Reining in the Positivity

[Port Said Red]

It's hard isn't it?

I keep telling  myself we are not out of August yet.

I keep telling myself we lost the first two matches of the season.

I keep telling myself that we had a similar start under Dean Holden, with one defeat in September and then never won a game in October.

I keep telling myself that the vultures are circling for our prize assets.

But then I see the way we are playing, and we have looked so good even with only 20 minutes from our star striker.

But then I see that we seem to have strength in depth in many positions.

But then I see the younger players taking their chances to be a part of it all 

But then I see the attitude in the camp and the atmosphere, and being told by a player "it's as good as I can remember in my career".

But then I see a coaching team who are experienced enough, but flexible enough to deal with the changes in the game, and somehow it feels different to me this time. 

But there is a familiarity in that it's how I felt about successful teams here in the past. 

But I am reigning in the positivity....

 

 

Maybe a hammering at Blackpool will help. 

[GrahamC]

I expect FBC will somehow manage..

[gornagain]

I bet you hate autocorrect.

[BCFCGav]

I doubt there's many City fans who haven't had a passing thought of a play-off promotion party, or a shock League Cup triumph - before quickly laughing it off. Just soak it up while we're doing well, we all suffer enough while we're doing badly! And cross everything we can keep the good results coming - one game at a time! 

[CiderHeadDan]

It's all about the process. When you look at our spendings this season and where we have been as a team the last few seasons, we should be fighting relegation again. However, for the first time in a long time, it feels as though we have some direction and a clear plan.

A mid table finish this season would be great, it gives us a platform to build on again and keep moving forward in the right direction. I'm excited by the process and everything seamingly starting to line up - the team playing good football, fringe players taking their chances, recruiting from the right pool of players at the right price, and results slowly turning our way from the end of last season.

Trust the process and trust our Nige.

[spudski]

The test will come when we start losing games. It will happen.

It's great when winning...but even better when winning and playing attractive football.

It's a lot easier to take a loss when the team is playing attractive football that's entertaining to watch.

Its far harder when you lose and it's dire and boring football...even a win feels jaded when it's boring to watch.

 

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, spudski said:

The test will come when we start losing games. It will happen.

It's great when winning...but even better when winning and playing attractive football.

It's a lot easier to take a loss when the team is playing attractive football that's entertaining to watch.

Its far harder when you lose and it's dire and boring football...even a win feels jaded when it's boring to watch.

 

Yep, hence why it’s better to take a longer term view, ie over more than one game.

The good thing about Nige’s time here from last season onwards is that we’ve rarely had a long run of losing / winless runs.  4 is the longest, which was last season’s last game, stretching into the 3 this season.  He’s always managed to find a win.  On the flip side we’ve rarely had a winning / unbeaten run either.

Its kinda where we are, good on any given day, not so good on others.  Sometimes those will coincide with the opponent strength, sometimes not.  It’s not dissimilar to several clubs in this division.

[Out of his pie crust]

I’m really not looking too far forward, I really hope that we get 4 points from next 2 games as sept looks potentially tricky and would be good to surf a wave into that period

[Major Isewater]

1 hour ago, Port Said Red said:

It's hard isn't it?

I keep telling  myself we are not out of August yet.

I keep telling myself we lost the first two matches of the season.

I keep telling myself that we had a similar start under Dean Holden, with one defeat in September and then never won a game in October.

I keep telling myself that the vultures are circling for our prize assets.

But then I see the way we are playing, and we have looked so good even with only 20 minutes from our star striker.

But then I see that we seem to have strength in depth in many positions.

But then I see the younger players taking their chances to be a part of it all 

But then I see the attitude in the camp and the atmosphere, and being told by a player "it's as good as I can remember in my career".

But then I see a coaching team who are experienced enough, but flexible enough to deal with the changes in the game, and somehow it feels different to me this time. 

But there is a familiarity in that it's how I felt about successful teams here in the past. 

But I am reigning in the positivity....

 

 

Maybe a hammering at Blackpool will help. 

Out of curiosity does this qualify you as a happy clapper ?

[grifty]

I'm not really thinking about where we might finish, but for the first time in a long while, I'm actually looking forward to our next match to see positive football (from us).

[AshtonRobin21]

There's certainly much to like at the moment. 

One huge change I have found so far this season, is I have full faith that we can outscore the opposition in any game. Our forward line is exceptional. 

Any combination of players seems to work. The link up play is brilliant.

The Semenyo goal last night proved how quick both Conway and Semenyo were to press (in the 93rd minute) and got what they deserved.

