cityexile Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 Blimey, how far we have come. Every game 12 months ago seemed to have one of these threads. Perm any eleven from twenty, any formation from half a dozen, and we could discuss it for hours. Right now, we could all with some confidence say who will play, and how we will line up. One of SCs great stengths seems to be to not over analyse the opposition, but says 'hey this is my best eleven, this is how we will line up, you worry about us'. Its also fun again. Its not just the results, it is that it is by and large great to watch. Real buzz after the win on Saturday, but heck, if we had come away with a draw I know I would have come away thinking cracking game. I have seen us go up a fair few times. IF it happens this year, in this way, I cannot think when I will actually have enjoyed the actual games so much. Fantastic. My little worry is this. An observation is I see Plan A, but it is less obvious to me what plan B is. It is very much an observation, rather than critical, as until forced on us, with Plan A working so well, who cares! There have been some games, where, for me, some players, eg Elliot and/or Wilbs, have worked really hard and have started to flag a little. SC does not seem to trust his bench enough to change things by bringing on if nothing else fresh legs. Maybe that is unfair, but it is how it appears, at least to me. He sees them in training, and only he will know why that is, but it sows a seed in my mind. The big worry for me therefore is it would be miraculous if much sooner rather than later we did not have some changes forced on us. I had hoped plan B in some key positions very much included a hungry JET. Right now, for whatever reason that relationship does not seem to be were it needs to be. My main concerns in this area are upfront and central midfield. Long may Plan A continue to give us joy. Reassure me that I am worrying unduly about the downside if we lost a couple of key players; it might be as simple as watching us for so many years, I am just expecting things to go wrong sooner or later! PS Presumably SC will also have to contend with the manager of the month award. My cup half full? Bah humbug! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 I hope he has learned from the subs he made at Fleetwood and Rochdale. By leaving the team unchanged until very near the end he avoided the unnecessary disruption he had caused at Rochdale and Fleetwood. This is his best team, barring injury and loss of form, both of which will happen at some time this season, and they are capable of beating any team in the division. If it ain't broke etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityexile Posted September 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 I hope he has learned from the subs he made at Fleetwood and Rochdale. By leaving the team unchanged until very near the end he avoided the unnecessary disruption he had caused at Rochdale and Fleetwood. This is his best team, barring injury and loss of form, both of which will happen at some time this season, and they are capable of beating any team in the division. If it ain't broke etc. Easy to forget the changes at Fleetwood were made very late with the first at 83 mins. Totally agree about if it aint broke, and I am not suggesting we change anything. Just a little worried about how we will sustain when changes are forced on us I suppose, or at least interested in others views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 Easy to forget the changes at Fleetwood were made very late with the first at 83 mins. Totally agree about if it aint broke, and I am not suggesting we change anything. Just a little worried about how we will sustain when changes are forced on us I suppose, or at least interested in others views. Relax and enjoy it, it's been a long time since we had a squad like this, they'll cope, and if they don't SC will borrow some more quality players! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityexile Posted September 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 Relax and enjoy it, it's been a long time since we had a squad like this, they'll cope, and if they don't SC will borrow some more quality players! Relax? Enjoy it? Its novel, I will give you that. Maybe its just about crazy enough to be worth a try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid in the Riot Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 I'm a bit concerned about the lack of game time others in the squad are getting. It's a squad game, even at L1 level and eventually others will have to be called upon - just gotta hope they're 'match ready'. We've been incredibly lucky with injuries thus far as well - can't remember a time when we've had so few? But yeah at the moment SC would be mad to change things. The thing is we're so good all over the park I can't see many teams being able to have a successful game plan to counter against us. Our 'weakness' at the moment seems to be defensively but if teams attack us like Fleetwood and MK Dons have then we're always going to score goals. I wouldn't want to be an opposition manager figuring out a way to beat us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 I'm a bit concerned about the lack of game time others in the squad are getting. It's a squad game, even at L1 level and eventually others will have to be called upon - just gotta hope they're 'match ready'. We've been incredibly lucky with injuries thus far as well - can't remember a time when we've had so few? But yeah at the moment SC would be mad to change things. The thing is we're so good all over the park I can't see many teams being able to have a successful game plan to counter against us. Our 'weakness' at the moment seems to be defensively but if teams attack us like Fleetwood and MK Dons have then we're always going to score goals. I wouldn't want to be an opposition manager figuring out a way to beat us. They'll get game time at Cheltenham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyb Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Similar to KITR, I am slightly worried about lack of game time in the rest of the squad. Also (not having a dig at SC as it is obviously proving successful atm) I feel that SC leaves it until very late to make substitutions. Although it keeps the 'settled' side on the pitch for as long as possible to try and see the game out but by making late substitutions it doesn't give the lads coming on to get up to speed with the game. The final 5 minutes of the game is probably the period of the match played at the highest tempo meaning that recently made substitutions may struggle and inevitably make mistakes (see Pack at Fleetwood giving the ball away for their 89th minute equaliser). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTFiGO!?! Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 It would make sense to me to look to integrate other players in to the first team a little more. That said, I believe Wagstaff, Osborne and Cunningham can all step straight in and do a job. Hoping we further strengthen in January or utilise the loan market again. Gone are the days you can win leagues with 13 players like Liverpool and Everton used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Peacock Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Similar to KITR, I am slightly worried about lack of game time in the rest of the squad. Also (not having a dig at SC as it is obviously proving successful atm) I feel that SC leaves it until very late to make substitutions. Although it keeps the 'settled' side on the pitch for as long as possible to try and see the game out but by making late substitutions it doesn't give the lads coming on to get up to speed with the game. The final 5 minutes of the game is probably the period of the match played at the highest tempo meaning that recently made substitutions may struggle and inevitably make mistakes (see Pack at Fleetwood giving the ball away for their 89th minute equaliser). 20 minutes from the end is statistically the best time to make a substitution. Apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samo II Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 They'll get game time at Cheltenham. I'm hoping that before that game SC perhaps reminds a few about how back then they did themselves no favours, and this is now an even bigger opportunity for them; not just in terms of possibly competing for places here, but overall as they'll be on telly. I can see it being a significantly better performance from those involved, considering those conditions, and because they may all get another shot to impress next round, if we progress. Realise many care not one jot for this cup, but I'm philosophical; if it gives (what most certainly now are) non- first teamers competitive game time and helps some youngsters experience it too, then I'm all for a run. And it would be good to breed a winning mentality (or at least see some 'edge') from those currently behind those with the shirts too. Plus, if we lose to Walsall, it is probably the ideal time to get a chance. Worst case scenario; it isn't like losing to Oxford harmed our league form, I just hope we don't get embarrassed on TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Out of interest hows the yellow card count looking - can we roughly predict who's first for a ban? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Peacock Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Out of interest hows the yellow card count looking - can we roughly predict who's first for a ban? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/bristol-city Smith I would say. Not surprising given his role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.