The turtle

You have no right to speak

That phrase is dead to me

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

gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal

the stuff stadiums have nightmares about when they are sleeping.

when even the commentators are remarking just how quiet the stadium is.....well that is not great!!! however, perhaps it is them putting everyone to sleep.

He's experimenting. We are at that point in the season. Trying different things in each half v the same side. Seeing truly what works and what doesn't. What players can do, what they can't. Who he has in his plans who he doesn't. It's a super long pre season, ready to hit the ground running. I don't think we'll see a back 3 in any game until we are 2 up, allowing us to work on it while ahead. And yes, I'm joking

It was like a competition on who could play slower for basically first 15. They then fell to absolutely pieces. Playing the worst version of "our modern kind of football" 2nd goal was very much earnt however by sensing the moment. 2nd half wasn't great and feeds into the narrative that whenever does make tweaks we seem to be worse but the damage had been done.

Decent argument this is needed for those "stop the counter in transition" fouls For everything else, more subjectivity is just what football needs

I listened on talk sport 2; they were very much "bristol city" the whole way through. To the point of correcting themselves on the odd bristol.

I never used the free car park for pick ups/drop offs till the new rates. But now, free car park and shuttle bus every time. It comes every 15 mins and it's pretty good tbh.

This particular app has been great for me!

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled, etc etc. You won't allow reserve sides? NO problem, operation infiltration it is. We'll do our work in your building in the exact way you described.

You know , football is supposed to be fun. This week, on the fbc podcast (by @Curr Avon)at the start Ian used the phrase a game too far. I felt it was a mis-use of the phrase. Why: well 1st Jan 2018, spanked 5-0 by villa, the team were clapped off. Why? Credit in the bank. Entertainment and fun to that point. The team had earnt the right to be off the pace. Yes that season fell away, but in that moment they had earnt a game too far. And that's football. Through many ways your teams earn money in the bank; Win football matches, with the feeling deserved to more often than not Be entertaining, but not reckless Be fun to watch, but put an utter shift in defending. Play well and intend to entertain (at city this matters as atmosphere starts mostly on the pitch) Put in an absolute effort performance when it's not clicking (fans see this more than anything, this credit isn't endless but it has value) Have the board, Management and fans all on one side. With a goal, a buy in........and this is the beginning of the problem; hiding in plain site. All the stats about the academy, half the goals etc etc. and then it dawned on people. The absolute best of the crop get sold off. That money was not reinvested x2 (we know why but doesn't change the fact it wasn't) and back to square 1 again. 4 to 9 points off the playoffs. And then there's the messaging. The window was for tomorrow; this season is now implied as a write off. That's not what i got bctv for in the summer (yeah i know it's a bargain compared to season ticket. The result? Well if they've written off the season.. should i really invest my time in the same way? When i ask my students what do you like about school, the main response... I get to see my mates.T hat's been football for a while now. To get to see my mates Where's the sense of adventure? where's the sense of the unknown? Where's the fun? Where's the excitement? To me that's the problem; the words from the club just don't match what a decent amount of people see or feel. Most football fans will buy into a reset, a few years building, but to then knock it down to go another way without payoff, that's not how it works.. it feels hard to accept. And that's the point right now. The actual fun is fleeting and in the cup. But the league? Actually excited for league games... It's been a while. It's more relief when a game is actually good. The games aren't entertaining. Too many halves with 0 or 1 shot on target. Too much chess football. Too many halves where I've been impressed in some way by the opposition - preston HT changes, Sunderland, ipswich- this really annoys me. And then you hear words like control, and removing emotion from decisions. Non of it screams fun, non of it feels a reason to create a fire in the belly of a dragon atmosphere. It actual feels like the goal is to do the opposite of fun. A mathematical footbalk equation to be solved. And as you said! is that really it? Was this really the dream. 1998-2005 city being here just felt impossible, now we are established it's simply not enough to rinse and repeat seasons. It's a bit of a joke to be here, from September, and the feeling we are well well well short squad wise in what the current manager actually wants. From protecting weaknesses to at times exposing them. Is that why you go to a game every week, to prepare for a season that never actually comes, because the best players have Already moved on?