All 5 of our main attacking options have already scored this season, and goals win games. 

Let's hope the momentum continues. 

[HappyClapper]

1 hour ago, Port Said Red said:

It's hard isn't it?

I keep telling  myself we are not out of August yet.

I keep telling myself we lost the first two matches of the season.

I keep telling myself that we had a similar start under Dean Holden, with one defeat in September and then never won a game in October.

I keep telling myself that the vultures are circling for our prize assets.

But then I see the way we are playing, and we have looked so good even with only 20 minutes from our star striker.

But then I see that we seem to have strength in depth in many positions.

But then I see the younger players taking their chances to be a part of it all 

But then I see the attitude in the camp and the atmosphere, and being told by a player "it's as good as I can remember in my career".

But then I see a coaching team who are experienced enough, but flexible enough to deal with the changes in the game, and somehow it feels different to me this time. 

But there is a familiarity in that it's how I felt about successful teams here in the past. 

But I am reigning in the positivity....

 

 

Maybe a hammering at Blackpool will help. 

 

8 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

Out of curiosity does this qualify you as a happy clapper ?

Absolutely!

[spudski]

12 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Yep, hence why it’s better to take a longer term view, ie over more than one game.

The good thing about Nige’s time here from last season onwards is that we’ve rarely had a long run of losing / winless runs.  4 is the longest, which was last season’s last game, stretching into the 3 this season.  He’s always managed to find a win.  On the flip side we’ve rarely had a winning / unbeaten run either.

Its kinda where we are, good on any given day, not so good on others.  Sometimes those will coincide with the opponent strength, sometimes not.  It’s not dissimilar to several clubs in this division.

Totally agree.

There will be more testing times ahead... especially when/ if we lose some of our influencial players in the near future.

I'd understand if a player wanted to move for personal reasons...

But like you say...we can now see over a longer period, a team developing with an identity.

New players brought in, youngsters given time to develop, building a team.

We can now see the roots.

It would be a shame to see those roots cut off if we sell.

There has to come a point where as a club that wants Prem football, we have to keep our best players to give us a fighting chance.

Otherwise it's a continuous 2 step forward, 1 step back.

 

[CiderHeadDan]

Think thats the hard part to be a successful team without putting the club at a detrimental financial state. It's hard to replace assets when they want to go to a higher level and finding the balance of selling fringe player to get enough money to further enhance the squad.

Edited August 25, 2022 by CiderHeadDan

[INCRED]

1 hour ago, Port Said Red said:

It's hard isn't it?

I keep telling  myself we are not out of August yet.

I keep telling myself we lost the first two matches of the season.

I keep telling myself that we had a similar start under Dean Holden, with one defeat in September and then never won a game in October.

I keep telling myself that the vultures are circling for our prize assets.

But then I see the way we are playing, and we have looked so good even with only 20 minutes from our star striker.

But then I see that we seem to have strength in depth in many positions.

But then I see the younger players taking their chances to be a part of it all 

But then I see the attitude in the camp and the atmosphere, and being told by a player "it's as good as I can remember in my career".

But then I see a coaching team who are experienced enough, but flexible enough to deal with the changes in the game, and somehow it feels different to me this time. 

But there is a familiarity in that it's how I felt about successful teams here in the past. 

But I am reigning in the positivity....

 

 

Maybe a hammering at Blackpool will help. 

I think I will try and temper my enthusiasm until Christmas when things should be a lot clearer as to how the season could end. 
 

Once the transfer window is closed and as long as we don’t lose key players for £££’s then aspirations may change 

Yes, we have an identity now and a clear togetherness but whilst life is good now, we all know how things can change

[Redtrojan]

Loving it at the moment,clearly if we can keep our best players then we may well be able to look at the other end of the table than expected this season.

But going back to the last promotion to the promised land ,if we had lost Cheesley and Gow to transfers early in the season ,then we wouldn’t have gone up .Small margins in this league.

Shut the transfer window now please!!!

[maxjak]

18 minutes ago, AshtonRobin21 said:

There's certainly much to like at the moment. 

One huge change I have found so far this season, is I have full faith that we can outscore the opposition in any game. Our forward line is exceptional. 

Any combination of players seems to work. The link up play is brilliant.

The Semenyo goal last night proved how quick both Conway and Semenyo were to press (in the 93rd minute) and got what they deserved.

All 5 of our main attacking options have already scored this season, and goals win games. 

Let's hope the momentum continues. 

