Supersonic Robin

1 minute ago, robin_unreliant said:

Williams made a nice overlap but Mehmeti just seems to be on planet Anis.

Impressive the commitment that some of our fans have in trying to find every excuse to have a dig at Mehmeti 

Good bit of play from Mehmeti

Chance for Bell but he scuffs it wide

34 minutes ago, David Brent said:

Rather annoying that sky sports coverage means there will be no Robins TV for this fixture 

Feels like with Sky, the weird 'international coverage', and the cup games, I've barely been able to watch City on Robins TV recently.

You'd think they'd find a way to give Robins TV subscribers automatic access when games are covered on Sky - simply removing the game from Robins TV seems harsh for those that have paid for the service. It's the equivalent of revoking a season ticket holder's ticket for games that are on Sky.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to find other ways to access live streams of the games, but I'm sure there are others who aren't. 

51 minutes ago, OliOTIB said:

I can drive a tractor and im a manual manipulator is far worse

Good point actually, this is just as bad.

In fairness though, I think part of the reason people sing it is just to ruin it for away fans who are trying to take the p*ss.

18 hours ago, beaverface said:

Doobie doobie doo

All day long

Really?! Got to say the Doobie Doo one is probably the worst!

(tied with that f****** weird one people used to do for Kasey Palmer)

1 hour ago, IAmNick said:

It's interesting in that context that the "We always seem to up our game against the better teams" / "We struggle against teams near the bottom" myth is so prevalent here.

Though under Manning this "myth" has very much been the case.

I don't think we've beaten a bottom half side since he came in. Last time I checked, I think it was P7 W0 D3 L4

Good result, strange performance.

Really not sure why we changed to the 3-4-2-1 at HT.

2 minutes ago, UncleRed said:

Some people think having a “good” performance is dominating the ball for 90 minutes and the opposition keeper making 10+ saves.

Not being 2-0 up away from home and defending the lead against a team who on paper, should be substantially higher than us in the league.

Theyve also had 6 days rest instead of 3, and did zero travelling since the Chelsea game.

Agree.

Don't think this half has been anywhere near as bad as many are making out.

We haven't been great since changing system at HT, but part of that appears to have been a conscious decision to sit back and keep things relatively tight rather than try to get a 3rd.

Just now, petehinton said:

I’d be half tempted to sub off Mehmeti if I was manning. Hes absolutely killed us since coming. So desperately want it to drop for him, but he’s making it tough to watch. 

It's the change of shape rather than the individuals involved. Mehmeti, Conway, and McCrorie have all been okay individually since coming on.

1 minute ago, petehinton said:

That Azaz is very good. Hope he’s on our radar for the summer. 

I was just thinking Azaz looked good. Shame we couldn't get that one done.

Surprised that Cornick has been the one to go off.

Possibly the best half Cornick has had for us.

2 minutes ago, transfer reader said:

******* hell, how has a thread where there's been almost no criticism of max (barring him rushing out and there being a mix up- which we got away with) ended up where he's now somehow a scapegoat?

you've got a victim complex on his behalf!

There are some rather extreme reactions on here when you dare to criticise some players. Today's thread is illustrating that quite clearly!

Oh Sam.....

Great play from Dickie and a good (though unusual) finished from Knight!

31 minutes ago, petehinton said:

I’m not being OTT in saying that Wells miss might be the worst I’ve ever seen in a city game. 
 

Almost a bit relieved it happened to him and not Cornick. 

Not wanting to kick a man whilst he's down, but surely that accolade had to go to Sam Bell for this season.

Recall Bell had a near identical miss to Wells' at QPR this season (1 min 33 secs in 1st video), as well as missing an open goal with all the time in the world (2nd video)

4 minutes ago, The Coach said:

Shouldn’t have Bell taking one so early given his out of form state and not part of starting team

Reasonable point, maybe a more experienced and composed player might have been a wiser choice.

Of course you can argue it the other way and say that as a forward, it makes sense for him to take one.

Ah well, gave a very good account of ourselves over the 2 legs.

A Sam Bell penalty miss the only difference between the 2 sides. 

1 minute ago, cityexile said:

It is difficult to tell, but player reactions do often tell you something. Everyone close appealed straight away. Luckily we have VAR so it must be right…

Agree, player reactions are often the best way to tell these things IMO.

