Robins players had 'blank canvas' for Hodgsonpublished at 18:51 BST 3 April
18:51 BST 3 April
Media caption,
Hodgson: "A lot of it was very good"
Roy Hodgson says he had no preconceived ideas about what to expect from his Bristol City after watching them beat Charlton Athletic in his first game in charge.
The Robins had drawn one and lost five of their last six matches under Gerhard Struber, leading to 78-year-old Hodgson being parachuted in for a seven-game stint.
But the interim manager was pleasantly surprised by what his players produced in their 2-1 win at The Valley in Hodgson's first game in the dugout since February 2024, with goals from Scott Twine and Noah Eile.
"The performance in general and some of the football we played was good and if we could keep that up, I'd enjoy watching that and I think the fans will enjoy watching it and it will give us more success than failure," Hodgson told BBC Radio Bristol.
[Did he sense a team low on confidence] "I would lie if I say I sensed anything. It's totally new to me what they've done.
"Should I be surprised? To be surprised, I'd have to have an opinion about what they're capable of doing and it's a blank canvas for me.
"I've selected a team and a style of play in conjunction with the other staff members and I know a lot more now having seen them for 90 minutes."
Bristol City sign O'Neill, 18, from Bray Wandererspublished at 15:58 BST 2 April
15:58 BST 2 April
Image source, Getty Images
Bristol City have signed highly-rated forward Billy O'Neill from Irish side Bray Wanderers on a pre-contract agreement.
The 18-year-old scored 11 goals and provided 11 assists in 30 League of Ireland First Division games last season for the Seagulls, who were beaten promotion play-off finalists.
He has netted twice and registered one assist in six appearances this season.
O'Neill, who can play as a right winger or centre-forward, broke into the Bray Wanderers first team in 2023 at the age of 15 having joined their academy a year earlier.
The teenager will move to Ashton Gate and join up with the Robins' under-21 side for the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
I certainly did not see that coming - well, not Hodgson, but there was an increasing inevitability about the Austrian's departure being a matter of not if, but when.
I am old enough to remember Hodgson's first spell here early in 1982. It came in the midst of the Ashton Gate Eight crisis when, were it not for the financial sacrifice made by that group of players, the club would have gone under.
Hodgson took over following Bob Houghton's resignation and had a miserable run winning only three of his 20 games in charge.
He was relieved of his duties with a few fixtures remaining as City were relegated to the fourth tier just two years after their last game in the top flight.
Hodgson's appointment made the national sports headlines as the 78-year-old came out of retirement two years after leaving his last job at Crystal Palace.
At Monday's press conference, the assembled media were there to hear what he and recently appointed City CEO Charlie Boss had to say about how all this had come about and what the expectations were, since it was only to be a temporary arrangement covering just the final seven games of this season.
Roy spoke well, there is no doubt about that, while Charlie looked less self-assured in front of the camera.
I think few of the fans watching the live stream believed it when Boss said it was his decision - based on an assessment of what needed to be done - to exit Struber.
Evidence of the increasing influence former Premier League CEO and now City director Richard Scudamore is having around he place was clear, as both Boss and Hodgson referenced the approach as coming from him.
Personally I would like to have seen Hodgson asked for a longer commitment of, say, six months as City embark on their search for the new post of sporting director and a head coach.
Boss said Hodgson would offer his advice on both appointments while he was here, although I had a wry smile as the former England manager said he did not know what the role of sporting director entailed.
This is a vital close season period coming for City if next season is to be seen as one of hope rather than the relegation fight many are predicting.
The Lansdown ownership is very much under scrutiny in a way they have not been this past 20 years.
History has been brutally consistent: under the current ownership model, good decisions are the exception, not the rule.
Hope is not a strategy, and blind faith is not loyalty. Until there is a genuine change in ownership - or at the very least a complete abdication of football control - Bristol City will remain what they are now: a club with solid infrastructure, a proud support, and absolutely no idea how to turn either into progress on the pitch.
Until that changes, the sense of being rudderless and directionless is not pessimism. It is simply an honest assessment of reality.
Championship clubs spend more than £69m on agents feespublished at 17:15 BST 1 April
17:15 BST 1 April
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Ipswich signed Sindre Walle Egeli for a club record £17.5m in January
Championship clubs spent just over £69.5m on agents fees over the past 12 months according to figures released by the Football Association,, external an increase of £6m on the previous year.
The figures cover the period from February 2025 with Ipswich Town the top spenders, paying £11.7m having spent the first three months of the accounting period in the Premier League.
Southampton (£8.3m) and Leicester (£5.8m), who were relegated alongside Ipswich are the second and third-highest payers on the list.
Troubled Sheffield Wednesday were the most frugal when dealing with agents, spending £534,559.
Wrexham come in sixth on the list with an outlay of £3.6m while current Championship leaders Coventry spent just short of £1.5m.
"I thought it was a terrible decision and I think the manager has been hung out to dry.
"It screams to me of an owner trying to deflect from the decisions they've had to make instead of standing by them.
