pongo88

That’s a very good question and I’m not sure of the answer. IMO the probable answers are: 1) That’s its a reasonably low cost solution to make sure City can maintain a mid table position without much chance of relegation. (2) There is a possibility that some of these players can be later sold at a profit. This fits with the club’s business plan. (3) There is a possibility that some of the players will come good and City make it to the playoffs before they’re sold. Once in the playoffs anything can happens and SL seems to think that City should be like Luton - i.e. a club with a low cost squad who make it to the Premier League

His performances demonstrate the gap between the Championship and League 1. Jonson Clarke-Harris is another example. He scores goals for fun in League 1 but no Championship teams are interested in signing him as they know he couldn’t make the step up

Were Bristol City it’s what we do

What’s telling is that 9 of LM’s 15 points came from 3 consecutive games. Of those 3, only the Watford match was a good performance. It was a daylight robbery win against Sunderland and a fortunate win against Hull. In a way it doesn’t matter how you pick up points but long term, if you want promotion, it’s the style of play and the team performance that’s important. Unfortunately for City too many of the last 11 matches have been dire. A common theme after a some matches is “when did you see as bad a match as that”. Then the next match is worse and so on

Great thread, as always, @Jerseybean apart from one factual inaccuracy. You state that Butch Cassidy spoke with a strong Lancashire accent. Well, I saw the film and he definitely had an American accent. He was quite a handsome bloke

I assume that someone must be incoming as the squad is a bit thin. I don’t think he’s one of the top earners as his last contract was on reduced terms (can someone confirm this one way or the other) so it won’t be an enormous saving in wages. I look forward to him scoring against us in March as that’s how these things often pan out

You are Roy DeAlien in disguise and I claim my £5

City had central defender Tamás Vaskó on the bench. He could have come on to play in the middle with Fontaine switching to full back. This would have meant two defensive changes but it would have kept Elliot in the middle

The corners can be filled in but to do so would require the major work done that I said. It’s possible, but not easy and also very expensive. The cost would probably be very difficult to justify as City would require a sell-out every match to get a return on the investment At a Senior Reds lunch Steve Lansdown also said that, at the redevelopment stage, he considered rebuilding the Atyeo. With the rebuild the capacity would have been over 30,000 but he decided against it because of the cost that would include buying the houses behind the stand. Possibly at some point in the future, if City are an established Premier League team, the rebuild of the Atyeo end might happen

Easy to say but difficult to do. To fill in the corner between the Lansdown and the Atyeo would require the media centre to be demolished and the Atyeo roof to be changed. The opposite corner is equally difficult as the Atyeo extends beyond the pitch as a result of the pitch being moved as part of the redevelopment.

In reality most matches will finish the first half at slightly different times due to different extra time added. Similarly, in the second half the actual duration of the matches will vary due to different extra time added. It’s easy to start matches at the same time but impossible to get them to finish at the same time

Post-match summary

That’s the crunch, how will 62,000 fans get home? Those travelling to the match have left at differing times so the problems have been spread. Coming back the problems will be concentrated into a very short time frame.

Could be worse, you could be Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

Don’t feel despondent. I think your posts are the best on the forum. They are insightful, intelligent, well researched, thought provoking and with the correct balance of humour and seriousness. You also wear very smart shoes and have a hairstyle that is only bettered by Swiss Tony.

Good win by Maidstone (6th tier) over Stevenage. Maidstone are managed by George Elokobi who played about 40 minutes for City about 10 years ago. He suffered an awful ankle injury in his first match on loan and that was it for his City career.

Park of the job package is: ”Discount in the Bristol Sport store” As there is never any stock this is a big benefit

My first pair cost £4 19s 11d. A bargain! I can remember the convoluted way you had to tie the laces on the old football boots. Underneath then round the back then a few more bits

This is what we don’t get anymore - orange footballs in the snow and players tap dancing around like Bamby on ice. Those were the days

Newcastle in the first Premier League home match of next season

This was the most exciting part of the game https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/13040493/brawl-breaks-out-at-bristol-as-tensions-boil-over

The one bit of excitement https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/13040493/brawl-breaks-out-at-bristol-as-tensions-boil-over

That’s a key point. The subs didn’t change the game plan. It was the same formation and tactics with just different players. If the starting plan was obviously not working for over an hour, why stick with it? The only slight change was when Cornick came on. This was only because Sykes was injured, and there was no other option, so he ran around a bit

I’ve watched a lot of awful games and they have tended to become a blur. They often have a common theme - a freezing cold winter night with sparse crowd. Nowadays, with a 20k crowd, you are protected from the howling winds. In the League Division 4 days and crowds of 8k it could be very cold. When I took my young son (child cruelty?) I always had to sit up wind from him to act as a wind break

I agree with most of what you said except for the big I’ve highlighted. The only real bit of excitement was when Williams had a punch up with a Millwall player in front of Area 51. Both could easily have received a red card