Why such expectancy..?

[PFree]

We all get excited about football returning but why is there so much expectancy that City should easily turn teams over all of a sudden?

We scraped through last season and played some pretty poor football being honest. We haven’t spent a single penny on transfers this summer. We have brought in a couple of lower league players with potential, one player with a decent pedigree at this level, but all on frees.

A football team doesn’t somehow become world beaters unexpectedly, it takes time to develop a side, and a lot of investment. With FFP, we are basically broke and working with handcuffs on or balls and chains in reality, aren’t we?
That said there were positives yesterday, spells in the first half where our movement and tempo were quite incredible, albeit we didn’t keep it up. It is undoubtedly going to be a long season and if we somewhere towards mid table come season end, we will have done well.

Is our Manager the right man? In my opinion, there are better coaches around who have us playing better by now, but of those available when Nigel was appointed, he would have got my vote. In six to eight games though, if results don’t improve, I expect he will leave, but let’s hope we are in a much better place by then and that we build further..

[ScottishRed]

1 hour ago, PFree said:

We all get excited about football returning but why is there so much expectancy that City should easily turn teams over all of a sudden?

We scraped through last season and played some pretty poor football being honest. We haven’t spent a single penny on transfers this summer. We have brought in a couple of lower league players with potential, one player with a decent pedigree at this level, but all on frees.

A football team doesn’t somehow become world beaters unexpectedly, it takes time to develop a side, and a lot of investment. With FFP, we are basically broke and working with handcuffs on or balls and chains in reality, aren’t we?
That said there were positives yesterday, spells in the first half where our movement and tempo were quite incredible, albeit we didn’t keep it up. It is undoubtedly going to be a long season and if we somewhere towards mid table come season end, we will have done well.

Is our Manager the right man? In my opinion, there are better coaches around who have us playing better by now, but of those available when Nigel was appointed, he would have got my vote. In six to eight games though, if results don’t improve, I expect he will leave, but let’s hope we are in a much better place by then and that we build further..

Not much to disagree with there. The problems won’t go away if Nige walks and I suspect that he might feel he has had enough if things don’t improve.

I can’t see him being fired but he may decide to go of his own volition.

The question then would be who could we get in that could make a difference? 

I see Sean Dyche mentioned on another thread - not a chance that would happen.

I hope I am wrong and I don’t want Nige to go but I suspect we would end up with another SL ‘project’!

Edited August 7, 2022 by ScottishRed

[CS Red]

2 hours ago, PFree said:

We all get excited about football returning but why is there so much expectancy that City should easily turn teams over all of a sudden?

We scraped through last season and played some pretty poor football being honest. We haven’t spent a single penny on transfers this summer. We have brought in a couple of lower league players with potential, one player with a decent pedigree at this level, but all on frees.

A football team doesn’t somehow become world beaters unexpectedly, it takes time to develop a side, and a lot of investment. With FFP, we are basically broke and working with handcuffs on or balls and chains in reality, aren’t we?
That said there were positives yesterday, spells in the first half where our movement and tempo were quite incredible, albeit we didn’t keep it up. It is undoubtedly going to be a long season and if we somewhere towards mid table come season end, we will have done well.

Is our Manager the right man? In my opinion, there are better coaches around who have us playing better by now, but of those available when Nigel was appointed, he would have got my vote. In six to eight games though, if results don’t improve, I expect he will leave, but let’s hope we are in a much better place by then and that we build further..

Best post yet to sum up where we are. Couldn't agree more. 

[Maltshoveller]

2 hours ago, PFree said:

We all get excited about football returning but why is there so much expectancy that City should easily turn teams over all of a sudden?

We scraped through last season and played some pretty poor football being honest. We haven’t spent a single penny on transfers this summer. We have brought in a couple of lower league players with potential, one player with a decent pedigree at this level, but all on frees.

