BCFC Rich

Totally not true. Everyone complaining about where goals were going to come form at the start of the season. Even a fair way into the season there were whole threads about how Weimann just runs around and AS will never be a striker/goalscorer - even now people complain about how Martin does nothing. Despite that our attack is now very potent and I would pretty much always back us to score. We have been really weak defensively particularly from crosses and set plays and last two games show a massive improvement on both. The goal today is scrappy, but they have had no other chance of note other than shots form outside the box - when they hit the post Williams should have closed down better, but apart from that most of the on target shots where speculative efforts. From set plays we are defending has been so much better. I would also had that our set plays (corners in particular) look much better and there are positive signs there too. I think people ignore/miss these things particularly after games like today where entertainment value was low. Low entertainment doesn't necessarily mean things are not moving forward. We had plenty of chances late on and at least two clear cut chances in the game that should have been goals. It was not a pretty game, but not the **** show that people are and will paint it as. If you honestly are saying NP has improved nothing you are just not looking.

James closes down well, Williams has got to get out to the 2nd man there, too much space to get the shot away.

Depends how far you want to take it. Take the championship table for example: FulHAM - ham is a boy's name of hebrew origin. BourNEMouth - Girl's name HUDersfield - Boys name meaning Hood or son of Hugh LUton - Lu girls name of German and latin origins. Nottingham FOREST - of Run Forest, run fame SHEFfield United - boys name MiddLESborough - boys name Blackburn ROvers - Boy or girls name Gaelic meaning Red-haired. Queens pARK Rangers - Boys name MILLwall - Boy or girls name WEST BA - boys name CovENTry - stretching it a bit, but it's a name used in fantasy novels. PRESTON - boys name SWANsea - Girls name in England. With a double n (Swann) is a boy or girls name in France StOKE City - Hawaiian name for a boy or girl BlACKpool - very uncommon first name for boys cARDiff - boys name, Latin meaning Great Forest birMINgham - Is a popular Korean name for a boy here in California BRIStol city - Again a bit of a stretch a very uncommon boys name in Italy or girls name in Argentina hULL city - boys name meaning Glory. READing - Boys name - occasionally used for girls too. BarnsLEY - Boy or girls name meaning meadow DERBY County - boys name PETERborough - boys name. I think what this shows is that I have way too much time on my hands today.

Swindon

Some quotes from the Bournemouth forum post match thread - Full disclosure I am mostly cherry picking the positive comments on this occasion there are bournemouth fans also also think they should have won by more etc. Bristol deserved their 2 goals. Well executed, both of them. Clinical in fact...... not a bad team in the making. Great game of football, no signs of “playing with the handbrake on”. Could’ve scored 4 or 5, they could’ve scored more potentially. Ref was ****. Standard championship fare Good result in the end Bristol stretched us. Out of interest had a glance at their match thread and they mostly seem convinced they should have been given a penalty. Genuinely laughable. It was a blatant dive and the only reason he wasn't booked was because the ref was being a ***** all afternoon. Incredibly pleasing the show of intent we’ve shown in the last two games. The performances have been light years ahead of the turgid Peterborough and Reading displays. It’s like Parker has all of a sudden told them to express themselves. (Put this here becuase it shows this was probably one of there better recent performances). I thought this would be a difficult game today - think Bristol city are playing better than results suggest How many corners did we get? Never looked like we would score from them (loved this one given our recent issues) but credit to Weimann who made the forward pass from just inside our half and then raced forward to tap in from three yards. Bristol playing their part in a good advertisement of championship football. My thought is, having watched both Bristol and Huddersfield, home and away this season, there's not much between them but somehow Huddersfield went on a long unbeaten run and we beat both of them twice, comfortably. Both teams looked OK when they weren't sitting back managing the score. Both looked vulnerable when they were.

I think with the results you can see why some posters are not happy overall, ideally we would be doing better, and if fully fit + at best form the team is capable of being better. I won't go into detail here as I have done that in previous posts, but i think the inconsistency in individual performances is lack of experienced we have a lot of young players and players without championship experience. I think all of them will be more consistent next season because of the experiences gained this season. What I to put here is a clip from The Overlap (worth watching these - Prem focused but lets fans have a voice too), it's Carragher talking about Arteta at arsenal, for proper context he is referring to when things weren't going well and why fans were still behind the manager. I thought he articulated how I think a lot of us feel as city fans right now + might help posters less enamored by NP ( @Waconda etc.) to get where some of us are coming from. The link should be to the correct part of the video, but in not then from 40:41.

