RedRock

Decent that. I’ll forgive Manning his FA coach book bingo interview, based on that match. High energy, fast paced and positive performance that, to which a surprisingly totally lack-lustre and lethargic Blackburn had no answer. No farting around at the back and looked pretty comfortable in/out of possession in a back 5/3. Maybe he’s stumbled on something that works well just like a couple of our previous managers through a key player injury? All good.

Struth. How did I forget Twine … and, currently, he’s not injured either!!!! Hopefully, we’ve got a £1 million ‘buy’ option on him. Otherwise, that seems a disastrous bit of business too. We really are just burning through the Scott and Semenyo money to no great effect.

So, the Manning/Tinnion first window, which the latter described - I think - as ‘brilliant’. We have TGH, injured, bit of a lightweight and still don’t know his best position; Bird, injured but presently not ours; Dire, less said the better; Irish bloke, gone home injured, Aldershot bloke, lost form but presently not ours. Little wonder SL is now saying there’s no money available. I’d be saying the same after that sort of performance from our recruitment team. Hopefully, somewhat belatedly, SL now recognises we need to get a comprehensive network of scouts established. Know it’s ’old school’, but this modern desk top stuff fails at our Club. After sorting out the scouting network, get a top medical expert in. These are the best signings we could make and it just frustrating that we don’t seem to be making any progress on these positions with the opening of the Summer Window not that far off. Once we’ve done those two things then, SL, release the ‘purse strings’ for 3-4 first team players (NOT ones for the future) that are real improvements on what we already have.

We need to move on. Nige ain’t coming back. Was a Manning ‘outer’ a couple of weeks back as I couldn’t see what he was trying to do with the team, the results/performances were diabolical and was baffled how the ‘brilliant’ January transfer period could be regarded as anything other than a total failure on/off the pitch. The last two results though have placed us in a better position, so it’s pretty clear now he will be with us until at least next October. So, our choice is to continue to snipe away and criticise everything the management team do, or support - passively or otherwise. I’m opting for the latter given that it is the one most likely to result in positive performances on the pitch. You reds.

Unlucky. Would have been interesting if we hadn’t lost those 3 players, but the replacements did a fine job. Be interesting to see how many progress now with us.

HT Man City 0 Bristol City3 (2 Hamstrings, 1 Hip) Never change City. Never change. Actual we’re decent. Like the look of our keeper, even if he’s not had much to do.

Done as everyone else … but ought to have a category for the ‘much under-rated’ or ‘Mr Consistency’ …. I bring you George Tanner.

Like that. Well done my chuffing reds.

That was The Cherry Tree incident. Parked up and wandered around the back streets some distance from the Ground looking for a pub and just by chance spotted The Cherry Tree at the end of a pleasant, quiet residential street. Suddenly and bizarrely, out of nowhere a mob of a couple of hundred charged down the road in front of the pub, and started smashing up cars in the adjoining car forecourt. You may be right about the Plymouth fans, but my recollection was that it was the car sales owner who came out swinging an axe and chased the mob down the road. Truly, was like a scene from the Wild West, and then some. Anyhow, nothing can stop a man from his pint. Went into pub, a few scattered City in there drinking as if nothing had happened. Think the coaches that had dropped off the mob had all their tyres slashed during the match in retribution. Just another of many fun days in the lifelong saga of following City home and away.

Erm… 26,000 City, 20,000 for the Women’s rugby. That’s about 3 months worth of Sags attendances for the stadium in a couple of days.

As I was, and started in the third division prior to that particular ‘dip’ to the fourth. I have, however, little doubt the current Owner and The Board wish to achieve success. Certain parts of their ‘model’ seem to be heading in the right direction. For example, not many Championship Clubs had attendances at their grounds over the last couple of days exceeding 46,000, with the stadium and support receiving glowing praise from a national broadcaster. I do think the football side needs work still and I remain sceptical that the current set up off/on field will deliver success. I would love to be proved wrong.

Well done lads. Cracking result. Now, the big one. Follow that performance up and get consistent. The South West bragging rights at stake.

See he was an ex Henbury Old Boy. Pity he crossed to the dark side. Good player, who realised his full potential and then some with the support of a couple of the best managers this Country has seen. Rest easy.

Can you still get your leg over though? Personally, I started to struggle from around the age of 55 and had to start queuing down the gangways to exit.