A football team doesn’t somehow become world beaters unexpectedly, it takes time to develop a side, and a lot of investment. With FFP, we are basically broke and working with handcuffs on or balls and chains in reality, aren’t we?
That said there were positives yesterday, spells in the first half where our movement and tempo were quite incredible, albeit we didn’t keep it up. It is undoubtedly going to be a long season and if we somewhere towards mid table come season end, we will have done well.

Is our Manager the right man? In my opinion, there are better coaches around who have us playing better by now, but of those available when Nigel was appointed, he would have got my vote. In six to eight games though, if results don’t improve, I expect he will leave, but let’s hope we are in a much better place by then and that we build further..

These better coaches

Care to name a few (Ones we can afford+ ones who would come here)

[PFree]

9 minutes ago, Maltshoveller said:

These better coaches

Care to name a few (Ones we can afford+ ones who would come here)

You are right about who is affordable and who would come here, but who knows how attractive we are in reality? 

I always fancied having Chris Wilder here myself, but others, Daniel Farke, Nuno Santo, would John Terry and his contacts be worth a punt with NP upstairs, dare I say Alex Neil (as his teams are always well organised and drilled), Bielsa, Solskjaer, and yes, some of these are and were available during NP’s time.

That said I was genuinely excited when NP was appointed and sincerely still want him to succeed.

[Bar BS3]

2 hours ago, PFree said:

We all get excited about football returning but why is there so much expectancy that City should easily turn teams over all of a sudden?

We scraped through last season and played some pretty poor football being honest. We haven’t spent a single penny on transfers this summer. We have brought in a couple of lower league players with potential, one player with a decent pedigree at this level, but all on frees.

A football team doesn’t somehow become world beaters unexpectedly, it takes time to develop a side, and a lot of investment. With FFP, we are basically broke and working with handcuffs on or balls and chains in reality, aren’t we?
That said there were positives yesterday, spells in the first half where our movement and tempo were quite incredible, albeit we didn’t keep it up. It is undoubtedly going to be a long season and if we somewhere towards mid table come season end, we will have done well.

Is our Manager the right man? In my opinion, there are better coaches around who have us playing better by now, but of those available when Nigel was appointed, he would have got my vote. In six to eight games though, if results don’t improve, I expect he will leave, but let’s hope we are in a much better place by then and that we build further..

I generally agree - but have to say that the fact our incomings were free transfers, has no relation to their quality. 

Next summer, so one is going to be able to pick up the spine of our squad on free transfers (Bentley, Kalas, Dasilva, Massengo & Wells) no lack 9f quality there - they've chosen to run their contracts down (as perfectly entitled to do so) and are therefore going to be available on free transfers. 

That's, what... £28 millions pounds worth of fees paid out on those players, of which we aren't going to re-coup a single penny. 

That's why those clubs making the most of the free transfer market are doing so as shrewd business - not as a scraping the barrel excersise. 

[RudiRed]

24 minutes ago, PFree said:

You are right about who is affordable and who would come here, but who knows how attractive we are in reality? 

I always fancied having Chris Wilder here myself, but others, Daniel Farke, Nuno Santo, would John Terry and his contacts be worth a punt with NP upstairs, dare I say Alex Neil (as his teams are always well organised and drilled), Bielsa, Solskjaer, and yes, some of these are and were available during NP’s time.

That said I was genuinely excited when NP was appointed and sincerely still want him to succeed.

Sir Alex and Wenger were also available as was Big Ron, perhaps we shouldve given them a call. Trust me if you think we are attractive to those names you have mentioned then your living in a fantasy world.

[chinapig]

Straw man argument. Since nobody said we would turn teams over easily there is no case to answer.

[frenchred]

21 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I generally agree - but have to say that the fact our incomings were free transfers, has no relation to their quality. 

Next summer, so one is going to be able to pick up the spine of our squad on free transfers (Bentley, Kalas, Dasilva, Massengo & Wells) no lack 9f quality there - they've chosen to run their contracts down (as perfectly entitled to do so) and are therefore going to be available on free transfers. 

