Olé

With the massive advances in Artificial Intelligence I’m wondering if we can wire up a kettle (or train Downsy) to go “a frustrating day [MANAGER FIRST NAME] but what are the positives you can take from today” and “a word for the fans, [NUMBER] of them here and they really made themselves heard?” after every match.

4 hours ago, phantom said:

Playing in yellow on Sunday

Complete embarrassment. 9,500 fans travelling to support the team and they can't even play in anything resembling our own identity or crest.

I thought the SC&T already escalated about the absence of consultation in hoisting some clipart on the club, what kind of message is it to then wear it for our biggest game of the season!?!

20 minutes ago, Piccolo said:

 

If you look at our away followings closely, you will see that we have less women and children than any other club as a percentage of the following.

Seen both women and children going to watch Millwall on my train. Also not sure about cancelllations mate, can see half hourly trains running all morning! 

2 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

What are the trains like today?

Absolutely fine. Every half hour. On one now and seen about 20 Millwall fans in total. Small groups of either old timers or teenagers. I guess those old enough and young enough to still party hard didn't want to curtail NYE with an early start.

After their sensational win at promotion hopefuls Watford on Tuesday, talk amongst long suffering City fans had already turned to the predictability of Wayne Rooney’s struggling Birmingham denying them a fourth straight Championship win - the grim irony of his out of form side being galvanised to stall Liam Manning’s in form team. In a forgettable Friday night at a cold St. Andrew’s they did just that, City for once lacked passing rhythm and finding the Blues lining up in numbers behind the ball to defend a desperate point in a largely one sided game the visitors dominated without end product.

With the games only shot on target and a last minute fright from Ivan Sunjic’s stinging 25 yard drive just past the post, it might be uncharitable to say that Birmingham simply parked the bus - but they sat back at home in a low block determined solely to nullify City in a contest short on goalmouth action or any real quality. Roared on by a capacity away following Manning’s men probed with their usual passing intent to work space for Mark Sykes and Anis Mehmeti down both channels, but too often squandered their final ball and Mehmeti had an off day, putting two early headers well wide.

City started with Nahki Wells restored to the starting line up for the first time after injury as they took the option to rest centre forward Tommy Conway. The Bermudan was involved inside 10 minutes as he sprung clear of a marker in the Blues half and fed Jason KnIght who picked out Sykes run on the right, but his cross was turned behind for a corner. It was all City and minutes later they worked a trademark passing move around the box, weaving from left wing to right wing and then in behind their hosts as Knight teed up Wells whose spinning goalward ball was glanced on and wide by Mehmeti.

The game became increasingly scrappy as Birmingham sought to cancel out City’s play, yet midway through the half resurgent midfielder Joe Williams wriggled smartly away from a crowd of players in midfield and got Sykes on the ball into space on the right and his dangerous centre was met clear in the middle of goal by Mehmeti’s unchecked arrival from the other flank, only for the winger to steer his header over the bar with easily City’s best chance of the game. It proved costly as remarkably it would be nearly an hour before their next and final opportunity in the closing minutes of the match.

Birmingham, to their credit, suffocated City’s play and left them frustrated and increasingly turning over possession simply because of desperate or hurried passes out of play or overhit through balls. That was no more evident than with less than ten minutes left in the half Juninho Bacuna took up the invitation of one such sloppy give away, playing in left back Emmanuel Longelo whose low strike was routinely held down low by Max O’Leary, the games only shot on target. At the other end City broke up play and Knight marauded forward to spring Mehmeti who was too easily bundled off the ball.

That was it, and painfully for spectators it got much worse in the second half - even allowing for the reintroduction of Conway in place of Wells - as Birmingham’s dogged defending cancelled out City’s threat and the hosts grew in confidence to probe in limited numbers themselves, such that for over twenty forgettable minutes of half-hearted second half threat from either side, there wasn’t a chance to speak of. That only arrived after a spate of Blues substitutions - Andi Weimann also on for Mehmeti - as City repeatedly failed to clear their lines and Bacuna found space to drive a low shot wide.

