LondonBristolian

I'm not so sure from Pearson's comments that he is on the discard pile. I wondered if he had been but Pearson's comments seem to be far more saying "look, you know you're not in form and you're making mistakes but you've got to push through it. We rate you and want you to succeed here but you've got to do some of the work yourself".

I did some training in Grimsby over the summer and I liked it a bit more than I expected, although my expectations were admittedly low. Having had to stay in both Grimsby and Milton Keynes for work this year, I preferred Grimsby by a country mile...

Damnit. I'm firing my agent!

True but that 'someone' was linked with Liverpool and sold to a Premier League team at the end of the season, has captained his club at the age of 22 and is currently a key player with a team who are running away with the division. I don't think there's any shame in being kept out the team by someone who may well prove to be the best player we've produced in the past two decades.

If that’s what you’ve seen that’s what you’ve seen. I think he did well on loan and was one of a number of players who were great during that extended winning streak. He obviously got injured very soon after joining us permanently and hasn’t been the same since but I remember games where we played poorly during LJ’s last season where Dasilva was one of our few bright points. Home to Barnsley in 2020 is one that sticks in the mind. I don’t agree he was average during his loan spell but am not going to try and prove your opinion wrong.

So glad I now know this. I've now signed a new contract until July 2027!

I think Dasilva is a very good player and has proven that in the past. However a) his injury may have had an impact and b) it's pretty clear he is not the correct full back for how Pearson wants to play. My impression is that - for better or worse - Pearson prefer his full-backs to be defenders first and foremost and any attacking they do is a bonus. That's not Dasilva's game. He's far better suited to a team where the full back is primarily there to overlap and create attacking width with others helping cover the defensive duties in his absence. I don't think Dasilva deserves any flak for that but, if he's not what the manager wants, it makes sense for everyone to move him on.

Read the thread title and thought "Blimey. He's a bit low profile to be photographed for the magazine..."

It’s much better experience if you leave at half time. I really like the set up of it but - without spoilers - it goes a much less interesting way than it initially promises and the ending is a bit much.

I guess it means Semenyo goes right and Wells goes up top.

Just want to add to this that Benarous is either a Premier League star in the making or has zero chance of ever making the grade here, depending upon today.

Dasilva is the only one of those I can see us getting more than a nominal fee for in the current climate. I could see us even having to pay some of Wells or Palmer’s wages after a loan or transfer to make it worth the other club’s while…

Whilst I am not quite a down on the players as you are, I do get this sentiment. The one thing that gives me (possibly false) comfort is around 8 of the worst Bristol City team I can remember in the first half of 2013/2014 played a role in the best football I can remember City playing in 2014/2015. We feel a long way from that sort of turnaround right now though.

I agree. I think defensive midfield will ultimately be Vyner’s best position but I don’t reckon he is the long term picture here. I think he may do alright elsewhere though.

Two points. Firstly Hamraoui was the person who was attacked not the person accused of the attack. Secondly, right now, we don’t know who orchestrated the attack on her as nobody has been charged, let alone tried.

The problem for me is that I think we have 14 or 15 very decent Championship quality players but I don’t think it is easy to shape a coherent team out of them. I don’t think we have a great striker pairing which ever combo we go for and - whilst it might be a combination of Williams, James and Massengo could deliver in midfield - that is very much an untested hypothesis given that they are never all fit at the same time…

On a tangenital note, here is a BBC article about Conte at Spurs. Nothing to do with us but the last paragraph really really resonates: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59348031

I think it is a bit unfair to speculatively name players as we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. I also think it may be a misnomer to pick out who is not playing and assume it must be them. It could as easily be that players we are having to rely on week in and week out are not showing the leadership needed from senior players. Like anyone I’ve got five or six names in my head I think it could be but we will learn in January or beyond if we are right or wrong. One thing I would say is Wells’ name seems to be coming up a bit but, whilst I do not think he suits how we play or we suit how he plays, I don’t feel his application has been a major issue when he has been selected.

I don't think it's an epiphany we need but a balanced side. The return of Massengo, Williams and Semenyo moves us towards that, although James' absence is a bit of a worry. I don't think we're about to suddenly become the best team in the division but I do think our best eleven is good enough to scrape enough points here and there to move us toward mid-table.

Thank Christ. If Kalas is out and Atkinson or Baker missing, we might need him in central defence...

I agree with all that but, nonetheless, there are way easier ways to make more money than a twenty year-plus long game in football. I think you are right that he is doing nothing for free and will come out in profit but, even so, the the flats, houses and land all feel like ways to make the business of owning a football club profitable rather than his ultimate motive for owning a football club at all...

I think this is a very underrated point. Bottom line is Lansdown's never invested in the club to make money so what he wants out of it must be something else. My guess is local kudos from developing sport in Bristol plus the enjoyment of doing something "fun" with the money he has made. If he gets as much criticism as kudos and the club isn't much fun to run at the moment, I'm sure there's a point where he would step away. Going back to @Kid in the Riot's opening post, I think he is right that the appetite is no longer there to take us further. I think from our point of view, it puts us in an interesting situation. There is no doubt that other owners - such as Tony Bloom or Matthew Benham - have achieved more than Lansdown has with clubs that started at similar or worse points. However there are also the examples of new owners running clubs into the ground. A sale would end the sense of stagnation and treading water around the club but there are two directions we could go from there. It reminds me of when we sacked Lee Johnson. Essentially we gave up a guarantee of mildly underachieving in the top half of the table. That might get us somewhere worse or might get us somewhere better and it is uncertain where the cards will ultimately fall.

Do we know how Baker's recovery is going and whether Atkison is fit? An Atkinson-Baker pairing isn't that much of a downgrade on Kalas and Atkinson in my view. But I think, if we are missing two of those three, that's where we start to look pretty vulnerable.

I'm certainly not mocking the thread title. The EFL sat in their hands for years whilst everyone knew Derby were spending recklessly. I'm glad this action has finally been taken but the thread title certainly made sense at the time and, as @supercidered says above, it's a real shame this came too late for Wycombe. And too late for the man actually responsible for the mess Derby are in to still be at the helm...

In fairness, it is now really hard to accuse the football league of being too lenient with Derby...