Official retraction of Saturday's match report

[Esmond Million's Bung]

Just now, Portland Bill said:

Possibly......... because early indications show that our manager hasn't learned a lot from last season, two away games, two leads thrown away already. Last season away games replicated.

Its not posters posting stuff which is the problem, it's what they are seeing on the football pitch that is, we cannot continue throwing away leads in away games.

You are correct but sadly instead of some posters looking at areas that need improving and the old problems of last season still being evident 3 games in, they are just focusing on the points gained.

The same people said exactly the same last season, with our good start although some of us said we will eventually get found out and we did big style, some off us can see the same old same old already and happen to think if not properly addressed we will struggle once more and that is just not acceptable.

[Kid in the Riot]

4 minutes ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

I agree about Diedhiou, but that does not account for his woeful first touch and poor decision making when he did have the ball last night, that really does need to improve.

Well, it could do. I haven't seen enough of him to pass judgement but if you are hardly seeing any of the ball all game and watching your side struggle generally it can be disheartening and his play could be effected as a result. If, in 10 games or whatever he's seeing plenty of the ball and his touch/decision making is still poor then fair enough...I'm at the Millwall game Saturday and I'm sure I'll be able to form a better judgement of him then. My only real initial thought on him is what a beast he is, huge bloke.

[exAtyeoMax]

36 minutes ago, chipdawg said:

My original post was facetious and there are undoubtedly areas of concern, but the point is that you can't draw any conclusions 3 games into a season where teams have yet to complete their squads. Cardiff and Ipswich have won all their games so far, do you think they're likely to challenge for the title? Villa, Norwich and Wednesday have yet to win- do you think they'll be relegated? The only conclusion that can be drawn at this point is that it's impossible to draw any conclusions. I'm dubious as to whether LJ has the nous to get us promoted, but I very much want him to succeed and I'm prepared to give him more than 270 minutes to prove it

I guess the biggest difference is that most on here have actually watched the games and are drawing their conclusions from that, and not just looking at results.

[Esmond Million's Bung]

4 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Well, it could do. I haven't seen enough of him to pass judgement but if you are hardly seeing any of the ball all game and watching your side struggle generally it can be disheartening and his play could be effected as a result. If, in 10 games or whatever he's seeing plenty of the ball and his touch/decision making is still poor then fair enough...I'm at the Millwall game Saturday and I'm sure I'll be able to form a better judgement of him then. My only real initial thought on him is what a beast he is, huge bloke.

And I agree but last night he did seem to be eased off of the ball without much problem and the ball never stuck to him easing the pressure on midfield and the defence.

I am not making a judgement but he needs to be certainly stronger than he was last night and improve his first touch.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

2 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

I for one am taking Ole's posts very seriously. Last seasons away form was abysmal and I was seriously hoping the manager would have worked out a different tactical plan for this seasons away game approach.

Alas it seems he hasn't learned ( or incapable of changing) anything.

Ole clearly knows the game, he called last season very early for what it turned out to be, he and a lot of us weren't fooled by a decent early points tally last season. 

Perhaps you should take note of what knowledgeable football fans are saying, two away games, two managers totally outwitting ours.....again.

All about the manager again.  Nothing about the players, so presumably you see them as helpless pawns in all this?

[JoeAman08]

15 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

Possibly......... because early indications show that our manager hasn't learned a lot from last season, two away games, two leads thrown away already. Last season away games replicated.

Its not posters posting stuff which is the problem, it's what they are seeing on the football pitch that is, we cannot continue throwing away leads in away games.

Like I've said it's not an invalid point I'm only saying it's been 2 games against recently tough teams to beat at their place. One of which we play very well in and should've been out of sight by HT. Its been a mixed bag for sure but it's still only mid August. By all means give your opinions but I don't think we can conclusively say it's the same old same old from last season because of two away matches. Early signs so far still point to a young hungry and attacking team. This won't always work as we saw last night but through 3 games we are on pace for 61-62 points which I think most here would take. Let's just take it easy for another 2 months and see where we are mid October after the window is closed and new faces bed in more. That's all I'm saying. It's fine pointing it out but let's ease the concern a bit is my opinion on it. More to see first 

[054123]

I love the way the clock is continually reset to suit.

