bcfcredandwhite

I haven't checked to verify, but I seem to remember Basso being one of the smallest GKs in the league at that time - it was one of his very few weaknesses (and one he could do absolutely nothing about of course)

Isn't that in Northern Ireland?

Of course it depends how much time you have, but in frantic 'open play' I was always told not to waste precious milliseconds looking at the goal or the keeper. I was told 'you know where the goal is - it doesn't move - it's in the same place all game EVERY game- be aware of where it is in relation to your surroundings and shoot without looking. If the keeper makes a save then fair enough, that's what he's paid to do'. It seemed to work ok for me in the dizzy heights of the Wiltshire league Div 3 ?

This is an excellent point ? - Wells too was scoring for fun at QPR before he came to us and his goals dried up - but analysing the current season is what I was going by, when posting. THIS SEASON we are 8th top scorers in the league (in my OP I said 7th but I hadn't spotted that Coventry had also scored 58 - apologies) and we are 3rd in the table for goals conceded. That would suggest that conceding goals was a bigger problem for us than scoring. With regards to the goals from Weimann and Martin drying up, we could also argue that the younger players like Semenyo (as you suggested), Scott and Massengo haven't reached their potential yet, so as older players like Weimann and Martin start to fade, those younger players will start to shine - I agree Weimann may never again repeat this seasons heroics. We just don't know.

... but we made it to the playoff final once with a GD of 0 under GJ!

Yes I agree with you - and although I didn't talk specifically about it I did kind-of elude to the fact that we would be highly unlikely to have retained all those points when I said 'We will always let SOME leads slip or there would be no score draws' in my OP. Most seasons it should even itself out more or less within say 9 points either way (guess). However 25 points lost from a winning position isn't 'evened out' - it's the highest number of points lost from a winning position in the whole of the professional league's 4 divisions (according to Sky Sports). I haven't done the research into what the average is but because Sky have seen fit to mention it on a number of occasions I assume it must be significant. We have also conceded the third-highest tally of goals in the Championship (75 so far). Only Reading and Peterborough have conceded more goals than we have (85 and 84 respectively). Birmingham are 4th with 72, then Cardiff with 65. Something is wrong there - maybe it's the Midfield rather then the defence as has been suggested, but something is awry for us to be shipping so many goals.

At the time of posting this I think we’ve given away 25 points from winning positions (trusting Sky punditry). We will always let SOME leads slip or there would be no score draws, but 25 points is a lot. With those points we’d be 3rd on 77 (ok as I said we would have dropped SOME of them anyway) Looking at the league table, we have been scoring quite well - 57 goals - more than Sheffield U (56) - and only QPR have scored more (58) outside the top 5. So, on goals scored we are 7th in the league. The reason we are where we are is our defence. we’ve been better of late - and if we get it sorted for next season there’s no reason why we can’t be up there around the top 6.

I posted this on another (Derby) forum just after we signed him: https://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/395437 Karma!!

I never ‘slagged him off’, but I have to admit that I couldn’t see what the fuss was about when LJ recalled him from Newport. I think one of his first contributions was to get himself sent off. I was seriously underwhelmed. However, I’m delighted to admit I was wrong and I’m also delighted with the player he’s become - and I agree there is more to come from him. Loving the humble pie - yum yum.

I’d be even more delighted if Wells had got 20 for us as well….. and I wouldn’t have cared who got to 20 first!!!

Ha! note to self: read the whole post before commenting ?

I don't HATE Rovers - I hardly think about them tbh - I bet they think of us more than we think of them. I DO intensely dislike Barton though - I'd be more disappointed for the thug and wifebeater Barton to have a promotion on his CV than for Rovers to reach the dizzy heights of L1.

Really? it’s threadbare and smells of me after playing 5-a-side. The stomach area is a bit stretched too. is it a present for the wife? She’d love it…! ?

I’ve got one from the 1990s if that’s any good? like the one Tins wore when we beat Liverpool at Anfield.

Wow - held on through our late concession ‘hoodoo’ for the win. Well done Nige and the lads.?

He’s kept Burnley punching above their weight for years. I think it’s a suicidal move for them.

He’s injured now, yes - and he had been playing more recently up to his injury. The time I’m referring to was back last year just after the Euro’s.

Thanks to everyone who bothered to respond to this with a sensible argument, even when disagreeing - in particular @Davefevs @Silvio Danteand @Fuber. Regarding Fammy being allowed to go; I now accept that this was done outside Nigel's tenure. That was a mistake on my part. Apologies to anyone I offended, including Nigel. An interesting sidenote that (if comments are to be believed) Ashton seemed to have taken it upon himself to make those decisions though - on some of the anti-LJ threads we were told that the MANAGER had the final say as to who was retained or who was sold/allowed to go. Not in this case perhaps? I still think it was a mistake by the CLUB to let them go without being replaced. It was also a mistake to sign Simpson - whatever salary he was on. Regarding Simpson's salary and the accuracy of the figure quoted by SalarySport - Of course it may not be accurate, but its reasonable to assume that it's not that far off (within a few £thousands). Of course I don't know exactly what Simpson - or any other squad member - is paid, other than seeing what these websites publish as a rough guide - and neither does anyone else outside of BCFC. Why should we accept Wells's and Palmers's salary figures to be accurate-ish and use those figures to beat up LJ and MA, but not Simpsons? Plus, although many people ridiculed the figure, NOBODY has been able to confirm what it actually is. In the crazy world of football salaries £15kpw is not unthinkable. Either those salary websites are vaguely accurate or they are not. Someone asked why start another thread? So that my own comments are at the top. If I used an existing thread to post my views then my comments would be lost amongst the scores of minor insults, sarcasm, imojis, cartoons and pisstakes by those who blindly believe that NP can do no wrong and can't be bothered to back up that belief using rational arguments. Besides, how many LJ threads were there? I'm sure this won't be the last either. So to summarise; IN MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION The club should not have let Fammy and Pato go without replacing them. The club should not have signed Simpson - whatever salary he was on it was too much The club should have let Wells go to Cardiff/Swansea I didn't agree with the dropping of Kalas after the Euros I can't work out what style Pearson is trying to play The football and the results have not been good As people said in criticism of LJ when he was here 'it's part of the manager's job to motivate the players and get them playing' - or words to that effect. To me, that does not appear to be happening. Overall I'm disappointed. I don't want NP sacked but things have to improve next season - or at least LOOK like they MIGHT improve.