That's, what... £28 millions pounds worth of fees paid out on those players, of which we aren't going to re-coup a single penny. 

That's why those clubs making the most of the free transfer market are doing so as shrewd business - not as a scraping the barrel excersise. 

If that lot you posted are worth 28 million I'll eat my hat! Mate they ain't worth half of that 

[Dredd]

Is it wrong to expect us to get something out of a team we smashed 5-0 at the end of last season, and a newly promoted side? Or to expect some sort of defensive improvement?

[JoeAman08]

21 minutes ago, Dredd said:

Is it wrong to expect us to get something out of a team we smashed 5-0 at the end of last season, and a newly promoted side? Or to expect some sort of defensive improvement?

Why the expectation? Well we finished pretty strong last season. Looked a lot better defensively and we were scoring for fun. 
 

Then we added 2 starting players(Sykes or Wilson will probably play the majority)to that side.  Both defensive players at that which was our biggest weakness. We retained all of our best players including our top goal scorers. The young players all have a lot of experience under their belts now. 
 

I don’t anyone expected us to go up in the top 2. I think the most hopeful would have thought with some injury luck, we might threaten the top 6 through 40 games or so ultimately finishing top half. 
 

At the minute, the defensive problems have returned and it just brings that dark cloud back over the club. A club that has been struggling for about 3.5 years now. People want the club to do well, it has been spoken about positively the last 12 months despite a lot going on. So everything and everyone was looking up the table. Yet 2 games in against a promoted side and a side with massive turnover we sit basically bottom of the championship. 
 

Not all is lost. It is 2 games and 2 of our best players will return shortly. It just would have helped to start a bit fresher than we have. And we want this season to go well considering the situations of quite a few players at the end of the season. Bentley and Kalas could leave for naught. Scott and Semenyo could be sold. 

[Rossineri]

Just what I was saying. Why are people expecting great things when we haven’t really strengthened the team with  3 or 4 established championship players. Semenyo changed our attacking threat last season and we are currently without our best two players, him and Kalas. Klose, King, James and Martin are another year older and are not going to improve on last season. Without Semenyo up front, we badly need another who can give us the same energy, pace and effect. Looking at Simms yesterday he would have been perfect. Perhaps we need to sacrifice Scott to bring in some money to strengthen other positions. Or get Wells off the payroll if he is not fancied. Without some investment or transfer movement I can see it being another long season and avoiding relegation would again been seen as success. 

[And Its Smith]

4 hours ago, PFree said:

We all get excited about football returning but why is there so much expectancy that City should easily turn teams over all of a sudden?

We scraped through last season and played some pretty poor football being honest. We haven’t spent a single penny on transfers this summer. We have brought in a couple of lower league players with potential, one player with a decent pedigree at this level, but all on frees.

A football team doesn’t somehow become world beaters unexpectedly, it takes time to develop a side, and a lot of investment. With FFP, we are basically broke and working with handcuffs on or balls and chains in reality, aren’t we?
That said there were positives yesterday, spells in the first half where our movement and tempo were quite incredible, albeit we didn’t keep it up. It is undoubtedly going to be a long season and if we somewhere towards mid table come season end, we will have done well.

Is our Manager the right man? In my opinion, there are better coaches around who have us playing better by now, but of those available when Nigel was appointed, he would have got my vote. In six to eight games though, if results don’t improve, I expect he will leave, but let’s hope we are in a much better place by then and that we build further..

I haven’t seen anyone saying we should be turning teams over.  Not sure where you’ve seen that. Personally all I want this season is to (a) score more goals than we concede, if only by 1 goal, and (b) concede fewer than 65 goals. I don’t think that is too demanding and a manager who has been here 18 months nearly and signed a fair few players should be able to achieve that. 2 games in and it’s not looking great despite him having another pre season to work on things 

[Redrascal2]

4 hours ago, PFree said:

We all get excited about football returning but why is there so much expectancy that City should easily turn teams over all of a sudden?