Manning added Sam Bell for Sykes and Matty James for Williams with 15 remaining at a time when Birmingham were actually starting to break on City, who minutes later were indebted to Cam Pring for not one but two desperate full blooded diving tackles in an attacking position on the left as City once again risked a dangerous turnover of possession while high up the pitch and out of position. But there was also finally a chance - Knight lifted a well weighted ball into the six yard box from the right which Weimann skidded just the wrong side of the post in front of massed away supporters.

Approaching the last five minutes Pring’s dangerous cross from the left saw Knight and Bell have shots around the box blocked by resolute Birmingham defending, and the frustration nearly turned to despair as in the final minute City again squandered possession and from a quick succession of Blues breaks, Sunjic took aim from outside the box to slam an unerring low 25 yard effort through a crowd and just the wrong side of the post with home fans thinking it was in. That was it, although deep in injury time City won two corners, Knight’s header blocked and Pring firing wildly into the stand.

Manning has repeatedly preached emotional balance in reacting to results and while it would be easy to be frustrated by a dour goalless draw with struggling Birmingham - for whom fans on all sides at St. Andrews were expecting City to hasten Rooney’s departure - in truth the hosts badly needed a rearguard action in a match that had the feel at times of a cup tie against dogged lower division spoilers. The Blues ground out a deserved point and Manning will focus on an unbeaten run of 10 points from 12 over Christmas - albeit they will want to find their rhythm again on Monday.

O’Leary 6

Tanner 6

Pring 6

Dickie 6

Vyner 6

Williams 7

Gardner-Hickman 5

Knight 6

Sykes 6

Mehmeti 5

Wells 5

Conway 5

Weimann 6

Bell 5

James 5

2 hours ago, Harry said:

To be honest chaps I think this thread is mostly overreacting to this.

I'm actually not that bothered I just like to take the piss out of clumsy stuff the club do - however for the sake of an argument (since I haven't seen you all season!) here's another perspective.

Banks may have sold it but it's the same company led by people who were happy with an owner saying daft stuff he said.

The current CEO was appointed a year before Banks sold it. No doubt there are  plenty of senior management remaining who were happy to take his pound.

I understand call centre staff don't have a choice but the senior management do, they can vote with their feet, so they don't get to just airbrush it now.

If I'm in a well paid management job in Bristol for an owner calling our city little Somalia I'd choose a different employer. And I don't just move on and slap my logo on our shirt like it never happened.

Perhaps they should also make a further donation to Robins Foundation to help inner city projects to show they really do want to turn the page on all that crap.

11 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Club has just confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that Banks is no longer involved with the company.

  We are proud to announce Fred West Building Services as our new back of shirt sponsor!

..

EDIT: Fred West is no longer involved in Fred West Building Services following his death in 1995.

The club would nonetheless condemn any prior inappropriate actions or behaviour by Mr West.

To be fair the weekday trade up there these days would be totally unviable for sustaining it as a pub (although I wonder where the converted Superbowl flats go for a drink) but there is so much history I agree it is shameful it just got quickly demolished - if they could have created other uses it'd be a great alternative to the Sports Bar and outdoor stalls which are rammed when open, could've been a cost effective museum and maybe digs or two apartments for youth players, in an authentic historic spot.

Used to dip in there for a quick drink when we found out it was a delayed kick off.

18 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Think @Olé did the digging a couple of weeks back.

Not me Dave! The club is more than capable of digging their own holes.

Awkward for Robins Foundation and Community Trust work

32 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

GoSkippy used to have ties to Arron Banks..no clue if still the case.

Parent company Somerset Bridge formerly Eldon, sold in 2021 I think - but had a fairly chequered past, FT reported on a very complex structure where GoSkippy was turning over huge sums but never making any money, which was paid out to other companies in Gibraltar and elsewhere as part of complex accounting.

Insurance business was fined £120k by Information Commissioners Office for using the Leave.EU database to market GoSkippy, and it was referenced in the investigation into Russian interference in Brexit as part of Banks finances and £9m of unaccounted donations despite reporting no real income in his own companies.

Banks while owning GoSkippy used to tweet that he was sick to death of hearing about Hillsborough so he has much affection for football fans.

14 minutes ago, Malago said:

Radio Bristol started Sept 1970.

Radio Bristol called Ian Gay for his opinion Oct 1970.

As an avid follower of the way NTTDS thinks, I am willing to bet it was the first HTV West Soccer Special that week, or something exciting like that.

