Bristol Boy Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Much anticipated & little enjoyed is probably a fair summing up..well, from Citys point of view any way.I was very disappointed with both games-not just because I'm a City supporter, moreover as somene who wants to see Bristol emerge from "backwater" status as a Footballing City and as a football fan who appreciates both the passion and the technical side of the game.Whilst obviously pleased and excited, surely the Rovers fans who flooded Geoff Twentymans show with calls stating how well the team played, were just carried away and kidding.....right?Looking at the goal mouth action or rather lack of it over a 180 minute period that produced five noteworthy shots.Two from Brooker, one hit the post and one produced an expected save from Phillips.Andrews struck another that Phillips palmed to Brooker who missed our best chance of the two legs and from Rovers, one shot on target from which Lambert scored.Disley shot hard but in truth, wide at AG.Apart from those examples, neither keeper had a save to make and no clear cut chances were created never mind missed.Passing and creativity was missing from both teams.Add to that a huge police presence in spite of appeals from SL to keep the atmosphere light and the occassion became dark & threatening.That boiled over after a pitch invasion when the police over reacted at Horfield in "gassing" innocent fans, including woman.Twelve complaints have been made on that incident aloneWe set the team up wrong to do the job because, as results before and since have proved, Rovers aren't three quarters of the way down the fourth tier of English Football because they're any good.They were dire and as someone who has watched Rovers for forty plus years and, I'll admit, coveted some of their players on occassions, I didn't see one that could get in our squad, never mind the first XI.That's not sour grapes, although I'll freely admit that I'd love to go to the JPT Final AS WELL AS promotion, not instead of it.I'm merely being very honest.Did they deserve to win? No, but then again, neither did we and somebody has to.Phillips may well have enjoyed his moment of glory, but that must have been tempered by the grim & dark realisation in that in leaving City and behaving in the way he did before that departure, he has consigned himself to the lower echelons of English Football, certainly for the forseeable future and a draw at Accrington, closely followed by a defeat at basement boys Boston, both in front of less than 2,000 fans, must have brought some demons home and promise of more of the same, even worse, a fall to the conference isn't out of the question, next season.That's three draws and three defeats in their last six league games or three points out of eighteenRovers fans have seen gates dwindle to an average of around 5,000 at home and their away support in the league has exceeded 1,000 on only three occassions and one shouldn't forget that they were 7th in January.True, 30-35,000 pretend Gasheads will enjoy a day out in Cardiff, win or lose and let's be honest, they really need the money...not that we don't!! But as I've said on many occassions, I've got more time for the few hundred that follow them away most weeks and the 5-5,500 that turn up at Horfield, than these fairweather supporters that all clubs, our included, attract at these times.As many said before the games were played, it won't matter in the long term.....and it won't...........So why do I still wish we'd beaten the b*****ds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giles_23_bcfc Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Much anticipated & little enjoyed is probably a fair summing up..well, from Citys point of view any way.I was very disappointed with both games-not just because I'm a City supporter, moreover as somene who wants to see Bristol emerge from "backwater" status as a Footballing City and as a football fan who appreciates both the passion and the technical side of the game.Whilst obviously pleased and excited, surely the Rovers fans who flooded Geoff Twentymans show with calls stating how well the team played, were just carried away and kidding.....right?Looking at the goal mouth action or rather lack of it over a 180 minute period that produced five noteworthy shots.Two from Brooker, one hit the post and one produced an expected save from Phillips.Andrews struck another that Phillips palmed to Brooker who missed our best chance of the two legs and from Rovers, one shot on target from which Lambert scored.Disley shot hard but in truth, wide at AG.Apart from those examples, neither keeper had a save to make and no clear cut chances were created never mind missed.Passing and creativity was missing from both teams.Add to that a huge police presence in spite of appeals from SL to keep the atmosphere light and the occassion became dark & threatening.That boiled over after a pitch invasion when the police over reacted at Horfield in "gassing" innocent fans, including woman.Twelve complaints have been made on that incident aloneWe set the team up wrong to do the job because, as results before and since have proved, Rovers aren't three quarters of the way down the fourth tier of English Football because they're any good.They were dire and as someone who has watched Rovers for forty plus years and, I'll admit, coveted some of their players