This, this and this. Sport is a game of bluff. You at least have to convince the other team often enough your willing and dangerous doing something else. How often have we seen in game adjustments? It's rare How often have those adjustments had a positive impact? Rarer still Too often it's like for like.. hoping changing players will change things. In game changes matter just as much as time on the grass. in my opinion HT last night was a free hit. It was clear; what was happening was not working, and it was a question of when they would score. Second half starts and as you were boys! I mean, Do something new, try something, anything! Stick a CB up front even. Too embedded to a way of wanting to play, rather than seeing and adjusting what's in front of your eyes. Last night didn't annoy me because of the defeat! It was the way! And a decent amount of that comes down to the philosophy and severe lack of adjustments... Surely, if you want your players to be both brave and make in game decisions, shouldn't that apply to management too?

Well that was depressing

I don't remember watching too many 0-1s where i felt the score was flattering. However There's no point being too annoyed. It's leeds, let's be fair a point would have been a bonus, but it's the performance which is depressing. The next two games, it's tough to see a win, even if football never works like that. QPR though, that's a game that really does needs to be won, and playing well. Making a full scale management change mid season....a winter transfer, mostly focused on the fruits of tomorrow... To me that's a football club writing off this season, planning for next..... getting to the point where drawing/losing generates a shrug and move on. (Even if it still just takes a good run) It's clear... Not going up, not going back. Using this season to figure out who stays. If those in charge aren't all in on this season, it's kind of pointless letting city rule my emotions in a way that doesn't match.

Some may say controlling their emotions a bit too much.

Well that was fun. The good old lull them in with 0 shots on target, let them get too comfy. Football works in funny ways, we could easily still win this, but in that 45 challenging for the playoffs looked rather laughable.

Leeds are showing the levels needed to play this kind of football. And the money required to be very very good at it They've also showed what happens when you aren't clinical. As the end of the half showed, We are still in the game.

Something curious about Spanish football. Often when teams go down; attendances actually go up. It's like a badge of honour. Malaga have been through a pretty depressing time recently. At the weekend, in the 3rd division no less. They played their main rivals B team (another story). This was the scene post game https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2nLPMiI129/?igsh=MTBkczEwZXAyYmJwcA== P.s i love their away kit.

Watford away was the high point, the game where it came together. It's the only game, and if you do want to finish high up the league playing this way , that needs to be the standard. The problem is we are having to look for signs of improvement, data to prove points rather then a long term swing of both playing well and winning matches. Coventry was kind of manning time in a bottle. First half so much promise, i thought played well and made Coventry look bad. 2nd half, for 35 mins, we did nothing, the game became nothing. There are so many periods of games where absolutely nothing happens in the name of control, the stadium home or away just dies the game then has nothing to feed off. passing the ball around in areas where the other team let's you have it is not playing well; it's a mirage. Because as soon as we get to the business end, the creativity/end product has been found wanting (wanting to play football a certain way v utilizing strengths you have; i mean wells and Conway produced results together who knew?) It's not like we are pulling teams ragged either created golden opportunities. More goals seem to come from winning the ball high up the pitch which has been a strength all season, transition counters a strength all season, and crosses. It's not all good, it's not all bad, it's Just different...... And right now it's fair to question what's the point of the different, here today for this season? Because we lack certain players, all season long games have often been boring where little happens then quality moments. (Selling best player and injuries don't help) Now that seems even more extreme. There are long periods of operation control where you could go for a pint and miss nothing, but every so often in a game you get a period of "oh that's decent" but it's too often fleeting. We live in an world where our manager preaches control and and balanced emotions, which if you listen closely he's making a good point, but it causes an emotive response from supporters because football is EMOTION heavy. The game thrives on emotion. Take it away and nobody goes anymore. And then there's the team! They are likable, the effort is there. The will is there. But, to play football this way X2 strikers (as the two we have don't fit this way) Right sided attacking Left sided attacking Attacking midfielder That's a lot of money, because playing this way costs more.

I'm 7th at the mo. I've been as high as 2nd in december, but pulled back a bit in recent weeks.

It's like a chess stalemate at the mo. I'd expect them not only to keep this pace but find many more gears ar some point.

Turtle says, they don't expect clean sheets. Next game... Course it was 0-0 Go me.