We won promotion 3 seasons ago now, that's a pretty big body of work to assess.  How would you describe it?

[Red Cloud]

10 hours ago, leadman said:

if you ever write a book, I will be buying that bitch

If only LJ read Ole's posts!

[Portland Bill]

3 hours ago, pongo88 said:

We played well for 45 minutes and Ok for 45 minutes in the first match. Played well for 45 minutes and badly for 45 minutes in the second. Played well for 5 minutes (being generous) and were non existent for 85 minutes in the third.  The conclusions I'd draw are City are currently incapable of consistently playing at a standard required to avoid another relegation fight, LJ is incapable of changing the rabbit in the headlights image when things go wrong, and the summer signings haven't really strengthened the team. Only 3 matches into the season, so a bit early perhaps, but after last season a bit worrying

TBH I'm not concerned about us at home, we will always win a few and lose a few.

Away from home is different, lose loads, win every 6 months. 

LJ has a very serious situation now, he has failed miserably away from home since becoming our manager, unless he comes up with an answer soon he is going to be under constant pressure.

[BCFC_Dan]

Seems like we can do pretty well when our midfield can press, harry and dominate the opposition, and we're pretty hopeless when they can't.

In both the last 2 games we've started well but then the opposition midfield has got a grip on the game and suddenly we're not pressing them, we're not passing, we're just booting the ball up to Diedhiou, which is fine until he gets tired after an hour and can't hold it up any more.

Johnson needs to work out how to deal with that and pretty quickly. I'm not sure we can do it with a 2 man midfield, 2 wingers and Bobby Reid up front. Another body needs to come into the midfield somehow and that's going to mean losing one of the attacking players.

Once Diedhiou is up to speed fitness-wise, and / or Đurić is back, we'll be better able to cope with not dominating the midfield. I think we'd have won last night if we'd had Đurić available (though I wasn't there and I realise Brentford created a *lot* of chances). Until that happens we need to think about sacrificing attacking capability for a measure of control sometimes. We're trying to be a possession-based team without sufficient capability to win and retain possession.

[Numero Uno]

2 hours ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

All about the manager again.  Nothing about the players, so presumably you see them as helpless pawns in all this?

A number of players were playing very poorly in that first half and no doubt failing to do what LJ would have asked of them. My issue with last night is, given what we could all see happening, why did we wait a further 25 minutes to try and rectify the issues? Our initial second half game plan seemed to be "we can't be that bad again"!!

[Olé]

3 hours ago, JoeAman08 said:

you get why people take some offence when the title of the thread is to the effect of retracting saturdays report

Clickbait. 

In all seriousness, while the title was more forthright than the report, I was trying to provide a deliberate jolt. There is no point me talking about good omens on Saturday and arguing that we've really progressed from last season, for us to play a game three days later where tactically we're so limited and exhibit many familiar failings. 

Of course I don't really think we can draw conclusions simply from yesterday anymore than I really did from Saturday, but if I'm to stick my neck out over Saturday I don't think it's unreasonable to re-calibrate expectations quickly. It's not simply the ebb and flow of a mid-table side, last night re-framed how well developed tactically we are.

And by that I mean: we all suffered last season (whatever your view of the team and LJ) and yes 10 games or October will be a real point of assessment, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who is already looking for signals as to how this team has developed over last season - because improvement was so glaringly absent last season.

On Saturday we got positive evidence - not for the first time this season - that there is more understanding, speed of thought and movement. Great! But I did leave the door ajar that my praise was in spite of tactical failure in the second half. For us to repeat that same naivety the following game, is an equally significant negative signal.

We have to continue interpreting these signs until we can adequately assess the team and managers progress. Lots of great replies on this thread and I agree with most of it. This theme about the time at which it is right to take stock of progress is interesting to me: besides points/position, what other KPIs* are you actually looking for?

