CheddarReds

100% that 6pm tweet was planned to wind up the fan base! Knight confirmed tonight I reckon!

Re back 3 vs back 4 - I've always understood Nige preferred a back 4 but due to what he had available and our financial circumstances he played a back 3 more often. Likewise, Postecoglou has inherited a squad largely put together by Conte at Spurs and so they're likely to go through a similar process of rearranging their squad to move from a back 3 to a back 4, though given their finances that process might be a quicker one! I'd be surprised if we don't start and end the season with a back 4.

Fantastic to win it. And great to keep a clean sheet in every game of the tournament.

Was going to post something similar. Generally it feels like providing opinions which generate social media interest is more important to Second Tier pod compared to, an obvious example, Not The Top 20.

I make it 28 for me @Nogbad the Bad Bristol City F.C. 1) What will be City's final league position? 10th wrong 2) How many points will City get this season? 65 wrong 3) Will City score 60 (or more) League goals this season? Yes wrong 4) Will City concede 60 (or more) League goals this season? Yes wrong 5) Who will finish as City's top scorer? Weimann wrong 6) How many League goals will City's top scorer (whether the player named in Q5 or ano.) get? 14 wrong 7) Who will finish as City's 2nd top scorer? Semenyo wrong 8. How many League goals will City's 2nd top scorer (whether the player named in Q7 or ano.) get? 12 wrong 9.) How many academy graduates will make their City debuts this season in League or Cup competitions? 2 wrong 10) Will Duncan Idehen make 15 (or more) League appearances for City this season? No right 11) Will Joe Williams make 25 (or more) League appearances for City this season? Yes right 12) Will Stefan Bajic make 10 (or more) League appearances for City this season? No right 13) Will Antoine Semenyo still be a City player on the last day of the season? Yes wrong 14 Will Han Noah Massengo still be a City player on the last day of the season? Yes right 15) Will Tomas Kalas still be a City player on the last day of the season? Yes right 16) Will Nahki Wells still be a City player on the last day of the season? Yes right 17) Which month will Antoine Semenyo make his first on-field appearance for City this season? September wrong 18) Which month will Ayman Benarous make his first on-field appearance for City this season? March wrong 19) Will City sign a striker either before the end of this window, or in the January window? No wrong 20) Who will be City's player of the season? Kane Wilson wrong 21) What will the Official attendance be for the first home game against Sunderland to the nearest thousand? 23k wrong 22) What will City's Official average League attendance be this season to the nearest thousand? 20k right 23) In which round will City be knocked out of the F.A. Cup? 5th right 24) In which round will City be knocked out of the Carabou Cup? 3rd right 25) How many City players will be sent off in all competitions this season? 2 right 26) Who will be the first City player to be sent off this season? Rob Atkinson wrong 27) How many penalties, in all competitions, will City be awarded this season? 6 wrong 28) How many penalties will City score? 6 wrong 29) Will any City player score a first team hat trick this season? No right 30) Will Nigel Pearson still be City's manager on the last day of the season? Yes right Young City players: Bell, Conway, Towler, Kadji, Owers, Palmer-Holden, 1) Which of these 6 will make the most appearances for City, in all competitions, this season? Conway right 2) Which of these 6 will score the most goals for City in all competitions? Conway right Gas: 1) Final League position? 15th wrong 2) Average League attendance, to the nearest thousand? 9k right 3) Will Matty Taylor score against Rovers this season? Yes wrong 4) Will Marlon Pack score against Rovers this season? No right 5) Will Tyreeq Bakinson score against Rovers this season? No right 6) Will Joey Barton still be Rovers' manager on the last day of the season? Yes right Welsh Rivals, Cardiff & Swansea 1) Will O'Dowda score for Cardiff against City? No right 2) Who will finish higher, Cardiff or City? Bristol City right 3) How many points will City get against Cardiff 0,1,2,3,4 or 6 ? 4 wrong 4) Who will finish higher, Swansea or City? Bristol City wrong 5) How many points will City get against Swansea, 0,1,2,3,4 or 6? 2 wrong Lee Johnson's Hibs 1) What position will Hibernian finish in the SPL this season? 7th wrong 2) Will Lee Johnson still be Hibernian manager on the last day of the season? Yes right Ashton's Ipswich 1) Will Ipswich be promoted this season either automatically or through the play offs? No wrong 2) Will Mark Ashton still be there at the end of the season. Yes right Steve Cotterill 1) Will Cotts lead Shrewsbury to promotion? No right 2) How many points will Cotts' Shrewsbury take off Rovers 0,1,2,3,4,or 6? 4 right 3) Which club will finish higher, Shrewsbury or Rovers? Shrewsbury right Old Boys 1) Will Bobby Reid score 7 (or more) PL goals for Fulham? No right 2) Will Josh Brownhill score for Burnley against City this season? No right 3) Will Aden Flint score for Stoke against City this season? No right 4) Will Kasey Palmer score for Coventry against City this season? No right Championship 1) Which club will finish top of the Championship? Norwich wrong 2) Which club will finish bottom of the Championship? Reading wrong

Explaining this mug is going to get a bit tougher

Was always going to happen unless you want to see more injuries/ fewer games

That's not how transfer fees work There are a multitude of factors that influence price, like the financial resources of buyer and seller, commercial benefits, the player's contract length, age and, of course, ability. Also, on the football side specifically - Alex Scott is an incredibly talented footballer but you're comparing him to a player with over 1,500 champions league minutes, who has 24 England senior appearances and was involved in a goal once every other game from midfield this season. And Jude Bellingham is only a couple months older than Scott! Generational is a phrase that gets thrown around too much in football but Bellingham's output is staggering and he fits the 'generational' tag.

