Gert Mare

It doesn’t matter who the manager is we need all 11 on the pitch to be at the top of their game otherwise we struggle. Yesterday was a prime example of carrying a few players, Mehmeti was frustrating, Bell was anonymous, Vyner was half asleep and Tanner was back to getting a nose bleed as soon as he stepped over the halfway line. Knight is consistent and Joe Williams has got stronger, but there they had to do the work of 4 in the middle of the park so Conway got no service. He was totally isolated upfront and didn’t even have scraps to feed off of. A number of times he was begging players to give him something, but all that was happening was the safe 2 yard passes and anything else went astray. We don’t have enough quality and it’s as simple as that. Even our bench options offer the same thing that is already on the pitch and we need more physical presence and creativity otherwise 1 up top just isn’t going to work.

I didn’t see the game last night, but was gleefully shown the latest score by a Gashead when we were 2-1 down. The last 2 matches have shown that we can grind out results in different ways and that can only help players confidence. I’m pleased that Mehmeti is being given a chance to settle in because we need creativity and he has that in his locker. I think back to Scott Murray and how he changed once his confidence grew. If Mehmeti can get anywhere close to that then bums will be off seats. The togetherness in the squad still seems to be there and credit to Liam Manning as he is connecting with them. Nice to be going into the Christmas period not looking nervously over our shoulders. No doubt the upcoming fixture against West Ham will see players trying to push for a place in the starting XI for that game. Now…..where’s that Gashead gone?

I’m getting xG’d out of my skull now.

A win is a bird…..Let’s have a coffee!

Sykes off for Bell. 1-1?

Bas

Quite a few needless yellows being picked up today. Perhaps bring on Yeboah for Sykes to add to the collection?

Is it time to take Sykes off yet?

Front foot

I honestly believed that given the right sort of backing that NP would have got us out of the Championship and we wouldn’t have choked in the run in due to the spirit and togetherness he was creating at the club. During his tenure I felt we were finally beginning to show some real stability for the first time in a long time. I remember when he got the job and I couldn’t believe we had got ourselves such a high profile manager at our club at an awful time who was willing to take on such a challenge. Such a strong character and leader and much more mellow than his Ostrich days. A manager who doesn’t suffer fools…..unfortunately because that included JL and BT that was his ultimate undoing. The more I think about it the more I am beginning to think that his sacking was nothing more than jealousy, and what I mean by that is ‘popularity’ and genuine connection with the players and the fans. Yes, maybe he didn’t spend too much time on the training ground and wouldn’t be told how to do things by certain people, but he delegated that responsibility through ‘trust’ and the ego’s didn’t like it. Mr Pearson became more popular than the owners and a club legend and they were jealous of the warmth for the man…..so obviously he had to go!!!

Agree Har. Bell is looking more and more lost with each passing game and Yeboah has bags of energy but is incredibly raw and for me he lacks positional awareness and seems to be very frantic when introduced. He needs a loan in my opinion.

My message to Jon would be leave the footballing decision making to the manager and just stick to looking after the finances. The constant interference isn’t welcome from any manager who has actual experience of football and definitely those who know how to actually get teams out of the Championship. Stop meddling! You might not like their style or agree with some of their ideas, but unless we’re in a relegation dog fight keep your finger off the trigger. All the money in the world doesn’t give you better knowledge of the game than any other ordinary supporter. Micro managing is doomed to failure in any industry let alone football!

Just some observations…..Agree with the fact that LM’s remit is to push the team on towards promotion THIS season. We’ve played well in spells, but I think that’s as much to do with the opposition rather than tactical nouse. I think our defence has been overly exposed and teams have cut through us like a knife through butter on several occasions. We haven’t moved the ball quick enough and we’ve sacrificed chances to create opportunities by opting to regroup and knock the ball around the back line. We no longer appear difficult to break down. We had witnessed a squad capable of staying the pace until the 90+ minutes and fitness / work rate wasn’t in question. Now we’re seeing some of our most creative players like Knight / Sykes being pulled after 60 minutes. Sykes in particular is one of very few players who is a consistent goal threat. Seems inexplicable to me that he in particular is regularly being sacrificed? I’m starting to feel like there is almost an air of desperation creeping in already. I’m like a number of frustrated supporters who was absolutely pro Nige and am extremely angry at JL, SL and BT. I hope LM can turn things around for his sake because he’s been sold an absolute fantasy by the deluded board and so be it if LM ends up as collateral damage but it won’t prevent my fury at the clueless clowns when this season falls apart. We were ready to start giving Nige some decent money to transition us from a counter attacking team into a pressing team, full of belief and some real quality additions and instead JL shot us in the head.

We were surprisingly in a similar position to Ipswich in December 2017 when we were top of the Championship and beating Man United. We had ‘clubs in the bag’ which if we had reached the Premier League wouldn’t have been an issue. Unfortunately we had a a joker in charge of the team whose tactical excellence and studious knowledge was all in his own head. The Wolves game was the turning point and a good manager would have been able to regroup, focus and inspire his players. Unfortunately we went on a record breaking losing streak (and LJ did this twice, not once remember?) and failure to kick on (as well as Lansdown’s failure to back in the January transfer window) meant that the ultimate goal wasn’t achieved. The result has been years of struggling to stay within FFP. If Ipswich go up then they’ll get away with not having to be in a financial mess, but if they fail then expect to see the same turmoil that we have had to navigate.

