Another Glorious Defeat

[Abraham Romanovich]

I for one are getting a little fed up with getting patronising comments about how we play decent football and are plucky losers.

The reality of last night we were comprehensively out played for long periods by their reserves playing neat attractive football.

Fair play to all involved for the 2nd half performance but it should not detract from the alarming chasm in class.

The point I am trying to make is where exactly should BCFC aim to be, is our lot in life to be a mid table Championship side

with the odd cup run or are we looking to the next stage.

In order to achieve this you don't have to be a brain surgeon to realise a great deal of money is required and I don't see SL chucking his fortune at us. (can't say I blame him)

So where exactly do we go from here ?

[bristolcityup]

HHmmm, 3 championsip leauge games gone, no defeats, 5 points, top half of the table, a strong sqaud, a manager who i beleive will oneday get a chance managing at premiership level, a chairman who has got us where we are today, a minor blip the Mickey Mouse cup and EMERGENCY EMERGENCY WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE... Where we are at the moment if you hadnt' noticed is playing in the chamionship, which is also incase you don't realise is just one division away from the premiership..

[rockin-robin]

I agree with a lot of what you have said and it does get annoying when comments like that are said. However, I believe that this club is going in the right direction slowly. I think we have to look at everything over the long term and take each stage at a time.

I am a huge fan of SL and knowing him personally, I know that he will do everything he can to take this club forward. By just chucking money at the club is not always the answer.

[andy g]

I for one are getting a little fed up with getting patronising comments about how we play decent football and are plucky losers.

The reality of last night we were comprehensively out played for long periods by their reserves playing neat attractive football.

Fair play to all involved for the 2nd half performance but it should not detract from the alarming chasm in class.

The point I am trying to make is where exactly should BCFC aim to be, is our lot in life to be a mid table Championship side

with the odd cup run or are we looking to the next stage.

In order to achieve this you don't have to be a brain surgeon to realise a great deal of money is required and I don't see SL chucking his fortune at us. (can't say I blame him)

So where exactly do we go from here ?

Sorry, thats just reality.

Unless you're seriously suggesting we win the FA or League Cup, we are always going to going to get knocked out after a short cup-run (and at least we werent the victim of a giant-killing !)

Man City seem to be turning into a pretty decent side (and it helps theyre owned by a billionaire !) so i don't think we disgraced ourselves last night. In fact, some of the football we played looked pretty good - certainly not your average lower-league vs premiership game.

I'm sure that once we've consolidated in the CCC we'll look at pushing on, but give them chance, we've only just been promoted !

[forbespm]

stay up this season must be our priority.keep strengthening the team,become an established championship team,get promoted and take it from there,simple.

[Abraham Romanovich]

That is exactly my point, there is no point in playing in a league if you don't try and win it but the difference in class was obvious, so do we either plan to become a prem club or our aspirations such that we want to remain a decent championship side.

This is not a criticism of anyone I am delighted at our start, all I am saying is what is the ambition of the the Board.?

[Nibor]

There was nothing whatsoever alarming about last night.

There was a gulf in class because the "reserves" we faced last night cost Man City £15-£20m to assemble.

I fail to see how losing narrowly in the league cup to a side a division above with 10 times the money to spend and probably 10 times the wage bill as well can be construed as not trying to win the Championship.

Let's have a faint touch of reality here. The board have invested heavily in the summer and we should finish mid table in our FIRST SEASON back in the Championship. That doesn't mean we won't try to kick on from there.

You're about 3 years premature in your concerns I think.

[BCFC_Brisbane]

don't get fed up with patronising comments , stay away if the team upsets you that much.

City have done really well since GJ took over and you should be proud of what the club has achieved.

Of course there is a difference in class, one of the Man City players cost more than City's entire squad.

City are building, it will be slow but be patient. We have a good alround squad that can cope with injuries.

They have good youngsters coming through and it reminds me of the young squad Alan Dicks put together.

But then they made the mistake of dismissing the Youth policy to concenntrate on staying in the first division.

AJ will not let that happen he is too good a manager

Be proud if not the choice is simple stay away.

[rumbellow]

I for one are getting a little fed up with getting patronising comments about how we play decent football and are plucky losers.

The reality of last night we were comprehensively out played for long periods by their reserves playing neat attractive football.

Fair play to all involved for the 2nd half performance but it should not detract from the alarming chasm in class.

The point I am trying to make is where exactly should BCFC aim to be, is our lot in life to be a mid table Championship side

with the odd cup run or are we looking to the next stage.

In order to achieve this you don't have to be a brain surgeon to realise a great deal of money is required and I don't see SL chucking his fortune at us. (can't say I blame him)

So where exactly do we go from here ?

The reality of the situation is 'their reserves' last night cost a cool 23million and I for one will accept mid table championship side (better than anywhere in the '3rd division') and I am sure mancity fans will accept (at present) mid table premiership side (better than their annual relegation fight) and I would rather see 'plucky losers' than the pathetic losers of the millstad.

