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4 hours ago, The Bard said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59626553

A cracking article showing up the utter ineptitude of our batting save except for Root. If Burns is our 2nd best batsman, we're ****ed.

Beat me to it. 

The following summarised extract is quite extraordinary:

• England's collective batting average this year is currently 23.6, with seven centuries in 13 Tests. That's the fourth worst since World War One
• England's collective batting average in 2011 (which started with an Ashes series win in Australia) was 55.9, with 16 centuries in eight Tests.

In that time, we've gone from a top seven of Strauss, Cook, Trott, KP, Collingwood, Bell and Prior to Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root, Stokes, Pope, Buttler. How many of the current crop would get in the class of 2010/11?

Stokes at 7 would the only one for me. I don't think Root would've scored the volume of runs he has this year against the quality of bowling a decade ago.

1 hour ago, Maltshoveller said:

Lets face it

Burns doesnt have the technique to play club cricket!!!

Agreed. I hope Rob Yates comes through to join Hameed at the top of the order soon. 

The way Matty James sorted his feet out so quickly and then kept his knee over his weaker foot for the equaliser was class. Great finish from a player we’ve really missed, IMO. 

20 hours ago, Welcome To The Jungle said:

The problem is that over the last 10 years, we have leaned too much on Broad and Anderson to deliver. They have made us almost unbeatable in England, with just one series loss at home under the captaincies of Root and Cook. That is, until this year, where we lost both series. They are no spring chickens anymore, and as their brilliance fades, the paper falls from the cracks that is our batting line up.

No other team collapses quite like England. This is evident when you look at draw percentages. A draw, although often weather related, is usually combined with both sides performing patiently and intelligently with the bat. It is also often a tactical decision by one side to salvage a match which, if played till a result was had, would be lost. The draw percentage under Cook was 22% of matches. Under Root it is just 14%. 

Compare this to the previous four England captains. Strauss 30%. Vaughan 27%. Hussain 29%. Atherton 37%. We are now drawing only half what we were. This shows the state of our batting. If you don't trust your batsmen to bat for hours, then tactically you are left with the one day batting tactics we repeatedly adopt. 

It should be noted that Root has won more matches than any other England captain, but with his best bowlers on the decline, I can't see us competing in tests for many years. 

Good post. 

I believe that it’s no coincidence that our batting collapses coincide with playing increasingly shorter formats of the game. One of the key elements of batting at any level is concentration and you don’t have to do that as intensely, for example, in the 100 or T20. The ECB is responsible for that. 

Test cricket, in England at least, continues to make the ECB the most money. The whole domestic season should be build around the Test schedule, with county cricket taking place week in, week out in the height of summer. Let batsmen hone their technique. And who knows, we might even develop a genuine Test spinner. 

The counter argument for that is a lot of the Australia XI played in the T20 WC final. Cummins, Hazelwood, Warner, Smith etc. So if they can easily switch format, why can’t our players? 

As for Root, wonderful batsman as he is,  he’s the worst captain we’ve had in many years. His win percentage, just like his batting average this year, is reflective of how many Tests we’re playing and many of those are on home soil. 

Losing three wickets before the new ball was beyond disappointing, but also so predictable. These batting collapses (the latest being 8-77) have been going on for way too long now. They are the norm, rather than the exception.

Much better from us today. Another 200 runs should make it interesting, but the new ball due in the first hour tomorrow will be key.

I still expect Australia to cruise home by eight wickets or so. Even if we do get a bit of lead, we’re one — possibly two — bowlers down. 

Best-case scenario IMO is we bat on and on, keep the convicts in the field ahead of next week’s Adelaide Test and escape with a draw. 

8 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

That no ball from Stokesy could be big... Good start from England tho

Maybe deserved to have 2 or 3 down... 

Stokes always pushes his luck with no balls, mate. I can accept that to a degree, but not Burns spilling the simplest of slip catches. 

Robinson bowled well, lovely ball to get rid of Green, although I can’t get my head around the selection of Leach in this Test. 

