cidered abroad

Going back a bit further and Scott and Benarous are reminding me of the way that Gow and Tainton were such a big influence in the 1970's. They'll make mistakes but they will get more right than wrong. And a big thanks to all the others this evening with a special mention for Chris Martin who worked so hard and was still pressing til the end.

Applaud him? What for? He got well paid as an assistant coach. Why is it that so many ordinary coaches believe that they should keep on aiming for the top job and that they will be the next Alec Ferguson? Their ego's tell them that a coach will make a good manager which rarely happens.

I agree with your comments about the latitude shown to NP. LJ certainly, for me, had a licence to fxxx it up every season. But in the past, I consider that Alan Dicks had much more "licence" in his first five years than any City manager in my time. Let's see where we go with NP should we avoid the drop this season.

Do you mean the players in the first match we saw or the earliest debut which is what I put in the previous post. If you mean the players in the first side I saw then here goes. I assume none played before the war. Dennis Roberts, Ivor Guy, Arnie White who all made their league debuts on August 31, 1946-47

Sorry but Atyeo's last league match was against Ipswich on 10 May 1966.

August 18 1951 City v Newport County Peter John Walter Atyeo.

Thank you @TomFfor all you do with this superb forum.

A good first start for Ayman and I am looking forward to seeing him develop in the coming months.

I fully accept that Kalas probably made an error in heading a ball travelling so close to the ground. But, surely a professional keeper at Championship level should not be beaten at his near post with a shot from approx 8 metres?

First half was like a breath of fresh air. Second half, the Blackburn back line pushed up twenty yards and instead of playing balls over the top and making them turn toward their own goal, we tried the route one method from Bentley to Martin. Result is we lost the lead, not because of a Kalas error but by playing the game in our own half. An improvement over recent home games but not yet good enough to keep us away from the bottom end. Good to see Williams, enjoyed Scott and Benarous. COD only played the first half. And Bentley's insistence on long ball to Martin after wasting another minute is really tiresome. Improvement but not enough.

Good sense of humour Joe. Good result the draw.

Yuk!

SL reputedly has £1.5 billion and he has invested approx £150 million in City. That is on tenth of one per cent of his wealth. When I bought £70 of shares in BCFC 1982, that was 99% of my available cash.

1st equal. AD For taking us to the top tier of English football and keeping us there for four years. Terry Cooper for rescuing us from near oblivion and doing it with entertaining and exciting football. 2nd equal. Pat Beasley and Steve Cotterill for winning a league championship in a style of football that City fans appreciate. 3rd equal. Fred Ford, Joe Jordan, John Ward (*) Garry Johnson for gaining promotion from Division 3. (*) detested Ward because I never once heard him refer to us as anything other than "This football club". The rest of them do not count IMO. Most of them were not supported financially by the board / owners. Bottom of the list is Danny Wilson who was well funded, proved elsewhere to be good enough to get us out of Division 3, but allowed the players to be a load of alcoholics, thereby wasting all the support he had from the board.

I've just seen who Bears have signed. Top fly half who will make Bris even better. AJ McGinty.

No transfer fees in Rugby as far as I'm aware. Maybe if a player is still under contract elsewhere, there is a small agreement. But the big difference between Championship and Premiership Rugby. In the rugby, all the Prem clubs have a fixed amount, somewhere about £5.5million that you are allowed to pay the squad. Approx 40/45 players. In addition there are two players, usually the highest paid top internationals, that are not counted for. Thus it £5.5million plus their two salaries. In the Championship we have to not exceed a financial loss of £39million over three years. Includes transfer fees, players wages, and probably things like hotels for away matches, ground maintenance and anything else we spend on except the Academy. It would appear that City are very close to a loss of an amount approaching £39 at end of this season. So unless we can sell one or two, we cannot bring any note in as it would take us over the limit in May or June whis is end of City's financial year. @Redandproud

Thank you for your efforts at City so far. However your own health is paramount to you and your family so give yourself every chance of a full recovery. Regards, Colin.

Sad person. Get a life!

You should stop going to away games to save your sanity!