*Key Performance Indicators

[Red Exile]

I'm not sure it's an easily measurable KPI but what I've not seen in a long time is a sequence of solid 90 minute performances. That's what would convince me that Lee Johnson has it to manage at this level. By that I don't mean 4-0 wins, I mean a run of matches in which we put out a side that can effectively compete with the opposition, that goes about its business with assurance, and that is subtly but effectively tweaked by the managerial team to react to what the opposition does. We've seen far too many Jekyll and Hyde, 45 minutes of this and 45 of something completely different, in the past 18 months. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, BCFC_Dan said:

Seems like we can do pretty well when our midfield can press, harry and dominate the opposition, and we're pretty hopeless when they can't.

In both the last 2 games we've started well but then the opposition midfield has got a grip on the game and suddenly we're not pressing them, we're not passing, we're just booting the ball up to Diedhiou, which is fine until he gets tired after an hour and can't hold it up any more.

Johnson needs to work out how to deal with that and pretty quickly. I'm not sure we can do it with a 2 man midfield, 2 wingers and Bobby Reid up front. Another body needs to come into the midfield somehow and that's going to mean losing one of the attacking players.

Once Diedhiou is up to speed fitness-wise, and / or Đurić is back, we'll be better able to cope with not dominating the midfield. I think we'd have won last night if we'd had Đurić available (though I wasn't there and I realise Brentford created a *lot* of chances). Until that happens we need to think about sacrificing attacking capability for a measure of control sometimes. We're trying to be a possession-based team without sufficient capability to win and retain possession.

Tend to agree with this post.

A possible solution would come through training in Plans A and B I think...that and more proactive substitutions and tweaking of shape.

Unfortunately, the Plan A, Plan B idea would take months of training and we don't have that time! The increased proactivity though, well it should start Saturday and really should have started a while ago.

[JoeAman08]

39 minutes ago, Olé said:

Clickbait. 

In all seriousness, while the title was more forthright than the report, I was trying to provide a deliberate jolt. There is no point me talking about good omens on Saturday and arguing that we've really progressed from last season, for us to play a game three days later where tactically we're so limited and exhibit many familiar failings. 

Of course I don't really think we can draw conclusions simply from yesterday anymore than I really did from Saturday, but if I'm to stick my neck out over Saturday I don't think it's unreasonable to re-calibrate expectations quickly. It's not simply the ebb and flow of a mid-table side, last night re-framed how well developed tactically we are.

And by that I mean: we all suffered last season (whatever your view of the team and LJ) and yes 10 games or October will be a real point of assessment, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who is already looking for signals as to how this team has developed over last season - because improvement was so glaringly absent last season.

On Saturday we got positive evidence - not for the first time this season - that there is more understanding, speed of thought and movement. Great! But I did leave the door ajar that my praise was in spite of tactical failure in the second half. For us to repeat that same naivety the following game, is an equally significant negative signal.

We have to continue interpreting these signs until we can adequately assess the team and managers progress. Lots of great replies on this thread and I agree with most of it. This theme about the time at which it is right to take stock of progress is interesting to me: besides points/position, what other KPIs* are you actually looking for?

*Key Performance Indicators

Your write ups are great. No doubt about that and as with last season I'm sure we will be able to go back to your early season reports and see that you've spotted these things. Fair play to you and why I read you reports every week. I just feel it helps feed the knee jerk reactions on here. I doubt it matters too much but could make a few negative about Saturday and it goes from there. Not your problem at all just wanted to bring a little perspective to the post. There are definitely things that LJ and the squad need to fix and some of those stem back to last season just think the good we've seen so far this year outweighs the bad so far and there is still reason to be optimistic about having a "safe" season comfortably ahead of the relegation spots almost all season. 

[JoeAman08]

3 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Tend to agree with this post.

A possible solution would come through training in Plans A and B I think...that and more proactive substitutions and tweaking of shape.

Unfortunately, the Plan A, Plan B idea would take months of training and we don't have that time! The increased proactivity though, well it should start Saturday and really should have started a while ago.

