Hup

All players affected have been fully aware of their individual position for some weeks now. All players are currently contracted until the summer and beyond so are a resource that will be used accordingly. Players desire to play or not isn’t their decision. It’s a club one depending on availability players. 

3 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

22 years old, attacking midfielder. Loan spells at quite a few local clubs including the mighty Yate. Not a name I expected on the bench as he seems to play in a position we’re well covered for today and may well not be renewed in the summer. As I said earlier, I’d have probably gone Campbell-Slowey for no other reasons than position, age and definitely here next year.

Plays 4, 8 or 10 and isn’t 21 until the summer. 

4 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

I thought that Idehen was released before Xmas? Ah well, maybe shop window for him? Araoye Captain in that line up is interesting, but could also be a way of getting him into the thoughts of some scout's looking for loans.

A fair number have already been told their futures lie elsewhere. 
 

Captaincy has been moved around since Backwell got injured against Sunderland who was named 21s skipper a couple of days before that game. 
 

McCrorie looked a little rusty (as you would expect) first 15/20 mins. After that very good. Strong, committed - really powerful going forward with very good delivery and shirks nothing. Good on the ball too (for a big lad!)! Put a real shift in. GT will have his work cut out once RM is fully match fit. 

5 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Plus James, who actually started at Cardiff & Nelson who was repeatedly on the bench under Nige, are both only subs today.

No idea where Sam Pearson or Araoye are, either.

Know that Backwell & Taylor-Clarke are both injured.

Pearson suspended (5 yellows). Araoye same injury as Backwell & OTC. 

1 hour ago, Sleepy1968 said:

Thought Marlee Francois looked decent when he came on today. Is this 'doghouse' stuff something that we should be concerned about? Cus I was thinking he definately looked better in his 20 minutes than most of them.

This is how young players get bullshit reputations. There is no ‘doghouse’ situation with Marlee or Omar (albeit he didn’t cover himself in glory preseason - and that was on pitch too).

Form, or lack there of, that’s it. And OTC has been injured for a while on top of that.

‘Fans’ need to be more conscious of rumour mongering particularly with young players trying to forge a career. It’s ridiculous and not fair on the individuals concerned. 

3 hours ago, RedRock said:

Frankly - if they ‘don’t fancy it’ - they should **** off out the Club, the snowflakes. 

Maybe take them to a bakery at 5:00am in the morning to do a hard physical shift and then ask them whether getting up at 6:00 am to kick a football around the pitch for 90 minutes at 1:00 pm is a chore. 

Jesz, I hope Nige doesn’t hear about players ‘not fancying it’.

Firstly. It’s a job. Just so happens they kick a ball for a living. You never had a day when we weren’t quite on it? Or it didn’t go your way for whatever reason. Footballers are people. No more. No less. Everyone is built differently. It happens. Which leads me to my second point - you have clearly never kicked a ball at any sort of level to be coming out with backward shouts like comparing it to other jobs. But everyone is entitled to an opinion. To each their own

41 minutes ago, Countryfile said:

Which is why they should also be given the best possible opportunity to prepare correctly.

Absolutely. Like they say - Fail to prepare… 

And yes AFCB would have been a decent side. But City have a good crop too. As highlighted against Spurs. 
 

Games like these depend on how players are wired… if a few don’t fancy it always going to be an uphill battle - Which by the sounds of it is exactly what happened!! 

5 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

That takes me back to schoolboy days where there was usually one who didn't make the coach.

The kick off times need to be looked at.

Halft Time 0-3

One player actually did that for the Charlton game and had to train on his own at HPC instead! 

8 minutes ago, Tony Tootle said:

3-0 down now 

This is what happens when they meet at HPC at 7am spend 3 hours on a coach and are expected to perform. Same away at Charlton. Absolutely ridiculous. 

21 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Indeed, was going to post similar - if you go to Tins Twitter it shows the full clip which I think you’ve seen and the whole move is excellent, mainly from Yeboah - well worth watching

21 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Indeed, was going to post similar - if you go to Tins Twitter it shows the full clip which I think you’ve seen and the whole move is excellent, mainly from Yeboah - well worth watching

Great desire / tackle in midfield for the second one to start the move

2 hours ago, RoystonFoote'snephew said:

I expect Leeson and Taylor-Clarke to get a squad number as the season progresses but serious game time will probably mean we've had some serious injuries. 

