Joe Bryan - Signed for Millwall

[tin]

1 hour ago, Andy082005 said:

I read the whole interview . I hold no ill feeling towards the lad and wish him all the best - but I stand by what I said.

Lots of red flags in that interview, and for me I think we have dodged a bullet. 

 

Exactly how I saw it, too. Good luck to him, except against us. 

[Southport Red]

Am I the only one who thinks he meant ‘backward’ in the context of ‘been there, done that/never go back”, rather than we would be a downgrade. 

[Henry]

2 minutes ago, Southport Red said:

Am I the only one who thinks he meant ‘backward’ in the context of ‘been there, done that/never go back”, rather than we would be a downgrade. 

Absolutely. Some people are just too dense to see it.

[exAtyeoMax]

10 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Screw you buddy

I don't think there's anything wrong in that? 

People say all the time, "don't go back" 

It doesn't necessarily mean he thinks Millwall is better, they're just different, and new. How many times do musicians leave a band and not necessarily become really successful on their own but not want to go back…? 

I think it's a natural feeling. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt

[eardun]

7 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

I don't think there's anything wrong in that? 

People say all the time, "don't go back" 

It doesn't necessarily mean he thinks Millwall is better, they're just different, and new. How many times do musicians leave a band and not necessarily become really successful on their own but not want to go back…? 

I think it's a natural feeling. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt

I said the same above. And to be fair, given he achieved a league championship with us that probably reinforces the ‘been there, done that’ feeling. I don’t understand the ill feeling towards him - but then I never will understand it regarding anyone in that league one championship team. Plus he also scored one of my favourite City goals of all time (v Man Utd - a thing of beauty. 

[Fammyfan]

I actually think he had concerns about coming back and it being a backwards step in the sense that he was previously one of the first names on the team sheet and a guaranteed starter, whereas if he came back now, there’s every possibility he would just be a squad player and there was no guarantee he’d get much game time.

The quality of the squad, coupled with the fact that he’s had a few seasons whereby game time has been hard to come by, you can see why he would be concerned about the game time he would get here.

Essentially, leaving your home club as a guaranteed starter to then rejoin several years later as a squad player is certainly a backwards step, particularly when the club is in the same league as we were back then.

[RUSSEL85]

3 hours ago, tin said:

But he clearly did want to leave London as he said he “wanted to scratch that itch [of playing abroad]”. That interview has a few contradictions like that, though. 

I reckon he spoke to Nige who probably said something along the lines of “you’ll have to earn your place in the side like everyone else”. Bryan didn’t fancy that, so  he explored options to play abroad but nothing materialised, his dithering saw us go for Roberts and the convenient move was Millwall, as he has a home in London and they will give him 35+ games. 

If what I’m hearing about Roberts being very impressive so far in pre-season is true, then I think we’ve dodged a bullet with Bryan. He clearly wants an easy ride and we weren’t going to give him that. 

I would have had Roberts over Bryan regardless.
 

We are employing young, hungry, experienced (in playing games) players who will add value to the club now and in the future should they get touted by bigger clubs (like Millwall ).
 

I am loving the direction the club is going after the previous shit show, aside from replica kits of course .

[exAtyeoMax]

24 minutes ago, eardun said:

I said the same above. And to be fair, given he achieved a league championship with us that probably reinforces the ‘been there, done that’ feeling. I don’t understand the ill feeling towards him - but then I never will understand it regarding anyone in that league one championship team. Plus he also scored one of my favourite City goals of all time (v Man Utd - a thing of beauty. 

he scored three of my favourites. Against the Gas, Swindon and of course, Man U! I was up behind the goal for each one 

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, Marcus Aurelius said:

A lot sound like bitter ex partners here, let him be happy 

2 hours ago, elhombrecito said:

Yeah thought exactly the same. Some people are getting very precious about this. 

2 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

I think it’s important to read the whole interview and the context around the words he uses rather than pulling out one sentence about an easy ride. At that point of the interview he was talking about playing games and clearly means an easy ride in that he wasn’t challenged for his place in the team. He played every game. Not that it was easy and he didn’t care. I’m sure he wants promotion, like every professional would want promotion. 

2 hours ago, Bobbie said:

Nothing to see here. Good luck Joe. Best for all parties 

There seems to be a real desire to be extra critical of Joe for whatever reason, be that he’s not your typical footballer (so what), he comes from a well-off family (so what), etc.  I don’t buy the downed tools in 17/18, although I see why some might, but I look elsewhere for reasons, like the change in position (pushed back to LB), the useless loanee who took the place he was flying in, the other team style / personnel changes that lost our momentum.  But it seems Joe downed tools…far too easy a reason to make him the scapegoat.  I still remember Joe being outnumbered down our left while Ryan Kent stood like a teapot on the halfway line.

