grifty

Wasn't the Nations League designed so those friendlies against lower standard of opposition don't really occur anymore, so we've just had two 'warm-up' games against teams of equal standard to us and what will be a higher standard of the three teams in our group.

I heard Southgate being interviewed and he said Chilwell hadn't played a full 90 mins in 8 months.

I can't remember the exact phrasing he used, but after his loss to us, he had an extremely odd interview where he kept repeating the same phrase over and over.

I thought it was going to be given as a foul, but I’d like to think the ref saw a small tug on the shoulder and then Aarons holding his face rolling around like a little bitch and thought he didn’t deserve a free kick for it.

Naismith its playing well and his performances are good! Just his little brain farts that causes goals that aren't.

How can he get bullied in league football if he plays a cup game?

Not much thought gone into the hashtags!

It's the EFL/Premier League to blame for any postponement. Royal Family/Goverment said sport can go ahead, it's up to the governing bodies.

Good, because Antonine had a bit of a stinker when he came on so hopefully thats the end of their interest!

Today was the first time in a while I saw him offer himself for passes off the defenders for most of the match. It seemed like he had much more confidence.

I like that fact that Conway seems to be an all rounder. He's good with the ball into his feet, or he can come short and lay the ball off, or turn and run at the defence. He's pretty quick, disciplined, will chase, will get stuck in, is apparently the best finisher at the club (looks very natural to me) and despite not being physically imposing, has scored a few headers.

Ah fair enough, I read it as 'taken the lead'. I apologise @cityexile

Except for the one we haven't.

While the Shrewsbury one was first, the gas one is better.

He’s probably older than the rest of the centre backs combined.

I’m actually a huge fan of the new stylised badge and think the robin part of it alone as @Baba Yaga says is much better and lends itself to a great little logo for casual wear like a t-shirt or hat. I get why people don’t like the modern part of it and link it to Bristol Sport more than Bristol City. Id love it if the club and Hummel came out with a retro range of football shirts for us that are well designed/fitting with various points in the history of the club, similar to what they’ve done with the home shirt this year, but with no sponsors. I think they would sell really well.

I was impressed with Layzell. Liked a strong tackle and seemed composed on the ball once she had won it.

I watched about 25 minutes of the second half and could hear the drums and singing quite clearly. It didn't sound like there were too many joining in, but it was pretty constant and seemed to be songs for most of the players. I bet it's great for them, without meaning to sound condescending, for there to be a bit of an atmosphere, a larger than normal attendance and hearing the drums and people singing songs supporting them. I expect it gives them a huge boost mentally.

So I guess Scott didn't get a proper assist for Conways goal. Or Naismiths free kick V Cardiff?

Not only are they very good players at this level and would be in and around the 1st team, they are also costing us £40k p/w in wages!

Back in GJ play off years I went to around 40 games in a season and only missed a couple of mid-week home games with a round trip of 350 miles. Early 2000s I went to all but 2 home games over a 3 year period with the same round trip. My 'favourite' trip was when I was at uni in Bournemouth and went to Carlisle for the 3-1 win with John Ruddy making his debut. Bournemouth to Carlisle was a hell of a trip...

He can get the time if he's clever enough to find the space. If you watch off the ball, Williams and Massengo are very static when the defenders (more so Vyner & Atkinson) have the ball and often have an attacker in between stopping the simple pass in the middle. Small movements from either of them could open up the middle allowing a through ball or a simple pass, but they sort of just stand there looking around until Vyner pumps it down the line or Atkinson has a little run and passed to Jay. Scott is very good at this movement. and allows him to pick up the ball in space. I think Naismith is clever enough to find these spaces which will give him time to pick passes out once in possession. Seeing our central CB who is not blessed with pace and is normally last man attempting two Cruyff turns in 5 seconds is an unnecessary risk that we can't afford to take. Not to mention the attempted dribble v Hull where he lost it and they scored and the woeful pass today that set Blackpool through where fortunately the attacker turned back in to him and then there is playing an outside of the boot cross goal pass that bounces shin high to Vyner in the last minute of a game... IMO his delivery and ability on the ball is wasted while playing the central defender of a back 3 and at times has shown to be a liability.

I'm hoping Massengo off at half time was a precaution and with Williams not being risked two games in 3/4 days, we'll have a midfield of Scott and Massengo v Huddersfield. Sykes back at RWB. Weimann back in AMC with Wells and Conway up front and then Semenyo to come on again with 30/35 mins to go. I'd be very interested to see Naismith in a central midfield role where his lack of pace and height may not be exploited and we can use his passing ability and driving runs further forward without the fear of him losing it and having no cover. The way he plays reverse passes and threads balls through is great at the moment, but currently it's to the RWB/LWB on the half way line, or into Williams and/or Massengo. I'd love to see the balls into Semenyo and Conway for them to turn and run at defences. Klose can come in the middle and also add in some extra height which is massively needed.

I guess I'm not a 'proper fan' then ?

I'm not really thinking about where we might finish, but for the first time in a long while, I'm actually looking forward to our next match to see positive football (from us).