cidered abroad

Nobody is relegated or promoted as early as first of December. Ask Swindle fans!

You miserable person. The sharing of OUR STADIUM means that we benefit from costs that are shared with the Bears can reduce the losses we make and help to keep us out of trouble with FFP. The Bears rarely ask us to change match day. This one is for a televised local derby with Gloucester and with the fan numbers coming from just up the road will add some more to Bears and City income. I'll be there for both games and hope to see two wins for Bristol.

Yes and Jimmy Dickinson captain of Portsmouth. Don't know who the one to right of Atyeo is.

In fact Mourhino hardly played at all. His father was a goalkeeper at Setubal. Mourhino got into football management via a job as a translator with Bobby Robson when he went to Sporting Lisboa. From there to management over a few years when he won Champions League with O Porto.

Don't kid yourself. Just remember that City were 8th in the First Division in October 1979 and still got relegated at end of April. Once a team starts sliding down it's more difficult to escape than an Olympic ice run.

I haven't read any of the previous pages, only this one. We looked ok in the first half and created some decent chances. But we rely on one player to score and if he's out of sorts, we end the game on NIL. I thought Southampton looked like a typical bottom end of Premier League table. Play keep ball very well but didn't create the chances as we did. They may go back up but I think not unless Ipswich implode. I notice that all of our matches against the three Prem sides, have been away. Big advantage for them? All three lost by a single goal and in none of them were we totally outplayed. I wonder what the scores would have been if we had all three at home instead of away? Am I cynical that we had three away games and none at home yet. Relegated Prem sides are always at their most vulnerable in the early season. PS. What about the handball by a Soton defender? Did Stroud chicken out of the right decision?

it died with a coiple of minutes to play. Typical!!!

And next season after their promotion, we played them away quite early in the season. First time that I saw any behavioural of anger during and after from quite a few of them as we beat them, If I remember correctly it was their first home defeat for three or four seasons as we won 4-3. Bobby Shadow, Etheridge and Gordon Low scored. Typical City, we lost at home the next week to the Welsh giants, Newport County.

For several years I believe that we have tried to introduce young Academians at an earlier stage than many other clubs. If that is true, it can get the youngsters more experience playing with and against those who could be several years older, thus getting them to progress quicker both in footballing talent and their mental growth. On the other hand, it can mean we get walloped by more experienced sides.

His job is to clean the kit and also lots of other things that are invaluable to the club. One of his most important functions and it's not written down anywhere, is to help to keep all the playing staff in a positive frame of mind. Any job for any type of company is a miserable place to work when there isn't a constant level of humour involving everyone. That makes him priceless as confidence and positive outlooks are so necessary in a football club. Lose the humour and you lose team spirit. So I say that Murray is the latest in a long line of very good kit people at City.

The first time I saw Terry Venables play was at Ashton Gate for Chelsea under 18's in an FA Youth cup semi-final. The City had a forward line of Lou Peters, Brian Clark, Terry Bush, Adrian Williams and Jantzen Derrick. Chelsea had Bonetti in goal, Alan Harris, Terry Venables, Murray and Bobby Tambling all of whom had long and successful careers. In the early 1990's I went to a sports lunch somewhere near Stoke and Venables was the guest speaker. I always remember this part of the chat. When TB was manager, or head coach, at Barcelona. Lineker and Mark Hughes were in their squad. Terry said that he used the "F" word frequently while coaching - like about every other word. Spain played an international friendly against England at the Camp Nou and Lineker scored all four in a superb win 4-0. After the match Venables is talking to someone in the area outside the dressing rooms. The Spanish and Barca goalkeeper Zubizarreta, came out and walked by Terry who said to him "Alright Zubi?" The response was "Fxxxxxg hell !", smiled Zubi and went home.

