Imagine The Scene....

[chipdawg]

Picture the training ground yesterday....

GJ:"Guy's, this is Patrick. He's signed on loan and he's going to be another 'club in the bag' as a target man"

PA:" Hi fellas"

Squad: "Hi Patrick"

The lads all line up to shake Patricks hand and give him a proper Bristol City welcome. First up is Bradders...

BO:"Hi Patrick, my name's Bradley. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:"Er... hi"

Next up is Jamie Mac....

JM:"Hi Patrick, my names Jamie. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:".....OK....."

Marvin Elliot:"Hi Patrick, my names Marv. You won't see much of me during the game....."

Meanwhile....

GJ:"Clarky, Big John, Alvaro.... can i have a word?"

[Pezo]

Picture the training ground yesterday....

GJ:"Guy's, this is Patrick. He's signed on loan and he's going to be another 'club in the bag' as a target man"

PA:" Hi fellas"

Squad: "Hi Patrick"

The lads all line up to shake Patricks hand and give him a proper Bristol City welcome. First up is Bradders...

BO:"Hi Patrick, my name's Bradley. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:"Er... hi"

Next up is Jamie Mac....

JM:"Hi Patrick, my names Jamie. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:".....OK....."

Marvin Elliot:"Hi Patrick, my names Marv. You won't see much of me during the game....."

Meanwhile....

GJ:"Clarky, Big John, Alvaro.... can i have a word?"

Whats your point?

[lifelong]

Picture the training ground yesterday....

GJ:"Guy's, this is Patrick. He's signed on loan and he's going to be another 'club in the bag' as a target man"

PA:" Hi fellas"

Squad: "Hi Patrick"

The lads all line up to shake Patricks hand and give him a proper Bristol City welcome. First up is Bradders...

BO:"Hi Patrick, my name's Bradley. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:"Er... hi"

Next up is Jamie Mac....

JM:"Hi Patrick, my names Jamie. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:".....OK....."

Marvin Elliot:"Hi Patrick, my names Marv. You won't see much of me during the game....."

Meanwhile....

GJ:"Clarky, Big John, Alvaro.... can i have a word?"

[chipdawg]

Whats your point?

My point is that i do not see how the presence of ANOTHER striker in the squad is going to change anything. I refuse to believe that a Championship Journeyman with a strike rate of 1 goal in 6 games is better than the Costa Rican or Scottish international strikers we already have. The problem isn't the indivdual strikers, its the rest of the squads attitude to their presence on the pitch and unless Johnson tells the squad (he may have done already) that the long ball is a last resort then i don't see how the result will be different

[mundz18]

Think he's trying to say its alright having another big striker,

but whats the point if we havn't got the service to provide him with.

Not only that we still got the other 3 strikers who havn't been given a real chance in the 1st team...

[chipdawg]

Think he's trying to say its alright having another big striker,

but whats the point if we havn't got the service to provide him with.

Not only that we still got the other 3 strikers who havn't been given a real chance in the 1st team...

That's pretty much it. I should probably have just posted that in the first place....

[lifelong]

Picture the training ground yesterday....

GJ:"Guy's, this is Patrick. He's signed on loan and he's going to be another 'club in the bag' as a target man"

PA:" Hi fellas"

Squad: "Hi Patrick"

The lads all line up to shake Patricks hand and give him a proper Bristol City welcome. First up is Bradders...

BO:"Hi Patrick, my name's Bradley. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:"Er... hi"

Next up is Jamie Mac....

JM:"Hi Patrick, my names Jamie. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:".....OK....."

Marvin Elliot:"Hi Patrick, my names Marv. You won't see much of me during the game....."

Meanwhile....

GJ:"Clarky, Big John, Alvaro.... can i have a word?"

Imagine the scene....... you posting something positive!. Carlsberg dont do miserable Fuc***s but if they did blah blalh blah Chipdawg!

[CliftonCliff]

My point is that i do not see how the presence of ANOTHER striker in the squad is going to change anything. I refuse to believe that a Championship Journeyman with a strike rate of 1 goal in 6 games is better than the Costa Rican or Scottish international strikers we already have. The problem isn't the indivdual strikers, its the rest of the squads attitude to their presence on the pitch and unless Johnson tells the squad (he may have done already) that the long ball is a last resort then i don't see how the result will be different

And none of the above are as effective as Adebola, dismissed by some as a 'lump', who was allowed to leave for the sake of an extra year on his contract, and who is now playing his part in helping Forest to consolidate their place in the play-off positions, while we spend more money on fees and wages to acquire players arguably no better than the ones we needlessly permitted to leave the club in the summer and whose presence we have clearly badly missed. Fundamentally wrong-headed and utterly self-defeating.

