What A Load Of Coppellers!

[westred1]

Hey guys, some of you may have read my Darren Bent arcticle but I wanted to write one about City so I gave it a go. In my own opinion I don't think it is as good but as I've written it I thought I'd share it! It may be worth the read, it may not be - make your own decision and let me know

What a load of Coppellers! Or was his Departure an Easy Blame?

The turmoil at Bristol City is no hidden secret to those that surround the Ashton Gate club. After losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, the Robins slumped to their 12th defeat of the season and are slowly beginning to be drawn back into a relegation fight after only picking up 1 win in the last 9 games and 6 points out of a possible 27. The West Country side are placed 17^th in the NPower Championship, a place that at the start of the season looked unlikely. The expectations of Bristol City's chances of gaining promotion to the Premier League were boosted when former Manchester United and England Legend Steve Coppell took the reins at the South West club.

Coppell took over City in the summer and looked to reform the Robins into his own team by signing several players to enhance the ultimate goal of Premier League status. His signing were seen as brilliant by most at the time with the likes of midfield maestro Kalifa Cisse, former England under 21 international and premier league experienced Nicky Hunt, hot prospect Albert Adomah and the biggest coup of all England International David James joining Coppell in putting pen to paper to sign for BS3 outfit. Every City fan shared the same feelings of excitement and anticipation due to the prominence of Steve Coppell's figure and the small fact England's current number 1 goalkeeper had signed ready to play against Millwall on the opening day of the season after his previous game against Germany in the World Cup; quite a contrast to say the least.

Coppell had previously steered former club Reading into the Promised Land in 2006 and enjoyed one successful season in the top flight before conceding to relegation the season after. Bristol City fans and players alike believed that he was the man to guide them through the same procedure that he had gone through at the Royals. What the City fans or anyone else in football for that matter didn't expect was for the former United great to resign from his post after just 2 games into the football league season.

In front of a sell-out crowd of just under 19,000, the prospect and dream of gaining promotion from the Championship turned into an opening day nightmare as City admitted defeat to newly-promoted Millwall in a 3-0 loss. This was followed by excuses that the new squad of players hadn't had time to become cohesive but worse was to follow; the Robins travelled to Southend in the League Cup with odds firmly on them to win comfortably. But when the reds came back from Roots Hall after being defeated in the first round, it was clear that there was a problem slowly occurring with a day later that said problem becoming evident.

Steve Coppell resigned from his post claiming he had lost the excitement for the job and didn't think he could steer the club to the goals that were set; following these remarks, he went on to retire from football. Inexperienced Keith Millen took over the post of Bristol City boss and steadily got the side back on track and won manager of the month in November before the slow decline starting to creep back into the club. City have failed to score in 4 games and have let in 8 in that time and their beginning of the season hope has turned into a middle of the season nightmare. It results in the fans of the club asking – who's to blame? Steve Coppell?

It is undisputed that Coppell's departure left the club in complete chaos and scrutiny but is he the real cause for the dismal season? Coppell certainly intended to make a charge towards the Premier League with his signings but his signings have seemingly flopped on the big stage. Kalifa Cisse, a defensive midfielder captured from Reading, was signed with much expectation and a certain amount of excitement was placed on this signing but Cisse has failed to live up to his name. Since Millen's takeover, Cisse has found himself struggling for starts but when he has started he's found himself in the public eye for the wrong reasons. Despite a decent display against Cardiff on the 1^st January 2011, Cisse followed it by a dismal performance that lasted 60 minutes against Middlesbrough. Cisse made mistake after mistake against Boro before scoring an own goal to start off the 4-0 defeat at Ashton Gate, 15^th January 2011. This one of many poor performances Cisse has put out this season and his dreary performances are thanks to his subject signing of Coppell.

Nicky Hunt is another player that was drafted in by Coppell and has been disregarded by Millen completely and is currently failing to make the reserve team. Hunt was brought in from Bolton as an established right back and was deemed to be the perfect replacement after the offload of Bradley Orr to QPR. Like Cisse, Hunt's performances have been far from satisfactory for the Bristol City faithful and calls for him to be sold have been demanded after his atrocious display against Leeds United at Elland Road, 13^th November 2010. Hunt was put on after Louis Carey's injury and his incompetence lead to Luciano Becchio's 3 goals in a 3-1 Leeds win.

It may not be Steve Coppell's fault for the poor performances of these two once highly regarded players, but his decision to bring them in has backfired and left Keith Millen with two players that don't fit the mould of the Bristol City team and remain on high wages as the club are unable to attract interest for them. Two signings Coppell did make that, however, have been successful this season; David James and Albert Adomah; two players which are in contrast of each other due to their football backgrounds.

