Negan Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Unbeaten in the league and playing well, another little cup run coming along and things are looking good, we look as though we can challenge for promotion this season! The statement above is true, for both January 2019 and the beginning of January 2018. Now whilst I'm enjoying how things are going at the moment and I'm confident we can challenge for promotion this season, I genuinely thought that same this time last year but as we know the wheels well and truly fell off. Now I'm not trying to bring negativity to what is a very happy and positive board at the moment, but I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking a real bad run which see's us drop is only around the corner? It's been the summary of Lee Johnsons managerial career with us, we're either soaring on cloud nine or down in the dumps. History tells us, well screams at us, that we'll fade away and struggle to get any momentum for a promotion push and whilst I don't think it will happen this season I wouldn't bet against it. It's quite common now to see fans on social media from other clubs calling us bottle jobs... So do you think we'll continue the good form and sneak a play off spot or we'll inevitably drop like a stone like we have throughout LJ tenure? I think for the first time since he's been here Lee has a defence he can count on, Kalas being critical to it and whilst we aren't scoring for fun the goals haven't dried up and someone always pops up to put the ball in the net eventually, so with that being said I'm going to stick my neck out and say we wont falter and we WILL finish in the play offs or give it a bloody good go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolcitysweden Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Of course it will happen again. It's a slim line and we are not exactly world beaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judda Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 I think your cider is definitely half empty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolcitysweden Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 12 minutes ago, Judda said: I think your cider is definitely half empty The season starts from now. Can we step it up from now on or are we overachieving? The team will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Many people said last season "we've blown our best chance to get up" and "the opportunity won't come again in my lifetime". But here we are again, with a decent opportunity and we are arguably better placed than last time, with momentum going the right way this time. As i've said elsewhere, I look at the top 6 and don't see who is obviously falling away though. Leeds, Norwich and Derby have slowed a touch in form, but Sheff Utd who'd you'd look at are still strong. Are Boro catchable? They don't score many. Could let them down in the end. Derby? Will they bottle it again? We also can't afford anymore injuries or we might slip down the table. If we can keep people fit and add a quality forward, no reason we can't keep challenging at the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBFC II Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 There are big differences between this season and last. Firstly we have strength in depth in every position now, for instance our centre back options are currently Webster, Kalas, Baker, Wright and Kelly. That's 2 full internationals, an England u21 player and two other top class championship centre backs. We've never had that strength before. With regards to that, unlike last season, our defence is very solid. Last season our form was built off of exciting attacking football with a high press. This season we can still do that, but we can also be compact, something that a back four of Wright Flint Baker and Bryan would have struggled to do as well. Add into that we now have more quality in attacking areas than last season. O'dowda and eliasson are both much better players than they were and palmer looks to be a class addition. With Diedhiou, who is a 15-20 goal season striker in front of them we are in a very good place. The difficulty will come when we lose and how we bounce back from that, but for now I'm very excited for what the future holds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Zod Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Now we are chasing the top 6 the extra cup games could be disruptive but I guess it will be the same for a few teams around us. Personally, after being very critical of our style of play and creativity for most of the season I’m enjoying our winning run, the positivity at the ground and a team starting to look a bit more creative. Who knows if another bad run is just round the corner, just enjoy the good times returning and keep everything crossed that we can keep it going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daored Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 16 minutes ago, Negan said: Unbeaten in the league and playing well, another little cup run coming along and things are looking good, we look as though we can challenge for promotion this season! The statement above is true, for both January 2019 and the beginning of January 2018. Now whilst I'm enjoying how things are going at the moment and I'm confident we can challenge for promotion this season, I genuinely thought that same this time last year but as we know the wheels well and truly fell off. Now I'm not trying to bring negativity to what is a very happy and positive board at the moment, but I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking a real bad run which see's us drop is only around the corner? It's been the summary of Lee Johnsons managerial career with us, we're either soaring on cloud nine or down in the dumps. History tells us, well screams at us, that we'll fade away and struggle to get any momentum for a promotion push and whilst I don't think it will happen this season I wouldn't bet against it. It's quite common now to see fans on social media from other clubs calling us bottle jobs... So do you think we'll continue the good form and sneak a play off spot or we'll inevitably drop like a stone like we have throughout LJ tenure? I think for the first time since he's been here Lee has a defence he can count on, Kalas being critical to it and whilst we aren't scoring for fun the goals haven't dried up and someone always pops up to put the ball in the net eventually, so with that being said I'm going to stick my neck out and say we wont falter and we WILL finish in the play offs or give it a bloody good go... I don’t think we’ll make the play offs personally, but I think we will challenge and will finish 7th or 