8 unbeaten & 16 points

[Robbored]

13 minutes ago, reddoh said:

Unless I missed it, people have been going on about the penalty save but no one has mentioned the fact that more importantly we stopped Tom Ince scoring against us.

Lloyd Kelly had Ince in his pocket that’s why. 

[mozo]

I'm well on board with the positive vibes and happy with league position...

But, the clear room for improvement is the home form and if we sort that out we're heading for the play-offs. We need to show confidence and ambition from the first minute of home games.

[Robbored]

10 minutes ago, Spike said:

Over the Christmas and New Year period I've seen a lot of "why aren't we on the red button" and the answer is simple, mid-table games with no real entertainment value at all. If I were Sky and had been watching our games recently I wouldn't even consider putting us on as we're dire to watch even as a neutral. 

Your point is spot on and the only reason City weren’t on the red button - nothing to do with the drab stuff we’ve been playing lately.

[And Its Smith]

34 minutes ago, Spike said:

Funny how you keep looking to provoke our own fans for not falling in line with your own expectations/views. 

I'm still happy for LJ to prove me wrong when I say I don't see any further progress under his management. If he proves me wrong then happy days and right now the results are good. Now I want to see us play football that isn't genuinely putting people off from watching us. 

 

Over the Christmas and New Year period I've seen a lot of "why aren't we on the red button" and the answer is simple, mid-table games with no real entertainment value at all. If I were Sky and had been watching our games recently I wouldn't even consider putting us on as we're dire to watch even as a neutral. 

Yawn

Just making an observation and creating debate. Not trying to provoke. People can think what they like. Forum is about debate, creating debate and exchanging different views 

[Nogbad the Bad]

1 hour ago, RedDave said:

People say it’s good to play badly and win.....that result is more important than performance......except when they are clawing around to find a stick to beat Johnson with!

 

1 hour ago, RedDave said:

Funny how people have cried out for Warnock and when we get more Warnock style games we hear moans about the performances 

All a bit vague Dave.

Who are these nebulous 'people' who regularly inspire your comments?

The same in every case?

Why not just try saying what your opinion is? 

 

[Nogbad the Bad]

1 minute ago, RedDave said:

Yawn

Just making an observation and creating debate. Not trying to provoke. People can think what they like. Forum is about debate, creating debate and exchanging different views 

[RedLionLad]

2 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

 

All a bit vague Dave.

Who are these nebulous 'people' who regularly inspire your comments?

The same in every case?

Why not just try saying what your opinion is? 

 

People might not like it...

[And Its Smith]

12 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

 

All a bit vague Dave.

Who are these nebulous 'people' who regularly inspire your comments?

The same in every case?

Why not just try saying what your opinion is? 

 

Just general views I’ve seen on the forum to be honest.  A lot of talk about Warnock being wanted and there was a huge debate on points v style of play

[bcfcredandwhite]

8 games unbeaten and 16 points is a good return - there is no denying. 

We now have a ‘practice’ game (in my opinion) to give some of our fringe players a runout, before turning our attention back to the league vs Bolton. I wonder if Wilbs will be watching that one ?!!!!!

[Numero Uno]

3 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Long running problems between the owners and fans.

Yes, I was aware of that. I think football as a whole needs to be careful. It has created an environment where CEO’s like Ashton talk about DNA, customers and “the product” yet at clubs up and down the country fans seem to be finding reasons to stay away.

Entertainment is the buzz word on here atm or rather the lack of it!! Look at Hull, look at Stoke, even empty seats at Arsenal, Old Trafford and even worse arguably the best footballing side in the Country, Man City, cannot sell out every week. To name a few. It costs so much to watch football and people want their money’s worth!!

Returning to us it’s great that we have found some form in terms of grinding out results but as a club if we are going to ask people to pay £33 on the day to watch us play Rotherham then some fans want to be sure that they will have 90 minutes of enjoyment before shelling out and may not be happy with us grinding out a 1-0 win. It’s not insignificant money that people are being asked to pay and for some it’s not easily affordable. The football industry in general has created this situation.

