The Bard

1 hour ago, Olé said:

On Wednesday 28th February. Since when has the Fifth Round been played midweek?

About 5 years

On 05/02/2024 at 23:51, E.G.Red said:

Yes they can use  VAR in a replay even though it wasn't used/ available in the original match, but you can't select players for the replay that wern't available for the first game. Where the logic in that?

I don't see the problem. 

No one complains when the ref changes do they?  That's a far greater change than using VAR or not.

Rules about players needing to be registered before a tie starts are fair.

33 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Its also flipping obvious that most of those were short term options and they would be gone at the end of this season regardless of who is manager. Grooming King as a coach was a bit sentimental on NPs part imo.

Players can be young and have played 200+ times at a commensurate level, they are experienced players in their own right.

Quite obvious that King (moving home to Leicester according to his Mrs.), Weimann (home to Solihull), and unfortunately James, will be gone at the end of the season. Tinnion bigged up Williams so he maybe stays if the contract is right for him.

New era.

Again.

 

the suggestion is we are going to be signing promising players.  We are going to be a very young side if that's the case.  

Experience isn't just about number of appearances. It's also about maturity of the individual.  Most males prefrontal cortex doesn't properly mature until mid 20s.  Emotional regulation/personality etc.  You could see watching the way likes of King/James/Weimann and Wells interacted with Scott/Conway/Bell when they first came into the side that their development as people was just as important as their footballing ability.  Pearson knows that this is what distinguishes the ones that make it from the ones that don't and positive role models is absolutely key to that.

Scott and Conway in particular have developed really quickly I would say because of the nature of the environment created by Nigel Pearson which is now being hacked to pieces by Tinnion.  There were worrying signs on Friday - bickering amongst players. A couple of times I noticed some not exactly busting a gut to track runners etc.

On 01/02/2024 at 21:13, Barrs Court Red said:

Depends though. I assume if you’re buying Bears, you’re getting the brand, playing and coaching staff, existing liabilities and…well aren’t all enabling services provided by Bristol Sport? That’s a pretty hefty outlay without the benefit of experience with the brand to start with. 

Some of the 'costs' in both Bears and City's accounts are exceptionally high. Given everything is owned via Pula which is the off shore company in the group, it's pretty obvious what is happening. 

The whole thing will have to be reformed if they are to sell any of it. It's structure is primarily about drawing profits in Guernsey. 

12 hours ago, MichaelRobartes said:

Unreal game. Fair play to Wales. Retirements, injuries and bad vibes everywhere but they don't give up. Scotland were great first half but I think they still have a bit of fragility about them. 

Great first weekend. 

Scotland are like Bristol. Swing between looking consummate and hopeless 

18 hours ago, Dolman Block B said:

That’s the thing 

 

Same boring bloody songs stuck in a corner. 
 

City fans can create superb atmosphere away from home. 
 

It’s a bit like a caged lion at AG

I didn't hear anything from Block B.

Sort it Out 

18 hours ago, Dolman Block B said:

Can someone explain to me why the club promote this singing area when quite frankly it brings nothing to the atmosphere in the stadium ? 
 

That’s no dig at the lads in there doing their best but it’s dreadful. 
 

Many of you will remember when the East End was rammed and the noise fantastic. 
 

Even when we had two blocks in the Atyeo it created some serious noise. 
 

As sad as it is for me to admit it that lot up the road with their Blackthorn end puts us to shame.

 

Leeds fans tonight were seriously loud but surely that ought to be us, the whole of the Atyeo perhaps?

 

Stick the bloody away fans in half the top of the Lansdown ?

 

 

 
 

 

 

When Bristol lost to Harlequins in the Premiership semi finals in 2021.

They put 500 middleclass Londoners in half of the top tier of the Lansdown as you want.

They made a racket, played a massive role in Harlequins winning. Replace that with 3,000 Leeds fans and it'll be really really loud. The acoustics are actually really good.

4 minutes ago, Leabrook said:

I would disagree we are going down if that’s the plan. It will be mid table ish, maybe a bit lower. But if we sign a good striker and 10 then it won’t be much different to this season really. 

It's the loss of nous and experience.  The championship is a hard league.  We've seen with likes of Mehmeti that players don't just step up.  They need a few heads around and we seem intent on ridding ourselves of them.  Could work but could go wrong..

Just now, GrahamC said:

Would make sense in lots of ways.

Tinnion wouldn’t make a great poker player (wouldn’t mind negotiating with him) though & certainly praised Joe in a way he didn’t with Matty James.

James is Pearson's man so more chance of me getting a contract than him.  You can sense the pettiness already.  Totally different feel to before.  
 

35 minutes ago, Leabrook said:

So we will lose 6/7/8 players but then already have Stokes, Murphy, Palmer-Houlden, Bird and maybe Medube in. Two strikers as well. So that’s pretty much all the outgoings covered already.  Two strikers and maybe a left back if Pring goes as the only actual signings from here 

If that is the plan then we are going down next season.  We need proper experienced players to play next to the promising ones.  That's why we bought James and King and gave the likes of Weimann and Wells new contracts.  It's pretty flipping obvious

10 minutes ago, Back of the Dolman said:

In new lad, do you mean Ross McCrorie ? If so then it’s strange to help him settle in we’ve played him as a RWB instead of a conventional right back which he himself has stated is his best position.

playing square pegs in round holes is not helping and I’m afraid there is far too much of that going on at the moment.