on occassions, I didn't see one that could get in our squad, never mind the first XI.That's not sour grapes, although I'll freely admit that I'd love to go to the JPT Final AS WELL AS promotion, not instead of it.I'm merely being very honest.Did they deserve to win? No, but then again, neither did we and somebody has to.Phillips may well have enjoyed his moment of glory, but that must have been tempered by the grim & dark realisation in that in leaving City and behaving in the way he did before that departure, he has consigned himself to the lower echelons of English Football, certainly for the forseeable future and a draw at Accrington, closely followed by a defeat at basement boys Boston, both in front of less than 2,000 fans, must have brought some demons home and promise of more of the same, even worse, a fall to the conference isn't out of the question, next season.Rovers fans have seen gates dwindle to an average of around 5,000 at home and their away support in the league has exceeded 1,000 on only two occassions and one shouldn't forget that they were 7th in January.True, 30-35,000 pretend Gasheads will enjoy a day out in Cardiff, win or lose and let's be honest, they really need the money...not that we don't!! But as I've said on many occassions, I've got more time for the few hundred that follow them away most weeks and the 5-5,500 that turn up at Horfield, than these fairweather supporters that all clubs, our included, attract at these times.As many said before the games were played, it won't matter in the long term.....and it won't...........So why do I still wish we'd beaten the b*****ds I think i speak for many city fans when i say... STOP GOING ON ABOUT IT! It was in a competition that, ok, wouldve been a day out for the THIRD time in Cardiff, but, would only have been a bigger hinderance in our Promotion push! Just look at how well weve done since we went out compared to how our form dipped when we found out we were playing them!At the time all i wanted was for us to beat them, but looking back on it now, I'm glad in a way that we lost becasue it's enabled us to focus on the 1 thing that all city fans want, Promotion! We are about 5 or 6 away games (IMO) away from promotion. Mainly down to the 1 goal we conceded at the Memorial Shed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristol Boy Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I think i speak for many city fans when i say... STOP GOING ON ABOUT IT! It was in a competition that, ok, wouldve been a day out for the THIRD time in Cardiff, but, would only have been a bigger hinderance in our Promotion push! Just look at how well weve done since we went out compared to how our form dipped when we found out we were playing them!There's no evidence of that and it's one extra game.It's not a choice we could have won both or neither.At the time all i wanted was for us to beat them, but looking back on it now, I'm glad in a way that we lost becasue it's enabled us to focus on the 1 thing that all city fans want, Promotion!Losing is rarely a good thing, in fact, make that never.If our attitude to the competition was that we should have played the resvs in the first round copped the fine and left it at that. We are about 5 or 6 away games (IMO) away from promotion. Mainly down to the 1 goal we conceded at the Memorial Shed!I think you'll find it's mostly down to our form in the League since August.....well, September perhaps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBerkeleyBoy Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I was gutted to lose against the Gas and in some ways I wish we lost on pens to Forest - so we could say we didn't lose to them over 90mins. These cup games do effect form and cause injury. It would have been nice but promotion is the one and only aim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bawno Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Yes we were all extremely gutted losing to the gas but the basic fact that sums this whole situation up is this:Rovers are a club going nowhere. They need a miracle to get promotion and play in a little tin shack against the likes of Torquay attracting just over 5000 a week.We are the only real team in Bristol, capable of doing the city truly proud. We are a club with a decent ground, excellent fanbase and moreover a promising looking future. Promotion for us would be a real kick in the peanuts for Rovers and by that time everyone would hopefully have forgotten about our sad little loss to them in the hugely important Johnsons Paint Trohpy which all of the world watches with baited breath to see who wins.Yes it is gutting to lose to Rovers now and again but look beneath the surface. We are the only team in Bristol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bh red Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 as others have said haven't given it much thought since the night of the game,the final would have been no doubt a distraction from the league that wasn't needed or wanted regardless of how much money we would have got from the final, it was a trip to cardiff that we could have done without, thankfully it's not happening and Rovers can enjoy their day out, personally I'm happier playing forest that weekend in a game that actually matter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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