MarcusX

Decent first half, much more exciting game than we’ve seen lately.

Can I add a “but” ?

Leicester are a team intent on attacking. It’s akin to Southampton / Ipswich games and we know we play better in these games where the opponent comes at us and has more possession.

Don't get me wrong, we’ve looked good, but it’s nothing new to allay our concerns is it? 

Leicester have had probably the closest chance? That Vardy one looks like it was nestling in the corner but his the post.

It’s a good game, I’m enjoying it and I think we can get something that I wasn’t expecting before KO, but it doesn’t really change the view on Manning - just reaffirms it really.

Edited out my mistake on shot count… it’s actually us with our most shots in a first half and that’s to be celebrated, credit where it’s due.

8 hours ago, Never to the dark side said:

Spurs v Forest was scheduled for Monday night 8th April,now moved to Sunday evening 7th April kicking off at 6pm

to offset the Underground dispute.

Just wondering if moving the Sunderland game from Saturday(at short notice)

to the Sunday would have influenced more City fans to make the trip?

Monday night to a Sunday is a very different scenario to Saturday to Sunday - and City to Sunderland is about twice the distance!

1 minute ago, Bedred31 said:

Defo pen- as the Sky pundit says ‘why would Tommy Conway go down there?’

Watching on Leicester stream and even they said it should have been. almost ripped his shorts off.

2 good penalty shouts turned down now.

Admittedly the refs ignored a couple of their free kick shouts so he’s being consistent at least 

Great pass from Mehmeti there, Conway probably could have placed it better? Great follow up save though from Twine’s shot into the ground.

Not a bad start, decent game so far

18 hours ago, Cole Not Gas said:

Who are you? Another full house and you choose now to be critical of the business. Would you know how to empty a piggy bank?

Are you going tomorrow, why not share your views of a great stadium, our team competing with a Premier League (in waiting) club,  but i suppose you'll wait until a blade of grass is out of place and blame Bristol Sport?  I'm sure you could be constructive and send in your suggestions of how to sell tickets, make money/reduce losses and keep 25000 fans happy, all at the same time

Really?

Are you a Bristol Sport employee or related to the owners?

Obligatory, it’s sold out but there’s hundreds of empty seats post…

2 hours ago, Ashton Yate said:

If anyone is not going today and isn't able to sell their tickets, so seats are going empty, would appreciate a shout as I've got tickets but in Lower Dolman and the rain is not going to do us any favours there! If there are any unused seats elsewhere with better protection from the rain we will happily keep the seats warm for you! Thanks.

Plenty in the south stand mate just wonder round!

2 minutes ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

Matty James`s 100th game for us today.

Sounds like a milestone that might trigger a clause 

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Interesting to see how our front three split their defenders to stop them playing.

interesting to see how our 3 CBs mark one striker and the roaming KDH.

When I first saw the lineup I assumed it might be Pring playing left wing in our normal shape - Twine at the top of the midfield.

I guess we’ll see how they lineup in a minute!

12 hours ago, Cowshed said:

You have just  agreed with me. I didn't state defacing a flag is a hate crime, I stated it can be because while we do not have not law that make desecrating a flag a crime, we have law that prohibit hostility aimed towards groups. 

Hence in my post I added this ? No this does not fall under the above. Was it insulting? Yes. This act caused insult. A response that was predictable.  

What was the point of Nike and the FA knowingly doing something that they must have known would have not been wildly welcomed? I don't see the point.

 

Your post featuring a laughing emoji about this flag. 

Your either being thick or deliberately misleading. I can't decide which but I'm sure most reasonable people see straight through it and I won't be entertaining you further on this. Very obvious to most I was laughing at you and your posts on this subject - not the flag itself (or background to it that wasn't even posted).

15 hours ago, SecretSam said:

Rooney was never as good again 

For England maybe, but he went into every tournament thereafter with an injury

1 hour ago, Cowshed said:

I posted that defacing a flag can be a hate crime. I also posted this? You ignored the this?. 

Could this, an American sportswear brand rebranding of our the St George be perceived as insensitive? The action has been unpopular. A reaction that should have been predicted.  

Yes I posted pictures of England and Bristol City fans St George flags because they are significant. The St George is clearly a significant part of fan culture and traditions. They are part of BCFC fan culture.

You then posted a laughing emoji regarding the St George that required a lot of effort from City fans to purchase. I with my family and a friends took a small part in that fundraising. Here's that picture again of that flag/surfer twenty years on at recent game. I do think its cool. 

 

Of course it is you stupid bugger. You were metres away from me in the ground.