I think a big problem here is the lack of options we have in central midfield. It's basically Pack and Smith. Hegeler didn't look nearly as comfortable there last season. GON I'm not sure is up to the level anymore to be honest. Not for large spells anyway. I alluded to it before perhaps LJ didn't think he could go 45 minutes at the pace of the game. So all that said we don't have a plan B or C for those positions. I hope we are in the market for one or that Eliasson takes over for Brownhill and it pushes Brownhill as an option in the middle. We still probably don't have the best squad depth but I like our first 13-14. Just need a bit more off the bench. Also, some fatigue could've shown last night. 4 games in 2 weeks early in the season with said limited depth. 

[EmersonsRed]

Our team selection was wrong last night, said it the second it was announced. We were always going to get popped about and taught a lesson. Unsure why we didn't drop another in, it was an LJ error and showed tactical nativity - especially given how highly he spoke of them after the game. But we got a point, so happy days  

[EmersonsRed]

1 minute ago, JoeAman08 said:

I think a big problem here is the lack of options we have in central midfield. It's basically Pack and Smith. Hegeler didn't look nearly as comfortable there last season. GON I'm not sure is up to the level anymore to be honest. Not for large spells anyway. I alluded to it before perhaps LJ didn't think he could go 45 minutes at the pace of the game. So all that said we don't have a plan B or C for those positions. I hope we are in the market for one or that Eliasson takes over for Brownhill and it pushes Brownhill as an option in the middle. We still probably don't have the best squad depth but I like our first 13-14. Just need a bit more off the bench. Also, some fatigue could've shown last night. 4 games in 2 weeks early in the season with said limited depth. 

I agree with this but our second goal was all him. Everyone lost their marbles moaning about the handball but he remained composed, didn't chase the ref, played the pass out wide. Thank god.

[Mr Popodopolous]

8 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said:

I think a big problem here is the lack of options we have in central midfield. It's basically Pack and Smith. Hegeler didn't look nearly as comfortable there last season. GON I'm not sure is up to the level anymore to be honest. Not for large spells anyway. I alluded to it before perhaps LJ didn't think he could go 45 minutes at the pace of the game. So all that said we don't have a plan B or C for those positions. I hope we are in the market for one or that Eliasson takes over for Brownhill and it pushes Brownhill as an option in the middle. We still probably don't have the best squad depth but I like our first 13-14. Just need a bit more off the bench. Also, some fatigue could've shown last night. 4 games in 2 weeks early in the season with said limited depth. 

I think Hegeler in a midfield 3 would be useful or at least worth a proper crack.

Make you right about a lack of Plans B & C however. Fatigue can play a part too, especially with such a high tempo style. Depth is a hard one to gauge, certainly think we have a better balanced squad than recent times though.

I still think what maybe worth a crack- for the sake of balance though my views are shifting a bit with Pack's good start.

Brownhill Hegeler Smith

Would be loathe to drop Pack though, or Reid. I think energy of Brownhill, slowing tempo down, dropping in front of back 4 when needs be ability of Hegeler and the driving force that is Smith would be an interesting mix. Creates dilemmas in other areas though...

[Red Exile]

8 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said:

Your write ups are great. No doubt about that and as with last season I'm sure we will be able to go back to your early season reports and see that you've spotted these things. Fair play to you and why I read you reports every week. I just feel it helps feed the knee jerk reactions on here. I doubt it matters too much but could make a few negative about Saturday and it goes from there. Not your problem at all just wanted to bring a little perspective to the post. There are definitely things that LJ and the squad need to fix and some of those stem back to last season just think the good we've seen so far this year outweighs the bad so far and there is still reason to be optimistic about having a "safe" season comfortably ahead of the relegation spots almost all season. 

I think the problem we have here Joe...the worm eating away at the OTIB apple...is that the reactions on here aren't all that "knee-jerk". The people who don't rate Lee Johnson haven't seen anything that changes their perspective, some are more vocal than others. Personally I fail to see why anyone thinks he's the manager we need, he simply lacks the experience we need, but that's not a knee-jerk thought, I've been consistent in my lack of enthusiasm for him and his regime for the past 9 months or so, it'll take a lot to change that now. That said I've nothing against him personally and I'd love to see the club get back on its feet at this level this season, and unimpressed as I am with LJ I'm no less enthusiastic in my support of the team!

