"Would benefit everybody" - Bristol City transfer hopes for January window voiced | OneFootball

FLW's Bristol City pundit James Skinner reveals his wishes for the Robins' moves in the January transfer market.

Bristol City sit two points short of the top six ahead of the Championship's slate of midweek fixtures.

The 2024/25 campaign has had its ups and downs for the Robins already but on the back of an eight-game unbeaten run that's included wins over Oxford United, Middlesbrough, and Preston North End, there is growing belief in what Liam Manning can achieve this season.

City's hopes for the campaign may well influence Steve Lansdown to put his hands in his pockets once the January transfer window is open, with the South West club dreaming of a first promotion to the Premier League and a top-flight return after more than four decades away.

Competition for Max O'Leary is needed

Football League World's Bristol City fan pundit James Skinner has been quizzed about his hopes for the club's January spending and made it clear that competition for goalkeeper Max O'Leary should be a necessity.

He told FLW: "A decent, strong goalkeeper with Championship experience to come in and give some competition to Max O'Leary (is what is needed).

"Max is a great shot-stopper, his distribution does sometimes leave a bit to be desired and that is putting it nicely. I think that competition is always a good thing for any place."

Our pundit's assessment of O'Leary's ability is backed up by the statistics. The Bristol City goalkeeper only has a long ball accuracy of 33.8% and a general pass accuracy of 59.7% (FotMob) - both of which would be considered fairly poor for a goalkeeper.

Skinner added: "I think that's the one position that might help the team on the whole. If we can get competition for Max in then I do think that would benefit everybody and I also think it would benefit Max as well."

Evidently, competition for places in the goalkeeping department has become too sparse under Liam Manning, and the quality of shot-stopping needs to improve, with Bristol City having already shipped 17 league goals this season.

The jury is out on young Stefan Bajic while Lewis Thomas, whose experience has all come at League One and below, does not look to be up to Championship standard.

Another striker on loan could make a lot of sense

Skinner also drew attention to the under-performing Sinclair Armstrong and Fally Mayulu, who have struggled to reach the required level for the Robins since joining in the summer.

He said: "Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong aren't really cutting it at the moment. Luckily Nahki Wells has been in great form recently, so that has helped. And those two players, I've said it before, I do think will come good given time, as they are still adjusting to life at Bristol City, but maybe a striker on loan for the second half of the season could potentially be an option."

The table below shows a three-way comparison between Armstrong, Mayulu and Wells this season.

While Armstrong has offered plenty beyond his goals and Mayulu has produced some big moments off the bench, the 34-year-old has been the Robins' most reliable forward this term and perhaps adding a bit more firepower would be no bad thing as City eye a play-off tilt.

However, Armstrong is clearly the weak link here, as his shot quality is very poor when compared to his number of minutes played, only amassing the same number of goals as Mayulu despite playing three times more.

As our pundit mentioned, it will be crucial for Bristol City to invest in at least a loan striker if they are to rise up the table and finish in a playoff spot. They are currently only six points adrift of sixth place, so it is more than possible for them to get their season back on track.

Yet, it is clear that Liam Manning needs to make careful preparations to bring in reinforcements or enforce a change in expectations from his strikers if the team is to realise their pre-season ambitions.