When I can be @rsed I will trawl through these replies and engage with those who want a sensible debate. The calibre and content of some of these responses have been expected and to continue responding is a waste of time - it’s a bit like trying to debate with the 3 eyed aliens in the Toy Story grab machine. ‘turd imoji’ ok - good argument ’your opinion doesn’t matter because you moved to Swindon…’ yeah ok. somewhere amongst all this piffle there are probably some good sensible responses. it might take me some time……

Yes - enlightenment. less than half the squad that performed on Saturday were LJs. more than a quarter was NPs. Yet for some on here it’s still LJs fault we’re shit. do you understand now? Are you getting it?

Ok so I dare to suggest that NP should be doing better and I’m a clown. I quote figures off the internet which are ‘made up’ Please share, oh wise and enlightened ones - what was Simpson on - and how many of the squad who drew 1-1 against 10 man Posh were signed by LJ/Ashton? oops sorry - I read the results on the unreliable internet - maybe we won 4-0?

So is everything on this forum

So you don't believe the Wells and Palmer figures either then? Or is it just the Simpson figure you don't believe?

I'm surprised you read as far as that, considering its a thread actually trying to hold Nigel Pearson to account. Anyway, if you are interested, here you go: Nahki Wells £27,000 Tomáš Kalas £22,000 Kasey Palmer £20,000 Andreas Weimann £18,000 Danny Simpson £15,000 Daniel Bentley £14,000 Matty James £14,000 Joe Williams £10,000 Nathan Baker £9,000 Callum O'Dowda £8,400 Chris Martin £8,400 Source: Bristol City 2022 Wages | Player & Team totals (salarysport.com)

To some people, all our mistakes and failings on the pitch are STILL the fault of Mark Ashton and Lee Johnson. 'Sir' Nigel can do no wrong; when things go right he's brilliant and when things go wrong it's all down to LJ and MA - REALLY??? Lets look at some of Nigel Pearson's bigger decisions in more detail: He let Pato and Fammy leave on a free, but didn't replace either of them - to 'save wages' apparently. Ok, fair enough - we WERE skint - so what does he do? He goes and signs Simpson - on £15k per week.......... He refused play our most expensive 'assets' (Wells and Palmer) - or his own purchase, Simpson - which is fair enough if he doesn't think they are good enough (apart from Simpson - why sign him if he's ****?), ...... but then at the same time won't allow Wells to go to Cardiff or Swansea - who were both interested on taking him on loan, which would have saved us his wages AND put him in the shop window. Why? Maybe he was scared that he might start playing a tune under a different (better) manager who actually PLAYS him?!! The official line is that Nigel didn't want to let Wells go to a Championship rival. IF Wells had been allowed to go and play in Wales - and gone on to score shedloads - it would have raised his stock and we would have been more likely to be able to offload him. Loans often turn into permanent moves and it could have been good for everyone. We were virtually safe at the time - and Nigel wasn't playing him anyway - so the risk to us was minimal. None of the above makes common sense for a regime supposedly strapped for cash - we can't bleat on and on (blah blah blah) about money wasted by MA and LJ, when he goes and does this. Kalas is another example of bizarre management - he had a GREAT Euro tournament for his country and has been one of our most reliable players for years - but Pearson dropped him from our first 11. Bizarre. This smells of a dressing-room fallout to me - a clash of egos maybe? At a time when we needed all the defensive firepower we could get. At least Weimann is playing well though - thank Christ. ALL the above have been MANAGEMENT decisions by 'sir' Nigel - and bloody poor ones. Nothing to do with LJ or MA - or even SL/JL Nigel Pearson has been a poor manager so far. I'm extremely disappointed. I didn't expect promotion - I expected a period of 'settling down', but I did expect it to be better than this. I can't even describe what Nigel Pearson's 'style' of play is. No I still don't want NP sacked - yet - believe it or not, it IS possible to criticise the manager without wanting him replaced - and besides - it's only worth sacking someone if there is a better replacement available. However, I don't buy any more of this 'he inherited a **** squad' bollocks any more. He did his bit to CREATE the current '****' squad, so if the squad really IS '****' then it's partly of his own making. To be fair to Nigel, it's just some of our FANS who are saying this, not Pearson himself. He needs to do the job he's paid to do - lets not forget that he's being paid more than ANY other manager in the history of our club - EVEN MORE THAN LEE JOHNSON WAS!! Some of his decisions defy logic and he really needs to step up. I'm really beginning to wonder if he is a 'one hit wonder' (with Leicester) - like Wilson was (with Barnsley). I seriously hope NOT - for all our sakes, but he's certainly NOT the messiah.