Rich

Thanks for that. I knew they'd been on a good run and were consistently the team to beat at the time, dirty buggers though. We also ended another teams run a few years later. Crystal Palace had gone 26 games I think, without winning, until they came to Ashton Gate. It doesn't seem to have changed much in that respect.

If we're talking realistically, without nostalgia, then beating Leeds in the F A Cup away in 1974 has to be the logical choice, at least in my lifetime. Liverpool away was good but they were on a downer, with Souness sacked/resigned afterwards. Coventry was great but only a draw and we were in the same div as them. Portsmouth at home was good but not a great performance against a lowly team while we were a top team in that division. So, given that Leeds were the best team in the country at the time, they were on a long unbeaten run and, we were in a division below and not setting the world on fire, it has to be that match. After all, it even made the front page of the Times as well as most other nationals. I even remember it being in lights as it went around the top of the Hippodrome on the centre.

It's always been the same, even our local media don't give us the air time/credit, seeming to favour or at least give the other lot equal time and space, with credit for little achievements. Especially when the bigger audience for BCFC should demand more coverage. I note there's been a little change in recent years from the TV side of things, certainly not the press or radio though. That is unless it's a bad news story, in which case, they're all over it. When the world cup was being awarded around England, the reporter at Ashton Gate, asked a supporter how she felt having "little Bristol City" being selected as a WC venue. Mostly it's down to history and our own constant failure to actually achieve anything of note on the bigger stage. So the perception is to lump us in with the Peterboroughs, Scunthorpes, Walsalls and the like of the footballing world, along with lasy journalism.

If you play for Man City, then shot stopping would be about 10% of your job. As with all assessments, it depends on who else is a part of the team. This assessment sheet is surely just for a keeper. You might be a brilliant shot stopper in a team that allows lots of shots, or not too clever in claiming a cross, in a team which allows lot's of crosses. I must say it's nice to see that at least one clubs assessment is laid out logically, thanks for posting it.

Don't know where the theory comes from that with extra games and coaching, that Max will get any better. He must have had at least nine years of coaching and training, to be able to play as a keeper and still has the same faults as when he made his debut. This sounds like a character assassination of the poor lad, there is no intention for that on my part, I'm just trying to bring some logic to this discussion. He made his debut in 2013 and has played a total of about 120 games, an average of 13 per season. 63 at National league level, 30 at league 1 and approx 26 at championship. 15 of those were in 2018/19, 3 in 20/21 and the other eight this season. There's a reason he hasn't held down a number 1 in those nine years here. I think people put too much emphasis on the ability to kick a football and that Max is better than Bentley. Max is now benefitting from playing in a team that has moved up the pitch and now plays more football in the opposition half. I believe this is more to do with the outfield players being able to keep possession, rather than the keeper directing his clearances more accurately. Max has the benefit therefore of more space and time from which to make those passes. Bentley never had that luxury as we were at least 5 Metres further back to our goal. Introducing players that are happy in possession and actually keep it longer, such as Scott and Semenyo, allows us more time in the other half, rather than the ball constantly coming back at us through lost possession. It cannot possibly be a policy to make the keeper stand on his line and be responsive to an attempt on goal, as opposed to being proactive and stopping that attempt on goal, you must compete at every opportunity. Max unfortunately does not take those opportunities and there have been many, to actually stop the attempt on goal, choosing to react to the attempt, instead. It would be like a defender waiting to stop a cross, shot or whatever, hoping that the cross/shot would not reach it's target. Fielding was not the best kicker of the ball but, wasn't he ever brave. He would rarely let an attacker get an unchallenged attempt on goal and didn't hesitate to put them under pressure, though he lacked a few inches to be a top keeper. Basso with his positivity in coming for crosses would actually put off the attacker, sometimes he'd cock up but, get away with it as it confused the striker. Maenpaa was not as mobile or agile, but had a presence and would claim everything he possibly could in his area. Sadly, Max lacks those attributes and no end of coaching or experience will make up for those missing qualities.

Yes I do. I feel max will only ever be a stand in at this level and should have many more games under his belt by now, most probably in the third or fourth tier. As Dave pointed out a young Maenpaa or similar. Rocking horse shit and hens teeth spring to mind though.

Let's not get carried away Dave. I was a young keeper as a schoolboy but mostly a frustrated outfield player, (quite useful). I also played between the sticks in local amateur football but, only on odd occasions, enough to know when to come and claim a ball and where to position myself as the game is in progress. My real love is following BCFC which mostly ruled out playing on Saturdays. I have however paid particular attention to the art of goalkeeping over quite a long time now and having played that position enough, I feel it allows me a little more incite into the attributes required and what I'd expect a reasonably skilled keeper to achieve. But I am by no means an ex pro.