We scraped through last season and played some pretty poor football being honest. We haven’t spent a single penny on transfers this summer. We have brought in a couple of lower league players with potential, one player with a decent pedigree at this level, but all on frees.

A football team doesn’t somehow become world beaters unexpectedly, it takes time to develop a side, and a lot of investment. With FFP, we are basically broke and working with handcuffs on or balls and chains in reality, aren’t we?
That said there were positives yesterday, spells in the first half where our movement and tempo were quite incredible, albeit we didn’t keep it up. It is undoubtedly going to be a long season and if we somewhere towards mid table come season end, we will have done well.

Is our Manager the right man? In my opinion, there are better coaches around who have us playing better by now, but of those available when Nigel was appointed, he would have got my vote. In six to eight games though, if results don’t improve, I expect he will leave, but let’s hope we are in a much better place by then and that we build further..

The only expectancy I had was with some new players and another pre season we might have improved and not be making the same mistakes and having the same problems. And I don't think that is a lot to expect from Pearson and the team.

[Finley_Smith10]

think we deserve better as fans. The past couple seasons have been a struggle. Just want us to have a solid team feel like we’re dominating a game 

[Bris Red]

1 hour ago, frenchred said:

If that lot you posted are worth 28 million I'll eat my hat! Mate they ain't worth half of that 

Of course they aren’t worth that in todays market but unfortunately that is what that pleb Mark Ashton paid out for them at the time. 

In the summer of 2019 we were spunking money like it was water and almost every single big money signing we made we aren’t going to make a penny back on. It is shocking to be honest.

 

[Andy082005]

5 hours ago, PFree said:

We all get excited about football returning but why is there so much expectancy that City should easily turn teams over all of a sudden?

We scraped through last season and played some pretty poor football being honest. We haven’t spent a single penny on transfers this summer. We have brought in a couple of lower league players with potential, one player with a decent pedigree at this level, but all on frees.

A football team doesn’t somehow become world beaters unexpectedly, it takes time to develop a side, and a lot of investment. With FFP, we are basically broke and working with handcuffs on or balls and chains in reality, aren’t we?
That said there were positives yesterday, spells in the first half where our movement and tempo were quite incredible, albeit we didn’t keep it up. It is undoubtedly going to be a long season and if we somewhere towards mid table come season end, we will have done well.

Is our Manager the right man? In my opinion, there are better coaches around who have us playing better by now, but of those available when Nigel was appointed, he would have got my vote. In six to eight games though, if results don’t improve, I expect he will leave, but let’s hope we are in a much better place by then and that we build further..

No one expects us to turn teams over. Had we drew 0-0 yesterday with a fairly solid defensive performance….I’d argue that was signs of improvement 

I’m getting fed up of people making out like we have got a squad of players that are not good enough for this level. You’re brainwashed .

Where as they may not be a top 6 or even a top 10squad, this manager and the coaches SHOULD be getting far more out of them 

We have just bought in Luton’s player of the year and already we have turned him into an absolute liability . Now….if that’s because he isn’t being played in the right role….then who’s fault is that??

This team should be doing better. It just doesn’t seem to matter what personnel he starts with….it churns out the same results and the same performance  week in week out The same weak mentality 

He has had plenty of time. 18 months and 2 pre-seasons, and we look no better now then we did when he came in. 
 

He just isn’t cutting it 

[Barrs Court Red]

I genuinely thought the “corner had been turned” last January, and considered to think that right to the end of this season. 
 

My expectation was that we were going to continue in a similar vein - the baseline had been set. 
 

First two games, we’re not far off in spells, miles off in others. My minimum expectation was 2 points out of the first two games. 

[CodeRed]

1 hour ago, Andy082005 said:

 

This team should be doing better. It just doesn’t seem to matter what personnel he starts with….it churns out the same results and the same performance  week in week out The same weak mentality 

He has had plenty of time. 18 months and 2 pre-seasons, and we look no better now then we did when he came in. 
 

