Andy Mitten's piece on Bristol City

[erndogz]

https://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/the-long-read-merry-times-ahead-for-bristol-city-saved-from-brink-of-collapse-now-targeting-premier-league-status-1.632880

Man Untied Fanzine chap who's very friendly with Holden. Wrote this after watching the Derby game.

[Jackson Lamb]

He's got a good grip on that.

[City Ben]

WTF? I live in Dubai... this is our local paper out here. Very surreal.

[LondonBristolian]

A good read, that. Done his research for sure. 

[Nogbad the Bad]

Good article, but got the years of our First Division stint wrong 2x.

[Monkeh]

20 minutes ago, erndogz said:

https://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/the-long-read-merry-times-ahead-for-bristol-city-saved-from-brink-of-collapse-now-targeting-premier-league-status-1.632880

Man Untied Fanzine chap who's very friendly with Holden. Wrote this after watching the Derby game.

very good read from some one with no afliation with the club,

can't help but feel optimistic after reading it, but then we've been here before, Lets hope it continues 

[RedM]

I don't usually read articles like this but thatvwas a good read. A good insight for an outsider and pretty much as it is. Interesting to see LJ saying he has got 22 players he can trust, yes that trust word again. And Luke Steele's honest assessment of how he saw us before and how his opinion changed was also interesting. 

[Red34]

18 minutes ago, erndogz said:

https://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/the-long-read-merry-times-ahead-for-bristol-city-saved-from-brink-of-collapse-now-targeting-premier-league-status-1.632880

Man Untied Fanzine chap who's very friendly with Holden. Wrote this after watching the Derby game.

Good read - like so much of what we're hearing and seeing at the moment, it really does highlight how total our approach now seems to be, such as the drone recording training and the stats being used everywhere, as well as the great team spirit and squad depth.

It's great we're getting such exposure outside the UK - imagine a certain little league team will be annoyed it's in their owner's region...

[exAtyeoMax]

Dumb & Dumber… 

[Nogbad the Bad]

Oh, and I suspect LJ meant he could trust the 22 players impeccably rather than 'implacably', which doesn't go together or mean anything. 

[generation1]

good article and a great read. 

[BS4 on Tour...]

15 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

A good read, that. Done his research for sure. 

I agree, a good read...but his research wasn't too thorough - he said we were last in the top flight from 1978-1982 - very incorrect....

[cidered abroad]

Thanks for posting it. Good to read positive things as seen by outsiders.

No more false dawns please City.

[cidered abroad]

2 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

I agree, a good read...but his research wasn't too thorough - he said we were last in the top flight from 1978-1982 - very incorrect....

So he got one or two dates wrong but the substance of now is very good and positive.

[Nogbad the Bad]

5 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

So he got one or two dates wrong but the substance of now is very good and positive.

I think we all agree on that, still a bit annoying to get something so easily checked so wrong though.

[Robbored]

Excellent read!  

[PHILINFRANCE]

22 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Oh, and I suspect LJ meant he could trust the 22 players impeccably rather than 'implacably', which doesn't go together or mean anything. 

Or even implicitly .

[Nogbad the Bad]

3 minutes ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

Or even implicitly .

Either would do Phil, just not implacably. 

[eastonboy]

I enjoyed that.

 

Didnt know the intricacies of the Cole contract or transfer before

[Ohbasso]

I enjoyed that it was a good read especially coming from someone with no connection to City.

[Guest]

Really good read, I'm hoping people take us a bit more seriously now we're getting the results against the big boys. Articles like this show the recent performances are definitely turning some heads

[Nogbad the Bad]

7 minutes ago, Eastside Moonwalker said:

Really good read, I'm hoping people take us a bit more seriously now we're getting the results against the big boys. Articles like this show the recent performances are definitely turning some heads

No doubt about it, on the C5 highlights show Colin Murray said Bristol City are playing the most exciting football in the league right now, or similar.

Edit: In fact I think it was 'in the country', so even bigger praise.