 

[Spike]

27 minutes ago, RedDave said:

Yawn

Just making an observation and creating debate. Not trying to provoke. People can think what they like. Forum is about debate, creating debate and exchanging different views 

Creating debate You're actually provoking a negative response.

On top of that you've practically said LJ has us playing like Warnock, whilst simultaneously insinuating that Warnock football is dross and this is after spending multiple posts avoiding admitting that we've been performing poorly despite getting results. 

I agree that the forum should be about debate and exchanging different views but that is the issue, those who have a view that LJ is not going to make this club progress are being told to eat humble pie or being called LJ haters. 

There is no reason for anyone who thinks LJ is not the right man to progress this club to eat humble pie because we're still not performing well which is having an adverse affect on the fan base. On top of that just because someone does not think LJ is right for the job it doesn't make them a "hater" of LJ. I actually like LJ as a person, I also like his passion and determination too but that doesn't mean I like his tactical mannerisms, his transfer dealings, his demeanor when we lose or his excuses. 

I don't hate LJ, I just feel there are better managers out there for this club based on what we can invest and what the club has in terms of facilities etc

There are many pro LJ fans who make great debates on these forums, but there are far more who based of a run of good form want to use that to provoke and insult those who have a different view to their own. 

[EnderMB]

I don't believe that LJ is out of his depth. On the contrary, to be in the same position right now that we finished in last season, despite selling three of our best players is a sign that LJ has done remarkably well.

The big issue for me is where these dry spells are coming from. With hindsight, we rarely seem to go through consistent form - our short-term form is either promotion-chasing or relegation-chasing, and this is with two largely different sets of players. This leads me to believe that our current style of play is draining the players, and that our poor runs are from either mental or physical fatigue. If I were the board, I'd be putting a lot of effort into trying to figure out any patterns to our consistency.

It's a sign that we might not be as far off of chasing the playoffs as we initially thought. A good transfer window with some fresh players could lead to extending our good form, or being able to rotate tired players, and that could lead towards a legitimate promotion push.

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, EnderMB said:

I don't believe that LJ is out of his depth. On the contrary, to be in the same position right now that we finished in last season, despite selling three of our best players is a sign that LJ has done remarkably well.

The big issue for me is where these dry spells are coming from. With hindsight, we rarely seem to go through consistent form - our short-term form is either promotion-chasing or relegation-chasing, and this is with two largely different sets of players. This leads me to believe that our current style of play is draining the players, and that our poor runs are from either mental or physical fatigue. If I were the board, I'd be putting a lot of effort into trying to figure out any patterns to our consistency.

It's a sign that we might not be as far off of chasing the playoffs as we initially thought. A good transfer window with some fresh players could lead to extending our good form, or being able to rotate tired players, and that could lead towards a legitimate promotion push.

Not having a go at you EnderMB, but I'm a bit tired of the “sold out best players” theme.  

He spent more on replacing Flint that he got for him.  We sold Flint for £7m, but handed over £1m to Swindon, so £6m worth to us.

He spent £3.9m on Baker (plus signing on and agent fees) last season in preparation of Flint going...the fact that it didn’t happen til this summer is a bit irrelevant.  He shouldn’t have needed to go out and then buy Webster for £3.5m (plus signing on and agent fees), rising to £8m if he achieves all his add-ons.

Dont forget he already had Wright, Hegeler, Vyner and Moore too.  In Moore’s case, surely LJ expected him to be part of his first squad 2 1/2 years after he signed him.  For balance he sold Magnússon - but he didn’t want to play him CB anyway.

....and then he signed Kalas on loan....probably will cost us £2.0-2.5m overall if he stays all season.

That’s a lot to replace Flint.  Oh yeah, I forgot, we gave Flint a new contract too, that cost us a bit more.  I hope it was covered by the release clause of £7m inserted.

Ok, that’s very one-sided.....what about Bryan.

He at least he prepared for this....with Kelly waiting in the wings.  Magnússon going meant he had to bring in Dasilva on loan.  I’m comfortable with how he covered that.

