Liam Manning has shared his plans for transfer deadline day, with the Bristol City boss admitting he is not expecting any last-minute deals and that he instead intends to take his dog for a walk.
The Robins are just one of two clubs in the Championship not to add to their squad in the winter window, with the only real business at Ashton Gate seeing a few senior players exit on loan.
Fally Mayulu, Kal Naismith and Rob Atkinson have joined Sturm Graz, Luton Town and Portsmouth respectively, while youngster Ephraim Yeboah became the latest player to depart on a temporary basis when he joined Dunfermline last week.
Ahead of the weekend’s 1-1 draw with Oxford United, Manning had said it was “doubtful” the Reds would add to their ranks before Monday evening’s 11pm deadline and following the draw at The Kassam Stadium, very little had changed.
“No,” Manning replied simply when asked by Bristol Live whether his expectations for the final day of the window had altered. “I’ll take the dog for a walk I think on Monday. That will be the plan.”
While fans have been keen to see the Reds add to their ranks in the last month, particularly given their proximity to the Championship play-off places, Manning has been insistent throughout the window that he was not expecting much in terms of incomings.
Of course, until the window officially closes at 11pm on Monday evening, a last-minute deal cannot be completely ruled out, but the Robins have only reinforced their head coach’s messaging with a new statement issued on Sunday evening.
Not only did City confirm that they had activated the 12-month extension in Mark Sykes’ contract, having been understood to have rejected a bid from Stoke City for the winger last month, they also revealed that they are set to make Yu Hirakawa’s move to Ashton Gate permanent in the coming days. However, the Reds’ business last summer has meant that no further additions have yet been possible, or are anticipated.
“We approached the summer transfer window with a plan to bring in four players with an expectation there would be three departures,” explained the Robins in their February squad update. “During that period, we ended up bringing in seven new players and there were two departures.
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“This meant that we began the season with a larger squad than we would ideally operate with and, consequently, there have been fewer opportunities for home grown players than there might have been otherwise.
“In addition, following his purchase and subsequent loan back to Derby County last January, we also welcomed Max Bird to join up with the first team squad for the first time in the summer.
“After making a real push to sign Scott Twine and Luke McNally late in the summer – decisions we are pleased we made – alongside a couple of expected departures not occurring, we entered January considerably behind on our season budget.
“Although January is a time for the media to get excited, it isn’t the best time to do business. Whilst it is natural for fans to want additions, the most important thing for us coming into January was to keep the core of the squad together. This gives the group of players the chance to continue their progression and provides an opportunity to build on the solid platform created during the first two-thirds of the season.
“We have now managed to close the gap in our budget whilst minimising the impact on our first team. The players that have recently gone out on loan only contributed five league starts between them this season.”