Caution First

[Dynamite Red]

Why are we so cautious at home? I understand this is a tough league and this approach works away from home but the last two seasons at home is painful in our approach. Palmer or Eliasson need to be playing at least at home.

[daored]

7 minutes ago, Dynamite Red said:

Why are we so cautious at home? I understand this is a tough league and this approach works away from home but the last two seasons at home is painful in our approach. Palmer or Eliasson need to be playing at least at home.

Was about to post the same, is Johnson too cautious / negative as a manager ?

[AshtonGreat]

We were always going to struggle to score with that line-up, to be honest

[formerly known as ivan]

10 minutes ago, Dynamite Red said:

Why are we so cautious at home? I understand this is a tough league and this approach works away from home but the last two seasons at home is painful in our approach. Palmer or Eliasson need to be playing at least at home.

Think Johnson’s biggest problem is trying to set up a team based on who we playing, rather than playing to our own strengths

[winsaw]

Far to cautious in the first half, every ball passed sideways, no creation in the middle, if the side that played the last 40mins had played the whole game we would have won today, Lee needs to take the handbrake off and trust our creative players to win is the game 

[Major Isewater]

19 minutes ago, Dynamite Red said:

Why are we so cautious at home? I understand this is a tough league and this approach works away from home but the last two seasons at home is painful in our approach. Palmer or Eliasson need to be playing at least at home.

We are cautious because teams at this level can rip you apart if you go balls out . We have experienced this and now manage games way better .
 

We are grinding out results and getting points where before we would have come away with nothing.

It is a fine balance between  risk taking and caution, the table shows that LJ is getting it right more often than not.

 We are still in with a good chance of promotion and hopefully the club unearth a natural striker in January.

 

[Tammyjr]

All ways believe they say???? Sorry but no not good enough for the premier league  no where near 

[Robbored]

First half was like watching paint dry..........

Much better second 45, three/four very decent chances with one hitting the post. Rowe missing a straightforward far post header, Rodri missing another good chance by blazing over.

Famara had an excellent game, including clearing one off our line......

[BCFC Grim]

While our league position has improved year on year it's prety SAFE ( see what I did there) fo say our football hasn't. We are so dull to watch. We don't seem to have a philosophy on how we want to play. 

[harvey54]

It's because we don't have a trusted goalscorer. Someone that we trust. Bang it in the box and watch it happen. It's not going to. Meh.... 

[pongo88]

I think the LJ plan is to keep in touch with the top 6 / be in the top six until the January window. We haven’t got the clinical striker we need and he knows it. If we are still in the hunt in January and if we sign the right players (two big ifs) then promotion is still possible 

[Frenchay Red]

2 hours ago, Robbored said:

First half was like watching paint dry..........

Much better second 45, three/four very decent chances with one hitting the post. Rowe missing a straightforward far post header, Rodri missing another good chance by blazing over.

Famara had an excellent game, including clearing one off our line......

I thought Fam made 3 key clearances and had a good game. But service was to him was not good enough, especially first half.

[cheesleywalksoncider]

I agree with much that has been said here. Two years ago we were swashbuckling, so exciting to watch, now we are so dull. Lee clearly felt we couldn’t maintain that tempo throughout that season (17/18) and we all know how we fell off the pace. But now the pendulum has swung so far the other way it’s so boring. I appreciate we’ve had a few injuries but the philosophy seems to be not too lose and as a result we are narrow and we pass it around the back with little intent.

To play at home against 10 men for nearly 30 minutes and not have a shot on goal speaks volumes to me. Come on Lee let’s have a bit of the football from the 17/18 season I know we can’t play like that week in week about but it’s nice to have a go sometimes and make their keeper have something to do. 
 

Finally, how Elliason doesn’t start ahead of COD baffles me.

[Davefevs]

4 minutes ago, Frenchay Red said:

I thought Fam made 3 key clearances and had a good game. But service was to him was not good enough, especially first half.

Fam was one of our better performers today.

[Phileas Fogg]

I think teams often come to AG with a gameplan aimed at stifling us, hence why our away record is stronger. I felt Forest did that today and executed the plan well.

[Robbored]

2 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I think teams often come to AG with a gameplan aimed at stifling us, hence why our away record is stronger. I felt Forest did that today and executed the plan well.

