City V Barnsley

[Bristol Boy]

In what has become typical City fashion, a succesfull performance was followed by one that wasn't and the reason that we are in a relegation dogfight was there for all to see.

What stupified me was to see Andrew in the starting line up instead of Stewart.Anyone that thought MS had a future at AG under GJ must surely now be convinced that he hasn't and the manager wants a player he views as an expensive misfit out of the club.

Whilst GJ picks the team, Stewart can sit back and take the money or go out on loan if he wishes.The choice is his and, IMHO SL needs to mediate and resolve the situation.I'm sick and tired of the silence and the insistence that Stewart & Johnson are OK.It is clear to a blind man that they aren't and yesterdays selection was a huge slap in the face for Stewart AND vastly more importantly, hugely to the detriment of the team.

A club in the dire trouble that we still find ourselves cannot sit MS on the bench in the absence of Brooker and start a winnable game with two forwards with one league goal in 40+ appearances between them.

Whilst we dominated for ninety minutes in midfield, reducing Barnsley to long punts upfield, the all to familiar lack of imagination and final ball was our downfall.

Had we played until nine o'clock this morning, we wouldn't have scored despite having what I'd guess to be around 65% of possession and 80% of the corners.

Our attack was toothless and the wide players both faded into obscurity by taking the easy option, particularly in the second half.

Thier keeper never had a serious shot to save in the entire game and some of what passed for shooting from Skuse in particular, was an utter embarrassment.

Brookers absence for any longer than the next match, MUST see us try to find a loan signing that can score goals and, in the event that Brooker is out next week, MS must start and a place should be found for LW on the bench at least.

If you go into games without goal scorers on the field, it's hardly surprising when you don't score!

PHILLIPS:6/10 I wouldn't fault him for either goal and whilst some of his kicking was poor, having SP in instead of AB made no difference.

SMITH:7/10 Solid, calm, defensive performance.

WOODMAN:7/10 His corners, whilst consistent (All the same), lack threat and imagination.Having your left back deliver set pieces from the right wing has to be questioned.Defended well in the main.A poor Woodman set piece, thirty yards out on the right wing led to the keepers punt upfield for their second goal.

HEYWOOD:7/10 I want to take a look at the first goal because it looked like as clever flick over Heywoods head had played the forward in for a shot and their seemed to be a lack of cover.The ball looked like it was deflected to wrong foot Phillips.Overall he dominated and you can't blame our defence for this defeat.

CAREY:7/10 Looked OK as part of a defensive unit and it looked like a penalty to me with both players wrestling for possession.As the last man, once the penalty was given, the Ref had no real choice and we'd have been screaming for it at AG.

RUSSELL:7/10 Looking more like a midfield general and repeats of the Swansea free kick led to some uncomfortable moments for the Barnsley defence.Along with the tireless Skuse, he controlled midfield.

SKUSE:7/10 The problem with our midfield is that it doesn't score, unless the out of favour Wilkshire is playing and that means the front four have to do that.Good defending, including a spell at CB when Carey went off for stitches, Skuse did well but his contribution as a midfielder is limited to winning the ball and safe distribution.

COTTERILL:6/10 Some lively running in the first half but back to No End Product.

MURRAY:5/10 Needs to do a lot more.The left wing tactic has been sussed, as it was with LW last year.Booked for diving and that summed up his game.

ANDREW:5/10 Ineffective and it doesn't look like GJ has struck pay dirt with yet another loan signing.Some neat touches and looks a footballer, but I didn't see real pace, although he got stuck in and worked hard.Looked worse when MS came on for Cotterill.

SAVAGE:6/10 The games most prominent forward in the first half and led the line well, linking up with the midfield and playing in the wide players.Due to his lack of goals, he needs a proven goal scorer next to him and GJ left him on the bench

STEWART:5/10 Poor service and didn't look sharp.

BROWN:5/10 Pointless substitution that didn't effect the game.Another player who should be played in central midfield or not played at all.

[City Exile]

I posted this elsewhere - but the team that started yesterday had scored between them 17 league goals all year - and 9 of those where Murray's.

Great effort, and clearly last minute injuries did not help. But if Murray and Brooker go for a quite night out and get food posioning we are in degree of poo.

Surely Wilkshire and Stewart are first choice cover?

[SE23Red]

But if Murray and Brooker go for a quite night out and get food posioning we are in degree of poo.

As would they. IGMC...

[Bristol Boy]

I posted this elsewhere - but the team that started yesterday had scored between them 17 league goals all year - and 9 of those where Murray's.

