Tinnion's Comments- Mea Culpa.

[GrahamC]

As someone who went on record at the time as saying that whilst I felt that Wilson's time with us should come to an end after the Brighton debacle, but that I was concerned that Tinnion's appointment was unnecessarily rushed and a gamble due to his (and his management team's) inexperience, can I admit that it looks like I was wrong.

After what was a traumatic, muddled start and a run of just 2 points from the first 5 games, there are very clear signs now that we are on the right track under him.

Personally I saw the Everton game as the first strong evidence of this, as we looked to play the sort of football that we expect against quality opposition and held a strong Premiership side.

It is clear that at home Tinnion has decided that we need to get the ball forward much sooner than before and has impressed upon his team the need to get as many shots and crosses in as possible.

Additionally his signings of Orr (who is very unfortunate to be currently only a sub) and in particular Brooker both show him identifying areas that we have not been strong enough in the past and addressing them.

He may not agree, but I feel that it is also no coincidence that we are getting even better whilst he is not in the side, as whilst he has undoubtedly been a superb player for us over very many years,the task of trying to play 90 minutes and manage at this level is in my opinion virtually impossible.

I don't agree with everything he has done (in particular I cannot see Bell as worth a starting place) but I admire the honesty in what he has said today in admitting his early mistakes, as much as the obvious committment he has shown since taking over.

[Robbored]

To be fair its not rocket science to realise that any rookie manager will make mistakes especially early on and BT is no different to any other.The fact that he's admitted it is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned.We all knew he'd made mistakes.It was obvious with heavy defeats at Bradford and Port Vale amongst other things.

The good news is that the faithfull are beginning to have some belief in BT.The sceptics are either converted or out of ammo and thats a major benefit.The last thing any manager wants is the fans on your back.

The handsome wins recently at AG are all very welcome but BT and Millen have now got overcome City's age old Achillies Heel - the away form.I reckon City will beat most if not all of their rivals at the Gate but my worry is getting wins away from Bristol.If they can start picking wins away( no matter how imo)then promotion would be a real possiblity.

[deadratinmycider]

To be fair its not rocket science to realise that any rookie manager will make mistakes especially early on and BT is no different to any other.The fact that he's admitted it is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned.We all knew he'd made mistakes.It was obvious with heavy defeats at Bradford and Port Vale amongst other things.

The good news is that the faithfull are beginning to have some belief in BT.The sceptics are either converted or out of ammo and thats a major benefit.The last thing any manager wants is the fans on your back.

The handsome wins recently at AG are all very welcome but BT and Millen have now got overcome City's age old Achillies Heel - the away form.I reckon City will beat most if not all of their rivals at the Gate but my worry is getting wins away from Bristol.If they can start picking wins away( no matter how imo)then promotion would be a real possiblity.

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I totally agree with this. Whilst I am very happy with the way we are playing

at the moment, i'm refusing to get too carried away until we sort out our away

form. This has been our downfall in many recent seasons. We have looked

a lot harder to beat in our last few away games, and if this consistency continues

on our travels then we'll be up around the top 2 come May.

[Niall]

Great post.

It is rare in 2004 (twas ever thus, in fact) that those in positions of responsibility hold their hand up and admit their mistakes and I certainly admire Tins for that. Looking back, I think one of the problems of the first few games is that I'm not sure that he knew what his best XI was. That breeds uncertainty and confidence drops.

Despite his excellent start to the season, I do though still worry about Wilkshire on the left. Pretty soon opposition teams will suss that he is right-footed and although Pires has shown it can work, I think long term Luke will play in the centre. Picking up on your point, Sipowicz, I think thats when Brian might think about bringing himself back and on balance, I think you're right, the midfield is working perfectly well without him at the moment.

Still, well done to the Manager for (from a position of relative strength, admittedly) indulging in a bit of mea culpa.

[Guest RedHotCityPepper]

I think it's obvious that we have the attacking options to push for promotions as we currently look very useful going forward and are now the joint top scorers in the league.

