Shuffle

9 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

I wish I could find the posts from whomever it was that kept telling that JD was shit and we need to get rid, I said he was a little out of form, but Nigel sees him as a big player.

yes some people are just too quick to write him off.  In fairness had said his goodbyes in Jan and then the Currie deal collapsed but has remained professional throughout.  Well played Jay

54 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Where is their “heartland” these days?

Lockleaze? Fishponds?

Genuinely have no idea.

Certainly isn’t anywhere near the fruit market, as you say that’s Totterdown, they won’t have too many fans south of the river.

Stockwood is the only area south of the river where there are a few gas about. No idea why as Briz is 90% red. 

I don’t think anyone genuinely thought we would make the play offs.  Our strongest 11 is competitive with most top 10 teams but post Man City has killed us this season. Agree that out final third was poor yesterday & we certainly should have beat Reading.  Have we made progress then yes we have in terms of breakthrough seasons for some, others clearly improving & a better style of play,  even if league position come the end of season doesn’t  improve.
 

 Sometimes we all need to be realistic with what we’ve got & we will lose games for sure & expectations low for next couple of games. 
 

One frustration from me is the lack of depth this season has shot us in foot but as long as we don’t repeat that again then overall I see green shoots of recovery.  I accept we have cut costs but we left ourselves  exposed imo. 

8 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Alex Neil in January with quite obviously a talented but hugely under-performing squad:

They’ve clicked and look like a top 6 side in recent weeks.

Brilliant business done by them & they’re flying 

Just now, GrahamC said:

Certainly amongst the worst, though Blackpool were awful against us.

Strangely I thought the pitch helped them, they didn’t come to play football & hoofed it all game.

Think it is obvious we are struggling for numbers, the bench was a lot of kids again today. Could do with Kalas & Naismith back.

Agree that lack of numbers are a huge problem. Looks like Easter games too soon for kalas & Naismith & god help us if James is injured. Being realistic any points over Easter are going to be a bonus. Injuries have killed us. 

39 minutes ago, BCFCGav said:

We were good for 90% of each attacking move, very good at times. But wasteful as all hell in the last 10%. Deserved to win. I’m gonna think positive and say if we’re capable of playing that well with a thin, injury hit squad, things are looking very promising. 

In fairness it was a weakened Reading side who were the worst I’ve seen this season 

52 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Thought he had a good game today, at the heart of most of our good stuff.  Conway v.good, as was Pring…next was Weimann for me.

The sooner we can get Pring to LB to support Mehmeti, the better. Dasilva not offering enough, especially in a game where we have lots of possession.

Funny how we watch the same game & come away with such different views but guess it’s all about opinions.  Personally, though Weimann was terrible and wasted so many good opportunities to deliver one final quality ball.  Not quite as bad as Memehti who despite having so much of the ball failed to deliver any end product. Add in Wells who I thought was poor then your top 3 offered next to nothing and that’s why I believe we didn’t win.  All about opinions though.

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Yep, attendances have been nicely into the twenty thousands almost without exception this season.  Midweek games more like 17/18k.  But average is over 20k (20,008).

Should be a good walk up contingent as most Saturday football will be postponed. Attendances have  been very good this year.

17 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Logic says that we don’t offer him anything but I just have a feeling that Pearson rates him & that if he’s willing to take a big pay cut it’s not yet a definite no.

Could be wrong but he’s currently the only one out of contract this summer that I’m not sure which way it will go.

 
 

Think he has to play at least 6 games and end season on a high to be in with a chance of a contract . It’s clear that Pearson really likes him & coupled with the fact that his girlfriend lives next door to her parents in their Long Ashton home, then there are other factors that may lead to him taking a reduction. Has to play though to even have a chance of an offer but think personally he stays if he proves fitness and accepts reduction.

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

I‘ve not been able to glean any contract info on him other than the stuff I have in my own notes, which are:

• 14.05.21 on retained list
• 16.05.22 on retained list, assume additional year to summer 2023

Was given a 2 year deal which as you say expires in summer

12 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

We don’t know who is 100%, do we?

I look at that bench, which is basically kids plus a keeper who has never played for us & think it is remarkable we have got the points we have of late.

Wonder if we are thinking Swansea is a better chance of points & James comes back, Tanner starts after a breather tonight?

A draw would be a hell of a result with that bench.

Mystery solved…. Seemed a strange one but all clear now.  

