Hodgson, 78, takes over at Bristol City as Struber sacked

Former England manager Roy Hodgson has been put in caretaker charge of Bristol City at the age of 78 after head coach Gerhard Struber was sacked.

Hodgson returns to the club he managed in 1982 having been out of the game since leaving Crystal Palace in 2024.

Struber has been sacked after a run of one win in nine games in all competitions which has seen the Robins slip to 16th in the Championship.

The club had been a point off the play-off places after a 3-2 win at Hull City on 7 February, but are now 12 points adrift of the top six.

Long-standing centre-back Zak Vyner and top scorer Anis Mehmeti were sold in January to Wrexham and Ipswich, respectively, while Struber also lost three first-choice defenders to injury in Rob Dickie, Rob Atkinson and George Tanner.

“The club’s recent performances have not met expectations and therefore Struber and assistant head coach Bernd Eibler will leave with immediate effect,” a club statement read.

Gerhard Struber won 16 and lost 18 of his 43 games in charge of Bristol City [Getty Images]

Struber took over at Ashton Gate in June after Liam Manning, who had taken the club into the play-offs, left to take charge at Norwich City.

The Austrian, 49, spent a year managing Barnsley from 2019 to 2020 before spells at New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg and Cologne and had agreed a deal until the summer of 2028.

He had recently been critical of the volume of talent within the club’s academy and had voiced frustration over the January sales of Vyner and Mehmeti.

“I would like to thank Gerhard and Bernd for their hard work over the past nine months and we wish them all the best,” City chief executive Charlie Boss said.

“Roy’s appointment is about more than the results of the next seven games.

“Over the remainder of the season, he will help us set the standards and values at the club that we will need to be successful going forwards.

“Roy is a vastly experienced coach who has achieved and won at the highest level. He will support me, our players and our football staff as we build towards achieving our potential.

“We are in the process of appointing a sporting director who will have a direct input into the recruitment of a new permanent head coach.”

Back to where it all began

City proved Hodgson’s first managerial job in English football when he was appointed in 1982 having spent two years as Bob Houghton’s assistant.

Hodgson lasted just four months amid considerable financial upheaval at Ashton Gate, where the club nearly went out of business, and has previously said his time there was “nothing short of a disaster”.

He returns to the West Country with vast experience having managed Inter Milan, Liverpool, Fulham, Blackburn Rovers, West Bromwich Albion and the national teams of Finland, England, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.

He guided Fulham to the Europa League final in 2010 and went on to succeed Champions League-winning boss Rafael Benitez at Liverpool that summer, but his time at Anfield proved unsuccessful and he was sacked the following January.

He went on to take charge of West Brom before taking over as England boss from Fabio Capello in May 2012.

He led England to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012, before going out of the 2014 World Cup in the group stages – the first time England had not made the knockout rounds since 1958.

He kept his job and took England to Euro 2016, but after a humiliating loss to Iceland in the last 16 resigned.

Hodgson went on to have two spells at Palace, interspersed by a short stint at Watford, before stepping down just over two years ago.

His first game in charge will be the Championship trip to Charlton on Good Friday.

“I have had great conversations with the board and I am really excited by the opportunity to help until the end of the season,” Hodgson told the club website

“We will get straight to work and look for a positive performance on Good Friday.”

Tinnon dropped from senior role

Brian Tinnion played more than 450 games for Bristol City [Shutterstock]

Alongside Hodgson’s appointment Bristol City have relieved technical director Brian Tinnion of first-team duties.

The former Robins midfielder has been a hugely influential figure having been promoted to the role in 2022 and will now focus on the club’s academy pathway while the Robins appoint a new sporting director.

That new appointment will be responsible for hiring a new head coach as well as conducting a review of City’s football operations.

Bristol City set for huge overhaul – analysis

Richard Hoskin, BBC Radio Bristol

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.

Times are changing at Ashton Gate.

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