This may be an unpopular view but...

[Mr Popodopolous]

This maybe an unpopular view that goes against the grain but...this season, has it been that bad really?

We had a very bad patch- thinking especially the 11 losses in 12 which included the 8 losses on the spin and yes that made history for all the wrong reasons but- provided we win Sunday and perhaps rise a place 2 in the final standings. Has this season been so bad?

Positives:

• Saturday- how The Game in the Times reckoned Birmingham's win over Huddersfield who rested 10 was performance of weekend in Championship I do not know, ours clearly was. Regardless, to win at Brighton on their Championship party was fantastic.
• 3-1 v Villa
• 4-0 at Fulham
• 4-0 v Huddersfield
• Newcastle away
• A decent cup run while we are at this level the first time in some while- unlike past Cup runs it was a good Cup run in the 2nd tier which we have not done much of in past 2nd tier seasons.
• The fact we brought in quite a few younger players- a season of churn isn't necessarily easy to manage. Seen some of them begin to flourish or show signs of strong promise too- Brownhill for one. Paterson has started to flourish as well at this latter stage of the season.
• Average attendances highest in a generation- indeed I think Newcastle at home was the highest since the top flight?

Honourable mentions:

• Leeds at home
• Derby away
• Beating Hollowhead!
• Beating Fulham away in the Cup- given their home record, winning there twice in 2 games is decent.
• Though it is already sort of covered in some of the above, the 2nd half comebacks- rallies, especially in the last half hours were quite thrilling in the first third of the season IMO

I know there were many lows, not least the 11 losses in 12, which encompassed the 8 game losing streak, the whole LJ erratic selection, late goals and the Fulham and Burton home games in particular- we were put through the mill to say the least! Not saying is a stellar season by any means but looking back at it we've had quite a few memorable moments despite everything and I firmly believe this squad has its better days ahead of them.

[Unan]

Awful season, say no more.

[Super]

You have listed 8 league games out of 45.

[kmpowell]

Putting aside the huge amount of money spent on transfers then the set of results after the cataclysmic combustion following Crapdiff... Lee Johnson publicly throwing players under the bus to save his own skin; being treated like a fool by Mark Ashton; and Steve Lansdown's line about how big his wallet is versus us fans, doesn't go down as a good season for me.

In 28 years of following/supporting City, I've never felt so disconnected to the club as I do now.

[italian dave]

3 minutes ago, Super said:

You have listed 8 league games out of 45.

Just the best 8 though!!

 

[The Nest Egg]

I think it's been an appalling season and our recent results (with the exception of the Brighton game) were the bare minimum of what I would have expected. We spent £15m and here we are next to the teams that are either in transfer embargoes or are far too small for this level. There were occasional highlights, no doubt, but this club was an embarrassment to support for most of the season to the point where I had become completely apathetic about results and only checked OTIB to see if LJ had been sacked. That does not equal a good season in any way whatsoever

[Major Isewater]

Yes it has been awful , in as much as so much promise just ended up in a relegation battle .

We blew the very real chance of a play off place that most clubs with Tammy in their forward line would have taken .

With the massive investment in the club there is no way that we should have been in the mess we were .

This is one of the biggest let downs of a season ever at Ashton Gate.

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

I wasn't really thinking of the off the field fuckups tbh,but good point well made.

I've supported since 1998/99. In that time this by my standard and memories isn't too bad a season. I remember 8 years to get out of that god awful division first time around. Super- I would say a fair few of the League games were indifferent as opposed to real terrible lows.

For me this is when taking into account division and weighting everything, this is better than Benny relegation, Pulis, the near misses under Wilson (though there were some good times under him), the Tinman era, the Millen/McInnes/O'Driscoll. Better than last season as well?

Major- other sides spent money as well, I do think Tammy was a bit of a golden ticket potential though. We have a midtable or lower midtable budget I think and we may finish 15th. Not saying it's great just that it may not be a disaster- 19th would certainly be below par though.

[Bar BS3]

8 minutes ago, Super said:

You have listed 8 league games out of 45.

That's ironic!, when some just can't see past 8 other games and choose to focus purely on them, despite other parts of the season which were, no doubt, very encouraging.  

[Bat Fastard]

19 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

This maybe an unpopular view that goes against the grain but...this season, has it been that bad really?