WE DO NOT RENT ASHTON GATE FOOTBALL GROUND! The only employees of Bristol City Football Club are players and coaches. Probably not the Tea Lady/Man. Possibly the medical staff? Thus we have to pay our share of the stadium use for all those formerly paid by City and now employed by and paid by Bristol Sport, and most of that is an exemption (I guess) of spending and not counted for FFP. @mason

Good post @Southport Red The game has changed so much in my 74 watching years. The change from all the time spent by both sides in each others penalty areas to back fours playing keep all is really annoying. However all the developments in tactics are based on coaches trying to minimise goals against and increase goals for. Boring going from a throw in near opponents corner flag to our keeper is the way it is. We either get used to it or sit at home watching crap TV. I may not like it but I'll keep on going until they screw the lid down. COYREDS

Let's give Liam Manning a chance to bed himself in at City. Some 56 years ago Harry Dolman employed a real novice, Alan Dicks, as club manager. Ask any City supporter of any age, who was the most successful City manager since 1945. Answer from well over 95%, would be AD. Then ask those of us who are still breathing, their opinion of him at the start of season 1970-71. Probably a large percentage would have said "Sack him"! I know that life was a bit slower back then and now everything must happen at the speed of sound. I didn't want Pearson to leave but that's yesterday. LM deserves at least a couple of months before we start showing our dissatisfaction.

Manning is the new head coach on the block. So why would anyone expect him to be anything but cautious about any questions or comments. I liked his predecessor but he hardly rushed into any answers until the last few weeks of his time here. Manning will be cautious until he's been here some time. Even though the Lansdown's employed him, he will not want to upset them. And even above them his prime objective at present is to win the trust and confidence of the players. Honest opinions may be exchanged in the in the privacy of the training centre but to make damaging comments in public are not on.

A very sad indictment of how referees are treated by so many players and supporters. It's a wonder that there are any willing to referee matches at any level.

Well I never! My mother always went to the Co-op on Castle Street which looked very lonely as only four buildings left after Uncle Adolf's bombers had visited. Where I had my first football boots and every scrap of clothing. I still use her Co-op membership number as one of my codes for use in a world where we all need endless pin numbers etc.

What about the start of the climb back? Chester City to go up from Div 4.

A very proud day for Sam, Mickey his father, his mother, City fans everywhere. That is two City youngsters who have played at England under 20 level. Plus those who have been selected for Wales, Scotland and Ireland. I know that the outlook for our club is not all bright and sunny at this moment but there are so many things that remind me of a time just over fifty years ago. Quality youth in abundance and a young manager / coach who servedserved their apprenticeships with quality seniors teaching them.

I'm the same as you at 80. I had a great father who spent his earnings on his two children rather than going to the pub every night. So my first away match was an FA Cup at St Andrews in 1951. We lost 2-0 and from then to now they rate as the club I most dislike as we hardly ever beat them. Keep the faith @CliftonCliff

Thanks a million, Mr. Manning.

Your reference to have only our Academy boys in the first team. Thoroughly agree and while not trying to be critical of AD, he had so many that were very young when they started at City. Apart from Hunter, Royle and Cormack, the core of the team stayed together for five/six years. I believe that this was one of the reasons we slipped from 8th in the First in October 1979 to relegation by April. They were stale without fresh quality input. I consider the ideal is for the squad to change each summer with a couple of Academy graduates and two from elsewhere. Not drastic changes to the team plan but enough (15 to 20%) to keep it fresh.

Sorry, missed that one or cannot remember it. Senility creeping in?

All of you that have done so many grounds are true football fans. Although that doesn't lessen those who for various valid reasons have only been to a few. I'd still walk across a road to see kids playing on the other side.

The format of three strikers playing up front but spread across the total width is almost going back to the 2-3-5 that was played before Alf Ramsey changed it to 4-4-2. Of the front five, the two wingers hugged the touchline and the centre forward generally stayed in the middle. At the back it was two full backs with a centre half so in effect the 2-3-5 actually was 3-4-3 with wing halves and inside forwards filling the middle between defence and attack. Similar to what Pearson played but without the four midfielders attempting to swamp the opponents defence - usually one or at most two. So how can a striker like Conway get his goals with only crosses from wingers to him alone. I dread to think how many less that Big John would never have scored. We shouldn't throw caution to the wind but we have to be much more positive in our attacking to win games. And try going through the middle a bit more.