I thought ‘Bloody hell, we’ve brought a sommelier in to decant this and it tastes like Echo Falls!’’ he says with a smile. ‘Our goalkeeping coach ended up downing most of it.’ (Merged)

[CiderJar]

4 hours ago, Nibor said:

Just so you don't have to actually click on the daily mail link and wade through the ad ridden shit pit that is their website.

And the same for the Colin Murray article in the Metro......

Quote

MANY learned pundits and columnists have had their say on Bristol City’s epic Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United, but I think comedian and lifelong Robin Mark Watson summed it up most succinctly and intelligently when he tweeted… ‘Unfu**ingbelievable’.

No, really. It is. What he said. Only without the asterix.

That soul-stirring scene of manager Lee Johnson running down the touchline to celebrate Korey Smith’s late winner, joyously twirling around officially the cutest ball boy in the world ever, becomes even more fantastical given the back story.

Earlier this very Gregorian calendar year, they were a team stuck in a horrible rut. His address was posted online, his kids were verbally abused at school and, after signing Matty Taylor from Bristol Rovers, an actual death threat from a village idiot forced the 36-year-old and his family to move.

Johnson’s typical day was a living hell but owner Steve Lansdown continued to believe in him.

He is the real hero in all of this. He has developed the stadium, has just announced plans for new training facilities, spent wisely on the team and kept faith in a young English gaffer.

On Wednesday, Bristol City showed a wider audience what Championship fans have seen for most of the season — a group of men with more togetherness than 300 Spartans.

Not being able to pick a clear man of the match is standard when it comes to this mob. Sure, Joe Bryan was immense but they are a one-to-11 kinda deal. Doggedly defensive when they need to dig in, or on the front foot, playing brave passing football. They did both against the mighty Manchester United.

They have won nine of their last 11 but, tellingly, eight of those have come via a single goal. It’s this never-say-die togetherness that has seen them score from almost every possible position. While Bobby Reid is in double figures, 15 other players have league strikes to their name.

In the Carabao Cup, they have scored more goals, and scored more goals from more players, than any other team, on their way to taking four Premier League scalps. Talented, yes, but undoubtedly greater than the sum of their parts, and they are a side who may just be having more fun than any other in English football.

When they score they tweet out ridiculous goal GIFs of the applicable player doing a stupid dance or a daft skit. Some scoff but I love it.

And while promotion to the Premier League remains the priority, their exploits in this cup go beyond a simple giant-killing.

Ask yourself this — do you remember those days when Bristol City, a big team from a big city, were in the top flight?

No, neither do I. It was 1980. I was three-years-old and more concerned with Star Wars, space hoppers and vodka.

On Wednesday night, more than 200,000 people tweeted ‘Bristol City’, while millions more read about their club for the first time in ages. It was a declaration to a football-mad nation that they are on the cusp of something special.

Could it all go wrong? Possibly. Wolves are the Championship’s class act and I see as many as another eight teams in with a shout of that other automatic place and the heart-stopping, glorious brutality of the play-offs.

However, if it doesn’t happen this season, it will happen soon enough, just so long as the owner remains steadfast in his philosophy.

Lee Johnson summed Bristol City 2017 up perfectly when he said, ‘Sometimes you have to use the bricks that are thrown at you to build the foundation to move forward’, and it would take a sledgehammer to shatter the spirit at Ashton Gate.

Pep, if you are reading this, best not play the kids, eh?

They said it…

‘I ran to Lee Johnson and he swung me around. It was really amazing. When he swung me round it made me feel dizzy’ — Delighted Bristol City ball boy, ten-year-old Jaden Neale

@colinmurray