Numero Uno

I agree on recruitment. With players coming back we were two players away from being on the right end of a result the last two weeks and those same two players away from having a relatively comfortable mid table season imo. Short term we may have to work on grinding out a couple of results to get us up and running and then take another look at how we get results trying to play in the open way we did yesterday. Atm we just cannot defend well enough to play an open game.

Point 2 all day long...............

I don't know the bloke so have no personal opinion on him. I am fully aware of where he's been and am fully expecting him to improve massively on today (he clearly needs to) but at the end of the day if someone has a crap game the forum is the place to give that opinion. I am well beyond the age where I "love or hate" players tbh......................they are all here on £5-7K per week so can all be treated pretty equally in my book. On that basis Naismith was a far bigger liability than Vyner today..........and no, I don't think Vyner is good enough for this level.

I think we need to bring a couple of players in. We've had a look at our first two games, we can see what's good and what's not so good (being kind) and a couple of better players now would ensure a reasonably comfortable season given it looks like we aren't that shoddy when we have the ball.

Very true (I'm sure you meant opinions!!). My "option" would be to get a centre half with pace on loan and soon as possible. That will help whoever plays there. At the moment every single team that plays us will look to destroy us with pace and that is very easily done with the current personnel back there. But Vyner covered HIM for two errors today.........did you have the blinkers on?

I thought he was dreadful. Vyner bailed him out twice first half. The first goal was his fault and he was nowhere for the second, Vyner's mistake or not. Until defenders actually DEFEND I'm not interested if they shout a lot, point fingers a few times and hit half a dozen nice balls with their left foot. He was part of a back line that could very easily have conceded 5 at home today. That display was well below the standard required.

Exactly. When Naismith needed Zak to get him out of the shit he did so TWICE first half. The first time Zak needed help Naismith was flagging down a taxi in the City Centre or buying a hot dog or something..........we all know that Vyner isn't the answer but after that showing Naismith had better get his finger out of his arse pronto because that display by him was rubbish, no other word for it. Like I say not condemning the bloke but certainly not going to say all our issues lie at the door of Vyner either. Klose was the only player on our side today who actually looked like a defender. What people seem to miss is how can our defensive "structure" be such that Vyner was 1 v 1 with their number 9 in that position in the first place.................when we are ahead in the sodding game? If we were chasing the game you take it on the chin but we were winning at that point.

Oh, I won’t say he won’t improve but he was ******* pony all game today. As bad a defensive display as I’ve ever seen. Shouting, pointing and literally **** ALL else.

If that’s how you describe Vyner today what the **** do you say about Naismith. Played like a pub player.

No, it’s time to use the loan market to strengthen the defensive side of our team. It’s so obvious where the problem is, go and sort it out!!

Who played 90 and we conceded five clear cut chances??? Sorry 80…..

Martins miss? Not a sitter but a well worked chance.

We have enough in our side to win games if we defend well but we seem unable do it. Kalas will make a difference but if it was I’d bring in a defender that can run and a specialist CDM in on loan.

I didn’t think we were shit at all WITH the ball but football is also played without the bastard and that is where we were exceptionally poor today.

Plenty of time to sort it out BUT defensively that was as bad as anything I’ve seen in years.

Did you see the game? I would guess not tbh. My reasoned view on what I saw is we are a pacy defender and decent defensive midfield player away from being competitive. Going forward we looked very decent. However defend like that most weeks and you lose most weeks. It’s that simple.

We all know Vyner is a stop gap but more concerning for me was Naismith didn’t even look that level.

We desperately need some pace at the back otherwise two goal plus per game conceded won’t go away.

To be fair he was the best of a terrible back three first half but then reverted to type. The kid just cannot concentrate at this level. As for Naismith, shouts a lot, claps his hands, points here there and everywhere, nice left peg but he forgot he’s in the side to DEFEND. Obviously we have to give him a few games but his performance was shambolic today.

Obviously but nobody was parting with 30 sheets to watch the ball bounce over your foot.

There’s a simple reason at the highest level why the best possession based teams go backwards to go forwards, it’s because men in teams who see less of the ball have been coached to be shit hot at blocking off passing lanes (hours of boring coaching) and you have to move people out of position. The only other way round it is to play counter attacking football where your main option is to pass it forwards because you are sat deep. When the weaker women’s sides get better coached at doing it their game will evolve exactly the same. Playing forwards with incisive passes for 90 minutes is a lot easier to say than do against fit, disciplined, athletic and strong players. Which is why Man City never bummed us over two legs.

What happens to the girls who reach 18, are past youth football and aren’t good enough for elite football? That’s the area I think needs to improve dramatically if you are talking about a true legacy……in participation anyway.

This is the danger. Lots of rhetoric flying around with no real solutions. If this tournament is not built upon properly properly the game will be a largely elite sport for years to come. The only “solution” the head of the Women’s game has advanced is for Premier League clubs to get involved which, as we all know, means the game will be built from the top down rather than bottom up and controlled by a few based on commercial returns and the grass roots will get trampled all over.

No, it's nothing special at all..............Bristol Boy said so and there's nothing he isn't an expert on. Clearly with the direction of travel the football club has undertaken over the last 3-4 years we should be filling up with a further 10K locked outside, Gas style, and anything less makes us a poorly supported club.

This is spot on tbh. The women need to attract their own regular fanbase to watch their own brand of football. That’s how the numbers will increase from National League attendance levels. Speaking from a personal view I have family and work commitments that allow me to watch BCFC but if you then add in going to BCFC Women’s games it’s just not viable for me and I’m sure many others (the vast majority imo) to commit the time and money to do both. My money, my choice is to watch Mens football. That’s an inconvenient issue that cannot be ignored and the BBC banging a drum won’t change it. The other huge advantage men’s football in this country has is the pyramid system that has built up over a hundred years. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of blokes play at all levels from EPL to barely able to pass a ball 25 yards level on a Saturday and Sunday whereas everything being spoken of womens football is about kids and elite level, nothing in between. That will need sorting out big time, if the interest is there that is, for the game to grow to even 25% of the mens game in the long term. If the powers that be just sit back and EXPECT the game to grow based on a fantastic tournament win for England which we all enjoyed they will be disappointed. Sponsorship, investment and attendance will always be based on demand and interest in the product being put out there ultimately.