Liam Manning took the decision to reshape Bristol City’s midfield during the summer transfer window at Ashton Gate.
Veterans Andy King and Matty James both departed after three years in the South West, with the former calling time on his playing career and the latter remaining without a club before signing a short-term deal with Wrexham in October.
The Robins did opt to hand Joe Williams a new three-year contract while Max Bird joined Manning’s ranks on a permanent basis at the start of pre-season after a deal had been agreed with Derby County in January.
Former Barcelona B gem Marcus McGuane was the last addition in the final days of the summer window, but the 25-year-old’s arrival saw Taylor Gardner-Hickman head out the door on loan.
The versatile midfielder had only joined the Robins a year earlier, moving to Ashton Gate on an initial loan deal from West Brom that was then made permanent when the January transfer window rolled around.
In 40 appearances for the Reds in all competitions, Gardner-Hickman scored one goal and laid on four assists but Manning admitted the midfielder’s desire to play regularly saw him complete a loan with the option to buy move to Birmingham.
“Obviously when you look at it, Knighty and Joe have started so well that then he was going to have to fight and be patient and wait for that,” said Manning. “But he came to see me and ultimately had more assurances that he was going to start elsewhere.”
Bristol Live understands Blues have an option to make the 22-year-old’s stay permanent for £1.5million if he impresses at St Andrew’s, so there is every chance he has already played his final game in a City shirt.
Under the management of Chris Davies in League One the Blues sit second in the table and two points adrift of table-toppers Wycombe Wanderers. The former West Brom man has made 10 league appearances this term, of which seven have seen him named in the starting XI.
We caught up with our sister title Birmingham Live’s Birmingham City reporter Alex Dicken to find out how Gardner-Hickman is getting on in the Midlands…
How would you sum up Gardner-Hickman’s loan so far?
I think he’s been surprisingly good, to be honest. When he signed, I said a few times that looking at the midfield options Blues have, I wasn’t necessarily expecting him to be at the forefront. They obviously have Seung-Ho Paik and Tomoki Iwata as the first-choice pairing and Chris Davies has gone on record saying he thinks they could both be Premier League midfielders one day.
Marc Leonard is an exceptional young player in the EFL, Blues beat off a lot of competition to sign him so he’s essentially the third choice and can’t get a game so looking at Gardner-Hickman after the January window when all of those players were on board, I was wondering where his minutes would come from.
But the door opened up to him at right-back with Ethan Laird getting injured in the first game after the transfer window finished when Alfons Sampsted went away for the international break with Iceland and returned with a bit of food poisoning. Gardner-Hickman started against Wrexham in the league, played really well at right-back and kept his place for an eight or nine-game period while Laird was out and has done exceptionally well.
Obviously, Laird has come back now and taken his place but I think in that time, Gardner-Hickman has proven to Davies that he’s a viable option at right-back as well as in midfield. I think that means he will get more minutes than he would have if he didn’t show that versatility and competency at right-back.
I think everyone has been quite impressed, Davies has called him a reliable player and I think having spoken to him quite a few times, I’ve heard him say that about quite a few players and you get the feeling that’s a word he uses when he likes someone so I think he’s been pretty good.
How has he faired out of position at right-back?
He’s been very good there. We’ve seen far more of him there than we have done in midfield so we can make a better judgment. Blues play a system where in possession it becomes a back three and the right back and left winger play very high, so Gardner-Hickman is essentially playing as a right-winger and is having to get up and down.
Physically he’s exceptional and very good at that. He’s also quite robust and very strong in challenges. He just probably doesn’t have the athleticism in the final third that Laird does which is why he’s probably lost his place. He’s a very viable right back in League One and he potentially could play there in the Championship.
I know he played in that role at West Brom before he joined Bristol City so Blues did sign him with the idea that he’d give them a little bit of extra cover at right-back, but it’s probably just luck that his chance in the team came there.
Bristol City Live on Whatsapp
Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone
Bristol City Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.
Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.
To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.
We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.
To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
He was a popular figure at Ashton Gate, how have Blues fans taken to him?
It’s been very similar I think because of the way he plays. There’s a bit of a whole-hearted nature about his style so he’s been taken to by supporters. I think fans were a bit unsure about where he’d fit in early on because of the strength of options Blues have, but obviously right back opened up and he was excellent there in the way that he played over the couple of months that Laird was out.
They really like him, they like how he is around the place. People speak very highly of him so although I wouldn’t say he’s a fan favourite because a lot of players at Blues are probably more popular with supporters, but he’s certainly a popular player and fans have taken to him. He’s a little bit local as well and they haven’t got too many players in the squad that are local.
Do you expect Birmingham to make the move permanent?
I would expect it to be made permanent. There’s an option to buy him and I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t buy him. He’s a versatile player, a good character that gives the team a couple of options and you need players like that whether you’re in League One or the Championship, so I don’t see why Blues wouldn’t keep him. Also, he’s only 22 so he has plenty of room for development and they’ll like that as well.
Can he establish himself as a Championship player at St Andrew’s?
I was surprised that he’s got so many Championship appearances already. Obviously, I don’t think he had to drop down to League One, I’m sure there were probably a couple of Championship offers on the table because he’s proven over time that he can play at that level.
Obviously Blues have the ambition of being a Championship club, it works for him because they’re local to him so it made sense for both parties. I don’t see why long term he wouldn’t establish himself in the Championship, I think the question for him will be if Blues sign him and offer him a long-term contract, it will be whether he can grow with the club.
They won’t intend to be in the Championship for that long, they’ll be looking to get up to the Premier League quickly when they get back in the second tier so it will be whether he can continue to grow and reach that level.