Bellingham to Sunderland!

@Bcfcshags any chance you have the this weeks lottery numbers??

Has it been an underwhelming season? I suppose in one way it has - you play sport to win so any season without promotion and trophies could be viewed as underwhelming. Though realistically there will always be 21 Championship teams who don't get promoted, 3 of which are relegated so 18 teams will have to look at the bigger picture to judge their season. Ok you still can't ignore the league table - barring some eyebrow raising results on the final day, we'll finish at best 14th and worst 16th. Not as high as we'd like, but still a slight improvement on the last couple seasons. Additionally many of us felt our status as a Championship club was safe earlier in the season too. Also let's not forget how frustrating we've been to watch at times in the last couple years. If my memory is correct our 2020-21 season saw us break the record for the least shots on goal in a Championship season since records began (2013), and 2021-22 saw us concede a ridiculous number of late goals losing us valuable points. Such obvious flaws in our squad and system, be it tactical, mental or physical have seemingly been eradicated. Financially I understand we're in a stronger position, as evidenced by paying a rumoured 7 figure sum for Mehmeti in Jan. We've continued to reduce our wage bill, smartly managing some of the higher earners by offloading them (e.g. Bentley) or resigning them (e.g. Wells) on improved terms. Thankfully our academy has continued to produce talented players. We're continuing to reap the financial (Semenyo sale, expected Scott sale) and footballing benefits of this, and there's players to be excited about in the next crop coming through. Looking ahead to next season's incomings, it feels like once again there is a more coherent strategy in place. It's encouraging to see us return to signing up and comers rather than believing our hype and signing players on their way down for over inflated fees and wages. Also many of the players we've signed in recent windows from lower leagues are finding their feet at Championship level - Atkinson and Tanner come to mind especially. All in all, many reasons to look at it as a progressive 12 months for the club. I'm already excited to see what next season brings and how the squad shapes up come the first game of the season.

Uh oh.. he's gone down for the second time in 5 mins or so.. He's been subbed off now. Hopefully it's an impact injury and nothing a couple days rest won't fix!

Alex Scott would fit nicely in that midfield 3 next to Bellingham and Rice ?

Like all other footballers - ordinary person with an extraordinary talent. Think we need to remember this more when "supporters" want to heckle from the stands. I echo others on this thread - hope Dele Alli is ok and he'll be able to look back fondly on the good times

Some talk about contracts... Does anyone have a list of the current squad's contract expiry dates? *bats eyes at @Davefevs* ?

Anyone been able to watch much of Kadji?? I've not kept up with how he's doing but have high hopes.

'WHAT? 2 months ago some fans wanted you sacked?!'

Best I've seen live. Incredible player.

When prem clubs see an Alex Scott masterclass and start bidding at 10pm tonight...

The Football Sustainability Index: How well run is your club? - The Athletic In the above Niall Couper, Cheif Exec of Fair Game says "In the Championship, the true winners are Luton, Millwall and Bristol City - clubs that are building for the future and are refusing to put themselves at risk." That statement is testament to the work Pearson, Gould and co have done to get the clubs finances back under control.

The Football Sustainability Index, created by FairGame has been published today. It takes into account Financial Sustainability, Good Governance, Fan-Engagement and Equality Standards. Not all these factors have equal weighting. Financial Sustainability has the greatest value of the 4 factors. The index was created for Premier League and Championship Clubs. Here's a link to the tables and full report: The Index — Fair Game (fairgameuk.org) I've screen grabbed the championship table below: Here's a screen grab of how each of those scores are calculated, and their contribution to the overall score: I haven't had a proper read through to gather my thoughts yet, and of course like any model or index it's limited by what data is put in but I thought it was an interesting report worth sharing.

I'm sure, at the start of the season, he said something along the lines of his head was in a better place and he was more determined than ever. Really happy for him that it's going well. Looks like Ten Haag has had a positive impact too, and I hope Sancho reaches the performance levels he was hitting for Borussia Dortmund

Wasn't there some ridiculous stat along the lines of from when he joined in Jan to mid March we didn't score a goal when he was on the pitch? Or he didn't have a shot on target or something? Not giving anyone much to work off there in fairness ?

Can't wait to watch Zak Vyner pocket Haaland

Yepp. Along similar lines I had a giggle at some of the favourites for the Everton job. Bielsa, Dyche, Rooney... what a mess