Bristol City Women - WSL

[Pippintogg]

34 minutes ago, Eco said:

Brilliant cut back by Thestrup to where Thestrup should be. Still 1-0 Spurs aren't brilliant.

Spurs should have scored a lot more. 5 or 6 excellent chances at least. 

Edited March 24 by Pippintogg

[JBFC II]

3 hours ago, Erithacus said:

I understand the Gas Girls are already promoted (as of last week's other results) and have sold over 1,000 tickets for their game at the Mem. Could this be a new rivalry in the making?

Meanwhile, in today's game against Spurs it is an imperative that we win. No other result is of any use. We simply cannot go without a victory, what with the remaining fixtures. I will hope that the girls will have it in them to produce the performance that they are capable of and emerge with renewed confidence. However, an adverse outcome will be a nail in the coffin, I fear.

Given that the other teams at the wrong end are not expected to have any fortune today, it may be that that we could do ourselves a huge favour in winning. I'll also hope that there is a big crowd too. It's getting late in the season and we need everything to go our way now.

COYR!

We're still a fair way off this tbf.

Should City be relegated this season (which now looks inevitable) they'll be 2 divisions above rovers next season.

Would imagine Rovers will be pushing for promotion to the 3rd tier before long, but the gap then increases hugely. They'll need a huge increase in funding and infrastructure to get near the level of even the top half of tier 3, never mind the championship 

[Eco]

6 minutes ago, Pippintogg said:

Spurs should have scored a lot more. 5 or 6 excellent chances at least. 

Didn't see first half but yep they hit the post twice in last few mins and Spence nearly scored, also Bentley made a good save. We had a couple of half chances 2nd half, Thestrup may be disappointed with her finish when she went through and there was a bit of goalmouth activity towards the without any end product though. My heart sank when Lisa Evans came on. I hate picking on players but she's added nothing since being added to the squad, on the pitch anyway.

[When the river runs]

Keynsham town are higher up the pyramid than Gas girls. Not sure if they will be in same league next season though

[Calculus]

Don't know anything about our women's team or the WSL but thinking of dragging daughter along for a game or two.

A couple of silly questions if no-one minds:

Is our women's team suffering from a lack of investing, poor recruitment, coaching or what? Obviously they're pretty much adrift at the moment so something is not quite ideal.

Does the women's game have anything like FFP?

[Peter1450]

The only FFP is SL self imposed non investment which begs the question why actually bother if you’re not prepared to make them competitive? 
    Still they’ll be a nice hotel on Winterstoke Road soon .

[Davefevs]

14 minutes ago, Calculus said:

Don't know anything about our women's team or the WSL but thinking of dragging daughter along for a game or two.

A couple of silly questions if no-one minds:

Is our women's team suffering from a lack of investing, poor recruitment, coaching or what? Obviously they're pretty much adrift at the moment so something is not quite ideal.

Does the women's game have anything like FFP?

5 minutes ago, Peter1450 said:

The only FFP is SL self imposed non investment which begs the question why actually bother if you’re not prepared to make them competitive? 
    Still they’ll be a nice hotel on Winterstoke Road soon .

what a wonderful season of missed opportunity.

They worked so hard to get promoted last season (always hard when it’s only one promotion spot available), and then playing WSL games at AG too.

We can see from the men’s side, SL is bored of it.

Just sell it / give it away and enjoy Le Mare Golf in Guernsey.  Put yourself and us fans out of our / your misery.

 

 

[Roger Red Hat]

6 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

what a wonderful season of missed opportunity.

They worked so hard to get promoted last season (always hard when it’s only one promotion spot available), and then playing WSL games at AG too.

We can see from the men’s side, SL is bored of it.

Just sell it / give it away and enjoy Le Mare Golf in Guernsey.  Put yourself and us fans out of our / your misery.

 

 

Spot on Dave. Surely somethings got to give soon.

[Calculus]

Thanks all for the responses. Not totally unexpected but still a bit depressing. Football for either gender is nothing without dreams.

[Erithacus]

Another home game, another defeat. Our record is terrible: ten straight losses now, equalling Yeovil's of 2017-18, and closing in on the Covid season that no-one saw and ended in relegation. It simply isn't good enough, for whatever reasons.

Good to see Fran Bentley back in goal, although understandably she showed a little rustiness. It was a familiar 5-4-1 formation but with Harrison and Hayles supporting Thestrup from the flanks. The midfield was short of a few starters once again and there was a distinct weakness at times. Oddly Fi Morgan started at left back, perhaps her speed being best suited to deal with Spurs' Naz. Whatever the intentions, we once again let in an early goal. It was just what we didn't need and it set the tone for much of the rest of the game. The few decent moves upfield were often based on Spurs' mistakes but the end product was a long way from being achieved. As ever, it was a case of being unable to stop opponents and not being able to score.

