Liam Manning has explained Bristol City’s decision to allow both Fally Mayulu and Kal Naismith to leave Ashton Gate on loan after the two players joined Sturm Graz and Luton Town respectively.
The Robins confirmed on Sunday morning that Mayulu would be returning to Austria for the remainder of the season having been left out of City’s last three matchday squads, only seven months after he made the move to the West Country for Rapid Vienna.
Having scored twice from the bench in his first two Championship appearances against both Hull City and Millwall, the Frenchman failed to find the net again in his following 13 league games, struggling for both form and minutes.
Although Manning was insistent that the 22-year-old could still have a future at Ashton Gate once his loan spell with Sturm Graz comes to an end, he felt Mayulu needed more consistent minutes than were on offer in BS3 to continue his development this season.
“It was a decision when you look at it of where Fally was at, the progress that he made and what does he need in order to progress,” the head coach explained. “He’s still an extremely young player with lots of potential. When you look at it, minutes have been quite challenging but I’m still adamant he had progressed and shown shoots that were heading in the right direction and it’s how do you make sure you continue that progression?
“It was going to be difficult here in terms of the minutes probably needed for him to transfer the good stuff from training into games. He’s obviously familiar with the league out there and in terms of now going back there and trying to transfer some of the stuff we’ve done here with him. Some of the bits around the intensity, the focus, the way we work and he’s got an opportunity now to go and transfer that into games.
“We’ll keep a close eye on him, I spoke to him yesterday, we’ll make sure we continue to monitor him and it’s a good opportunity now to go and get some success. Of course, I think potentially [he has a future at Bristol City]. It’s one of those where you obviously assess and see how things go.
“Like I said, he was heading in the right direction and doing some really good things. It was just that he needs a bit of time and I think when you look at the intensity, and volume of games here versus Austria, it’s slightly different in terms of the demands of games. I think it’s a good opportunity for him to go somewhere familiar and try to show that and then look, we get to the summer, assess and see how he’s done.”
Naismith joined Bristol City in the summer of 2022, making the move to Ashton Gate from Luton as a free agent after his contract at Kenilworth Road expired. The Scotsman made an impressive start, but injury issues plagued him throughout his time in the West Country.
The 32-year-old only managed to make six league appearances for the Reds in the first half of the season, the last of which came back in November against Sheffield United. Naismith started against the Blades but was forced off late on in the game with an injury that kept him sidelined until January.
While the former Luton man returned to City’s matchday squad against Wolves in the FA Cup and was included on the bench in each of their last three league games, he was never introduced. With his contract in BS3 set to expire at the end of the season, Manning admits the former Portsmouth man needs regular minutes to help him earn a new deal, likely away from Ashton Gate, and returning to Kenilworth Road will help his chances.
“I think to be fair to Naisy, he’s had a frustrating period of time probably here, with us and probably pre-that with injuries, match minutes, availability etc,” explained the head coach. “For Naisy, he needed to go out and play.”
“They [Luton] contacted us. It’s always a tough one with Kal, he might not have a huge number of minutes due to injuries or being on the bench, but I’ve never underestimated the impact he has in the training room or on the culture.
“He’s a top pro Naisy. The sessions a day after a game where there are eight or 10 bodies training, he’s unbelievable in terms of how he drives it, the standards he sets, the voice he has so he’s definitely a loss in terms of a voice in the changing room.
“It’s also one of those where you have to look beyond that, for him as well. His contract’s up in the summer, what’s going to enable him to put himself in the best position to get that next contract, wherever that may be. Like I said it’s a good opportunity for him to go and get minutes.”
Some supporters have been quick to suggest that the Reds may well have left themselves short of a bit of depth and cover heading into the final third of the season following the departures of both Mayulu and Naismith.
Nahki Wells, Sam Bell, Sinclair Armstrong and Harry Cornick are the only obvious striking options available to Manning while Rob Dickie, Zak Vyner and Luke McNally are the only senior centre-backs. Of course, George Tanner, Haydon Roberts, Ross McCrorie and Cam Pring are also capable of filling in at the heart of defence if required.
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While Manning admits his squad is on the “cusp of things” he feels the first-team players currently available to him, including one or two academy graduates, are capable of navigating the final 16 games of the Championship season.
“I think we’re quite clear. I think if you looked at the busy summer, and the work that we did, I always knew we were a couple heavy coming into the first half of the season,” the head coach admitted. “So naturally, we knew that come in January we’d have to move a couple on I think.
“Numerous aspects come into it, whether it is people going to play, whether it be financial, there are numerous reasons for the decisions. For me, obviously, we’ve got [Cam] Pringy to come back, obviously, I left Marcus McGuane out of the squad at the weekend, he’s obviously someone who’s done extremely well.
“We’ve got some really exciting young ones as well in Josh [Campbell-Slowey] and Elijah [Morrison] so for me, it’s right on the cusp of things, but we’ve got to get through 16 games and not 30 like we have done so far.”