Tommy Elphick turned down the opportunity to join Bristol City, and the Robins eventually signed Michael Skubala from Lincoln City.

A number of potential alternatives for Roy Hodgson arose when the 78-year-old took over as interim manager from Gerhard Struber and finished the season in 12th position with Bristol City.

Instead, the Robins have settled on Lincoln City’s Michael Skubala to fill the vacancy at Ashton Gate, but they had other candidates on their radar during the previous month. Tommy Elphick has surfaced as a prospective possibility for Bristol City.

Another option was Portsmouth manager John Mousinho, however Elphick chose to stay at AFC Bournemouth next season over joining Bristol City. That is despite the fact that the assistant manager will not be reporting to Andoni Iraola in 2026/27.

Tommy Elphick wished well, as Bristol City turned to Michael Skubala.

It’s rather irrelevant now that Skubala is on his way in, but we questioned our Bristol City fan pundit Tom Sandy about being rejected by Elphick and how it reflects on the Lansdownes to have had so many disappointments.

We also inquired whether a lack of prospective budget could be a significant factor why so many choices had turned the club down. He stated, “I mean, Elphick’s rejection of the Bristol City job is an interesting one.” “We had no idea what was happening behind the scenes.”But he was one of our primary targets here with Skubala.

Iraola was asked about it, and he praised Elphick and stated that he was ready to take on management. Despite initial optimism, he has decided to remain and assist Marco Rose.Which is totally understandable given Bournemouth’s Europa League position. You can completely understand why he wants to stay in that position. This is a terrific chance for him.

“However, it was a significant blow since Mousinho and the front were chilled. We appear to have narrowed down our possibilities and are no longer able to obtain many of them.It’s unfortunate because this appears to be a watershed moment in the club’s history; regardless, it’s a significant turning point. A major crossroads, I should say; we needed to get this managerial appointment right.

Questions raised about Bristol City’s budget for 2026/27.

When asked if the Bristol City budget was a concern for him, Elphick replied, “It was disappointing, and I don’t think a lack of potential budget was a big factor.” “It’s been done before, but I believe we’re taking a different approach now.”With the new manager on board and this new project in the works, you’d expect the budget to be reasonable for what’s coming up.