Beth England (in her return after a long lay-off) was able to run free at times and eluded the back line. Drew Spence was running the midfield in the hour or so she was on with impunity and we often stood off her whilst the runners picked us apart. Brook Aspin has a miserable game with poor passes and was caught a few times keeping the back line open for runners. When we did stop an attack, the response was usually slow, indecisive and lacked real thrust. It was largely a case of looking for a teammate, rather than knowing where they would be. Such play leads to the opponents finding plenty of time to drop into the block.

Shania Hayles looked to have done a collarbone or a shoulder and I suspect it may be the end of her contribution this season. Even with Harrison moved to centre forward, and Stratigakis and Jas Bull brought on to bolster the midfield it did little real damage. Only in the last frantic minutes did we look like there was any appetite to score.

Given that Spurs missed a few good chances and Bentley made a good tip-over, the scoreline flatters us. With other results not being detrimental and appreciating it is not yet mathematical, the inescapable fact is that we are all but down. I am afraid that this season is now beyond salvation and it will be interesting to see how the remaining games are used as a foundation for the next. Stick a fork in it, sadly - it's done. It will also be interesting to see who stays, who goes and how the club reacts now. The players will be hurting, I'm sure, but that will only sharpen attitudes. Next season will be rather different, I feel.
 
All in all the return to the top flight was always going to be a tough task, and there was never going to be an easy ride. However, it does have the flavour of a major disappointment and this must ask question of how we have handled it.

[Davefevs]

Dare I say the “one club” culture might’ve been lost since November?

Some of you will know better than me, but has there been any / much men’s “team” presence since Nige was sacked.  Or am I just putting 2+2 together?

(I know Nige had a hand in Grace Williams coming here from Watford and she left in May)

Edited March 24 by Davefevs

[Engvall’s Splinter]

Is it after the defeats at Ashton Gate that the players are then smiling having photos with those in the crowd? I find that bizarre if so.

[Cidre Monita]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

what a wonderful season of missed opportunity.

They worked so hard to get promoted last season (always hard when it’s only one promotion spot available), and then playing WSL games at AG too.

We can see from the men’s side, SL is bored of it.

Just sell it / give it away and enjoy Le Mare Golf in Guernsey.  Put yourself and us fans out of our / your misery.

 

 

Perfectly put, Dave. I feel so sorry for all involved with the City ladies they have been badly let down. SL clearly had no intention of making us competitive this season. I think we are heading for a major crossroads soon under the current ownership. On a side note I think Gavin Marshall tweeted something similar to the above tweet, but then deleted it? Either that, or he’s blocked me!! 

[Midlands Robin]

On Saturday we went to watch Man City Women v Man Utd women which my lad wanted as part of his Christmas present. 

There were 40 thousand fans in the Ethiad for that game. 

The match day experience was pretty good as well. 

We're throwing away something that's now well established and is worth investment. By not putting any effort behind our ladies we're losing a massive opportunity.

If this was the men's team Lauren Smith would have been shown the door months ago. 

I posted when relegation became inevitable last time we went down (and in similar circumstances with whimper) that we were chucking away a real opportunity to grow the name of Bristol City at a time when the women's game was only going to get bigger and this was before the Lionesses winning the Euros. 

I think Fevs put it perfectly above but I'd like to quote a line from Lotus cars founder Colin Chapman, "If you're not winning, you're not trying"

Lansdown out 

 

 

[The Bard]

4 hours ago, Calculus said:

Don't know anything about our women's team or the WSL but thinking of dragging daughter along for a game or two.

A couple of silly questions if no-one minds:

Is our women's team suffering from a lack of investing, poor recruitment, coaching or what? Obviously they're pretty much adrift at the moment so something is not quite ideal.

Does the women's game have anything like FFP?

It's investment.  Pure and simple

[MrBibs]

Went to Everton v Liverpool women at Goodison today as my daughter wanted to see the ground before it goes. Less than 10k there which did surprise me, and also a reminder of a huge missed opportunity this season has been for City. I think there were at least 3 attendances bigger than that for our women at the Gate this season. Fair play to the 5,000 plus who turned up at the Gate today for yet another inevitable defeat

[Eco]

2 hours ago, Midlands Robin said:

On Saturday we went to watch Man City Women v Man Utd women which my lad wanted as part of his Christmas present. 

There were 40 thousand fans in the Ethiad for that game. 

The match day experience was pretty good as well. 

We're throwing away something that's now well established and is worth investment. By not putting any effort behind our ladies we're losing a massive opportunity.

