INCRED

Premier league ref and that’s two pens he’s missed already

How many more times is Cornick going to get caught offside 

10 minutes ago, Ronnie Sinclair said:

Plymouth 4-0 up at half time 

What the hell are Norwich playing at!!

39 minutes ago, bearded_red said:

Knight looks a great signing and as someone that would have been happy for Williams to move on this summer I think he’s started the season really well.

As for James, for the type of midfielder he is and the job he does I think he’s probably the best I’ve seen play for City. An absolute class act, I find it truly remarkable that it took so many so long to see how good he is. I was still reading on here a year after signing that he was ‘Pearson’s mate’, absolutely ridiculous. Even if you didn’t notice how good he was you should have been able to see how performances dropped off when he was missing.

In fact, and I’ve stolen this from someone on Twitter, but if somebody doesn’t appreciate James it’s safe to ignore their views on football to be honest.

I’ve always seen James as a top quality midfielder and he’s got team mates around him now which help bring out his quality

As for Williams, I thought he did well last night but seems half a yard off it at times and his injuries has maybe taken its toll on his sharpness

As for Knight, this guy is a machine and sets the tone of the press. I was amazed how much work he got through and his stats must be off the scale 

I did feel slightly sorry for Nakhi as he works so hard but just can’t seem to find his scoring touch 

7 hours ago, hinsleburg said:

Feels like this has really started to click and we are seeing all of their respective skills and positive attributes enhance the team and the other 2 members.

Williams and Knight as the 'busy bees' have been relentless and helped us win the ball a lot higher up the pitch especially first half West Brom and last night. Allows James to sit deeper and dictate the tempo of the play however it's worth noting that with Naismith's distribution James doesn't need to stand on the toes of the CB and helps gets him 10 yards further up the pitch as well.

All of them are willing to cover and get stuck in which is evidenced by James goal last night, how often did we see him in that position last season? Once again, Naismith at CB enables a lot of this and is huge in getting the whole team up the pitch, we have fullbacks who are comfortable on the ball and can also tuck in as cover if needed.

Whilst you could argue it's missing the creativity of a Scott/Palmer/Paterson type player I think the 3 players at the moment give us a really good balance, makes us really tough to beat and allows the front 3 to be our creative output. 

Thought there was a good cameo last night from TGH and showed what he can offer in that 3 as well, I worry what happens if James and/or Naismith get injured as think they're probably our two most important players in this system (whether in Midfield or Defence). 

Ultimately though at the moment, we're tough to beat, we work hard and we're getting bodies in both boxes when needed, feels like we can set up at home to win the ball high and put pressure on that way and Away can be more effective on the counter. There's going to be ups and downs throughout the season and not sure we'll be the most prolific of scorers but feel like we're doing everything we can and still going in the right direction.

I suppose if James got injured then Naismith could play in James role and Dickie brought back in to the defence 

Listening to the comments from the Argyle fans as they walk at the back of the Lansdown stand, awe and wonder at the look and size

i dare say they are brought down to earth once they reach the Atyeo stand

22 hours ago, Red Army 75 said:

Kyle Walker has had a good game. One of the best right backs in the world. Love watching him bomb forward 

Looking at our squad, we have 6-7 world class players. The last European country to have that many went on to win the Euros & World Cup 

On 01/09/2023 at 08:43, AshtonGreat said:

Surprised Rico Lewis didn't get a call-up

Ideal couple of games to play him and shift some of the old guard

So talented and would easily play in there with Bellingham 

13 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

Sounds a bit too similar to Jason Knight for my liking. Decent signing but not one which is going to allay concerns about a lack of creativity ?

Nothing like him tbh, more of a passer, technically good off both feet and much taller although gets around the pitch well like Knight - we need energy in our midfield and some young blood as we are sadly lacking based on what I’ve watched so far this season 

1 minute ago, redkev said:

Who’s Murphy , ? 
must admit never heard of Gardner Haskins either or what ever his name is until today 

Keep up ffs!!

