RedRock

Assume that it’s to safeguard our financial interest. Selling in January for more than we’d get than if he only had 6 months left. Mind you, thought that about CoD …. and he’s still here. Hopefully, many of our current player’s bus passes expire in January.

Look forward to watching that defending again on this year’s Xmas Footballing Gaffs video. Appalling for any professional team, let alone one of (current) Championship standard. What are we doing in training to make such basic errors?

I agree. Very harsh to demand MOTM performances every week. Maybe a realistic target would be once every four year contract. Norwich was debatably one in his first contract. Looking forward to the next one. Genuinely hope the guy has finally turned the corner, finds some consistent good/excellent form and we, belatedly, get a return on Mark Ashton’s eye-wateringly expensive ‘investment’. CoD does seem a nice chap so I hope for him too that some good days are ahead. As we know though good humans don’t automatically make good footballers - as Bristol City Football Club have consistently proven.

Well, no legal expert but if the prosecution doesn’t provide a full name it 1) provides no confidence the rest of the evidence hasn’t been haphazardly thrown together and 2) provides the defendant with grounds for a legal challenge if found guilty. You can’t take someone through a formal legal process using what is tantamount to a ‘nickname’, Shirley?

Thought it was a great interview. Got a bit of zest back. Clearly, a very clever, deep thinking, determined and intelligent man. Maybe, belatedly our players are realising that and will now trust and support him.

Yesssssssss. Ha ….. lovely stuff….. be able to face up to my neighbour tomorrow morning after all. Brilliant. You reds.

Miles

Is that Cotts vs LJ I see there in the fixtures? Umm…… come on you Shrews.

Re-signed for another 3 years. Let’s hope I can make a greater contribution over those years than CoD. ps. For those with an inherent dislike of PayPal - even with paying by card option - it seems you end up opening a (new/another) PayPal account! Anyhows, even if that’s a pain in the @rse, it’s worth it for supporting this brilliant forum.

As a Club we are very good at creating problems on the pitch. We are very bad at solving them. I’m far from convinced personally, despite Nige telling us at every opportunity, that we are a particularly fit side. That must be one of the easier of our problems to fix. Interesting that there was no update, unless I missed it, from our fitness coach this international break.

Personally, think Atkinson has been one of the issues with our defence. Bit of inexperience regarding positioning, slow recovery on occasions. Don’t think he’s as ‘oven-ready’ as it first appeared. Very rarely do Bristol City buy anyone of his age and lack of experience and get them fully functioning as an ever-present in the first team. Far from being one of Nige’s names in terms of shipping out though. Would agree with ‘2015’ and ‘Tin’ on the list. Only two that disappoint me is Wells and Dasilva. These are players who, if used correctly, could be assets - Wells leading the line and Dasilva wide midfield (his height was always going to be an issue at fullback- once the opposition had sussed it, which they did early on). I suppose the question is though, given their wages, will they ever deliver value for money. The rest, well, even though some have undoubted talent, it’s application, desire and heart that’s all too frequently missing. You don’t get away with less than 100% in the Championship.

I think he gives everyone a chance and expects them to grab it. He talked up Palmer in the Summer, gave him a few starts but failed to deliver what he wanted. If this under-performance was just a Nige-related problem I’d be worried, but it seems to be a re-occurring theme under different management regimes and styles. So, I’m with Nige. For way too long we’ve had a soft underbelly, been incredibly inconsistent and lacking in any form of identity. Would be expecting by now some team character to be developing, some improvement but maybe the rot set into the core. Let’s hope the January window is our saviour. Notoriously difficult window though, so let’s hope there is a plan in place to shift the wasters and bring in some real talent with heart and desire.

Welcome back Nige. Hope you are feeling better. Now then. Can you put out a set of players that has some semblance of playing like a team on Saturday rather than a bunch of strangers picked up from the water tower on the Downs please? We can address the fact that they have a similar level of football intelligence of Downs League players at some later date. Thanks. ps I know it's not your fault that Ashton purchased a load of dysfunctional players but I was rather hoping we might see some slight improvement in teamwork this season.

Far prefer this to watching Premier League or England. Fast, direct, skilful, positive English ‘old style’ football. Lovely.

Just me, or is the commentator slipping in a few Alan Partridge’isms? Decent performance again from the femmes, so far at least. As we know 3-0 is a dangerous score. 3-1 more so.