We had a very bad patch- thinking especially the 11 losses in 12 which included the 8 losses on the spin and yes that made history for all the wrong reasons but- provided we win Sunday and perhaps rise a place 2 in the final standings. Has this season been so bad?

Positives:

• Saturday- how The Game in the Times reckoned Birmingham's win over Huddersfield who rested 10 was performance of weekend in Championship I do not know, ours clearly was. Regardless, to win at Brighton on their Championship party was fantastic.
• 3-1 v Villa
• 4-0 at Fulham
• 4-0 v Huddersfield
• Newcastle away
• A decent cup run while we are at this level the first time in some while- unlike past Cup runs it was a good Cup run in the 2nd tier which we have not done much of in past 2nd tier seasons.
• The fact we brought in quite a few younger players- a season of churn isn't necessarily easy to manage. Seen some of them begin to flourish or show signs of strong promise too- Brownhill for one. Paterson has started to flourish as well at this latter stage of the season.
• Average attendances highest in a generation- indeed I think Newcastle at home was the highest since the top flight?

Honourable mentions:

• Leeds at home
• Derby away
• Beating Hollowhead!
• Beating Fulham away in the Cup- given their home record, winning there twice in 2 games is decent.
• Though it is already sort of covered in some of the above, the 2nd half comebacks- rallies, especially in the last half hours were quite thrilling in the first third of the season IMO

I know there were many lows, not least the 11 losses in 12, which encompassed the 8 game losing streak, the whole LJ erratic selection, late goals and the Fulham and Burton home games in particular- we were put through the mill to say the least! Not saying is a stellar season by any means but looking back at it we've had quite a few memorable moments despite everything and I firmly believe this squad has its better days ahead of them.

Spot on - a great post!

[glynriley]

26 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

This maybe an unpopular view that goes against the grain but...this season, has it been that bad really?

We had a very bad patch- thinking especially the 11 losses in 12 which included the 8 losses on the spin and yes that made history for all the wrong reasons but- provided we win Sunday and perhaps rise a place 2 in the final standings. Has this season been so bad?

Positives:

• Saturday- how The Game in the Times reckoned Birmingham's win over Huddersfield who rested 10 was performance of weekend in Championship I do not know, ours clearly was. Regardless, to win at Brighton on their Championship party was fantastic.
• 3-1 v Villa
• 4-0 at Fulham
• 4-0 v Huddersfield
• Newcastle away
• A decent cup run while we are at this level the first time in some while- unlike past Cup runs it was a good Cup run in the 2nd tier which we have not done much of in past 2nd tier seasons.
• The fact we brought in quite a few younger players- a season of churn isn't necessarily easy to manage. Seen some of them begin to flourish or show signs of strong promise too- Brownhill for one. Paterson has started to flourish as well at this latter stage of the season.
• Average attendances highest in a generation- indeed I think Newcastle at home was the highest since the top flight?

Honourable mentions:

• Leeds at home
• Derby away
• Beating Hollowhead!
• Beating Fulham away in the Cup- given their home record, winning there twice in 2 games is decent.
• Though it is already sort of covered in some of the above, the 2nd half comebacks- rallies, especially in the last half hours were quite thrilling in the first third of the season IMO

I know there were many lows, not least the 11 losses in 12, which encompassed the 8 game losing streak, the whole LJ erratic selection, late goals and the Fulham and Burton home games in particular- we were put through the mill to say the least! Not saying is a stellar season by any means but looking back at it we've had quite a few memorable moments despite everything and I firmly believe this squad has its better days ahead of them.

Positive - Newcastle away? We threw away a 2 goal lead.

Honourable mention - Derby away? We threw away a 3 goal lead.

I suppose if you're looking at results like those as positives, we've had a great season!!

[Super]

Cardiff A, QPR A, Birmingham A, Brentford H, PNE H, Wolves A, Ipswich A, Reading H, Cardiff H, Forest A, Leeds A, Fulham H, Villa A, Burton H, Brentford A, PNE A.

 

 

[italian dave]

You may well be right that it will be an unpopular view, but I also think you're right that there were a lot of positives.

Add to those you listed already, a brand new stadium (easy to forget that) which has some excellent facilities. And a multi million ££ transfer surplus. Both massive steps forward for the club. As SL keeps reminding us he, and his money, won't be here for ever.

