INCRED

Of the 3 clubs in the mix, I really can’t see Leeds messing up today!

2 hours ago, Alessandro said:

Yes it’s nice win but you’re absolutely right.

I don’t think you can understate how poor Blackburn were tonight.

If a team wins 5-0 either you’re meeting a hugely talented attacking team or the losing team have capitulated.

Given the fact we’ve only won a game by more than 2 goals 3 times all season and only 8 teams in the league have scored less goals than us…

Add in Blackburn’s current bottom 6 form and the fact they have the 2nd leakiest defence in the league.

Suggests more of the latter.

A nice win yes, credit for that - but IMo people probably shouldn’t get too carried away though on the back of tonight…

 

Totally agree and whilst it’s nice to put 5 past the opposition I would reference the last 3 games as a better marker of where we are under LM. 
 

Huddersfield & Norwich will provide a stern test as they are desperate for points for different reasons. If we can dispatch them then perhaps LM has cracked the formula 

Maybe next season could bring something better?

8 minutes ago, Sweeneys Penalties said:

so "Promotion Chasing Bristol Rovers" are 9 points above the drop zone. Anyone know when this promotion push begins?

Now more commonly listed on the video printer from now on as Bristol Rovers nil

16 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

I think calling Barton a bully is probably an understatement.

In reality he displays all the behaviours of an abuser. 

That means everyone around him that he doesn't perceive as bigger and stronger than he is, is a victim of his behaviour. Sadly, that means his family and friends, particularly women and specifically female partners, and almost certainly his children, unfortunately.

Unless he gets the help he clearly needs then he'll continue on a path of self-destruction, and destruction and misery for those around him. 

I can’t believe there are people out there who actually employed him in a management & leadership role. It’s pretty well documented that the bloke is a complete liability and a psycho 

I wonder if the owners fancy a change of head coach for the new season?

1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

We have a solid base on which to build. That has been bequeathed. A squad with a good mindset too.

We should not, I repeat not unless we can get great players for great value be looking at an overhaul IMO.

Hard work has been done pretty much between Summer 2021 and January 2023 to stabilise the FFP position- maybe Scott sale the final element.

Build on the base, lose as few key players as possible and look to retain James and Williams.

If Cornick and Wells are as poor as people say, will we find takers? Albeit I appreciate age isn't on the side of Wells.

Wouldn't be averse to us spending relatively big to build on the solid base.

I see no point in Cornick being in the squad, he adds nothing of any worth 

Conway, he can go and club need to get best possible deal as I don’t think he is they type of player that fits LMs plans and the way he wants to play

with Bird coming in and a likely starter with Knight in midfield then I think it’s a fine balance as to whether both James & Williams are given new deals but cover will be needed and I wonder if Brannigan will be prised away from Oxford 

where we have struggled and continue to is in attack, if Conway is sold then 2 forwards & a No10 are a must.

Certainly physically we have been lacking and need forwards who can compete and create more problems for defences. If we go for Twine as the 10 then I can see us spending a decent wedge in the summer 

2 hours ago, redkev said:

Couple of things ,

looks like some big teams coming up from league 1 next year 

Pompey ( that will be lively ) Derby & Bolton  . 
another point firstly why is Max Bird coming to us surely Derby are a bigger club , also is he injured already I have looked at the team sheets for the last month or so and he not in line ups or on bench 

What makes them big?

Just because they spent a few seasons in the Prem doesn’t constitute being a big club. 
 

Traditional old club maybe?

If you want to be a big club these days then look at the top 6 in the Premier league 

2 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

What a fantastic performance .  That was spot on today, fingers crossed that’s the future. 

Frustrating that we know they have it in them to beat these teams but the inconsistency is the issue 

Playing well in one in 5 games isn’t good enough. LM now has to get these players to go and win the next 3-4 games and show that the plan & coaching is working and we can do something next season 

Vyner absolute rubbish today, passing, marking, panics when the ball comes anywhere’s near him 

a few others giving Leicester too much respect 

On 24/01/2024 at 17:49, Clevedon Red said:

Bristol trains: Possibility of new stations to be explored

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-68080364

 

I was party to a conversation with the largest medical insurance company in the US last week who I’m told are in advanced stages for building a large office site near Long Ashton. This company already has a large presence in Bristol and money is no object to get the development they require - I dont want to name the company but part of their development is to have their own rail line & station/platform by the site. This will have a rail link to Bristol Airport also. 
 

obviously funding will not be an issue for this company but it will be interesting to see how planners receive this in the planning stages, how many dog walkers are against it and where AG and the whole expansion of the area is integrated with so much private investment 

I wonder if this US company fancy buying a football club as well

The office development is planned for completion by 2028/29 

The only thing missing is consistency of performance 

This squad can produce moments of excellence countered by moments of mediocrity 

On their day they can beat anyone as well as lose to anyone 

We know we are missing a goal scoring No9 as what we have at the club currently isn’t good enough

We also lack that creativity to unlock low block defences which needs addressing 

Has BT and the board got a solution in place for the summer as they appear to be saying that is the priority?

