INCRED

3 minutes ago, nickolas said:

But as well as weve done we all just know there will be one mistake, theyll score and we’ll have a drab 1 or 2-nil result.

I’m the same, decent first half and looked comfortable but we giveaway stupid goals and second half will show what top 6 teams do and find a way to win when not playing well 

On 02/03/2024 at 19:57, Harry said:

For the last few years, Bristol City FC has been attempting to create its own ‘model’. Their idea of the optimum way to run a football club to provide it with the best chance of success. 
 

The ‘Model’ is supposed to be one where everything at the club is ‘aligned’.
It says that all of our teams from the under 8’s through to the first team will play the same way. 
I’m not sure that’s quite such a good idea but hey ho. 
But the most crucial element for me is that the model says that the first team will play a certain way and that we have a ‘Technical Director’ to oversee this and ensure it’s on track and everything is aligned. 
 

Personally, at this level of football, I don’t think that works. 
The scene is such that, any manager coming into the club should be of a certain ‘type’ and conform to a certain set of principles. 
The club have created a philosophy (call it an identity if you like) as to how they want to play football and any manager should align (there’s that word again) with that. 
 

The Technical Director runs the recruitment side of the business. 
He determines what players we sign and what manager and coaches we sign. He will try to conform to the club principles and appoint managers and coaches who will ‘fit’ and sign players who will ‘fit’. 
 

We see this sort of model at the top end of the game. Many of the biggest clubs run on a Director of Football type of model, where the manager has only limited say in the player recruitment and is basically just tasked with getting on with it, with the rather expensive tools he is provided. 
 

This doesn’t work at our level. We see this in all it’s gory (yes, not glory) with the Tinnion/Manning appointment. 
 

We have a club philosophy that desires to play in a certain way and players have been signed to attempt to slot into that style. 
We now have a manager who has been appointed who clearly likes to adopt a very different philosophy. 
I don’t blame Manning for this. We approached him. He didn’t apply for this job. He had a clear and evident CV, a body of work behind him, that was obvious to anyone who bothered to look that was at odds with our own club model. 
 

Furthermore, this new manager, whilst not having players who can play his way, doesn’t have very much say in how to fix this. 
His first transfer window and we make 4 permanent signings - 3 of which we wanted before the new manager got here. So the new manager arrives, doesn’t have players he wants and then the ‘club model’ signs 3 players that ‘the club model’ wanted. 
 

This is a huge issue for me. We are attempting to recreate models that have had success at places like Brighton, Brentford and even bloody Luton. But whilst those clubs had certain recruitment models, they didn’t dictate a ‘playing philosophy’ throughout the club. They just had very thorough and clever scouting and recruitment modelling. It didn’t dictate the playing style. Whenever there was a manager change the new boss still has his own free reign in terms of how he played and the recruitment model would then have to ‘align’ with the managers philosophy - not the other way round. 
 

When Dean Smith took over from Mark Warburton, he did things differently and they recruited accordingly. Likewise when Frank then took over from Smith, he had different philosophies on pressing, defensive positioning, midfield solidity etc. and the club then recruited accordingly. 
Luton played a certain way under Jones, but when Edwards arrived he harnessed what was already good but brought his own style to it and the club then recruited accordingly. 
 

What we have at Bristol City is a dictatorial model, whereby the Technical Director and Recruitment Team have defined a model and anyone that arrives at the club must buy-in to that model. There is no wavering. Yes, a new manager might have a bit of a say in some signings but generally they are targeted based on our defined modelling. 

Surely it’s obvious to anyone that this just doesn’t work. The talk of ‘everything at this club is aligned, from the under 8’s to the first team’ is just a false platitude. It’s a strapline that they think is clever “hey look at us, we’ve got an identify and model, we’re unique”.

That might work well at Barcelona or Man City but it’s pointless in the championship. It’s not what will actually bring success on the pitch. 
 

To achieve success on the pitch at this level you need a manager who is allowed to run the first team in his own way. Who won’t be dictated to by inferiors who spout about an identity and an alignment throughout the club. 

It’s time for Manning to depart, in my opinion, but it’s also time for the club to drop the nonsense and stop acting like a billy big bollox. The club think that they have a clever way of doing things and that it’s the only way of separating themselves from the challenging division we are in. 
It’s not clever. It’s nonsense. Drop the bullcrap. 
 

The way to achieve success was evident to us a few years ago when a man called Steve Cotterill was appointed. I wasn’t his biggest fan when he got here, and I also think the time was right for him to go, but the period he was here, there is no denying that he’s been the only manager in recent years that’s done things his own way and said “balls” to the ownership and ‘model’. 
Cotterill worked with an experienced Chief Scout and identified the best available players and signed them to fit a way of playing that HE wanted. 
None of this “we’re all aligned from the u8’s to the tea lady”. 
Just an experienced manager with an experienced chief scout, putting together a squad that would play to the managers identity, not the clubs identity. 
 

