ashton_fan

Scott's been one of our better players no lack of effort there

Must have been at least 2 taxis for the Peterborough fans

Our fans loved it at the time and I'm sure there was a 'Bristol Butchers' song sung from the terraces

Anyone remember the tie with Hibs during our Anglo-Scottish win in 1977, it always seemed to be a disaster when we played in Scotland: The beautiful game? Swirling winds at Easter Road limited the amount of football on show in the first leg on October 19 1977 and former Morton striker Don Gillies headed the opener for Alan Dicks’ side from a Jimmy Mann cross on 37 minutes. With the wind behind them in the second half Hibs took just 60 seconds to pull level. Ally McLeod’s corner was headed across goal by Higgins and Arthur Duncan rose to bullet a fine header beyond Robins ‘keeper John Shaw. Then things got ugly. Higgins was cautioned for a foul on Trevor Tainton but Gerry Sweeney escaped punishment for similar on Martin Henderson. Gerry Gow then followed Higgins into the book for a rash challenge on McLeod and with just under 20 minutes to go, Norman Hunter was sent off for a crude lunge on McLeod. Former Hibee Peter Cormack was also dismissed after headbutting Des Bremner and when Geoff Merrick felled Higgins in the box with six minutes remaining it looked as though Hibs would win. However, McLeod's penalty was poor and Shaw saved easily. Jackie McNamara then had a lobbed effort cleared off the line but there was still time for Tom Ritchie to come dangerously close to snatching an unlikely win for the English side. 'Bristol Butchers’ Apoplectic Hibs chairman Tom Hart branded the visitors the “Bristol Butchers” and was fully prepared to pay the £2,000 fine for withdrawing from the competition unless the tie was awarded to his club but his Bristol City counterpart Stephen Kew warned the English side would want six times that amount to cover gate money from the second leg plus expenses already incurred in travel and accommodation for the first leg. Hart said: “We would rather pull out than risk injury to our players in Bristol. Hibs cannot afford to have anyone sidelined for weeks at a time, and that must be a possibility judging from the way these players behaved in an away game. "I don’t expect Hibs to be awarded the game in view of the 1-1 score on Wednesday night but in the circumstances we will not be going through with the return match.” Oversized sherry However, the game did go ahead and Hart travelled the 400 miles to watch his side lose 5-3 at Ashton Gate in driving rain. Forty-nine free kicks were awarded – 25 against Hibs – and five players were booked including McLeod and Higgins for the visitors. A Tainton goal, Sweeney penalty, and a strike from teenager Kevin Mabbutt had the hosts 3-1 up at half-time with Henderson on target for Hibs. A McLeod free kick and Henderson’s second levelled scores in the second half before Ritchie and Mabbutt sealed Bristol City’s place in the final. After the match Hart, firmly esconced in the boardroom, issued a statement via a steward admitting that he had perhaps said too much before the game. Every Hibs director was gifted an oversized bottle of Bristol sherry by a local drinks firm and, licking their wounds, Hibs returned to Scotland. City went on to win the cup, beating St Mirren 3-2 in the final.

He was popular because although he made mistakes he could also make incredible saves up there with top level keepers, and if he made a mistake he would immediately get over it, he was mentally very strong. I remember once an opposing player caught a shot from the edge of the box just right and it went like a bullet, he not only saved it but caught it and just carried on as if nothing had happened. He was popular (a bit like Jacki a few years before) as he was capable of doing things worth the entrance money on their own, there are only a few players in a City shirt I can remember like that.

Who's "we" and "us", the fans have never owned the stadium, unless it's a community club the football club & stadium are always owned by someone else, so long as our team plays there surely that's all that matters?

So we've been duped by somebody building us a £70m new stadium who's paid for it all himself at no cost to us? Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!

In the first match against them we were completely outplayed and they were physically stronger so I'm not too optimistic. If we play at our best we're capable of getting a draw which I would be happy with.

I've been watching City since 1970 and the only truly successful manager we've had at 2nd tier (Championship level now) was Alan Dicks, GJ had some fleeting success and LJ was probably next best since we were never in danger of going down and flirted with promotion occasionally. As for all the rest (and there must have been plenty) none of them have ever come anywhere near promotion and several have got us relegated, nearly all have been exclusively battling in the bottom half of the table. It goes to show that as a club we struggle at this level so that must be taken into account when assessing managers. With our current financial issues and taking into account our history at this level then any expectation of promotion is fantasy, we just need someone who can keep us in this league until the budgets have been sorted when we can hopefully push on and have another punt at the top six. This is how NP should be judged, if he can keep us up next season then he should stay, if not then we've got nothing to lose by changing.

I'd give Nige another transfer window, but if no improvement by November/December then we have to look elsewhere. If we have a points deduction (6?) next season then if we do the same as this year we'll be down.

This reminds me of when Lloyd Kelly had a bad patch and was written off by many on here, it happens with young players. Han is unsettled probably because he doesn't know where he's playing next season, likely being pulled one way by the club and the other by his agent.

It must be our first game without Kala's for a while

I would start with James in midfield today in place of Massengo who has looked a bit jaded recently, maybe bring him on for the last half hour from the bench.

Just arrived in his Merc, not part of the squad but looked ok

1. Cheesley at Arsenal 2. Gillies at Leeds (Cup) 3. Gillies at Coventry (Div 1) 4. Fear at Man Utd (Div 2) 5. Tinnion at Liverpool

So you're telling our top scorer he mustn't go up front?

I saw that Blackpool away fixture, they obviously forgot to remove it after the game

In one of those games for Brum was sent off after 10 minutes for a second yellow, maybe that affected his chance of a deal?

I think Nige wants to give Max a chance. He has to sell at least one in the summer who'll get a few millions in and he'd rather sell Bents than Massengo , Scott or Semenyo. Having said that if Bents isn't in the side his transfer value will be going down, we might still get £2-3M for him. Max has all the attributes of a good keeper he just need the mental confidence to come out for balls around the 6-yard box, his distribution is better than Bents but he's got to be a bit braver. Having Klose in front of him might help.

Reading fans seem to think they'll have their best side out for a while following some players returning from injury, and that they've been unfortunate to lose games they've largely dominated in the last few weeks. We must score first if we're going to win this one, in this situation (playing a team on a bad run) City have a habit of giving away a soft goal (eg penalty, own goal, bad backpass) and the opponents suddenly believe in themselves after looking hopeless initially.

There was only any point in sacking LJ if they had someone better lined up, it's the same mistake we've made in the past. Now they're rudderless and destined to slide down the table, I can see Warnock in as a panic appointment.

Having watched Boreham Wood win at Bournemouth, their defence didn't have any holes in it, it was completeley solid and Bournemouth struggled to find a way through until the last 15 minutes when some of their players started tiring and Bournemouth brought on their better players. Our players must have more ability than Boreham's so surely it's just a coaching issue? Also look at Watford, first clean sheet in ages with Roy Hodgson in charge who drills defenders to death in training. Has our defence got worse since Keith Downing left as he used to be our defensive coach? Perhaps we need another defensive coach to get them organised?

Takes me back seeing that stand with pillars in the way! Appreciate the photos, it reminds me of my visit to Blackpool many seasons ago.

I feel for the fans that travelled up there, at least I could just switch Robins TV off they've got 150 odd miles to drive back in miserable conditions

I've only been to Blackpool once, in 1976 during our promotion run-in. We lost 2-1 and I remember that due to a colour clash we ended up wearing tangerine socks borrowed from the home team. Looking at the weather forecast it's meant to be lashing down with rain there and winds gusting to 50mph so will be a bit of a lottery.