Good luck to Joe, no resentment, bitterness from me.

 

[ScottishRed]

I have no issue with what he said at all. He has every right to go wherever he wants to.

He is a decent player and , more importantly, a decent person but I think coming back would have been a mistake for both parties.

I wish him well, apart from the obvious.

[Gert Mare]

Good luck to him at Millwall.

Not exactly a move abroad but we definitely experienced some of his best years. 

At least he’ll learn something new like Bristol is actually in the North of England. There’s always that one fackin Northerner who wants to fackin spit all over ya!

[Andy082005]

2 hours ago, Southport Red said:

Am I the only one who thinks he meant ‘backward’ in the context of ‘been there, done that/never go back”, rather than we would be a downgrade. 

Yes - 100%. And said that on here a few weeks ago 

I’m just amazed that’s the part of the interview that’s thrown people off - as opposed to lots of other odd quotes 

[Port Said Red]

14 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Concerning that he has drawn the conclusion that we're behind Millwall. Period 

That's not what he has said though is it? He said it was a "backwards step in his life", I take that to mean that he's had his experience here but wants to continue with new experiences. He goes out of the way to say how well we look to be progressing, but he didn't feel it was for him that's all.

[Agard Days Night]

On 15/07/2023 at 00:29, Kid in the Riot said:

Screw you buddy

U ok hun?

[Major Isewater]

On 15/07/2023 at 12:24, RUSSEL85 said:

I would have had Roberts over Bryan regardless.
 

We are employing young, hungry, experienced (in playing games) players who will add value to the club now and in the future should they get touted by bigger clubs (like Millwall ).
 

I am loving the direction the club is going after the previous shit show, aside from replica kits of course .

Nigel wants players who are going to run through brick walls to be successful. We need our team playing at 100% every game to be successful and JB evidently had niggling doubts so just as well he didn’t sign.

[redkev]

On 15/07/2023 at 11:46, Davefevs said:

There seems to be a real desire to be extra critical of Joe for whatever reason, be that he’s not your typical footballer (so what), he comes from a well-off family (so what), etc.  I don’t buy the downed tools in 17/18, although I see why some might, but I look elsewhere for reasons, like the change in position (pushed back to LB), the useless loanee who took the place he was flying in, the other team style / personnel changes that lost our momentum.  But it seems Joe downed tools…far too easy a reason to make him the scapegoat.  I still remember Joe being outnumbered down our left while Ryan Kent stood like a teapot on the halfway line.

Good luck to Joe, no resentment, bitterness from me.

 

Not critical of him but personally think we had the best of him , just like flint sold at the right time , 

doesn’t often work going back , on a much higher platform - Ronaldo that didn’t go too well did it 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, redkev said:

Not critical of him but personally think we had the best of him , just like flint sold at the right time , 

doesn’t often work going back , on a much higher platform - Ronaldo that didn’t go too well did it 

I’d say Fulham did because he played at a level above us for them!

[MarcusX]

On 15/07/2023 at 10:51, Southport Red said:

Am I the only one who thinks he meant ‘backward’ in the context of ‘been there, done that/never go back”, rather than we would be a downgrade. 

That’s how I saw it

[shahanshahan]

A coincidence, but with Aaron Ramsey joining Cardiff, there's  another who player was at Nice but unlike Joe Bryan, he wanted to return to his former club...

[Pickle Rick]

43 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

A coincidence, but with Aaron Ramsey joining Cardiff, there's  another who player was at Nice but unlike Joe Bryan, he wanted to return to his former club...

And?

[ExiledAjax]

1 hour ago, shahanshahan said:

A coincidence, but with Aaron Ramsey joining Cardiff, there's  another who player was at Nice but unlike Joe Bryan, he wanted to return to his former club...

I'd thought about that, but to be honest they're in very different places. Bryan doesn't have (as much) Premier League money behind him, nor does he have Juventus money behind him. He's 3 years younger than Ramsey and I suspect is more interested in playing regularly.

On the face of it they seem comparable but under the surface I think there are quite a few differences in their circumstances.