I'm not sure what was worst, batting first on that green pitch under cloudy skies or omitting Broad or Anderson (I don't think both of them should play this Test ahead of next week's day-night Test in Adelaide).

Either way, it's more shite captaincy from Root and then Burns goes and sets the tone for the series by missing a leg-stump half-volley that should've been slapped to the leg-side boundary. 

I've always rated Cummins and Hazelwood and expect them to be all over our weak batting line-up in this series. 

Any potential windfall will be a percentage (20%?) of the profit Bournemouth make on what they paid us (£13m) for him, so it might not net us a huge sum in the current market.

I'd like to know if Kelly's sell-on applies to all future sales as is increasingly the case. That could be worth serious cash. 

9 hours ago, pillred said:

Just as sometime a manager has a finite time at a club (Arsene Wenger) I think maybe the same could be said of an owner, maybe it's time for a new man to take over obviously that comes with a risk but as things stand and having waited over 40 years to see us back in the top flight a risk that I would accept the club taking. 

January 2022 will mark 30 years of supporting City for me. SL has been at the helm for 20 of those years. Where we are in the football pyramid (lower second division) is exactly where we were when I started watching. Something has to change if I'm ever to see us in the PL. That's more likely to be in the form of a new owner, rather than SL having some sort of epiphany and getting proper football people in the boardroom. Fortune favours the brave. 

I think we’ve hit our ceiling under SL’s leadership. Beyond that, who knows?

I’ve always believed a city the size of Bristol should be able to sustain a mid-sized PL club. A new owner could be the only way I get to see that in my lifetime. 

20 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

The constant attacking of our players on here is is embarrassing.

Do you know Zac ? Have you ever met him ? 

How on earth can you question his commitment.

These players have shown since the Blackburn game that given proper training, organisation, tactics, a proper formation and motivation that they can compete at this level and are not the total useless bunch of uncoachable wasters that many would like to be the case.

Almost as though some people are looking to shift blame.

 

I think the same can be said about the constant attacking of Pearson. 

Vyner’s a utility player for two reasons: 1) he’s a good athlete, 2) he’s not good enough at this level to nail down a certain position, and he’s had more than enough chances in those roles IMO.

He’s in there at the moment out of necessity, but his weaknesses outweigh his strengths. Poor concentration, poor positioning, poor awareness, physically weak, poor in the air. I could go on.

I don’t actually think there’s a lot of difference between him and Moore, other than one’s out of the academy. They both need moving on. 

32 minutes ago, chinapig said:

I wonder what patsy Ashton will appoint to take his orders now he can bring in his own man?

2 former England age group coaches are available for instance.

LJ or Appleton would be my guess.

I feel for Ipswich with that helmet at the helm.

1 hour ago, JonDolman said:

That's why I usually think it's best to loan players out to get as many minutes as possible rather than staying in the 23s.

And I think @billywedlock's point is that if we get the scouting right and recruit the best teenagers from the South West and Wales, they should be able to go virtually straight into the first team like Scott and Benarous have.

The sad fact is we are light years behind other clubs in terms of scouting and recruitment. Southampton seem to rule the roost up here in terms of youth scouting, as they have for a while. 

IMO, we should have first refusals on teenagers from Bristol Inner City, SGS Filton College and the SW Soccer Academy (Jamie Shore's business), as well as having excellent working relationships with the likes of Exeter, Cheltenham and Plymouth.

That requires time, effort and scouts on the ground reporting as part of a coordinated effort from a head of recruitment or sporting director, whatever title you want to give them. We should be competing with the likes of Southampton for the best talent on our doorstep. 

I absolutely agree with Billy's point about SL doing everything he can outside of FFP to push us on, including investing in a Cat 1 academy and hiring the best youth coaches around if he wants the best chance of producing a team of local lads who can have us competing for PL. Otherwise, what's the point?

20+ years on from when SL first got involved and we still have little to show for it outside of the shiny facilities. 