[JoeAman08]

40 minutes ago, EmersonsRed said:

I agree with this but our second goal was all him. Everyone lost their marbles moaning about the handball but he remained composed, didn't chase the ref, played the pass out wide. Thank god.

I still think he can useful but I'm not sure he could've effected the game the whole 45 minutes or maybe I'm selling him short. My wording was probably harsh tbf. Just think he's a last 20 min sub to see out games. Which is fine but he's older and the league is only getting tougher and quicker. 

[JoeAman08]

29 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

I think the problem we have here Joe...the worm eating away at the OTIB apple...is that the reactions on here aren't all that "knee-jerk". The people who don't rate Lee Johnson haven't seen anything that changes their perspective, some are more vocal than others. Personally I fail to see why anyone thinks he's the manager we need, he simply lacks the experience we need, but that's not a knee-jerk thought, I've been consistent in my lack of enthusiasm for him and his regime for the past 9 months or so, it'll take a lot to change that now. That said I've nothing against him personally and I'd love to see the club get back on its feet at this level this season, and unimpressed as I am with LJ I'm no less enthusiastic in my support of the team!

I think LJ has brought on criticism so I get that part of it. Just think some have made their minds up that he'll never be good enough. Which he may never be but that's part of my 10-12 games saying. I've seen signs of change end of last season and start of this. We can be more effective but true enough he gets out coached more often than not. If we are still losing leads by mid to late October and are in that relegation area then I might just be there with you. As for now, he's here and doesn't appear to be going anywhere. I think he's done ok developing players(some better than others). He can make good decisions tactically. I just want to keep seeing improvement and 3 games isn't enough for me to judge. 

I get he's not a fan favourite I just don't think it does any good having a negative section of fans so early in the season. 

[Red Exile]

1 minute ago, JoeAman08 said:

I think LJ has brought on criticism so I get that part of it. Just think some have made their minds up that he'll never be good enough. Which he may never be but that's part of my 10-12 games saying. I've seen signs of change end of last season and start of this. We can be more effective but true enough he gets out coached more often than not. If we are still losing leads by mid to late October and are in that relegation area then I might just be there with you. As for now, he's here and doesn't appear to be going anywhere. I think he's done ok developing players(some better than others). He can make good decisions tactically. I just want to keep seeing improvement and 3 games isn't enough for me to judge. 

I get he's not a fan favourite I just don't think it does any good having a negative section of fans so early in the season. 

The encouraging thing...thinking of unpopular managers in past eras...is that whatever people might say on here the vocal support for the club has been excellent throughout. I'll be very surprised if he turns out to be the triumphant Championship leader that we'd all like the club to have in the near future...but if he does I'll be very happy to admit that I underestimated him.

[robc]

I was at the game last night and I think Ole's analysis is absolutely spot on. As Dean Smith said too, City were outclassed for most of the game and it was ludicrous for our manager to claim that we deserved a point. There were a few under-performers in our team but for the most part it was the formation that we played that was responsible.

It was obvious to all in my immediate circle as we sat watching the game that City were going to concede a goal given the amount of pressure that we were under, and it was a miracle that we got to the interval holding on to our lead. We all thought that Johnson would make changes at half time to address the fact that we were being overrun in midfield but not a bit of it. Instead the onslaught continued and only when we had conceded and looked ready to fold did he bring on his first subs. Whoever would have thought that Bobby Reid would be our lone striker for 10 minutes? Extraordinary as that was, we then an 18 year old making his debut to beef up our attack as we had by then gone 2-1 down. Credit to the boys that they equalised but only because Brentford retreated and got nervous. On another day, and without an inspired Frankie, despite his appalling distribution, we would have been thrashed.