He just isn’t cutting it 

This.....................no one is expecting miracles, but a little bit of improvement would be nice though. 

[RudiRed]

2 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

No one expects us to turn teams over. Had we drew 0-0 yesterday with a fairly solid defensive performance….I’d argue that was signs of improvement 

I’m getting fed up of people making out like we have got a squad of players that are not good enough for this level. You’re brainwashed .

Where as they may not be a top 6 or even a top 10squad, this manager and the coaches SHOULD be getting far more out of them 

We have just bought in Luton’s player of the year and already we have turned him into an absolute liability . Now….if that’s because he isn’t being played in the right role….then who’s fault is that??

This team should be doing better. It just doesn’t seem to matter what personnel he starts with….it churns out the same results and the same performance  week in week out The same weak mentality 

He has had plenty of time. 18 months and 2 pre-seasons, and we look no better now then we did when he came in. 
 

He just isn’t cutting it 

Manager needs to take responsibility. He has had plenty of time to mould this side and he continues to struggle.

[2015]

Zero expectancy here, but losing the first two games is not great for confidence. It is natural for fans to be a little concerned.

[Kodjias Wrist]

My expectancy was mid table and with a lots of luck sneak into the top half. On paper the calibre of the signings were good however i expected a couple more signings. Having the third highest goal scorer and third highest assister from last season shows we have something about us, but we are just too short. I fear with a small squad, just a couple of injuries really effects us and there will always be a few players out in most teams.

We need a couple more in but realistically with FFP what can we expect ? 

[Sturny]

How dare you all question nige, he can do no wrong and is an angel to Bristol City. If it wasn’t for our negative fans we’d be top 3. And yes, I’m the fan who claps when we win a throwin in our own half 2-0 down. 

[pillred]

3 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

No one expects us to turn teams over. Had we drew 0-0 yesterday with a fairly solid defensive performance….I’d argue that was signs of improvement 

I’m getting fed up of people making out like we have got a squad of players that are not good enough for this level. You’re brainwashed .

Where as they may not be a top 6 or even a top 10squad, this manager and the coaches SHOULD be getting far more out of them 

We have just bought in Luton’s player of the year and already we have turned him into an absolute liability . Now….if that’s because he isn’t being played in the right role….then who’s fault is that??

This team should be doing better. It just doesn’t seem to matter what personnel he starts with….it churns out the same results and the same performance  week in week out The same weak mentality 

He has had plenty of time. 18 months and 2 pre-seasons, and we look no better now then we did when he came in. 
 

He just isn’t cutting it 

Not sure I could have said it better myself, thankyou for saying what a lot of people think but don't want to say. I have in the past and it did not go down well with the how shall we put this, the more optimistic (can't hear a word against the manager) posters.

Edited August 7, 2022 by pillred
Spelling

[Top Robin]

3 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

No one expects us to turn teams over. Had we drew 0-0 yesterday with a fairly solid defensive performance….I’d argue that was signs of improvement 

I’m getting fed up of people making out like we have got a squad of players that are not good enough for this level. You’re brainwashed .

Where as they may not be a top 6 or even a top 10squad, this manager and the coaches SHOULD be getting far more out of them 

We have just bought in Luton’s player of the year and already we have turned him into an absolute liability . Now….if that’s because he isn’t being played in the right role….then who’s fault is that??

This team should be doing better. It just doesn’t seem to matter what personnel he starts with….it churns out the same results and the same performance  week in week out The same weak mentality 

He has had plenty of time. 18 months and 2 pre-seasons, and we look no better now then we did when he came in. 
 

He just isn’t cutting it 

You are so right.

People make so many excuses for him each week but deep down they must know it's not happening.

I am at the desperate point where I would actually take Joey Barton over Nigel Pearson as a young forward thinking new manager with fresh ideas and a lust for success - that's how bad things have got with me. 

