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New season beckons - how do you see things?


Jerseybean

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9 hours ago, Jerseybean said:

As a new campaign nears kick off I have a few thoughts on what’s different compared with recent seasons. Be interested to hear others thoughts.

On balance I’m feeling more optimistic than I have for a few years, the main reason being the impact of an experienced manager. Who has set out…..

  • A more cohesive, clear and coherent approach in terms of recruitment and playing style
  • A sensible, well communicated medium-term plan which is realistic and clearly communicated
  • A significant clear-out giving us a smaller more focused squad
  • Focused recruitment (rather than a scatter gun approach)
  • A better balance in the squad with a decent mix of experience and youth
  • A recognition that our medical infrastructure needed addressing
  • A slight change in culture (which will continue and takes time) including shared values/responsibility, greater level of fitness, less bullshit/gibberish and greater accountability

Of course we need to see what happens on the pitch! I’m expecting better performances, us being more resilient, being harder to beat and working harder, being fitter. My main concern remains where will the goals come from.

I conclude with us finishing 13th.

 

EP version: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-fans-season-predictions-5743916

 

 

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I’m looking forward to the season as ever, because there’s nothing like being at a live game. So like most seasons I dream of everything coming together, players not injured, on top of their form, etc. and we might upset the form and “do a Barnsley”. However, being in my mind realistic, not negative, I think we will end up lower mid table. 

As I say, I do think if the team hit some form, get momentum and confidence, then we could surprise a few people and flirt with those play off places. I do think we lack that mobile, main striker and as been stated, Pearson knows this. Nahki with good service is a proven finisher, Martin has a good football brain but is not mobile, Weiman has energy an a decent support, Semenyo, Bell, etc are good but still raw in areas. All can contribute, but that dangerous, physical, mobile plaer with good movement is missing. Kodjia (quick, skilful), Abraham (movement, finisher), Reid (Energy, skill, movement, football intelligence) were the best recent examples. Fam had some of these, but lacked that bit of football intelligence in his movement. On his day though he was a handful for opposition defences and did weigh in with his share of good goals. Never felt we played him to develop his true potential, but I guess we can say that about plenty of players over the past few years.

Would be sad to see them go, but it looks like Kalas and Massengo could attract the funds that may buy that striker and maybe a loan/permanent centre back.

By now we should have been putting the final pieces in the jigsaw for a real go at promotion/play-offs. However this is back to a reboot stage 1. Whoever we see as responsible, it has really hit home recently the amount of money we have wasted on recruitment for a club of our present stature and our strategy had been all over the place in terms of getting a balanced squad together. So I am glad with the response from Pearson that we will only spend the money with players who will improve the squad, as much as I would like us to go out and get that elusive striker.

So mid-table  will be good to me, as long as we can see a team and squad being built, some good competitive performances (and wins!). Top ten would be great, play-offs outstanding.

More than ever, just so much looking forward to watching live football again...and obviously dreaming that we’ll upset everyone and reach the Prem at last!

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As a few have already said, think mid-table is realistic and good progress.

We've got a solid spine and cleared out some deadwood. A bit concerned about our striking options but I think the defence and midfield are stronger which should be the priority.

I don't think we have the depth or variety of quality attacking options to make a playoff charge personally. 

My hopes/expectations are these

  • A transitional season but no real relegation threat
  • One of our young players becoming a first team starter (perhaps Alex Scott)
  • A functioning and solid defence with more clean sheets
  • Attacking and entertaining football where we play to our strengths rather than counter the opposition
  • A cup run with a "big team" at AG
  • Less injuries than last season and Joe Williams showing what he can do
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4 hours ago, Hampshire reds said:

i think it will be a very average season. cant see where the goals are coming from. lost our main striker in Fam and not been replaced. Time will tell . 

I see the loss of Fam in 3 ways.

We lose approx 12 goals, perhaps playing in his correct position and with a more positive team around him Wells can make up for this.