I think it's termed an 'own goal'.

[The Casual Connoisseur]

The problem is that the squad assembled by the manager is imbalanced which is ridiculous, what's more ridiculous is the continual papering over of a problem by signing striker after striker and maintaining the same hoof ball tactics! The resposibility starts and stops with one man, if the players aren't good enough then this should have been addressed properly in pre season!

[chipdawg]

Imagine the scene....... you posting something positive!. Carlsberg dont do miserable Fuc***s but if they did blah blalh blah Chipdawg!

I've tried to always be positive and supportive of the team, but unfortunately this signing does bring the miserable f%&$ out in me. Nothing against Patrick, but it just seems a pointless signing which papers over the cracks and (without meaning to go to far) insults the inteligence of all the fans who can see what the problems are

I maintain that we have the squad to make the play offs, but the tactics and the team selection need to be got right, rather than trying to bring in a short-term solution to a season long problem

I still back Gary Johnson to get it right, as he has done before, but he needs to do it sooner rather than later

[Robbored]

Think he's trying to say its alright having another big striker,

but whats the point if we havn't got the service to provide him with.

Not only that we still got the other 3 strikers who havn't been given a real chance in the 1st team...

Looking back over the 2.5 seasons in the CCC, City have a very consistent goal difference of around +1 give or take a goal or two. Defensively City have an acceptable 'goals against' stat when compared to other top 10 teams so the poor goal difference is due to lack of goals.

Strikers with good goal per game ratio's at other clubs couldn't find the net so frequently at City which surely indicates that the cautious style adopted by Johnson was the root cause.

Could it be that Johnson still believes that its the strikers fault that City don't score enough goals? and that why he's signed another one? Could it be that Johnson still doesn't see that its his formations and tactics that are to blame for the lack of goals?

Not even Thierry Henry or Fernado Torres will score many goals without service and surely Johnson can see that he needs to provide more width and provide better quailty service to his strikers. Thats why imo he signed Campbell-Rice who will hopefully hug the touchline on the left and Sproule doing the same on the right.

It has to be 4-4-2 tonight. Maynard and possibly Agyemang as the front two. If PA does start I hope McAllister and Orr don't just hoof the ball forward as they did when Adebola was at City. That has to be the lowest percentage tactic of all.

[A Horse With No Name]

And none of the above are as effective as Adebola, dismissed by some as a 'lump', who was allowed to leave for the sake of an extra year on his contract, and who is now playing his part in helping Forest to consolidate their place in the play-off positions, while we spend more money on fees and wages to acquire players arguably no better than the ones we needlessly permitted to leave the club in the summer and whose presence we have clearly badly missed. Fundamentally wrong-headed and utterly self-defeating.

I think it's termed an 'own goal'.

[Rob k]

Looking back over the 2.5 seasons in the CCC, City have a very consistent goal difference of around +1 give or take a goal or two. Defensively City have an acceptable 'goals against' stat when compared to other top 10 teams so the poor goal difference is due to lack of goals.

Strikers with good goal per game ratio's at other clubs couldn't find the net so frequently at City which surely indicates that the cautious style adopted by Johnson was the root cause.

Could it be that Johnson still believes that its the strikers fault that City don't score enough goals? and that why he's signed another one? Could it be that Johnson still doesn't see that its his formations and tactics that are to blame for the lack of goals?

Not even Thierry Henry or Fernado Torres will score many goals without service and surely Johnson can see that he needs to provide more width and provide better quailty service to his strikers. Thats why imo he signed Campbell-Rice who will hopefully hug the touchline on the left and Sproule doing the same on the right.

It has to be 4-4-2 tonight. Maynard and possibly Agyemang as the front two. If PA does start I hope McAllister and Orr don't just hoof the ball forward as they did when Adebola was at City. That has to be the lowest percentage tactic of all.

what happens when you create 14 chances and only score twice? Who's fault is that?

[Tunley Legend]

what happens when you create 14 chances and only score twice? Who's fault is that?

Depends what you call "creating a chance"? In this day and age a free kick which is taken by the goalkeeper and sails over everyones head to be caught by the other keeper is termed a shot on target as long as the ball would have went in the net. I can't say I have come away from Ashton Gate this season reflecting on the TWELVE "sitters" we have just missed. Tell me which games that happened in?