Expect the worst...........and hope for the best.  Tend's to be my   ongoing N P Bristol City philosophy

[redkev]

I think Saturday will swing us one way or the other , one of them places we never seem to do well at and usually we play pretty poorly. Still have that 5-1 or nil can’t remember now etched in my memory. 
a nice convincing 0-2 away win will perhaps have me thinking 

maybe just maybe  

[Superjack]

2 minutes ago, redkev said:

I think Saturday will swing us one way or the other , one of them places we never seem to do well at and usually we play pretty poorly. Still have that 5-1 or nil can’t remember now etched in my memory. 
a nice convincing 0-2 away win will perhaps have me thinking 

maybe just maybe  

I know what you mean, but that did make me laugh.

[Nogbad the Bad]

It's very simple - it's all down to having an extremely competent manager, and the longer NP's with us the stronger we will get.

Nige has fostered the best squad spirit since Cotts after a long and arduous process of jettisoning the majority of the overpaid or disinterested dross accumulated by Johnson and Ashton, and rejuvenating the enthusiasm, and very careers, of others.

A father figure to the younger players and totally respected by the more experienced pros.

A happy squad indeed and they must be delighted their livelihoods and careers are in the hands of such an experienced, focussed, and intelligent individual.

At last we're seeing a determined, exciting, and contented City squad giving everything for the manager, the club, and the fans.

That's been a hell of a long time coming so after years of dissatisfaction and disenchantment with many aspects of the club, including the attitude and performances of all too many players, I for one am going to enjoy it.

Players may have to be sold and we all know we won't win every week, but now whoever's wearing the City shirt we can be confident the inevitable setbacks and disappointments won't be down to lack of desire, effort or team spirit.

Collectively their heads are in the right place and they know exactly where they stand with Pearson, and how high his expectations are for each individual, and they're responding positively as one.

Supporting City is enjoyable again and, at last we have a manager and squad that genuinely merit our support.

City are back. Cheers Nige.

[TheReds]

There is some great positivity throughout the club and most fans, and some very decent performances to go with that, I think we will know a lot more of where we are at, at the end of October with over a third of the season gone. After a very tough run of 3 away games in 4 at Blackburn, Norwich and Burnley in September, we then have a busy October with a few more games which look easier (on paper). There will probably be more emphasis on the whole squad then with more players coming in for starts. We then have an easy November with Sheffield United, Boro and Watford to play...

[Superjack]

11 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

It's very simple - it's all down to having an extremely competent manager, and the longer NP's with us the stronger we will get.

Nige has fostered the best squad spirit since Cotts after a long and arduous process of jettisoning the majority of the overpaid or disinterested dross accumulated by Johnson and Ashton, and rejuvenating the enthusiasm, and very careers, of others.

A father figure to the younger players and totally respected by the more experienced pros.

A happy squad indeed and they must be delighted their livelihoods and careers are in the hands of such an experienced, focussed, and intelligent individual.

At last we're seeing a determined, exciting, and contented City squad giving everything for the manager, the club, and the fans.

That's been a hell of a long time coming so after years of dissatisfaction and disenchantment with many aspects of the club, including the attitude and performances of all too many players, I for one am going to enjoy it.

Players may have to be sold and we all know we won't win every week, but now whoever's wearing the City shirt we can be confident the inevitable setbacks and disappointments won't be down to lack of desire, effort or team spirit.

Collectively their heads are in the right place and they know exactly where they stand with Pearson, and how high his expectations are for each individual, and they're responding positively as one.

Supporting City is enjoyable again and, at last we have a manager and squad that genuinely merit our support.

City are back. Cheers Nige.

Summed up brilliantly as usual by one of the most sensible posters on here.

[Davefevs]

21 minutes ago, redkev said:

I think Saturday will swing us one way or the other , one of them places we never seem to do well at and usually we play pretty poorly. Still have that 5-1 or nil can’t remember now etched in my memory. 
a nice convincing 0-2 away win will perhaps have me thinking 

maybe just maybe  

Really tough game Saturday.  Blackpool are a decent side, and they’ve had a week off too.  Hopefully we will see the same good things we’ve seen throughout the season…the things that have started to build optimism.

If I was purely looking at results, I’d be delighted to return south unbeaten.

[W-S-M Seagull]

1 hour ago, spudski said:

The test will come when we start losing games. It will happen.

It's great when winning...but even better when winning and playing attractive football.

It's a lot easier to take a loss when the team is playing attractive football that's entertaining to watch.

Its far harder when you lose and it's dire and boring football...even a win feels jaded when it's boring to watch.

 

We lost the first two games of the season

[Tin Soldier]

45 minutes ago, spudski said:

Totally agree.