For me, it was another completely clueless performance by the manager. As others have said, we still do not appear to have a Plan B. Lee J has never resolved the dilemma of how to play 3 in midfield. It cost us the services of Lee Tomlin in my view. I personally would have thought it was worthwhile considering playing 3-5-2 it at times away from home in particular especially given that we have now got 4 or 5 decent centre-backs.  I understand that the criticism of this system is that it leaves you vulnerable down the flanks but I've never understood why when you play 3-5-2 both wing backs have to be up field at the same time? Surely if only one goes forward, the remaining four defenders can adjust themselves across the pitch accordingly?

Whatever, unless our manager can find a way to organise the team to respond effectively against the sort of onslaught they faced last night I have no confidence at all that we are not in for another relegation fight. Lee Johnson must get a whole let better at responding to the game unfolding in front of him. Other managers seem a whole lot better at it - consider Redknapp against us.

[cheshire_red]

Haven't seen any individual criticism or blame levelled at the players yet so that is hopefully one aspect of management learnt

[Portland Bill]

9 hours ago, JoeAman08 said:

Like I've said it's not an invalid point I'm only saying it's been 2 games against recently tough teams to beat at their place. One of which we play very well in and should've been out of sight by HT. Its been a mixed bag for sure but it's still only mid August. By all means give your opinions but I don't think we can conclusively say it's the same old same old from last season because of two away matches. Early signs so far still point to a young hungry and attacking team. This won't always work as we saw last night but through 3 games we are on pace for 61-62 points which I think most here would take. Let's just take it easy for another 2 months and see where we are mid October after the window is closed and new faces bed in more. That's all I'm saying. It's fine pointing it out but let's ease the concern a bit is my opinion on it. More to see first 

That's fair enough mate, and I agree with what you say. It's just that our away record under LJ is pathetically bad and has been winding me up for a long time. 

 

[Kid in the Riot]

Good analysis @robc 

[Gert Mare]

21 hours ago, Olé said:

To whom it may concern.

On Saturday I became enthralled by the rapid and skilful passing and movement of Bristol City for 45 minutes against the second consecutive poor Championship team we had faced. During that time I became convinced that my football team had turned a corner and were exhibiting attributes that would serve us well for the season ahead.

Today I realise that while we have a more balanced and close knit team, we are no further forward in terms of ability or quality, and in fact the only consistent tactical development exhibited so far compared to the prior season,  is the attacking intent for the first ten minutes of every game. Other than that, it appears the manager is no more capable

It sounds amazing to say it, but today managed to not just invert the injustice at St. Andrews, but by far exceed it in the inappropriate results stakes. We were a non-factor for the vast majority of a one-sided game at Griffin Park, were stretched to the point of breaking, yet emerged with a point which was even less warranted than Birmingham's three. 

I should add that Frankie Fielding, derided so regularly by City fans as not up to our target standard (and on the evidence of another poor day of kicking, with some reason) was actually the difference between us and an absolute thrashing. Ignore Reid's equaliser as pivotal, I lost count of the number of saves Fielding made to keep us in it.

 

If the first few games of the season had showed progress in our passing and movement, today unfortunately pitted us with a team that is well drilled in those attributes and on a like for like basis, demonstrated that we are nowhere close. Besides our opening goal, we were continually on the back foot, and battered for the best part of 80 minutes.

What is least satisfactory is that the manager, who the club hoped was riding a mini-revival arising from an easy pre-season and weak early opponents, compounded his mishandling of the second half on Saturday, by standing idly by today while we were comprehensively and obviously beaten in central midfield for more than the best part of an hour.

The hallmark of the depths of last season was comically obvious weaknesses and I'm afraid we regressed close to that territory today. Where so far this season Smith and Pack have been the ignition switch for fast pass and move breaks out of midfield, today they were hounded backwards into a seemingly permanent second layer of our defence.

Despite convincingly losing that central midfield battle for most of the game, it took well over an hour for Johnson to do anything about it - even persisting with a formation that put Brownhill and Paterson out wide, regardless that no one was left to feed them. Surely at that point you ask Brownhill to help trying to win central midfield back? Nope.