[Red Army 75]

Very good read . Good to read a bit from JJ .

[Leveller]

Some nice positive quotes from Andy Cole who has often been said not to have enjoyed his time here.

[hoxton casual]

Love the bit about the Cole transfer and Keehan calling him Adrian

[City Ben]

Cole does a lot of work on TV here in the Middle East, at Bein in Qatar. So I'm not surprised he was accessible for the article.

[PHILINFRANCE]

18 minutes ago, hoxton casual said:

Love the bit about the Cole transfer and Keehan calling him Adrian

I see what you did there .

[Ian M]

Maybe the author is monitoring this thread because we were now in the top flight from 1976-1980 and LJ now trusts his players impeccably. If you're reading this Andy you just need to correct your name at the top now. Good article, thanks for writing it  

[Negan]

Didn’t we have similar written by Henry Winter last season? Just hoping we keep our heads down and do the talking on the pitch. It was a good read though. I liked the part about Johnson saying he went from 8th best manager under 40 to Bristol citys worst ever manager in 8 games  bare that in mind Lee! Let’s not get to carried away. 

[ZiderEyed]

Good article, nice to hear such praise leveled at us.

[exAtyeoMax]

They're not touting for investment? 

[Cider Queen]

Particularly liked Holdens Dumb and Dumber quote at the end!

Great article 

[Garland-sweden]

Thanks for posting it. Interesting and good vibes. Always believe, COYR!!!

[pillred]

2 hours ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

I agree, a good read...but his research wasn't too thorough - he said we were last in the top flight from 1978-1982 - very incorrect....

where does it say 78, 82 it says 4 year spell 76, 80 which is correct.

[RedRock]

I still don't get this North of the River stuff. Unless things have changed dramatically since the 70's, the north west quarter of Bristol was at worse 50:50.  

Clifton, Stoke Bishop, WoT, Sea Mills, Shire, Avonmouth, Lawrence Wesson, Cotham and even Horfield were predominantly City. In fact wasn't there a bit of edginess between sizeable groups of 'Meaders' and Knowle West in the East End on occasions. 

Maybe it was the people I mixed with or my, now, failing memory, that leads me to this belief.

The ghettos East of Gloucester Road was always where the dark side resided.

[NOTBLUE]

8 minutes ago, Moor2Sea said:

I still don't get this North of the River stuff. Unless things have changed dramatically since the 70's, the north west quarter of Bristol was at worse 50:50.  

Clifton, Stoke Bishop, WoT, Sea Mills, Shire, Avonmouth, Lawrence Wesson, Cotham and even Horfield were predominantly City. In fact wasn't there a bit of edginess between sizeable groups of 'Meaders' and Knowle West in the East End on occasions. 

Maybe it was the people I mixed with or my failing memory.

The ghettos East of Gloucester Road was where the dark side resided.

Being a " meader" myself back then,I can concur that was in fact the case,there never was a clear north /south divide.

[Pezo]

6 minutes ago, Moor2Sea said:

I still don't get this North of the River stuff. Unless things have changed dramatically since the 70's, the north west quarter of Bristol was at worse 50:50.  

Clifton, Stoke Bishop, WoT, Sea Mills, Shire, Avonmouth, Lawrence Wesson, Cotham and even Horfield were predominantly City.

Maybe it was the groups I mixed with!

The ghettos East of Gloucester Road was where the dark side resided.

Certainly now.

The current Mrs P works at Cribbs so I end up stopping there around 3 times a week for an hour, iv been really happily surprised to regularly see 2 or 3 different kids (anywhere from 8 to 20 years old) each time walking around with city merchandise on and easily outnumbering the merchandise on show from big prem teams, but dont see anything from Rovers ever which i would prefer to prem stuff.

[glynriley]

9 minutes ago, Moor2Sea said:

I still don't get this North of the River stuff. Unless things have changed dramatically since the 70's, the north west quarter of Bristol was at worse 50:50.  

