Papering over the cracks

[Spike]

1 hour ago, BCFC11 said:

How predictable that a thread like this would appear after a win. Yes it was a shit game all round but a win is a win I couldn’t give a toss how it comes about.

Did you give a toss when we had lost our last 4 and not put in a performance in any of them? 

Honestly, this "we have the points, I'm happy" attitude is such bollocks. It's exactly why we could be in serious trouble because an attitude like that essentially means "don't worry until it's too late". 

The performances recently are awful, the last convincing win we had was on 2nd September. 

[BCFC11]

5 minutes ago, Spike said:

Did you give a toss when we had lost our last 4 and not put in a performance in any of them? 

Honestly, this "we have the points, I'm happy" attitude is such bollocks. It's exactly why we could be in serious trouble because an attitude like that essentially means "don't worry until it's too late". 

The performances recently are awful, the last convincing win we had was on 2nd September. 

Exactly where have I said I was happy with how things are? We’ve just won FFS and yet weirdo’s still find the need to moan, moan when we lose, still moan when we win, just don’t get why some people bother 

[WolfOfWestStreet]

A win away from home in the championship is never an easy task no matter what the standard of opponent. 

I now want to see us take some confidence into Sundays game because our home form has not been good at all. If we can't get some good performances going in front of the 20K rather than the few hundred brave souls that go away then the pressure will continue to mount. 

[cidered abroad]

1 hour ago, Oops said:

Does everyone realise that we will NOT win every game we play?

I despair

if we lose, you moan.

if we draw, you moan

if we win, you ******* moan

WHAT DO YOU WANT??

Rugby?

It's the manner of defeat that hurts the most. Play hard, do your best and we can all accept that. Be as inept as we were in the PNE game and that is unacceptable.

[REDOXO]

We won. We played ok. Sears ran at us and we fell apart for the first one and we let him take a swing at a ball that we couldn't clear for the second....HOWEVER Diedouh got a cakey goal, which is what he needed and Patterson who has been pony for a while showed up a bit for the third game in a row.

Millwall will be fun as always. 

I hope Morrell gets a start and Pack finds a few better passes. As for some of the LJ in/out bullshit. For most its about performances, nothing to do with brigades one way or another....So I do wish some who spent the entire reign of a particular manager slighting him (win lose or draw) would shut the **** up!

 

[City Cat]

2 hours ago, Spoons said:

This season (after selling 3 key players) was always going to be difficult where points are more important than performance. We will finish comfortably between 10-15th which is acceptable in a transition season.

We also need to release we are Bristol city not BRAZIL! 

25 points from 19 games...pro rata for the rest of the season will give us 60 points enabling us to make the transition into next season in the Championship

[1bristolcity]

From the comments you would think our goals were pure fluke, OK I will give you the first, but the other two were well taken...Ipswich's were good too, although keeper was slow to get down. Highlights looked like it was a great match, don't know what all the fuss is about. 

[Fordy62]

I am astounded how many of you think everything is ok because we’ve just scraped past Ipswich who were absolutely shit.

And @billywedlock sadly you’re right. I wonder who he’ll be playing for next season. 

[westonred]

13 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

I am astounded how many of you think everything is ok because we’ve just scraped past Ipswich who were absolutely shit.

And @billywedlock sadly you’re right. I wonder who he’ll be playing for next season. 

I agree with Fordy we are playing some dire football and was only gifted the win by their goalkeepers mistakes. We would have lost against any other team tonight Ipswich are so poor and If people are happy with the current situation god help us. Whilst i haven't anything against LJ i think its best all round to get rid of him and MA and get in someone who can push us on as LJ seems to have taken us as far as he can.  

[Spike]

7 hours ago, BCFC11 said:

Exactly where have I said I was happy with how things are? We’ve just won FFS and yet weirdo’s still find the need to moan, moan when we lose, still moan when we win, just don’t get why some people bother 

Weirdos? It's weird to be pissed off with a terrible performance because the other team were so bad that we actually managed to win? 

I've said it so many times in our past, it's great to get a win but we can't play the same s*** team every week. Soon we have Birmingham, Norwich and Derby, with a performance line tonight I fail to see how we're going to get a single point from any of those games, especially when LJ seems to be putting out team line ups that baffle the fans. 