Clues:

• Apart from round trip flights to Newcastle, John's other claim to fame is his incredible record-keeping and reporting of TV coverage of Bristol football
• He has given us the front cover of an issue of the Radio Times but hidden the date, which @Midlands Robin has traced to August/September 1970
• HTV West started in 1970
• On the odd week then HTV West started to show its own "Soccer Special" highlights rather than LWT's "The Big Match" (I got this off Google, obvs)
• This is exactly the sort of thing NTTDS would like to know about and would probably want a copy of the exact Radio Times listing, for his collection

Case closed.

Or if I'm wrong, the answer is Dame Margaret Rutherford looks like a half inflated Benny Lennartsson in a silly hat.

13 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

The booking for Conway in the first few minutes summed the ***** up 

Agree. I was watching the ref and he was staring upfield and 100% did not see the challenge. He looked around, was a bit surprised to see the Sunderland player on the floor and rolling around so early and ran over and booked Conway. It was the correct decision but if he hasn’t seen it he’s just guessing at decisions, and he spent most of the game doing so - he had no idea what happened to Sykes on our first penalty shout and one or two of Sunderland’s claims as well.

12 hours ago, Harry said:

Up until Boxing Day last year I would say there were a lot of fans who wanted him out and a lot of fans who were on the fence. There weren’t a huge amount at that time who were 100% happy with him. 
We’d had 18 months or so of pretty rotten football. Yes, there were reasons for that and we know the tough task he faced, but I do think that at Xmas last year most fans would have said that he should have been getting more from the squad and we certainly needed to improve home performances as we were being served up some pretty stodgy games at Ashton Gate.

I have seen a few people on here countering the popular narrative and saying that there is some rose tinted revisionism about Nigel Pearson's time at City, that his football was awful etc.

Yes, there may have been a mass reaction and backlash to the abysmal way he was treated, but suggesting that some of us can't remember what football we were watching is ridiculous.

You're obviously someone I know well and trust so not suggesting you're being quite so blunt in your argument, but I respectfully submit that in the same season before Boxing Day 2022:

• We had a 5 game run of 13 from 15 points scoring 12 goals, including stunning away win at Blackburn to go THIRD*
• Then gave both Norwich and Burnley (at the time fresh from the Premier League) 2 very tough games on their patch
• Won 2-0 away at West Brom and completely controlled the game, more so than I've ever seen us manage up there

Suggesting Pearson only got things right after Boxing Day is nonsense, in fact we started to turn the corner in the previous season (WSM) when the fast counter attacking was emerging. 

It is for that reason I wasn't booing NP at the Boxing Day game - the opposite, I thought it was a ridiculous overreaction, a far bigger one than people who defend NP are now accused of!

*Stunning away win at Blackburn:

Match Report - shock horror, nearly 4 months before Pearson supposedly finally figured out how to get us playing (!!)

Quote

In my life I've seen Smith, Osman, Jordan, Ward, Lennartson, Johnson (G), Millen, Coppell, Millen (again), McInnes, O'Driscoll, Cotterill, Johnson (L), and Holden teams all play in the second tier and Nigel Pearson's side eclipsed all of them today for quality of football and dominance at this level. The side he has fashioned is gelling brilliantly.

Under Johnson (L) City enjoyed many fine away days - arguably the highlights of his tenure - but never as slick and convincing as the way Pearson's in form side destroyed early pacesetters Blackburn from the off in a one sided assault at Ewood Park - Scott, Weimann and Wells unplayable despite the scoreline eventually having a balanced look.

24 minutes ago, Frenchay Red said:

JL is supposed to be the guest speaker at Senior Reds Christmas lunch today.

Everyone will be happy and content given the top 6 food budget.

Liam Manning is finding out the hard way that the Championship is a results business that rewards the brave and punishes the inexperienced. The new City boss' much changed and naively predictable brand of football has promised much and delivered little in recent weeks and so it was no great surprise at Ewood Park that his team once again promised much and delivered very little and slipped to a third defeat in four - Manning now with the worst league start as manager since the man who appointed him - Tinnion - 20 years and 10 managers ago.