Sorry, he played RWB for Aberdeen and a lot was made of his versatility.  He was woeful last night.  Looked like he just wanted to have an argument/fight with someone.  

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

You are right…….like Tinnion saying the sell outs show that people are clearly enjoying the football on offer……

Great we've managed to replace a bloke who's now running English cricket with a delusional ex-pro whose achieved very little in his playing career.  Also a replace a proven manager with someone you would best describe as a student of the game.

They never learn the Lansdowns do they? 

5 hours ago, ralphindevon said:

Yes a closer look tells you the Leeds fan isn’t the brightest, it’s not a one way total , I’m not sure how he came to that figure

Perhaps he doesn't live in Leeds?

It's a lifestyle choice isn't it?

No one is making you travel to Rotherham on a Wednesday night. 

Fair play if you do btw.

If you look around other 2nd tier leagues, they don't play 46 games. It's ridiculous when you think about it. All the midweek games. Drop a couple of sides from the league and you lose 4 midweek games. That's clearly what is needed.

No chance it will happen though. 

5 minutes ago, Claverham_Red said:

Yeah saw a few empty seats on the Bears v Bath match highlights. But I guess they don't have the segregation lost in the Atyeo.

Probably people queuing for a pint...

1 minute ago, Claverham_Red said:

Now officially sold out. Wonder if spares will pop up around the ground every so often before Friday like the Cup games recently.

That also happened with the rugby last Saturday 

100% there will be more Friday games next season. With 5 out of 7 games on TV each week and fixtures rearranged early, I imagine clubs will indicate whether they want Friday, early Saturday or Sunday for games being moved. 

Stadium is set up for Friday games. They make more money in the bars.

48 minutes ago, Robbored said:

I heard that from Lam and I Immediately thought that SL was ‘encouraging’ him to get away from the dreary kicking for position team that the Bears had become and were consequently losing too many matches.

When Lam was appoint he’d been playing attacking rugby at Connacht and that’s why SL wanted him. My buddy who’s a Bears SC holder reckoned that Lam had lost his way particularly this season.

SL gave him a wake up call - fair play to him.

He lost his way after that Quins game as did half the squad.  We've been  better this season. Have a 50/50 record in the league.  We need our best players back for the end of the season.  Genge, Thacker, Sinkler, Vui, Malins.  Only Genge involved in 6 Nations but he's had 8 weeks off.  If we start with a win v Northampton we have a chance for top 4. Lose and it's gone

5 minutes ago, Robin101 said:

This comment prompted me to read the BBC match report for that game. One thing stood out for me:

Bristol boss Pat Lam told BBC Radio Bristol:

"[Owner] Steve Lansdown had a quiet word to me about playing the Bears way, he wanted to be excited about the way we play and I said I'd see what we can do. I think he will have been excited by that performance.

Not sure if this was picked up elsewhere on OTIB? I wonder whether Lansdown has ever had a 'quiet word' with Bristol City managers about wanting them to play a certain way...?

Of course he has. He thinks he knows an awful lot more about football than rugby.

8 hours ago, Robbored said:

The commentators said during the amazing Bears v Bath match on Saturday how much they enjoy coming to AG because of the crowds and atmosphere.

Bears must attract the best attendance in the PL.

2nd highest behind Leicester 

47 minutes ago, wayne allisons tongues said:

For the amount of time he has had and money spent, has he been that successful.

You really need to get your eyes looked at. The only manager able to properly compete with Guardiola's Man City for any decent amount of time. Transfer business was excellent virtually all the time. Always a good watch and won every trophy he could win.

What a failure 

3 hours ago, eardun said:

Yes good point - that will help. I think I read that all the games until Christmas would be locked down before the start of the season. 

It's like that in Rugby. 3 of 5 games are on tv. If you work for NHS etc you are on shifts sorted out a long time in advance. At least people will be able to request time off so they can watch.

Think there will still be the same slots for Championship games  (Fridays, Saturday lunchtimes, occasional Sundays early and the odd Monday). Guess they will have the additional games on red button mostly on Saturdays. Argument being it's less disruptive moving kick off forward a bit than changing the date.  

I think I read that because so many games will be live that kick off times and dates will be decided a long way in advance. This should at least allow a bit of planning. 

30 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

That’s gonna be a lot of non-3pm games.

Based on their being 36 Saturday rounds and 10 midweek rounds, if they say clubs will be on tv on average 23 times, does that include being live for some of the midweek games too?  If not 23 out of 36 could be moved?  That sounds crazy?

I would’ve thought the average would be 5/12 of 36?

@Never to the dark side???

5/12 x 36 = 15

On 23/01/2024 at 20:50, harvey54 said:

Good ground. Locals can be a bit hostile. They have a lot of old Chelsea boys that follow both teams and fancy themselves. Should be lively 

But they're in their 60s and 70s. Do they ever grow out of it?