Yes they do - not exactly to park the bus but to stifle our play and Forest did exactly that particularly well especially in the first 45 and why it was so drab to watch. 

We see it very regularly at AG with lots of opposition teams.

[RedM]

4 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I think teams often come to AG with a gameplan aimed at stifling us, hence why our away record is stronger. I felt Forest did that today and executed the plan well.

Agreed. Huge cheers from the away fans at the final whistle, whilst we trooped out feeling like we had lost, was telling. 

[shelts]

Rather frustrating to watch . We sat back yet again at home . An average performance. Bored 

[Phileas Fogg]

8 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Yes they do - not exactly to park the bus but to stifle our play and Forest did exactly that particularly well especially in the first 45 and why it was so drab to watch. 

We see it very regularly at AG with lots of opposition teams.

 

8 minutes ago, RedM said:

Agreed. Huge cheers from the away fans at the final whistle, whilst we trooped out feeling like we had lost, was telling. 

It's a compliment really because teams obviously know we can be a threat and see a draw at AG as a good result. Forest are a decent side, around our level I'd say, so that's a good sign of how other teams view us.

[Mr Popodopolous]

38 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I think teams often come to AG with a gameplan aimed at stifling us, hence why our away record is stronger. I felt Forest did that today and executed the plan well.

 

32 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Yes they do - not exactly to park the bus but to stifle our play and Forest did exactly that particularly well especially in the first 45 and why it was so drab to watch. 

We see it very regularly at AG with lots of opposition teams.

Agree on today, in general not so sure. The lack of possession at home is an interesting, but not decisive indicator.

31 minutes ago, RedM said:

Agreed. Huge cheers from the away fans at the final whistle, whilst we trooped out feeling like we had lost, was telling. 

Weren't they down to 10 men for a lot of the 2nd half? May have had something to do with it as well- that said, I was surprised at the number of opportunities they still created n the break or at least attacking moves, at 11 v10.

23 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

 

It's a compliment really because teams obviously know we can be a threat and see a draw at AG as a good result. Forest are a decent side, around our level I'd say, so that's a good sign of how other teams view us.

Decent result at a decent side sure, but I don't really see us as a particularly dominant side. Even when Afobe was in the side, we didn't generally boss the opposition- we got the results and the games were enjoyable, but the baseline performance perhaps wasn't so high.

[Phileas Fogg]

38 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

 

Agree on today, in general not so sure. The lack of possession at home is an interesting, but not decisive indicator.

Weren't they down to 10 men for a lot of the 2nd half? May have had something to do with it as well- that said, I was surprised at the number of opportunities they still created n the break or at least attacking moves, at 11 v10.

Decent result at a decent side sure, but I don't really see us as a particularly dominant side. Even when Afobe was in the side, we didn't generally boss the opposition- we got the results and the games were enjoyable, but the baseline performance perhaps wasn't so high.

I haven't been that much this season, so only have a limited sample to comment on, I thought we were pretty evenly matched with Forest. They look a hard side to beat.

[stephenkibby.]

All the talk and hope of getting a new striker in is great, but would it make any difference?

It seems to me we have enough attack minded players in the squad now ( ok no natural finisher )

But if we signed one would it change Lee's approach to home games? I can't see  him changing his system anytime soon. As long as were in contention can see him sticking with 5  defenders at home, witch ever way you look at that's how we line up.

I'm not saying chuck Palmer, Ellison and whoever on from the start but we need someone with that spark and have to be brave.

If we go for it more we will lose home games but 3 wins and 2 defeats have to be better than 5 draws, and god forbid more entertaining.

[AppyDAZE]

3 minutes ago, stephenkibby. said:

All the talk and hope of getting a new striker in is great, but would it make any difference?

It seems to me we have enough attack minded players in the squad now ( ok no natural finisher )

But if we signed one would it change Lee's approach to home games? I can't see  him changing his system anytime soon. As long as were in contention can see him sticking with 5  defenders at home, witch ever way you look at that's how we line up.

I'm not saying chuck Palmer, Ellison and whoever on from the start but we need someone with that spark and have to be brave.

If we go for it more we will lose home games but 3 wins and 2 defeats have to be better than 5 draws, and god forbid more entertaining.