"I don't really get the purpose of a Roy Hodgson coming in for the last seven games who then also says he's not here for anything longer than this. If I were a Bristol City fan, I'd be scratching my head."
The 72+ team are joined by Middlesbrough loans manager Tommy Smith to chew over Bristol City's decision to dismiss boss Gerhard Struber and replace him with veteran 'short-term' manager Roy Hodgson - and if the problems actually lie elsewhere...
Pick of the stats: Charlton Athletic v Bristol Citypublished at 12:35 BST 1 April
12:35 BST 1 April
Image source, Opta
Charlton Athletic will hope to take a major step towards Championship survival when they host struggling Bristol City on Friday (kick-off 15:00 BST).
The Addicks are on 48 points and nine clear of the relegation zone, with 50 points generally considered the magic number needed to stay up in the second tier.
Nathan Jones' side are without a win in their past two games (D1 L1) since winning two on the bounce against Birmingham and Middlesbrough.
The Robins' play-off ambitions have deteriorated after five games without a win (L4) and just one victory from their past eight. They have slipped from eighth and within a point of the top six to 16th and 12 points adrift on that run.
It is that recent form which prompted the City hierarchy to sack head coach Gerhard Struber and place Roy Hodgson in caretaker charge of the club he managed in 1982 until the end of this season.
Charlton have alternated between defeat (2) and victory (2) in their previous four home league games against Bristol City, with this the first time they've hosted them since a 3-2 win on Boxing Day 2019.
Bristol City have lost just one of their past five league games against Charlton (W2 D2), going down 3-2 at the Valley in December 2019.
Charlton have lost four of their nine home league games in 2026 (W3 D2), one more than they did in 22 at the Valley in 2025 (W15 D4 L3).
So far in 2026, only already relegated Sheffield Wednesday (10) have failed to score in more different Championship games than Bristol City (8).
Charlton have had more different substitutes score for them in the Championship this season than any other side (9), while only Ipswich (17) have had more sub goals overall than the Addicks (13).
'Beyond frustrating' - fans react to Struber sackingpublished at 15:49 GMT 27 March
15:49 GMT 27 March
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Gerhard Struber had 43 games in charge of Bristol City
We asked for your views after Bristol City announced the sacking of boss Gerhard Struber with former England manager Roy Hodgson taking over at the Championship club until the end of the season.
Hodgson returns to a club which he led for four months in 1982 in his first managerial job in English football.
We had a large number of responses so, thanks for getting in touch and here is a selection of the views of Bristol City fans:
Jess - Roy is a legend and no doubt fans will give him a warm welcome but it's really hard to see the positives in this, or understand the club's vision. What's the point in overhauling the set-up when we aren't investing in the squad? We do the same thing over and over again and expect different results - madness!
Kris - Fans of other clubs often ask me why Bristol City have never made it to the Premier League as they seem equally perplexed as us City supporters. I think I have boiled it down to Steve Lansdown conservatism and poor managerial appointments. This is the first managerial appointment he's got right in a while in my opinion but reverted to type with this sacking after failing to back Struber with a sufficient squad to make it through the season. Beyond frustrating!
Tom - Quite predictable really as very poor form for the past two months. Struber has to take some blame for that but the transfer window was a disaster in January and he deserves more time. I don't see the point in the Lansdowns carrying on, as it's one bad decision after another and you can't keep blaming managers. Surely it is time to let someone else have a go at board level and getting us to the next level.
Matt - So frustrating to be owned by a local billionaire who shows little ambition for doing what's necessary on the playing side to get the club into the Premier League.
Mark - It's not April Fools' Day yet is it?
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Roy Hodgson's last managerial job was with Crystal Palace in 2024
Neville - As a Palace exile in Bristol I think it is a sensible appointment to take the team through to the end of the current season. Roy gets to work quick and in both of his spells at Palace the effect was immediate.
Margaret - Bad mistake! The football has been great this season and it's not Struber's fault we sold our best players in the January transfer window. I like and respect Roy Hodgson but we should have stuck with Struber, he is a talented manager who knows how to motivate players. Shame on you Bristol City!
Mark F - The fans need to get a grip. Lansdown has poured so much into this club and turned us from a League One side into a big Championship team. Yes we all want to go to the Premier League but these things can take time and impatience is no excuse for the fans to turn on an owner who has spent £300m of his own cash stabilising us as a solid team.
Tony - Struber had to go, as the performances of late are nothing short of appalling. He lost the dressing room.
Marc - Why appoint Roy Hodgson, when he is only likely to stay until the end of season when Bristol City can not go up or down? It seems a pointless appointment, because although I have respect for him it is very unlikely he will be manager for the 2026-2027 season at 78. We sold our best players to our rivals when Struber was there, he even said Bristol City do not invest enough.
City set for biggest overhaul in its modern historypublished at 13:11 GMT 27 March
13:11 GMT 27 March
Richard Hoskin BBC Radio Bristol sports editor
Image source, PA Media
Gerhard Struber was generally popular amongst the fanbase.
Not even charge for a season – he was a head coach not afraid to speak his mind, but results and performances have dipped since January.