[bcfcredandwhite]

Nigel Pearson did great for Leicester 

Danny Wilson did great for Barnsley

Neither of them have been able to repeat their achievements here - yet. 
I really hope NP does 

[Tinmans Love Child]

I think NP also suffers because of what he did at Leicester, and the expectation is that he has some kind of Midas touch and will succeed in doing the same here.  The problem is that the factors are all different, so the chances of him doing that IMO are either low or completely unknown.

If Neil Warnock, with multiple successes at multiple clubs in all sorts of situations, came in then I think the expectations would be justified, but maybe NP, like Danny Wilson before, has had his day in the sun when all the stars aligned, and it’s not going to happen  again?  
 

 

[firstdivision]

16 hours ago, PFree said:

We all get excited about football returning but why is there so much expectancy that City should easily turn teams over all of a sudden?

We scraped through last season and played some pretty poor football being honest. We haven’t spent a single penny on transfers this summer. We have brought in a couple of lower league players with potential, one player with a decent pedigree at this level, but all on frees.

A football team doesn’t somehow become world beaters unexpectedly, it takes time to develop a side, and a lot of investment. With FFP, we are basically broke and working with handcuffs on or balls and chains in reality, aren’t we?
That said there were positives yesterday, spells in the first half where our movement and tempo were quite incredible, albeit we didn’t keep it up. It is undoubtedly going to be a long season and if we somewhere towards mid table come season end, we will have done well.

Is our Manager the right man? In my opinion, there are better coaches around who have us playing better by now, but of those available when Nigel was appointed, he would have got my vote. In six to eight games though, if results don’t improve, I expect he will leave, but let’s hope we are in a much better place by then and that we build further..

I, for one, didn’t have much expectancy. I started the season, as I always do, trying to find three clubs that will finish below us. Can’t speak for others but it looked another ‘just stay up’ season to me. 

[robin for life]

Fans are not expecting the team to turn teams over easily, but unable to get anything out of games against Hull and Sunderland, who in all due respect are likely to be mid table teams at the very best is concerning. I would actually say a bigger concern is the final  games of last season, we were starting to look more solid and there was justifiable belief, that if we could improve the squad in the summer, that there would be progression from the team. However the team even with 3/4 additions, looks to be very similar to the team that struggled for most of last season, and that end of season promise seems to have wilted and disappeared.

We have seen a manager state certain players were unlikely to be in the fold, actually in fold and players he wanted to keep, being left to 5 minute cameo's.

I think the reality is, the club will get no support from the board and owners as I think it's finally come to Lansdown, that he has taken us as far as he can and whilst he has had all these lofty aspirations, the reality is, we don't have the budget to continuously chase said dreams. Obviously SL does not want to walk away, but he realises he can't do it on his own.

NP seems to not know his team and in my opinion seems to create rifts in the team by the way he pushes players out. As a player you have to think, you are one or two bad performances from the same treatment and therefore the pressure of trying to succeed might be too much for some players, whilst the younger players are hungry and are given more time.

I hope we don't get relegated this season, but the opening two games, have not inspired me to think that we may not be in a relegation battle. Don't get me wrong, it's not all doom and gloom, but certain cogs need to turn and at the moment they are not. We defensively are a bit of a mess, whilst the majority of recruitment has been in this area, that is a concern. Under Pearson we have added, Klose, Naismith, Tanner, Wilson and Atkinson, yet we don't look any better at the back. I'm not convinced Dasilva is doing anything more than going through the motions, and Vyner whilst he gives his all, is not good enough at this level. Klose is a solid central defender, but what pairing works best. But the wing backs are too hit and miss. 

Midfield is so clueless, Scott doesn't seem to know were to play, he seems to want to go forwards, but doesn't really track back, and the likes of James and King are solid players, but their age and lack of speed is showing. Massengo clearly doesn't want to be here and there is no unity in the middle.

