull away from any potential relegation worries with Cook having made them one of the division’s in form teams in the second half of the campaign, but they have now gone into administration and could be relegated as a result – and Bristol City could offer Cook a chance to remain in the second tier.

This might be something of a wildcard mention, but if Bristol City want to appoint an up and coming manager with potential and prior promotion experience then Ryan Lowe could well be a very attractive option for the Robins.

Lowe has managed to guide both Bury and Plymouth Argyle to automatic promotion from League Two in the last two seasons, and he has demonstrated he has the right sort of qualities to handle the pressure of a promotion battle and also get the best out his squad.