8th. I believe our squad is stronger than last season, defensively we’re possibly the strongest we’ve been in a long time, to hard players of Baker and Wright not in the starting 11 is testimony to that. Midfield we also look stronger, Brownhill & Pack with Morrell taking his opportunity. Add in Smith & Walsh coming back , not short of options. The reason I don’t think we’ll make the play offs is lack of goals, Fammy is doing ok but no real other options. I think lack of goals will be the reason why , however if we bring in a striker then maybe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daored Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 2 minutes ago, General Zod said: Now we are chasing the top 6 the extra cup games could be disruptive but I guess it will be the same for a few teams around us. Personally, after being very critical of our style of play and creativity for most of the season I’m enjoying our winning run, the positivity at the ground and a team starting to look a bit more creative. Who knows if another bad run is just round the corner, just enjoy the good times returning and keep everything crossed that we can keep it going. The cup run means we have two games to be rearranged; Boro (a) and Brum (h). Positive is that no cup replays from next round Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Fox Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Another positive is that there are not too many midweek games left, and that other than Middlesbrough they are all at home. As to always dropping under LJ i think your find that we've finished higher in the final table each year under his tenure. So top ten would be an improvement on last years elenth, top six would be great, top two magic. COYRs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davefevs Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 15 minutes ago, JBFC II said: There are big differences between this season and last. Firstly we have strength in depth in every position now, for instance our centre back options are currently Webster, Kalas, Baker, Wright and Kelly. That's 2 full internationals, an England u21 player and two other top class championship centre backs. We've never had that strength before. With regards to that, unlike last season, our defence is very solid. Last season our form was built off of exciting attacking football with a high press. This season we can still do that, but we can also be compact, something that a back four of Wright Flint Baker and Bryan would have struggled to do as well. Add into that we now have more quality in attacking areas than last season. O'dowda and eliasson are both much better players than they were and palmer looks to be a class addition. With Diedhiou, who is a 15-20 goal season striker in front of them we are in a very good place. The difficulty will come when we lose and how we bounce back from that, but for now I'm very excited for what the future holds And the playing style is not so knackering. Morrell has proved he can come in (not forgetting Walsh either....although I think Korey will need a pre-season to return to form) to cover Pack or Brownhill if required. It was in that midfield last season where we had little to no rotation options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 The difference between this year and last year is that we’ve already had a mini bad run (not as bad as last years after New Year admittedly) however we’ve come back stronger from it. From February onwards last season we looked like a team that had run out of legs and ideas. Palmer is a class addition, we seem to have more depth than last season and if we can bring in a decent striker over the next week I think we are in with a shout. Number 1 priority...stay up. We’re practically there now and we’re only half way through January so I’m going to relax and enjoy the rest of the season quietly excited but without getting my hopes up too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INCRED Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 37 minutes ago, Negan said: Unbeaten in the league and playing well, another little cup run coming along and things are looking good, we look as though we can challenge for promotion this season! The statement above is true, for both January 2019 and the beginning of January 2018. Now whilst I'm enjoying how things are going at the moment and I'm confident we can challenge for promotion this season, I genuinely thought that same this time last year but as we know the wheels well and truly fell off. Now I'm not trying to bring negativity to what is a very happy and positive board at the moment, but I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking a real bad run which see's us drop is only around the corner? It's been the summary of Lee Johnsons managerial career with us, we're either soaring on cloud nine or down in the dumps. History tells us, well screams at us, that we'll fade away and struggle to get any momentum for a promotion push and whilst I don't think it will happen this season I wouldn't bet against it. It's quite common now to see fans on social media from other clubs calling us bottle jobs... So do you think we'll continue the good form and sneak a play off spot or we'll inevitably drop like a stone like we have throughout LJ tenure? I think for the first time since he's been here Lee has a defence he can count on, Kalas being critical to it and whilst we aren't scoring for fun the goals haven't dried up and someone always pops up to put the ball in the net eventually, so with that being said I'm going to stick my neck out and say we wont falter and we WILL finish in the play offs or give it a bloody good go... It all depends on injuries tbh, the squad is definitely stronger this season and we haven’t had 3 momentous games against the Manchester clubs as well as the pressure of being in the top 2. We look a more balanced and significantly stronger in defence and are now posing teams more problems with our attacking play I have no problem with winning games by the odd goal and positioned 7th isn’t a bad place to be going into the next batch of games. It will be interesting to see how long we can keep the run going but still a long way to go before we can seriously think about play offs but we certainly have the momentum and that counts for a lot in any sport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyredredrobin Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 If we can get a goal scoring striker in before the end of Jan, we can at least make the play offs. If we don't, I suspect a mid table finish again. Not sure we will ever be rich enough to really compete in the Prem though, the way it is nowadays, though I would like