Simon bristol

Amen! I texted my teenage son earlier,,, asked if he was excited for the season starting,, of course he was,,, then i told him about david james signing and how we couldn’t concede with england world cup keeper playing for us… we are bristol city,,, letting people down on day 1 is what we do!

I think it will be conway,,, but sam bell when he gets moving down the left and cuts in,,, hes a right handful,, and its great to see!

He has a case of bournemouthitis.. will suddenly be better when hes starting for them next week

To be fair, cornick had half a season last year and wasnt exactly ronaldo then either!

Unless hes got a knock,, i dont know what pearson is thinking?

I figure knight is a massengo replacement, but who can hopefully score?!

I dont think the club could or should run the risk of anything happening to scott which could jeopardise that 25 million, who knows if we will ever get a fee like that again in the next 20 years! i do agree though that without him, our midfield will be left undynamic and lacking in top quality ( I appreciate james role, and knight looks like a good box to box runner), which i mentioned on here a few weeks ago. There are a few who might take scotts place, probably weimann in the short term, but unless benarous comes back completely recovered and can take the role on or mehmeti takes over that role, i dont see anyone in the squad with the play maker quality we would need, and apparently new signings are unlikely to fit within our wage budget?

I think a lot of football manager talk is a riddle wrapped in an enigma,,, i havent heard it but I understand pearson said he doesnt know how many bids there have been for scott which is clearly questionable… and nige is probably regarded as one of the more straight talking guys around… thats why this 25 mil gets you a seat at the table stuff is also open to question,,, we are clearly not privy to private business conversations going on,,, alex might not have gone to meet bournemouth himself, but it’s guaranteed that his representatives have and know exactly what has been offered!

Yes, we knew it was coming but hes had his preseason with us playing in games and working on relationships with players, and then is gone just before the first game,, so frustrating!

Indeed, really hope this is benarous stepping into a pitch again!

Shocking manager,, he probably had some high level technical approach all laid out that no one can understand so they got beaten, its not his fault, it’s everyone elses.

God, we cant have conway out for any period of time.

Any score yet?

I imagine lots do, in france? Massengo was fantastic for us, and that bajic kid looks rock solid too.

Yes,, and if nothing else,, we have 3/4 new signings who wont have played a game at home before preston. It would seem to me you would want to feel the pitch, the atmosphere, the crowd before turning up in front of 25000?

Yes, its all good fun trouncing lower league sides, a friendly or 2 against stronger opposition could surely have been arranged? Preston have played ipswich and aberdeen which will have been a better run out and more competitive than what weve arranged. if that gives them a little extra 1% on day one then it would be worth it? Maybe i just miss the days of the mallorca and ajax friendlies of years gone by… might get a few quid in the bank too with a decent crowd at ag!?

Yes, the sort of lad you would like your daughter to bring home. Being brought up in france without the same intensity as the championship means english football might not be suited to him.? He has had a rough ride here, but after 6 years of so and lots of loans, some of it has to be down to him as well?

Im sure knight and james will be starting every game they are available for, its that 3rd spot that will be up in the air.

Playing him off conway would probably be his best position, but that obviously isnt an option with the 2 wide forwards?

Williams would be one of our remaining senior midfielders, i thought i also mentioned mehmeti as the likely replacement in scotts role, but whether he is influential in the championship or not im not quite sure, though hes clearly talented. brentford have been brilliant at it, we sold semenyo in january and signed cornick! The academy has provided most of our best/ most valuable players in the last few years. im sure there have been lots of posts in this thread about keeping scott and making a run for the playoffs, which would obviously require a big change in league position.

Conway is frightening, bell is coming on in leaps and bounds, weimann and wells are another year older and cornick is “unproven” for us yet… i think i was responding to someone who was sayjng that once Scott leaves our midfield wont be too bad, or something similar… we will be left with king, plus 3 midfielders who we have some injury doubts about plus knight, who hopefully comes in and does very well.. williams is one of those who we would have to rely on to give us game time. our gk situation is also questionable, and defence of vyner and dickie remain to be seen, hopefully mccrorie comes in and is a bit more comfortable on the ball than tanner, who no one has any problem with and gives his all, but isn’t necessarily the best with the ball? Pring is nailed on to start. as to who we sign to replace scott,, who knows, but clearly we wont be getting the likes of mcatee or someone of that standard/ value in,,, the 2/3 million range might be more like it? Clearly if scott goes we can’t attract anyone in of that standard because hes the best young midfielder in the country in that age group.. i gather im in the minority on my thoughts of our prospects for the new season, i dont see how we are going to pull 10 places based on our new signings, and if scott goes, i think we will be left with conway and bell as our main hope for next season.

Not really a new scapegoat, but hes clearly had major injury issues and cant have a consistent impact for a top half championship team who are hoping for the playoffs in my view? Without the power to his game hes limited to what he offers in my view?

I dunno? But we will be replacing a 20 odd million once in a generation midfielder with a 2/3 million midfielder? It fundamentally must be weaker? if/ when he leaves I would expect mahmeti to take scotts attacking midfield place, which hopefully he grows into. Its a shame in a lot of ways about what’s happened to benarous, that could have been his role, perhaps it might still be?

Our midfield, with no scott, and having to assume joe williams plays every week is bottom third of the championship, unfortunately! And thats assuming knight comes in and immediately becomes one of our top players,, which he might hopefully do?!

Or that wolves game after we beat united?