richwwtk

I have no stats or specifics Dave, I merely go along and watch the games and base my opinions on how I think it went. I just know that I was bored with the back end of the Johnson reign and all of Holden's. As for Nige, the beginnings of this season just didn't much feel like we were progressing, though that is very much with the benefit of hindsight as well. I am by nature optimistic, so am always going to see better things ahead, whether that is a rational feeling or not.

OK, more than a couple, but I do still feel we are moving in the right direction now whilst things were beginning to stagnate under NP. We are inconsistent and that needs sorting, but when we are good we are better than anything from the past 5-6 seasons. edit - I've been more active in the football forum than normal this morning, looking forward to my stalker coming along soon to facepalm every single bloody post!

A couple of games aside I really don't agree with this. I have been more entertained at Ashton gate under Manning than I ever was under the last couple of years under Lee Johnson, all of Dean Holden and a large part of Nigel Pearson's time with us.

I don't think it's a finance company involved, just Bristol Sport. There is no monthly interest or anything, just a £25 charge for paying in instalments rather than up front. The Direct Debits certainly show as Bristol Sport on statements

I don't think people's connection to the club is ever going to be what it was 20 years ago, and that is a general thing in football at the higher levels, although the contrast from what it used to be to now is greater for City just because what the club went through in the eighties created a very special bond for a fair few people. The way football is now, for clubs to compete in the top two divisions they have to become more businesslike and corporate, and that automatically reduces how much a part of the club the fans feel. I honestly believe that applies for just about every club at our level, and maybe even a few below but with ambitions. Personally, the time I felt closest to the club was the late nineties, the early days of City fans connecting online and City with Scott Davidson in charge. Once Steve Lansdown took over and we started on the path to Bristol Sport I felt the disconnect, and complained about it quite vociferously at the time. I like to think that I have now come out the other side from that, and can actually see the sense in what SL is trying to achieve with Bristol Sport and I actually quite like it. What helped to reignite my support for the club was bringing my young son and watching him grow into a passionate City fan. In recent times the club has certainly made mistakes. Jon Lansdown has been allowed influence above his abilities without doubt, and Tins as DoF doesn't sit well with me just because I know from personal experience that he isn't the brightest! Lovely bloke though. Pearson was maybe sacked too early, though you never know behind the scenes precisely what is going on so maybe the timing was perfect, but I do think our progression under him was showing signs of plateauing so maybe it was for the best. I also think people have been far too quick to turn on Manning, mainly because they are pissed off about Pearson, but I think some of the matches under him at home have been better than anything else we have been served up since the best days of Lee Johnson (the Man Utd match season in particular). Football fans are certainly fickle, and your passion for football/City may have expired, but keep at it and it will return, maybe just in a different way. I don't think we will ever feel a 'part' of the club the way it used to be possible to unless something goes very very wrong and I personally don't want that to happen.

Agreed, I would guess someone like Tom Ritchie or Ray Cashley might hold the consecutive appearances record for City but no idea really. A couple of years on from them, Rob Newman felt like a permanent fixture in my early days as a City fan.

I have always had a dislike for Liverpool for no real reason other than growing up in the seventies and eighties you were pretty much a Liverpool fan or you despised them. I was the latter. Klopp has conflicted me on that because he is just such a likeable bloke and the football he produces is unquestionably fun. Damned bloke has made me actually want Liverpool to win stuff! Looking forward to next season when he's gone and I can get back to wanting them to lose tbh.

That table will have Blackburn very nervous!

You're right, edited my posts out

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Thank you for the name of the tune, I now know what it is! It's been sung as a tune at AG for ages, probably around most football grounds. I would be prepared to bet that less than 1% of the people singing it are doing so because they like darts on Sky.

Wouldn't that be irony rather than hypocrisy? I doubt it was being sung because it was the darts theme tune and I doubt too many even know that's what it was!

Terry Hall/2 Tone night in general on BBC4 tonight. 1st up was Terry Hall at the BBC, Specials live in 1979 now and lots of other stuff later

That's a very optimistic guess!

I think Italia 90 was the start of the switch from the Union Flag to St George's. Pretty much complete by Euro 96. Having said that I took a Union Flag to the 2002 WC

Is it wrong to be wondering what on earth you could be meaning when you say 'proper blokes'? Is it a badge of pride that no women were involved in the fundraising (not even ones pretending to be blokes)? Or is there some kind of definition of bloke that only applies to people raising money to buy a flag?

I lost 3.5 stone with Man v Fat in the very first season in Weston before breaking my ankle and subsequently piling the weight back on. That season was amazing with a really good bunch. The focus was fully on losing weight, and the football every week was a bonus that nobody took TOO seriously. I have tried a couple of times since, but it has completely switched. There are now teams getting sponsored, and some actually have stars on their shirts for how many times they have won the league. Weight loss is very much a secondary factor and the team seems to be overpopulated with blokes that really don't need to lose any weight but enjoy looking good in the lower standard of football being played. Add to that they now want over thirty quid a month for the privelege I find I can't stick with it any more.

Just who do you imagine is laughing at and looking down on the England flag? Certainly not me, nor anybody else on this thread that I can see. I would accept your saying that the St. George flag is now part of footballing culture, as for traditions it has only really been a major thing for about 30 years so a bit soon for that maybe? And once again, it was @Cowshed being laughed at, not the flag, no matter who raised the money for it.

It was @Cowshed and his 'defacing flags is illegal' that was being laughed at, not the flag

You're quite correct, it's a small motif at the back of the neck of the new England shirt. It would remain as such if it was just plain red and white. You know it's not a flag, I know it's not a flag, why bring defacing flags into it?

But nobody has defaced a flag. Are you just looking for something to be upset about?

Where have Nike said they are concerned about the reaction of certain elements of English society? What elements of English society do you think they are trying to placate and what evidence of it is there? It is not in the least bit woke, I don't see how you came to that conclusion?

How is it 'woke gone mad' what is even woke about it at all? Looks to me like a designer just redesigned something for the sake of it, they have to earn their crust somehow! I agree that the plain red/white cross would have been a better option there, but it really isn't woke. It's just the horizontal bar looking like it's based on the colours of the away kit and the vertical bar based on the reds that are often involved as well, so just the colours generally included on the kits. Certainly not a rainbow or anything like that.