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

I am astounded how many of you think everything is ok because we’ve just scraped past Ipswich who were absolutely shit.

And @billywedlock sadly you’re right. I wonder who he’ll be playing for next season. 

We scraped a win due to an own goal as we lost to 10 v 11 last time; slightly better of 2 poor teams were the reports; we move on to a tougher test Sunday

[glen humphries]

49 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

I am astounded how many of you think everything is ok because we’ve just scraped past Ipswich who were absolutely shit.

And @billywedlock sadly you’re right. I wonder who he’ll be playing for next season. 

Totally agree, it’s astounding, just because we won people think everything is hunky dory, we were terrible, just can’t get my head around it , the only positive was the 3 points, Ipswich are pure shit , Johnson out.

[mozo]

8 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Of course it will.  That’s football.  Doesn’t hide we have issues, but it can spark confidence.  Was dreading playing Millwall had we lost tonight.  We didn’t and LJ needs to feed off 3 points.

Yeah, but most teams have issues don't they. We're mid-table, which is by nature where inconsistent teams find themselves. The fact that we're competing in the Championship nowadays makes that easier to stomach

[Unan]

I don’t believe we would’ve won it that was any other team in the league. A truly comical own goal, absolutely awful defending for the 2nd & a deflected shot AND their CB falling over for our third. Did we make 3 forward passes in their half all game? We certainly didn’t for the goals & I can’t remember any other time we did. 

To say a win is all that matters is laughable too, talk about short sighted. We need more than 3 points to stay up in a season & if that win keeps him in a job for another 2 months I bet we’ll get less points overall than we would’ve with another manager.

[InCyder]

It wasn't pretty but after the run we had, I'm happy to take 3 points however they come to stop the rot.

Expect a lot more Sunday now though that's for sure. 

 

[Davefevs]

21 minutes ago, Unan said:

I don’t believe we would’ve won it that was any other team in the league. A truly comical own goal, absolutely awful defending for the 2nd & a deflected shot AND their CB falling over for our third. Did we make 3 forward passes in their half all game? We certainly didn’t for the goals & I can’t remember any other time we did. 

To say a win is all that matters is laughable too, talk about short sighted. We need more than 3 points to stay up in a season & if that win keeps him in a job for another 2 months I bet we’ll get less points overall than we would’ve with another manager.

I’m happy to take 3 points first of all. 

I’d still be very worried about first half performance. Just listened to LJ’s video interview, just over a minute long. He said we were brilliant at the start, penned them in for 10-15 minutes. We didn’t. We had a good opening 5 and then Ipswich got into the game.  I get that he’s trying to spin the positives, but I don’t have to buy it / believe it. 

Second half we were better, but nowhere near where I expect us to be.  We never controlled the game. Ipswich always looked like they’d fashion a chance and they got into our final third far too easily. We don’t seem to be able to be compact. We had better energy and closing down with Morrell on but also Eliasson in touch with the midfield and Weimann’s nous of when to tuck in. 

[Major Isewater]

9 hours ago, RumRed said:

I won bingo once, not sure I had much to do with it to be honest.

Was LJ the Caller ?

[RedRock]

Yep, I raised my eyebrows at that LJ comment. First five we had Ipswich on the backfoot. Then with sloppy passing and man marking we let then back in the game. 

Frankly, it was like watching Downs Football. Even our ‘solid’ defence was weak last night.

Only two players would score a ‘6’ for me on that performance, Kelly for his second half performance and Fammy for his passing (sublime!) and twice being in the right place. Possibly add Kalas as well for his last 20 minutes and Morrell for looking up for it and being slightly more accurate than Walsh with his passing.

The rest would get between a ‘2’ for putting the shirt the right way around and a ‘5’ for running about a bit. 

 

 

[Bar BS3]

1 hour ago, Fordy62 said:

I am astounded how many of you think everything is ok because we’ve just scraped past Ipswich who were absolutely shit.

And @billywedlock sadly you’re right. I wonder who he’ll be playing for next season. 

 

59 minutes ago, glen humphries said:

Totally agree, it’s astounding, just because we won people think everything is hunky dory, we were terrible, just can’t get my head around it , the only positive was the 3 points, Ipswich are pure shit , Johnson out.

