Jacki

The ref lost control, like so many do in this league. Both challenges were reds bit of course we get the rough end of all the decisions yet again. The standard of officiating in this league is disgraceful.

I’m really disappointed about this. Gould is understated, effective and seems like a thoroughly decent bloke. After the last bloke we had, he’s been a breath of fresh air. It will be sad to see him go. As a cricket fan, I think he’s a great appointment but it really does leave a big hole for us to fill.

Weimann is out of form at the moment, no doubt, but who on earth do we bring in if you leave him out? The thing with him is that he works hard, makes runs and angles, and we haven’t got anyone remotely like him. I’d keep him in the side, as much due to lack of alternatives as anything else. I think the opposition would be delighted if we dropped him as well.

Having had the chance to reflect on yesterday, I still can’t find any positives. We were absolutely abject from start to finish… everything was poor. We had players hiding and not wanting the ball, we didn’t match them for effort and we looked so lightweight at the back - it really was dreadful. The only arguable bright spot was Scott, who kept showing for the ball and trying to make things happen, although he was pretty much on his own in that respect. As others have said, King at centre half was asking for trouble. I could just about understand it v Coventry as that was a change mid game, but to start him in that position was madness and was always going to cost us. The thing that concerns me the most is the way the confidence has just evaporated after a few poor results. People say we’ve been ‘worked out’, and I’m sure there is some merit in that, but a number of our players are a shadow of what they were when we were playing well. You can see some of them visibly shrinking out on the pitch as soon as something goes wrong - it’s incredible how fragile they are. After the optimism of a few weeks ago, the threadbare nature of our squad is really starting to bite and I fear it could be another long, long season. These next 2 home games are massive now.

Done

Hard to over emphasise just how poor that was. Second to everything, no threat, sloppy in possession. Not a single shot, let alone one on target. It seems the confidence in this group is as fragile as it has ever been in recent seasons. As soon as we lose a couple of games, the whole thing collapses and nobody wants the ball. Really depressing stuff.

Apologies if this has been posted before but I couldn’t see it anywhere. Tins is being linked to the vacant Director of Football role at FGR. This is a strange one… not sure why he’d be remotely interested in doing this? Really hope he doesn’t go. I’m up at Failand a lot with my lad these days and Brian is there the vast majority of the time. He’s great with the boys and the number of players we’ve had come through lately speaks for itself. We’re lucky to have him - don’t go Tin Man!

Same here. This is nonsensically bad ?

I haven’t trawled back through this whole thread so I’m not sure if others have already said this, but I have a theory about why football is postponed and other sports are not. Football is almost always seen as a lightning rod for all of society’s ills whenever anything major happens. Whether it’s player behaviour on or off the pitch, the amount of money in the game, fan behaviour… football gets bad press and gets hammered by those in society who don’t like the game. So, when we have a situation like this, the authorities take decisions based on what the backlash would be likely to be rather than on sound logic. This backlash would be led by sections of the press, but would also be shouted by people who just don’t like football and footballers and the decision to play on would be used as a stick to beat the game with forever and a day. So the FA etc. take the decision to cancel to take away that possibility, as they are terrified of the bad PR. As @ChippenhamRed and others have said, it should be either all sport is cancelled or none at all. But football is often seen in areas of society to be different to other sports and this is, I think, why it’s the only major team sport to be affected in this way. It is a ludicrous situation that kids can’t play grassroots stuff this weekend and that all amateur football is also cancelled. I know of several local clubs who are planning in house friendlies with the bar open so people can get out and play the game and see their mates. Crazy. But this is why I think we are where we are.

I’ve thought about whether football should go ahead a lot in the wake of the Queen’s passing. I’m very sad that she’s gone…. She was the one reassuring constant in public life in some crazy and divisive times and, while I’m not a huge royalist, I will find it strange without her. I just don’t see what will be gained by cancelling sport though. Saturday, if it goes ahead, would be a fantastic opportunity for everyone to pay their respects in their own way. 2 minutes silence, national anthem, some pomp and ceremony…. It could be the perfect tribute and people would still get to go to football which we all love to do. What will be gained by everyone being forced to stay at home and miss out on doing what they love?

I like Naismith a lot. As many have said he’s absolutely key to how we play and we look a different team with him in it. He’s the most talented footballer we’ve had at CB since Webster without a doubt. He does give me the collywobbles with his mistakes though. We are so often the architects of our own downfall and that could have been the case several times last night. All of their good chances came from us switching off or giving the ball away. Vyner has improved hugely this season but he still struggles to concentrate for 90 minutes and has a mistake in him, so between the two of them we will let in some poor goals at times. Overall though it’s so much better than last season. We have a clear way of playing and it’s great fun to watch. Naismith has already played a huge part in that.