I'm not sure I expect Pearson, Kadji, Idehen and Bajic to be around post January 

Leeson a very outside chance. As an example - OTC not a cat in hells… (crying wolf on tour with injuries put pay to that) the ‘pathway’ door is very much closed with decent recruitment this summer and a clean bill of health amongst senior pros. ‘Chances’ were given at the back end of the season on the premise of a thread bare squad - nothing else. The only way that changes is if senior pros aren’t getting game time and want out or if injuries in volume rares it’s ugly head again. 

20 minutes ago, RoystonFoote'snephew said:

Too much is read into squad numbers. While the lack of numbers for some of our youngsters could mean some are going to be loaned out it could just as easily mean theyre going to mainly play in the U21s. They will get a squad number if and when they're called up to the 1st team squad, as has been the case in previous seasons. 

Stop with all that common sense A loan or two to be announced in next 48hrs as well. 

44 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

So seeing as Owura started, we scored after 2 mins, I assume Bath’s Twitter admin were correct that he scored the opening goal…as some have said Yeboah scored…yet he was sub?

Owura started the second half - didn’t start the game. Yeboah did (came off after 55/60mins) and scored the first goal. Good finish. 

We’ll you won’t see many better goalkeeping performances at any level than the Coventry lad today!! Kadji - more and more like Bakinson every time I see him. Can’t help but think he’s not a Pearson type player. 

17 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

He hasn't been fully fit pretty much since he first arrived at the club, I don't see how you can judge the guy on any of this season, no matter what level he is playing at.

Just out of curiosity. If a player is deemed to be fit enough to play (because they don’t play if they are not - S&C won’t allow it) and play 90 minutes consistently for over six weeks (apart from his first game where minutes were managed) - how else do you judge a player? There’s a reason he’s nowhere near the first team. Performance levels and application. Nothing to do with fitness. 

6 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

His performances for the 21s have been staggering (I’ve now watched him 6/7 times in those games). If he wants first team football you would expect him to strive to ‘stand out’ to show his worth. With his experience he should lead be by example. Work rate, positioning, eagerness to be involved in the game instead of hiding, he doesn’t say a word. When he has the ball it seems his only intent is trying to beat one or two which fails more often that not. Decision making is shot. He’s either disinterested or has something going on off the field.  (Which I hope isn’t the case). If he does make the bench tmw, it can only be a numbers decision. Such a shame… thought we’d bought a good ‘un.

3 hours ago, bcfc01 said:

Kane Wilson and Francois subbed, they'll be on the bench at Luton.

That was the plan - however they should have be subbed regardless. Woeful. Both offered absolutely nothing. Fear for Wilson’s future at the club tbh. 

6 hours ago, Bristolcityyatton said:

Interesting to see how Haikin performs.

No Zak Bell or  Knight-Lebel.... maybe rested in case they need to be on the bench for the first team ?

Both injured

2 hours ago, spudski said:

Cracking game down at lodge road yesterday.

Backwell and Wood both started. Backwell did ok, got hooked. Wood was more impressive, very composed. Hooked later on.

Two great goals from Yate. One straight from kick off.

Three howlers conceding. The defending at the corner is a joke. Then the call from the keeper to win the ball from a long cross is hilarious. Don't think he got within 2ms of it Then the cheap ball inside to lose possession leads to the winner. 

Watching this and my mates stream of City at the same time made for an entertaining afternoon.

Speaking to a Poole fan, the majority of their fans behind the goal celebrating are banned from home games

Apparently one had to get a train back as the coach driver wouldn't let him back on...he was that wasted

 

Both players been out injured for 12/14 weeks. First starts in that period for both. Planned 45 and 60 mins respectively.

Strong display this afternoon. U21s doing what they do really well. Happy to play without the ball and hit on the counter. Really tight, solid shape not allowing an average Everton side to create and when they did, snuffed everything out. Back three were excellent. Especially Duncan & Jamie KL. Omar TC looking like first team exposure is aiding his development. Seb PH ran his socks off as usual with little to feed off. U21s are a tough nut to crack. Great result. 