I think the fact that our results were so polarised didn't help. Brilliant start. Awful middle. Brilliant end. And the brilliant start gave us totally unrealistic expectations. I don't buy the argument that with Tammy's goals we had the divine right to be top 6. No one argued that about Kodjia's goals last season. Granted, without them we'd have been stuffed, but that's a different matter. My view of Tammy is that, regardless of our position, it's just been a pleasure (and another positive of the season) to be able to watch him every week, such a breath of fresh air as a character and a great talent. And our part in his development as a player.

And another plus for me, which will probably be even less popular than your original post, is that we've managed to sustain some consistency in our management. I know there are some who wouldn't believe LJ if he said 1 plus 1 makes 2, but I actually believe him when he says that he and his team have learnt big lessons this season and I think, and hope I'm right, that will make home stronger and a better manager going forward. The last thing we need now is more upheaval.

so, yes, glass half full for me too!

[Mr Popodopolous]

Just now, glynriley said:

Positive - Newcastle away? We through away a 2 goal lead.

Honourable mention - Derby away? We through away a 3 goal lead.

I suppose if you're looking at results like those as positives, we've had a great season!!

Derby have a strong old home record, Newcastle may yet win the title. Threw away a 2 goal lead? They turned around quite a lot from losing positions, teams with that quality that this level will do. First half at Derby then maybe, half an honourable mention- draw at Newcastle though is a good result, especially given all the misgivings about our prospects there pre game. We should have beat Derby for sure, a point at Newcastle is a good result though in any case.

Newcastle scored twice in the last 10 at Brighton to win the game after they pegged us back! They will do this to teams,  away to a Brighton who may well end up Champions.

I think if you were to ask fans of other clubs they would see our season as not too awful. Mind you they would also doubtless have concured that we should have sacked LJ.

[supercidered]

In my view yes, it has been really that bad this season.

I can cope with City being not very good coz lets face it there are usually more bad times than good supporting City. What I really struggled with is having a pretty good squad in my opinion being wasted on a coaching team that seemed clueless at times. I felt like we as fans were treated like mushrooms for long periods of the season and almost alienated as fans of the club I love.

SL stated that 'it would go down to the wire' but we would stay up. True enough but that just isn't good enough. I'm now just relieved that the relegation fight is over and just hope we have a good summer. If we don't recruit right its going to be more of the same next season and that is going to mean more pain and dreading match day!

[italian dave]

Just now, Super said:

Cardiff A, QPR A, Birmingham A, Brentford H, PNE H, Wolves A, Ipswich A, Reading H, Cardiff H, Forest A, Leeds A, Fulham H, Villa A, Burton H, Brentford A, PNE A.

 

 

Are the fixtures out already??!!!!

Actually, Brum away was a very good performance and we really didn't deserve that result, not helped by a shocking refereeing decision when we were about to bang in what would have been the winner!!

[glynriley]

3 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Derby have a strong old home record, Newcastle may yet win the title. Threw away a 2 goal lead? They turned around quite a lot from losing positions, teams with that quality that this level will do. First half at Derby then maybe, half an honourable mention- draw at Newcastle though is a good result, especially given all the misgivings about our prospects there pre game. We should have beat Derby for sure, a point at Newcastle is a good result though in any case.

Newcastle scored twice in the last 10 at Brighton to win the game after they pegged us back! They will do this to teams,  away to a Brighton who may well end up Champions.

I think if you were to ask fans of other clubs they would see our season as not too awful. Mind you they would also doubtless have concured that we should have sacked LJ.

Maybe if they looked only at the table.

If they looked a bit deeper and saw we'd lost 11 in 12 at one point. Lost games against Sheff Weds after being 2 up, Cardiff at home late on after leading, Reading at home after being 2 up plus the 2 drawn games I've mentioned above, I think most people would say our season was bang average (at best).

[Akira]

Genuinely gobsmacked at what I've just read.

So we're now safe in the league for another season... And suddenly because of that, it's been a good season? 

The performances on and off the field have been embarrassing. The disconnect most fans have felt this season has been like no other. Keeping a unproven guy in charge, risking the status of OUR club, because he's a mate of the owner, is beyond a joke. 

We've blown a real good opportunity to capitalise on having Tammy here, the likes we may not see again down here for a long time. 