Our players appeal and casually walk away as if to say "well that will obviously be ruled out". The Forest striker sheepishly does a half-celebration. It looks like the reaction I'd expect to a handball.

A few assorted thoughts on all of this:

• The reason why Ashton Gate is often quiet is because not enough fans are singing. We have 20k fans in the stadium - it's not the case that we're all singing but we magically produce no noise due to acoustics.
   
• The above being said, it doesn't help that our 'singing section' is crammed into a small corner of the stadium. Especially when you compare it to away fans having the full Atyeo end.
   
• As much as I'd love the atmosphere to improve at AG, I acknowledge that I have no right to tell others how they should go about enjoying the game. Provided someone has paid for a ticket, they're allowed to give more attention to their phone than the match, spend half the game in the concourse, and leave 10 minutes early should they wish to.
   
• There are no "right songs" or "wrong songs". It's like music. The older fans will likely think that football chants peaked in the 1980s, the younger fans will probably prefer some of the more modern stuff. That's just how it goes.
   
• Our club's situation doesn't help with the atmosphere. We've been very midtable with little concern of promotion/relegation for quite a while now. In recent years we've been conducting some very necessary, but not very exciting, cost cutting. We're also a side who have been relatively poor in terms of both home performances and results. This, coupled with growing dissatisfaction with the board, is a perfect recipe for a flat atmosphere.
   
• I think there's a difference between what we may want and what the club (JL) may want in terms of an atmosphere at AG. My impression is that the club don't want Ashton Gate to have a raucous or hostile atmosphere, their dream is for AG to be a fun, warm, family friendly day out - more akin to an Olympic event or a School Sports Day than a traditional English football match. It's not that the club "haven't thought about it" re the atmosphere, it's that they have thought about it but are aiming for something different to what most of the fans want.

4 hours ago, Tim Monaghan said:

What a question! We’ve all embarked on our Bristol City journey at different points in our lives. For me, it began when we were a midtable League One club, teetering on the edge of relegation to League Two. Back then, the Gas held sway as Bristol’s dominant team and I was in the minority at school when it came to Gas vs City supporters. I vividly recall those days when we scraped together every penny, yearning for the day when we’d stand tall as an established Championship side. And guess what? We’ve achieved just that.

As a devoted fan, I’ve witnessed Bristol City’s triumphs across iconic stadiums: the old Wembley, New Wembley, and the Millennium Stadium. We’ve celebrated a League One title, hoisted multiple JPT cups (aren’t we the record holders?), and battled it out in nail-biting Championship Finals. 

But here’s the crux: I want our beloved club to compete fiercely, yet responsibly. I envision Bristol City standing strong even 200 years from now, an integral part of our community. Yes, I yearn to see our team grace the Premier League, representing the very city I’m immensely proud to call home. However, not at the expense of our soul.

And let’s be real—I’m content. The Premier League remains a distant summit, a colossal task. Only three teams out of 24 achieve this each season. Three! Sure, we can grumble about missed opportunities, but as a football club and a passionate fanbase, we’ve had it pretty darn good. The Lansdowns deserve our gratitude; without them, I wouldn’t have witnessed this decent journey. Remember, it wasn't that long ago we were battling against Swindon. Look at them now. Let’s not forget our humble beginnings—the days when we were threadbare and broken. Those who’ve only known the recent success might not fully grasp the struggle and will have only know relatively good times under SL, so I get it, they know no different.  

 

A well written post brimming with positivity, TM! Now I'm going to be the voice of negativity 

You say that only 3 teams out of 24 achieve promotion each season. True, but at this point, only 5 current Championship teams HAVEN'T achieved promotion to the Premier League. And every couple of years another smaller club reaches that milestone before us. Last year it was Luton, before that it was Brentford, before that it was Bournemouth.

You say "we've had it pretty darn good". Have we!?!? 0 major trophies. 0 seasons of Premier League football. 9 seaons of top flight football in our entire history, most of which were pre-WW1. Are there any clubs in cities as big as Bristol, who can pull in a 20k+ attendence for a midtable Championship game with nothing to play for, who have achieved just as little as we have? 