Sorry, this is probably boring to everyone else but I wont have you or three lions re-write history and twist this into something it isn't.

At no point have I laughed at the specific flag or it's background or efforts towards it. It's totally dishonest of both of you to suggest I have, as others have also supported.

I'm laughing at the irony of you posting that "defacing a flag is a hate crime" - then 3 posts later posting a photo of, by definition, a defaced flag.

The evidence is clear in your history below.

No further replies before I responded laughing at the irony of your two posts.

I don't know what your ramble at the start of today's post is, but no I cannot see anywhere that you've said those things in this thread.

So once again, no disrespect intended to anyone involved in producing that flag, clearly being deceitful to suggest otherwise. Thankfully several people had already seen through it and replied before I could.

1 hour ago, Bris Red said:

It's a shame as going forward when we have everyone fit i don't think there is a better team in the world with the options we have.

Unfortunately defensively and at goalkeeper we just aren't good enough IMO. When was the last time we had a genuine world class keeper??

Disagree, Pickfords been more than good enough for England.

Yes, stupid mistake tonight, but he’s pretty solid and he’s definitely kept us in / won us some games. That save against Colombia springs to mind immediately.

1 hour ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

Arsenal will win the title. They just don’t get injuries, incredible really. Can we send someone to London Colney to understand what they are doing? 

This has to be a joke? They’ve got Gabriel, Martinelli and Saka as doubts right now plus history of injuries worse than ours a few seasons back (didn’t their guy leave and come to us or something?)

44 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Just seen this on twitter which is why you shouldn’t believe stats as that is surely absolute bollocks:

OPTA stats confirming that was Jordan Pickford's first mistake that has led to a goal in 60 England appearances.
 

I like Pickford but I swear he’s made mistakes in the past for England 

I like him too but thought the same. I guess they probably don’t count things he should have saved as that’s more subjective than kicking the ball straight to the other team.

Anyway, better performance tonight and over the 2 games Dunk cost us 2 goals and he won’t be anywhere near the Euros hopefully.

For those saying Southgate is tactically inept and can’t make subs, hope they watched tonight. Changed the way Foden and Bellingham played and it was much better and we created several chances we should really have scored.

Then 2 subs linked up to assist the equaliser.

Not perfect but far from panic stations.

Agree friendlies feel a bit pointless but what’s the alternative? We just go into the euros having not played since October?

20 minutes ago, Clutton Caveman said:

Since when did our ownership give a sh*t about what we think

I didn't say they did?

22 hours ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I know you watch a lot of England live so you probably know better than me - but I disagree with the ‘peaked’ point. I think now, in Bellingham, we’ve got that ‘x factor’ player you need. That will make a difference.

We haven’t had that since Rooney imo - obviously the likes of Kane, Gerrard, Lampard etc are fantastic players - but there’s something about the likes of Bellingham and Rooney.

I think Bellingham will likely go on to become England’s accepted ‘best ever player’ and having a midfielder who’s that good is so rare. 

In this upcoming tournament I think the only other side with one of those players is France with Mbappe.

I just worry that Southgate’s management ability doesn’t match that of the squad - from the clips I see of him, like a certain Mr Manning, i’d find him very hard to get fired up for. He might be different behind closed doors, but i’ve always had this weird impression that subconsciously he’s more comfortable as a gallant loser than winner.

You can imagine it - we narrowly lose in a semi with a typical Southgate performance - Gary Lineker signs off with a wry quip and it cuts to some salubrious montage (set to Bittersweet Symphony) featuring Bellingham clapping fans, Saka sitting in the centre circle crying or something. 

I lost a lot of respect for him about the Henderson situation (and the Qatar tournament too). He, no doubt influenced by the FA, seems very happy to lap up all the praise for being ‘right on’ (I can’t bring myself to say ‘woke’ - far too GB News).. but when it really matters he doesn’t act on it. You can’t have it both ways - what Henderson did was hypocritical and Southgate shouldn’t have wimped out of saying so. Likewise, you can’t virtuously gesture about equality and other causes but completely ignore Qatar’s stance on those issues. 

 

 

I think I struggled to get across what I meant, I typed quite a bit out then felt like I was rambling and deleted it 

What I'm trying to say is that some of the players at Euro 21 and Qatar 22 have aged now, but the next round of players aren't quite at the level and we're struggling for depth.

From the last 2 - Maguire and Rashford struggling for form, Shaw probably out through injury, Sterling and Henderson past it but will all likely be in the squad (even a half fit shaw, maybe not Sterling) because there's no one obviously better to take their places.

