End of Promotion as we know it...and I'm feeling fine

[tinman85]

42 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

Villa and Derby both lost this week. With better tactics, we'd still very much be in it

Burton at home. Millwall at home. Sunderland at home. Forget today. Those 6 points would have up there 

[pnefcok]

1 hour ago, tinman85 said:

Our play off competitors are Preston and Sheff U!! 

5 of the top 6 aren't moving, so yes it's down to who grabs 6th IMO. Personally think it will be Boro. 4 of their next 5 games are against weaker teams and I fancy Pulis to sneak them into the top 6 to be honest.

[Curr Avon]

3 hours ago, Newquay-Red said:

Okay, the bubble has burst. I don't think we have it in us to challenge this year. It's been a very fun holiday in the top six but it will end soon. Fulham, Villa and Derby are rampaging now and unfortunately we've started to bottle games. 

Yet, before we start to all pull our hair out, this really isn't the end of the world. We have still had a very good season indicative of good progress. If anything, we aren't ready for the Prem just now. We need more signings for depth and for our promising young players to develop. They will learn from the last few weeks. I would have killed to be in this situation last time last year, where I celebrated draws like they were wins. However, don't let this little slump get you down too much. We are a club on the up who are finally starting to get attention for what we can do, and we have proved this against some of the biggest teams in the world. Our reputation for being able to develop promising young prospects is growing, when even a few years so we were never considered in this fashion. 

Once that Wolves winner went in at the Gate, I knew we would have to remain patient to get to the promised land. We are still in a position off the field that the other teams in the league are becoming increasingly envious of. Sure, some might leave, yet we aren't supposed  to get too sentimental about individual players as that's just how football is.

Anyone furious about our current situation needs a nice dose of perspective. This is the best we have been in a decade, and perhaps we have become too entitled towards assuming we are the best thing since sliced bread. I have faith in the team and staff that they will learn from this and we will finally establish ourselves as a respectable team in this division, which as a younger fan I've never really seen before. We have come so far and it would be such a shame to ditch it all now during a poor spell.

A bit early for the eulogy Vicar. City can still secure a play-off place if the head coach and players can rediscover the mental strength that saw us reach second place despite having to play the same first eleven, twice a week, relentlessly.

It needs greater character from the players and better use of the subs bench from LJ.

But they need to go through that pain barrier once again and earn those wins.

We're good enough and I've no doubt that we can do it.

[milo1111]

3 hours ago, JamesBCFC said:

Absolutely.

Mistakes were made second half, but Leeds were a totally different side to the one we saw in the first half.

I thought Leeds were poor and we were very comfortable until about 65 mins at least. We had a couple of excellent opportunities to go 3 up before they scored their first. I thought it was a game of 3/4 and a 1/4. Don’t buy into all this game of two halves guff. Just a sky love in with a fallen giant like a lot of their champ coverage .

[ChippenhamRed]

3 hours ago, WelshRobin said:

Will be interesting come the end of the season, if we don't do it, at which point people realised it wasn't going to happen. For me possibly the Sunderland game last week.

If you realised last week it wasn’t going to happen then you wouldn’t have just used the phrase “if we don’t do it”.

[pillred]

4 hours ago, Newquay-Red said:

Completely agree. Would hate it if it became a consensus here that they ruined our season.

cant prove it obviously, but personally it did raise my expectations, and for that I have since been a bit disappointed.

[havanatopia]

4 hours ago, Red Right Hand said:

Wolves at home if I`m being brutally honest - we`d been riding our luck for a while until that night when it all came crashing down.

Too early to call when our assault on the Prem may have ended but if it ultimately does this will be the game.

[EstoniaTallinnRed]

10 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

Why have Sheffield United started being given 4 Pts for a win? That’s not fair..! 

That's why I'm always worried about them!

[ChippenhamRed]

6 hours ago, havanatopia said:

Too early to call when our assault on the Prem may have ended but if it ultimately does this will be the game.

Why the preoccupation with picking out one result? If we finish 7th by one point you could point to any number of games that we failed to win. It’s about the 46 game season. You can’t pick out one game and say “it ended there” and I don’t understand the determination to do so.