So it's not so much the missing player, more the approach?

In which case, i totally agree

[cidered abroad]

2 hours ago, cheesleywalksoncider said:

I agree with much that has been said here. Two years ago we were swashbuckling, so exciting to watch, now we are so dull. Lee clearly felt we couldn’t maintain that tempo throughout that season (17/18) and we all know how we fell off the pace. But now the pendulum has swung so far the other way it’s so boring. I appreciate we’ve had a few injuries but the philosophy seems to be not too lose and as a result we are narrow and we pass it around the back with little intent.

To play at home against 10 men for nearly 30 minutes and not have a shot on goal speaks volumes to me. Come on Lee let’s have a bit of the football from the 17/18 season I know we can’t play like that week in week about but it’s nice to have a go sometimes and make their keeper have something to do. 
 

Finally, how Elliason doesn’t start ahead of COD baffles me.

Agree totally and wholeheartedly.

Our home form, entertainment, creativity is non existent. LJ has taken us as far as he is capable of.

Time to move on and get a Manager/Head Coach that will take us to a level not seen at Bristol City since 1979-80 season.

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

My disappointment today was that we didn't mix it up more. In the second half we were effective at getting the ball wide and there was plenty of decent delivery into the box, but Forest were able to sit deep there blocking off Fammy as we never looked a threat from in front. Not one player tried a shot from the edge of the box  so Forest never had to come out to meet the threat. Had we'd done so it may have left space behind which Palmer or Brownhill could have exploited. 

[RobintheRed Red]

14 hours ago, cidered abroad said:

Agree totally and wholeheartedly.

Our home form, entertainment, creativity is non existent. LJ has taken us as far as he is capable of.

Time to move on and get a Manager/Head Coach that will take us to a level not seen at Bristol City since 1979-80 season.

Exactly ten lads i know from Bath paid 36 quid each to watch that boring crap be a while for they come back.

[Dynamite Red]

16 hours ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I think teams often come to AG with a gameplan aimed at stifling us, hence why our away record is stronger. I felt Forest did that today and executed the plan well.

I agree with you, that is the reason we need to change our approach and attack these type of teams at home. 

I would argue at least 7 of the 11 players yesterday were defensive minded, did we really need three centre backs, two defense minded wingbacks and a defensive midfielder, we frequently set up at home as if we are the away team which is the clear reason for the lack of chances, goals and frankly a boring stalemate.

We have to try and get more of our creative and flair players into this team and take the initiative, I fully understand it's a results based business but also it's meant to be entertainment and the balance is not right at home and it's been the same for the last two seasons. 

Lee needs to give the team more freedom to play.

[downendcity]

20 hours ago, AppyDAZE said:

So it's not so much the missing player, more the approach?

In which case, i totally agree

I think this season it is about the missing player - the missing player being Afobe.

It's not just that he was in goalscoring form, but even in the short time before his injury, we seemed able to play a very different way with BA up front than we do with Famara, and also to get the best out of players like Palmer and Weimann. We all want a goal scorer, but it's no good bringing in a proven goalscorer if we continue to operate a game plan, formation and team selection that provides absolutely nothing for striker to go after.

That notwithstanding, as I have said for ages, and in agreement with other posters, I remain convinced that LJ's cerebral style of coaching means that his primary focus is looking at the opposition  and setting up to counter their strengths and playing style, rather than setting us to to maximise our strengths and letting opposition managers worry about us. As with last season, it could be that home form and results will cost us a play off spot, if current form continues. This cautious approach allows away teams to grab the initiative and put us on the back foot, and often requires substitutions and heroic second half performances to secure a result. 

When was the last time we put in a dominant performance at AG, as should befit a team challenging at the top end of the championship? 

 

 

 

[Davefevs]

DC - do you think he set up specifically for Forest yesterday?  It was the same set up for Cardiff away.  Different personnel:

Wright for Kalas - injury rejated

Diedhiou for Watkins

[Up The City!]

On 23/11/2019 at 17:27, Tammyjr said:

All ways believe they say???? Sorry but no not good enough for the premier league  no where near 

But we are good enough for the Championship and right now I'm perfectly content with that. I remember the horrible days of playing in League One in front of small crowds. I'm very content with the progress we are making.