I haven’t seen anyone say that everything is ok. All I’ve seen is some people trying to take the positives and be grateful for a much needed 3 points. 

Off the back of 4 straight defeats, very few teams look slick, cohesive & confident. 

We looked shakey, fragile and nervous in the first half. 

Second half, Fammy made all the difference. We know he can impact games like that, but hadn’t done for a while, so it was great to see him looking involved, up for it and getting into positions to cause problems. 

As the second half went on, we grew. Their second goal didn’t knock the stuffing out of us, which deserves credit. The character looked good and the confidence grew. We played out the last 10/15 mins very professionally and it’s a building block to go again on Sunday. 

Ipswich had drawn 2 of their previous 3 games, so let’s credit what we did do, feel a bit more hopeful about Sunday and understand that our current league position isn’t that bad for a club like us, in this division. 

Lose too many and we’ll get pulled into trouble, but put a few wins together and talk will turn to a play off challenge. 

Truth being, neither are likely, because we are an inconsistent (like most) but competitive championship club. 

[numbeast]

The question of Lee Johnson's future is much like the Brexit vote, a simple yes/no question to a far more complex problem. The last 2 transfer windows have, in my mind, been less than inspiring. The blame has been laid at the feet of LJ by many on here. This summer we lost 3 important first team player and 2 good back up options. Instinct say we had money to spend on quality replacements but we were unaware of the previous years losses.

FFP has nullified Steve Lansdowns wealth regarding investment in the squad so he has invested in the infrastructure in order to generate more money. Of course some want Johnson sacked and in some respects I can see their point of view. But we must also remember if we do then his pay off will come out of the playing budget.

Now say LJ goes who do we appoint? Do we go for a tried an tested Championship manager with all the financial baggage that comes with it or another up and coming coach? And how does he get judged. How long before some fans call for his head? At the moment I believe LJ is carrying out his brief in blooding academy players and keeping us mid table.

Last night did paper over the cracks but sometimes you need to do that until you can repair them. There are bigger and/or wealthier clubs below us. Although the standard of football has been less than great we are only 5 points off the play offs and 8 off the relegation zone which means there is everything to play for.

[Bar BS3]

30 minutes ago, numbeast said:

Last night did paper over the cracks but sometimes you need to do that until you can repair them. There are bigger and/or wealthier clubs below us. Although the standard of football has been less than great we are only 5 points off the play offs and 8 off the relegation zone which means there is everything to play for.

A good post, well reasoned, and this last paragraph is key.

Did last night “paper over cracks”..? Possibly.  

Perhaps it was a slow but steady return to form of a few key players..? 

You can write off any win as “papering over cracks”, like many did with the QPR win, at the start of 4 straight wins. 

Maybe we just beat one of the teams that we are better than in this division..? Maybe we will beat some of those we are better than & lose to some of those who are better than us, with the odd rogue result thrown in on both sides, and we will end up somewhere in the middle..? 

If we lose our next 5 again, then yes, it papered over cracks. If we can win a few/picked up a typically mixed bag of results (as most do in this league) then our mid table status quo is maintained and we have to ask ourselves if we are/deserve to be expecting any more than that, for now. 

[hoxton casual]

41 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

 

I haven’t seen anyone say that everything is ok. All I’ve seen is some people trying to take the positives and be grateful for a much needed 3 points. 

Off the back of 4 straight defeats, very few teams look slick, cohesive & confident. 

We looked shakey, fragile and nervous in the first half. 

Second half, Fammy made all the difference. We know he can impact games like that, but hadn’t done for a while, so it was great to see him looking involved, up for it and getting into positions to cause problems. 

As the second half went on, we grew. Their second goal didn’t knock the stuffing out of us, which deserves credit. The character looked good and the confidence grew. We played out the last 10/15 mins very professionally and it’s a building block to go again on Sunday. 

Ipswich had drawn 2 of their previous 3 games, so let’s credit what we did do, feel a bit more hopeful about Sunday and understand that our current league position isn’t that bad for a club like us, in this division. 

Lose too many and we’ll get pulled into trouble, but put a few wins together and talk will turn to a play off challenge. 