It’s time to ditch the bullshit. 
Get out there and employ a manager with cahuna’s, one with a CV that demands respect from his players, let him bring in the players that HE wants, not players that the ‘club’ have targeted for the last few windows. Let him put his own team together to play the way that HE wants. 
 

The current model stinks. There are people in positions of authority that have real negative impact on this club who are not fit for purpose. 
We need a board of directors who can appoint a respected manager, who in turn will be empowered to bring in his own trusted recruitment team or chief scout, sign his own players and have zero meddling from unqualified  nobodies. 
 

Our model is shit. And we will get nowhere with it. 

Interesting view and I neither agree or disagree. It is quite easy to critique people when things aren’t quite going as we want or would like. 
 

I very much doubt we will come away with anything from Portman road this evening but if we do then I hope LM is given the due praise 

What we have within the current squad is inconsistency in performance and results. It is the job of the coaching staff to address this and create an environment that puts out a performance level that gets results.

It would be the complete opposite reaction if we won 3,4, 5 on the bounce and get carried away and we seen this recently with wins over Southampton & Middlesbrough and talk of play offs

I’m not sure what the expectations are or were for most when LM was brought in but he needs to address many issues in the close season

Obviously we need a striker who can play as a focal point but also athletic enough to press and chip in with 10-15 goals per season

Decide who plays in the front three with a new No9 - Stokes and whoever LM wants to keep from current squad

Midfield needs an overhaul and will see new faces in the squad over the summer Bird, Murphy etc

Defence has been hit by injuries and thank goodness for Vyner & Dickie but need competition 

Goal keeper - Sorry but Max isn’t a No1 for this league, need a better option 

In summary, a lot to do over the summer and I can see a lot of coming and goings for various reasons 

This current squad isn’t anywhere near a top 6 team and unless LM is ruthless and deals with what is blatantly obvious he will not be our head coach for very long 

9 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Completely disillusioned with this club. Getting the point where I don't even care anymore... The football is terrible, the manager is completely uninspiring, dread watching us play at the moment.

I lost interest after the home defeat against Millwall 

I will review my levels of interest in the summer and decide thereafter if this club & team are worthy of my support and precious time/money 

I wonder if LM will try and get him into the match day squad soon and give him some game time before the end of the season?

With Bird & Stokes playing regularly whilst loaned back to the clubs we did the deals it would be strange if Murphy didn’t get any playing time

I am not aware of any injury?

Calm down everyone, second half we will score 4 and win comfortably 

Just now, frenchred said:

Only because the 3 starting up front shouldn't be!

I agree, can’t say I would have Mehmeti & Bell starting

1 minute ago, Harvey86 said:

O’Leary, Vyner and Dickie aside, you could make a justified argument replacing any other player in that lineup, and I mean that in a good way. Proper squad depth

Atkinson, Pring, Benarous & Naismith the only ones missing 

imagine having to pick a team from that lot 

14 minutes ago, Banjo Red said:

Options off the bench is insane.

Strongest bench we have had this season

39 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

We are screwed and it's my fault as I've put City to win on my accy.

I apologise unreservedly for my confidence and will lock myself in a darkened room after the game.

I avoid backing us on my Acca like the plague but I’ve gone against my better judgement and backed us to win today - apologies in advance as I’m usually let down by City by 4.45pm 

It’s all about momentum and a little bit of luck, we certainly appear to have the start of a run of good form. We just need some good luck with injuries and the bounce of the ball and who knows 

1 minute ago, Super said:

West brom are letting them play something we didn't do.

Can’t wait to play WBA, they are bang average 

1 hour ago, Lavington Robin said:

I thought so as well but Liam said he had a sickness bug so didn’t start him.

Regarding Haydon I think he is an excellent technician & looked good in pre-season. Didn’t take any messing with the more physical players at Fratton Park.

Even with dead ball kicks he was a step up for us until TGH arrived. Subject to a good game tomorrow I really hope he doesn’t get dropped immediately & Cam was my favourite player last season !

As for attitude I would MUCH rather have a player who is not happy at being a sub & did extra training than someone who just took the money. I really like the guy & hope he continues todevelops well.

If Roberts has another good game then he keeps the shirt. This is how it should be if you have a decent size squad. Yes, there are variables that may determine an element of rotation at times but we have rarely had that option due to the unfortunate amount of injuries 

I would like to think LM will let him start even if Pring is fit to make the squad aware that if you play well then you deserve your place in the starting line up in the next game 

Should the club receive an offer too good to ignore for Pring in the summer then at least we know we won’t be weakened by having Roberts still at the club 

3 hours ago, spudski said:

Controversial I know...but I actually think he offers better distribution on the left, into the box and link up, than Pring. 

