Nearly one year

[The Original OTIB]

Since we won a league game by 2 clear goals or more. That's a lot of stress over a long time. When will we next have that comfy feeling? Posh at home perhaps? When was the last time a chorus of can we play you every week rang out? Happy times of long ago. Great win tonight from a points perspective, but a restful last half hour would be nice ...

[Jerseybean]

Yep, I have actually forgotten what it feels like to feel relaxed watching the last half an hour of a City game. Although TBH I’ve never really ever been able to relax when watching us! 

[Phileas Fogg]

It’ll come.. those negative records are gradually going away. It wasn’t that long ago we were discussing how many months since a home win.. now we’ve had 3 in quick succession and look pretty much safe from relegation by mid feb.

[steveybadger]

It’s quite simple. We used to be unable to score and now although we score regularly we can’t stop letting them in!

That elusive balance….but at least we’re more entertaining 

[Numero Uno]

1 minute ago, steveybadger said:

It’s quite simple. We used to be unable to score and now although we score regularly we can’t stop letting them in!

That elusive balance….but at least we’re more entertaining 

Spot on. Due to the limitation of our squad if we play a more expansive game we just don't have the tools to keep the door shut at the other end and conversely if we go more defensive we barely muster a shot let alone look like scoring a goal. The management have obviously decided to go down the "we need at least two goals to get a result so we'll make sure we score two goals most weeks" route!!

[steveybadger]

3 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Spot on. Due to the limitation of our squad if we play a more expansive game we just don't have the tools to keep the door shut at the other end and conversely if we go more defensive we barely muster a shot let alone look like scoring a goal. The management have obviously decided to go down the "we need at least two goals to get a result so we'll make sure we score two goals most weeks" route!!

Yep. The problem we now have IMO is playing 3 at the back. The number of times the ball was played in behind the wing back last night and there was huge space and confusion about whether a centre back should come out.  It might be resolved if we had a settled defence but we change it quite regularly. However, if we play 4 at the back andMartin up top (Semenyo is unstoppable now), then to fit Weimann in he has to play right mid. Unless we drop Martin, but then he’s also one of our best defenders at set pieces (quite apart from playing well generally at the moment). A conundrum.

[Pezo]

We're not a good side but that's considerably better than where we were a year ago and for the following 6 months  which was about as piss poor as I can remember.

Piss poor and looking like certain relegation fodder to not good in 6 months, I will take that.

I don't actually think this teams ceiling is that much higher than it is right now, we need at least 6 top quality championship players the be challenging for the playoffs and that isn't going to happen next 2 season IMHO.

[Roger Red Hat]

25 minutes ago, steveybadger said:

It’s quite simple. We used to be unable to score and now although we score regularly we can’t stop letting them in!

That elusive balance….but at least we’re more entertaining 

I posted elsewhere, we can now score, but we can't defend. Last season we couldn't score, and we couldn't defend! We can now score, and hopefully next season we will be able to defend!

[And Its Smith]

How long does Pearson get with majority of fans to improve us?  Will fans be okay if we are 15th this time next year and still producing up and down performances? 

[Monkeh]

51 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

It’ll come.. those negative records are gradually going away. It wasn’t that long ago we were discussing how many months since a home win.. now we’ve had 3 in quick succession and look pretty much safe from relegation by mid feb.

We actually look strong at home now, we haven't looked like that since cotts and our promotion season

[Monkeh]

7 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

How long does Pearson get with majority of fans to improve us?  Will fans be okay if we are 15th this time next year and still producing up and down performances? 

If its a continuous improvement then yes,

I think the majority of fans have woken up to the fact we can't compete financially,

They also are aware of the mismanagement under our previous ceo,

They can see the improvements and in general are content,

If that improvement continues then the silent majority will be more or less happy

[Robbored]

16 minutes ago, Pezo said:

We're not a good side but that's considerably better than where we were a year ago and for the following 6 months  which was about as piss poor as I can remember.

Piss poor and looking like certain relegation fodder to not good in 6 months, I will take that.

I don't actually think this teams ceiling is that much higher than it is right now, we need at least 6 top quality championship players the be challenging for the playoffs and that isn't going to happen next 2 season IMHO.

Nige has been in the unfortunate position of not being able to play his best 11 pretty much all season. Experienced players like Baker, Williams, James and King have all been injured for lengthy periods but despite that City are doing okay - largely because the young guns have stood up well. Pring, Benarous and Semenyo are all contributing plenty of flair. A silver lining in some ways.

[Carey 6]

Even prior to the last 2-0/3-1 victory or whatever it was, I doubt we've had many in the last 3 odd years. 

I remember noticing it before. We must be the least likely team to ever get a battering from. 

Just had a look & not sure how this will stack up to the rest of the division but times we've won by 2 or more. 

18/19 - 4 - QPR, Blackburn, Stoke, Swansea

19/20 - 6 - QPR, Hull, Huddersfield, Luton, Wigan, Boro

20/21 - 7 - Stoke, Sheff W, Preston, Millwall, Boro, Swansea, Birmingham 

21/22 - 0

Edited February 10, 2022 by Carey 6

[And Its Smith]

2 minutes ago, Monkeh said:

If its a continuous improvement then yes,

I think the majority of fans have woken up to the fact we can't compete financially,

They also are aware of the mismanagement under our previous ceo,

They can see the improvements and in general are content,

If that improvement continues then the silent majority will be more or less happy

Will be interesting to see how slow people are happy to see the improvement. Over the last 10 games most people would say we have improved but in the form table we are lower than our actual position.  

[Taz]

I think if we're playing with a relatively young inexperienced team still, as well as playing decent football, then people will accept a few losses and mistakes if it means we're around midtable (12th - 16th)or so, and don't look in real danger of being dragged into the scrap.

