Gerhard Struber (48) found a new job six weeks after his remarkable end at 1. FC Köln.
The Austrian hires as head coach at the English second division club Bristol City, the club announced on Thursday. Struber receives a three -year contract and will take up the season preparation with his new team next week.
“In the past few years we have switched our young teams to a highly intensive pressing style and also committed players with the same skills for the first team,” said club boss Jon Lansdown: “Gerhard’s style fits perfectly with this approach.”
In Cologne, too, Struber had been committed to intensive pressing football before last season, the team also showed it on the first days of match – but delivered hardly any positive results.
Struber dismissed at 1. FC Köln shortly before the end of the season
Only after the changeover to a much more defensive approach did FC score better. The game of the Cologne team was so shaky that Struber was released two game days before the end, despite the table two. Under Friedhelm Funkel, the team ultimately rose to the Bundesliga.
For Struber, the engagement in Bristol is not the first stop in England’s second division. In 2019 and 2020 he already trained FC Barnsley there. Bristol made it to the Play-offs for promotion to the Premier League last season, but failed there on Sheffield United.