@spudskiYou are very similar to so many of us. First game at six years and I have always felt at home when surrounded by City fans. I've gone through the highs and a lot more lows without ever considering not going. But the last four years, since the League Cup run and that pathetic defeat to Wolves, have been a downward spiral for my allegiance. The pandemic made me stay away and as yet with such poor performances and now recovering slowly from a waterworks operation, I'm wondering at 78 years if I should bother again. All the money SL has put in yet it's now the biggest shambles I have ever seen. He has lots of money but not a single clue on how to use it football wise. Typical accountant!

Nail on the head. He has invested in real estate but, until Pearson, never invested in top quality football management. NP is the first real football manager since Terry Cooper and Joe Jordan in 1990's. Always the cheap option. Now, even with Pearson, we are doomed because of the way MA and LJ bought very mediocre players for top prices and wages. I've seen seven relegations in my time and the next one in May is an absolute certainty unless Lansdown pulls his finger out of his rectum. I can't see that happening. As for finances, I understand that we, like all clubs, have suffered with Covid. But how much did we get paid for letting the South Stand concourse for Covid vaccinations? A very tidy sum I expect. Where has that been put in the accounts? I'll bet not in Bristol City FC account.

My first match at Bristol City. April 1950 a Third Division (South) against Aldershot. Harry Dolman had just taken over as the Chairman. The first eleven years we finished below Bristol Rovers who operated a "No Buy / No Sell" policy under a very good football manager. I was football mad as a young boy. I also loved cricket and rugby, still do. I dreamt of City being in the FA Cup Final at Wembley and in the First Division. My Welsh father took me to Cardiff City, First Divsion, when we went to see Nana. Promotion in 1955 with a mgnificent City team. HD was not shy with his money but goofed up with Peter Doherty so back to Div 3. Another five years to go up, followed by one year missing promotion to Division One by a gnat's whisker. The AD with several relegation scraps before his youth policy began to work. After 65 years, we got back to where we should be. Harry D by this time was an old tired person and was surrounded by a board of greedy, selfish idiots. Sensible investment in players would have seen us stay there for a long time. Board and others, skimming of thousands of £'s. 36,000 gate for Man U turned out as 27,000 and the same for every home game. Save on the VAT, police numbers at matches and bring in players who were not good enough for Division 3. So there ended my dream of us competing with the big clubs. Back to 2, 3 and 4 in successive years and financial disaster. Since then under achievement year on year with one or two bright spots. Cooper from 4 to 3, Jordan from 3 to 2, Ward from 3 to 2 and straight back down. Johnson from 3 to 2, missed play off and back down again. Cotterill 3 to 2 all interspersed with the occasional "Micky Mouse" Cup. We have won this more than anyone else. WOW! HD built the Dolman Stand - a two tier indoor bowling arena with seats on the roof. And then sold Chris Garland to pay for it! He did put in £55,000 in 1960 after relegation. The various chairmen between 1995 and now put some in, mostly squandered by various managers. Ward, three high price strikers when we needed a centre half. Danny Wilson's boozers. Cotterill wanted to get in two high value, centre half and striker, to improve us, make the most of promotion and the "New Stadium". Agreed, allegedly, and then blocked while he was on holiday. Since then we have been on a money spending spree with LJ and the scumbag who's name I refuse to mention. £65 million is generally accepted as the amount. The first top quality manager, Nigel Pearson, since Cooper and Jordan, yet he is, IMO, doomed to relegation back to Division Three. I have dreamed and dreamed all my life, but old age and the reality of Bristol City is to be where a chairman in the 1990's said " We like being the big fish in the pond(Third league). I's better that little fish in big pond. (Prem or Championship now)". Unless a miracle happens in the January window, I'm sad to say we are doomed to the drop.

We cannot rely on Williams suddenly becoming fit enough to play 90% of the time. Semenyo is still unproven as a striker or provider. James and King are experienced but don't impose themselves on the opposition. I respect Martin's record at this level but every game he plays, his influence diminishes. We are fortunate to be ten points away from the drop zone but it's still too early in the season to rely on that for our safety. Recruitment in January will decide whether we stay up or not.

Before season started, NP announced that he knew Vyner's best position. Because he started at right back, many, including me, assumed that was the position. Could it be that it was actually defensive midfield, sitting in front of a Two or Three? I'm assuming tonight will be 3-5-2 or possibly3-4-3.