There will be more testing times ahead... especially when/ if we lose some of our influencial players in the near future.

I'd understand if a player wanted to move for personal reasons...

But like you say...we can now see over a longer period, a team developing with an identity.

New players brought in, youngsters given time to develop, building a team.

We can now see the roots.

It would be a shame to see those roots cut off if we sell.

There has to come a point where as a club that wants Prem football, we have to keep our best players to give us a fighting chance.

Otherwise it's a continuous 2 step forward, 1 step back.

 

Agreed, which is where we have been for many years. At some stage, City will need to keep hold of the best players if they are serious about the Prem.

[W-S-M Seagull]

46 minutes ago, spudski said:

Totally agree.

There will be more testing times ahead... especially when/ if we lose some of our influencial players in the near future.

I'd understand if a player wanted to move for personal reasons...

But like you say...we can now see over a longer period, a team developing with an identity.

New players brought in, youngsters given time to develop, building a team.

We can now see the roots.

It would be a shame to see those roots cut off if we sell.

There has to come a point where as a club that wants Prem football, we have to keep our best players to give us a fighting chance.

Otherwise it's a continuous 2 step forward, 1 step back.

 

The difference now tho is we don't quite have the team to go for it. We are two or three short of that. The only way to bring those 2 or 3 in is by letting someone leave. Personally I'd let Semenyo leave. Only 2 years left on his contract with no sign of him wanting to sign another and we've done well without him. That would release funds to bring in a CB and a defensive midfielder whilst also stabilising our finances. 

[hinsleburg]

Anybody who wants to know and see what kind of characters and squad we have needs to watch the Kane Wilson interview from last night, have to say that did excite me!

Something does feel different this time, the real tests are yet to come and as others have mentioned there will be lows that need reacting to and that will either bring us back down to Earth or raise the enthusiasm!

Do I think we will get promoted this year? No.

Do I think we could have a Team and group of individuals to get behind, get excited by and feel proud? Absolutely!

[spudski]

4 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

This is the season to not sell, however much it might appeal for FFP. If we can stay clean, and it seems we are close but not over the warning line, keeping this group together is essential if we have any outside hope of top 6. Next summer will be a huge change no matter what league we are in, a big group out of contract, and an almost certain sale of the two AS's . The league this yea does not have a Fulham , or even a Bournemouth. It is very open . 

I totally agree, for all the reasons you say. 

The only thing we can't cant control, is if players have release clauses in their contracts and would want to move to better their careers.

It's a very open league this season.

I think NPs words about expectations said quoted last night are worth reading in the context of this thread.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/nigel-pearson-bristol-city-robins-7506740

[spudski]

1 minute ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

The difference now tho is we don't quite have the team to go for it. We are two or three short of that. The only way to bring those 2 or 3 in is by letting someone leave. Personally I'd let Semenyo leave. Only 2 years left on his contract with no sign of him wanting to sign another and we've done well without him. That would release funds to bring in a CB and a defensive midfielder whilst also stabilising our finances. 

We can agree to disagree on those views...bringing in players doesn't mean they will fit straight away. It's always a gamble. Right now we are kicking in the right direction. Your way could end in another step backwards.

This league is very open this year.

[Robbored]

2 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

It's hard isn't it?

I keep telling  myself we are not out of August yet.

I keep telling myself we lost the first two matches of the season.

I keep telling myself that we had a similar start under Dean Holden, with one defeat in September and then never won a game in October.

I keep telling myself that the vultures are circling for our prize assets.

But then I see the way we are playing, and we have looked so good even with only 20 minutes from our star striker.

But then I see that we seem to have strength in depth in many positions.

But then I see the younger players taking their chances to be a part of it all 

But then I see the attitude in the camp and the atmosphere, and being told by a player "it's as good as I can remember in my career".

But then I see a coaching team who are experienced enough, but flexible enough to deal with the changes in the game, and somehow it feels different to me this time. 

But there is a familiarity in that it's how I felt about successful teams here in the past. 

But I am reigning in the positivity....

I think our upturn in results and performances are entirely down to Nige who has finally got his squad carrying out their individual roles in the way that he’s been wanting them to. 

Its taken over a season and a half during which period he’s brought in his own medical and coaching staff and  signed some youngsters as well experienced guys like King, James and Klose.

Now it’s a question of maintaining form, something Nige will know all about after his days at the Foxes where he took them on an impressive run.  As we know  winning breeds confidence and there’s now a newly cultivated positive vibe throughout the club down entirely to Nigel Pearson’s influence.

No doubt in my mind that’s Nige is the right man in the managerial  job