The script is quickly becoming a familiar one - control the game for much of the first half yet with zero end product or ambition in the opposition box, get caught out at the back and go behind, run out of ideas second half, remove our best player and finish the game tamely finding no way back in. At Blackburn there were all these ingredients as against the run of play Sammie Szmodics was able to take advantage of soft marking to setup Arnor Sigurdsson's opener, and right after half time Scott Wharton was one of several to be queueing up to bury a far post header. 

Jason Knight was by some distance City's best player, often exhibiting single handed invention and purpose - and it was he that crafted Mark Sykes unerring goal back on the hour mark, before looking most likely to find an equaliser by forcing 3 sharp saves - so the small massed rank of travelling fans were left baffled when both players were hauled off for the final quarter hour. This left Manning's men to finish another fixture with little of the quality or belief needed to rally a rousing finish - allowing out of form Rovers to claim a win their fans felt barely merited.

Like Huddersfield on Saturday and each of City's recent outings, it was they that were in control of possession and tempo from the start, although found Blackburn defensively solid around their own box as an attritional opening developed. After 10 minutes Knight spun away from his marker in midfield and sent Sam Bell clear down the left to laser a rising effort well over. On the quarter hour Joe Williams caught Rovers in possession outside the Rovers box and setup Tommy Conway on the edge of the area who fired over the bar with City's closest sight of goal. 

Knight was already lookimg the pick of the players and inside 20 minutes Zak Vyner did well to race across and mop up a Blackburn opening before sending the all action Irish midfielder clear down the right, but as is so often the way at the moment, he didn't have many targets and could not centre the ball. Next Rob Dickie stole the ball and charged upfield to feed Knight, who beat two players and forced a corner. Yet again City wouldn't capitalise on their start and the hosts rallied as Szmodics curled a low free kick just past the post after Dickie was harshly penalised.

Two minutes later they would be in front. A spell of pressure building around City's box without any challenge saw Szmodics skip away from a half hearted challenge and lay off to Sigurdson in the box to curl past Max O'Leary. Manning's side visibly withered and only had George Tanner's long run down the right in response, but despite teammates all piling into the area, as is now typical his low cross was poor and easily cut out. Rovers finished the half on top, picking their passes and Szmodics had a low shot pushed wide.

Before the game home fans told us they did not expect much after recent poor form but within five minutes of the restart Blackburn were 2 ahead. Andrew Moran had already been allowed to run far too easily down the left and into the box where he cut back for Szmodics whose first shot was blocked and second well over. But with City all at sea, a minute later from a corner on the opposite flank Rovers had players queuing up at the far post and Wharton rose highest to bury a close range header past O'Leary - two goals down uncharted territory this season.

Conway had his now customary one on one, roaring in from the right channel only to fire wide of the opposite post in front of visiting supporters. Manning reacted by making a triple change, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Anis Mehmeti and Harry Cornick replacing City's  striker, as well as Bell and Williams. On the hour they got one back, stealing possession in midfield as Knight roamed upfield to the edge of the box before laying into the path of Sykes sprint in from the right, the winger slamming the ball goalwards, spinning into the top corner off Leo Wahlstedt's hands.

Blackburn did well to stall City's attempt to up the tempo and it was ten minutes before the visitors rallied again. Mehmeti worked it inside to Matty James and that man Knight turned brilliantly to find space and force the keeper to tip his low shot wide. Next another Mehmeti run into the box was wrongly ruled by a distant linesman to have crossed the byline, before from another break, Sykes went streaming down the right on a surging run, somehow holding off the challenge of a marker to square for Knight edge of the box to turn quickly and force the keeper to parry.  

A minute later Cam Pring, back in Manning's side, got to the byline and crossed into the box where Knight beat his man and headed dangerously just under the bar but into the keepers grateful hands. City were starting to turn up the heat in search of an equaliser so there was palpable disbelief in the away end as both Knight and goalscorer Sykes were immediately taken off for Andi Weimann and youngster Ephraim Yeboah. And that was it as a serious contest, City relying on a slice of magic from the frustratingly predictable cut inside of Mehmeti or rawness of Yeboah.

Mehmeti started a move from out on the left which Gardner-Hickman eventually worked back across to him to force the keeper into parrying away at the near post, and in injury time the Albanian winger wrestled his way past a marker in the area and flashed the ball across the face of goal which Yeboah was a yard short of converting. But in truth City looked lost, probing tamely outside the box, insisting on passing without conviction or quality to do so. Twice moves broke down cheaply for Blackburn to break, Sigurdson and Hayden Carter both close to a third.