Clifton, Stoke Bishop, WoT, Sea Mills, Shire, Avonmouth, Lawrence Wesson, Cotham and even Horfield were predominantly City.

Maybe it was the groups I mixed with!

The ghettos East of Gloucester Road was where the dark side resided.

Can only speak for the 4 places I've highlighted, as I've spent all of my 48 years living in one or the other, but as you say, at worst 50:50.

[Mr Popodopolous]

In terms of the City core areas I would suggest:

• South Bristol
• North Somerset
• Decent areas of Somerset proper
• Some South Gloucs.

Clearly the North of the River won't be pure that other side- how can it be with their current and indeed last 16 years at least- but moreso than the areas above IMO. Less City there I would have thought, though Shirehampton definitely fairly decent City I would have thought. Clifton would make sense for City also as it's walking distance to AG.

As an aside, and again perhaps it's changing now but for somewhile incomers- who were neutral- seemed to have more sympathy with the aforementioned other side. Unsure why it is/was really but found that with those I knew.

[Vespa Red]

Is it "Charterhouse to Cheddar"?  I always thought it was "Chard up to Cheddar...."

[NOTBLUE]

21 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

In terms of the City core areas I would suggest:

• South Bristol
• North Somerset
• Decent areas of Somerset proper
• Some South Gloucs.

Clearly the North of the River won't be pure that other side- how can it be with their current and indeed last 16 years at least- but moreso than the areas above IMO. Less City there I would have thought, though Shirehampton definitely fairly decent City I would have thought. Clifton would make sense for City also as it's walking distance to AG.

As an aside, and again perhaps it's changing now but for somewhile incomers- who were neutral- seemed to have more sympathy with the aforementioned other side. Unsure why it is/was really but found that with those I knew.

I live in Horfield and there plenty of city fans around here and even in Filton I think people living in south Bristol would be surprised by how many of us live oop north. 

[Jerseybean]

Really enjoyed this article and particularly pleased that not once was the phrase 'sleeping giant' used. It's a good time to be a City fan.

[Touch_my_butter]

Very well researched piece

[Maesknoll]

21 minutes ago, Vespa Red said:

Is it "Charterhouse to Cheddar"?  I always thought it was "Chard up to Cheddar...."

I'm afraid you always thought wrong.....

http://www.thewurzels.com/lyricsdrinkup.htm. 

 

The article was an interesting read, thanks to the OP for posting it.

[Vespa Red]

I know, but I always thought it was...

 

[Nogbad the Bad]

1 hour ago, pillred said:

where does it say 78, 82 it says 4 year spell 76, 80 which is correct.

It's been altered, no doubt due to the comments on here.

[hoxton casual]

55 minutes ago, Moor2Sea said:

I still don't get this North of the River stuff. Unless things have changed dramatically since the 70's, the north west quarter of Bristol was at worse 50:50.  

Clifton, Stoke Bishop, WoT, Sea Mills, Shire, Avonmouth, Lawrence Wesson, Cotham and even Horfield were predominantly City. In fact wasn't there a bit of edginess between sizeable groups of 'Meaders' and Knowle West in the East End on occasions. 

Maybe it was the people I mixed with or my, now, failing memory, that leads me to this belief.

The ghettos East of Gloucester Road was always where the dark side resided.

in my recollection the dividing line went up whiteladies road along along colharbour lane and henleaze road up Southmead road to Filton. I went to St Johns Primary at the top of Blackboy Hill in late 60's early 70's and if you left through one gate you were rovers and another gate you were city. I would imagine the north west/south v east is no longer as concentrated as it was

[Red34]

1 hour ago, Moor2Sea said:

I still don't get this North of the River stuff. Unless things have changed dramatically since the 70's, the north west quarter of Bristol was at worse 50:50.  

Clifton, Stoke Bishop, WoT, Sea Mills, Shire, Avonmouth, Lawrence Wesson, Cotham and even Horfield were predominantly City. In fact wasn't there a bit of edginess between sizeable groups of 'Meaders' and Knowle West in the East End on occasions. 

