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The Journalist

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Everything posted by The Journalist

  1. On the plus side, we'll be due a new club to copy by then. They seem to come in two/three-year cycles (just beginning on Luton, of course, after giving up with Brentford and Brighton).
  2. My point is you have to be careful, to an extent, to judge a manager's performance/legacy on the state he leaves the club in because timing has quite a lot to do with that. Edit: Also worth saying - you know I'm a huge fan of Nigel Pearson, think he's done a brilliant job etc so it's more a broader point I'm making than anything specific to him!
  3. This is really interesting and don't disagree with any of it - but re: legacy it does raise quite a thought-provoking point around point of departure, doesn't it? You're basing your legacy argument around Pearson leaving at a pretty positive juncture, assuming we at least finish in middle table this season with a young, improving team. He could well sign a new contract, which the vast majority of us would be happy with, stay another 24 months, us still be floating around in mid-table and the general feeling across the board is we'd built a bang average squad not capable of going the next step. What's his legacy then? Similarly, if Gary had left for a bigger club at the end of his third full season you'd have said we were in a good position to kick on, with two positive seasons behind us and a young star striker - Nicky Maynard - now settled in at Championship level. Just think it's interesting and shows how much timing has to do with your perceived legacy/the club you leave behind. I'm saying this as a huge Nigel Pearson fan, by the way, so I'm not arguing with your overall point - just that you have to be careful about how you're framing that argument.
  4. One thing that also came through from that interview - and I appreciate many fans felt this was the case anyway, but it being put across publicly to the media is a different thing - was that the club wanted to sell Alex. From that, the Alex money had already been spent prior to his departure, him staying would've cost the owner a considerable amount of cash as a result, the owner was closely involved during the process of the sale and those negotiations went on for several months... that's very different to setting a price and waiting for a club to match it. And, again, while we all know the optics haven't been great for a while around transfers/the manager's future I just feel like the chief executive hasn't made it any better in that interview. And I can't pretend I don't feel just a bit disappointed by the whole thing? Just for clarity, I don't consider myself a typical forum moaner/a grass is always greener on the other side type. I've always been a supporter of the owner - I still am, really - and I can always forgive poor decision making when it's made in good faith or for the right reasons. Nobody is perfect and I do believe he's really tried to get us promoted to the Premier League during his tenure, that he does genuinely want to leave the club in a good place. But it's hard not to be slightly despondent about the direction of travel off the pitch, isn't it? We've sold our two best players for a combined £30-35m in the past nine months and, despite the "what football brings in, football can spend" mantra that's been trotted out publicly even in recent interviews, we've recruited, almost exclusively, players surplus to requirements at Championship clubs or out of League One and League Two during that timeframe. That's not to say our recruitment has been a disaster, I do like some of the players we've brought in, but the team that started at Swansea contained just two - one of those a loanee signed as injury cover, according to the chief executive - who weren't with us 12 months ago... when Alex and Antoine were still part of our squad. Of course, the strategy now is to emulate a club - Luton - who've achieved promotion on a shoestring budget against all odds. I mean... actually where is the logic there? It was against all odds for a reason - it's unlikely to be repeated again in a hurry! And I can't imagine they spent the past two years telling all and sundry that promotion was the aim, being around the top six was the expectation and that worst teams than them had done it either. And, to top all of it off, the board could barely be more visibly uncomfortable with Nigel as manager - they give the impression that any success, past, present or future, has been and will be in spite of him rather than because of him. The chief executive refusing to talk about a prospective new contract on the radio I can live with, but the club refusing to give any clear public backing to one of the most popular managers we've had in the past decade is tone deaf at best. At very best. After all that - and taking a deep breath - can we still have a successful season? Yeah, we can. Could we even do the unthinkable and get promoted if things go our way? Absolutely. It's football, weird shit happens. But if the above happens it won't be in spite of Nigel, it'll be in spite of his employers at this point IMO.
  5. I can't speak for anyone else, but personally I'm seeing what I didn't want to see.
  6. I listened to the interview earlier and was surprised he wasn’t asked whether the club actually want Pearson to stay or whether Pearson himself wants to stay. I thought he was given an easy ride, in all honesty. You can ask the same question using different words that make it much harder to dodge…
  7. I'm still not 100% convinced about Max, but I do think his handling has been excellent from the games I've seen. He's been very secure and often caught when other goalkeepers (and Bentley probably does come into this category) would parry.
