Bristol City: In praise of ‘Wilbrahimovic’

If it were not for a chance meeting during an off-season holiday I might not be writing this, nor you reading it, nor Bristol City topping the League One table.

A thoroughly efficient and prosperous summer transfer window saw the club recruit more than one headline grabbing capture but, during the club’s opening forays which have seen them go undefeated, winning five of seven, it is hard to argue than the most influential addition was also the least anticipated.

Aaron Wilbraham, a six-foot three-inch target man with a CV which reads of universal team successes was, somewhat inadvertently, approached by City manager Steve Cotterill.

“I actually bumped into him on holiday and I had seen him at the gym and sussed him out already,” Cotterill said. “I threw out a bit of bait and he liked what he heard.”

A no-risk, one-year deal, the 34-year-old striker sought first-team football after being released by Crystal Palace. With direct reference to his previous partnership with the since departed Sam Baldock during their MK Dons days, sound bytes such as ‘top lad’, ‘top professional’ and ‘physical presence’ set the scene for his role in the sidecar. Leg room would be at a premium.

A six-year spell at Stadium:MK had been fruitful, a half-century of goals in just under 200 outings, similar figures were recorded at his career outset with Stockport. But firmly established as the most low-key of summer recruits, a 10-goal return on the year would do, after all his career beyond that already mentioned, during time with Hull City, Norwich City and Palace, along with loan spells at Oldham and Bradford, had seen seven league goals.

Scrambling home the opener during City’s 3-0 win over Doncaster on Saturday, the adopted ’Wilbrahimovic’ netted for the fifth time in seven games, a spearhead of the assault to the summit. The immediate impact of the player was perhaps never more evident than in his absence, his only starting absence, to date.

Unceremoniously dumped out of the League Cup by League Two strugglers Oxford United, whose Ashton Gate victory remains their sole success this season, City were lightweight in attack and lacked an ‘out’ ball. Having been replaced by Jay Emmanuel Thomas, a relic of the previous tenure, a 20-goal a season playmaker who relishes the ball to feet, City’s dependence on Wilbraham, the unassuming beacon of the Cotterill era was inescapable.

While slick, intricate football can still be found, the club now has a weapon which enables a more direct style of play, a far cry from the frustrations of seeing poacher Baldock contest first balls this time last season. If there is a concern, and an undefeated ascent to the top registers few, it must be how the club can adapt tactically to any future absence with no tailor-made replacement waiting in the wings.

It should be noted that eight changes were made that evening from the season opening trip to Sheffield United, but there can be little argument that a focal point, an aerial threat with the ability to link play was missing from a thoroughly toothless performance.

Having been promoted three times in his career the striker is no stranger to success, and with new attacking partner Kieran Agard also on the score sheet this week, the former Rotherham man stating he feels he’s “building a good understanding” with his more imposing counterpart, League One defences are having to contend with a potent one-two punch which can threaten by land or by air.

Being part of a select group of players to have scored in all four of the English tiers and having already endeared himself to an increasingly optimistic fan base, the Knutsford native is finding a great deal more leg room from the driver’s seat.