Dr Balls

No. That was Lord Lucan (apparently)!

I could hardly believe it. Someone in the BBC must be having a laugh. Jonathan Pearce is it you? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62253649

And some of those games were terrible. Remember the one at the end of the season when we had the chance to relegate them to League 1 and we were just abject. It’s not a new phenomenon - it’s been pretty much the same since Cotts was sacked.

Yep. You could just about put together a half decent team if the best 11 of those were all fit, but then the quality falls off a cliff. You certainly wouldn’t be making any tactical substitutions based on that lot!

Links to the thread on our recent home form. Our fans are so pessimistic at the moment because we have seen so little in the way of performance that might give any hope that the players can stage a comeback. Even the singing section have gone very quiet recently, which says it all really.

We do seem to give away particularly soft/bad goals at home. The Sheffield United winner was soft, and both Stoke goals were poor ones to concede. Defensive frailty has been a real issue for many seasons and a persistent frustration that really needs to be sorted if we are to ever achieve anything other than struggling in the league.

While there is a lot of pessimism among supporters at the moment, part of the reason for that would appear to be our recent dire home form. If you look at the form tables for the last 6 games at home and last 6 away, we have only taken 2 points from a possible 18 at home (drawn 2, lost 4, -5 goal difference) and are 23rd in that table, whereas away we have 9 points from a possible 18 (2 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss, +2 goal difference) and are 12th in that table: https://footystats.org/england/championship/form-table Accepting that those 6 home games include losses against Sheffield United (night time robbery) and an in-form West Brom, it’s really the recent defeat against Stoke that stands out as a particularly bad result, especially as their form otherwise has been pretty poor. So what needs to change? A few wins at home would not only help us up the league table, but also relieve a lot of pressure on Nige. Most supporters only see the team play at Ashton Gate, so this can really colour opinions either way. There was similar discontent in the last couple of seasons under LJ, again in large part because the home form was so poor.

The problem is that going to watch City at Ashton Gate in the past few months would have tested the patience of a saint. And there are very few of those amongst those who attend regularly. We usually come away from games frustrated by the result, bewildered by the team selection and tactics, and more recently disillusioned that any of it is ever going to change. Our form is woeful, the entertainment is minimal, and the response from the manager is unhelpful at best and more often than not downright annoying. And people want us to sing our hearts out for that?! Well when the players, management and owners show that they care as much as the fans and actually demonstrate some effort and desire, then maybe we might show some in return. However play useless, directionless, losing football, don’t expect to get anything other than silence interspersed with booing. It’s all that that deserves!

But surely as first team coach Euell is partly responsible for the current problems on the pitch? Not a ringing endorsement is it?

First thing is to stop conceding. And we struggle to keep a clean sheet in large part because we are playing players at the back who aren’t really defenders. If you don’t concede you don’t lose. You might not always win but at least you still get points, which is something that we are really struggling to do right now.

I agree that things are very bad at the moment and Pearson gives no sign of them getting better any time soon. The problem is that anyone brought in now would still be stuck with the same problems and it would be a huge gamble that they would achieve any more given the FFP restrictions etc. I hate to say it but it’s a “keep” for me and then we just have to see where we are come May. Not what many want to hear but I have feeling that will be SL’s logic as well.

We have defensive coaches? I think that if the exist that they could be prosecuted under the trades description act. There has been no evidence of any defensive coaching all season.

Players with no confidence, a manager becoming ever more belligerent, an owner who has near enough disappeared, and a very unhappy set of supporters. Plus we will be in the relegation zone by the first week of 2023. Happy ****ing New Year!

Bar that most important game (the play off final) and his last, against Brighton in 2004 in Cardiff. One of the worst games ever - and absolutely no entertainment to be had, plus Lita not even on the bench.

Turns out Terry Hall had pancreatic cancer. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64050002 A horrible and cruel disease that takes people very quickly and far too young. And it doesn’t seem related to lifestyle or anything else you can change.

We could go on a good run, but I see no evidence of that right now. The defence has to get better and we need to rediscover our goal scoring touch. Playing players like Weimann out of position doesn’t help our chances either. Bad luck and individual bad decisions have cost us a lot of points already this season, but there is no reason why that should change either. Kalas returning to the back line might help improve things. It would certainly be better than Andy ******* King at centre back!

2036 - Euros, Olympics and World Cup all in one year. I think the IOC might have something to say to Infantile - like “**** off and you can take your under-23 tournament with you!” It’s like he thinks that just by saying it, it will happen. After cosying up to Putin in 2018, it’s sometime hard to work out which one of them is the bigger megalomaniac!!

Just announced that he has died after a brief illness. Only 63… https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64029430 RIP. Remember Ghost Town being Number One with the video playing on Top of the Pops and trying to explain to my 70-year old great aunt what the song was all about. And in many ways things are much worse now than they were then.

Rumour I heard on Saturday, which supposedly has links to Richard Gould, is that Scott is off to Spurs in the summer for £25 million. First part doesn’t surprise me although I would be amazed if we managed to get that much for him.

Firstly Major I am not sure the manager does pay the price. Gets paid off and potentially gets another job. If the club gets relegated it’s actually the owner and the fans who pay the price. How many years did it take for us to make it back to this level in previous attempts? With the exception of the Cotterill interlude, it was a real struggle over many seasons to get promoted out of League 1. As for Atkinson being “too calm” or “too nice”, having a central defender who doesn’t panic has to be better than a hot-headed aggressive player who gives away needless fouls and penalties. If I was Atkinson, I would be fuming that NP chose an ageing journeyman midfielder ahead of me, who turns out to be no good in that position, and rather than feeling like fighting my place, I might quite rightly ask if my career isn’t better served by looking elsewhere. Remember Atkinson was in the League 1 team of the year in 2020/21 so he’s clearly been rated by others. And he is probably one of the few players for whom we might get a decent transfer fee.

Who wins? The Qataris. They own PSG so it’s win-win with Messi and Mbappe, plus despite all the complaints about various rights they have hosted the World Cup. Money talks!!

No it needed someone else in midfield and going to 4 at the back. Hence the complaints about what midfield options were or weren’t on the bench. We need fresh legs there not a mannequin up front.

Was saying the same yesterday to my friend. In rugby, taking someone out in the air is considered dangerous play and a red card offence. In football, certainly at Championship level, it often doesn’t even get given as a foul - unless of course it’s a goalkeeper, who can’t be touched at all it seems. Certainly seems to be double standards and one of the areas where I think the game could do a lot better, safer and more consistent.

So far looks more like pork scratchings than a silk purse!