daored

23 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

I'd like to see a team selected to really go for it, but doubt LJ will do this. I expect to see a holding midfielder as well as Hegeler in the starting line-up, just to make sure we have plenty of sideways and backwards passing options.

Rotherham will surely set-up to frustrate, and a cautious team selection and tactics from LJ will play into their hands.

I predict a scrappy tense affair, but with Matty Taylor coming off the bench to score the winner, so just for once I'm going to agree with Rednwhiterob, 1-0 City.

 

Can only see Rotherham coming here today to set up to frustrate us. They will know if they get to half time 0-0 the crowd will get restless and the pressure will mount on the players and they will hope for a late goal to sneak it. We have to be positive, we have to take the game to them. We need width and to make the pitch as wide as we possibly can. Play two up top , Tammy and Djuric and whoever the wide players are get to the byline and whip the balls in with pace. 

Would like to see Tomlin play to give us some creativity but not sure if playing two up top

1 hour ago, Red Army 75 said:

Come on city. Biggest game of the season so far IMO 

Agree, this game is huge. The players need a win (and hopefully a comfortable win) to boost confidence before the run of tough away games begin. 

Johnson needs a win, as I'm sure a negative result today will see the pressure on him erupt from the stands. Whilst it would be encouraging to see a comfortable win, the most important thing today is the result.

9 hours ago, lenred said:

'They have seriously pulled our pants down'

Ohhhhhhh Yes!!!!!

What happened to his simple Dad, no shouting his mouth off for some reason!

Good performance, to come back twice from a goal behind shows character. We need three points Saturday, must win game nothing else 

21 minutes ago, MC RISK77 said:

Everyone keep your eyes peeled for the mystery fourth signing in the stands tonight...I do t think our business is done

I think we're probably done. Been critical of Johnson and Ashton but I think they've had the four players agreed for a while. I think an injury has stopped the fourth from signing 

44 minutes ago, CiderJar said:

and Chris Power, I feel sorry for Chris Power too

 

 

Someone needs to get out more! Little bit of angry management as well !

Just now, Robin101 said:

Think this result probably turns me from the 'it will come good' camp to the 'he has to go' camp.

The squad is NOT a bad squad.

This is the best squad City have had in years. It is a middle to top ten team in this division. Its simple , ask him to walk tonight with his dignity if he refuses sack him. We're heading to league 1 with him in charge 

24 minutes ago, cynic said:

Its the proverbial six pointer with the prospect of bottom three looming for the losers (or at least level on points if Blackburn get a result which I think they will).

Forest on the ropes having scored three in their last seven and conceded twelve, but we are on an even worse run that them...

I'm sorry to say that I can't see us stopping them scoring - its a case of can we take the chances we will undoubtedly make ? Not sure about that.

I think it'll be a draw, loss, win, oh I don't ******* know.

Away win today, super confident not been confident for a while.

They've sold their best player, no manager, club in a complete mess. Surely we can't not win this!

My only concern is do we play the new keeper with probably no time spent in training with the team. Do we have him on the bench and bring him in next week ? 

43 minutes ago, cityloyal473 said:

I believe they bought some new sprinklers recently.

But on a more serious note, I seen an article where dopey has basically said that he will wait until the summer to get the signings he wants.  Or in other words: there is no money. 

I'm sure a couple of weeks ago Dopey said he needed to add to the squad as been too loyal to some players and some weren't up to league 1 standard. 

Johnson said we needed a liftvand a couple of signings and we've got two in already, with I suspect a couple more today.

It seems the Blue Few are believing the comments that no value for money in January and will wait to the summer to add to the squad. It's also sad that the construction industry has halted due to BREXIT as demonstrated by Wally saying originally UWE on hold due to the vote.

They must start to realise he either doesn't have the wealth to support them or doesn't want to. Wally is out of his depth, his play thing for Christmas is costing him too much ! It's like an unwanted puppy on boxing day!