Maybe it was the people I mixed with or my, now, failing memory, that leads me to this belief.

The ghettos East of Gloucester Road was always where the dark side resided.

Agreed - grew up in Lawrence Weston and no one I knew liked them, whereas quite a few were City fans.

Shirehampton seems the same, and recently lived/live in WoT and Brentry areas, where again seems more City than anything, and my workplace (central) is majority City if anything.

The "less fortunate" fans I know all live in the Mangotsfield/Downend areas...

[Frenchay Red]

7 minutes ago, Red34 said:

 

The "less fortunate" fans I know all live in the Mangotsfield/Downend areas...

Pretty much red round these yer parts. Blue few I know are scattered from Bishopston, Keynsham and Longwell Green. And only one of them actually goes to games!

[Red34]

3 minutes ago, Frenchay Red said:

Pretty much red round these yer parts. Blue few I know are scattered from Bishopston, Keynsham and Longwell Green. And only one of them actually goes to games!

To be fair the Mangotsfield ones were/are just one big family - if anyone remembers a large classy family that fought outside their house often, over such important issues as who was going to carve the Sunday roast, that's them.

All fans of the "prowed quarters".

And unfortunately related to me... 

[TV Tom]

1 hour ago, Moor2Sea said:

I still don't get this North of the River stuff. Unless things have changed dramatically since the 70's, the north west quarter of Bristol was at worse 50:50.  

Clifton, Stoke Bishop, WoT, Sea Mills, Shire, Avonmouth, Lawrence Wesson, Cotham and even Horfield were predominantly City. In fact wasn't there a bit of edginess between sizeable groups of 'Meaders' and Knowle West in the East End on occasions. 

Maybe it was the people I mixed with or my, now, failing memory, that leads me to this belief.

The ghettos East of Gloucester Road was always where the dark side resided.

KW and Southmead certainly didn't get on, not as bad as the hatred between KW and Hartcliffe at the time though

[BS4 on Tour...]

2 hours ago, pillred said:

where does it say 78, 82 it says 4 year spell 76, 80 which is correct.

See post #28 - the article has been edited after comments were posted on here....it said 1978-1982 originally and it also said 'Bristol hasn't had a top flight club since 1982' originally, it's good to see it has been updated to be correct. So a good article is now even better...

[BS4 on Tour...]

1 hour ago, Vespa Red said:

Is it "Charterhouse to Cheddar"?  I always thought it was "Chard up to Cheddar...."

Always been 'Charterhouse"' birthday boy!

[Frenchay Red]

No mention of Cott's or the success he brought. Unless I missed it.

[alexukhc]

Great read and Andrew Cole said summit nice about us, happy days

[pillred]

23 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

See post #28 - the article has been edited after comments were posted on here....it said 1978-1982 originally and it also said 'Bristol hasn't had a top flight club since 1982' originally, it's good to see it has been updated to be correct. So a good article is now even better...

hadn't realised it had been altered only saw the revised edition, nice to see he realised his mistake.

[RumRed]

Bid for investment like Rovers?

Not really like Rovers but outside Middle East money.

[BS4 on Tour...]

44 minutes ago, pillred said:

hadn't realised it had been altered only saw the revised edition, nice to see he realised his mistake.

Although it still says "Bristol has not had a top flight team since 1982..." - I really dislike lazy journalism....yep he has corrected our top flight stint to "1976-1980" but hasn't bothered to correct the erroneous "1982" stat - we were in the bloody third then fourth division then!

[joe jordans teeth]

Good article but he's quoting me and I can't remember that coming out of my mouth 

[RedRock]

2 hours ago, hoxton casual said:

in my recollection the dividing line went up whiteladies road along along colharbour lane and henleaze road up Southmead road to Filton. I went to St Johns Primary at the top of Blackboy Hill in late 60's early 70's and if you left through one gate you were rovers and another gate you were city. I would imagine the north west/south v east is no longer as concentrated as it was

Wow! That's pretty much nailed on.

