Summer Review / Season Preview

[herman]

off field

off the pitch, city have had a mixed summer with some new starts, promising developments and some problems which are hopefully just teething problems for the new board. most importantly, things are going well on the new ground and we could be seeing city play in the new stadium as planned. this is massive news and full credit has to be given to the former and current board for this. city also won some positive press by naming the bristol city community trust as the sponsor of their new away kit. the away kit has divided fans and seems to be a bit of a pink elephant, perhaps even a way for guy price to announce himself with community sponsorship. unforunately this SEEMS to have caused a problem with sponsorship for the new home shirt, and the delay must be costing the club money as well as frustrating the fans. city should have cleared the away shirt issue with the new sponsor for the home strip before going public with it all. the club are also showing a distanct lack of communication with the fans.

a club losing 12m a year (BEFORE the signings of james, hunt etc) cannot afford not to be having a decent sponsorship deal, and the design & colour of the kit is probably costing us sales. the "buy the away shirt or you're not a real fan" attitude surrounding the open day is a disgrace and a PR disaster, leaving many disillusioned with the new board.

on field

so far, maynard not having been sold is a big positive although it is clear he wants to leave. adomah showed how quickly contracts can be sorted when all parties want the same thing. no one can begrudge maynard wanting premier league football but with no PL offers then he should make a public statement. either he wants to leave, or he can say he wants to see city moving in the right direction and wants a PL release clause if they are not looking likely to go up. everyone would understand that. in his shoes i would take the money from city for now but insist on a release clause should city not be top 6 in january.

city have not managed to offload any contracted players and this is a concern. if hunt isn't going to be paid off, is he going to be played? city have too many wingers and too few centre backs and fullbacks of the right age and quality. taylor and bolasie may well be promising signings but the glaring gap in defence and swollen wage bill desparately needs to be addressed. losing henderson could be a big blunder. millen can't be blamed for setting his sights high, but if he isn't going to sell anyone then how could he have expected us to compete financially with the clubs our targets ended up with?

prediction

as things stand, city need to ship out at least 3 senior first team players (hunt, clarkson, johnson being the obvious 3) and try to get in a left back or ideally a versatile defender in the spence mould. a loan may well be the best option financially. bottom line is, maynard wants to leave but may not be able to, and even if he does the attack is fine depending on pittman's injury. defensively, city could do well if ribeiro, edwards and wilson play well and develop, and could bitterly struggle if they do not.

bottom line - with the squad as it is, those 3 young defenders - or skuse's ability to play right back - could define our season.

thoughts?

[steviestevieneville]

off field

off the pitch, city have had a mixed summer with some new starts, promising developments and some problems which are hopefully just teething problems for the new board. most importantly, things are going well on the new ground and we could be seeing city play in the new stadium as planned. this is massive news and full credit has to be given to the former and current board for this. city also won some positive press by naming the bristol city community trust as the sponsor of their new away kit. the away kit has divided fans and seems to be a bit of a pink elephant, perhaps even a way for guy price to announce himself with community sponsorship. unforunately this SEEMS to have caused a problem with sponsorship for the new home shirt, and the delay must be costing the club money as well as frustrating the fans. city should have cleared the away shirt issue with the new sponsor for the home strip before going public with it all. the club are also showing a distanct lack of communication with the fans.

a club losing 12m a year (BEFORE the signings of james, hunt etc) cannot afford not to be having a decent sponsorship deal, and the design & colour of the kit is probably costing us sales. the "buy the away shirt or you're not a real fan" attitude surrounding the open day is a disgrace and a PR disaster, leaving many disillusioned with the new board.

on field

so far, maynard not having been sold is a big positive although it is clear he wants to leave. adomah showed how quickly contracts can be sorted when all parties want the same thing. no one can begrudge maynard wanting premier league football but with no PL offers then he should make a public statement. either he wants to leave, or he can say he wants to see city moving in the right direction and wants a PL release clause if they are not looking likely to go up. everyone would understand that. in his shoes i would take the money from city for now but insist on a release clause should city not be top 6 in january.

city have not managed to offload any contracted players and this is a concern. if hunt isn't going to be paid off, is he going to be played? city have too many wingers and too few centre backs and fullbacks of the right age and quality. taylor and bolasie may well be promising signings but the glaring gap in defence and swollen wage bill desparately needs to be addressed. losing henderson could be a big blunder. millen can't be blamed for setting his sights high, but if he isn't going to sell anyone then how could he have expected us to compete financially with the clubs our targets ended up with?

prediction

as things stand, city need to ship out at least 3 senior first team players (hunt, clarkson, johnson being the obvious 3) and try to get in a left back or ideally a versatile defender in the spence mould. a loan may well be the best option financially. bottom line is, maynard wants to leave but may not be able to, and even if he does the attack is fine depending on pittman's injury. defensively, city could do well if ribeiro, edwards and wilson play well and develop, and could bitterly struggle if they do not.

bottom line - with the squad as it is, those 3 young defenders - or skuse's ability to play right back - could define our season.

thoughts?

I think you mean white elephant, unless your coming out the closet.