We will certainly be better in our high pressing. Fams idea of a press was to amble towards his man and as soon as he went past him to stop. As such the others gave up as there was always 1 man free.

Set pieces. For me this was Fams best contribution winning a lot of balls into the area. 

I think if we can be a solid mid table by Christmas SL may be tempted to sanction a loan forward to push on.

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I am loving the new openness of the club and it gives me great encouragement. I feel that i have a better understanding of what is going on. Rather than the no news , lies that we supporters have had to put up with. I also feel the club are interested in what we have to say. I do not want to get to carried away, but i have been saying over the summer break mid table at best. But starting on Saturday we will see and i am hoping for some good football being played by the team. Some strong defending, some break up and push forward by the mid field and lots of shots on target by the forwards. As for the result i would be very happy with a iffy penalty for us and a 1-0 win. COYRs.

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I have low expectations. I don’t think the squad has improved dramatically.

All gonna be down to what NP has managed to instill into the squad over the pre-season. is he a miracle worker or was the end of season run a sign of things to come?  We will find out soon enough  

I just want us to be competitive, I want players to show some heart, and some good football would be nice. I’ll take avoiding relegation right now as an achievement. 

Ending the home duck on Saturday would be a good start. 

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52 minutes ago, Robbored said:

What?………surely you can’t be serious? The addition of Atkinson, James, King and Simpson instantly strengthen the squad. 

Maybe you’ve overlooked the number of OOC players Nige let go…………:cool2:

Simpson and king arent likely go be automatic starters in my view, atkinson looks decent but has never played at this level, james looked very good against villa. Will that be enough to make the difference over 46 games relying on wells and martin? I hope so, but it seems unlikely, 15-18th place is my prediction 

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I think our season will very much depend on how quickly we can shake off the losing mentality of the second half of last season.

If we don’t have the injuries of last season we still have a fairly strong squad. It’s just getting then playing with confidence.

Be interesting to see this season with the hands being back if home advantage makes more of an impact as you got a lot more away wins for teams than you usually would last season. Making Ashton Gate a fortress again will be really important

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I just want to see some good football. I want to see us have a plan of how we’re going to win football matches. It was so bad last year I think anything would be an improvement…

It can’t be any worse. That’s why I’m a little positive for the coming season.

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7 minutes ago, RalphMilnesLeftFoot said:

I'm not confident going into the new season. At this stage, NP hasnt yet shown anything that suggests change. Villa obliterated is despite some high points and that's a carry on from last season too. 

We maybe fitter, but from what I've seen pre season there isnt lots to get enthusiastic about. 

For me it's the continuing progress of youth development that's good.

My gut feeling is telling me relegation battle. I hope very much that I'm wrong

The rot had really set in after Ashton/LJ/Holden and the poor recent (and expensive) recruitment. It's fair to judge Pearson now as he's made the team his own. Strictly speaking I think ultimately it'll be the 22/23 season before we can really see what he's about and what a Nigel Pearson team is, but I appreciate that's a long time in football.

I wouldn't worry too much about pre-season. Pearson himself said he sees it as a training exercise and that results don't matter. You'd expect Villa to be far better than us anyway, they are a middling Prem team after all and we're a bottom half Champ team. 

 

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1 hour ago, Clutton Caveman said:

I see the loss of Fam in 3 ways.

We lose approx 12 goals, perhaps playing in his correct position and with a more positive team around him Wells can make up for this.

We will certainly be better in our high pressing. Fams idea of a press was to amble towards his man and as soon as he went past him to stop. As such the others gave up as there was always 1 man free.

Set pieces. For me this was Fams best contribution winning a lot of balls into the area. 

I think if we can be a solid mid table by Christmas SL may be tempted to sanction a loan forward to push on.

Pretty much in agreement.

As a team with the ball, Fam gave little to our attacks, and for me a big reason why we became so shot-shy and created little.