[Esmond Million's Bung]

Picture the training ground yesterday....

GJ:"Guy's, this is Patrick. He's signed on loan and he's going to be another 'club in the bag' as a target man"

PA:" Hi fellas"

Squad: "Hi Patrick"

The lads all line up to shake Patricks hand and give him a proper Bristol City welcome. First up is Bradders...

BO:"Hi Patrick, my name's Bradley. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:"Er... hi"

Next up is Jamie Mac....

JM:"Hi Patrick, my names Jamie. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:".....OK....."

Marvin Elliot:"Hi Patrick, my names Marv. You won't see much of me during the game....."

Meanwhile....

GJ:"Clarky, Big John, Alvaro.... can i have a word?"

Save your money from going to games, spend it on something worthwhile, like therapy, I think you need it.

[Robbored]

what happens when you create 14 chances and only score twice? Who's fault is that?

What do you call a chance?

A diagonal cross frpm deep which gets headed over by a City striker because it was too high ain't a chance in my book.

I certainly don't remember 14 missed 'chances' in one game.

[Redcliffe 78]

I've tried to always be positive and supportive of the team, but unfortunately this signing does bring the miserable f%&$ out in me. Nothing against Patrick, but it just seems a pointless signing which papers over the cracks and (without meaning to go to far) insults the inteligence of all the fans who can see what the problems are

I maintain that we have the squad to make the play offs, but the tactics and the team selection need to be got right, rather than trying to bring in a short-term solution to a season long problem

I still back Gary Johnson to get it right, as he has done before, but he needs to do it sooner rather than later

Give him ten games then make a comment, imo you shouldn't slate someone who hasn't even put the shirt on yet.

[Tunley Legend]

Give him ten games then make a comment, imo you shouldn't slate someone who hasn't even put the shirt on yet.

John Akinde has hardly put the shirt on but that doesn't stop people on here proclaiming him "not good enough yet". One rule for the youngsters and one rule for the new signings then? Personally, I like to give new signings AND youngsters a fair crack rather than condemning them out of hand.

[Laner]

My point is that i do not see how the presence of ANOTHER striker in the squad is going to change anything. I refuse to believe that a Championship Journeyman with a strike rate of 1 goal in 6 games is better than the Costa Rican or Scottish international strikers we already have. The problem isn't the indivdual strikers, its the rest of the squads attitude to their presence on the pitch and unless Johnson tells the squad (he may have done already) that the long ball is a last resort then i don't see how the result will be different

Well it's about the same rate we're getting from one player at the moment and better than the other.... so believe what you want.

But give the player a chance first, we are lacking "presence" up front at times and also don't forget that taller players will help defend too. Maybe we wouldn't have conceded as many late goals this season if we'd have had someone like Dele on the pitch?

[Esmond Million's Bung]

John Akinde has hardly put the shirt on but that doesn't stop people on here proclaiming him "not good enough yet". One rule for the youngsters and one rule for the new signings then? Personally, I like to give new signings AND youngsters a fair crack rather than condemning them out of hand.

I agree with you, but let's be honest about this, playing week in week out is preferable to the occasional 5, 10 or 15 minutes and the odd reserve game. A lot people on this forum are hypocritical beyond belief if say 2 of these youngsters were given an extended run and we go on a losing streak, my god certain people on this forum who only blame the manager and never the poor under priviledged, over worked, under paid players and don't ever tell them off, just replace their dummies.

Akinde played in 6 games, scored 1, got sent off.

Ribero recovering from a serious injury, got rave reviews at Stockport, David Blunketts dog would have rave reviews at Stockport.

Artus has been on loan all over the south west, the reviews seem to be ok, nothing spectacular.

Wilson probably the one closest to breaking into the first team, playing at a reasonable team (for that division) regular starter and getting rave reviews.

[chipdawg]

Well it's about the same rate we're getting from one player at the moment and better than the other.... so believe what you want.

But give the player a chance first, we are lacking "presence" up front at times and also don't forget that taller players will help defend too. Maybe we wouldn't have conceded as many late goals this season if we'd have had someone like Dele on the pitch?

Agyemang is the same height as Saborio according to the OS. The only Dele-like player we have is Big John

Know we've signed him i hope he does well, i really do. It's just that i've never been this frustrated at a transfer we've made before

[Guest DanC]

This signing fills me with dread tbh. Were not killing the long ball monster instead we are feeding it.

[Rob k]

What do you call a chance?