And when we did change, it was to leave Reid up front on his own. Now if that was a surrender, it was far more appropriate than the inane attacking over-exuberance that followed the Harry Redknapp adjustments on Saturday, but regardless, with all the money we spend, to have got into a position with zero backup target man is more than concerning.

 

It all started so well. But then that's the only consistent so far this season, and perhaps it's provided more reassurance than was justified. We piled forward and following a mistake like Saturday, Diedhiou rolled his marker and broke in on goal before the ball found its way to Brownhill, who swept it into the far corner. City ahead early again and buzzing.

Sadly, it would be another 90 minutes before City would really stretch the opposition defence again. Far from being a platform to push on, we surrendered the initiative as Brentford poured forward with sharper passing and movement. The only consolation first half was we finally got to see our defence, which marshalled Vibe and Jota incredibly well.

In my mind the story would be the turn of the City defence to shine, but even with Smith and Pack dropping back to contribute, it would require a succession of saves from Fielding - and the woodwork - to keep City ahead at half time. The number of crosses arising from their left, where Pisano seemed largely off the pace, was a particular concern.

Given half time to do something about 30 minutes of one sided football, we changed nothing. Within 10 minutes of the restart, Brentford were level. By now Smith - who was literally everywhere - and Pack, were effectively an extra line of defence. No matter, because their first decent cross from their right, instead asked Pisano to win in the air. He failed.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been to Griffin Park and seen them get the ball out wide and cross in and beat our defenders, but yet again we stood off the opponent and allowed the cross, and then Pisano, a welcome mat for crosses in the first half, was instead asked to win in the air one on one at the far post, yet unfortunately came up short.

Fielding would go on to make another sensational save (from Jota), before Johnson belatedly reacted to the onslaught by withdrawing Diedhiou (who topped Saturday's anonymous after 60 minutes performance with today's anonymous after 15 minutes) and Brownhill, to leave Reid an unusual solo striker, and bring O'Neil into midfield and O'Dowda out wide.

I can't argue with adding O'Neil to the fray and we got a little more stability in the middle, but truthfully a) we were already completely overrun through the middle and b) leaving just Reid up front gave us even less outlet than we had had previously. So the effect was not significant and we certainly didn't turn the flow of what was already a one sided game.

Within five minutes Brentford deservedly went in front too. They knocked the ball around the edge of the box, no one got close enough to cut it out, and their man curled it into the corner. It had been coming and it has to be said that it was hard to argue with it. There was still time for them to force more saves from Fielding - we were slipping away grimly.

With no other options we added Hinds up front (for Pack) and tried largely unsuccessfully to bundle the ball upfield. Following a prolonged injury to a Brentford player,  the closest we'd come is a miscued clearance with the keeper off his line, whipped back in on goal from long distance by O'Dowda, but ultimately headed clear just in front of the line.

Then, at the death, a twist. As City piled forward, two clear shouts for a penalty for handling in the box by defenders clearing - the second resulting from a desperate Baker shot with the last kick of the game. It was a good shout but the referee (excellent throughout) kept the game going and in the extra seconds, the keeper raced out to claim and Reid tapped in.

Delirium in the away end. It was - after the long injury - literally the death: 8 minutes after the 90th, and in the context of the game, completely unwarranted and a total mugging. I did not speak to a single fan who felt we had done anything other than got out of jail: a scarcely deserved equaliser, in a match we only competed in the first and final 5 of 100 minutes.

For that to be the case only 3 league games in, albeit against a decent and specifically counter-acting footballing team (Brentford are masters of pass and move at speed) should be a concern, but even more than that, the manner of Johnson's inability to compete tactically is the real worry from the past two away games. Some of the failings are all still there.

On Saturday we quite obviously didn't have a Plan B, a criticism thrown at the manager a number of times last season. Today not only did we not have a Plan B, but our Plan A fell to pieces quickly too. In both cases we surrendered not just the lead, but the match and all visible momentum. The only shard of light was our five minute hustle for an equaliser.

The optimism from Saturday may have to be re-assessed. The glowing references in my prior report certainly warrant retraction!