Onto Reid.  This is a mixed one, that you could argue either way.  He obviously deserves credit for developing as a striker and realising £9m (plus £1m add-ons If achieved).

But twice he prepared for a different forward line. Once last summer with the record signing of £5.3m Diedhiou, and then with the capture on-loan of Cauley Woodrow with an option to buy this summer.  Played one, didn’t play the other.  That’s without mentioning the failed transfer of Djúric that partly necessitated the Diedhiou buy.

Then in January, he signed Diony on loan, again with an option to buy, at what we told would be around if not our record signing.  It was a poor recruit.

So i would say that he’s had 6-12 months to prepare ahead of the start of the season....and spent a fair but doing it.  To keep bringing it up is a bit mischievous and fails to take into account some of the reasons 3 players left at the same time.

Its not like other teams haven’t had to do similar.

[Spike]

40 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

 

Then in January, he signed Diony on loan, again with an option to buy, at what we told would be around if not our record signing.  It was a poor recruit.

 

 

The thing that still bothers me about that signing is there were warning signs all over it, Birmingham had already shown interest which fell through due to various rumours of bad attitude, then he signs for £9m to St. Etienne but is allowed to come on loan to us no more than 6-7 months later, he didn't even have a place on the bench for them only 6-7 months after they paid £9m for him, if that didn't set off alarm bells I don't know what would. He joined us having played 16 games that season and not scoring a single goal, it was hardly a surprise he left without one either.

I think Diony was hands down one of the worst signings LJ made and at a point when the club's position was the strongest it had been in years.

[Davefevs]

3 minutes ago, Spike said:

The thing that still bothers me about that signing is there were warning signs all over it, Birmingham had already shown interest which fell through due to various rumours of bad attitude, then he signs for £9m to St. Etienne but is allowed to come on loan to us no more than 6-7 months later, he didn't even have a place on the bench for them only 6-7 months after they paid £9m for him, if that didn't set off alarm bells I don't know what would. He joined us having played 16 games that season and not scoring a single goal, it was hardly a surprise he left without one either.

I think Diony was hands down one of the worst signings LJ made and at a point when the club's position was the strongest it had been in years.

Couldn’t agree more. And I also think it was bullshit that we’d been tracking him for two years and that he was our no1 choice when we signed Diedhiou.  That just made a good story imho (I’m very cynical).  I actually don’t think he was a bad player, he was in a seriously bad place in his head.  All it may have taken was a goal, but it never happened.

[Sturny]

3 hours ago, RedDave said:

Funny how people have cried out for Warnock and when we get more Warnock style games we hear moans about the performances 

I don't think we're playing like a Warnock team...

They play waaaaay more dirty 

[Kid in the Riot]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Not having a go at you EnderMB, but I'm a bit tired of the “sold out best players” theme.  

He spent more on replacing Flint that he got for him.  We sold Flint for £7m, but handed over £1m to Swindon, so £6m worth to us.

He spent £3.9m on Baker (plus signing on and agent fees) last season in preparation of Flint going...the fact that it didn’t happen til this summer is a bit irrelevant.  He shouldn’t have needed to go out and then buy Webster for £3.5m (plus signing on and agent fees), rising to £8m if he achieves all his add-ons.

Dont forget he already had Wright, Hegeler, Vyner and Moore too.  In Moore’s case, surely LJ expected him to be part of his first squad 2 1/2 years after he signed him.  For balance he sold Magnússon - but he didn’t want to play him CB anyway.

....and then he signed Kalas on loan....probably will cost us £2.0-2.5m overall if he stays all season.

That’s a lot to replace Flint.  Oh yeah, I forgot, we gave Flint a new contract too, that cost us a bit more.  I hope it was covered by the release clause of £7m inserted.

But, isn't the fact of the matter Dave, that he has now ended up with the second best defence in the division and the best back 4/5 I think we've had at this level for many, many years? It may have taken a while, some money, and involved a few that haven't made the grade (yet) but he has put together a very decent defensive unit.