Two clean sheets in a row so puzzled as to why you would take Tanner out especially away from home.  Tough one tonight & i would snatch your hand off for a point now. Good luck lads 

Apparently we were talking to Castore as the new provider but they would only produce template kit whilst O,Neil’s would allow bespoke designs.   No fan of this kit as others have said, the badge is horrendous.  

The only surprise is Bell over Memehti but other than that with injuries it picks itself.  The big risk tonight is their CBs at set plays as all 3 are big units.

16 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Pearson also said this week that Conway is still a way off and ahead of Naismith…which makes me think both will be held until after the international break.

As for Tuesday night’s team, it’s one game, in a mini run of 4 games before the break.  Nige will pick a team, and get on with it.  I’m sure Pring will partner Vyner, big question is whether it’ll be in a two or a three.  I would have no issue if Andy King played in between them either.  I might be the exception on here regarding that!  But I’m not too fussed who plays really.  It’s a case of mucking in over the next group of games.

If people haven’t realised yet that Nige isn’t gonna bloat in the squad, and that backfill will be with youngsters, then they haven’t been listening.

Would it really be the biggest disaster if our back four on Tuesday was:

Tanner / Vyner / Pring / Dasilva

 

Think I’d be tempted to go with 3 at the back for Huddersfield if honest & if that’s Tanner/Vyner/Pring or King then so be it.  The squad is running with 21 players including Omar which now includes 4 senior players now unavailable, so leaves us light in numbers.  

Clearly the club felt they needed another CB as let’s face it Nige has said it practically all year and the move for the Palace lad shows that indeed they wanted one. If he had signed would anyone on here complain that we were bloating the squad unnecessarily & think we both know the answer to that.  Naismith was playing CM at the time & Kalas had yet to kick a ball in anger after a lengthy spell out.  The comments about depth were raised when window closed by numerous people and highlighted as a risk with the squad to shallow.

We are where we are & not aimed at you as I’d call you to tell you directly if it was but there are people on the forum who jump on you if you have an opinion that doesn’t fit the narrative of Nige knows best.  Nobody would disagree with that after the turn around in points and performance but the club are not above questioning. I appreciate that the CBs wouldn’t even be a talking point if injuries hadn’t happened & the club decided the risk was worth taking, rather than turn to plan b after Palace lad fell through.  

Fortunately, the risk to date has been worth it due to points accumulated but it could be a bumpy ride for the next 4 games. 

3 minutes ago, steviestevieneville said:

It was pretty clear the last time klose played his legs had gone . Towler not good enough (yet anyway ) 

As far as the free agent market goes . It would take weeks maybe months for a player to have a mini preseason & get them fit enough 

Agree on Klose and it’s your opinion on Towler but 3 defenders left in Jan and not one came in despite Nige saying he needed to add there when all 3 were still on the books.  My question is who is there to come in as we must of had confidence that there’s someone who could.  Who is that ? Also, when Naismith is back, I don’t think he has ever played in a 2.  Not sure it takes months as both Klose and Williams were playing in weeks rather than months. 

I get Low going out on loan to gain experience & Towler wasn’t even at the club when he joined Portsmouth but it’s very telling that when we’ve had the chance to use 9 subs we didn’t have one CB from the u21s involved.  We released Klose & sold Towler as we have better coming through in the clubs words but who is coming through and ready? Araoye looks decent but injured as is Knight Lebel so is there anyone who could be considered ready to cover our CB crisis or do we look at free agent market?

1 minute ago, GrahamC said:

I’ve been wrong before but my hunch is Weimann will start in the most advanced position of the midfield 3 as he did today, with Scott playing deeper.

Back four picks itself, just whether Wells & Cornick both come in up front or just one of them.

On the basis Kane Wilson was on the bench v Man City I guess he will be at Huddersfield, if Idehen is as out in the cold as I think, then Francois will presumably be the other sub.

Weimann looks so off it at the moment and weakens us when he comes on.  Do we bite the bullet and let him play back into form (numbers might dictate we might need to)?  Think as you say it’s going to be ugly until after intl break. Personally, would play King & James & retain Scott in creative role. Wells has to start but we literally have no options at the back & whilst we have 2 key defenders injured (3 if you include Naismith) which you cannot legislate for, personally felt as you know the failure to strengthen the position Nige constantly said needed strengthening has bitten us on the ass.  We are where we are but reality check in that we still have work to do & any  play off talk was nonsense. The loss today in itself wasn’t bad but to lose Kalas and Williams was a disaster.