Assuming Britton plays games out on loan, it should be a good move for him as long as he applies himself.

It's sink or swim time for him. Score goals at that level and he puts himself in the shop window for another loan in January, strengthens his case to remain with us longer-term, or attracts the attention of other clubs for a permanent move away in the summer. Fail and he might end up drifting towards the likes of Gloucester City or Bath City. 

I hope it works out for him. I like natural goalscorers, especially those who can ruffle a few feathers. 

39 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Yep.  SL paraphrased “Mark gets a lot of unfair stick from the fans, but he um, um, um, represents my interests at the EFL”.

That was all he could give us!  Embarrassing imho.  I know he’s not gonna slag him off, but he could’ve said, about recruitment, operations, etc.  He didn’t.

And then when he announced he was leaving he said about how instrumental he was in the HPC.

SL has a history of falling for bullshitters who massage his ego, but what amazes me that both Lansdowns were seemingly bewitched by Ashton. I can understand SL falling for it, but JL surely wouldn't have held the same opinion? He should've stood up and shown some leadership and direction. He's meant to be a fan after all. 

On recruitment, we all know it's a shambles and has been since Burt left. I posted on another thread that even smaller clubs like MK Dons have a sporting director in the boardroom who oversees recruitment. How a club that's supposed to have PL aspirations is so rudderless at the top is beyond me. 

17 minutes ago, NcnsBcfc said:

Strange one with Simpson, as others have said. He didn't exactly pull up any trees last season when he was on that short term contract.

I know he's probably on a relatively low wage for a man of his experience. But that is a wage that we can't give to anyone else at the moment, due to the contract we've given him. I've no doubt there will be a parting of the ways in the Jan window; and there's no way we are exercising that second year option.

Looking at the midfield at the moment, probably the decision to in effect give Simpson, and King a contract was perhaps a mistake. But at the time, NP wanted more experience in the side. Little did he know that Simpson (I still shudder over perhaps the worst attempt at a backpass I've see from a City player at WBA) levels would drop so badly as they did. He was appalling against Villa in the pre-season as well. No doubt at that stage alarm bells were ringing, and the rush to get Tanner on board started.

I wouldn't be surprised if we go out in the loan market to get 2 x full backs next month. The two playing there at the moment, are generally trying their best; but are not, and have never been full back/wing backs. The same goes for Weimann.

 

Vilmos Sebok to Steve Phillips at Wolves still wins that accolade for me. 

On Simpson, if we're playing a flat-back four, he probably starts yesterday. Starting Simpson at RWB would've been suicidal IMO. 

33 minutes ago, Pezo said:

And he made it into the starting team, imagine how much of a shirker you have to be to not make it into the squad.

More out of the cupboard being bare, rather than on merit. He’s fifth-choice CM, and played like it today.

Well, the biggest shirker today got a one-year extension to his contract a few days ago. 

Not for the first time since the summer, I still think we’ll finish in the bottom eight. The caveat in that is if SL lets Nige spend a decent amount of cash in January, which I don’t think he will. 

Someone said the other week, perhaps @Numero Uno , that with a fit Williams, we stay up easily. Without Williams, we’ll struggle. I think that’s bang on the money with the current squad. 

Bakinson — as our most experienced midfielder today — was an absolute joke. It was like playing with 10 men against a good side struggling in confidence. We need players like that to show some responsibility and stamp their authority on games like today’s, not go into their shell and refuse to pull their weight. That’s unacceptable IMO.

**** off, Sharp

Nakhi Wells cocks up yet again at Sheff Utd. Get the pass across and surely Weimann scores. Pathetic. 

1 minute ago, Clevedon Red said:

Here’s a 3rd, pedestrian. 

Here’s a 4th: passenger.

3 minutes ago, Henry said:

Kalas deserves a slap for getting sucked in there.

Agree Kalas didn’t cover himself in glory but Bakinson turned his back on it, FFS.