David James was signed for Bristol City after playing for England in the World Cup 2010. His pedigree speaks for itself and the excitement amongst the Robins' fans was at a maximum and they were in a state of disarray after completing one of the coups of the season. However, after conceding 3 goals in his first game some of the various City faithful turned fickle and called James 'past it' and 'too old' to play for the club. James has gone on to prove them wrong and proved a justified signing as the 3-0, 4-0 losses could've easily been a lot higher if it weren't for James.

Albert Adomah – who? That was the response of most football fans when he moved from Barnet in the summer. Adomah was considered a hot prospect for the future but not the inspirational player that he has turned out to be. Bert, as he is known by some City fans, has turned into a fans' favourite after his dazzling wing displays week in week out.

Coppell bringing in various players and leaving may have caused unrest within the Bristol City camp. City players brought in by him may have felt mislead by the fact that they were ready to move on with Coppell and were persuaded to join by his credentials of a manager and the promises he made. But when he left, who's to say the players didn't want to perform for the club anymore? A consideration which Coppell never thought of before dealing own needs and feelings. These new players are now at a club which the reason they joined for is now extinct and may now be unmotivated to perform under a new manager.

The players' inconsistency and lack of creativity may be a reason for their place in the league rather than Coppell destroying the club; the players have the ability and have proved this in pre season by beating premier league new boys Blackpool 2-0 which many of the existing players played in. The players may be unmotivated by the style of Millen's tactics and formation. Millen went on a run through November and December only losing 1 game in a long stretch of games to hurl his team away from the relegation zone; his tactics worked then so why are they not working now? Millen's tactics are considered, at times, too predictable and team's have caught on to this fact. During the success of the run in November and December, City's player sparkled with the side often playing down the flank of Adomah which sparked the performance of Brett Pitman who went on to score 8 goals in as many games. Now however, the opposition City play against often put two men on both wingers which has stopped City's only threats and blocked the distribution to the inform Pitman resulting in no goals in 4 games.

So is Coppell to blame? His decision to leave club obviously didn't helped but his departure was more than half a season ago and is starting to become a scapegoat. Are the performances of the players alone a contributing factor to City's current dilemma? The performances of individual City players are starting to slack causing a decrease in performance; the players need to play as a team rather than individuals and become more cohesive to play to the best they can. Millen's tactical naivety is also an issue in the West Country club's downfall and he may need to think of a plan B in order to stretch the opposition's tactics against his side.

Hope you enjoyed the read!

Lewis Hancock

[Jordan Tansley]

what a load of shit!

[westred1]

what a load of shit!

Thanks Tanz

[spudski]

Steve Coppell didn't apply for the City job. He had to be persuaded to take the job by SL. Don't blame SC for City's demise. Blame SL. He went looking for him and obviously made a huge gamble in taking on a manager who hadn't applied for the vacant job, was dangled a carrott, given a one year rolling contract and as could be seen by anyone his heart wasn't in it.

When SC resigned...did SL rant and rage? No...it's as if he half expected it, and then gave SL his blessing on leaving. Think about it. Sl screwed up, not SC. He got out at the beginning of the season and gave City every chance of getting another decent manager in. SL chose KM. The rest is history. People need to stop blamming Coppell for our predicament. Look at who GJ brought in and who SL has put his trust in.

[westred1]

Steve Coppell didn't apply for the City job. He had to be persuaded to take the job by SL. Don't blame SC for City's demise. Blame SL. He went looking for him and obviously made a huge gamble in taking on a manager who hadn't applied for the vacant job, was dangled a carrott, given a one year rolling contract and as could be seen by anyone his heart wasn't in it.

When SC resigned...did SL rant and rage? No...it's as if he half expected it, and then gave SL his blessing on leaving. Think about it. Sl screwed up, not SC. He got out at the beginning of the season and gave City every chance of getting another decent manager in. SL chose KM. The rest is history. People need to stop blamming Coppell for our predicament. Look at who GJ brought in and who SL has put his trust in.

I wrote this because of many people stating on here that Steve Coppell was the primary blame for this season and destroyed us. I dont think that i said directly that I thought he was to blame and I never answered the question and left it down to the opinion of the reader.

Do I think Coppell was to blame for the downfall of this club? Partially but not solely. His signings proved to be a mistake and weren't made on purpose to disrubt this club and his depature certainly caused unrest but it obviously wasn't deliberate. Is he an easy blame? Probably. I mean there are other components that have contributed to the demise of this football club such as the underperforming, lacklustre players in our squad who clearly arent good enough at this level as well Millen's naviety with his tactics as stated in the article. There isn't a main factor they are all mixed in together and people can make their own opinions on the situation. Some even bring Gary Johnson into the equation for our downfall - again it's a matter of a opinion.