The press won’t be solved by Martin alone, but Fam ambled around and let side CBs come forward with the ball. Martin is intelligent enough to do the basics even if not intently.  If that can be supplemented by O’Dowda and Weimann squeezing in from the sides then that will help.  That’s for when Martin starts on his own.  If Wells gets the gig (which I would choose), then we have energy too.  I think you could play them both in a 442, but Martin withdrawing into the hole when we have possession, looking for low angled passes from either full-back (like he did with Vyner v Villa), and this could be effective.  Without the ball, Wells, Weimann and O’Dowda become a defensive front three, and Martin cuts the passing lanes into midfield.  Much less running for him to do.

I think if you play Wells as a striker he scores more than Fam too.

Defensively, with two 6’4” CBs, a 6’2” RB (Vyner) then we are better placed than last season too.  We just need to assign a player to do that near post area.  Fam did it well, Martin did it decently too.

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11 hours ago, Jerseybean said:

As a new campaign nears kick off I have a few thoughts on what’s different compared with recent seasons. Be interested to hear others thoughts.

On balance I’m feeling more optimistic than I have for a few years, the main reason being the impact of an experienced manager. Who has set out…..

  • A more cohesive, clear and coherent approach in terms of recruitment and playing style
  • A sensible, well communicated medium-term plan which is realistic and clearly communicated
  • A significant clear-out giving us a smaller more focused squad
  • Focused recruitment (rather than a scatter gun approach)
  • A better balance in the squad with a decent mix of experience and youth
  • A recognition that our medical infrastructure needed addressing
  • A slight change in culture (which will continue and takes time) including shared values/responsibility, greater level of fitness, less bullshit/gibberish and greater accountability

Of course we need to see what happens on the pitch! I’m expecting better performances, us being more resilient, being harder to beat and working harder, being fitter. My main concern remains where will the goals come from.

I conclude with us finishing 13th.

 

Nah we will finish 7th.

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I think for me what I expect is the spine of the team to be more robust, the players more available. 

It's broadly the same set of players so I'm not expecting miracles.  I'm also expecting a couple of curve balls in last minute departing players which always leaves you in a bad place. 

I expect us to start slow, with players adapting to a new system and gather pace.  I be happy with a draw, over joyed with a win and not to disappointed with a narrow defeat vs Blackpool.  I'd be gutted with a wide defeat against Blackpool as it would possibly indicate we have a long way to go still.  I'd rather we were playing someone else as they have a cohesive promotion winning side vs our refractored religation form side. 

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I think we're in better shape than when we ended last season, but that's not hard. I'm happy with the new signings to strengthen the spine of the side and from all accounts, Dave Rennie is the total opposite of the negligent Andy Rolls. Hopefully he can keep the players out of the treatment room for most of the season.

While we appear to be much fitter and have leaders with PL-winning experience to set the standards, I do have reservations up front and at RB. I hope Vyner and Semenyo prove me wrong as I don't suspect either of them are currently up to this level. We'll carry more goal threat if Wells is the main man through the middle.

It's imperative we get off to good start at home to Blackpool. Not only to end our woeful home record, but because I think we've got a tough looking August. Failure to start well and I feel the knives (wrongly IMO) might come out for NP and threaten to completely derail the season before it's propertly got under way. 

I expect us to be hard-working and more difficult to break down, resulting in us drawing more games and staying in games for longer. Survival this season would be acceptable to me, anything else would be a welcome bonus. 

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5 hours ago, JonDolman said:

I agree with Nige that we could have a good season. The players look very fit. We look much stronger defensively.

This and I think losing Fam will mean a more fluid attack, rather than lumping it up to the 'big man'.  Bell and Tommy look to have better movement and are surely better finishers.   Intelligent players like Martin there to lay the ball off to them and it could be interesting.  Wells playing through the middle should be more productive too. 

I don't think we'll make the playoffs, but to see us bed in a philosophy and work ethic, become more difficult to beat, and see the youngsters especially Alex Scott, Bakinson and Semenyo develop further and I'll be happy enough.  