[frenchred]

On 15/07/2023 at 11:46, Davefevs said:

There seems to be a real desire to be extra critical of Joe for whatever reason, be that he’s not your typical footballer (so what), he comes from a well-off family (so what), etc.  I don’t buy the downed tools in 17/18, although I see why some might, but I look elsewhere for reasons, like the change in position (pushed back to LB), the useless loanee who took the place he was flying in, the other team style / personnel changes that lost our momentum.  But it seems Joe downed tools…far too easy a reason to make him the scapegoat.  I still remember Joe being outnumbered down our left while Ryan Kent stood like a teapot on the halfway line.

Good luck to Joe, no resentment, bitterness from me.

 

Same here

As was said in the past, some of our fans get to emotionally tied to players. It's a job to them regardless of where they come from

[Bris Red]

I wasn’t actually overly surprised he didn’t come back to be honest, I just got that feeling with Bryan that he didn’t particularly love the club.
 

Yes he had been here from a relatively young age and was born in Bristol but you never got that feeling he was a fan or it was his ‘dream’ to play for City.. all felt very much like he was going through the motions here and he jumped at the chance to leave as soon as he got his opportunity.

Similar to Reid in many ways, isn’t he supposedly a massive Liverpool ‘fan’ aswell? Don’t think either had any real great love for the club and in Reid’s case to leave us for Cardiff of all clubs again just speaks volumes of what he thought about us..

[Selred]

14 minutes ago, Bris Red said:

just speaks volumes of what he thought about us..

No it doesn't. Reid joined Cardiff to play in the Premier League, it's nothing to do with us.]

If he joined Bristol Rovers and dropped down a league, then that's a different story, but I cannot blame Reid at all for his move.

[IAmNick]

21 minutes ago, Bris Red said:

I wasn’t actually overly surprised he didn’t come back to be honest, I just got that feeling with Bryan that he didn’t particularly love the club.
 

Yes he had been here from a relatively young age and was born in Bristol but you never got that feeling he was a fan or it was his ‘dream’ to play for City.. all felt very much like he was going through the motions here and he jumped at the chance to leave as soon as he got his opportunity.

Similar to Reid in many ways, isn’t he supposedly a massive Liverpool ‘fan’ aswell? Don’t think either had any real great love for the club and in Reid’s case to leave us for Cardiff of all clubs again just speaks volumes of what he thought about us..

Seems a bit harsh to me... Joe played over 200 games for us with multiple managers, if he was just going through the motions that would never have happened - can you imagine Cotts putting up with that?!

He's been in a fair few away ends supporting us over the years since he left as well.

It's fine to say he was a good - a really good player for us, who moved on to bigger and better things and now doesn't want to come back. That's not an attack on our club, or says anything about what he thinks of us. Really, how many players are "fans" or say it's their "dream" to play for City - blimey. We'd struggle to put out a first 11 if that was our criteria!

[Spike]

Anyone hating Bryan for this move needs to take a look at the situation with a rash and calm head. Bryan spoke to Pearson and wanted to play abroad more, taking into consideration that he'd most likely be playing second fiddle to Pring or having to battle with Bell and Mehmeti for that left-wing forward position. Pearson himself said he was thankful for Bryans honesty in the matter and that he was professional in his dealings with him.
Bryan most likely went to his agent and asked about the likelihood of getting a new move abroad, and was by the sounds of what Bryan has said, got no offers or nothing of substance at which point Millwall put an offer on the table where he knows he'll get game time and is most likely to be first choice.

Now to address the whole "Going backwards" bollocks that is being used against him. He's quoted as saying:

 

Quote

"As much as I love Bristol City, the club's fans and respect the way the club is run and what it is trying to do, I felt that going back would be a bit of backward step in my life"

He clearly states he loves the club, the fans and respects the ambition and the way we're going about it first, the reason for that is because he's making it clear that he loves the club and appreciates all it's done for him. He then goes on to say "I felt that going back would be a bit of backward step in my life" which seems to have really pissed off a lot of fans. At no point is he saying that Bristol City is a backward step in football, he's saying that it would be a backward step to rejoin us and sit on the bench whilst other players are picked in front of him and in that statement he is correct. Who realistically would start him over Pring? He might get ahead of Mehmeti based on Mehmetis start at the club but ultimately the club want Mehmeti to get more time and show what he can do and that's before you even take into consideration that Sam Bell made the LWF position his own last season.

So take away the fact that Bryan played for us previously and ask yourself this: If you wanted to play abroad and your agent came back saying "Sorry it's a no go but we've had an offer from a club that will play you most games at the same level you were offered to sit on the bench for another club", would you say, "Nah, rather sit on the bench in the final years of my career"?

Bryan made the best decision for all concerned and the only reason people are mad at him is because they wanted that nostalgia and that reassurance that we're the best option when if you look at it logically, in this case, we're not the best option at all.