to think that we could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fpcity Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Even though its in the back of my mind that it will after the last couple of season I'm a bit more confident it won't as our defence is stronger and we've better depth. And with the signing of Palmer giving us something different and potential loan striker I think the team is better than last season. We may not be as silky smooth but after last night's game with 3-4 midfielders willing to run at players it was certainly more exciting and hopefully we can keep that up. Unless of course Pato still gets in team and slows the play down. Only concern is GK with Nikki out for 4 weeks . Fielding is good but there's always a mistake in him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBobSuperBob Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 I actually think if we keep our heads and don’t put pressure on ourselves we could sneak in there Lots or increasing pressure on other ‘Big Clubs’ in the mix , some of whom think they should be top two Good sides are first and foremost solid and don’t gift goals , If we stay as solid as we have been and relax and open up at the top end (Which with CoD ,KP , NE etc we are startin* to do) I think we definitely could be in there We need another striker IMHO or pray FD stays fit otherwise we will need to adjust our way of playing, which may be feasible / doable We have some tough away trips and some big home games to come , and they will ultimately decide our fate Good oh , ........bring it on , we have nothing to lose , not sure many sides would pick us to 0lay right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downendcity Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 I suspect we will have hiccups between now and the end of the season. However, I think it very less likely that we will suffer such a slump, as we did this time lasts season. It's not just that we seem to have a stronger and better defence, but that as a team we defend better as a unit. This has perhaps been at the expense of us playing the same attractive, attacking football as last season, but adding Palmer to the team might make a big difference on that front. Also, there does seem to be strong competition for places throughout the team, so players cannot rest on their laurels as they know not performing at 100% will/should cost them their place. The other factor this season is that there isn't a Wolves type team running away with it, and all the teams above us seem like they might suffer a few poor results at any time. If we can maintain a decent run it might just make for an exciting run to the end of the season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Fred Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 1 hour ago, Negan said: Unbeaten in the league and playing well, another little cup run coming along and things are looking good, we look as though we can challenge for promotion this season! The statement above is true, for both January 2019 and the beginning of January 2018. Now whilst I'm enjoying how things are going at the moment and I'm confident we can challenge for promotion this season, I genuinely thought that same this time last year but as we know the wheels well and truly fell off. Now I'm not trying to bring negativity to what is a very happy and positive board at the moment, but I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking a real bad run which see's us drop is only around the corner? It's been the summary of Lee Johnsons managerial career with us, we're either soaring on cloud nine or down in the dumps. History tells us, well screams at us, that we'll fade away and struggle to get any momentum for a promotion push and whilst I don't think it will happen this season I wouldn't bet against it. It's quite common now to see fans on social media from other clubs calling us bottle jobs... So do you think we'll continue the good form and sneak a play off spot or we'll inevitably drop like a stone like we have throughout LJ tenure? I think for the first time since he's been here Lee has a defence he can count on, Kalas being critical to it and whilst we aren't scoring for fun the goals haven't dried up and someone always pops up to put the ball in the net eventually, so with that being said I'm going to stick my neck out and say we wont falter and we WILL finish in the play offs or give it a bloody good go... I think hopefully a decent striker loan coming in plus keeping everyone fit will be key..if we do/can then it's possible. No more injuries please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_BCFC Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Everyone said we had strength in depth last season and the same wouldn’t happen. No point in getting carried away but certainly a chance of playoffs. The key will be to bounce back when we loss comes. And historically under LJ it doesn’t come quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Our form will absolutely decline at some point, but I don't think we will end up on one of those extremely bad runs. I do think it's possible we will go on a run of 3-4 games winless though, we have some tough games left to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 54 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said: I actually think if we keep our heads and don’t put pressure on ourselves we could sneak in there Lots or increasing pressure on other ‘Big Clubs’ in the mix , some of whom think they should be top two Good sides are first and foremost solid and don’t gift goals , If we stay as solid as we have been and relax and open up at the top end (Which with CoD ,KP , NE etc we are startin* to do) I think we definitely could be in there We need another striker IMHO or pray FD stays fit otherwise we will need to adjust our way of playing, which may be feasible / doable We have some tough away trips and some big home games to come , and they will ultimately decide our fate Good oh , ........bring it on , we have nothing to lose , not sure many sides would pick us to 0lay right now Could be argued that we are the 'smallest' club in the top 7. Some people (younger generation of fans that aren't Bristol City biased) may even go as far as saying we are the 'smallest' club in the top half. (Teams like Hull seen as bigger by them courtesy of their Premier League spells.