  8. He was really good today after an indifferent start to the season. Made his finish for the goal look much easier than it was. I still think he’s more of a threat when he hasn’t (and sometimes even when we haven’t) got the ball than when he has it - his pace, his workrate and clever runs makes him a nightmare to play against. If he can contribute more with the ball - and he has the ability to IMO - what a player he could be. His ceiling may well be higher than Conway’s IMO, Tommy is just far more rounded as a player currently.
  9. My hunch is all three goals were rightly disallowed and the foul on Nahki felt borderline - it’s a blatant foul and he wasn’t attempting to win the ball particularly, but it was a long way from goal and there was a covering defender. I think we’d have been annoyed if it was given against us.
  10. “Sorry Nigel, but you did say you didn’t want any last-minute funds…”
  11. About to be announced. Bit of extra cash for us to not spend on the team, which is handy.
  12. This was a pretty depressing read after a day away from it all. On the plus side, bloody good forum this, innit? Eight pages of superb debate. We don’t know how lucky we are to have this community.
  13. I think my concern with us is we put Naismith in the holding role expecting everything to come through him, they put someone up against him, he drifts deeper and deeper, creates bigger and bigger gaps between the midfield three and our centre-halves are looking at each other thinking "now what?". Next thing you know Vyner's clipping the ball straight out of play trying to force the pass himself and the moaning and groaning from the crowd begins. You can basically play the whole thing out in your head before it happens, can't you?!
  14. The centre-back thing is interesting. Naismith's the third-best defender out of him, Vyner and Dickie but I also think we're a better team with Naismith there - I've always liked having a quarter-back type at centre-half because it gives you a completely different dimension in possession. It forces the other team to change how they press/defend against you. Naismith playing as the CDM can obviously have a similar impact, but I think it's easier to defend against if you're relying on all of your play to come through him so it often then becomes about how well you can use the CDM as a decoy to open up other passing lanes. I think it'll be fascinating to see which route Pearson takes.
  15. Yeah, I do appreciate that. I’ve always been supportive of Lansdown - although I’ve become less fond of many things he says - and I’m not demanding he go on a spending spree. It’s his money and he’s in charge. But if you’re giving me the option of going for it or being conservative, I’m going for it every time.
  16. Good teams win games! The 2014-15 season being a case in point - Ashton Gate was a mess with only three sides open and you just know some fans would’ve trotted out the whole “the disruption derailed our season” line if we’d not gone up. As it was, it was never even discussed because we were a better team that everyone else!
  17. For me, being a football fan is all about moments and memories. What’s the point, otherwise? I never really understand fans who are content with economic sustainability and bobbing along in the middle of a division being secure. I support a football team to escape the real-life worries of security and sustainability! Let’s give it a crack. I’ve been a Bristol City fan for 25 years and at some point I’d like to see us on Match of the Day, to visit Old Trafford for a league game and waste £30m on some French striker who is supposed to score the goals to keep us up. Life is too short. Way too short.
  18. He could score in the World Cup final and I still wouldn’t change my opinion on him. Just one of those I’m doubling down on no matter what! ?
  19. Yeah, he’s certainly not a natural footballer. I like him, though. (Watkins wasn’t a footballer at all and was lucky to get in the Bath City team when I covered them in my very early BBC days!).
  20. I know he’s not had the easiest start but comparing him to Marley Watkins feels overly harsh… ?
  21. If he was at centre-back for the Birmingham game I bet you’d have seen a very different team performance. Sure, we may look less secure, but we look so much better in possession. For starters he pins the right full-back further back because he hits the diagonal so well, which then opens more space inside the full-back etc.
  22. Was the Wells offside goal actually offside? I missed the replays and discussion at the time. FWIW, when it happened live I thought he was off and was surprised the flag didn’t go up… then it did.
  23. Cornick looks far better down the middle than playing off the side. He gives you a genuine focal point and actually plays like the number on his back.
  24. Just as we were last year, we’re a better team going forward with Naismith at the back. I appreciate that’s not how it’s supposed to work but alas, it does. Also thought Bell was quite poor and, while a threat with his constant running and pace, looks a passenger in possession. He just doesn’t make it stick. Still think he gets a bit of a free pass simply because he’s an academy product
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