7 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

Perhaps he had to go out on loan to develop his game and get time in first team football? Like most young players do. I doubt Pearson takes such decisions based entirely on crowd reaction in one game.

Ultimately, young players, like older players, get judged on performance and if someone is having a 'mare, it doesn't matter if they've played one game for us or 500, there will be calls to hook them off. We can't afford passengers and we can't afford to drop points, plus it can do players' confidence more harm to leave them on field to make potentially more mistakes, than the humiliation of being subbed will. 

However, I'll agree with you that you can't make judgement on players' effectiveness - any age of player - based on one or two games, particularly if they are cameo performances. Shades of the famous "Matt Smith is Awful" post, just before he helped turn our season around. In young players, there is a developmental arc that they are on, which means, as you say, patience is needed and they may be a better player next season than they were this one. 

I'll also agree that booing and heckling individual players is unhelpful and unfair. It's a team game, and the manager sends them out and tells them what to do. I'm not a fan generally of City supporters ever booing City players.

That said, if a team selection and performance isn't working, it's quite normal for the crowd to let the manager know they can see this and hope he changes things around. Managers can be stubborn creatures and loathe sometimes to see what's happening right in front of them, because their plans worked out so fine in training or on paper. As supporters, we pay our money, and we have the right to occasionally show disquiet at how things are going. 

Agree with some of this. There has to be balance. Bottom line as a fan, all that matters is winning games. 3 points above all else. Any other positives on top of that are a bonus. Ie. Performance, playing style, quality of game etc. 

I do however disagree with ‘we pay our money so…’. As fans our ‘job’ is to support the team, no matter what. Not get a red mist after a few pints and lose the plot which as we all know Ashton Gate is very guilty of, either that or complete silence. Which is sometimes worse. 

The impact fans have on players young and older is massive. I know for a fact that until this recent run of form players, and I quote ‘hated playing at home’. Can’t wait for away games. The players talk and how the fans are at home is a massive issue for the squad. Hugely affects performance. Some people often either don’t understand that or care as long as they can have a rant. It’s a two way thing I know! 

43 minutes ago, joe jordans teeth said:

Correct but not sure why you have put it in this section 

Tired and pressed the wrong button - no big deal!

2 minutes ago, RedRock said:

Understand…. So Wells was an exception? 

Clearly, there are several of the squad that still need to be moved on, and quickly. Pearson’s main mission and how our poor performances are being justified, and tolerated by the majority, is his work on the Club’s ‘culture change’. We don’t want to infect our youngsters with ‘Comfy Club’ mentality. 

Theres always an exception to the rule. Wells is a consummate professional - I think with him being at the other end of his career he also realises what he can offer the younger lads in terms of leading by example.
 

I don’t think there’s any concern in terms of ‘infection’ - a massively driven bunch of very good players desperate to carve out a career. The good thing in todays game is that bad eggs rarely get very far and we prioritise good personality in equal measure to ability when it comes to offering academy and professional contracts. 

1 hour ago, RedRock said:

To a degree I understand this. 

However, I’m suspicious that the performance was more an outbreak of the ‘Comfy Club’. 

Yes, getting minutes in the legs is physically important, but so is culture and the mental development of ‘good habits’. Those habits should include being a winner - a team winner and an individual winner in the battle against your opponent.

I saw far too many of that pitch ‘coasting’.

Bad habits become ingrained and sets the Club’s Culture. If we’re not careful we end up with a side full of pretend ‘busy bees’, who actually achieve f all.

Unfortunately, that’s what Bristol City are and we’ve been like that far too long. 

This isn’t an issue prevalent only to this club. If you’ve played at a decent level you’ll know that when ‘first team’ players play for the reserves (in this case the 21s) it is very much about either a) getting out of the game what they need to on an individual basis or b) they’ve been told they have to play. This happens all over the country at any decent level. So the motivation to play in games like this the higher up you go diminishes. There’s an argument to suggest that most of these players would be better off training than chasing a load of kids around in a game they don’t want to particularly be involved in. It’s very easy to criticise players in this game when you don’t do it for a living day in day out and know how it works. For those who say they should give 110% in any game regardless of first team or 21s have clearly never played. Chill out. Having said that - getting beat is not a good look and the players will be made well aware of that and will either solidify or justify the gaffers next move with certain individuals.