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Defeat to Blackpool would be test of the OTIB nerve!

I'm optimistic that we win on Saturday but we have a tough start to the campaign and there may be some downs before the ups (or else NP has done a great job).

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For me, as various others have said - I’d like to see :

- A recognisable style of play (preferably attractive ?)

- Being difficult to beat (especially at home) & managing games better

- Younger players being introduced to the team in a managed way

- Less long term injuries

- Avoiding a relegation battle

It’s a cliche I know but the Championship is such a tricky league, you can’t predict anything. Example : did anyone really see Barnsley reaching the play offs at the start of last season?

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1 minute ago, Nickybee said:

For me, as various others have said - I’d like to see :

- A recognisable style of play (preferably attractive ?)

- Being difficult to beat (especially at home) & managing games better

- Younger players being introduced to the team in a managed way

- Less long term injuries

- Avoiding a relegation battle

It’s a cliche I know but the Championship is such a tricky league, you can’t predict anything. Example : did anyone really see Barnsley reaching the play offs at the start of last season?

This sums it up nicely for me!

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Many express their doubts about NP because he seemed unable to improve things when he came in last season.

My feeling is that when he joined the City train that had built up it’s own momentum of injuries, out of contract players and a head coach ( Holden) with insufficient experience to know how to deal with things when performances and results started to fall apart. All this was of course, under the stewardship of Mark Ashton - the man who allowed so many players’ contracts to finish this summer, which in itself must have had an adverse effect on players’ motivation.

Unfortunately they couldn't stop the train to let NP climb aboard and he was merely firefighting, primarily because the motivation and mentality of too many players was shot to ribbons.

The culmination of events over the last season  (if we’re honest the last couple of seasons) means  this is a very uncertain season ahead. My hope is that the changes in personnel throughout the club and playing staff and the pre-season training will make it feel like everyone has had a completely fresh start and will have broken the tie to what went before and certainly as far as the players’ mental outlook is concerned.

Ashton has gone and his replacement seems to be much lower key , leaving the manager to be the front man - as it should be. Pearson is not one for hyperbole, which is a good thing after the over the top  and over overambitious rhetoric from the likes of Ashton and LJ in particular, who where unable to deliver on their promises.  

I like that Pearson is not making rash promises, but that he has stated that he wants his team to be positive and to get the crowd on their side. We've had head coaches in the recent past saying that their teams will “play on the front foot” but somehow NP saying it sounds much more believable.

My hope is that when we look back on the first half of 2021 it will be seen as having taken 1 step back in order to take 2 steps forward, as the club looks to restructure better and get back on track following the Ashton period, which in retrospect increasingly appears to have been a bit of train wreck happening in slow motion. Fingers crossed that by appointing NP, SL has avoided the City train well and truly hitting the buffers.

 

 

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@downendcitythats sums up how I feel pretty well.  Fine if people want to use last season as the barometer, but some huge mitigating factors.

Nige has said he’s tried to address them, especially the medical front.

He has said he will take responsibility.  He has said he’s taken responsibility for the prioritisation of signings.

I’m not sure he can do much more….and as fans I think we should now wait to judge on the pitch, in terms of results, performances and playing style which are down to him.

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Quality wise, we aren't too much better than we were last season but there are signs that at least we have some kind of shape and plan. 

Plenty of other Championship teams are in the same boat in that they don't have the funds to strengthen, and I see nothing to fear from any of the promoted sides.

I predict a slight improvement.. around 17th, above the likes of Derby, Huddersfield, Blackburn and the promoted sides.

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Provided we keep our senior pros fit then, together with the new signings and the experience gained by our youngsters, I see us in mid table. I think a number of sides in this division are being over hyped and the Championship is wide open. As I've said elsewhere you have to take into account the pressure that the 3 sides relegated from the Prem and last seasons 3 losing play off teams will be under as they all enter the new season with new managers. Elsewhere, most sides have simply signed players released by other Championship clubs. Does this improve them? Only time will tell. 

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