Dr Balls

Heard Joe Royle interviewed on Radio 4 this morning, when he mentioned about playing for us with Norman Hunter and how Norman described that incident with Frannie Lee, particularly as he had played with both of them. Apparently after they went off the pitch, Frannie was banging on the Leeds changing room door for Norman to come out and for them to finish it off properly!

Really hope that last paragraph doesjt turn out to be correct. He came, he spent an absolute fortune, and other than a run to a League Cup semi-final achieved nothing else, despite being backed more than any previous or subsequent manager.

Unlike the fans, I don’t think SL really wants promotion any more. Or certainly not at the cost that it’s likely to involve. Let’s be honest, football’s not really his game and he’s not that worried about achieving success as long as he’s not having to shell out enormous amounts. He’s got the ground and will soon have the rest of the “Sports Quarter”, which will be his legacy. I believe that the bricks, mortar and money still interest him more than football, especially since FFP and parachute payments really skewed promotion towards those who had been relegated from the Premier League. So I expect us to keep selling our best players and getting no closer to promotion for the foreseeable future, unless a new owner comes in.

Still better than Nakhi’s in the first half that nearly cleared the Atyeo. There were people around me shouting “don’t shoot” the next he got the ball after that “effort”!

Liverpool VAR: “Gis’ a job. I could do dat!”

It looked a penalty at the time from the other end of the Lansdown, on the basis that the Stoke player was nowhere near the ball and flattened Sykes inside the penalty area. The ref was directly behind Sykes so should have seen it and as for the person dressed as an “assistant referee” in front of the Dolman, he was useless pretty much the whole game, so no chance he was going to flag for it. It would be interesting to see how the penalty count changed with VAR in the Premier League, because at this level, the decisions are often baffling and don’t seem to stand up to even the briefest analysis.

Agree that Cornick is far better through the middle. Not sure that he still carries a huge goal threat but he certainly creates chances. And as gangly and awkward as he appears most of the time, the ball so often seems to stick to him. He must be a bit of a nightmare to defend against. Whether he could play in a pair with Conway is something to consider for the rest of the season.

The common thread of all 3 goals yesterday is that they came down their right side and our left. Does that suggest we have an issue there? Yes because Pring was often left isolated against Leris, who was probably Stoke’s best player on the day, either by Bell not tracking back or not getting support from Naismith. I don’t think Naismith is completely hopeless defensively but he is caught out too often in a centre back pairing and is more suited to being one of a trio of central defenders or better still playing as a sweeper just in front of a pair of proper centre backs. Whether Naismith could play that role with James as a defensive midfield pairing, leaving Knight as the forward running midfielder, is something to consider. What we would lose is the hustling of Williams but it might be worth a try.

And no wonder Jason Knight just walked straight down the tunnel. My MOTM, he was absolutely everywhere, and looked to be fuming at the final whistle.

I hate Alex Neil. And he has flipping hex over us whoever he is managing! Plus his sides are always the same muscular sh!thousery…

In terms of “what ifs” for certain players thought likely to have a huge future, this story always comes to mind to show how cruel fate can be at times. https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2011/jul/20/im-not-really-here-paul-lake-review

Tbh I would rather see Bobby Reid up against Adam Webster…

Just need to be careful as it starts on the Cumberland system. You are ok if you go straight underneath from Clanage Road (A369) underneath to Winterstoke Road (A3029). https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/streets-travel/bristols-caz/view-a-map

Even just announced on Points West!

We are clearly short of goals without Conway and to a lesser extent Weimann. To lose one would be unfortunate but to have both out injured was always going to make it difficult for us to score many goals. We also have a midfield that doesn’t score many (and didn’t either when Scott was here) so that means we are really struggling. Where we have generally improved appears to be defensively both at the back and in midfield. Despite our low scoring rate we haven’t conceded many either and yesterday was at least a clean sheet. If you don’t let the opposition score you are at least guaranteed a point. Of course, that thought of an improved defence is going to be put to the test at Leicester next weekend…

That season in League 1 under SO’D there was only one thing that kept me coming back each home game and that was JET. Worth the ticket price alone, and so many games before Christmas 2013 where he saved us with a goal out of nothing. Yes he could seem “lazy” at times but he was carrying that team until Cotterill arrived. And then Baldock suddenly found his scoring touch after Christmas and got 20 goals in the rest of the season. Met JET. at work when he did a Christmas visit to the hospital in 2013, along with some of the youngsters including Bobby Reid. Really nice guy, and really not built like a footballer, but more a back row rugby player, whereas on the pitch he had the footwork of a professional dancer. What’s amazing is that JET didn’t really make it a higher level because he had so much talent, and back in 2013 I don’t think anyone would have guessed that of all those there that day that Bobby was the one who would become a Premier League regular.