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 1 hour ago, Alessandro said: Many people said last season "we've blown our best chance to get up" and "the opportunity won't come again in my lifetime". But here we are again, with a decent opportunity and we are arguably better placed than last time, with momentum going the right way this time. As i've said elsewhere, I look at the top 6 and don't see who is obviously falling away though. Leeds, Norwich and Derby have slowed a touch in form, but Sheff Utd who'd you'd look at are still strong. Are Boro catchable? They don't score many. Could let them down in the end. Derby? Will they bottle it again? We also can't afford anymore injuries or we might slip down the table. If we can keep people fit and add a quality forward, no reason we can't keep challenging at the least. 4 I have to disagree with that, last season we were second at the end of the year, at this point in time last year we'd dropped to 5th so we were still 2 places higher and we had 4 points extra. With regards to the squad I'd say we have about the same level of quality but Palmer is certainly a better acquisition than Kent was. The one issue that concerns me is I don't see this unbeaten run lasting forever and the real test comes from how we bounce back from our first loss in months. As we saw last year, once we take a turn for the worse we seem to really struggle to turn it around. If we're going to get promoted then consistency and confidence are going to be key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Touch_my_butter Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 1 hour ago, INCRED said: It all depends on injuries tbh, the squad is definitely stronger this season and we haven’t had 3 momentous games against the Manchester clubs as well as the pressure of being in the top 2. We look a more balanced and significantly stronger in defence and are now posing teams more problems with our attacking play I have no problem with winning games by the odd goal and positioned 7th isn’t a bad place to be going into the next batch of games. It will be interesting to see how long we can keep the run going but still a long way to go before we can seriously think about play offs but we certainly have the momentum and that counts for a lot in any sport This. Lose Fammy and we’re f*cked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAman08 Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 1 hour ago, wendyredredrobin said: If we can get a goal scoring striker in before the end of Jan, we can at least make the play offs. If we don't, I suspect a mid table finish again. Not sure we will ever be rich enough to really compete in the Prem though, the way it is nowadays, though I would like to think that we could. I am not even sure he needs to be goal scoring. My biggest worry is Fam getting injured and then we do not have that platform to play off of. Not a huge fan but someone like Clarke at worst would help this side if by only giving Fam the chance to have 20 minutes rest near the end of matches. Mind you I hope we can bring in better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1960maaan Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 29 minutes ago, Spike said: I have to disagree with that, last season we were second at the end of the year, at this point in time last year we'd dropped to 5th so we were still 2 places higher and we had 4 points extra. With regards to the squad I'd say we have about the same level of quality but Palmer is certainly a better acquisition than Kent was. A lot comes down to momentum and style of play. Last year we played a high intensity game, were not as solid and had already started losing games. Add injuries and the strain that style put on a small player pool. This year , we play a more solid and measured style, we are building momentum nicely and the injuries are mostly covered The squad has 2 players for each position (with the possible exception of Pack) and we are at last able to win games 1-0. I think we are set up better for a challenge this year. That said , a lot will depend on injuries and when the injured players return. I don't see us buying the striker that everyone wants, so we need Fam to stay fit. Hold on to your hats, it could be a bumpy ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poland_exile Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Our loans this season appear to be far stronger and intelligent whilst those veterans of last season - management included - appear wiser for the experience. However, despite the last sentiment, I think everyone recognizes that last year we were perhaps one or two signings away from that push. They never came, and as a result, neither did the expected push. I'm a little concerned that despite the relative strength in depth that we're not gunning for that one big signing that will push everyone together and forward. (code for a good striker) That said, we're all getting far more than we expected results-wise, and you can't say fairer than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 47 minutes ago, Spike said: I have to disagree with that, last season we were second at the end of the year, at this point in time last year we'd dropped to 5th so we were still 2 places higher and we had 4 points extra. With regards to the squad I'd say we have about the same level of quality but Palmer is certainly a better acquisition than Kent was. The one issue that concerns me is I don't see this unbeaten run lasting forever and the real test comes from how we bounce back from our first loss in months. As we saw last year, once we take a turn for the worse we seem to really struggle to turn it around. If we're going to get promoted then consistency and confidence are going to be key. I wasn’t saying we were better placed in terms of league position. I was saying we are better placed in terms of first XI, squad depth, experience and momentum, IMO. Still one or two players off a consistent top 6 push though. Agree of course about the old cliche of bouncing back, I’m sure we will find out soon enough. I feel there is a stronger ‘backbone’ though this year, mentally especially. I think a few lost their heads this time last year, for whatever reason, justified or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphindevon Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 In 2018 it took until the 21st August to register our 5th win In 2019 we reached our 5th win last night, the 25th January. Things seem very different all of a sudden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 45 minutes ago, ralphindevon said: In 2018 it took until the 21st August to register our 5th win In 2019 we reached our 5th win last night, the 25th January. Things seem very different all of a sudden Good stat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonM88 Posted January 26, 2019 Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 We’ve got a reliable defence. That’s one major difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.