Which is bizarre, because he spent years calling for a manager like Nigel Pearson prior to him coming to us. Ever since he’s been here, he wants him out. Strange fella.

I’m completely with Nige on this and I’m delighted he’s stuck his head above the parapet and spoken out, especially as it was after a win. The sending off was, on reflection fair enough but the lack of similar punishment for Freeman last night was absolutely scandalous. I thought the Atkinson pen could have been given on another day as well. I was right in front of that one and it could have gone either way, but Pearson’s frustration with that one was clearly down to the fact that we just never get those decisions and haven’t for some time now. What the answer is in the short term I don’t know, but something has to change because the overall standard of officiating is as bad as I can ever remember, and I’ve been going to AG for the thick end of 40 years now

Have you ever not wanted to see a manager sacked? It feels like every time I’ve logged on here on a match day over the years you’re calling for a manager’s head. Pearson’s record has been far from perfect but he’s clearing up an absolute mess and we achieved a par performance last season in most people’s eyes. We also played some decent football in the second half of the season. Are we going to challenge this season? It seems highly unlikely. Are we infuriating to watch at times, especially when we’re defending? We definitely are. But ripping everything up and starting again 3 games in would be an unbelievable over reaction. Let’s see where we are after 10-15 games and take a measured view of things then.

I really enjoyed the pod and Tinnion’s passion really shines through. I’m up at the HPC 3 times a week at the moment and it’s very rare that Tinnion isn’t there, watching academy training or taking in the games. He very occasionally gets involved in team talks during the matches and you can see the young lads hang on every word he says when he gets involved. He clearly loves what he’s doing and it really comes across - we’re very lucky to have him. There are some fantastic players coming through throughout the age groups - the future is definitely bright and Tins is playing a huge part in that. The guy is a breath of fresh air.

My boy is involved in the academy at BCFC and I just wanted to mention what a great night the lads had up at Failand last night. Alex Scott, Antoine Semenyo and Ayman Benarous gave up several hours of their time to watch the academy train, chat to the boys and make themselves visible to the next generation of budding City players. They also each donated a pair of brand new boots to the players they judged to have performed best in some skill drills during the session. All three of the players were fantastic - polite, helpful and a massive inspiration to the lads in the academy. Young footballers get a bad rap at times but these three are a huge credit to the club and themselves. Let’s hope they’re here for many years to come. Up the City!

Ha ha blimey if you think this is the worst team in 40 years you haven’t been paying attention

This is absolutely bloody magical ??? This is absolutely bloody magical ??? This is absolutely bloody magical ???

This really surprises me and would definitely have been at the higher end of what any of our fans would have expected. For me, considering the way we finished last season, I was expecting somewhere around 16th-20th with the hope that we would escape a relegation battle and that we would play some decent football along the way. We’re just about on course to achieve that. We still need another 4 points to guarantee safety though, and the way we’ve played in the last 2 games I’m becoming really concerned that it might be another end to the season like the last one.

The full can of Haze thrown at the corner taker didn’t cover us in glory either. If that actually hit the guy we’d be in all sorts of trouble and he could have actually been injured. The way some of our fans have acted since lockdown has been embarrassing. I’m all for a bit of banter but these things have been going way too far of late and are doing us no credit. If it doesn’t stop, I fear it may not end well.

That was as bad a 45 minutes as I’ve seen all season. Pathetic at the back, second to everything in midfield and no pace or pattern to any of our attacks. Really, really poor. Playing Bell at right back is being exposed for the folly it is. Teenage striker playing at right back n the Championship is struggling…. Who would’ve predicted that?

Cundy looked strong defensively yesterday against a good opponent. He’s a big, strong fella and can more than handle a physical battle. He’s not great on the ball though and smashed the ball aimlessly long on a number of occasions, albeit under pressure. Jury is out for me but I’d be more than happy to have another look at him.

I’m heading up today with my boys and some mates. I went to college in Nottingham so it’ll be good to see some of the old haunts. I’m not confident but you never know…. Up the City!

I feel as positive about watching City as I have for some time. The young players we have emerging are an absolute joy to watch. Scott, Semenyo and Pring in particular have been great and, for the first time in years, it’s great fun watching us play. Is it frustrating at times? Of course it is, that’s what happens when you have a lot of young players and you’re a club in transition. But we are attacking with power and pace and I love watching it. If we can start defending better and keeping some clean sheets, we could really start to climb the table.

I’ve been saying it for a while now - this kid is a real handful. Keep improving like he is and he’ll go to the very top.