Is Manning & his assistant able to coach us into a style and winning team that will challenge next season - who knows but throwing him under the bus so soon is not going to happen with this board & owner until Manning has had a pre season with new players and next season to put into practice what they saw in him 

If he fails miserably and we are fighting for our lives near the lower end of the league then someone will open the trap door and wave LM goodbye 

3 minutes ago, nickolas said:

But as well as weve done we all just know there will be one mistake, theyll score and we’ll have a drab 1 or 2-nil result.

I’m the same, decent first half and looked comfortable but we giveaway stupid goals and second half will show what top 6 teams do and find a way to win when not playing well 

On 02/03/2024 at 19:57, Harry said:

For the last few years, Bristol City FC has been attempting to create its own ‘model’. Their idea of the optimum way to run a football club to provide it with the best chance of success. 
 

The ‘Model’ is supposed to be one where everything at the club is ‘aligned’.
It says that all of our teams from the under 8’s through to the first team will play the same way. 
I’m not sure that’s quite such a good idea but hey ho. 
But the most crucial element for me is that the model says that the first team will play a certain way and that we have a ‘Technical Director’ to oversee this and ensure it’s on track and everything is aligned. 
 

Personally, at this level of football, I don’t think that works. 
The scene is such that, any manager coming into the club should be of a certain ‘type’ and conform to a certain set of principles. 
The club have created a philosophy (call it an identity if you like) as to how they want to play football and any manager should align (there’s that word again) with that. 
 

The Technical Director runs the recruitment side of the business. 
He determines what players we sign and what manager and coaches we sign. He will try to conform to the club principles and appoint managers and coaches who will ‘fit’ and sign players who will ‘fit’. 
 

We see this sort of model at the top end of the game. Many of the biggest clubs run on a Director of Football type of model, where the manager has only limited say in the player recruitment and is basically just tasked with getting on with it, with the rather expensive tools he is provided. 
 

This doesn’t work at our level. We see this in all it’s gory (yes, not glory) with the Tinnion/Manning appointment. 
 

We have a club philosophy that desires to play in a certain way and players have been signed to attempt to slot into that style. 
We now have a manager who has been appointed who clearly likes to adopt a very different philosophy. 
I don’t blame Manning for this. We approached him. He didn’t apply for this job. He had a clear and evident CV, a body of work behind him, that was obvious to anyone who bothered to look that was at odds with our own club model. 
 

Furthermore, this new manager, whilst not having players who can play his way, doesn’t have very much say in how to fix this. 
His first transfer window and we make 4 permanent signings - 3 of which we wanted before the new manager got here. So the new manager arrives, doesn’t have players he wants and then the ‘club model’ signs 3 players that ‘the club model’ wanted. 
 

This is a huge issue for me. We are attempting to recreate models that have had success at places like Brighton, Brentford and even bloody Luton. But whilst those clubs had certain recruitment models, they didn’t dictate a ‘playing philosophy’ throughout the club. They just had very thorough and clever scouting and recruitment modelling. It didn’t dictate the playing style. Whenever there was a manager change the new boss still has his own free reign in terms of how he played and the recruitment model would then have to ‘align’ with the managers philosophy - not the other way round. 
 

When Dean Smith took over from Mark Warburton, he did things differently and they recruited accordingly. Likewise when Frank then took over from Smith, he had different philosophies on pressing, defensive positioning, midfield solidity etc. and the club then recruited accordingly. 
Luton played a certain way under Jones, but when Edwards arrived he harnessed what was already good but brought his own style to it and the club then recruited accordingly. 
 

What we have at Bristol City is a dictatorial model, whereby the Technical Director and Recruitment Team have defined a model and anyone that arrives at the club must buy-in to that model. There is no wavering. Yes, a new manager might have a bit of a say in some signings but generally they are targeted based on our defined modelling. 

Surely it’s obvious to anyone that this just doesn’t work. The talk of ‘everything at this club is aligned, from the under 8’s to the first team’ is just a false platitude. It’s a strapline that they think is clever “hey look at us, we’ve got an identify and model, we’re unique”.

That might work well at Barcelona or Man City but it’s pointless in the championship. It’s not what will actually bring success on the pitch. 
 

To achieve success on the pitch at this level you need a manager who is allowed to run the first team in his own way. Who won’t be dictated to by inferiors who spout about an identity and an alignment throughout the club. 

It’s time for Manning to depart, in my opinion, but it’s also time for the club to drop the nonsense and stop acting like a billy big bollox. The club think that they have a clever way of doing things and that it’s the only way of separating themselves from the challenging division we are in. 
It’s not clever. It’s nonsense. Drop the bullcrap. 
 

The way to achieve success was evident to us a few years ago when a man called Steve Cotterill was appointed. I wasn’t his biggest fan when he got here, and I also think the time was right for him to go, but the period he was here, there is no denying that he’s been the only manager in recent years that’s done things his own way and said “balls” to the ownership and ‘model’. 
Cotterill worked with an experienced Chief Scout and identified the best available players and signed them to fit a way of playing that HE wanted. 
None of this “we’re all aligned from the u8’s to the tea lady”. 
Just an experienced manager with an experienced chief scout, putting together a squad that would play to the managers identity, not the clubs identity. 
 