Some people are attributing our improved play with the introduction of Max O'Leary in goal, with his perceived better distribution, allowing us to play a passing game and also play further up the pitch. This also happens to coincide roughly with the reintroduction and match fitness of Antoine Semenyo. This I believe has also allowed us to play further up the pitch, with his ability to keep the ball and actually trouble the opposition defenders. We now have a situation where it's not as comfortable for the opposition defenders to play their football out from the back, resulting in more hurried clearances and less possession in our half, allowing us to play slightly higher and allow the keeper more room to bring the ball out. Would Bentley have also benefitted from Semenyo's return to the team? I've previously stated my thoughts on Max, which I will repeat. He seems like the kid who was too nice and not quite good enough to play as an outfield player. So his youth team manager, who just also happened to be his Dad, bought him some GK gloves and picked him as the teams GK. Since then, his experience as an outfield player allowed him to progress in the game, as the game changed. He received coaching and became reasonably proficient as a keeper. Sadly, there are other attributes required to be a good keeper, these cannot be coached, no matter what and Max lacks these. Those attributes are the desire to stop/get the ball at all costs, positivity and bravery. This allows you to be more dominant when dealing with the opposition and their forays into the box. As a keeper, you are in one of the most favoured positions, when it comes to making decisions. That is, usually because the play is in front of you and you can see the movement of all players, unlike a defender that has to follow the movement of someone that peels off and makes runs from behind you, so frequently looking in other directions and possibly wrong footed by that movement. The GK also has the advantage of being able to catch, divert or punch the ball with your hands, sounds obvious I know but, even a 6ft keeper can reach an extra 18", enough to give him a distinct advantage over an attacker. I have watched all of Max's performances (at home) since his first introduction and, he's still making the same non decisions now as he did years ago when jumping like a startled cat. This after watching a ball being delivered into the six yard area from out wide, I think I first noticed this trait against Stoke and believe I brought it up at the time. The attacker has covered more ground than Max has needed to, yet still been allowed a free header without fear of being challenged by the keeper. I would say that in his recent performances, he has had the opportunity to at least challenge for the ball on 7 occasions where we have conceded a goal and he hasn't opted to use his advantages on any of those occasions. Out of those 7 opportunities, giving him the benefit of doubt, he should have stopped 5 of those attempts on goal, I think its' 16 goals now in 6 games. Not good enough, even with some blame put on defenders. Please bring the hesitant Bentley back into the team ASAP.

I think another thing those pictures highlight, is the seemingly lack of effort from COD to get into the danger area, his posture isn't one of busting a gut to get to a loose ball, then slam it over the bar.

Thanks, Hands of Clay answered confirming his name, Slobadan Antic.

That's the fella, have memories of him playing down there but never saw him. He was pictured in the post.

Not read through this topic completely, so I'm opening myself up for a whoosh here. As well as Gert Meyer and Pertti Jantunen, we also signed another player from the continent at that time, I can never remember his name. Unlike Pertti, he had a full head of dark hair and was from an Eastern European country. Can't find him on the list of players, so maybe just on loan/trial.

If they ever manage to get a stadium built for them at the Fruit Market, I would speculate that Craig Cheney, Marvin's right hand man, would be made lifetime president of the club. That would be for services to Bristol Rovers, the same honour that was bestowed on Bristol Rugby club chairman, Arthur Holmes, for his role in obtaining the rugby ground. Strange how he wasn't so well remembered by the rugby club Anyone remember when the papers and supporters hailed the success in getting "their own ground" back in 1998 I think. What happened to "their own ground" after that?

People often propose teams made up of local players and we do produce a few, not usually top class. So we'd most probably end up with a team struggling to stay in the third tier of English football. I remember using an old Rothmans book to make this comparison back in the 90's. There were 26 professional players from the Bristol region (50 miles around) playing in the football league. The majority playing in the lower reaches. Liverpool had I think, 96, the majority playing in the top two divisions. I was hoping things would change over time, as the game has changed and, things might have improved slightly but, we just don't produce that many players and certainly not top class players.

I think you should trust your instincts. The two crosses were both good but, Massengo's was through a field of players obscuring the keepers view, and Weimann made contact from about 8 yards out. For the Millwall goal, there was a completely uninterrupted view of the flight of the ball for O'Leary to make a judgement. Bradshaw made the judgement from further away and met the ball about four yards out, O'Leary did exactly what I'd feared and previously stated. He watched the cross travel some 35 to 40 yards, stood on his line and allowed Bradshaw a free unopposed header from about four yards from the goal, while he jumped over the ball like a startled cat. It was an appalling lack of bravery, initiative in reducing the amount of goal and if I was in that position I'd have been embarrassed to have let the striker get near that ball without fear of being injured. I'm sorry but he'll continue to make the same decisions and get lauded on here for doing what he's supposed to do when making saves. Keeping goal is about so much more. If you don't possess the natural attributes, as in closing down attackers, reducing an angle and being brave, then no amount of coaching and experience will make up for that. He is a boy in a mans game. The very least he should have done is come face to face with Bradshaw, there's then no way the header is going to go through his body. As he's only played about 20 games for us, I believe I recall three occasions where he's done exactly the same, not a very good ratio, in my opinion. Peter Bonetti was nicknamed the cat, that was due to his agility, O'Leary could also be nicknamed the cat, because he gets frightened so easily.