I would argue that compared to our peers, Bristol City FC & our fans have had a pretty darn awful time of it!

1 hour ago, Edgy Red said:

I might be in the minority but i'm happy to watch us in The Championship. I don't think The Prem is all its cracked up to be and is so heavily obsessed with the Big 6, that it wouldn't be as enjoyable as people think. Don't even get me started on VAR!

I would rather see us in a few Cup quarter/semi finals, playing attractive football with a sprinkling of local boys in the team.

I think as i've got older its become more about the day with my mates, and while a City defeat still ruins the weekend, i don't feel like i did 30 years ago.

I go to games with a number of mates who support other clubs and they all enjoy coming to The Gate and the matchday experience that we have.

1 hour ago, Elmore James said:

I also don't want City to get promoted because we as a club would almost certainly be totally embarrassed week in, week out, both on the field but even more so off of it.

Personally, I think this viewpoint is a bit negative.

I don't blame you for that, I think it's the result of supporting a club who have continuously underachieved for many years.

But that's the frustrating thing and my main opposition to your points - there's no reason why we can't be a Premier League side who are competitive on the pitch, play reasonably attractive football, and have a sprinkling of academy talent in the team.

Equally, avoiding promotion is no guarantee of those things. Unfortuantely, we've seen our side play plenty of embarrassing, unattractive, academy-less matches over the years. Even the point re the Premier League being "top 6 obsessed" - I believe that no Championship team was selected for Sky coverage less than us last season.

We're very capable of being a respectable Premier League team, and we're also very capable of being an embarrassing Championship team 

12 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

To really be and act like a top 30 club in the country. No reason we cannot

By that I mean always challenging for promotion from this league, occasionally making it, being able to thrash teams in this league, not just edge a 1 goaler every third or fourth game

I previously said that I think our top-end potential is midtable club Premier League who can have a crack at an FA Cup / League Cup. That's never going to be our "steady state" though - i.e. we won't be doing that every year for 40 years.

In terms of a steady-state level of performance, I think your suggestion is very reasonable. Some good years at my theoretical top end, some bad years midtable in the Championship, and most of the time somewhere in the middle (i.e. around Championship top 6).

6 minutes ago, BCFCGav said:

Trophies, that's the measure of any football club. I dream of seeing us win our first major honour in my lifetime. In the current format, that could only feasibly be a League Cup or FA Cup. So, get promoted, stay up, build a middling Prem squad (see Fulham, Brentford, Brighton), then go one step further and take advantage of a kind cup run to lift one of the domestic competitions.

This.

We've seen plenty of clubs our size and smaller become established in the Premier League, and seen a few of those go on to win major trophies (Wigan, Swansea, and Birmingham to name a few).

IMO, this is the top end limit of what we could realistically achieve as a football club. Therefore, this should be our aim.

On 04/02/2024 at 08:24, Baldyman said:

I really don’t think we can afford to be too blasé about our likelihood to go down even with one relegation spot all but decided already . Plymouth will go above us if they win their game in hand and Blackburn and Birmingham will be within one win of us if they win theirs . Add in the fact that we’ve got Southampton and Boro coming up , the game against QPR could become a must win ! If we don’t , we’ll be well and truly in it so any “ we’re safe” arrogance is a very dangerous thing . 

Without meaning to jinx it, I think we can be fairly relaxed. I'd be absolutely amazed if we went down.

It's easy to say things like "we're only X points above the relegation zone, 3 wins and team Y will be right behind us!", but people forget something relative simple - teams at the bottom of the table don't win very often. Rotherham, for example, only have 3 wins all season. The chance of them winning a few games back to back is minimal. The bottom 3 are all averaging less than a point per game this season.

We have a buffer of 10 points and 7 teams between us and the bottom 3.  Even with a very underwhelming 2nd half to the season, we should be able to drag ourselves over the line without too much worry.

23 hours ago, Sir Geoff said:

To all those that say no way will we go down. Just a reminder. On 9th February 2020 Hull City sat in 14th place on 40 points. At the end of the season that sat in 24th place on 45 points. 

True, but that's a bit of a freak event (as illustrated by Hull collecting just 5 points in a third of a season).

It's not disimillar to saying "You can't write off Burnley as Premier League champions next year - remember Leciester City?"