Great effort, and clearly last minute injuries did not help. But if Murray and Brooker go for a quite night out and get food posioning we are in degree of poo.

Surely Wilkshire and Stewart are first choice cover?

As I said, I believe that if you start a game wiithout goal scorers it's likely that you'll loose it.

Barnsley were outplayed yesterday and, as per City, were missing key players.

Our inability to create a worthwhile chance over ninety minutes is a massive concern.

[bcdc]

Extremely good summary of yesterday's game, Bristol Boy.

I'm a City exile living in Nottingham, and get to relatively few games. Yesterday we did dominate and didn't look like scoring. I would have played Marcus with Bas, and - the apparent MS/GJ spat notwithstanding - was surprised not to see them together. However, having just signed Andrew I can see why GJ would want to start with him. What I can't fathom is why he continued with him for as long as he did. By half time it was very clear that this was not the game where Calvin was going to show us all the 3Ps (pace, power and passion). He looked more slow(ish), slight and sloppy to me! He may well come good , but Marcus deserved the whole second half at least.

On another note, his was the first time I'd seen Bas play, and I was most impressed in the first half. Either he's got a whole lot better or some on the Forum have been unfairly running him down for weeks. There were half a dozen or more occasions where his control and distribution were excellent, and he was crying out for a partner. He faded in the second half, which was understandable, and that made Stewart's job that much harder.

I thought the two central defenders did well too, with Heywood in particular an absolute tower.

The other player I'd pick out was Cole Skuse (efforts at goal apart!). When I saw him earlier in the season he looked tentative and lightweight, but in his performance yesterday I thought I saw something of the positive side of the GJ regime. He snapped into tackles, looked more confident of his role and where he should be on the field. He looked a much better player than before Christmas. Set that alongside the better team organisation and I'm much less worried about the rest of the season.

That said though, the thing stopping me moving towards outright optimism is the stuff about GJ not liking or using 'flair' players. He may be right about what we need to get out of this division, but going up a level will definitely mean flair players needed. If we haven't got them when (when?, when? oh when?) we go up and have them integrated into the team and understanding the way of playing. We're not suddenly and magically going be able to sprinkle a few in to the mix - assuming we could get them just like that of course! It seems so obvious that teams need graft AND flair it's hard to see whywe're not cultivating both.

Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will...Ashton Gate all over eh?

BCDC

[North Bristols Cider Army]

In what has become typical City fashion, a succesfull performance was followed by one that wasn't and the reason that we are in a relegation dogfight was there for all to see.

What stupified me was to see Andrew in the starting line up instead of Stewart.Anyone that thought MS had a future at AG under GJ must surely now be convinced that he hasn't and the manager wants a player he views as an expensive misfit out of the club.

Whilst GJ picks the team, Stewart can sit back and take the money or go out on loan if he wishes.The choice is his and, IMHO SL needs to mediate and resolve the situation.I'm sick and tired of the silence and the insistence that Stewart & Johnson are OK.It is clear to a blind man that they aren't and yesterdays selection was a huge slap in the face for Stewart AND vastly more importantly, hugely to the detriment of the team.

A club in the dire trouble that we still find ourselves cannot sit MS on the bench in the absence of Brooker and start a winnable game with two forwards with one league goal in 40+ appearances between them.

Whilst we dominated for ninety minutes in midfield, reducing Barnsley to long punts upfield, the all to familiar lack of imagination and final ball was our downfall.

Had we played until nine o'clock this morning, we wouldn't have scored despite having what I'd guess to be around 65% of possession and 80% of the corners.

Our attack was toothless and the wide players both faded into obscurity by taking the easy option, particularly in the second half.

Thier keeper never had a serious shot to save in the entire game and some of what passed for shooting from Skuse in particular, was an utter embarrassment.

Brookers absence for any longer than the next match, MUST see us try to find a loan signing that can score goals and, in the event that Brooker is out next week, MS must start and a place should be found for LW on the bench at least.

If you go into games without goal scorers on the field, it's hardly surprising when you don't score!

PHILLIPS:6/10 I wouldn't fault him for either goal and whilst some of his kicking was poor, having SP in instead of AB made no difference.

SMITH:7/10 Solid, calm, defensive performance.

WOODMAN:7/10 His corners, whilst consistent (All the same), lack threat and imagination.Having your left back deliver set pieces from the right wing has to be questioned.Defended well in the main.A poor Woodman set piece, thirty yards out on the right wing led to the keepers punt upfield for their second goal.