…Here’s The Ospreys. Both Poole Harbour Ospreys now returned safely to their nest. The female arriving this morning about 36 hours after the male. Within a few minutes of reuniting he got his ‘leg over’, so chicks on the way. Amazing that they fly to Central Africa and back and can pinpoint their nest site and arrive back about the same time they did last year. Live web-cam action on the nest which beats watching both England and City - even when the ospreys aren’t present.

Not watching but hopefully, whatever the bloke says in his Presser, he has/is using the break for a total reset and refresh. That’s what I’m doing as a supporter. Let’s see a shiny new Bristol City that are dynamic, progressive, innovative, highly motivated and re-energised for the remainder of the Season, starting Leicester. COYRs.

Throughly enjoyed that. Really interesting views, many consistent with my own. Expressed this previously, but trying to keep our stars - even with substantially increased wages - is near impossible, unless we can offer them a realistic prospect that the ‘group’ will put in a serious promotion challenge in the foreseeable future. The fact we’ve found it impossible to convince any of our rising stars that promotion is a realistic proposition says a lot about our Club. The three options we have in these circumstance are to build a team from an Academy which is nigh on impossible or buy in players which we develop or are oven-ready - our recruitment setup is abysmal and has been for years. The other option is a combination of both, but you need both to be successful. While our Academy has recently improved, our recruitment remains awful and without any seeming changes occurring that will result in different outcomes. We seem to have adopted the last approach, but until both elements of the strategy deliver we will be, and will forever be, stuck in the doldrums. We’ve now further buggered things up by appointing an FA textbook manager, at a time when teams at our level need to adopt a totally different innovative, progressive style of football to become successful - that’s unless you can buy the best of the best practitioners of FA football which we can’t. Add to that a bizarre leadership structure and individuals who, at best, are ill fitting for their roles … and the outlook appears pretty bleak. Hey Ho. It could be worse, we could be Rovers I suppose… but so much potential, a mega-rich owner and local boy, with a Club that has not only decent infrastructure but support from the fans in terms of good Championship attendances … all appearing to be going to waste. Only City could **** this up so badly when such solid foundations have been laid.

A team usually takes on the characteristics of their manager. The FA have got the team that they deserve by appointing Mr Anonymous. If you want to ‘win at all costs’, then appoint a manager with those characteristics.

Because he has the same issue as Manning and all the other FA straitjacket coaches, desperately lacks in-game management ability. Use your head, if it isn’t working change the system FFS, be innovative try something different, unexpected. Get the opposition out of their comfort zone. It’s almost as if they are slaves to the coaching manual.

If you play at walking pace, pass the ball around slowly, backwards, sideways, backwards again allowing the opposition to gather 5 defenders all the time in the World to surround your lone central forward it will forever be. It seems the bloke who wrote the FA Coaching Manual, for some strange reason, didn’t think this would happen. Hence FA Coaching devotes, like Southgate and Manning, hit a brick wall and have no idea how to solve the lone, small striker problem.

Whoever wrote the FA playbook should be shot. Awful. Just like watching City. Where’s the innovation, urgency, partnerships? Play smart. Clear that Plan A wasn’t working after 30 minutes, so change the ******* tactics. Southgate and Manning just cut from the same mould. Boring, passive, predictable football.

You wait ‘til the Irish find out that St Patrick was English and was abducted as a slave from England to Ireland.

Yep. Bottom line all about profits. Trash a Country’s flag, offend, inevitable reaction, produce new shirt with the national flag, sell more. We’ve seen this sort of marketing before. Capitalism at its very worst. Well, apart from our foreign-owned Water Companies and, erm, virtually everything else. The issue is more than ‘just a flag’. The fundamental here is out of control capitalism where nothing is sacrosanct in pursuit of ££££. So looking at the issue a bit deeper, a bit of an ‘own goal’ for the Mail?

Ummm…. I think the clue is in ‘the official England shirt’. Some highly-paid diversity bod in the FA either initiated or approved this aberration. Maybe Nike should have a bit lighthearted fun and alter their brand motif so it becomes unrecognisable on the shirt…. but hey, they wouldn’t do that as their commercial interests are far more important than our national identity. Hopefully, someone will come to the rescue and produce copies with the England flag on so nobody buys the official de-flagged and, btw, obscenely over-priced shirt.

Always thought at our Club’s level that if you were going with emphasis on a ‘technical’, rather than a ‘man-manager’ coach, you need someone different and innovative. We need a game plan that is ahead of the trend curve, not just a replica of what everyone else is doing. Unlikely we will be a success based on an on-trend model as most of our rivals can afford better players that are better able to play the ‘established’ systems. My fear from day one is we’ve gone technical, but with just an FA textbook man. The very worst of outcomes imo.