I must be a very pessimistic supporter as after years of disappointment, the sooner we can get to 50 points then I’ll be happy.  Once safety is achieved then anything else is a bonus and squad will be massively stretched with suspensions and potential injuries. Now next season though

I came out from the game and finally got a signal up by the Lions to see a Gas bloke in the gym who says he never tweets about us had sent 5 tweets from City giving scarfs to build atmosphere to Get in to every goal. This bloke who never tweets about us but has in the past month tweeted about Scott’s valuation being too high & we are deluded with his value, Why didn’t Mehmeti go to a non relegation threatened team, to what a mess our new kit is & our inability to sell out home games This bloke swears blind he doesn’t care about us but he cannot hide the jealousy & it’s bloody brilliant.   

Has done really well since coming back into the team & new contract deserved. The noticeable difference now is that he will come and catch/punch crosses which with a small team is a big bonus. Is he the long term number 1 then it’s his to lose at the moment but suspect we will add a new keeper to the squad in summer. As @GrahamC says you need two good uns in a squad as a minimum.

As others have said, our best defender by far.  Hope he can stay fit and earn a Wells type contract as too good to lose but has to be on reduced terms.  Welcome back Thomas as you’ve been missed.

James reads the game superbly and intelligence & know how give him the yards he needs. Mr consistency and said it before we are always a better team when he plays.  Williams was also excellent and looks really fit these days thank god as showing us his ability

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

@NcnsBcfc Not going to quote your entire post but think yesterday was the cut off for 10 bookings meaning a two match ban, so if (when?) Williams & Scott are booked again they miss a game now. Would expect us to continue to try to manage this situation.

It looks like Naismith isn’t going to be available for at least a fortnight so it will be interesting to see who is on the bench v Man City, we can name 9 subs, but only managed 8 v West Brom with numerous kids & even that number looks slightly optimistic with Mehmeti & Cornick both cup tied. Whether Idehen, Knight-Lebel or neither of them is on it will be instructive.

Wilson has now played twice for the 21s so I think there is far more chance of him being involved than Idehen (who is not cup tied) with Tanner filling in at CB.

I am actually ok with our squad numbers, if one of Atkinson or Naismith was available I think that would be fine.

Of yesterday’s bench 4 don’t have a contract for next season yet, likewise 2 of our starters, one for one replacements (or contract renewals) would see us fine.

 

 

13 hours ago, NcnsBcfc said:

From my viewpoint up in the gods today, you could see we missed Naismith in the centre.

James , and to a lesser extent Williams were excellent, but their collective distribution can still be a bit too slow. Scott has to come and get the ball, turn, and then drive the pace.

With Naismith back in the middle, the pace of passing to both wide men increases, alongside releasing Scott a bit more.

Great to see Kalas back, and he was solid. But it was obvious that Pring was under instruction to cover for him on the left hand side, and generally played 4-5 yards deeper than he would normally do.

We also miss Atkinson's breaks forward, something that Kalas has never been wholly comfortable doing.

I suppose the natural replacement on the bench would be Idehen (played ok there against Huddersfield last season for 25 mins). But i'm not sure NP trusts him at the moment, as he's working his way back with the under 21s.

I would keep Kalas there, and then have Naismith back into midfield again for the present. King on the bench can be cover in case of emergenct again (like today). 

The difficulty is if Scott or Williams gets those yellow cards and are out for a couple of games. Then King is the cover for both CM & CB.

All fun this isn't it.

Roll on the summer had getting those much needed squad replacements in.

 

Squad depth is a huge issue with King now covering CB & MF as you say. I’m not sure from what I’ve seen if any of the u21 cbs are ready but guess we might find out. I’d assume Pring would move centrally with JD coming in at LB if anything happens to kalas or Vyner.  Big risk not strengthening at CB before window shut & could see some interesting team selection coming up.

4 minutes ago, Lew-T said:

I’m still not 100% convinced Max O’Leary is the answer for us. I know the results have really picked up, but I don’t get the impression he’s the future for us going forward.

In fairness he saved us a point at the end with a great save.  Wasn’t as dominant in the air tonight but thought that was more down to Wigan’s excellent delivery.  He’s done well but like you, is there better out there in the summer.