HEYWOOD:7/10 I want to take a look at the first goal because it looked like as clever flick over Heywoods head had played the forward in for a shot and their seemed to be a lack of cover.The ball looked like it was deflected to wrong foot Phillips.Overall he dominated and you can't blame our defence for this defeat.

CAREY:7/10 Looked OK as part of a defensive unit and it looked like a penalty to me with both players wrestling for possession.As the last man, once the penalty was given, the Ref had no real choice and we'd have been screaming for it at AG.

RUSSELL:7/10 Looking more like a midfield general and repeats of the Swansea free kick led to some uncomfortable moments for the Barnsley defence.Along with the tireless Skuse, he controlled midfield.

SKUSE:7/10 The problem with our midfield is that it doesn't score, unless the out of favour Wilkshire is playing and that means the front four have to do that.Good defending, including a spell at CB when Carey went off for stitches, Skuse did well but his contribution as a midfielder is limited to winning the ball and safe distribution.

COTTERILL:6/10 Some lively running in the first half but back to No End Product.

MURRAY:5/10 Needs to do a lot more.The left wing tactic has been sussed, as it was with LW last year.Booked for diving and that summed up his game.

ANDREW:5/10 Ineffective and it doesn't look like GJ has struck pay dirt with yet another loan signing.Some neat touches and looks a footballer, but I didn't see real pace, although he got stuck in and worked hard.Looked worse when MS came on for Cotterill.

SAVAGE:6/10 The games most prominent forward in the first half and led the line well, linking up with the midfield and playing in the wide players.Due to his lack of goals, he needs a proven goal scorer next to him and GJ left him on the bench

STEWART:5/10 Poor service and didn't look sharp.

BROWN:5/10 Pointless substitution that didn't effect the game.Another player who should be played in central midfield or not played at all.

BB, I always look forward to reading your match report and once again you are spot on, I was there yesterday and I thought that we played some good football, without actually creating an end product.

Apart from the selection of Andrew instead of Marcus, what were your thoughts on the ref, who in my opinion gave everything to us, apart from missing the obvious penalty and giving them theres, which was probably due to the home support giving some stick over some of his decisions.

Skuse, I thought, played well yesterday, even though his shooting was well off target, along with Savage and Carey, but do you thnk that we missed Noble as well as Brooker yesterday? I certainly think that those two make a hell of a difference to our team.

Be interested to know what you think on this.

Cheers.

Paul.

[Guest Braemarstan]

In what has become typical City fashion, a succesfull performance was followed by one that wasn't and the reason that we are in a relegation dogfight was there for all to see.

What stupified me was to see Andrew in the starting line up instead of Stewart.Anyone that thought MS had a future at AG under GJ must surely now be convinced that he hasn't and the manager wants a player he views as an expensive misfit out of the club.

Whilst GJ picks the team, Stewart can sit back and take the money or go out on loan if he wishes.The choice is his and, IMHO SL needs to mediate and resolve the situation.I'm sick and tired of the silence and the insistence that Stewart & Johnson are OK.It is clear to a blind man that they aren't and yesterdays selection was a huge slap in the face for Stewart AND vastly more importantly, hugely to the detriment of the team.

A club in the dire trouble that we still find ourselves cannot sit MS on the bench in the absence of Brooker and start a winnable game with two forwards with one league goal in 40+ appearances between them.

Whilst we dominated for ninety minutes in midfield, reducing Barnsley to long punts upfield, the all to familiar lack of imagination and final ball was our downfall.

Had we played until nine o'clock this morning, we wouldn't have scored despite having what I'd guess to be around 65% of possession and 80% of the corners.

Our attack was toothless and the wide players both faded into obscurity by taking the easy option, particularly in the second half.

Thier keeper never had a serious shot to save in the entire game and some of what passed for shooting from Skuse in particular, was an utter embarrassment.

Brookers absence for any longer than the next match, MUST see us try to find a loan signing that can score goals and, in the event that Brooker is out next week, MS must start and a place should be found for LW on the bench at least.

If you go into games without goal scorers on the field, it's hardly surprising when you don't score!

PHILLIPS:6/10 I wouldn't fault him for either goal and whilst some of his kicking was poor, having SP in instead of AB made no difference.

SMITH:7/10 Solid, calm, defensive performance.

WOODMAN:7/10 His corners, whilst consistent (All the same), lack threat and imagination.Having your left back deliver set pieces from the right wing has to be questioned.Defended well in the main.A poor Woodman set piece, thirty yards out on the right wing led to the keepers punt upfield for their second goal.

