Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson has insisted that he is ready to make changes to his squad and get rid of some players who he feels are not delivering what is required.

Pearson has already had a large clear out of players during the summer transfer window with the Robins significantly reducing the size of their squad by allowing several players to depart once their contracts had come to an end. While Adam Nagy was also sold by Bristol City after he made it clear that he wanted to move on and secure a move elsewhere.

The Robins went into the international break in poor form with them having suffered five defeats in their previous six matches. That means that there is a lot of work for them to do now that the campaign is set to resume. Pearson will be under pressure to ensure that results pick up and Bristol City do not drop any further down the table.

Bristol City’s CEO Richard Gould has recently insisted that the club still retain faith in Pearson, while he also added that the Robins are planning to make additions during the January transfer window after changing their plans amid the current slump in form for Pearson’s side.

 

 

Speaking to Bristol Live, Pearson has now insisted that he is ready to make changes to his squad and get rid of players that he believes are not pulling in the right direction and giving their all for the Robins.

He said: “There will be changes, I can tell you that. I talked in the summer about not really wanting to do too much. I may have to amend that because certain individuals aren’t onside, let’s put it like that.

“And I’ll do everything I can to get rid of them.

“We still might need them, they’re professional footballers and because we don’t have the biggest squad I may still use them. But that’s not a reason to pander to their needs, because I’m not pandering to anyone’s needs.

“Players who possibly don’t want to be here. Well I’ll make sure they’re not here, I’ll get rid of them. It’s not a veiled threat, that’s what will happen.

“We had too big a squad last year, we had a big clear-out in the summer. We bought some new players in, who generally speaking have done pretty well. But we need to affect a change and I will do it by removing players or not playing them if I can’t get rid of them.”

The verdict

These are pretty damning comments from Pearson and it reveals that all is not well within the dressing room at Ashton Gate. There are clearly one or two members of the squad that he feels are not working as hard as they should be doing and that is a major issue for the Robins if it does not get addressed very soon.

Pearson obviously holds a position of decent strength with Bristol City’s hierarchy given that he has been backed by Gould recently. Therefore, he will have the chance to get rid of the players that he feels are not pulling their weight in the winter window. Whether he is able to do that or not could make the difference between whether he remains in post in the long-term or not.

Whilst it is unclear which players Pearson is referring to here with these comments, it should be a huge concern for everyone and maybe a wake-up call to some players within the dressing room. It will be interesting to see what the reaction is from the squad to these comments from Pearson.