My take is that SL is not getting any younger, and that despite the amounts he has put into the club, we are no nearer to becoming a Premier League team than we were 15 years ago, and in some ways, further away. We have seen spending turned on and off, with in some cases dire effects, but actually my impression is that SL’s interest in Bristol City has waned and there are other projects beyond Bristol Sport in which he is far more interested. On that basis, it does look like the football club at least is being set up for a sale. I am less clear that he would want to sell Ashton Gate and the rest of the “Sporting Quarter”, assuming that’s built, as property is much less likely to lose its value, plus it can still bring in a considerable income, whereas the men’s football team particularly is a constant drain on resources. There is the element of be careful what you wish for in terms of new owners, but most football fans have only a limited moral compass when it comes to the funding of their team (how many Geordies really care about the Saudi human rights record or Chelsea fans that Abrahamovic was a close mate of Putin’s) as long as the money is coming in and the team is successful. You would suggest that compared to some English clubs we should be an attractive option - big city, no nearby PL teams, decent stadium, but it does somewhat depend on the financial state of the club, which fits with a newly tightened wage structure and no new big purchases over the summer despite 2 relative big sales in the last 9 months to bump up the reserves or SL walking away with less of a loss.

Considering that 3 of the 5 teams we have played so far are currently in the top 6, that we are 8th, and we have only one League loss and there are only 2 unbeaten teams in the league (our first 2 home opponents) there is room for some optimism. However the home form is poor and frustrating, plus the squad is small and pretty thin, so agree that a couple more injuries in crucial positions and we could be in trouble.

Of course, the whole point of the Champions League was to reinforce the positions of the self-described “biggest clubs in Europe”, and reduce the chances of upstart teams like Forest or PSV winning the biggest club competition in Europe. Look at the lack of variety in which teams have won the Champions League versus which ones won the European Cup. Can you also imagine teams from Scotland, Greece, Sweden or Belgium reaching the final of the Champions League? No neither can I. In fact the way it’s set up now, the champions of those countries might not even make the main group stages let alone reach the knockout phase or final. As with so many other areas of business so as with football; at the top end of supposed free market capitalism it tends more towards successful monopolies rather than healthy competition - Manchester City aiming to win their 6th Premier League title in 7 years, Bayern Munich winning the Bundesliga 11 years in a row…

Not sure the first one is a fairytale but given the nature of football these days, it’s the most unlikely to be repeated, even if I understood it was all born within 30 miles of Parkhead rather than 10.

Well don’t expect any comment on ithe subject of transfers from our owner or CEO. Quieter than Trappist monks!

All the money will be in a “nest egg” for whoever replaces Nige, so that they can splash the cash next summer. Isn’t that the majority OTIB opinion?

“They will be dancing in the streets of Boscombe tonight”!

If the club came out and said that although Scott was sold for £20 million, we will only see £10 million this year: 1. It would be more honest and fans would know the real situation, rather than thinking we suddenly have £20-25 million to play with in the transfer market straightaway. 2. Fans would also have been a lot less happy about Scott going if we only get £10 million in return this season, given that keeping him could have got us much closer to promotion, and a much bigger pay day, and a much bigger sale. As for our “invisible” CEO, my understanding was that he was brought in on the basis of his experience at Crystal Palace, particularly navigating the change of ownership of the club during its sale back in the 2010s. Read in to that whatever you like about SL’s intentions.

Agreed. Nige was tasked of making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear - cut wages, sell players for a profit, bring on academy prospects, boost the team, and improve our league position at the very least (and avoid relegation when first appointed), if not even getting promotion to the Premier League. Of the things that he can control, he has achieved all of those, plus he has each year improved our league position, despite the contradictions inherent in the various tasks (I.e. boasting the team while cutting wages and selling players at a profit). We are again a solid and established Championship club for whom relegation is unlikely rather than a constant threat. And that has been achieved without the Ashton technique of spending money like water, or the Johnson “clubs in the bag” approach. However, we do have a problem playing counter-attacking football at pace against teams who sit back and let us keep possession. Our midfield without Scott is built on players who provide cover, sit in and tackle, rather than have much in the way of creativity. I am sure Nige appreciates that but unearthing the next Scott or Maddison is far easier said than done, especially when the budget you are being given would make the average Aldi shopper baulk at what you could really get for the money. Scouring Leagues 1 and 2 and Scotland for top Championship level talent at bargain prices or even no fee at all is extremely difficult, and doesn’t always come off e.g. Kane Wilson. Remember after the first 2 games last season, we had more goals but no points. And we can only hope for a better refereeing performance against Hull tonight than what we suffered last season.