DingleRed

Yes

Plenty of players whose right leg was only for standing on .... Brian Drysdale, Terry Cooper, Alan Walsh, Brian Tinnion. Didn't they say of Liam Brady - if you've got a left foot like he has, who needs a right foot to kick with. Funny how right foot only players never seem to stick in the mind.

The academy has turned around over the past few years and starting to repay the investment. I recall BT saying a while back: If you think Bobby, Joe and Kelly are good, wait until you seen the next generation. We've got some very talented kids coming through....

Always a convenient excuse for a new manager saying “these players aren’t fit enough”. And that they are too tired. Until you realise that their 10 outfield players have played a total of 22,034 minutes this season but the opposition had played 22,880. Then the excuse doesn’t wear. Maybe, but then look at the kilometres run as well as minutes on field

Sunderland boss Alex Neil explains the stark choice he faces when selecting his starting XI James Hunter 3 hrs ago LikeComments Alex Neil admits he is between a rock and a hard place having to decide whether to field players who are jaded and need a break, or others who are not yet up to match fitness. The new Sunderland head coach has walked into a storm on Wearside, taking over a side that had won just one of its last seven games and that had slipped way off the automatic promotion pace. And after drawing his first game in charge at AFC Wimbledon and now losing 2-1 against MK Dons in his first home game at the helm, the crisis shows no sign of easing. Go here for all the latest Sunderland AFC news Sunderland have now lost four of their last five games and are seventh in the table - outside the play-off places on goal difference. Neil spoke about the problems with the squad he has inherited after the game at Wimbledon and expanded on the theme following yesterday's defeat against MK Dons. He has young players such as Dan Neil, Dennis Cirkin, Callum Doyle, and Ross Stewart who have been mainstays of the side but are clearly in need of a break, while January additions such as Patrick Roberts, Jack Clarke, Trai Hume, and Jermain Defoe are short of minutes and therefore match practice. "I highlighted it last week and the last thing I want to do is start trying to find excuses and reasons," said Neil. "The difficulty we have got is the fitness levels of some of the players. "A lot of the lads haven't played enough gametime, and the problem I have in the limited amount of games we have left is to decide how much I expose them to minutes, because if they are not ready then they can't show their best and that affects the game in a negative way for us. "We're running out of games, so that side of things is really difficult. "But of course, you want to get as many of them out on the pitch [as you can] because they can make the difference. "There are variables that make that much more challenging. "If it was as straightforward as having everyone on the same level, everyone really fit, they're all ready to go, it's an easy decision, isn't it? I'd just pick who was firing on the day. "Unfortunately, at the moment, we are not at that stage. "There's a group of younger players who are in the team who have been playing all season and they need taking out - 100 percent. "The problem is, what do you choose? "Play people who are under in terms of minutes and who are not quite ready, or those over their minutes and who has been flogged to death and needs taking out? "What do you choose?" There were boos at the full-time whistle as Sunderland's dismal run extended to one win in nine since the turn of the year, and Neil was left trying to pick out what positives he could from another poor performance and worse result. He said: "As a coach, what you have to do is try to take the result and the performance and try to separate them. "We need to improve the performance, and what naturally then happens is that the results improve. "Like the bulk of fans at every club, if you lose then you're cr*p, and if you win then you're alright. "That's quite straightforward and I understand that. "That's why in press conferences I'm running the risk of [saying] 'I thought we did well in the second half', and people saying 'he talks a lot of cr*p'. "That's fine. "What I have to do is try to balance the game and from a structural point of view large parts of the second half were good, but of course we got got done on the transition on the counter." Basically, they're knackered! Exactly why LJ's teams consistently hit the wall at the same point in the season. Didn't we know it.

Apparently not The Robins Matchday Programme is back for 2021/22 | Bristol City (bcfc.co.uk)

So, to go back to my original comment, I would view the SL stewardship over the last 15 years as being successful, particularly when comparing this era to that immediately before. However, the Club's ability to deliver on the vision, strategy, pillars etc to take us to the Promised Land of Riches has clearly been a very expensive failure. My expectation is that this won't change until we see evidence that the leadership of the Club is taking onboard and acting on the knowledge and dare I say wisdom of those who have been there before. As a Club, we lack the DNA, the pedigree to take us forward. Hence the importance of listening and learning from the experience of NP and not make ill-judged off-the-cuff comments as our Chairman is inclined to make from time-to-time. BCFC is a nice friendly club, its owner/chairman doesn't have the ruthlessness required to deliver the dream.

For all the criticism of SL and his family, reflect on the fact that, under their ownership, 13 of the past 15 seasons have been spent in the Championship. In the previous 15 years it was 4. I don't believe we have seen that level of consistency at this level in my 60 years following the club. I guess we could all make better decisions, mostly with hindsight. This consistency has come at a cost but not out of step with many other clubs. If running a club was that easy......

Tommy Hutchinson was also later on staff therefore not an ex at the time

Class of 22 me hopes!

But maybe the most memorable was 20th April 1976 against Portsmouth. Clive Whitehead on 5 minutes took us into the old 1st Division.

No press conference according to Bristol Live

Bit disruptive to sell 10 George Tanners though

Think it might have been 68/69 as they were 1st Div in season before. It was 6-0.

Should be a straightforward team talk. Get out there and put right what you screwed up on Saturday!!

Aston. Only place I've paid a car minder. All of 12 I would think