I thought we were more positive in possession than we have been over the previous few games. We’re still not moving the ball quick enough in the final third to hurt teams and the unexpected through ball by Dickie to Weimann opened them up easily for Tommy to score. We need to mix it up a bit more like that during games to avoid becoming too predictable. I thought the decision to remove Sykes was very strange as he is one of our most creative players going forward and he’s a hardworking player who can go the 90. One thing that does concern me with the high press is the lack of cover on the counter and we are weak down the right hand side. Tanner doesn’t have the legs for a wing back and is limited in his distribution. More often than not he favours the diagonal back pass to Vyner which kills our momentum. We have been undone by individual errors in the last few games as a result of surrendering possession with too many players in forward positions and we have been cut open at ease. We need real quality pacy wing backs to stutter these attacks allowing Vyner and Dickie to get goal side of the ball in time. I’m not convinced that Bell is effective enough and for me that position needs someone more effective in picking out opportunities to provide Tommy with decent chances to finish. For me with Belly it’s more like hit and hope rather than a measured ball. With a few tweaks and a bit of confidence we could potentially cause one or two teams a serious problem and they could be on the end of a 4 goal tanking. However, at the moment we are equally playing a dangerously high line that can put us in a position of having to try to get back into a game against a team that otherwise wouldn’t necessarily cause us any serious attacking threat.

Performance ok. Just some poor decision making in the final third.

Huddersfield have grown into this game since their goal. At the moment it feels like Norwich all over again. Big 2nd half coming up. We need to come out of the blocks well, but not overload the press as they are more than capable of hurting us with another quick counter.

Great post. I’ve highlighted these statements too in other threads. The objectives are clear and consistent from those at the top. Fans are questioning the integrity of the board, not trying to jump on LM’s back and write him off. I’ve also done some historical research trying to understand why and where we go wrong as a club and I found an interesting article from when Steve Coppell left and what he said at the time and it kind of makes a lot of sense to me as to why managers can find the set up at Bristol City ‘difficult’ to work in. https://talksport.com/uncategorized/10675/exclusive-coppell-i-was-disappointed-environment-i-found-myself-bristol-city/amp/ Here are some very interesting points…. “I look at some of the things that are happening now and you just can’t believe the decision making process of a lot of clubs. "I was very lucky at Reading. John Madejski said to me on my first day, 'I' know nothing about football, you look after the football and I'll look after the club'. He left me alone. "He was not on the phone to me all on the time, saying 'why are you doing this, why don't you buy him, why don't you pick him'. "I was left to do my job. And that's all I ever ask for at any club. Now you don't get that freedom. It is a process whereby you have to explain everything you do." Coppell admitted he was selfish to walk out on Bristol City but said the job did not turn out to be what he expected. He added: "Bristol will be disappointed with me and I have to say I was disappointed with the environment I found myself in and I thought, it’s pointless me being here.

At the end of the day everyone is entitled to their own opinions about the club they support. Just because someone doesn’t agree doesn’t make them a person with less intelligence, nor does it make them less of a City fan. They just have opposite opinions as to what is required for the club to be successful and only time will tell. What we do know is that the timeframe is a short one. By then end of this season the club needs to be challenging at the top end of the Championship. I think a few people who aren’t grumbling might have ‘brushed over’ the statements made by JL…..but they were very clear and backed up by BT. If we’re writing off this season and talking about the next 2 or 3 transfer windows then there is a very serious integrity problem at the top.

Absolutely spot on. SL has made it clear too on numerous occasions. During LM’s first interview he said the first place you are going to look for players is in the Academy. One of the strong points for bringing LM in is because of his experience of working with young players (academy). JL indicated that they ‘might’ make the odd signing if absolutely necessary. BT also has stated that all teams in the club should be playing the same way so a player from the academy should be able to slot straight in and know his job. I’m seeing the similarities to LJ and one of my major concerns is ‘over coaching’ and ‘over complicating’. If LM wants things to work he has to majorly concentrate on the human aspect, mind set, man management and compliment that with the coaching. If he’s too focused on the coaching and the players aren’t able to buy in for whatever reason then the whole set up will become sterile and the performances will visibly start to regress. I’m beginning to get niggled by the robotic tech speak and the last time I felt that way was when LJ was at the helm. I really do think we are seeing things the same way. I actually don’t want to be right because I’m really concerned about what that would mean for our longer term Championship survival, let alone talking about ‘Top End’! Ego stroking and keeping one’s own powder dry.

So in a nutshell (according to the stats) we’re slower, and have sacrificed trying to win matches with ‘Chuckle Brother’ passing? Cosmic! That correlates with what I was watching on Sunday, coupled with the flat atmosphere.

My observation was that their confidence grew after the break and the introduction of Idah was a good move as he injected a bit of pace to put pressure on our back line who were too comfortable up until that point.

The narrative set by the board cannot simply be brushed aside. Otherwise why sack NP in the first place? Their words and they should be held accountable if success isn’t achieved THIS season!!!!

As fans I don’t think we do expect much this season, but both JL and BT have clearly stipulated that the plan is to give us the best possible chance of achieving success ‘THIS SEASON’ otherwise in JL’s words…”Why make a change?” If the requirement from Liam Manning is to rip up the style of play and let things come together with time then this goes against the explicit expectations from the board for this season. The squad is good enough (apparently) and should be ‘top end’ of the Championship.