Therefore it's all about defending and I don't just mean the defence but the entire team defending. The aquisition of Brooker means that we have a player who can hold the ball up and get some good flick on's which we haven't had since Peacock left but unlike Peacock he doesn't seem to be giving away lots of foals which put the pressure back on.

With Doherty or Orr in the middle along side Dinning we have one player who can be more agressive and one who can sit back a bit and protect the defence.

The defence do seem to be fairly solid at the moment and although i don't see Coles as a wing back he can certainly do a job as a defensive right back which is probably necissary with Murray in front of him who is more attack minded so needs good cover.

Wilkshire and Bell seem to have a good partnership on the left and as long as Bell doesn't go forward too much we should be alright as Wilkshire tends to move inside alot so we will need him at the back to cover.

Also Phillips is in good form and looks more solid than he ever has before.

All in all things look good but as said before it all depends on how the team fair away from home, where defence will be the main thing to concentrate as we both pace and skill enough to score goals against any team.

Looking forward to the rest of the season (but not too much yet!)

CTID

[RedTop]

It's refreshing to hear Tinman's honesty about his start and I guess is a sign of how comfortable he feels with the fans. More important, though, is his ability to learn from his mistakes rather than stubbornly digging his heels in.

We all knew he'd make errors. What was in question was how quickly he would mend them. We're playing more entertaining football, which shows he knows what City fans expect from the club, and his signings so far look better on average than Wilson, who probably had more misses than hits.

There'll be tougher times ahead this season but the signs are Tins isn't afraid to take the bull by the horns and do what's necessary to correct things. I for one wouldn't bet against us this term, despite our dismal start. There must be a few clubs looking nervously over their shoulders.

[Guest Harry May]

One thing Tinns is doing ,that DW never did, is picking the best Bristol City team based on our merits ,not the oppositions.

Too often DW picked a City 11 based our opposition's strengths , tatics and players .At times it was very negative.

While I am not saying Tinns does n't take the opposition into account , he seems to pick our best 11 and let the opposition try to live with it .

Too often in previous years I have witnessed dull , sterile games where both teams have cancelled each other out .If I wanted to watch a game of chess ,I would join Caldicot Chess club.

The Everton game was a fantastic game , but I think the Hull City game was the turning point .A highly fancied team , flying high from our division totally outplayed at The Gate in a hugely entertaining game.

"Total" football.

Caldicot Red.

[PhatWill]

I was also sceptical about Brian Tinnion's appointment and still am.

Maybe this particular love-in session should take place in a few months time when we have a better idea of where our team will finish. Two home league wins on the trot is not a bad starting point. 4-0 win over Tranmere on Tuesday was great, but then we always flatter to decieve.

Results of late have been good, however I maintain that MK Dons are crap, we lacked creativity against COLU and we were poor at Walsall.

Wrexham away on the 20th will be tough. Manager Denis Smith says that he demands his players participate in every game as if it were their last so it should be interesting to see how we compete with them. Id like to reserve judgement on Tins performance as manager....

[Rednready]

One thing Tinns is doing ,that DW never did, is picking the best Bristol City team based on our merits ,not the oppositions.

Too often DW picked a City 11 based our opposition's strengths , tatics and players .At times it was very negative.

While I am not saying Tinns does n't take the opposition into account , he seems to pick our best 11 and let the opposition try to live with it .

Too often in previous years I have witnessed dull , sterile games where both teams have cancelled each other out .If I wanted to watch a game of chess ,I would join Caldicot Chess club.

The Everton game was a fantastic game , but I think the Hull City game was the turning point .A highly fancied team , flying high from our division totally outplayed at The Gate in a hugely entertaining game.

"Total" football.

Wilkshire and Orr were the center midfield that day against Hull. On that day and now that is the best combo we have, and we have Tins,Dins, and Doc  who can also make a good  combo. Lucky to have the depth, and necessary for promotion.

Caldicot Red.

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[Robbored]

I was also sceptical about Brian Tinnion's appointment and still am.

Maybe this particular love-in session should take place in a few months time when we have a better idea of where our team will finish. Two home league wins on the trot is not a bad starting point. 4-0 win over Tranmere on Tuesday was great, but then we always flatter to decieve.

