"Good time to cash in" - 2022 Bristol City signing predicted to leave in January | OneFootball

Bristol City could see Kal Naismith leave the club in January according to FLW's Robins fan pundit.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Bristol City have had a pretty average Championship campaign so far.

The Robins have shown inconsistency over the first few weeks of the season, as from their opening eight league games, they have picked up two wins, three draws and two losses.

Liam Manning made a number of key signings over the summer, so perhaps they need more time to gel in order to find that consistency, but there are certainly improvements to be made.

Bristol City recently suffered two 3-0 losses on the road at the hands of Derby County and Blackburn Rovers, so they will need to iron out those kind of results if they have any hope of at least a top-half finish.

Luckily, they bounced back, as they won 2-1 at home to Oxford United before earning a point away to Swansea City a week later.

As mentioned though, there are certainly improvements to be made, and January will be the perfect opportunity to do that. The transfer window will come around quickly, and there could be some movement at Ashton Gate.

Kal Naismith could depart

As well as reinforcing the squad, Manning may have to consider some departures this January, which could include Kal Naismith, according to FLW's Bristol City fan pundit, Tom Sandy.

"One position that I think we will see a departure from is Kal Naismith at centre-back. He played a few games at the start of this season in replacement of Rob Dickie, and I think if he did well enough in those... we wouldn't need to sign another centre-back."

"He was poor. Very, very poor. I believe it was the Millwall game, Rob Dickie got injured at 2-1 up and we ended up conceding three goals in that game. In the Derby game, a 3-0 loss away from home, he was not up to standard."

"A fifa ratings video came out recently where he said 'I can't believe defending is my best stat, it should be my worst!', which is not really what you want to be hearing from your centre-back."

"He's an elite centre-back in terms of a back three scenario, but not only does Manning not play a back three, even if he were to, I'd prefer Haydon Roberts over him as a left centre-back."

"I think Kal Naismith could be a departure in January. It will be a good time to cash in on him while he's fit and with time left on his contract."

"If he were to depart, I think we could see another defensive signing. As I said, if Haydon Roberts was to be playing left centre-back, we could possibly do with some more depth at left-back. I think we need more depth at right-back, George Tanner is really our only out-and-out right back."

"There are improvements that can be made on the back line. Him (Naismith) leaving would not dent our back four as it is. I don't think he's up to standard anymore."

Kal Naismith's time with Bristol City

Naismith has had a respectable playing career with a number of clubs, but his spell with Bristol City has been rather sporadic in terms of game time.

He signed in the summer of 2022, and made 38 Championship appearances over the last two seasons. Over his career, he has been utilised in a whole range of positions, but he has predominantly featured as a centre-back for the Robins.

Now, at the age of 32, Naismith is at the twilight of his career and performances are not what they used to be. He has made just one league start so far this season, which was in a 3-0 defeat to Derby, so his time with Bristol City could be coming to an end.