Dr Balls

Given his inexperience at this level, I thought he looked alright. And he certainly has the physical presence. And I would agree with @GrahamCthat it will be Moore and Vyner who will be dispensed with and Baker probably needs to retire on health grounds. Which if Cundy and Klose stay leaves us with 4 centre backs.

If you want to see positives both of our goals today made the Sky Sports highlights clip for goals of the weekend (only team to get 2 included…) : https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12570886/efl-goals-of-the-weekend

@Pippintoggthis has to be the thread for you?! Something is definitely amiss when we switch off defensively once the added time board is raised…

I was just pleased to see Blyth Spartans for Northumberland. That’s a proper club if ever there was! Obviously most people up there support “Saudi AFC”, sorry Newcastle United, who are the flip side of that observation.

The lack of loans is a big question. I know we want to develop our own Academy talent, but many of them are not ready for this level of football, and one or two loans in January could have shored up a few problem areas, particularly right full back. Other clubs seem to benefit hugely from loans so why don’t we?

Absolutely this. All of our attacking in the first half, bar the last 5 minutes, came down the left with Klose, Dasilva and Scott. Given how easily Bell was robbed of the ball then it would seem that Kalas was absolutely right to be cautious about passing to him. The kid clearly isn’t a defender, and lacks the strength to play at this level. Compare him to Scott who is a similar age, or Dasilva, who is considerably shorter, as the other full back and that lack of strength on the ball or in the tackle becomes really evident.

The problem wasn’t the lack of cover from the centre back, it was the lack of cover from midfield. If we were supposed to be playing a diamond, with Weimann at the top of it, it just didn’t work. It just left a big hole in midfield that Williams had to cover, leaving Bell uncovered. Dasilva and Scott linked up well on the left, but most of the time James was playing BEHIND the central defenders. By definition that can’t be the midfield!!

Well if we aren’t any better, relegation looms large. We can’t be dependent on other teams getting points deductions to keep us up!

Sorry meant Tuesday week against Barnsley. I had already written off the game against Blackburn!

I do partly blame Pearson. Playing Sam Bell as a right back, irrespective of who was or wasn’t in front of him to provide support, was the wrong selection. Pring can clearly play as a full back as can Dasilva, so why pick a teenager who isn’t a defender against a Man Utd loanee who is going to expose all his deficiencies in that position? As for Matty James, I would be happy if I never see him in a City shirt again. He was truly woeful today. Massengo might always have a mistake in him, but at least he can run and play a ball forward. The only players who came out of today with any credit were the ones who set up and scored our goal, I.e. Dasilva and Scott. Most of the others had game to forget. Huge game on Tuesday and if Pearson doesn’t get a reaction after that (lack of) performance, then there are big questions to ask about him as much as there are about the players.

Louis has been sent to the “Naughty North” of Ireland rather than making it in the “Sexy South” west. Who knows it could be the making of him. Plus it’s clear that Nige “got the mouth”.

Remember having a friend from Finland, who is an ice hockey agent, come with me once to Ashton Gate to see us play in that 2012 season. He knew nothing about City, but he did quickly spot that our only decent player was Albert!

Well the camera never lies @Davefevs. Unless of course it’s a dodgy VAR penalty decision for or against one of the Premier League big boys…

Implying that the EFL is “The Land of Make Believe”? Seems a better description of the Premier League tbh!

I know times are tough financially but is that what the Man of the Match award has been reduced to, a can of Thatchers Gold?!

I agree that this isn’t “we must have Pack back” but if he were available on a free and depending on who else was available within our (not likely to be very big) budget this summer, a midfielder with 7 seasons experience at this level, who rarely seems to get injured, who also lives locally and obviously still likes the club, would at least be worth a look. I also think that his manner and professionalism would suit Pearson’s person requirements but it’s really up to Nige as to who he wants and why.

Yes we should be considering ourselves mid table and looking upwards rather than fearing being caught by those below us. And the home form since Barnsley is pretty impressive if you consider it averages 2 points per game and both losses were to teams on form and in the top 6 (Huddersfield and QPR) plus the latter of those was a gift to the opposition from the referee. We have also found an attacking edge that has been missing for a long time. The concern is 2-fold but linked. Our away form has fallen off a cliff and we can’t keep a clean sheet. Until we achieve the latter, we are going to struggle to get anything much from away games. Playing 3-5-2 with 3 in central midfield with Semenyo and Weimann starting up front would make us more solid and less likely to concede, plus have pace on the break. The real issue now is do we have 3 fit central midfielders and what happens to 3 at the back if one of Kalas, Pring or Vyner now gets injured? The options are looking very thin.