If for arguments sake we keep the likes of King, Martin, James and Klosse in contract and fit, and are still playing up and down football and looking dodgy, then the natives will get restless. With fit players like that, you should be higher up the table.

If we can add a few decent signings (finances permitting) and just can improve all round (performances and positions) then I think people will by and large be content. Anything extra then happy days.

I do think we'll see more signings from League 1 and below in a similar vein as Tanner and Atkinson over the next few years, over the likes of Wells, Afobe etc, however we are still going to need that bit of experience around. 

This summer is crucial for us. 

[Galley is our king]

10 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Will be interesting to see how slow people are happy to see the improvement. Over the last 10 games most people would say we have improved but in the form table we are lower than our actual position.  

We have improved IMHO. the current form table shows us in 18th place, 7 points from 6 games.

2 extra points would see us on 9 points and in 11/12 place. Over the last 6 games we have lost points in the dying seconds due to wrong decision making ( Pring at Preston for example).

With a fair wind and a bit of luck we would be higher.

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Phileas Fogg said:

It’ll come.. those negative records are gradually going away. It wasn’t that long ago we were discussing how many months since a home win.. now we’ve had 3 in quick succession and look pretty much safe from relegation by mid feb.

i think that bunch of green at the bottom shows why we won’t be relegated.  The home form too, it’s now W6 D5 L5.  Need to carry that trend of home form on until the end of the season.

 

[The Original OTIB]

25 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

i think that bunch of green at the bottom shows why we won’t be relegated.  The home form too, it’s now W6 D5 L5.  Need to carry that trend of home form on until the end of the season.

 

Trouble is, very nearly 1/3 of our points have come from just two teams ... and we won't be playing them again this season. Funny old game, eh?

[Bris Red]

1 hour ago, Phileas Fogg said:

It’ll come.. those negative records are gradually going away. It wasn’t that long ago we were discussing how many months since a home win.. now we’ve had 3 in quick succession and look pretty much safe from relegation by mid feb.

Indeed. We are improving, still horrendously disorganised at the back mind you but hoping that can be rectified during the summer. The main thing is we are virtually safe now which didn’t seem a given a few months back.

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

Spot on. Due to the limitation of our squad if we play a more expansive game we just don't have the tools to keep the door shut at the other end and conversely if we go more defensive we barely muster a shot let alone look like scoring a goal. The management have obviously decided to go down the "we need at least two goals to get a result so we'll make sure we score two goals most weeks" route!!

The injuries don't help either. James brings- or would bring- a bit of control, stability- King either as  starter or sub some knowhow.

Baker we all know what he can do when fit, again experience and okay Simpson but he's perhaps past his best but as such we are missing our most viable option probably at RB in Tanner. Like Tanner Atkinson is at the other end of his scale but prior to his bout of Covid there was a lot of promise- can carry the ball.

A fully fit and the key bit is consistently so Williams would be like a new signing. He's on the right road now, fitness wise, let's hope he can stay on it.

I'm enjoying some of the play, in some ways I can't argue with results but in some other ways still not wildly convinced about the back 3 setup.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[The Original OTIB]

still very similar to last year:

https://www.11v11.com/teams/bristol-city/tab/leagueTables/20-february-2021/

I think we got 12 points from the last 15 games. Very much groundhog day in certain respects. Can we at least get back to back wins. That would be progress!

[supercidered]

1 hour ago, steveybadger said:

Yep. The problem we now have IMO is playing 3 at the back. The number of times the ball was played in behind the wing back last night and there was huge space and confusion about whether a centre back should come out.  It might be resolved if we had a settled defence but we change it quite regularly. However, if we play 4 at the back andMartin up top (Semenyo is unstoppable now), then to fit Weimann in he has to play right mid. Unless we drop Martin, but then he’s also one of our best defenders at set pieces (quite apart from playing well generally at the moment). A conundrum.

At 2:1 we regularly had a back line of 5 at the back and we still got caught being narrow. I do mean literally 5 at the back and still loads of space conceded wide, particularly on our left. Painful and very nervy viewing. Thank f@ck we managed to hang on.

[Roger Red Hat]

1 hour ago, And Its Smith said:

How long does Pearson get with majority of fans to improve us?  Will fans be okay if we are 15th this time next year and still producing up and down performances? 

I think, unless we are seriously toying with relegation at any point, NP will doubtless, be given his contracted time, probably more.

The constant noises about any manager being 'out',  I.E. 'LJ out', 'Holden out', 'Pearson out', becomes very tedious.

[sephjnr]

5 hours ago, Phileas Fogg said:

It’ll come.. those negative records are gradually going away. It wasn’t that long ago we were discussing how many months since a home win.. now we’ve had 3 in quick succession and look pretty much safe from relegation by mid feb.

We haven't won away since October. That's next.

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 hours ago, The Original OTIB said:

still very similar to last year:

https://www.11v11.com/teams/bristol-city/tab/leagueTables/20-february-2021/

I think we got 12 points from the last 15 games. Very much groundhog day in certain respects. Can we at least get back to back wins. That would be progress!

The results may show similarities but the performance level, the idea that we are working to a plan and at home at least, a relative consistency of performance level from say Blackburn at home but especially 2nd half v Huddersfield represent a big improvement.

On the flipside, the injury list this time last year was off the charts.

On balance though, think we are trending in a positive direction especially given the relative youth or inexperience at this level of a number of our players.

[The Coach]

Quite amusing how we're looking a better unit with very little money under Pearson. But looked a bunch of Sunday league hungover players under Johnson & Holden after spunking millions and millions.