There is no doubt the January transfer window had a major impact – from losing Zak Vyner and Anis Mehmeti to new signings Delano Burgzorg and George Earthy not making an impression. But the team has also suffered terribly with injuries, especially in defence.
Roy Hodgson has a link with Bristol City, having managed the club briefly in 1982 when it was on its knees.
Whilst only a short-term appointment, returning to the dugout at the age of 78 will raise plenty of eyebrows both locally and nationally.
Bristol City have already started a search for a new sporting director. A big job has just got a lot bigger for whoever is appointed.
Today's news just increases the need for somebody to start work sooner rather than later.
Supporters were already increasingly frustrated having not build on last season's top-six finish with owner Steve Lansdown the subject of critical chants at last weekend's defeat to West Brom.
Now the football club is set for one of the biggest overhauls in its modern history – from a new head coach to the recruitment department, from a recently appointed chief executive to the academy.
Hodgson replaces Struber - Can Bristol City fans make sense of it all?published at 11:54 GMT 27 March
11:54 GMT 27 March
Image source, Getty Images
Bristol City have sacked head coach Gerhard Struber and named former England manager Roy Hodgson as his replacement until the end of the season.
Struber was appointed in June 2025 and won 16 of his 43 games in charge but had lost four of his last five league games.
Hodgson had a four-month spell in charge at Ashton Gate in 1982 which then led to an illustrious managerial career with the likes of Inter Milan, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Switzerland and England.
Bristol City fans can you make sense of this decision and is 78-year-old Hodgson the right choice to steer the ship for the remainder of the season?
'Fans struggle to understand where City are going'published at 16:32 GMT 25 March
16:32 GMT 25 March
David Pottier Fan writer
Image source, Shutterstock
Image caption,
Steve Lansdown first became involved at Bristol City in 1996
I walked into Ashton Gate for the very first time on 25 March 1967. It was my 11th birthday "treat".
The opponents were Birmingham City and we won the game 3-1. So began my love affair with this football club which has now endured an incredible 59 years.
Why City, not Rovers? I guess living in Nailsea, I was the right side of town and my father was a Bedminster boy, although he had no interest in football whatsoever.
My teenage years were spent watching City slowly build - with a few dips along the way - a team that could reach the promised land of Division One.
Manager Alan Dicks was afforded a timeline that would be unthinkable these days, although he came close to being sacked more than once.
We finally made it by beating Portsmouth 1-0 on 20 April 1976. I was there that night almost 50 years ago and climbed over the back wall of the Grand Enclosure to be within touching distance of my heroes who were taking the adulation of fans as they emerged from the dressing room into the directors' box.
I was there four months later at Highbury on one of those hot summer days we had in 1976, stood with thousands of City fans at the Clock End as Paul Cheesley's powerful header gave us a 1-0 victory over Arsenal.
It was one of those rare days where expectations were exceeded.
I consider myself very lucky to have experienced the following four seasons when we did OK at English football's top table.
I was there that cold January day in 1982 as we travelled the short distance to Newport County to watch what would have been City's last game had those eight players not made the ultimate sacrifice of tearing up their contracts.
Relegation to the fourth tier was inevitable and, for a couple of weeks in December 1982, City hit absolute rock bottom as they fell to 92nd in the Football League.
The climb back up the league ladder was led by Terry Cooper who, in the midst of his time in charge, gave the club its first ever Wembley appearance in 1986 and victory against Bolton Wanderers.
Joe Jordan finished off Terry's work as he led the team to the second tier in 1989-90, although it was a bittersweet success as we surrendered the title to Bristol Rovers.
We'll never know how far Jordan could have taken the club had he not chosen to return north of the border and take the managerial hot seat at Hearts.
His second spell at the club from 1994 to 1997 ended in failure as City bounced up and down between tiers two and three until Gary Johnson nearly achieved the impossible by reaching the Championship play-off final in 2008.
Bolder investment in the squad in that season's January transfer window may well have secured automatic promotion but by then the club was owned/run by its current custodian Steve Lansdown.
His cautious approach still prevails despite him investing more than £280m in funding losses while, in fairness, building a credible infrastructure.
This time it was not just coming from the Burberry-clad teenage set. Many fans, myself included, are currently at a very low ebb when it comes to understanding just where this club is going with the season effectively over in mid-March.
With Championship football guaranteed for a 12th successive season, should we just be thankful for that and pander to those among the fanbase who warn we should be careful what we wish for when calling for a change of ownership to trigger a change of approach?
More of the same is not enough in perpetuity which is where we seem to be heading.
What is the point of having a new sporting director if that individual's plans are thwarted by no upturn in investment?
Do we have to have a reset by getting relegated to League One and bouncing back?
Hoping the stars align one year and we get lucky is not really a plan. I wouldn't mind betting our representative's name was first on the sheet at the EFL meeting where the new eight-team play-off format was approved.
As I enter my 60th season of support, the club can be assured that I will be purchasing my season ticket but it will be interesting to see how many others will by the time we reach 15 August.