HEYWOOD:7/10 I want to take a look at the first goal because it looked like as clever flick over Heywoods head had played the forward in for a shot and their seemed to be a lack of cover.The ball looked like it was deflected to wrong foot Phillips.Overall he dominated and you can't blame our defence for this defeat.

CAREY:7/10 Looked OK as part of a defensive unit and it looked like a penalty to me with both players wrestling for possession.As the last man, once the penalty was given, the Ref had no real choice and we'd have been screaming for it at AG.

RUSSELL:7/10 Looking more like a midfield general and repeats of the Swansea free kick led to some uncomfortable moments for the Barnsley defence.Along with the tireless Skuse, he controlled midfield.

SKUSE:7/10 The problem with our midfield is that it doesn't score, unless the out of favour Wilkshire is playing and that means the front four have to do that.Good defending, including a spell at CB when Carey went off for stitches, Skuse did well but his contribution as a midfielder is limited to winning the ball and safe distribution.

COTTERILL:6/10 Some lively running in the first half but back to No End Product.

MURRAY:5/10 Needs to do a lot more.The left wing tactic has been sussed, as it was with LW last year.Booked for diving and that summed up his game.

ANDREW:5/10 Ineffective and it doesn't look like GJ has struck pay dirt with yet another loan signing.Some neat touches and looks a footballer, but I didn't see real pace, although he got stuck in and worked hard.Looked worse when MS came on for Cotterill.

SAVAGE:6/10 The games most prominent forward in the first half and led the line well, linking up with the midfield and playing in the wide players.Due to his lack of goals, he needs a proven goal scorer next to him and GJ left him on the bench

STEWART:5/10 Poor service and didn't look sharp.

BROWN:5/10 Pointless substitution that didn't effect the game.Another player who should be played in central midfield or not played at all.

Very fair assessment on the basis of what I saw yesterday.

However, having just watched the highlights on the clubsite the answer to your query about the first goal is that it was Carey that was done with the flick over his head and Heywood that then tried to block the shot.

The sick thing is that, having watched it over and over, I don't reckon the shot was anywhere near on target

But then if Heywood hadn't thrown himself at the ball we'd all have had a go for a lack of committment !

Two very negative thoughts linger with me from yesterday.

The first is that I didn't even realise Scott Murray was on the pitch until the 40th minute. That's how much of an impact he had.

The second is I lost count of the number of times when Dave Cotterill had the ball that I muttered to myself "Just get the ball out of your feet and take him on" only for him to immediately turn inside, head for the safety of midfield and give somebody else the ball, and with it, responsibility for attacking Barnsley.

I really don't think Brooker playing would have made any difference. The quality and effort just weren't there in midfield.

In my opinion Noble was the real missing link.

[PhatWill]

I saw the opposite to you in Andrew BB. I could see that he had genuine pace (which he didn't utilise enough) but his touch was poor and he looked very rough around the edges.

As for Skuse's shooting, it wasn't accurate and was often from long range but at least he was having a go. Russell seems completely gutless (as was proved at Blackpool) in front of goal.

Threat in front of goal was a worry, but it was actually the first time we have failed to score in 10 games. With Noble and Brooker hopefully back next week we should pose more of a threat.

[CodeRed]

If you go into games without goal scorers on the field, it's hardly surprising when you don't score!

Very true

but goalscorers are very hard to find arn't they ?..........................................but not at Bristol City - no for we had:

Heffernan

Lita

Miller

Gillespie

then

Bridges

Stewart

and such is our strength in depth that between the Chairman,Tinnion,& GJ we have decided that - Lita apart - all the others were/are not needed at Bristol City.

Because these can be replaced with Bas Savage and Andrews (careers to date = 2 goals between them)

In fact we are scoring so freely that Stewart can't even get in the team

- even when Brooks is injured.

So no need to worry - Strikers ? who needs 'em eh?

Gary's an expert at this management lark - it does look like he will get us out of this league at the first attempt.

CodeRed

[Bristol Boy]

Having seen the highlights, a few things are clearer:

1.Carey was the defender that was lobbed for the first goal and that was defelected in by Heywood.

2.We SHOULD have had a penalty and, under the strict interpretation of the law, the defender could have been sent off.

3.The highlights don't show one single save by the Barnsley goalkeeper and only one City attempt, that being the shot from the corner that was handballed.

4.Looks a pen and we should have cleared the first ball as we had two on one-Woodman & Carey.

