Midlands Robin

That's way better than my tables @Davefevs, I was just messing around with Excel last week answering my own question. An interesting feature of the last few years is how we seem to have started well but then seen a sharp decline before settling down to a more average level of performance. It would seem to suggest that we are going through the same cycle this year and its despite the manager not so much because of. I think we'd need to see if the high number of injuries within the squad we've seen at various times in the last few seasons occur at more or less the same times.

It's not about assessing Manning although it could be used to contrast the general trend of the team through the season. I think I hoped for it to demonstrate where we are heading and our consistency or lack of. A team chasing automatic promotion needs to average over 2 points a game across a whole season and to make the play offs you'll certainly need to be above 1.8. A team in a releagation fight is going to average 1 point per game or less. GJ spoke of 10 game periods to assess team performance and this chart slices that in two for a little more close up detail. This is are performance across the 2022/23 season and as can be seen, at times we were putting in a run of games at automatic promotion level performances but we had very little conistency. Following our first 14 games of this season, we looked a lot more consistent, picking up points on a regular basis but, at a level that would see us finish in a mid table position (somewhere around 14th). You can see where the injuries start to hit the squad. Since then, our average points per game over the 5 game period has seen us fall away from that. While the performances on the pitch may not look like it, the returns in points are such that if we continued at that rate over the season, we'd be looking at a relegation scrap. Also, it's worth noting that to close the gap on the teams above us, we need to increase our average points per game above theirs. Its not just about what we do. If a team in 8th is averaging 1.5 points per game and we start averaging the same, the gap between us won't close, it will remain the same. To move up the table and hold a top 10 place we need to double our points per game average from it's current level.

I thought it would be interesting to look at a graph of our average points per game over a 5 game period as we progress through the season to see how the performane of the squad rises and falls. The graph shows the points scored in our first game and then the average of the first 2, first 3, first 4 and finally first 5. After that it moves one game forward each time to show a rolling 5 game points per game average. Nige was sacked after game 14 and Liam Manning started from game 16. LM's first full average of 5 games are games 16 to 20. We are currently averaging 0.8 points over the 5 previous games (including todays win) Some key markers to consider in the Championship table: (figures for the seasons as a whole) 1st - Leicester - 2.5 points per game (21 games played) 6th - West Brom - 1.7 points per game (21 games played) 21st - Huddersfield - 1 point per game (22 games played) 24th - Rotherham - 0.6 points per game (22 games played) I will update the table as we go through the season.

That's why they used a bottle of the utterly rank Thatchers Orange.

We are desperate for an out and out striker. Where we get one from in January at a price that won't be bonkers remains to be seen but what we have at the moment isn't good enough. Nahki is 33 and coming back from an injury lay off. Tommy Conway is coming along nicely but needs help up top while the remainder of our foward line are played on the flanks, A simple look at the stats says it all. Our goals against is only bettered by Leicester, Leeds and West Brom. Our Goals For is only better than the bottom 6 teams.

Not sure WTF Vyner was thinking sticking his knee out there.

If you look at final 1979-80 league table, with us relegated, third from bottom, every single team in the top flight then has gone on to play in the Premier league and in almost every case has appeared in at least 1 major cup final with a high percent having gone on to win a major trophy. Wolves had a similar collapse in the 80's following us down through the leagues but have managed to build back up all the way to the top again. The current state of football finance certainly helps those who fall out of the league but it doesn't explain how those clubs who have never played in hte Premier or have been out of it for some time get back up there. We need to get all of our ducks in line to be able to get promoted and 9 times out of 10 we always miss one part of the puzzle. I agree that it's almost certainly a time for a change of owner. I was looking through our paperwork in another thread and hadn't remembered that SL joined our board in 1997. So he's been associated with the club for 26 years. Through most of which he's been the owner. Whenever we have managed to gain promotion from League 1 we've managed to throw away any momentum. Look at the number of clubs who have managed to get out of League 1 and then in a few short years repeat that by gaining promotion to the Prem? We almost did it under GJ but once again, the owners blinked. As soon as you lose that momentum and start to slide back down the Championship table, its harder and harder to climb back up towards promotion again. I don't think its possible not to state we are the biggest club never to have played in the Premier League which smarts especially when you look at the rise of clubs like Luton.

The problem we've got at the moment is that when NP was sacked we weren't broken on the pitch. I mean by that, the team were playing pretty well, they had a plan and they players knew what they were required to do. We were by no means the best side in the division but we'd had narrow losses against the teams who were, had a pretty horrible injury list but remained relatively competitive and everyone could see we were moving in the right direction. Against the backdrop of all of that we've now changed managers. The new man hasn't been brought in to fix an issue but to change a playing style. That's going to be far more difficult and what we're seeing in the short term is a drop off in some areas of our play. Imagine if you've been doing a task for a long while, like driving a certain route to work for example. You start to do it without thinking. Then one day there are road works on your normal route so you've got to follow a diversion. Now you have to think about where you're going. The normal task of driving your car becomes a bit harder because you've got to work out the new route as well as driving so even the basics seem a little more difficult. This is exactly where we are at. LM has come in and is changing things from something that was working relatively well to somethng different (and hopefully better). This transition is going to take longer than it would if there was a clear and obvious problem with the team. Its been a painful few months and I'm so pissed off with those who made this decision at the top of the club but, if LM is the right man for the job, it will get better and she should see faster progress. If LM was the wrong choice then God help us.