In terms of the "sold our best players" line. For me, it wasn't necessarily the case they were our three best players. More so, that we sold a lot of goals in one go - 37 to be precise. Now replacing 37 goals was never going to be easy and so it has proven. But what we have done to compensate is tighten up at the back. Not as exciting to watch maybe but could yet yield similar results to last season...

[Davefevs]

15 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

But, isn't the fact of the matter Dave, that he has now ended up with the second best defence in the division and the best back 4/5 I think we've had at this level for many, many years? It may have taken a while, some money, and involved a few that haven't made the grade (yet) but he has put together a very decent defensive unit.

In terms of the "sold our best players" line. For me, it wasn't necessarily the case they were our three best players. More so, that we sold a lot of goals in one go - 37 to be precise. Now replacing 37 goals was never going to be easy and so it has proven. But what we have done to compensate is tighten up at the back. Not as exciting to watch maybe but could yet yield similar results to last season...

Yep, totally agree, it’s the fact that there are too many making the sales of Reid, Flint and Bryan as an excuse...whereas it has helped us improve (at the back at least), and I suppose you could read my post, as we’ve been planning for it...in a slightly non-obvious way.

Its a very one-sided view that looks at it as just selling three players in one summer window.  I guess that was the point I was trying to make.

At this point last season our goals were 40:31, today they are 32:28.  A few more goals from anywhere, together with continued tight defence will keep moving us up the table.  3-3s and 5-5s look unlikely this season!

[EmersonsRed]

4 hours ago, RedDave said:

Funny how people have cried out for Warnock and when we get more Warnock style games we hear moans about the performances 

One of the best posts I have seen on this forum. These people are just thick as shit. They know who they are too. Crying out for us to get a boring as shit manager to park the bus and win games. We finally win ugly which we haven’t done in over 10 years consistently (our promotion season we were winning pretty) and people moan

 

zzzz snore off. Life must be awful at home to be unhappy when your football team is winning 

[EnderMB]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Not having a go at you EnderMB, but I'm a bit tired of the “sold out best players” theme. 

I do agree with you from a financial perspective, but it's hard to disagree that we sold key players in a short enough time frame that it would negatively affect our structure for the coming season. I think we could've sold each player for double and people would still be annoyed, purely because we've shown a need to sell. Obviously, FFP does require a need to sell, but with a billionaire at the helm you'd hope that Lansdown would be able to set us up in a way that the club is maximising its earnings.

I'm happy to sell players, as long as it provides a stronger foundation for the future, but my main worry is that we're a bad season away from undoing years of work, and in my view selling three first-team players, with one to a division rival and two to teams that are likely to be in the Championship with us next season, adds to the possibility of undoing all that work. Lansdown has sold a gradual process, and I don't want one season of LJ shitting the bed and getting sacked resulting in Lansdown adding another five years onto his Premier League master-plan.

[Davefevs]

13 minutes ago, EnderMB said:

I do agree with you from a financial perspective, but it's hard to disagree that we sold key players in a short enough time frame that it would negatively affect our structure for the coming season. I think we could've sold each player for double and people would still be annoyed, purely because we've shown a need to sell. Obviously, FFP does require a need to sell, but with a billionaire at the helm you'd hope that Lansdown would be able to set us up in a way that the club is maximising its earnings.

I'm happy to sell players, as long as it provides a stronger foundation for the future, but my main worry is that we're a bad season away from undoing years of work, and in my view selling three first-team players, with one to a division rival and two to teams that are likely to be in the Championship with us next season, adds to the possibility of undoing all that work. Lansdown has sold a gradual process, and I don't want one season of LJ shitting the bed and getting sacked resulting in Lansdown adding another five years onto his Premier League master-plan.

There are enough bed sheets going around!! 

[mozo]

1 hour ago, Kid in the Riot said:

But, isn't the fact of the matter Dave, that he has now ended up with the second best defence in the division and the best back 4/5 I think we've had at this level for many, many years? It may have taken a while, some money, and involved a few that haven't made the grade (yet) but he has put together a very decent defensive unit.