Wow I had know idea it was that much. Add in players like Kelly - wonder how much their starting XI cost? Certainly highlights the gulf, and lack of level playing field against clubs who come down.

- Came to see the kit design - wondered if it was some kind of official image - Ah I see someone else has asked good - OP's response to whether he would say where is from.

To answer that form my perspective - I would say that the point I was making was very much my opinion - I'm not claiming it as fact. However after that the Man U game I felt that he often referred to himself and the team separately and talked a lot about relishing the individual duals with other managers (admittedly more so with higher profile managers) and highlighted what he had got right. We often tweaked tactics notably in those games against high profile managers (trying to out Warnock, Warnock for example). I tired to find some quotes, but searches are swamped with media surrounding his time at sunderand - below are a few examples I could find quickly. On Guardiola - never had the opportunity to play in the Premier League and I think I’m a better manager than I was a footballer. We scored a good goal against them and nearly scored another from a set-piece free-kick routine against their high line.And that was one of the funny things me and Pep shared because I told him had we scored from that, I would have retired there and then! We were having a good laugh about it and I told him, ‘Watch out next time — we will have a new one for you. Whether we had won, lost or drawn on the night, it was a great experience for me and my players. On Bielsa - "I knew of his disciples [before he came], if you like: (Mauricio) Pochettino and (Pep) Guardiola and I have a huge amount of respect for him, and his reputation precedes him. I think it shows what a fantastic league this is that the likes of me, a 37-year-old head coach with a good club that's in sixth position going up against an internationally-renowned manager. Obviously, that's not the main story - that's the 11 lads playing against a Leeds XI. But, of course, I always want to personally challenge myself and this is a game where we can do that." Wolves 2019 (FA Cup game) - "I know Nuno well because I did my coaching badges with him so I was the one hitting the diags [diagnonal passes] in the coaching in his sessions in the coaching badges, so I know exactly how he likes to play. The goal was a good example. So I changed to a five - a positive five in terms of a 3-5-2 - and got another man up-front closer to Famara and three in the middle and went toe-to-toe with their three and it worked pretty well." Nothing awful, just a lot of his comments pre and post game started to be about tactics and when we one, he was increasingly quick to highlight his part in that. Again, I supported LJ I think he is a great coach, overall I enjoyed his time here and think he'll have a good career as a manager - this is just my personal opinion of where he went wrong.

I was a LJ fan, and felt you could see what he was trying to do in the season before the cup run. You could see the beginning of a playing style that season, despite results not always going well and many fans calling for his head (some similarities to now with NP actually). I think the cup run stopped LJ coaching and he got more and more obsessed with the one v one battle with the other coach. I think the fact he got one over on Mourihnio went to his head and he started adapting out playing style almost weekly. That nice high press football disappeared and players didn't know where they were. I think you can see something similar with NP at the moment. You can see how he wants us playing and every now and then it really comes together. It's a young inexperienced squad and if the summer goes well (not to many key players out and a few in the tanner/Atkinson mold come in) I think there are good reasons to think we can kick on. At the very least I'm confident that style of play will be more embedded.

I get what you are saying. I thought about this a bit when Max was starting games - but I think you actually have to play Bentley or he looks like he can't keep his 1st team place and becomes less sellable + less likely to command a fee that makes selling sensible.