This season has been a total disaster and I firmly lay the blame at LJ and SL's door. The board are weak and clearly have no say. 

And some think we've have a decent season, beggars belief, it really is. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

15 minutes ago, Super said:

Cardiff A, QPR A, Birmingham A, Brentford H, PNE H, Wolves A, Ipswich A, Reading H, Cardiff H, Forest A, Leeds A, Fulham H, Villa A, Burton H, Brentford A, PNE A.

 

 

Cardiff and QPR away I will give you though Warnock's first game couldn't have come at a worse time for us!. Birmingham away were near the play offs and we could have got a draw there so result disappointing, performance perhaps not awful, Brentford and Preston at home with better finishing could have got a draw apiece but poor results, Wolves away I will give you, Ipswich away I will give you, Reading and Cardiff and Forest I will absolutely give you, Leeds away- let's not forget they are riding near top 6 and yet had we not hit woodwork we would have got a point, Fulham at home yes I will give you but they have been on fire so there's a bit of that too- look at their form! Burton yes and no...yes as we should have won, missed some huge chances but Burton have taken points from quite a few top sides this season as well, Brentford away- they have been thumping sides at home lately but was still hopeful of a point there, Preston away was a shocker no two ways absolutely no two ways!

I think, that if we look at us in isolation then yes that list looks terrible, if we look at the sides we were playing and the form they were in it looks average to lower than average rather than terrible.

For the record, as a case in point a quick search of Brentford's home form since end of Jan is:

3-0 v Villa, 3-3 v Brighton, 4-2 v Rotherham, 0-1 v Hudds, 1-2 v Wolves, 2-0 v us, 2-0 v Leeds, 4-0 v Derby and 3-1 v QPR so a point over there would have been a fair return IMO.

Fulham in recent times on the road have won 4-1 at Huddersfield, 3-1 at Newcastle, 3-1 at Norwich so in that context, was our defeat such a huge shock?

[Shtanley]

People are certainly overreacting to this season. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 minute ago, Akira said:

Genuinely gobsmacked at what I've just read.

So we're now safe in the league for another season... And suddenly because of that, it's been a good season? 

The performances on and off the field have been embarrassing. The disconnect most fans have felt this season has been like no other. Keeping a unproven guy in charge, risking the status of OUR club, because he's a mate of the owner, is beyond a joke. 

We've blown a real good opportunity to capitalise on having Tammy here, the likes we may not see again down here for a long time. 

This season has been a total disaster and I firmly lay the blame at LJ and SL's door. The board are weak and clearly have no say. 

And some think we've have a decent season, beggars belief, it really is. 

Good season? Not particularly- disastrous season- not particularly.

@glynriley That's what I am saying it's average season, not terrible, not great.Not a true disaster though.

[1bristolcity]

4 minutes ago, Thatch35 said:

Shocking season, shocking decisions, shocking waste of money on some signings, shocking tactics, shocking team changes, shocking treatment of players, shocking blame on players, shocking disappointment from early positives, shocking management interviews, shocked to be in a relegation fight, shocked city only just survived, shocked at beating brighton (:laugh:), all round shocking period, shocked City have worse ever manager still in charge, shocked LJ is a job, just shocking.

LJ out.

Shocked you are still City,you come back with all this negative just after the biggest win of the season, and a great run in, go stick your tongue in a socket, that's shocking.

[winterbournered]

Personally, it was exactly how I expected it to be. 

We're going to finish where our wage bill against the others would put us. An inexperienced manager and squad, was always going to be some inconsistencies. Hopefully strengthen some more in the summer and I think the aim for next season is to target a top 12/10 finish. 

[Aberdeen Pete's Dad]

Definitely NOT an awful sesons

Awful seasons were 1960, 1963, 1980 1981 1982 1983 1995 1999 2013

some people have unrealistic expectations., although it is good to be ambitious.

yes, we have spent a lot on new players, but we received even more on outgoing transfers

unfortunately the majority of our competitors have also spent a lot on new players

many ups and downs, but in the end an average season

historically we are about the 17th biggest club in the division, which is about where we will end up

an average season

[Akira]

5 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Good season? Not particularly- disastrous season- not particularly.

@glynriley That's what I am saying it's average season, not terrible, not great.Not a true disaster though.

You don't think it's been terrible? I'm sorry, but what utter tosh. 