Bellingham is unbelievable. I'm trying not to get carried away with him but as you say he's got that something special about him and I think it's even more exciting because of the nature of his position. Fans love to see players pick the ball up and run past players with it. His performance in the Italy game in October was something I haven't seen for years, he took that game by the scruff of the neck and pulled us through in that second half.

There's reasons to be hopeful - Jude, Rice, Stones, Foden seem to be getting even better, Walker one of the best RB in the world and Kane still scoring for fun, but I think out of 21,22 and 24 this will be our weakest squad of the three in terms of quality in depth.

1 hour ago, Robbored said:

Ian Gay.

Didn't think you dealt in speculation?

I don't think that was a "rumour" as in he knows something, his comment came across as 8 games to save his reputation with the fanbase.

Ian's been very outspoken against anyone suggesting Manning is going anywhere.

3 hours ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I think we've got a stronger first 11 and potentially squad than most of those - actually beating them is a different question. I don't rate Southgate's game management or style of play, and under his leadership I feel the mentality of the team is weak. 

I think there's a culture in lots of the international teams above of being effective in tournament football - the Italy final being a great example. They managed the game really well, using their guile and experience.

That's where we seem to struggle - for example I could see us struggling in a tournament context against an awkward South American side who know how to manage a game (historically someone like Uruguay).

Out of those France and Argentina are obviously very strong. I wasn't that impressed with Brazil but obviously you'd never bet against them. Belgium are on a downward curve, but lots of experience in that side.

I'd fancy us against Netherlands and Portugal. Spain and Italy have weaker squads than usual, but awkward teams to beat and know how to manage tournaments. Germany seem to be going under the radar a little, much better side than the one we beat.

I would love to see how we'd get on in a tournament with a manager who understands how to manage those knockout games whilst letting our better players express themselves. I think my dream appointment would be Klopp if we had the pick of anyone. 

Pretty fair assessment, I've enjoyed Southgates time in so much that he brought back some pride to the national team and unity in the camp.

I wouldn't be upset to see someone new come in now and try a different approach. As you say, perhaps someone with experience of tournament football and getting results.

I think we've got a very talented side, but it might sound weird to say I think we've peaked a little. 2021/22 seemed to be a good blend of experience and fresh talent and players in form.

We've got problems in depth in multiple areas now and the second/third choice in several positions is significantly weaker - both full backs, CB, CM and the lone striker role.

International management must be a tough gig though. Gareth has 4 games (3 now) to prepare, with these 2 being at a time in the season when several players naturally drop out - does he experiment, or try and work on team cohesion with his current best 11? I think we saw neither on Saturday as his best 11 wasn't avaible, but he didn't really seem to try anything different.

17 hours ago, Three Lions said:

That is a St George bought by fans of BCFC including Scooter RIP who did a great deal of the fundraising. Not something to laugh at.

Well firstly, I'll say no disrespect towards the origins of the flag was intended, although I think you're bwrong to suggest anyone was laughing at the source of the flag.

But quite obviously as Rich says:

16 hours ago, richwwtk said:

It was @Cowshed and his 'defacing flags is illegal' that was being laughed at, not the flag

It was Cowshed posting one minute that "defacing flags is illegal" then posting his delight at a customised England flag 2 posts later that was amusing. The complete hypocrisy of "you cant touch our flags unless it's something I approve of on the flag"

16 hours ago, Three Lions said:

Read it again and that St George flag and St Georges are part of our footballing culture and traditions something you our culture warrior mate to laugh at and look down but important to many.

Read what again? Cowshed didn't say any of that?

3 posts:
1. "Defacing flags is illegal"
2. "Yes defacing a flag can be a hate crime."
3. Post saying "lovely" with a picture of a flag that has writing on it, which some may describe as defaced.

No post about culture or tradition there at the point I responded.

For what it's worth, I love seeing all the England flags especially at games and tournaments and I'll have mine in Germany in the summer. I just think people are taking a slight change to one aspect of our flag applied on a shirt way too far - even though I agree it looks a bit shit, would be better without a cross at all on the collar IMO.

As for culture warrior, you're looking at the wrong people there... 

14 hours ago, Red Cloud said:

fair enough but for those of us who do, there's no way any other country would be expected to just accept this!

I'm very proud to be English and see this as yet another attempt to wipe out everything English

Like I said, can you imagine what would happen if the Palestinian Flag had its colours changed? or the Saltire going pink or the Welsh Flag ditching the Dragon

Other countries have, including your example of Scotland. They've had a purple flag, a yellow cross and other manipulations of their flag on their shirts.