Maybe Max should have woken up and saved it before he had a “go go”?!

To be fair to Max, it wasn’t great defending, and many goalkeepers like to share the blame for conceding a goal where they can I.e. the opposition player should never have been allowed that shot or header in the first place!

As much as there are the questions of who is better with their feet and their distribution, I think that this is the real issue. If Max can do an adequate job, we can afford to sell Bentley and save on wages as well. Just like the first goal for Millwall was partly because Max was in two minds about coming for a cross, the second Cardiff goal was one that he seemed to realise too late was actually going in. So I think we have to accept he is still learning at this level and looks like he might concede more easily than Bentley. However Bentley as well as making some worldie saves this season that have been as good as scoring a goal, has also dropped the odd clanger from which we have conceded. I can see the sense in giving Max a run right now because he is either good enough now or in all likelihood he is never going to be good enough for this level. Time will tell but I wouldn’t blame him for conceding 6 against a Fulham side with Mitrovic and Wilson.

There are definitely a few on here with short memories when it comes to Pack. Our midfield struggled from the time he was sold and even this season, I can see how a player like Pack who is willing to cover as a defensive midfielder and bring the ball out from the back would suit how Pearson wants to play. Given that our current more experienced midfielders (James, King, Williams) all seem particularly injury prone, bringing back Pack when he is out of contract this summer would not be the worst idea ever. And I absolutely think he would meet Nige’s requirements in terms of effort and professionalism. Plus for family reasons, still living locally, it would certainly suit Marlon. Finally it’s clear that he still has fond memories of his time with us. Anybody else spot that he gave our fans a long clap to the Dolman, South and Lansdown stands, before he gave a much shorter one to the Atyeo , by which time most of them had already left? Says it all really!

3 points from 3 away games is about what you might normally expect, but I sense that despite our injury issues, the team’s confidence is on the up. You only have to look at our attacking intent with Semenyo, Martin and Weimann. None of these away games are particularly happy hunting grounds for us, but I think we have finally broken the voodoo that Preston had over us for so many years. Luton will be probably the toughest game, and it would be good to right the wrong of that last minute equaliser from Blackpool on the first day of the season. So I am going for draws against Luton and Preston, plus a win against Blackpool, so a total of 5 points from 3 games. The really important game is the one after these against Reading at home, which we definitely need to win to put a clear space between ourselves in mid table and the teams in the relegation scrap.

Scrum caps are not really for protecting your head (because they don’t do much) but rather preventing the old “cauliflower ear”. It’s a better alternative than what we used to use, which was electrical tape around your head, taping your ears tightly to the side of your head to keep them out of harms way. And this was the era (in the 70s and 80s) when a boot to the head was a lot more common because of the rucking laws, which allowed players to “rake out” the ball with their feet from within a pile of bodies, plus scrums were much more a free-for-all.

This is very true. Having seen the same young female rugby player twice in a matter of weeks in ED because of injuries to her head, I told her parents that she may be very good at other elements of the game and “brave” but she needed to stop playing games competitively until she could learn to tackle properly. It’s similar with Baker. There is no amount of headgear that will help if you keep putting your head in the wrong places at the wrong time, “brave” or not. I love his at times “do or die” “take no prisoners” attitude, but it does come with consequences in terms of increased risk of self-injury. Rugby for all its faults has actually taken on board the risks of head injury a lot more than most other sports, particularly football. And helmets are not the answer as shown from American Football, where it just leads to even more reckless challenges and as many if not more head injuries. But you could say that’s just the American way anyway!

Just checked which other teams are in National League North with Gloucester and amazed that there are 9 clubs who in one form or another have been in the league, including the likes of York and Chester. By comparison, in National League South it’s only Maidstone who have ever been in the Football League, (and even then it was a brief visit) so you can see how the balance of power in football has shifted over the last few years at these somewhat lower levels. Plus the fact that when dividing the country in two, only the Cornish might consider Gloucester and Hereford as “The North”!