Wasn't sure which thread to put this in as there are a few on the go! Anyway ended up pretty long! Short Version: Individually players have been great. A massively inexperienced squad giving inconsistent performances shouldn't be a shock, and should even be expected. NP has not had the chance to work with a consistent MId or Def to implement systems. Long Version: I think if you have to look at expectations - who are the players people think he is not getting enough out of? Look at the players he's had available individually and NP is doing a really good job. GK: Both keepers have had good spells, Max did well when he came in and Bentley looks better for having dropped out and come back. Def: Tanner, Klose and Atkinson look good additions especially for the money. Baker was great until injured. Pring is someone I wasn't even sure would make it here, but has had a great season and looks good LB/LWB and CB in a three. Cundy has been given a chance - come in and looked assured + shows promise. It's only really Vyner who hasn't looked up to standard, you could make an argument for NP not getting the best form him, or that he should be given a shot as a DM, but if he moves on I don't think anyone is expecting him to suddenly look like a much better player. Kalas I kept to last here he has been decent and its hard to complain he's pretty consistent and committed, I think you could make a case that we could get marginally better performances form him, but he has still been good. Also worth pointing out much improved since being unburdened with the captaincy (a role that didn't suit him), and that NP handled that transition very smoothly. Mid: Scott has been amazing. Williams has shown signs of what he can do and is only just hitting full fitness. HNM - has been a little up and down, he has had his best ever spell for us and then been a little inconsistent. King adds experience, but not much on the pitch (soft spot for him as he is a city fan though! :laugh:). James again adds experience had has had good games. Palmer (remember him!) is clearly not showing the attitude and commitment NP wants. We definitely haven't seen the best of him here but I personally think that's more to do with the player than NP and he'll either repeat the process with other clubs, or be lucky enough to end up somewhere that will indulge him a little more. COD has (apart form a 3-4 game spell early under LJ) been as good as he has ever been for us. Benarous has been given valuable game time and looks like he will develop well. Att: Semenyo has been amazing kicked on and looks quality. Easily his best football. Martin - does a lot of the hard work in the middle to work the defense and make space for AW and AS and adds vital experience. Wells showed what he can do at the weekend, I love his attitude and think he is a fantastic pro. you could argue NP could have got more out of him and given him more chances although it would probably have been at the expense of AS or AW (not sure he suits Martins role) so personally think it's understandable why his chances have been limited. Weimann - undoubtably his best ever championship season has been fantastic. Honestly from the whole squad I think you could say he maybe could have achieved better performances from Kalas, Vyner, Palmer, Wells - although for all of these there are strong mitigating circumstances. Everyone else has on an individual level been good, and many have had their best seasons for us. The issue has been playing as a team and i think thats down to not being able to select a consistent Def or MId. Def - we have had over half the season without a RB + Baker, Kalas, Jay (early season), Atkinson and Cundy have all had spells out. That makes it hard to gel as a team and drill in the tactics etc. Mid - we barely have one! Scott, King, HNM, James, Williams, COD and Palmer (could maybe add Benarous - although very inexperienced). 7 players, 4 have missed huge chunks of the season and Palmer is definitely not in consideration (+ maybe injured too?). Scott and HNM have been the only players consistently available! Scott has been amazing but is hardly experienced, and even HNM has had spells out with injury. Again hard to develop systems and ingrain tactics when you cannot play or even train the players together regularly. Att - only area we have been able to pick players consistently and even people who don't rate and/or want NP out cannot deny this part of the team have been a success. We have also played from academy/youth set up - Scott, O'leary, Pring, Towler, Bell, Vyner, Conway, and Benarous. Add in Semenyo, Cundy, HNM who are to some extent also club developed and thats 11 club developed players getting game time, or 8 if you want to exclude the later 3! Most clubs would love to be able to say that. That takes me to the final point lack of experience. you have all those players + Tanner, Atkinson who lack Championship (could maybe exclude HNM due to no. of seasons, but he is hardly an old pro). So inconsistent performances will happen and should be expected. NP is managing a very young/inexperienced side, has rarely been able to have the same mid/def and very little money to recruit. Despite that - most players are having a good season individually and are young enough that improvement next season is likely. Imagine what he can do with them then. Imagine what he could do if we can improve depth and/or keep def and mid players consistently available.

If you want wing backs to be high intensity and provide most of your width and wide attacking threat then having 4 and using rotation can be really effective. Pochettino used to do this at spurs with Walker, Rose, Trippier and Davies. Kept them high energy and focused when they played.

Massively agree, he acted like he had been signed by the club not loaned. Made time for fans, performed well and arguably the key reason we stayed up. My favorite ever loan signing, for the brief time he was here really felt like a Bristol City player not someone we borrowed.