It’s time to ditch the bullshit. 
Get out there and employ a manager with cahuna’s, one with a CV that demands respect from his players, let him bring in the players that HE wants, not players that the ‘club’ have targeted for the last few windows. Let him put his own team together to play the way that HE wants. 
 

The current model stinks. There are people in positions of authority that have real negative impact on this club who are not fit for purpose. 
We need a board of directors who can appoint a respected manager, who in turn will be empowered to bring in his own trusted recruitment team or chief scout, sign his own players and have zero meddling from unqualified  nobodies. 
 

Our model is shit. And we will get nowhere with it. 

Interesting view and I neither agree or disagree. It is quite easy to critique people when things aren’t quite going as we want or would like. 
 

I very much doubt we will come away with anything from Portman road this evening but if we do then I hope LM is given the due praise 

What we have within the current squad is inconsistency in performance and results. It is the job of the coaching staff to address this and create an environment that puts out a performance level that gets results.

It would be the complete opposite reaction if we won 3,4, 5 on the bounce and get carried away and we seen this recently with wins over Southampton & Middlesbrough and talk of play offs

I’m not sure what the expectations are or were for most when LM was brought in but he needs to address many issues in the close season

Obviously we need a striker who can play as a focal point but also athletic enough to press and chip in with 10-15 goals per season

Decide who plays in the front three with a new No9 - Stokes and whoever LM wants to keep from current squad

Midfield needs an overhaul and will see new faces in the squad over the summer Bird, Murphy etc

Defence has been hit by injuries and thank goodness for Vyner & Dickie but need competition 

Goal keeper - Sorry but Max isn’t a No1 for this league, need a better option 

In summary, a lot to do over the summer and I can see a lot of coming and goings for various reasons 

This current squad isn’t anywhere near a top 6 team and unless LM is ruthless and deals with what is blatantly obvious he will not be our head coach for very long 

9 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Completely disillusioned with this club. Getting the point where I don't even care anymore... The football is terrible, the manager is completely uninspiring, dread watching us play at the moment.

I lost interest after the home defeat against Millwall 

I will review my levels of interest in the summer and decide thereafter if this club & team are worthy of my support and precious time/money 

I wonder if LM will try and get him into the match day squad soon and give him some game time before the end of the season?

With Bird & Stokes playing regularly whilst loaned back to the clubs we did the deals it would be strange if Murphy didn’t get any playing time

I am not aware of any injury?

Calm down everyone, second half we will score 4 and win comfortably 

Just now, frenchred said:

Only because the 3 starting up front shouldn't be!

I agree, can’t say I would have Mehmeti & Bell starting

1 minute ago, Harvey86 said:

O’Leary, Vyner and Dickie aside, you could make a justified argument replacing any other player in that lineup, and I mean that in a good way. Proper squad depth

Atkinson, Pring, Benarous & Naismith the only ones missing 

imagine having to pick a team from that lot 

14 minutes ago, Banjo Red said:

Options off the bench is insane.

Strongest bench we have had this season

39 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

We are screwed and it's my fault as I've put City to win on my accy.

I apologise unreservedly for my confidence and will lock myself in a darkened room after the game.

I avoid backing us on my Acca like the plague but I’ve gone against my better judgement and backed us to win today - apologies in advance as I’m usually let down by City by 4.45pm 

It’s all about momentum and a little bit of luck, we certainly appear to have the start of a run of good form. We just need some good luck with injuries and the bounce of the ball and who knows 

1 minute ago, Super said:

West brom are letting them play something we didn't do.

Can’t wait to play WBA, they are bang average 

1 hour ago, Lavington Robin said:

I thought so as well but Liam said he had a sickness bug so didn’t start him.

Regarding Haydon I think he is an excellent technician & looked good in pre-season. Didn’t take any messing with the more physical players at Fratton Park.

Even with dead ball kicks he was a step up for us until TGH arrived. Subject to a good game tomorrow I really hope he doesn’t get dropped immediately & Cam was my favourite player last season !

As for attitude I would MUCH rather have a player who is not happy at being a sub & did extra training than someone who just took the money. I really like the guy & hope he continues todevelops well.

If Roberts has another good game then he keeps the shirt. This is how it should be if you have a decent size squad. Yes, there are variables that may determine an element of rotation at times but we have rarely had that option due to the unfortunate amount of injuries 

I would like to think LM will let him start even if Pring is fit to make the squad aware that if you play well then you deserve your place in the starting line up in the next game 

Should the club receive an offer too good to ignore for Pring in the summer then at least we know we won’t be weakened by having Roberts still at the club 

3 hours ago, spudski said:

Controversial I know...but I actually think he offers better distribution on the left, into the box and link up, than Pring. 

Both defensively good, but Roberts edges it offensively for me in our system. 

I agree, had it not been for his injury I think he may have been a better option at LB than Pring. I like Pring and he’s a real athlete but Roberts is in my opinion a better technical player