[Gert Mare]

14 hours ago, Wanderingred said:

I don't think anyone is complaining about the bigger picture of BCFC (or at least nobody with a brain) but these two performances need to be looked at in isolation. We have absolutely choked in our last two games against bloody awful opponents. Regardless of whether we are 15 points clear at the top of the premier league or bottom of the blue square South and in administration, that is unacceptable and the players should be ashamed of themselves.

Agreed. Blind faith is ridiculous. That was poor, and against Sunderland it was the same and people are now beginning to forget Bolton which was equally as embarrassing after a nice trip to Dubai. If people do a bad job criticism is sometimes justified. 

13 hours ago, Full nelson said:

Progress yes!! But all the bad things from last season are creeping back in and clearly lessons are not being learnt, that’s worrying for me. 

Worrying. There is seemingly no plan B. Up until now plan A has been working. Managerial inexperience and lack of investment when it was required - a bit of both.

13 hours ago, pillred said:

giving 3.0 and 2.0 leads in consecutive games away I am entitled to be disappointed we are only human, what do you expect people to say.

If I do a bad job at work I don't expect my boss to feel sorry for me and give me a pay rise. They are grown men, they have been poor, we have them the kid gloves approach and took them to Dubai and they came back and carried on chucking games.

13 hours ago, Full nelson said:

Bolton away!!

Surprisingly a distant memory for some.

13 hours ago, robin_unreliant said:

LJ talked about us being 'a work in progress' again after today's match. I honestly don't think the club sees itself as ready to go up this season. I think they are happy to keep bringing in youngsters, gradually improve and see where we go.

Fans who are desperate for promotion this season are not really in sync with their longer term vision. Don't expect the club to be distraught if we miss out this season. I don't think they are expecting it to happen anyway.

Were Blackpool a work in progress? What were Huddersfield last season? What were Hull when they came from nowhere to beat us and go up? Sorry, but lame excuses like that doesn't work for me.

13 hours ago, BCFC Grim said:

I really fail to see any sense in people saying we arnt ready to get promoted, we'd come straight back down ect? How the hell would that be a bad thing? The money, and worldwide publicity will set us up to go again. It will just feel like a chance missed.

£200M plus parachute payments. It's a no brainer.

13 hours ago, pillred said:

doesn't make it any easier to take though does it.How a team that was so superior to the teams they were playing in consecutive games and didn't win will haunt me for a long time.

It was poor. Like watching the inevitable happen and screaming for changes to be made to stop the rot but being ignored.

13 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

No but they have a manager who knows how to get his players to grind out results 

He has a plan B and a plan C and a plan D. His experience tell him that he needs this.

10 hours ago, pnefcok said:

5 of the top 6 aren't moving, so yes it's down to who grabs 6th IMO. Personally think it will be Boro. 4 of their next 5 games are against weaker teams and I fancy Pulis to sneak them into the top 6 to be honest.

Thanks for coming along to chuck some petrol on the fire.

[lenred]

10 hours ago, Curr Avon said:

A bit early for the eulogy Vicar. City can still secure a play-off place if the head coach and players can rediscover the mental strength that saw us reach second place despite having to play the same first eleven, twice a week, relentlessly.

It needs greater character from the players and better use of the subs bench from LJ.

But they need to go through that pain barrier once again and earn those wins.

We're good enough and I've no doubt that we can do it.

'This', as they say. Why are people throwing in the towel after 2 draws? We're still in the bloody play off positions as it stands! Two very difficult games coming up this week now but get 4 points (even 3 tbf) from these and confidence will be back up and we're still in with a shout. There's still a hell of a way to go.  Let's not write the obituary on the season just yet. 

[ashton_fan]

A draw at Elland Road hardly signals the end of a promotion campaign, Pisano and Djuric will be available soon and Baker's back next match, still everything to play for

[Dullmoan Tone]

39 minutes ago, lenred said:

'This', as they say. Why are people throwing in the towel after 2 draws? We're still in the bloody play off positions as it stands! Two very difficult games coming up this week now but get 4 points (even 3 tbf) from these and confidence will be back up and we're still in with a shout. There's still a hell of a way to go.  Let's not write the obituary on the season just yet. 