I definitely get where you are coming from and I think on some levels the team is better than our position (a little bit). However, I think it's much more down to inconsistency than anything else - and thats where our lack of experience comes in. I'd say you have AW, CM, Bentley, and Kalas who have been available fairly regularly and are experienced pros at this level - to be fair you could probably add Jay in there too (although a little less experienced and younger than the others). The rest really aren't ! That's over half the team who are not experienced at champ level. We have rarely been able to pick the same midfield at all, and (for the most part) the same goes for defense. We have Pring, Tanner, Atkinson, Scott, Semenyo, Massengo who have played regularly who all lack experience at this level (you could make a case for Massengo being experienced at this level I suppose) + most of them are young and lack any experience at all - not just experience in the champ. Add in Bell, O'leary, Benorous, Conway and Towler and you have 5 more academy players who have had game time and who also lack experience. All of that is not including Cundy who has come in for the last few games! You can add in Klose to the experienced column and he has been great and sorely needed. However after that the only players I haven't mentioned above are James - good in places, but not consistently fit, Williams - great at times but rarely available (not even really had a run of games), King - occasionally ok (disappointed mostly) and not consistently fit, COD - + not great, but has been as good as he has ever been for us, was available most of the the early season but injured now, Vyner - some injury issues, but mostly available and has had chances to stake his claim, and Palmer. That's it! That's the whole squad! You could say he hasn't got the best from Palmer, Kalas, and maybe at a push COD and Vyner too, but do you think any of them are likely to go elsewhere and look like much better players? Palmer could (if his attitude changed) and Kalas maybe could have been more consistent, but really I think thats about it. We have a mostly young and/or inexperienced first team squad. At their best, they are better than our current position. However they are also likely to be less consistent and still learning.

Or - controls a ball hit at power, despite knowing it was coming to him last minute. And gets a shot a way despite pressure from the defender. Watch it again see how good the control is, see how he has to hit earlier, and see that he actually did really well.

I don't think you need to have a dig a poster saying something positive about the club, just because they have not been happy before. I haven't agreed with @VT05763 a lot, but being able to say when a performance is good despite past comments should be a credit to them.

I think Bentley is a better keeper than Max. Shot-stopping in particular, but for whatever reason his distribution is always slow and nearly always a long ball. I had thought this was something he is instructed to do, but Max was soooo much better when he came in. It's not that he can't do it either - he is very comfortable on the ball and has an amazing throw + when we are a goal down and need to score, his urgency changes and distribution is quicker. We seem to spend a while passing nicely at the back keeping possession pass it back to Bentley and then he long balls it, leaving possession up to chance.

I think he absolutely needs to change who we have at RB. I would be tempted to keep Bell on and move him up the pitch, let him play in a more familiar role. I think it would be better for his development and an acknowledgment that he is being asked to do a lot for a young pro.

Def agree - don't think you'll get any disagreement - but this is also in multiple other threads:

Boro forum: Ah crap. That was a nice passage of play from Bristol there. Our defence should have done better. Lumley looking stupid just stood there with his hands in the air while the ball goes through his legs. Against the run of play that. But they're there to be got at, I can see us scoring a few against them. Great finish, but Tav needed to be stronger there! I was thinking did I miss something? Weimann absolutely belted it. Was a great shot, Lumley would have done well to save it. Did we end up walking to Bristol overnight to avoid the storm, we look tired and devoid of ideas, Bristol winning 90 percent of the challenges and second ball Kalas put some chunk on How have we not scored yet Have we made their keeper make a save yet? We've been the dominant team for the majority of that half, just not scoring. They had one opportunity which came from a mistake, and took it very well. Two chances two goals for them. Sickener We are making leaky Bristol look like Fort Knox on steroids. Another ridiculous goal to concede. We’re terrible today in defence and attack. Bristol City are a *** team, why do we always lose to them. Football isn’t a hard game you see a teams strengths you neutralise there’s and increase yours yet we always lose to *** Bristol City! If we swapped keeper we'd have won this 6 nowt BC showboating now! That would have been an absolute stunner from Semenyo if it had went in GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL Crooksy, surely too late though Connolly with a nice curling shot. Good catch by the keeper. Thought we had a lot of everything today. But BC had the luck. I get that Lumley is not a fans favorite but I dont think he could have done much about either goal. We had 10 shots on target and scored 1. Bristol had 5 and scored 2. If you don't take your chances, you don't deserve to win. Though Bristol do owe a big debt to Bentley's saves. Wish Boro had a keeper of that calibre. I'd have backed Bentley to save at least one of their goals

An odd one - in some ways we were unlucky to not get the clean sheet, in other ways we were lucky to only concede one. We were definitely much more solid defensively around the penalty area and in getting men behind the ball, closing down shots etc. However, I think we are not great at maintaining possession and defending when the ball is in the middle of the park. Maybe thats a side effect of having players who are good on the counter, but i'd like to see the ball stick there a little more, and to control that part of the pitch a little more.

That double block first half (particularly the second one) was outstanding. Without that very likely a different game. would be my MOM today.

Still bypassing midfield a few too many times. Hopeful balls forward instead of steady build up. Happy with the score, defending has been pretty good, and Bell is doing well (particularly given the position), but not been great on the entertainment end.

Who is missing from the bench that isn't injured?