I think some may be surprised at how good this lad is and I’m amazed WBA are happy to let him go at the end of the season for £1.3m. You don’t get in the England U20s team without having ability as we seen with AS. I like the idea of him and Murphy joining and how we appear to be covering our midfield for the future although he can play RB & RWB as well as midfield

1 minute ago, pillred said:

As an aside what do people think of the coverage of SSN? I'm finding it very professional but lacking the matey humour of past seasons.

It’s bang average, Mike Dean is the joker though

4 minutes ago, 2015 said:

Why is he on about Luton for? Their model is totally different to ours. It worked for them, but their model wouldn't for us, simple as that. He's obsessed with comparing us to others instead of creating our own identity.

Luton had players that came up through the divisions with them, not sure we want to be starting from the national league 

3 hours ago, Simon bristol said:

We all knew scott would be leaving this summer,,, for pearson to suggest now hes not happy and doesnt know what the bid was is another of his white lies,,,, he clearly knows exactly whats going on and what we have to spend! 

He’s a great poker player in the football world

He’s no mug and knows the game, he would have been briefed before, during and now after Scott has been sold 

The club would have been planning for this eventuality and Tins and recruitment team will have plans in place 

Watch this space I say as there are still a few twists and turns to be seen before the window closes 

8 minutes ago, East Londoner said:

It being Bournemouth is what stings the most as they only got to the prem by cheating ffp while clubs who try and stick to it get nowhere 

My thoughts also, got away with murder and since then have had the funds to keep attracting young players even when relegated and bouncing back 

I would have loved those three players we sold to them to have stayed with us and got promoted the legal way but you cannot deny these lads the opportunity to play at the highest level 

2 hours ago, OneTeamInBristol said:

Believe what? We are right at the limit for wage caps, that's the truth, nothing to believe or not believe.

With Scott going and Kalas not re-signing (which might not have been predicted previously) there may be some room for someone on low wages but we aren't going to be signing 4/5 marquee players like some of the lists in this thread.

Deluded if you think we are. 

Who said 4/5 marquee signings?

Thats ridiculous and not what I stated and just because the club say we are close to a wage limit, of course they will say that if they know they will need to go into the market for players once everyone knows we have sold a player for £20m + 

a couple of signings perhaps, you can off set wages through signing on fees maybe or other options 

3 minutes ago, OneTeamInBristol said:

Don't think we'll be bringing anyone in unfortunately, right at the limit for wages even with Scott going.

You really believe that do you? 
 

What is said in the open isn’t necessarily always the truth. None of us know the wage budget but if the club have planned for Scott to go in this window and a particular valuation has been met the I would be very surprised if they haven’t got this scenario covered and we could still see a couple of additions 

I recall NP saying a few weeks ago on RB that there may be scope still to bring in players. I think that comment was very much linked to Scott being sold 

32 minutes ago, glynriley said:

Fair play to you mate that you can find something positive. For me that was an awful performance from front to back. Vyner pretty much the only player who’s in credit. 

I’m a big fan of Nige but he got it all wrong for me today. 

Can’t disagree, very poor today and most of our players looked off the pace of the game 

Lost the midfield in the second half and the only surprise was Preston failed to take more of the numerous chances they had 

overall, underwhelmed and my pre season positivity well and truly put back in the box 

If Scott does go in this window then Yan Dhanda would be a good option to back fill - being watched by a few Championship clubs apparently 

On 03/08/2023 at 14:43, BCFC_Dan said:

I always liked him from that sort of interview. He's clearly an interesting, thoughtful and intelligent man.

I've never enjoyed his spiky press conferences, though. I understand his frustration at some of the stupid questions, but I've felt he was a bit disrespectful towards journalists sometimes. It's good to know which people to have time for and which not, but everyone deserves to be treated with a certain level of respect.

I also felt there was a long period of time where there was little or no progress on show. Right up until this calendar year it was pretty hard to see anything concrete. Some would argue that there was a lot being sorted out behind the scenes, and I was prepared to believe that, but equally there was nothing to show it, which is often the way with these things. Fortunately, it does look like those who believed him and believed in him are being proved right. Things are genuinely moving forward now, and Pearson seems much happier for it. Perhaps it won't last, but right now it looks like, despite a few rough moments, a good man is doing a good job. I can probably admit I was wrong in my previous judgement of him.