A diagonal cross frpm deep which gets headed over by a City striker because it was too high ain't a chance in my book.

I certainly don't remember 14 missed 'chances' in one game.

having a quick look we have score once in every 5 efforts that hit the target, thats not good enough at this level and does not include the chances that are off target which also should have been burried.

[Esmond Million's Bung]

This signing fills me with dread tbh. Were not killing the long ball monster instead we are feeding it.

The long ball debate is a myth, look at the last 4 games, only the odd clearance under pressure from the full backs and then perhaps the last 10 if we are trying to buy a goal.

[Pezo]

Looking back over the 2.5 seasons in the CCC, City have a very consistent goal difference of around +1 give or take a goal or two. Defensively City have an acceptable 'goals against' stat when compared to other top 10 teams so the poor goal difference is due to lack of goals.

Strikers with good goal per game ratio's at other clubs couldn't find the net so frequently at City which surely indicates that the cautious style adopted by Johnson was the root cause.

Could it be that Johnson still believes that its the strikers fault that City don't score enough goals? and that why he's signed another one? Could it be that Johnson still doesn't see that its his formations and tactics that are to blame for the lack of goals?

Not even Thierry Henry or Fernado Torres will score many goals without service and surely Johnson can see that he needs to provide more width and provide better quailty service to his strikers. Thats why imo he signed Campbell-Rice who will hopefully hug the touchline on the left and Sproule doing the same on the right.

It has to be 4-4-2 tonight. Maynard and possibly Agyemang as the front two. If PA does start I hope McAllister and Orr don't just hoof the ball forward as they did when Adebola was at City. That has to be the lowest percentage tactic of all.

Its not often I say this but I think your completely correct (it might be because I have a cold and generally moody because of it). I believe Johnson was aware of our weakness in midfield last year and the service to the strikers being average at best, I believe this is why he went for a revolution of the central midfield rather than evolution - With our considerably stronger central midfield we needed some versatility out on the wing but with Mcidoes departure days before the start of the season this left us very unbalanced and predictable. Its been talked about quite a lot we tried to get a leftie and failed due to lack of time in the window.

For what its worth we both share the same fear that PA is an easy excuse to lump long balls which we haven't done very much this year.

We have now addressed this problem unbalanced width - I await 3 more problems from you over the coming weeks now the transfer window is about to close and GJ hands are once again tied by the players at his disposal.

[Yate Red]

What a pointless thread this is!!

I haven't been in this message room for some time now due to the pointless coments being made!! Things never change!!

How can we make comment on this situation when:

• GJ hasn't even named the side to play tonight, and in what formation
• We haven't seen PA play in a City shirt and in what role he will be employed
• We now have another wing option to play with which is very important to the way we WILL be playing in future especially at home
• To say we have no midfield options and we play long balls seems lost on? Surely Hartley is the midfield play maker with some very good assists this season? Or have we forgotten this already?
• Oh I'm sorry to sayI agree with the earlier post that we have been guilty of missing some sitters this season. Various sitters spring to mind that Maynard has missed!

In other words lets me possitive and wait atleast until we see what happens tonight!

[Laner]

Agyemang is the same height as Saborio according to the OS. The only Dele-like player we have is Big John

Know we've signed him i hope he does well, i really do. It's just that i've never been this frustrated at a transfer we've made before

According to the OS he is taller... OK only by an inch (or 2 if you "wiki" him).

However, in our current line up he is one of the taller players and GJ did say he will add "presence that Adebola did". My point was that this will be both in attack and defence.

[Tins]

Picture the training ground yesterday....

GJ:"Guy's, this is Patrick. He's signed on loan and he's going to be another 'club in the bag' as a target man"

PA:" Hi fellas"

Squad: "Hi Patrick"

The lads all line up to shake Patricks hand and give him a proper Bristol City welcome. First up is Bradders...

BO:"Hi Patrick, my name's Bradley. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:"Er... hi"

Next up is Jamie Mac....

JM:"Hi Patrick, my names Jamie. You won't see much of me during the game but i'll be the one firing aimless 50 yard balls at your head"

PA:".....OK....."

Marvin Elliot:"Hi Patrick, my names Marv. You won't see much of me during the game....."

Meanwhile....

GJ:"Clarky, Big John, Alvaro.... can i have a word?"

Next up is Jamal Campbell-Ryce...........

JCR: Hi Patrick, im new aswell, im a WINGER who has pace and can cross the ball, and dont worry not all the fans are this negative!