Truth being, neither are likely, because we are an inconsistent (like most) but competitive championship club. 

It's the teams and formations he puts out that are bizarre. Adelakun and Pisano to start? Great he changed it eventually. In my experience when one of your classiest players starts to look a little lost, such as Webster, the team's confidence is shot.

Amazed by our fans. I didn't hear one boo or insult and we sang for 90 minutes. Amazing that we won, but I am worried for our future. Like most I desparately hope I am wrong. COYR.

[...]

11 hours ago, robin_unreliant said:

Play like that and we won't get many points in December...

Why?

Are we not playing Ipswich another five times in December??

****.

[CityCiderEd]

 The style or lack of, the team selections,substitutions and players disappearing from squads all contribute to the fans dismay. Take into account the standard of football being served up the embarrassing after match interviews and the fact our shots on target are one of the lowest if not the lowest in the division and you can genuinely understand the amount of unrest.

[...]

1 minute ago, CityCiderEd said:

I don't think it's just about LJ though as some people seem to think. The style or lack of, the team selections,substitutions and players disappearing from squads all contribute to the fans dismay. Take into account the standard of football being served up the embarrassing after match interviews and the fact our shots on target are one of the lowest if not the lowest in the division and you can genuinely understand the amount of unrest.

How is all this not about LJ???

[Bristol Oil Services]

11 hours ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

 

If anyone believes that based on our expenditure and subsequent team that we should be challenging for play offs is bonkers. 

So, just to clarify, you are saying that Steve Lansdown is "bonkers" ?

[CityCiderEd]

17 minutes ago, ... said:

How is all this not about LJ???

OK

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

I’m happy to take 3 points first of all. 

I’d still be very worried about first half performance. Just listened to LJ’s video interview, just over a minute long. He said we were brilliant at the start, penned them in for 10-15 minutes. We didn’t. We had a good opening 5 and then Ipswich got into the game.  I get that he’s trying to spin the positives, but I don’t have to buy it / believe it. 

Second half we were better, but nowhere near where I expect us to be.  We never controlled the game. Ipswich always looked like they’d fashion a chance and they got into our final third far too easily. We don’t seem to be able to be compact. We had better energy and closing down with Morrell on but also Eliasson in touch with the midfield and Weimann’s nous of when to tuck in. 

We lack that ability with the current available personnel IMO, more orthodox wingers/full backs will struggle with that- put Brownhill on the right then suddenly things look quite different in that sense. Still not perfect but: a possible side for Sunday

       Maenpaa

Hunt Kalas Webster Kelly

Brownhill Pack Walsh Eliasson

       Paterson

      Weimann/Taylor

Would provide some more compactness at least plus perhaps more potential to interchange/fluidity- problem is can you keep Diedhiou on the bench after one of his better displays of the season? Maybe Paterson behind Diedhiou might work.

[Bar BS3]

25 minutes ago, hoxton casual said:

It's the teams and formations he puts out that are bizarre. Adelakun and Pisano to start? Great he changed it eventually. In my experience when one of your classiest players starts to look a little lost, such as Webster, the team's confidence is shot.

Amazed by our fans. I didn't hear one boo or insult and we sang for 90 minutes. Amazing that we won, but I am worried for our future. Like most I desparately hope I am wrong. COYR.

No doubt confidence was shot. Hopefully a win is the tonic we need. 

I thought that, in the circumstances, the way we came from behind twice, and went on to get a winner, showed tremendous courage. It would have been easy to hide and I don’t think anyone did. Even if quality levels do need to be improved. 

[Super]

2 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

We lack that ability with the current available personnel IMO, more orthodox wingers/full backs will struggle with that- put Brownhill on the right then suddenly things look quite different in that sense. Still not perfect but: a possible side for Sunday

       Maenpaa

Hunt Kalas Webster Kelly

Brownhill Pack Walsh Eliasson

       Paterson

      Weimann/Taylor

Would provide some more compactness at least plus perhaps more potential to interchange/fluidity- problem is can you keep Diedhiou on the bench after one of his better displays of the season? Maybe Paterson behind Diedhiou might work.

Fammy has to start. Best striker and our biggest goal threat, Set the team up around him.