Because it's not 2 draws it's losing in the final minute against Wolves (through poor game management), it's throwing away two wins in the last 20 mins only, it's not turning up against Bolton or Villa and most worryingly it's not creating enough chances - apart from 2 long throws yesterday, we did not look like we could create enough chances to win any game - this is a recurring theme as we were the same against Sunderland, Derby and Bolton.

[Gert Mare]

11 minutes ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

Because it's not 2 draws it's losing in the final minute against Wolves (through poor game management), it's throwing away two wins in the last 20 mins only, it's not turning up against Bolton or Villa and most worryingly it's not creating enough chances - apart from 2 long throws yesterday, we did not look like we could create enough chances to win any game - this is a recurring theme as we were the same against Sunderland, Derby and Bolton.

Spot on Tone. Throwing games from winning positions is poor. On the odd occasion these things happen, but to repeat it for 3 weeks running? Sorry, unacceptable and people have every right to feel pissed right off about it. Football is about opinions. Paying supporters have every right to an opinion. What grates with me is people who then start telling other fans not to have a negative opinion, to shut up or to be responded to in a holier than thou attitude in an attempt to belittle the negative poster. That gets right on my tits.

[lenred]

41 minutes ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

Because it's not 2 draws it's losing in the final minute against Wolves (through poor game management), it's throwing away two wins in the last 20 mins only, it's not turning up against Bolton or Villa and most worryingly it's not creating enough chances - apart from 2 long throws yesterday, we did not look like we could create enough chances to win any game - this is a recurring theme as we were the same against Sunderland, Derby and Bolton.

Fair play @Dullmoan Tone I get that. It's massively frustrating there's no denying and trust me I'm not being happy clappy about it. But my point is that we are definitely still in with a shout. It's a big ask but we can do it. Baker coming back this week will massively improve things and I'm hoping the personal pride of the players as a minimum will ensure that we pick up our game now for the run in. We're not out of it by any stretch. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

Playoffs still possible, in part due to the other sides in the chase for it drawing quite a few and otherwise progressing quite slowly in the table.

Automatic...nope? That race is run now. I thought maybe if we won at Leeds that could spark something, spark a run- not least because in similar circs back in December albeit in much better form overall, we were 9 points off Cardiff before the Boro game and 6th in the League...yet by Boxing Day we had overtaken them on GD! However, throwing it away twice in a row like that, we're done in terms of the automatics.

[pillred]

59 minutes ago, Cheesleysmate said:

Spot on Tone. Throwing games from winning positions is poor. On the odd occasion these things happen, but to repeat it for 3 weeks running? Sorry, unacceptable and people have every right to feel pissed right off about it. Football is about opinions. Paying supporters have every right to an opinion. What grates with me is people who then start telling other fans not to have a negative opinion, to shut up or to be responded to in a holier than thou attitude in an attempt to belittle the negative poster. That gets right on my tits.

spot on, and they know they are.

[1bristolcity]

It's all going to plan, it is pretty obvious the Club feel the time is not right to go up, testament to that was the January window, to appease the fans we brought in some new faces but not the type to enhance the squad. Very strange especially when you consider the owner we have, that we should show no real purpose. 

[Gert Mare]

1 hour ago, lenred said:

Fair play @Dullmoan Tone I get that. It's massively frustrating there's no denying and trust me I'm not being happy clappy about it. But my point is that we are definitely still in with a shout. It's a big ask but we can do it. Baker coming back this week will massively improve things and I'm hoping the personal pride of the players as a minimum will ensure that we pick up our game now for the run in. We're not out of it by any stretch. 

You are right. We aren't out of it, but it is beginning to look like we really need players back from injury sooner rather than later, but we also need them to be match fit and that is a tough ask. 

[Phileas Fogg]

17 hours ago, Newquay-Red said:

Okay, the bubble has burst. I don't think we have it in us to challenge this year. It's been a very fun holiday in the top six but it will end soon. Fulham, Villa and Derby are rampaging now and unfortunately we've started to bottle games. 

