ciderwithtommy

Totally agree re wanting to play them in a competitive game, and the gap since the last one is generational, which is funny and relevant. I just think he is in for a major shock if he thinks this is some watered down, soft derby. I also think he believes he is the big draw, and bigger than the game itself. He’s not. They have to earn the right to play us, as does he. Next time they come the AG it will be anything but friendly.

Barton stating he pushed for a derby this preseason - “it would be great for the city, families going to the game”. Cracks me up, scouser with not a single clue of the Bristol derby, and what it means / creates. No surprise the OB said no chance, but the arrogance of scousers (and others) thinking they know the Derby, when they have no clue makes me laugh. Ask Holloway how friendly it is, he nearly died mind hahah

Playing devils advocate - how much would Scott be worth in 12 months if the footballing gods gave him an “atkinson/benarous” situation? What would that mean for his financial life after football? I would love to keep him, but the only way it makes sense is a sale/loan back, which “could” play out depending on the purchasing club and their vision. Ultimately the pull of the prem, and what would a 25m player get paid a week for that? It’s life changing.

Not sure if this maybe needs its own thread, however Scott v Burnley deserves a real send off from us should it be (sadly) his last game at the gate in red. From my nearly 40 years of watching he is up there with the very very best I’ve seen not only for us, but against us. He will go to the top as long as the footballing gods are kind, but more importantly he just comes across as a top top bloke, someone we can be very proud of, and I think we will always be closely connected to him. when he runs down the wing….

Totally agree on the point that jays limitations are non negotiable “must haves” for Pearson, he will no doubt move on. I am pleased to see we have a plan we are building against, sadly that does mean some good players may not fit. He leaves with my best wishes (if he wants them haha)

Just received mine ? would love an issue 1 n all

Scary how naive we are. One if the reasons we went 500 games without a pen, we make the refs life so easy. There two in CM must’ve committed 5+ fouls each, including one of them jumping on max, and we don’t seem to know how to get yeh ref to help us. Got to say I really think Luton are a vile side, nothing fairytale about them. Tight pitch, aggressive, play acting, it’s just frustrating we can’t square up to that and win.

Wow - as bad as Blackpool were at ours, we make that performance look superb. lost count of how many times we gave the ball away. Not athletic enough to compete, which is the basics at this level. Could be 4 or 5 and no complaints.

Vyner has proved one thing throughout his career, and that is he learns and improves consistently. Last night was probably as hard a game as he will ever have in terms of opponents, not just in possession where Man City are obvs world class, but out of possession where they are equally as adept. they set traps that Vyner and others fell in to, he will learn from that. It wasn’t him being “poor”, but more he was learning the hard way, something that he has shown he has the character to do. Want to get better at any sport? Play against better players, and learn.

Puts odowda in context doesn’t it. A more expensive deal, mehmeti has more quality and added more in his very brief career then odowda in 5 years.

Great report as always! I would like to see scuffing/hacking the penalty spot being made a red card offence. It’s such a pathetic thing to do, and in line with the rule of attempting to stop a goal scoring opportunity. Booking isn’t a big enough deterrent. I would also feel the same if it was us doing it, haha.

Towler imho

Ffs a CEO talking about tented stands, in 2023. Beyond parody. As a city fan who started supporting in 89, it really is something to behold just how far the gap has grown. Millets FC

I just don’t get us going long for the last 10 minutes with bell and wells up top. Played into their hands.

100% this. So important, underrated and a sign of a true defender. Excellent work by him

Cunningham one so much worse

Red zone or whatever it’s called has just been uploaded to YouTube. 3 x red cards for PNE missed, no 14 on Scott and then bell in quick succession. But the one by Cunningham on wells is an absolute shocker, he should be ashamed of himself. And then the lovely mr evans, clear punch right in front of the ref. So glad we won, hope Cunningham does his acl next game, cowards tackle by him.

QPR - my word his agent needs a knighthood! Great guy and great servant, but really looked like his legs had gone, fair play to all involved but thought he was heading to league 1/2.

I hope it’s both, asking any one player to come in and replace Ant is very tough. But more importantly, Cornick is the type you want when we play against a “possession” team, will press and work and has quality when we win it back. Mehemiti (sp) offers us something when teams come here to sit back, ala PNE, millwall etc. two different options, enabling us to solve tactical problems and also change in game as and when, it’s great business.

It’s very tough to recruit young players now. Regarding the steak analogy, we aren’t able to recruit the very best steak as we are cat 2, even offering them a “pathway” is not enough for the elite youngsters. So we are looking for the late developers, the good eggs (steaks) and the ones who have maybe lost their way a bit. And the club has done a fantastic job of that, Scott, and semenyo alone being likely 40m of talent. really excited to see the next 3/4 years of talent, the bar looks really high now. So I would say the club is overperforming right now at a very difficult task. Fair play to them ?

It’s is character, and what he demands from others, which is as important as his ability. He makes 3/4 of the players around him much better, and that’s invaluable

Really thought we’d get closer to 15m. Wonder if the change has come from the player pushing to go? Or add ons may be a gimme for us. so underwhelming to lose our best talent to Bournemouth tho

Love the fact we won that when clearly there’s a bit of needle between the players - it’s what it’s all about! I went to home game but sadly not last night, however in the game at AG I noticed quite a lot of verbals and a few niggly arguments, winning against teams you don’t like is a great learning curve for our youngsters.

Haha we will have to agree to disagree to some extent then! I think there is a huge difference in how we are talking about our players, and the approach we are taking in the transfer market. Selling is of course a necessity, as it is for every club globally, but the skill is doing it in a way that is controlled and in our interest. sell pack on deadline day? Yeah sure we will do that! As an example of a mind boggler, I don’t think this regime would entertain it.

Exactly, I know as stated we will always be where we are in the pecking order, but there is a vast difference between a club that sells at the right time, and where we were, simply put, trading! Sell one buy two, round pegs square holes, it was always unsustainable. My point is more, under previous regime, we were almost keen to trade. At that point FFP was not really a huge issue, it became so when we tried to replace solid players with higher paid players that flopped, hence where we are now with FFP. And also tbf Covid. the change, to me, is clear. Want our best players? They cost a lot and we will sell when best for us. best for us could mean a) FFP or b) the money is too good and we have identified replacements I don’t envisage many more Fam/HNM situations as they are hangovers from the previous model, offering Scott a contract with 2.5 years left on his current one was not the game we used to play.