[Bris Red]

20 minutes ago, IAmNick said:

Seems a bit harsh to me... Joe played over 200 games for us with multiple managers, if he was just going through the motions that would never have happened - can you imagine Cotts putting up with that?!

He's been in a fair few away ends supporting us over the years since he left as well.

It's fine to say he was a good - a really good player for us, who moved on to bigger and better things and now doesn't want to come back. That's not an attack on our club, or says anything about what he thinks of us. Really, how many players are "fans" or say it's their "dream" to play for City - blimey. We'd struggle to put out a first 11 if that was our criteria!

I think you may have misinterpreted the point i was trying to make.. I’m certainly not knocking Bryan for not being a city fan, I totally appreciate it is a job for many players just like going to work is a job for any of us. 
 

The point I’m making is i think many fans naively have this feeling that because he is a Bristol boy and he had been at the club for years, he was going to jump at chance to play for us again. Perhaps a bit harsh of me to say he was going through the motions here granted, but personally i feel if you loved the club and wanted to come back he would have done IMO. He clearly doesn’t and thats why he made the pretty bizarre choice of club in Millwall (a club no bigger or ambitious than us at this level btw). Good luck to Joe no bitterness from me I'm just saying it how i see it.

 

[Bristol Oil Services]

On 15/07/2023 at 09:03, And Its Smith said:

I think it’s important to read the whole interview and the context around the words he uses rather than pulling out one sentence about an easy ride. At that point of the interview he was talking about playing games and clearly means an easy ride in that he wasn’t challenged for his place in the team. He played every game. Not that it was easy and he didn’t care. I'm sure he wants promotion, like every professional would want promotion. 

You are? He's scratched that itch, hasn’t he?

[Davefevs]

32 minutes ago, Spike said:

Anyone hating Bryan for this move needs to take a look at the situation with a rash and calm head. Bryan spoke to Pearson and wanted to play abroad more, taking into consideration that he'd most likely be playing second fiddle to Pring or having to battle with Bell and Mehmeti for that left-wing forward position. Pearson himself said he was thankful for Bryans honesty in the matter and that he was professional in his dealings with him.
Bryan most likely went to his agent and asked about the likelihood of getting a new move abroad, and was by the sounds of what Bryan has said, got no offers or nothing of substance at which point Millwall put an offer on the table where he knows he'll get game time and is most likely to be first choice.

Now to address the whole "Going backwards" bollocks that is being used against him. He's quoted as saying:

 

He clearly states he loves the club, the fans and respects the ambition and the way we're going about it first, the reason for that is because he's making it clear that he loves the club and appreciates all it's done for him. He then goes on to say "I felt that going back would be a bit of backward step in my life" which seems to have really pissed off a lot of fans. At no point is he saying that Bristol City is a backward step in football, he's saying that it would be a backward step to rejoin us and sit on the bench whilst other players are picked in front of him and in that statement he is correct. Who realistically would start him over Pring? He might get ahead of Mehmeti based on Mehmetis start at the club but ultimately the club want Mehmeti to get more time and show what he can do and that's before you even take into consideration that Sam Bell made the LWF position his own last season.

So take away the fact that Bryan played for us previously and ask yourself this: If you wanted to play abroad and your agent came back saying "Sorry it's a no go but we've had an offer from a club that will play you most games at the same level you were offered to sit on the bench for another club", would you say, "Nah, rather sit on the bench in the final years of my career"?

Bryan made the best decision for all concerned and the only reason people are mad at him is because they wanted that nostalgia and that reassurance that we're the best option when if you look at it logically, in this case, we're not the best option at all.

Joe Bryan seems to endure a bit of stick from City fans for some reason.  I don’t get it, but hey-ho.  

[Bristol Oil Services]

Joe can be fairly anonymous at Millwall, living in London. Jolly good money at a club that do not have to be promoted. Finish top ten, top eight, no great drama. In fact, they are pretty unlikely to get in the play offs or finish bottom third, so no drama, no angst, no must-win pressure. Just very good money, doing something he can easily do, and living pretty anonymously in one of the great cities of the world, with no-one bending his ear every time he steps out of his "manor" (getting a taxi being the only exception).

No home-town goldfish bowl, no PP club must achieve this. No big crowd. No real bother. And great money. Plus libraries, and books. Just need to put yer foot in, Joe, every now and again; and when the opposition are breaking 4 against your 3, probably want to at least look like you are trying to get back and help.

Otherwise, no bother. And good money. Plus small crowd, and few "musts."