Premature

17 hours ago, Newquay-Red said:

Yet, before we start to all pull our hair out, this really isn't the end of the world. We have still had a very good season indicative of good progress. If anything, we aren't ready for the Prem just now. We need more signings for depth and for our promising young players to develop. They will learn from the last few weeks. I would have killed to be in this situation last time last year, where I celebrated draws like they were wins. However, don't let this little slump get you down too much. We are a club on the up who are finally starting to get attention for what we can do, and we have proved this against some of the biggest teams in the world. Our reputation for being able to develop promising young prospects is growing, when even a few years so we were never considered in this fashion. 

Agreed

17 hours ago, Newquay-Red said:

Once that Wolves winner went in at the Gate, I knew we would have to remain patient to get to the promised land. We are still in a position off the field that the other teams in the league are becoming increasingly envious of. Sure, some might leave, yet we aren't supposed  to get too sentimental about individual players as that's just how football is.

True

17 hours ago, Newquay-Red said:

Anyone furious about our current situation needs a nice dose of perspective. This is the best we have been in a decade, and perhaps we have become too entitled towards assuming we are the best thing since sliced bread. I have faith in the team and staff that they will learn from this and we will finally establish ourselves as a respectable team in this division, which as a younger fan I've never really seen before. We have come so far and it would be such a shame to ditch it all now during a poor spell.

Yes

Good post - I don't agree it's over yet. Still plenty of time and it's in our hands. We are a good side and we even showed that in spells yesterday and vs Sunderland. Baker coming back will be a big factor but we're going to miss Pack.

What is promising is we are scoring goals, we've scored 5 in the last 3 and all three were disappointing results. We need to try and get Diony up to speed very quickly as having options when we aren't scoring goals will make a difference.

 

[ChippenhamRed]

Still don't understand the determination to write the obituary while the patient is still capable of making a full recovery.

[Phileas Fogg]

4 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Still don't understand the determination to write the obituary while the patient is still capable of making a full recovery.

It's like a self-preservation tactic I think.

If it gets to April and it's mathematically impossible for people to get playoffs, they can say 'Well I did say back in February'. It also means they can subconsciously come to terms with it.

I don't really understand the mentality either, we're still 6th. Until it's out of our hands then we've got it to play for which is a great position to be in by late Feb.

[RobintheRed Red]

17 hours ago, Londoner said:

Perspective? We were 2nd in the league and a win for sheff Utd could tske us out of the top 6.

January window the board and manager have let us down.

yes totally agree as was said on skysports Bristol city didnt do enough in the window john gayle

[Lorenzos Only Goal]

16 hours ago, Londoner said:

Perspective? We were 2nd in the league and a win for sheff Utd could tske us out of the top 6.

January window the board and manager have let us down.

Your maths is shocking! I always thought it was 3 points for a win not 4 but hay.  

[Drew Peacock]

18 hours ago, Maltshoveller said:

IMO the expectations of  our fans are to high

 

Well the club should rein in the backslapping publicity wagon which only fuels the fans expectations.

My expectations are high.  

[Drew Peacock]

29 minutes ago, Lorenzos Only Goal said:

Your maths is shocking! I always thought it was 3 points for a win not 4 but hay.  

It's an academic thing.  We won't understand it.

[Show Me The Money!]

18 hours ago, JamesBCFC said:

Absolutely.

Mistakes were made second half, but Leeds were a totally different side to the one we saw in the first half.

But even in the second half it was only with 20 mins to go when the Leeds crowd just seemed to pick the team up did it turn around. We had a great opportunities before then to have got a third. We didn't take the opportunities and we all know what then happened. But that's football. We've done that to teams before so why can't they do it to us.

[JamesBCFC]

20 minutes ago, Drew Peacock said:

Well the club should rein in the backslapping publicity wagon which only fuels the fans expectations.

My expectations are high.  

What wagon was that then?

Provide links.

[Show Me The Money!]

2 hours ago, 1bristolcity said:

It's all going to plan, it is pretty obvious the Club feel the time is not right to go up, testament to that was the January window, to appease the fans we brought in some new faces but not the type to enhance the squad. Very strange especially when you consider the owner we have, that we should show no real purpose. 

You don't know who they might have been trying to sign in the January window. The club still has to survive within its means

[Drew Peacock]

12 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said:

What wagon was that then?

Provide links.

Eh?

Have you missed all the newspaper articles that have reproduced or linked on here?