Bad luck and sone bad defending

Very true

but goalscorers are very hard to find arn't they ?..........................................but not at Bristol City - no for we had:

Heffernan

Lita

Miller

Gillespie

then

Bridges

Stewart

and such is our strength in depth that between the Chairman,Tinnion,& GJ we have decided that - Lita apart - all the others were/are not needed at Bristol City.

Because these can be replaced with Bas Savage and Andrews (careers to date = 2 goals between them)

In fact we are scoring so freely that Stewart can't even get in the team

- even when Brooks is injured.

So no need to worry - Strikers ? who needs 'em eh?

Gary's an expert at this management lark - it does look like he will get us out of this league at the first attempt.

CodeRed

In fairness to Tinnion, we were all chuffed when we got most of our money back for Miller and we wouldn't have sold Heff if we knew LL was going.

Bridges was a panic signing after LL left just prior to the start of the season, but I agree that GJ made a massive rick in not starting with Stewart on Saturday and I said so in the review.If Stewart didn't do it, the fair enough, sub him for Andrew.

Barnsley were there for the taking on Saturday with 4/5 players missing and Shuker having to go off injured.

We should remember that BT's first choice strike partnership at the start of the season was Stewart & Bridges, so between BT & GJ, I don't see a football genius.

I saw the opposite to you in Andrew BB. I could see that he had genuine pace (which he didn't utilise enough) but his touch was poor and he looked very rough around the edges.

As for Skuse's shooting, it wasn't accurate and was often from long range but at least he was having a go. Russell seems completely gutless (as was proved at Blackpool) in front of goal.

Threat in front of goal was a worry, but it was actually the first time we have failed to score in 10 games. With Noble and Brooker hopefully back next week we should pose more of a threat.

We'll agree to differ on Andrew.My initial view is that he isn't the answer and could be the latest in a long line of ineffective loan signings.On what I saw, I'd rather have Gillespie or Stewart in my starting line up.

Brooker is the key player and, if we're without him for any more than say, three of the remaining games at most, I feel that we'll do very well not to be relegared.

How Noble was fit enough to be a sub and not fit enough to start, completely baffles me.

BB, I always look forward to reading your match report and once again you are spot on, I was there yesterday and I thought that we played some good football, without actually creating an end product.

Apart from the selection of Andrew instead of Marcus, what were your thoughts on the ref, who in my opinion gave everything to us, apart from missing the obvious penalty and giving them theres, which was probably due to the home support giving some stick over some of his decisions.

Skuse, I thought, played well yesterday, even though his shooting was well off target, along with Savage and Carey, but do you thnk that we missed Noble as well as Brooker yesterday? I certainly think that those two make a hell of a difference to our team.

Be interested to know what you think on this.

Cheers.

Paul.

On the Ref, you're spot on.

He had two major decisions to make and he got one wrong.Please see my update, below.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, our squad is wafer thin in terms of quality and GJ has a habit of worsening it with loan signings.

Loan signigs should be better than what we already have and, on the basis that none of our loans would displace anyone in our first eleven, then that's where GJ's going badly wrong............for the second time.

The whole thing has a wiff of complacency, panic & arrogance about it.

On Skuse, he's improved of late and that could well be playing next to Russell who's a seasoned lower league pro. I still see him as a defender as opposed to a midfielder in a middle two, because he doesn't threaten the opposition with a run or a shot and rarely makes a creative pass.

[Guest Harry Dolman]

The whole thing has a wiff of complacency, panic & arrogance about it.

Complacency & panic are almost opposites ???

Sometimes Johnson makes decisions I don't agree with, but I understand (on Sat I would have played MS with Bas, but I can understand if someone prefers to go with pace/power). Sometimes he makes decisions I don't understand (loaning Woodman out, for eg). But the same goes for every City (& England) manager I've ever watched. Talk to 10 fans, you will probably get at least 6 versions of our best team.

Re Barnsley being there for the taking. Over the course of the season they've proved themselves a decent side - their squad was stretched. Over the course of the season we have proved to be a poor side - our squad was stretched too - on balance a home win was alway likely.

[Bristol Boy]

Complacency & panic are almost opposites ???

There you go, he lacks cohesiveness & consistency as well

Re Barnsley being there for the taking. Over the course of the season they've proved themselves a decent side - their squad was stretched. Over the course of the season we have proved to be a poor side - our squad was stretched too - on balance a home win was alway likely.

I was there.

Believe me, they were there for the taking