Thanks. He needs to be first choice now, somewhere.

Presumably the idiots got on the team bus with their symptons and then told Barton, or the team doctor. Otherwise, why would the team coach be reported as coming back down the motorway.

He's 26 (I think) now Major, where's he going to get it? I know keepers develop at a different rate than outfield players but, they have certain attributes at an early age, speed of thought, great reactions, bravery, fast feet to get across goal and nowadays, good footballing abilities. I feel he's lacking in two of those and no amount of experience will bring those to the table. Similar to flapper and I expect him to eventually drop down through the leagues, especially when he gets fed up being number two.

Sorry to be a party pooper, I don't see where this love in with Max has been earned. He's played the odd game here and there over the years and never managed to shift any of the keepers out and keep the first team place for himself. In my opinion based on past appearances, he's too small of frame and too timid to ever dominate his area. He's a boy in a mans world. I have grave concerns when he comes up against Smith and Afobe tomorrow, if selected again. He did ok against QPR and his distribution was not bad, unfortunately, he fumbled the ball a couple of times and made rash decisions when coming and failing to punch the ball from crosses. To let the ball in from a glancing header at the near post, was in my opinion poor. He has shown in the past that he's a tendency to stand on his line when the opposition are there to be intimidated and the ball taken from them in front of goal. I hope Bentley is not off, as he is definitely the better of two keepers that have similar traits. Having said that, a more mature dominant keeper is what I'd like to see, to prevent the need to have to make point blank saves. Having said all that, I would be pleasantly surprised if Max has improved to a point where I expect him to not let the side down with an unforced mistake, or an act of indecision.

Even a modest stadium of say 20,000 would cost at least £50m. How are the developers going to recoup that money? They'd have to charge a hefty rent to cover the outlay and interest on such a figure. Not sure what the normal return figure and period is for commercial deals, I believe they'd be looking at paying off the build costs in less than 50 years, That's £1m per year plus interest which would be charged to their tenants. The stadium outlets would be in their name and any other events staged there, so Rovers would be looking at matchday income only. The words white elephant spring to mind. On another point, How many dwellings could they fit on 11 acres, depending on density/height, I'd wager several hundred. And as we're still being told we have a housing crisis in Bristol, wouldn't it be more profitable to build housing. The site at Totterdown bridge is about one third of the fruit market, at a guess, they're building 150 dwellings there. So if there were say 400 dwellings, 25% affordable and 300 at £200k that's £60m, pocketed straight away less development costs. This is where my fears of behind the scenes negotiations are taking place with Marvin's Rovers supporting deputy Mayor to give the developers a profit from the outset. I expect there's big wedges of council owned land in the form of riverside warehousing and council yards, being lined up to be transferred to the developing company.

Are you asking me to grow a pair? I'm just interested if anyone knows whether the policy of booking players for inciting the crowd has changed. If you'd actually read my post, you'd have seen that I mentioned that those players in particular were not subject to any of those things you refer to, as far as I know. I certainly don't mind a player giving it the hand to ear or having a go back to the crowd if they've been abused, I certainly would with gusto.

Oh no you can't.

When did match officials stop booking players for inciting the fans, or does it still happen? I know they book players for taking their shirts off and other petty infringements but, has there been a change in officiating this? We've seen it twice recently where there's been very little, or not that I've heard, goading of certain players yet, those players from two different teams, have stood in front of the opposition supporters and gone way over the top in their celebrations and goading of those in front of them. They have to have some responsibility for the reactions they get, the one today was particularly vociferous, resulting in lots of people losing their normal self control. I know there's always been the wind up merchants like Billy Sharp but, is this becoming more frequent?

Frequently saw large open top wagons driving around the area delivering bones to the old glue factory. Even the wagons smelt.

I'm of the belief that those recycling depots and the council depot are council owned, someone with access to land registry could find that out. A deal offering peppercorn land leases or sales could be done to encourage the developer to include a stadium within their plans. As we know, the deputy Mayor is a Rovers supporter and he will be doing his utmost to ensure the city provides a base for both clubs to prosper, that would be their take on it. Obviously that would mean the council owned land not getting what would/could be expected on the open market, something I believe the laws state must happen. When AG was under the planning process, the old East end car park was to be transferred from council ownership to the club. Protestors argued that it's sale value of I believe some £380k was not of the same value per acre as the main site. That was true but, the club owned a long lease on that car park land and, it was still to be used as a car park, hence it's lower value. The Moorlands allotments were also argued to be at a lower value, as they were being sold prior to PP. As the land owned currently owned by the council on those adjacent sites would be similar in terms of intended use, I believe they'd use that policy (Moorlands) to justify reduced valuations for the council owned land adjacent to the Fruit Market, also citing that it would be for the communities greater benefit, if a stadium was incorporated into the plans.