Your opinion of course, I just absolutely cannot agree. I can't fathom out how some supporters even have this opinion of this season? Why are we settling for mediocre? 

Season has been dire. We've blown insane amounts of money had worst run in our history, performances have been shocking,and yet it STILL hasn't been terrible? 

If it wasn't for our striker in on loan, we'd have been relegated. For me, I just don't trust LJ to bring in the right players, to be able to get them playing decent football, I don't see him attracting the best players we could get. 

But who knows. Maybe he will. But from what I've seen this season, I've seen enough to lead me to those conclusions.

[Robin1988]

People who say "This is the worst season I can remember", or "I've never felt so distant from my club", etc. etc. always seem to have short memories, but it's the kind of thing you hear trotted out every time things go a little south.

If you can honestly explain why this is worse than when we finished bottom of the league under a mumbling Brummie with a bunch of overpaid tossers who generally couldn't give a damn about the club (looking at you Pearson, Foster, Davies, Bates, Fontaine, Howard and Kilkenny) and precious little hope for the future then fine but it'll take some doing.

SL has come out with some absolute tripe in recent weeks but the players on the pitch care about doing well for this club. That's way more important surely?

[reddogkev]

1 minute ago, Thatch35 said:

Wake up, wake up. City just survived this season - says it all. LJ out. Thought it was Europe  in 4 years?

You've hated LJ since day 1 - you're infamous for it, therefor anything you say is tainted by your loathing for Lee.

We can all agree that we're disappointed with this season, and our expectations were far higher (perhaps too high) but the main thing is, we're still in the league, and realistically we have never looked in real danger of being relegated at any stage this year.

[Mr Popodopolous]

9 minutes ago, Akira said:

You don't think it's been terrible? I'm sorry, but what utter tosh. 

Your opinion of course, I just absolutely cannot agree. I can't fathom out how some supporters even have this opinion of this season? Why are we settling for mediocre? 

Season has been dire. We've blown insane amounts of money had worst run in our history, performances have been shocking,and yet it STILL hasn't been terrible? 

If it wasn't for our striker in on loan, we'd have been relegated. For me, I just don't trust LJ to bring in the right players, to be able to get them playing decent football, I don't see him attracting the best players we could get. 

But who knows. Maybe he will. But from what I've seen this season, I've seen enough to lead me to those conclusions.

I've supported since 1998/99 and seen 10 seasons in League One vs the likes of Chesterfield, Oldham and many more clubs like that so for me in a historic context it's not so bad. I also saw Benny relegate us and the slow painful decline from top 10 in 09/10 to relegation by a street after Coppell walked and in that timeframe we had got worse and worse under Millen, McInnes  and S'OD- the rot only stopped when we sacked S'OD in late 2013! So for me it's not too bad in my own experience.

I think next season will be better personally, not enormously so but better. If we are struggling come October November then LJ will surely have to go.

Funny how you should say that about LJ and players- according to Sky Saturday he made a presentation to Chelsea about Tammy and they were very impressed. It's common knowledge of course but maybe that will work in our favour.

I'm taking a wait and see approach. If LJ has learnt from the bad times this season he and we could come out quite stronger.

The points about Lansdown- yes some of the things he has said have alienated. I remember being pretty annoyed earlier in the season to say the least, like many people were but he's never been good with the media. I never remember him being good with the media, the spotlight.

[Dynamite Red]

Some have very short memories we have slightly underperformed but been woeful in a lot of games. Forgetting the results, for me worse was the constant changing of playing styles, regressive tactics, constant tinkering of tactics and personnel, handling of players, scatter gun transfer policy with a record budget spent.

I will give LJ a bug credit for turning it around against all odds because we were all at sea.

Let's not gloss over what has largely been a very inconsistant season. Many City fans I speak to still want him gone so there will be no let up next season. The start of next season for him is huge for him, let's hope he has learnt from this season and continues with a stable team, shape and playing style. Everyone wants the club to be successful so let's hope LJ is the man to bring it here.

[East End Old Boy]

50 minutes ago, Super said:

Cardiff A, QPR A, Birmingham A, Brentford H, PNE H, Wolves A, Ipswich A, Reading H, Cardiff H, Forest A, Leeds A, Fulham H, Villa A, Burton H, Brentford A, PNE A.

 

 

Please Super, I've only just got over having nightmares!