The thing with NP, he is a realist. He doesn’t over promise, he doesn’t make excuses, he says it as he sees it which in todays media frenzy around sound bites and headline searching journos it’s not interesting or of any interest 

Being frank and to the point isn’t in fashion but personally I prefer NP and his interviews to the management speak and waffle juice that we were being fed from LJ & MA 

5 hours ago, zippycar said:

My source at Bristol City Council had a meeting today where they were advised that there are almost 150 December 2022 planning applications that have yet to be assigned to a planning officer and overall almost 1200 applications that are sat in BCC's backlog.

So it's irrelevant when the next planning committe sit, as the application hasn't even been processed and is unlikely to be looked at until well into 2024.

This state of affairs will have been (is) well known by any professional dealing with planning applications as its been building up since Covid, so I can only assume that Billy Smart & Co. are advising the Sags.

My company had a planning application issued to BCC in February, still waiting for approval and this was just to change office entrance auto slide doors to a revolving door - I think they will be waiting a while tbh

In the Championship it’s not just about having good technical players. It’s also about the collective desire to work hard for your team mates, athleticism and a team spirit 

These attributes are what NP and the coaching staff have been working on over the last 12-18 months. If you then add the new players into the squad to give us more depth then I genuinely think we will make our mark on this league providing we stay clear of key injuries 

if Scott stays then I’m fairly confident we can make top 6, if he is sold then depending on who/if we replace him with it could lower our chances 

A lot of twists and turns ahead but the way the club have approached the close season, the signings so far and the pre season form all bodes well for 23/24 

My expectations are much higher this season because we look to have turned a corner and actually have all the pieces in place to make a mark and genuinely be contenders for promotion 

2 hours ago, 1960maaan said:

 

 

Chatting to a mate who knows a guy in recruitment for a Prem side. The player he flagged up as being watched was Bell. Said there are a few teams keeping an eye on him. I think this year will be big for him as a learning curve for his development . 

I could see why he started ahead of Mehmetti in games, his willingness to go outside the full back gave a little more balance, where as Anis was too reliant on cutting inside. I've always liked players making FBs think , not knowing which way they will go. Gives you a yard start at times.
I've not seen any of the games but I was pleased when I saw a Dave post this.

Something I was critical of last year, and will make him much more of a threat this coming season.

I hope Bell develops quickly as he can be a real threat. He has pace, he is one of the best finishers at the club, happy to use either foot and just needs better game management maybe.

Bell is still a bit raw in some aspects but I can see why he is being watched. Conway is one I believe could be a top player and if he continues his development and looking at how his physique is developing I quietly fancy he will be a real star for us this season

Whats exciting is that we have 5-6 players that are going to make us a really attractive team to watch and a nightmare for teams to play against 

The last 3-4 seasons have been full of inconsistency and at times disappointments but I just feel a lot more hopeful and even excited at seeing what we can do this season 

PNE next Saturday will be a decent crowd and full of expectations so I just hope we hit the ground running and get amongst the front runners as our first 4 games in my opinion are all games we should be looking for maximum points from 

14 hours ago, redrob said:

Looking forward to seeing him run all over The Den, hopefully with Alex Scott pulling strings in front of him and TCbanging three past Millwall! 

Scott & Knight in the midfield with James sitting is a great combination to have and I just hope we get to see this develop. Could easily become the best in the championship and push us towards the play offs

If Scott does leave then I’m sure the club have options that they will bring in but it would be fantastic to see them next Saturday on the team sheet 

18 hours ago, BS3 Ark at Ee said:

Anyone have any idea how many tickets we’ve sold for this so far? With just over a week until the game, mates rates etc  I thought the club might of promoted it a bit more and would expect a pretty healthy crowd....

I had a quick look yesterday to see how many tickets are still available and would  say under 2k now for home supporters 

No idea how many Preston are bringing but reckon we could be around 25k although some ST holders may be on hols but still get included in the numbers I guess