Both defensively good, but Roberts edges it offensively for me in our system. 

I agree, had it not been for his injury I think he may have been a better option at LB than Pring. I like Pring and he’s a real athlete but Roberts is in my opinion a better technical player 

If we did make the play offs then that would in some way justify comments made by JL that the squad are good enough

If we did a Luton and got promoted, then we have shown in recent cup games with a little more quality we could mix it in the lower half of the premier league 

The worst scenario we get relegated but with better players and a bag full of cash to go again 

9 hours ago, Akira said:

I very much enjoyed listening to this caller on Talksport...

 

A salty entitled Saints fan, needs to show some class like their Manager who acknowledges when his team is outplayed by the better team

JL and others within the club have received a lot criticism over the last 2-3 months but this is a masterclass although selling out so soon isn’t great 

In addition, the LM appointment appears to be a shrewd decision now and very few dissenting voices 

3 hours ago, Supersonic Robin said:

Weirdly, I'm not THAT shocked by our last couple of results. We know that we play better when we have less of the ball, against teams who want to "take the game to us".

That's very much been the trend since Manning has come in. Unfortunately, we've also been useless against bottom half* sides in that time. Under Manning, our record against teams in the bottom half is: P7 W0 D3 L4

I see the next 3 games as a much better assessment of whether we might actually be able to kick on.

 

 

 

*at the time we played them

Perhaps the introduction of Twine & Dire are the definitive difference this time as they are the type of players who can unlock defences 

3 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

It’s hard to say what our best 11 is.

Mehmeti would be in there based on tonight’s performance. He could also easily be the first out the door in the summer within the next couple of games.

Mehmeti IMO was nowhere near the levels of other players on show this evening. He just fails to drive at opposition players and he lets them dictate his next move rather than the opposite. He could and should have passed to players in far better shooting positions but took on impossible shots that had very little chance of ending in the net 

McCrorie showed what Mehmeti should be doing, driving at the opposition and then slowing them up and playing the ball into Cornick to slot away 

13 minutes ago, JAWS said:

Outstanding win & performance. Chalk n cheese compared to Leeds game. Thought LM gambled with 4 subs in a short period and with a fair bit of time left but it looked seamless! 

Still think we're lacking that bit of quality in the final third which could be the difference come May but the new guy looked tidy in the short time he was on.

I was thinking he needed more legs on the pitch at 60 mins and he did exactly that and also again 10-15 mins later. Good call and did the right thing at the right time 

3 minutes ago, JAWS said:

Mehmeti is too frustrating and inconsistent for my liking. Did well for the goal but after that was wasteful and a bit headless including a needless foul when their player was deep in their own half near the corner flag. He's still young and clearly has talent but has a way to go to be in a promotion pushing side

I fear Mehmeti will fall down the pecking order if McCrorie, Twine, Bell, Sykes & Dire get opportunity’s and perform well. I appreciate he’s still young but this is a results business and performance is everything 

54 minutes ago, transfer reader said:

I laughed as soon as I saw the thread title. 

 

Superb to a man today. And as was just alluded to buy Jamo, Manning set the team up with precisely the right plan.

The only blip being Leeds but aside from that, LM has got us set up well to win games. What happens on the pitch is down to the players and showing they are capable of implementing what they are coached to do

The squad now looks far stronger and the depth has helped LM to rotate and keep the players as fresh as possible

The next 2 games will be tough against teams fighting for their lives but with the likes of Twine, Sykes & Dire available to provide that goal threat and creativity there is no reason not to be positive, thereafter Ipswich & WBA aren’t teams we should be fearful of providing we reach the levels that we achieved this evening

Tonights game and performance has set the bar, the challenge is to maintain that to the end of the season 

11 minutes ago, The turtle said:

A fantastic performance.yes the end product was annoying in first half. But it was still a good performance. It was them being so dull trying to put everyone to sleep.

But the whole game from us has been about energy, foot to floor, aggressive football. Both with and without the ball as much as possible.

While extremely disciplined No hint of control survival football, no hint of sluggish. Gone for them, gone wide, simply gone at them with a pure intensity.

They've been trying to play chess. We've thrown the board to the ground and made it clear it's our house and our rules. No matter how much possession you have.

Play like this every week, sign me up here and mow

 

With players coming back from injury and a couple of loans we now have more depth in the squad and this allows us to make changes without losing quality & energy on the pitch 

11 minutes ago, The Original OTIB said:

KWP been pick for them, very good player.

 

 

He’s far too good to be playing in the Championship 

Just now, Open End Numb Legs said:

Huge problem for the commentators now. They pinned their flag to Southampton and have to find a different theme.

Might as well send Francis Benali home now 

I can’t praise our performance tonight enough, really pressed and harried them and caused them problems in their box