If this was the men's team Lauren Smith would have been shown the door months ago. 

I posted when relegation became inevitable last time we went down (and in similar circumstances with whimper) that we were chucking away a real opportunity to grow the name of Bristol City at a time when the women's game was only going to get bigger and this was before the Lionesses winning the Euros. 

I think Fevs put it perfectly above but I'd like to quote a line from Lotus cars founder Colin Chapman, "If you're not winning, you're not trying"

Lansdown out 

 

 

Not sure if you can put it on Lauren, I think any manager would struggle with the lack of WSL-type quality in the squad, especially midfield, plus long term injuries to Furness, Bentley & others. 

[Davefevs]

4 hours ago, Cidre Monita said:

Perfectly put, Dave. I feel so sorry for all involved with the City ladies they have been badly let down. SL clearly had no intention of making us competitive this season. I think we are heading for a major crossroads soon under the current ownership. On a side note I think Gavin Marshall tweeted something similar to the above tweet, but then deleted it? Either that, or he’s blocked me!! 

This is the only tweet I can see from GM:

When your owner shows apathy to invest in both City Mens and Womens, it’s not long before the fans show similar apathy back.  For the women off of the back of a promotion too.  Think I t might tweet something back to Gavin!

Edited March 24 by Davefevs

[shahanshahan]

On 24/03/2024 at 18:48, Engvall’s Splinter said:

Is it after the defeats at Ashton Gate that the players are then smiling having photos with those in the crowd? I find that bizarre if so.

I think that seems to still be a thing in women's football. Mainly seems to be kids (especially girls) who see the players as role models.
I do remember seeing some photos after City lost 7-3 to Brighton & did wonder if the kids actually read the room or not. If I was a player who lost (a game like that), I probably wouldn't want to go pose for photos etc...

I've had photos with players in the past; but that's usually at smaller grounds (Stoke Gifford/RHPC), or even at away games when City players only seem to be approached by fans who travelled, as well as their families/friends

[shahanshahan]

On 24/03/2024 at 16:17, JBFC II said:

We're still a fair way off this tbf.

Should City be relegated this season (which now looks inevitable) they'll be 2 divisions above rovers next season.

Would imagine Rovers will be pushing for promotion to the 3rd tier before long, but the gap then increases hugely. They'll need a huge increase in funding and infrastructure to get near the level of even the top half of tier 3, never mind the championship 

Also, the Gas Girls (since they reformed) have been run by Bristol Rovers Community Trust. If they were to go up the leagues, then I believe the football club would have to take full control of them...

[shahanshahan]

Hopefully Furney could be back for the next game against Arsenal on April 14th. Maybe score another wonder goal against them?
 

 

[Eco]

12 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

Hopefully Furney could be back for the next game against Arsenal on April 14th. Maybe score another wonder goal against them?
 

 

A welcome boost. 

[shahanshahan]

Lauren Smith feature from last weekend's Women's Football Show on BBC

 

[shahanshahan]

Chloe Mustaki ruled out for the rest of the season...

 

[shahanshahan]

Game against Manchester City moved to 6.45pm due to being selected for live coverage by Sky Sports.

 

No coincidence it's because we're playing one of the big teams...

[The Journalist]

On 24/03/2024 at 17:24, Davefevs said:

what a wonderful season of missed opportunity.

They worked so hard to get promoted last season (always hard when it’s only one promotion spot available), and then playing WSL games at AG too.

We can see from the men’s side, SL is bored of it.

Just sell it / give it away and enjoy Le Mare Golf in Guernsey.  Put yourself and us fans out of our / your misery.

 

 

And the worst bit is the big clubs are only going to keep getting bigger and the gap is just going to get wider.

We'll reach a point where the elite women's teams are basically uncatchable just as they are in the men's game.

And we'll look at back at this period and wonder why we didn't go for it.

Standard stuff under this ownership, unfortunately.

[Eco]

West Ham v Brighton today, if the Hammers win it's definitely game over for us isn't it?

[Shelton’s Love Gravy]

5 hours ago, Eco said:

West Ham v Brighton today, if the Hammers win it's definitely game over for us isn't it?

In all honesty, I think it’s been all over since we last played West Ham back in January.

[shahanshahan]

8 hours ago, Eco said:

West Ham v Brighton today, if the Hammers win it's definitely game over for us isn't it?

Finished 0-0, so there's now a seven point gap between 11th & 12th as City didn't play today.

City's next game is the one that was meant to take place today, away at Arsenal. This will be on April 14th, with no other WSL games that weekend

[shahanshahan]

The tweet has since been deleted, but the Barclays Women's Championship account posted a half time graphic for today's game between Charlton & Birmingham. Spot the issue...