Got threatened in Redland by a number of Gas - don't recall walking through a school gate en route to the scene of the ambush though! 

[And Its Smith]

3 hours ago, NOTBLUE said:

I live in Horfield and there plenty of city fans around here and even in Filton I think people living in south Bristol would be surprised by how many of us live oop north. 

As do I. Five mins walk from Gas ground (literally forgotten its real name).  That dump aside,this is the best area of Bristol

[WessexPest]

4 hours ago, Moor2Sea said:

I still don't get this North of the River stuff. Unless things have changed dramatically since the 70's, the north west quarter of Bristol was at worse 50:50.  

Clifton, Stoke Bishop, WoT, Sea Mills, Shire, Avonmouth, Lawrence Wesson, Cotham and even Horfield were predominantly City. In fact wasn't there a bit of edginess between sizeable groups of 'Meaders' and Knowle West in the East End on occasions. 

Maybe it was the people I mixed with or my, now, failing memory, that leads me to this belief.

The ghettos East of Gloucester Road was always where the dark side resided.

I remember the Rovers website used to have an FAQ on it and one of the Qs was where are the heartlands for the two clubs?

From memory it said there were very few Gas in S Bristol apart from Hartcliffe (must say that was news to me that they have a lot of fans there!) and that the NW of the city had a slight majority in favour of City. 

You're right though, the north-south divide is obviously an oversimplification or the numbers watching each team would be a lot closer.

City have a surprisingly large catchment area too - most of Somerset and parts of Wiltshire (including yours truly  )

 

[Lanterne Rouge]

21 minutes ago, WessexPest said:

I remember the Rovers website used to have an FAQ on it and one of the Qs was where are the heartlands for the two clubs?

From memory it said there were very few Gas in S Bristol apart from Hartcliffe (must say that was news to me that they have a lot of fans there!) and that the NW of the city had a slight majority in favour of City. 

You're right though, the north-south divide is obviously an oversimplification or the numbers watching each team would be a lot closer.

City have a surprisingly large catchment area too - most of Somerset and parts of Wiltshire (including yours truly  )

 

I`d love to see a breakdown by postcode of ST holders.

I doubt there will be many others in mine though - EX20!

[You Do The Dziekanowski]

That was a splendid read! 

 

I didn't realise Cole knew he joined us? I thought he went from Arsenal to Newcastle did he not? 

[RedRock]

28 minutes ago, Red Right Hand said:

I`d love to see a breakdown by postcode of ST holders.

I doubt there will be many others in mine though - EX20!

Think there's quite a few TQ's around. 

South Devon is ours. 

[Maesknoll]

The oddity scale rises as you get to the river travelling North, cross it and there are some right strange ones, by the time you get North of the M4 it's like Royston Vasey.........  all the best people come from South of the river

[TheCulturalBomb]

What are FourFourTwo smoking sometimes? Predicted us to finish 7th after our Double winning season and this season they predict 22nd? Odd.

[TheCulturalBomb]

24 minutes ago, Maesknoll Red said:

The oddity scale rises as you get to the river travelling North, cross it and there are some right strange ones, by the time you get North of the M4 it's like Royston Vasey.........  all the best people come from South of the river

[pillred]

5 hours ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Although it still says "Bristol has not had a top flight team since 1982..." - I really dislike lazy journalism....yep he has corrected our top flight stint to "1976-1980" but hasn't bothered to correct the erroneous "1982" stat - we were in the bloody third then fourth division then!

don't remind me!!

[Ian M]

5 hours ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Although it still says "Bristol has not had a top flight team since 1982..." - I really dislike lazy journalism....yep he has corrected our top flight stint to "1976-1980" but hasn't bothered to correct the erroneous "1982" stat - we were in the bloody third then fourth division then!

Still true though, we haven't