In terms of the "sold our best players" line. For me, it wasn't necessarily the case they were our three best players. More so, that we sold a lot of goals in one go - 37 to be precise. Now replacing 37 goals was never going to be easy and so it has proven. But what we have done to compensate is tighten up at the back. Not as exciting to watch maybe but could yet yield similar results to last season...

True, but will we have this defence next season? Kelly, Da Silva and Kalas probably not.

[downendcity]

7 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Long running problems between the owners and fans.

Hull or us?

 

[Wrongagain]

5 hours ago, Robbored said:

Lloyd Kelly had Ince in his pocket that’s why. 

Yes but who has not been able to contain him in the past? Not so missed now! Losing 3 was not so bad at all!

[WolfOfWestStreet]

The recent results have been excellent. 

However I've still massively unimpressed with our home performances and have found many of the games at home to be miserable affairs. Get that right and we might be on to something, until then I'll pass on the Johnson love in. 

[Robbored]

18 minutes ago, WolfOfWestStreet said:

The recent results have been excellent. 

However I've still massively unimpressed with our home performances and have found many of the games at home to be miserable affairs. Get that right and we might be on to something, until then I'll pass on the Johnson love in. 

Me too.

I’d love to see City put sorry Bolton to the sword and score a few goals but am expecting a narrow 1-0 win.

[no_merde]

23 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

It leaves us only 5 points off the play offs and probably only needing another 3 wins all season to ensure another season at this level, which always has to be the first target. 

Bristol City in a single sentence. No ambition. This is why the club goes nowhere

[bcfcredandwhite]

31 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Me too.

I’d love to see City put sorry Bolton to the sword and score a few goals but am expecting a narrow 1-0 win.

I’d take a 1-0 win because it’s 3 points. 

Those struggling teams park the bus and fight for their lives. They are not easy games and if people think they are then they have probably never played the game themselves. 

I’ve played at grass roots level and found that the teams fighting relegation can be dangerous and sometimes reckless - they don’t mind throwing some bad tackles in because they have nothing to lose. 

They keep hitting the ball high into the air where nobody, now matter how skilful, can control it. They also rely heavily on set pieces. All this contributes to a slow, crap game punctuated by free kicks, cards and injuries. 

I don’t blame them - it’s valid tactics - but it’s horrible to watch and not necessarily our fault. 

[bcfc01]

6 minutes ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

I’d take a 1-0 win because it’s 3 points. 

Those struggling teams park the bus and fight for their lives. They are not easy games and if people think they are then they have probably never played the game themselves. 

I’ve played at grass roots level and found that the teams fighting relegation can be dangerous and sometimes reckless - they don’t mind throwing some bad tackles in because they have nothing to lose. 

They keep hitting the ball high into the air where nobody, now matter how skilful, can control it. They also rely heavily on set pieces. All this contributes to a slow, crap game punctuated by free kicks, cards and injuries. 

I don’t blame them - it’s valid tactics - but it’s horrible to watch and not necessarily our fault. 

I was looking forward to this game.....

[Robbored]

5 minutes ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

I’d take a 1-0 win because it’s 3 points. 

Those struggling teams park the bus and fight for their lives. They are not easy games and if people think they are then they have probably never played the game themselves. 

I’ve played at grass roots level and found that the teams fighting relegation can be dangerous and sometimes reckless - they don’t mind throwing some bad tackles in because they have nothing to lose. 

They keep hitting the ball high into the air where nobody, now matter how skilful, can control it. They also rely heavily on set pieces. All this contributes to a slow, crap game punctuated by free kicks, cards and injuries. 

I don’t blame them - it’s valid tactics - but it’s horrible to watch and not necessarily our fault. 

We’ve all witnessed struggling teams park the bus at AG and they’re often very difficult to break down but surely they’ll be demoralised after conceding 6 yesterday,

I don’t know who they’ve got in the cup but if they lose that as well.....

Should LJ send the team out with ambition to get an early goal the flood gates could open and after recent insipid displays at AG that’s just what we could all use.