Up front, we would be in a lot of trouble without Wiemann. It's not just his goals, but the threat he poses every time we go forward, this means defenders have to watch him, and this brings other players in to space. Martin is a fair player, but I feel he is the type of player who will miss and mess up more than he succeeds, so despite goals which he can score, in a game of few chances, he may miss the ones we get. I really hoped Wells would be given a run out ahead of Martin, and after the last two games, if Pearson doesn't give him a start next time, then I would say Pearson is a huge part of the problem. As he is not willing to experiment away from his favourites even when they are not performing. This is the sign of poor team management. I have to be honest, I haven't enjoyed the football at all under Pearson, there have been glimpses but I've rarely watched or gone to a game where I have actually felt we were going to win. 

Sadly I don't get to see many games live anymore, and the last game I went to was the 3-1 win against Cardiff. In fact the last 5 games I've seen, we've won, but whilst I would love to be able to go every week, it's just not possible financially or work wise any more.

I liked the Johnson JNR era, I thought we played exciting football and I honestly don't believe LJ was the problem, I think MA and possibly SL were to blame for the direction the club went. Under Johnson, I felt the team would or could win games, now I watch a game waiting for us to concede late on, or throw away leads.

If brutally honest, except for that 17-18 season with the cup run under LJ, we've not been any good since GJ was our manager, and whilst Cotts destroyed League One, we didn't kick on the following year.

I actually think what the club needs is a change from top to bottom. New owners, new manager and new direction. Lets get away from the unity of Bristol Sport and just become Bristol City again. Steve Lansdown's dream was a good dream, and we all wanted it to work, but it hasn't and its slowly becoming a nightmare.

The problem of if we go down, is that our quality youngsters leave and we would no longer be the big fish in League One, like we were the last time we were there. Relegation is not an option, and Pearson needs to find his team promptly and we need to bring in coaches, so they can get the best out of the players. NP is too negative to be an inspiring coach. I suffer badly from anxiety and depression, and every time I listen to NP, whilst he talks a lot of sense, he actually depresses the life out of me, and I fear that is the affect he has on the players.

In life you need winners to get the best out of players and I think GJ, SC and LJ had flaws but they were winners, they spoke with passion, and gave players belief, maybe sometimes false belief, but they got that 5% extra which sometimes you needed. Their man management and tactical knowhow had holes and became their undoing, but sadly I cant resonate with any quality in Pearson as a manager. I get what he done at Leicester, but it was getting on for 10 years ago now, and he is kind of living on his former glories. Honestly I hope I'm wrong, but I feel NP and SL are leading us back to League One, and although it wouldn't be my personal choice, right now I would even welcome Mike Ashley into the fold as owner, the club needs new direction. 

[Sir Geoff]

17 minutes ago, robin for life said:

Fans are not expecting the team to turn teams over easily, but unable to get anything out of games against Hull and Sunderland, who in all due respect are likely to be mid table teams at the very best is concerning. I would actually say a bigger concern is the final  games of last season, we were starting to look more solid and there was justifiable belief, that if we could improve the squad in the summer, that there would be progression from the team. However the team even with 3/4 additions, looks to be very similar to the team that struggled for most of last season, and that end of season promise seems to have wilted and disappeared.

We have seen a manager state certain players were unlikely to be in the fold, actually in fold and players he wanted to keep, being left to 5 minute cameo's.

I think the reality is, the club will get no support from the board and owners as I think it's finally come to Lansdown, that he has taken us as far as he can and whilst he has had all these lofty aspirations, the reality is, we don't have the budget to continuously chase said dreams. Obviously SL does not want to walk away, but he realises he can't do it on his own.

NP seems to not know his team and in my opinion seems to create rifts in the team by the way he pushes players out. As a player you have to think, you are one or two bad performances from the same treatment and therefore the pressure of trying to succeed might be too much for some players, whilst the younger players are hungry and are given more time.