In the city there's a thousand things I want to say to you But whenever I approach you, you make me look a fool I wanna say, I wanna tell you About the young ideas But you turn them into fears In the city there's a thousand faces, all shining bright And those golden faces are under twenty-five They wanna say, they gonna tell ya About the young idea You better listen now you've said your bit-a, go! And I know what you're thinking You still think I am crap But you'd better listen, man Because the kids know where it's at

There are a group of people who constantly praise the Lansdowns for constantly pumping cash in to the club (or more accurately in most cases turning debt into shares) like this is some sort of great thing. In one sense it is because it keeps the club afloat but, if you stand back for a moment, this is actually more of a problem. It means that they are not running us well as a business. Any business that generates more and more debt is not being run well. Eventually it's going to go bust or the owners will have to sell it on and cut their losses. We've only really had half a dozen player sales in the last decade that have kept the club out of bigger trouble. The redevelopment of the area surrounding AG will look great but it won't directly help City which is what we all really care about here. The bigger the Bristol Sport monster grows the harder it will be to find a buyer to take on the whole lot. Any bit by bit sale will see BCFC sperated from Ashton Gate and that really will spell huge trouble for the future of the club.

I would because I'm one who still utterly despises the Bears rebranding and can't get over it. Yes, I know everyone's moved on and all that....

Brian Clough's record as a player was great (296 appearences, 267 goals and 2 England Caps) but it was cut short by a knee injury however, his managerial record is well known.

bloody fantastic. I don't know what he's like as a manager but every time the prowed sags sing his name they'll remember a different Matt Taylor.

It's absolutely this. When you add this to the really good point that Fevs made about the quality of the squad, we can see the problem. Who ever came in after NP was always going to have an issue and that was the total bollocks in the comms around NP's sacking. The line about the performance of the squad and where we should be in the table. I know the vast majority of us knew that was a pile of horse crap and I don't expect that St Tinnion of Gurnsey believed it very much either. LM is going to need time as any new manager needs time. Lets look at it again, to begin with after 10 games and then after the January transfer window. I've no doubt he knows where he wants to add to the side, and no doubt his kitty will have more cash in it. Nige has gone, the whole thing was a crock of shit. We know that. Liam is here. He had nothing to do with Nige going. Let's get on with it. Stop pulling the team apart in a way we would never have done 3 months ago and let the bloke find his feet.

Heard cramp wasn't playing tonight as he felt a bit stiff?

Just got back in time to catch the second half. The stream-10 stream keeps dropping out and the other link won't load but from the sounds of it, I'm better off not watching. It was always going to be a difficult away fixture so hopefully we can drag a point out of it and crack on but from the sounds of the comments on here, we'll have to improve to do that.

Set up as we are with a 5-4-1 it's definately been all about keeping United out and picking up what we can afterwards. Agree with the above comment that the gulf in ability between the two sides has looked quite big at times. We've grown in to the game and looked a lot more comfortable on the ball in the last ten minutes but the scoreline is mostly due to a couple of great saves. Two things that are frustrating to see are the lack of width from the two wide midfielders, particularly Threstrup down the left who has missed several opportunities to stretch the United defence. Secondly, the quality of pass has not been great, we seem to give the ball away far to often with a rushed pass or a wild long ball to no where.

Football's a game full of lows and highs And no one knows like City But if we could only have Clarks pies Then life would seem more pretty The pastry is golden and tasty Like Conway in the penalty box The filling is meaty and juicy Like Dickie when he rocks Oh Clarks Pies, you food of the Gods We love your pastry we do we love your pastry we do Oh Clarks Pies we love you.

Thanks a bloody bunch. I sang it at home as the wife was sat next to me on the sofa. She questioned the part about loving nothing above. "Not me? Not the kids? Not the dog? Nothing?" I tried to talk my way out of it but we ended up having an argument. Now I'm sitting in the freezing cold, typing this into my phone while the dog runs around the park. I'm working out if I will I end up sleeping on the sofa tonight. Please think of married people when you write these lyrics. How about: Bristol City Its a significant part of our life, Its the club that we love, Alongside our wives, partners, children, pets, family and a whole range of other things. City ole City ole,

TGH man of the match by a mile today. The first third of the game was dull with all that midfield tippy tappy stuff but you can't argue that the last two thirds weren't entertaininig. A good three points. Do we have lift off ??

about 5 mins of extra time left.

In, because it is what it is but unfortunately for him, Captain Crayola has set him up with the statement that this team is ready for promotion this season. So, go on then Gaffer, prove the prodigal son correct and lead us unto the promised land. If the score remains the same, it wil be a solid win today. Definately something to buid on. Fingers crossed.

Cracking finish from an angle that was as tight as a ducks chuff. Lovely goal.

bugger that. It would be 2-6 by the time I got back

Just got back from walking the dog. Left at 2-0, return at 2-2. FFS