37 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

Hoping to see a return to 2 up front, like when we beat them at home, IF LJ abandons his favoured 1 up top formation then I'll hope for 1-2 in our favour, if not then 2-1 to them.

That said this is more of a 'must not lose' than a 'must win' for us and them I'd say.

 

Agree it's more of a must not lose tonight, but with fixture against Reading on Monday need a confidence boost which I feel we're on need of 

17 minutes ago, Flagon said:

Yeah agreed but I think that's where the extra couple of transfer windows come in for consistent quality, I'm not 100% the quality of the fringe is the answer yet but they have promise. Trouble is like you are saying if they don't get played enough, how do you know for sure. 

In the meantime..... Wilbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come on you reds!!!!!!!!!!!!!

However do we know how good Moore is? The Swedish lad, won't attempt his name, the young lad from Oxford. I agree we have untried and untested youngsters but the only way to establish if they're good enough is to play them. Hopefully with the games coning thick and fast over Xmas, Johnson may have to try a few. The worrying thing is, we're in a bad run of form, we need to snap out of it quickly 

5 minutes ago, Flagon said:

Yeah I get what you are saying and find it frustrating to see a bunch of new players consistently sat on the bench or not even seemingly pushing to even get on the bench. I just think we have missed far too many clear chances and made far too many individual errors for that to be Johnsons fault. It's anyone's guess whether or not playing some of the new players regularly would have stopped that. If we didn't create anything and got smashed most weeks I think there would be a more serious problem in the management of the team. 

The problem is if we're making individual errors, why aren't we using different players? While people can't be critical of Johnson over that, the confines selection of said player(s) can be. Loyalty to players can only last so long , especially when there would appear to be alternative options within the squad

5 minutes ago, Newquay-Red said:

Wow. The sad fact about this whole situation today is that I predicted it the moment I saw the lineup- I said to my girlfriend that we would get slaughtered on the left flank due to Joe currently acting like he belongs in a padded cell and Tomlin not being able to do defensive duties while he tries to carry the team. I then expect LJ to say 'we were unlucky' in his press conference and then not changing the lineup. Engvall won't play. O'Dowda and De Girolamo will remain in their spots of having afternoon tea with Lord Lucan. Sadly predictable, yet the only guy on the planet that seems to be unable to see this is the bloke in charge of the team.

Unfortunately your right 

No Tomlin

6 hours ago, Super said:

Home games are vital for us considering how poor our recent form is away from home.

Agree with the above, we need to take advantage of home games, especially two in a week.

Brentford not in the best of form, usually means only one thing when a team out of form plays City!

3-2 home win, fingers crossed!!

11 minutes ago, fanjita said:

listen when he mentions "my fans are hurting" at 4m 14secs, ,,,,, HIS fans

Pressure on Wally to spend some money from manager and fans. Should have a sweep stake on the excuse 

30 minutes ago, Dark Wood Covert said:

 

http://gaschat.co.uk/thread/8691/rovers-barrow-round-official-thread?page=7

A few comments that they'll have money to spend in January. Not long now until they realise Wally isn't going to finance any new signings. 

Well at least UWE will be built soon ........................... 

5 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said:

Rovers miss when everyone in the stadium expected a goal, keeper was on the floor after a save

Been a while since the BBC had a good comedy on a Sunday afternoon

Good to see that ****, Roberts is sticking up for the Blue Few. He must be their celebrity fan! Straw clutching 

2 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

There's only one shopping day left until Xmas as far as I'm concerned - Xmas Eve, that's what it's for!

Should work in the Gas commercial dept, may help with their ticket sales!

3 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

4,000?! Why another boycott? Xmas shopping? Liverpool on the telly? It's cold? Take yer pick...

