bcfcredandwhite

I’m pleased with the unbeaten run - although we rode our luck in the Huddersfield game. I wouldn’t call it ‘green shoots’ though. We’ve ended the season around mid table ever since LJ left. It’s the same old issue for me; one minute we play really well (Watford, Southampton, Leicester, Blackburn etc) then we play terribly (Stoke, Sheffield W, Huddersfield…) When we play well we look really good and I have to admit I found those performances really exciting and entertaining - the sort of performance I’d love to see - even when we don’t win, like vs Norwich on Saturday. I can’t understand however, how a team can play so differently within a few days. It’s a mystery to me. I probably sound like a broken record, but we need to fix our performances against the struggling sides and find consistency. If we can do that we can definitely make the playoffs (next season of course!!)

Hey - I didn’t edit these highlights - they were posted onto YouTube by the club already edited. I simply posted the link!! Here’s the Sky highlights - it contains that moment - enjoy…. https://www.skysports.com/football/video/30998/13119535/norwich-city-1-1-bristol-city-championship-highlights

Here are the highlights….

Great to extend our unbeaten run and another good performance against a good side. We just need to fix our performances against the struggling sides then we’ll be the real deal. Well done Liam and the lads !!

I would have snapped their hands off for £14k and £8k for Gray and Maguire. I can’t believe we argued with that price!!

We will never know - but some have already decided. They may be correct. Who knows. For me (and I know I’m treading on eggshells here) I can’t believe that anyone, Cotts, LJ, Pearson, or Pep - would submit bids for players when the funds hadn’t been approved. If Cotts did that then he’s stupid. I don’t think that he is. If the funds were PULLED after being approved that’s different. But they WERE originally available.

This underlines my point that Cotts WAS financially backed - the money was there. Pelling screwed it up - not Lansdown, on that occasion (unless Pelling was acting under orders from SL of course) My ‘unrealistic’ comment was misplaced. I probably should have said ‘unbelievable’ because in my own eyes they were, unbelievable. What I meant was that if any single one of those bids had gone through it would have been the biggest transfer fee ever paid by Bristol City - even now I don’t think we’ve paid that much in transfer fee for a player (someone may be able to tell me differently) - and we went for 3 of them all similarly priced. That’s in excess of £30m in transfer fees, plus add-ons and wages - that would put LJ/Ashton to shame!!! Goodness knows what FFP would have said about that! Thats quite considerable backing in my opinion.

I loved that season - apart from losing to Swindon - that was horrendous - but it was a great season apart from that - and I’ll always love Cotts and the squad for delivering it. Without detracting from it - as I said, I loved it - it was League 1. We have discovered that the Championship is a big step up - and Cotts did to his cost. Some say Cotts wasn’t backed. I say he was, but made unrealistic bids; Gayle, Gray, Maguire were all bids that were accepted but failed - either because the players didn’t want to come to us (Gray and Gayle) or the then COO (before Ashton) tried to renegotiate the deal with Hull at a lower price. You don’t make official bids if you are not backed financially. His Championship game plan was to play 3-5-2 and to deploy subs at the 80th minute when chasing the game. Disastrous. As soon as Cotts ‘left’ we steadied the ship under Pemberton. We switched to 4-4-2 and the recovery started. I’ll always be grateful to Cotts for getting us promoted with a wonderful double-winning season, but IMHO it was right he left when he did. Not that we’ve done much better since mind, but we’ve not been in the relegation zone for a while!!!

Ok - if it’s away from your body at the time of impact it is - as in this case.

If this is real then it’s an outrage. I get they would be upset and angry, but to try and ruin someone’s career due to a decision you don’t like is pathetic and wrong.

It’s a penalty if the ball connects with your arm regardless of intent. The ‘ball to hand’ rule was scrapped years ago. If the ball hits the hand it’s a penalty. If it’s deemed deliberate it’s also a red card. If accidental then it’s a penalty but no card. Rebecca gave a penalty but no card - which indicates she knew and acknowledged it was accidental but it was still a ‘foul’ and awarded the penalty.

Out with the old, in with the new. Good luck in your life outside football.

I always stay till the end. I’ve paid all that money to the Lansdowns so I want my time - even if it’s crap football. Thankfully that allowed me to see the penalty. A group of people were chanting ‘Manning says stay until the end’ at some of those who had clearly left early. It gave me a smile - in an afternoon with not much to smile about!!!

I thought she did ok. Not sure about the penalty - and the Sky replay doesn’t make it any clearer either. https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/13114485/bristol-city-1-1-huddersfield-town-championship-highlights One thing that DID impress me was her adding all that time on top of Extra Time to make up for Huddersfield’s time wasting sh1thousery. The penalty might well have been harsh, but it’s comeuppance for all that. If they had not wasted so much time then we probably would have lost the game, as it would have ended at 95 minutes.

The atmosphere at the Man U game was as electric as I’ve ever witnessed at BS3. Up there with the best I’ve ever seen in my 57 years.

Ah yes - thanks for putting me straight on that!

I seem to remember in that game, some of our own young lady fans (I’m led to believe they frequented the Whitening Yard) taking off their tops and waving their ‘assets’ about just as one of our players (Newman?) was about to take a penalty. Whoever it was ended up missing. Probably distracted - as I was. Talk about own goals….. terrible timing…!!

Here’s the ‘form’ that matters to me:

I like what Manning is trying to achieve. I like it that we don’t try and sit on a 1-0 lead and keep going for more goals. I like that despite some dodgy results and performance we’ve also had some wonderful performances and results. I didn’t want Pearson sacked, but it happened and it wasn’t Mannings fault. I like that I look forward to city games again, instead of feeling almost indifferent. Manning IN.

Really enjoyed that. Well done Liam and the lads. In fact, I’ve enjoyed all the games over the Easter season. 10 points out of a possible 12 - plus 4 clean sheets! Happy days - and into the top half of the table.

I agree that LJ was given ‘mates privilege’, but Cotts’s results made his sacking easy - we were in the relegation zone and he wouldn’t change his tactics. Suicidal management. He needed to go. For the record - at that time I didn’t want LJ - but I wanted a change.

I took my old dad up to Sunderland to see the Tall Ships a few years ago. Really enjoyed it - the people were very friendly but struggled to find any ‘nice’ pubs there. It was all a bit ‘run down’ and depressed.

I enjoy watching football at all levels. Loved playing it too. I never get bored with it. But I only support Bristol City. Some people have a ‘Prem Team’. I don’t. I can’t. I think of them as ‘plastics’. That doesn’t mean I hate them - far from it - I just don’t get how anyone can support more than one team. Why get excited about a team you’ve never seen winning against another team you’ve never seen? Weird. Maybe the key word is ‘support’ - for example, as I live in Swindon, I ‘keep an eye’ on their results and I don’t wish them any ill (unusual I know for a City fan), but I don’t ‘support’ them. There’s a difference.

I’m surprised at the Palmer ‘love-in’. When he arrived from Chelsea he was good partnering up with the lad from Stoke (Afobe) but after BA got injured I thought he was too inconsistent - and on a lot of money. Likeable guy though - and I’m sure many Bristol housewives from the estates are disappointed he’s gone, considering his song…..

Well, I plan to go to the Huddersfield game and I must say I’m looking forward to it.