It would have given the game a lopsided feel but may at least have highlighted the futility of Manning's increasingly predictable style - controlling long spells of possession in deep positions but without end product or quality in advanced areas, and apparently without a Plan B. A dogmatic insistence on sticking to this right to the very end suggests a one dimensional naivety to the creativity that is needed in the Championship and especially to win games and players look like they are shackled by the system and playing within themselves. Manning has much to prove.

O'Leary 5

Tanner 4

Pring 5

Vyner 6

Dickie 7

Williams 6

James 5

Knight 9

Sykes 7

Bell 5

Conway 4

Gardner-Hickman 6

Mehmeti 6

Cornick 5

Weimann 5

Yeboah 6

10 minutes ago, Grey Fox said:

The range of casual wear is also very poor, and does not cater for older / more mature tastes.

To make matters worse, the tinpot outfit up the road have their entire club shop run by The Terrace Shop who produce some very tidy casual wear for a few English clubs in every division on a licensing basis (i.e. they don't have to take over the club shop in the way Rovers have lock stock handed this all over, they can just produce some quality gear for clubs under a licensing agreement).

For whatever reason City is (wrongly) convinced by their own ability to produce good looking merchandise. Yes a lot of English clubs just use Terrace Shop for on demand merchandise (i.e. phone covers, mouse mats) but Sheffield Wednesday are among those (like the Gas) to have lots of casual wear and clothing including vintage and retro stuff, produced by The Terrace under licence.

https://theterracestore.com/collections/sheffield-wednesday

57 minutes ago, phantom said:

I get the feeling the club are more focussed on getting online sales rather than F2F sales

Not based on their website they're not

This looks like the thread for me. I'm quite conflicted, I absolutely detested the decision to bin off Pearson (and the way it was handled) and I didn't warm to the idea of Manning, but I agree with both the OP's and @Harry's view of Saturday and treating Manning and performances objectively, I don't understand the overreaction on every other thread from people who I was united in anger with after NP's sacking.

Since the international break although it's 1 win and 2 defeats, I've seen a clear attempt at a new pattern of play that I recognise has the potential to be highly effective, we've dominated and looked comfortable for sustained periods against 3 good teams, and it's only our lack of form up front (Conway has had a boatload of chances) and lack of strength in depth to provide alternatives which has cost us better results. 

At Southampton we were the better side first half and as has been well covered, we should have been easily ahead. They looked nervous and worried to commit bodies forward. It's nonsense that Manning has an issue setting up in second halves, Southampton actually adjusted (other teams can do this), pressed higher and committed extra bodies in attack which pinned us deeper and suffocated it after their goal.

On Saturday we were by far the better side for an hour, looked every bit a side that was going to jump to 7th, but again we wasted a majority of chances to put the game out of reach and by the second half we started to become careless and mishit relatively simple passes which is a complete no no for a possession building side. And then you concede 2 completely avoidable goals and the outlook is totally different. 

A lot of the reaction to Manning seems to be about the style of play being boring. I really don't see it - if Conway takes a few chances I don't believe anyone is looking back at these last few games and feeling they were harder to watch. Yes we're not hitting the front early by going direct on the break, but equally we're controlling games and building complex passing moves and still creating at least as many chances.  

I'm not sure how you'd argue one pattern of play is better or worse to watch than the other, in either case it's about taking chances and getting the results, we could be counter attacking at pace under NP and wasting the same chances and still losing these games. I assume a possession based passing game does at least in the long term offer us greater chance of success due to the ability to control football games.

All that said, Manning does not get a free pass. In places he is tinkering (trying to play Weimann and Mehmeti back into form), yet conversely he does not "go for it" the way NP had the balls to late in games. Why no Yeboah? If we weren't winning a game Pearson would add extra forwards - 3 at Millwall, 3 at Rotherham, both late wins. The comment about culture on Saturday was also a bit of meaningless deflection too.

3 days notice. Even for strikes this is a first. 

Also GWR has run a reduced intercity service on every prior strike day, why suddenly not now. Something is very fishy here. Is it the GWR management Xmas party on Sunday?