I hope we don't get relegated this season, but the opening two games, have not inspired me to think that we may not be in a relegation battle. Don't get me wrong, it's not all doom and gloom, but certain cogs need to turn and at the moment they are not. We defensively are a bit of a mess, whilst the majority of recruitment has been in this area, that is a concern. Under Pearson we have added, Klose, Naismith, Tanner, Wilson and Atkinson, yet we don't look any better at the back. I'm not convinced Dasilva is doing anything more than going through the motions, and Vyner whilst he gives his all, is not good enough at this level. Klose is a solid central defender, but what pairing works best. But the wing backs are too hit and miss. 

Midfield is so clueless, Scott doesn't seem to know were to play, he seems to want to go forwards, but doesn't really track back, and the likes of James and King are solid players, but their age and lack of speed is showing. Massengo clearly doesn't want to be here and there is no unity in the middle.

Up front, we would be in a lot of trouble without Wiemann. It's not just his goals, but the threat he poses every time we go forward, this means defenders have to watch him, and this brings other players in to space. Martin is a fair player, but I feel he is the type of player who will miss and mess up more than he succeeds, so despite goals which he can score, in a game of few chances, he may miss the ones we get. I really hoped Wells would be given a run out ahead of Martin, and after the last two games, if Pearson doesn't give him a start next time, then I would say Pearson is a huge part of the problem. As he is not willing to experiment away from his favourites even when they are not performing. This is the sign of poor team management. I have to be honest, I haven't enjoyed the football at all under Pearson, there have been glimpses but I've rarely watched or gone to a game where I have actually felt we were going to win. 

Sadly I don't get to see many games live anymore, and the last game I went to was the 3-1 win against Cardiff. In fact the last 5 games I've seen, we've won, but whilst I would love to be able to go every week, it's just not possible financially or work wise any more.

I liked the Johnson JNR era, I thought we played exciting football and I honestly don't believe LJ was the problem, I think MA and possibly SL were to blame for the direction the club went. Under Johnson, I felt the team would or could win games, now I watch a game waiting for us to concede late on, or throw away leads.

If brutally honest, except for that 17-18 season with the cup run under LJ, we've not been any good since GJ was our manager, and whilst Cotts destroyed League One, we didn't kick on the following year.

I actually think what the club needs is a change from top to bottom. New owners, new manager and new direction. Lets get away from the unity of Bristol Sport and just become Bristol City again. Steve Lansdown's dream was a good dream, and we all wanted it to work, but it hasn't and its slowly becoming a nightmare.

The problem of if we go down, is that our quality youngsters leave and we would no longer be the big fish in League One, like we were the last time we were there. Relegation is not an option, and Pearson needs to find his team promptly and we need to bring in coaches, so they can get the best out of the players. NP is too negative to be an inspiring coach. I suffer badly from anxiety and depression, and every time I listen to NP, whilst he talks a lot of sense, he actually depresses the life out of me, and I fear that is the affect he has on the players.

In life you need winners to get the best out of players and I think GJ, SC and LJ had flaws but they were winners, they spoke with passion, and gave players belief, maybe sometimes false belief, but they got that 5% extra which sometimes you needed. Their man management and tactical knowhow had holes and became their undoing, but sadly I cant resonate with any quality in Pearson as a manager. I get what he done at Leicester, but it was getting on for 10 years ago now, and he is kind of living on his former glories. Honestly I hope I'm wrong, but I feel NP and SL are leading us back to League One, and although it wouldn't be my personal choice, right now I would even welcome Mike Ashley into the fold as owner, the club needs new direction. 

I hear what you say but what you write could be said by fans of about 15 other Championship clubs. Just change the names of the main characters to fit the narrative. So change the owner, change the manager. You can't change the football ' food chain.' We are historically in one of our best spells as a club. We don' t have the money to compete with the yo yo clubs and even changing owner won't change the FFP rules. Imo most fans would be happy with some improvement in our play. Expectations for most prior to the start of the season was mid table, which is still well within our reach. Be careful what you wish for or we will be back in our historical place in the food chain ( near the top of League One ).