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It’s been over five-and-a-half years since Gerhard Struber last visited Pride Park, and on Friday night he returns to the East Midlands, but this time with Bristol City.
Derby County host the Robins under the lights to kick off this weekend’s Championship action, and the Rams will be hoping for a repeat of their 3-0 victory from 12 months ago, as John Eustace looks for his side’s first three points of the season.
Nevertheless, it’s been a good start to life in the south-west for Struber, as he masterminded a 4-1 victory over Sheffield United on the opening day before his side were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
However, it was not the most enjoyable of trips for the current Bristol City manager on his only ever visit to Pride Park so far, and EFL Analysis has taken a look back at that evening in DE24.
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Gerhard Struber had to deal with the Wayne Rooney factor at Derby County in 2020
When Wayne Rooney made the switch to Derby in August 2019, it rocked the footballing world, but fans had to wait nearly four full months to get their first sight of the England and Manchester United legend in black-and-white.
However, when they finally did, it was more than worth the wait.
Phillip Cocu deployed the now 39-year-old in a deep-lying playmaker role, and he excelled on his debut against Barnsley, who were managed by Struber at the time. He provided the assist for the opener, floating an inviting cross from a free kick into Jack Marriott, who finished with aplomb.
Rooney controlled the game, and following the 2-1 win, Struber explained how difficult his team found the challenge of facing the iconic footballer. He said (via: Sky Sports): “It was not enough for a point or for a victory. I think the energy from the opponent with Rooney in the first 30 minutes caused us a lot of problems. We spent a lot of half-time speaking about our positioning. Not enough today.
“Our situation is difficult. We need points to come up from the relegation zone. I think we can pick up points but we need the big concentration, the big focus from the first until the last second and today, we don’t have the big focus and this is the problem when we play against a great opponent.”
Bristol City surely head into Friday’s clash as favourites
The days of Rooney are long in the past for Derby now, with the out-of-work manager leaving the club in the summer of 2022 before taking charge of Birmingham City and later Plymouth Argyle.
For Struber, that may feel like good news considering how well he controlled the game all those years ago and he will be setting his Bristol City team out to attack a Rams side who may be lacking in a little bit of confidence right now.
David Ozoh believes Derby will improve, and with three players slowly coming back to full fitness, Eustace will have a team ready to compete soon.
However, this is a great opportunity for Struber to get past his frustrations from 2020 and continue Bristol City’s excellent start to the campaign.