Results of late have been good, however I maintain that MK Dons are crap, we lacked creativity against COLU and we were poor at Walsall.

Wrexham away on the 20th will be tough. Manager Denis Smith says that he demands his players participate in every game as if it were their last so it should be interesting to see how we compete with them. Id like to reserve judgement on Tins performance as manager....

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This is not a "love in" as you put it - its an unbiased appraisel of where City and BT are at in terms of progress at this moment in time. After a slow and uncertain start the team has lately been producing the goods which is largely down to BT and Millen's leadership and of course the arrival of Brooker and more recently Dinning on loan which also down to BT spotting good players and persuading them to come to the West Country.

Sure MK Dons were crap but you can only beat whats in front of you.Colchester defended for 89mins as well as I've seen any team defend at AG for ages.The thrashing of Trannie was a good performance as was the thrashing of Hull."Flatter to decieve" is a very harsh opinion.

Like you I'll judge BT at the end of the season but I won't slate the bloke before then.Currently he's doing alright,lets hope that can be maintained.

[Antman]

we'll continue to judge him all season, but at the moment the team has a shape and a much more decisive manner of play, it identifies which players can do what they do best and in the departure of Roberts (which I thought daft at the time) and the arrival of Brooker we have seen that BT has had enough of the arrogance and 'me first' superstar mentality that was starting to pervade the team. (I never understood how a footballer would become arrogant at this level! - surely you just want to get better?)

Lee Peacock was a good example of this to me, and unfortunately in retrospect Roberts too.

At the start of the season things went really screwy, but SL allowed BT to buy a few players, that always helps to refresh the side. now if we hit a bad patch again, BT will need to turn it around with what we've got. THAT will be the test.

I think the points about Bell are a little harsh, as he is a very good passer and can still get up the pitch. Woody is a hopeful replacement, but Hill isn't a left back, he can't cross the ball terribly well at all!Bell has been playing with a knee injury, which is never a good thing. Potentially Fortune can play LB I suppose.

Well, my point? it's going well so lets enjoy it while we can!!

there is always enough moaners lurking in the wings, happy to come cackling out when it goes pear shaped, if you listen you can hear the rustling of dry skin and the clanking of chains........

[downendcity]

Good posting sipowicz.

In particular , I agree with your comment about Tinnion not being in the side. It has been noticable that in recent postings many fans ideal midfield no longer includes Tinnion. Is it a coincidence that Wilkshire is playing like a new man? Perhaps he is playing with more freedom as he doesn't have to defer to the boss "controlling " the play? On this point, I wonder how many other players feel more relaxed on the pitch without the manager in the side ?

With regard to away form, I am pretty sure that will come together if we continue to play the way we are, and let the opposition worry about us rather than the other way around.

I feel our real achilles heel last season was performances against the so called "lesser" teams, whether home or away. We've had superb performances and results against front runners like Hull and Tranmere and I always get the feeling that we lift our game, and play our best football, against the best sides. It's games agains the likes of Colchester and Torquay that could let us down at the seasons end as we really have to be able to beat these teams clinically.

We still have a long way to go, and it's too early to get carried away. The most important thing is that there seems to be a confidence in the team now, allied to our ability to score goals, that could maintain our present run for a good time to come. The longer it continues, the more the opposition will fear playing us and then we really do have a good chance.

[Granty]

I was please when Tinnion was appointed, it seemed to be a bold decision from the board (I did not see it as a cheap option unlike many others). However, after the 1st half a dozen games I was questioning if the decision was the correct one, we looked dreadful in those 1st few games.

Since then, we have as a club made steady progress (nothing more than that), brought in a couple of players who have made a real impact and are playing attractive attacking football that was promised when Tinnion took over at the helm.

I also think that since Tinnion has been sub/manager as opposed to player/manager our performances look more 'complete' and with Orr (unluckily IMO) to be on the bench I hope he continues to concentrate 100% on the management side of things.

Keep up the good work Tins