3 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

My original statement is entirely correct. Nike wanted pride/rainbow colours, FA vetoed it.

No it isn’t. Nike wanted more colours on the kit and it was vetoed - clearly because some idiots can’t see a “rainbow effect” without linking it to something it isn’t.

What you’ve done is said rainbow must mean pride and that’s why they’ve done it. Your statement is an opinion.

2 hours ago, Red Cloud said:

If the Palestinian Flag suffered the same treatment, would that still be "trivial"?

Such a weird comparison 

5 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Yes, have you? 

Yes, obviously as I’ve explain above in the comment you replied to.

The word “pride” isn’t mentioned once in that article, what I assume you’ve done is read the word rainbow and made a connection.

For the benefit of those who can’t view behind the paywall this is the quote:

“It seems astonishing that the FA would not examine the shirt closely enough but, amid claim and counterclaim from sources close to those in charge, there were allegations the US firm wanted to make the home kit even more multi-coloured and closer to displaying a “rainbow” effect.”

It goes on to say:

“Another source with knowledge of the design process for the kit confirmed an addition of another colour had been discussed but disputed that would have constituted a “rainbow” effect, stressing part of the design brief had been incorporating hues harking back to England’s 1966 World Cup triumph.”

6 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/03/22/england-shirt-flag-st-georges-cross-nike-two-years-ago/

Have you read the whole article?

Well this a topical time to bring this back up 

11 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

The original design was for it to be in the pride colours but the Fa vetoed that. 

And rather than it being replaced with the proper flag they've come up with this which I just can't understand. 

Where have you seen this?

The only thing I can find is a paywalled telegraph article, that when you read it was about making the home kit more multi-coloured (presumably like the away kit down the sides) not “using pride colours” and doesn’t mention the cross.

8 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

Having worked on a contract for a very large company involved in sportswear design, I know that design teams are always looking at ways to spin things and using the cuff colours used in '66 on this rather tucked away - can't say I ever noticed it during games - flag design is just the sort if thing they love coming up with and they justify their fees through such tinkering.

I'm as traditionalist as the next man, but when you realise that having a small flag on the collar only began in 2002, I can't get worked up about this. Let's face it there wasn't a flag on the England kit in '66 nor in various other classic tournaments.  It's a modern imposition, so I don't care about it.

Now, if they'd have ****** about with the Three Lions ...

 

And yet, guess what… they have, and no one has said a word.

The badge background was blue on last years Red shirt. This year on the away shirt they’ve changed the colours to purple and no one has said a thing.

Anyway, saw loads of the new shirts around yesterday and both the England store and the Nike store were packed with huge queues, don’t think it’s been as unpopular as many would like to think.

12 hours ago, Leabrook said:

Picking Maguire over Braithwaite is one of the reasons we won’t win the euros 

I think he’s a bit passed it now, and he’s Danish.

11 hours ago, Super said:

If we didn't already know we are stuffed if Kane gets injured. Not sure Watkins is good enough at this level 

Whilst I probably agree, it’s a little harsh. He had no service all night. I don’t think the result would have been any different with Kane.

10 hours ago, redkev said:

How & why people go and watch England friendlies at Wembley I don’t know , would love to know how much it would cost just to travel from Bristol , pay for parking tube in from parking , couple of pints , bit of food , ticket for game etc etc to watch an exhibition game , I understand why people do it but not for me thanks 

You said you don’t know, then said you do understand?

Lots of reasons, it’s a pleasant atmosphere to take kids (poor atmosphere for a football game though IMO) to see some of the best players in the world, to see one of the best stadiums. Then for a lot of us it’s caps, as @North London Red said I’m not having people tell me I’m lucky in the summer for going to Germany when I’ve had to sit through the likes of that - not to mention to the last 2 qualifiers and the trashing from Hungary at Molineux.

I think last night highlighted that we’re starting to lack quality in depth.

I want to like Gallagher, he seems a decent lad from interviews and he has ability but as someone else said chasing shadows half the game and panicky on the ball.

Maguire and Stones still our best options at the back. Dunk was hopeless. Left back is a real worry too.

I thought last night Brazil defended well and we couldn’t break them down and yet when they went forward we struggled.

It’s not exactly panic stations, especially at this point in the season when no one wants to get injured, March games are always crap.

Lastly, why is it that all over the country every weekend there are clear rules that away fans do not go in home ends, and there’s no chance you’d get away with wearing your colours and cheering goals.

Why is it allowed to happen at Wembley? It’s time England went back on the road for games, the atmosphere is so much better at club grounds. Looking forward to the Bosnia game and my first trip to St James Park.