Come on BS4, don't you know there isn't many more shopping days left before Xmas

4-2-3-1

                        Fielding

Moore / Flint / Magnusson / Goldbourne

                Pack / O'Neil

           Gustav / Tomlin / Freeman

                          Tammy

Think he may go all out attack today. Whilst we've played strong teams we've lost three on the bounce and there is no reason not to try something different. We need to be more creative and get support to Tammy quicker. Harsh on Reid who I think is playing well, but can't see Johnson dropping Tomlin

1 hour ago, havanatopia said:

Good day everyone,

Shedding tears of joy or tears of sorrow today will be a topic of conversation either side of the Florida Straits.. I cannot ever recall doing the former as I somehow find myself not having a free flowing lacrimal duct when I am deliriously happy although it does seem to work well when I have sorrow. Don't imagine people will be equally happy in Florida as they are equally sad in Havana as Fidel Castro died at 10.22pm local time on November 25th.. just 4 hours ago as I write these words. Mixed emotions everywhere.

As a Johny foreigner living in Havana I was rather neutral about Fidel; he affected all of those who lived in Cuba of course, for better or for worse, and he certainly polarised opinion even in the Island nation. His legacy will still be mourned the world over but, by some, less so closer to home. That Cuba is changing, and fast, is now beyond doubt and if Raul stands by his word he will stand down in 2018 and make way for a new younger generation. This passing may now cement that and also pave the way for faster legislation to set in motion a more market driven economy that moves toward democracy in the years ahead. To all those who wish to go before the Americans 'move in' consider two things; Havana has insufficient rooms both in the public and private sector and no doubt those 90 miles to the north will wish to book those rooms out for the next 6 months. Prepare to be disappointed. Although Fidel retired in 2008 today is a tumultuous day.

And now back to the more important matter of a football match...

Reading appears to have an affinity with the Blue few from Horfield; a tongue in cheek remark but one that goes right back to Readingas or Readagas who were an early Anglo Saxon clan around the 8th century and later became known as Readingum. At this time settlements were named after a leader, in this case it was Reada, coming from a certain place or ingas. And, funnily enough, Reada literally means 'The Red One' . So there you have it folks; Deep down all teams really want to play in red or have red in the heart and in the soul. The town has interestingly bid to become a city on three previous occasions failing each time. 

All we know today is that with 4 consecutive wins under their belt Jaap Stam's men have to be stopped or we will find ourselves in the lower echelons of this division for about the first time this season. City had a reasonable advantage over Reading until October 2010 when winning by a single goal at Ashton Gate. Since then Reading have won all 5 matches and now have a slight advantage of 36 wins to 35 with 19 draws. Today surely we have to start reversing that poor run to bring us back to 36 wins each. Anybody remember those Division 4 matches we had with them? Both teams have done rather better than the other two teams promoted that final season for us in the lowest tier, Doncaster and York.

City have to show some metal today. A crucial encounter to turn our negative tide around. I wonder if Lee has the metal to galvanise the team to do just that. However, I suspect a rather underwhelming draw might be the result. 2-2 ?

And a final huge thanks from all of us not going to the match today to those who are; at time of writing I understand over 3,000 City fans are making the journey east along the M4. Absolutely marvellous. Roar us over the line to victory.. Really need to be victorious today. UTC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off to Cuba in January, as my mother in law puts it; 'get in before the Yanks!' Her choice for her 60th.

Setting off in a bit from West Yorkshire, should be a good game. Unfortunately, can't see beyond Reading today 2-0 defeat. Prove me wrong City

7 minutes ago, Dark Wood Covert said:

Maybe Haye should go through with his threat and beat Bellew with his left hand... hope Haye gets sparked out.

I'm not convinced this fight will actually happen. Haye will pull out with injury in the lead up. As much as Bellew talks trash , he will be very much up for the fight. His comments about Haye's bottle is spot on in my opinion 

1,2,3,4,5 HAPPY DAYS!

2 minutes ago, Red Right Hand said:

The best bit is that one of them actually spotted this amazing new installation and felt the need to comment on it.

Can you honestly say you would notice an extra sprinkler or six when you rocked up to the Gate for a game?

But this is why Wally is so rich, there little jobs now got a ground fit for the Championship. If only our board / owner were so creative