 

Fielding 9 Kicking is still shocking, but without his saves we would have lost 5-1 or more. Kept us in the game - no other way to describe it.

Pisano 5 Has the engine to get up and down but positioning and ability to win the ball all suspect. Far too many crosses from his side first half, and beaten in the air for the equaliser.

Bryan 6 Regressing to the Bryan at Griffin Park last season. Moments in the first half where he totally abandoned the player he was marking allowing them a free shot on goal.

Wright 7 The best of a poor defence. Got stuck in wherever he could and won a number of balls when it felt like Sawyers, Jota and Vibe were slicing our defence open.

Baker 6 I thought Hegeler won a number of first balls on Saturday and was unlucky to be dropped. Don't think Baker did nearly enough to attack crosses into the box for us to celebrate his inclusion just yet.

Smith 8 Fielding was a clear MoM for us, but Smith was our best outfield player by some distance. Ran himself into the ground chasing everything. Sadly mostly defensively but right to the end he was trying to get himself forward, we don't have many players who give everything in spite of the challenge.

Pack 6 Forced into an almost entirely defensive role and didn't have the speed or engine to offer anything other than that. To compound that could have done better for their second goal.

Brownhill 6 Good finish for the goal, and not really his fault, but little point him being out on the wing when we're overrun in central midfield and not even close to being able to get the ball played forward and into him. More Johnson's fault than his, but hard to see his value when he's so outside of the action.

Paterson 5 The rub on this guy is that he is inconsistent and I'm afraid here we are again. After a couple of bright games, nowhere near the quality or strength needed and I would wager will lose his place to O'Dowda for Saturday who at least affects the game.

Reid 7 Still working his proverbials off, had little or no service and a virtually non-existent target man alongside him, but he chased causes to both flanks all game for 98 minutes, and was ready to claim that equaliser. Hard to argue that he is our best player this season by some distance. The guy is on fire.

Diedhiou 5 Worrying that he is not getting into games. Was always a project and going to be raw but for over £5m I would expect us to have got closer to a 90 minute player by now. Sharp from the start but too quickly played out of games and unable to effectively link up with anyone. Undoubtedly a workhorse but fizzles out very quickly.

 

Subs:

O'Dowda 7 More physical and animated than a below par Paterson, draws fouls and is exclusively forward thinking - his reaction with the keeper off his line, deserved better.

O'Neil 5 Added some shape to the huge gaps we were absent from in central midfield, and managed one shot at goal, although truthfully did not look up to speed yet.

Hinds 6 Not much sight of the ball but could see from his movement that he would have been welcome on Saturday, he gets into some positions.

Pretty much exactly as I saw it to a tee. Concerning to say the least.

[reddoh]

11 hours ago, WRERE said:

Obviously we were incredibly poor last night and not up to the test but the three previous performances were fantastic and I'm hoping that last night was just a blip and a bad day for us. I don't think too much can be read into last nights game and we should give the team 10-15 games and then review there. There are some things that need looking at by Johnson and his post match interview annoyed me a bit.

Tactically I think we should've changed to a 4-1-4-1 at HT with Reid or Brownhill coming in centrally and the other taking the wide role and Smith dropping off behind the midfield. This would've allowed our wide men to stay close to Brentford's but also give us 3 in middle. I thought Watkins looked class last night and run Pisano ragged at times with some nice turns and cutting in.

Brentford are a fantastic side and despite a poor start I still feel they will make the playoffs. We were outclassed and it won't be the first time this happens over the season but we still managed to grab an underserved point. Let's see how the players react on Saturday.

 

yes it will but I grant you it may not be the last.

[freezer]

4 hours ago, cheshire_red said:

Haven't seen any individual criticism or blame levelled at the players yet so that is hopefully one aspect of management learnt

Well, LJ did say on Radio Bristol in his post match interview that Joe Bryan "killed it for them", with his performance.

So I don't think he has learnt anything yet with regards to singling out individual players or their performance unfortunately.

This is particularly worrying as I thought we as a club wanted to keep hold of Joe and such comments are detrimental to that end.