I found it absolutely bizarre that they had the post-game stop on Winterstoke Road. Assume that’s still happening. Why don’t they us the bus lay-by on the Bedminster Cricket Club side of the dual carriageway, by the roundabout? As easy to access for passengers and far, far easier for buses to get in/out the vicinity of the ground and on to The Portway. Just sums up the limp-wristed efforts of those who are responsible for delivering public transport in Bristol and why the vast majority still elect to use their own private vehicles. It’s probably organised by the same numb skull who has responsibility for sorting a match day parking agreement at the LA park and ride.

Over the years travelling up from Devon have parked in that area in various locations around the ground. Every time I find what a I think was the ideal spot some bugger comes along and closes it! Did do the LA park and ride -the friggin obvious facility for match day parking clear to all but the ‘rulers’ who haven't a brain cell between them - but they had a purge on football supporters using it some years (possibly decades) back. Uncertain what the situation is now. Had used the cricket club for years until that became very restricted parking when someone grabbed a major part of the site and started charging sky-high prices. Like you, also used the Ashton Court car park but closing the gates during winter rules that out. Did start using the bus match day services and parked up at my Mum’s in WoT, but then that was withdrawn! So, I’ve fallen back to the Portway P&R, which is convenient to the M5. Heard (on here) that someone had his cat converter nicked while attending the match which ain’t great, but services are ok. Pretty packed return services post match from my experience so haven’t used it since Covid. Think I’ll be using the train in the future - great wander through the centre and various pubs. Bit of a rush back particularly as the ****** Bristol fast bus thingy that goes from AG to Temple Meads seems to ignore football supporters. Oh for some co-ordinated transport planning.

What a pleasure to see some free-flowing football at The Gate again. Frightening how bad the men’s team have become when you celebrate seeing 4-5 passes strung together on our pitch from a team playing in red. Well done the women, a thoroughly decent performance.

… as a QC once said to one of my colleagues … this strategy looks like it’s been drawn up on the back of a fag packet, the pity is, it didn’t even reach that stage. It seems to me that our CEO was originally going to announce something on a decision that was reversed/postponed late on or was straight-jacketed on what he could say either by Steve and/or legal concerns. Very guarded responses that provided little clarity on what’s happening behind the scenes. I suspect Richard’s objective with the interview to be ‘seen’ to be communicating with the fans and deal with the immediate rumours of Nige having already left. In that sense, it ticked a couple of boxes.

Don’t give our soft players an excuse, like the CEO did. We are not even bothering to compete at the moment with teams that get paid more, the same, or less. I would truly fear a draw in the FA Cup against a non-league team at present. An organised team with pace, power and passion can always fight well above their weight and be a success. Start point is to win your individual battles. Unfortunately, our lot can’t be arsed and not even Big Nige could fire them up. A very sorry state that’s been 4 years in the making. Joe and Bobby clearly knew the score and bombed out before the inevitable.

Watched Edgar Davids play for Barnet at Torquay wearing similar. She was very solid player tbh, as were most of the Coventry women. Very decent tall forward as well.

Extremely flat is an understatement. ******** woeful. The bottom, winless side looked far superior - better organised, fitter, far more accuracy, quality and desire. Mind you we’re Bristol City … it’s what we do.

Yep. That was the only unambiguous answer of the entire interview and was, for me at least, the give-away response. If the Club wanted to improve the playing situation with Nigel Pearson as manager, give a message to players, staff and supporters that he’s here for the long haul it wouldn’t have been such an abrupt ‘no’. I fear he’s gone. We’re just playing the compensation game now and buying time for our search for a replacement. Hope Nige recovers soon. He did his best to sort this soft load of s**te out but doomed to fail. Pity, I was looking forward to a team with at least some identity and passion. We really are a basket-case of a Club.

This squad reminds me of a set of musicians in an orchestra as they warm up. Everybody doing their own thing making a right racket. Normally a conductor (the manager) comes along, smacks his stick on the lectern and everyone shuts up. He then wafts his stick around and some pleasant tunes are produced. The problem with our bunch is the conductor waves his stick and they continue to make a right din doing their own stuff. No tunes, just loads of random sounds. I’m beginning to think our ‘musicians’ are just frauds unable to play a tune at all, let alone form an ensemble.

Still back SL to get it right eventually, and NP to get the train back on the rails - more likely in a role of Director of Football than manager one suspects, unless he can recruit one top quality coach to work under him pretty sharpish. We’re are beyond awful though. We have 4-6 players who are ok, the rest are pretty rubbish frankly. Any of those half dozen get injured - as some regularly do - and we end up with a side looking worse than a low division Downs League team.