Under Johnson we have an honest manager (at last) he dosen't insult our intelligence with crass wilonesque (you're lucky to have me) quotes, he tells it as he sees it, we are making progress on the field, now we need to start to make progress off of the field, improve the stadium, facilities and stabilise the financial side and then who knows.

[BristolCity1992]

Jesus newly promoted team against a team with a world class club manager and some real good talent in the team I think if it was say Scunny against Man City everyone would expect a Man City to stuff them and to be fair I expected nothing more out of last night.

Whats the rush? We have only got into the championship our aim this year I'm opinion is 14th.

[exiledinwatford]

So where exactly do we go from here ?

All the way to the Play-Offs.

I don't think Coventry thought of us as plucky losers last season. Sure it wasn't their first team last night but any one of them would walk into any championship side. Once we had equalised I fully expected us to go on and win. I was really proud of our second half display.

We should all remember last season and the pretty poor quality of football - our inability to finish off poor sides. I'm really enjoying watching this team and although I'm generally conservative I think this squad could go a long way. Sproule looks quick and very hungry and if GJ can get the best out of Byfield who knows what we could achieve??????

[Robbored]

Fair play to all involved for the 2nd half performance but it should not detract from the alarming chasm in class.

The point I am trying to make is where exactly should BCFC aim to be, is our lot in life to be a mid table Championship side

with the odd cup run or are we looking to the next stage.

In order to achieve this you don't have to be a brain surgeon to realise a great deal of money is required and I don't see SL chucking his fortune at us. (can't say I blame him)

So where exactly do we go from here ?

From where we are now - we survive in the CCC.From there we try and improve by bringing in better quality players. It has to remembered that City are now in the process of travelling a very steep learning curve. Undefeated in three games is a good start but without being disrespectfull to QPR,B'pool and Scunny its hardly the most difficult start considering the teams that are in this division.

The next three months will give us a far more accurate picture of what this league is all about with the likes of WBA, both Sheffield clubs, Stoke, S'pton, Wolves, Charlton, Ipswhich and Leicester all to come.

If City are in the top half at the start of December then I for one will be very happy.

[BristolCity1992]

For once I agree with you Rob spot on.

[Ian M]

That is exactly my point, there is no point in playing in a league if you don't try and win it but the difference in class was obvious, so do we either plan to become a prem club or our aspirations such that we want to remain a decent championship side.

This is not a criticism of anyone I am delighted at our start, all I am saying is what is the ambition of the the Board.?

You're quite right that there was a "difference in class" between ourselves and Man City though I don't believe anyone will have to be as good as them to be the Champions of the Championship.

Once you reach the Prem you then have to worry about staying there, though the £30m TV money just for being there will help.

[Robbored]

but the difference in class was obvious, so do we either plan to become a prem club or our aspirations such that we want to remain a decent championship side.

This is not a criticism of anyone I am delighted at our start, all I am saying is what is the ambition of the the Board.?

Decent Championship side first.

Consolidate and stay up should be City's ambition for this first campaign back in theCCC. As yet its far too early to predict how City might do this season - we haven't played any of the 'big boys' yet but hopefully a mid-table finsih will be within reach.

Next season - Johnson with a years experience in the CCC and with more knowledge in what it takes to do well in this league would look to strengthen.He'll know exactly what type of players he'll need and set out to build a side capable of making a serious challenge for the Premiership - but its all about staying up this season and by December 1st we'll have a good idea of how probable that is.

[Midge]

Well my attitude throughout wednesday was simply to enjot the match,we saw yet another great game a quality 1st half display from Man City and yet City showed their work rate by holding out to put us in a position where we almost got extra time.

We were the ones that looked like scoring until they got the winner,at the end of the day football at this level should be enjoyed,we'll get another cracking game when WBA visit although I do get more nervous at league games,simply because I never want us back in league 1.

However in the main I'm just enjoying it safe in the knowledge that this manager is able to get the players to more-or-less die for the club

[Alex_BCFC]

I'm not sure what you expected but when you consider their striker was worth 8.8m and ours was worth 1m it isn't really suprising we lost is it?! We did really well 2nd half and the club is going forward under GJ- that is a lot better than being stuck in the League 1 playoff zone...

[rayer]

The big test will be when GJ leaves, whether poached from another club for doing well, or being hounded out for bad results. The clubs recent success is down to this man. As for the current board, the jury is out.

[Spud55]

That is exactly my point, there is no point in playing in a league if you don't try and win it but the difference in class was obvious, so do we either plan to become a prem club or our aspirations such that we want to remain a decent championship side.

This is not a criticism of anyone I am delighted at our start, all I am saying is what is the ambition of the the Board.?

Well of course there was a chasm in class, Bianchi (who is their first choice striker by the way) is worth more than most of our team put together, that team they put out tonight if we were to buy all of it would cost at least 40-50 million quid, so how can we expect to compete with that?

Are you saying that you want us to go out and buy someone like Bianchi ? who would never come here anyway, we have to live within our means, and status, meaning we can't attract top class players.

I can't honestly see how you can question our ambition because we were outclassed by probably the biggest club outside the top 4 of english Football.

[Guest DanC]

From where we are now - we survive in the CCC.From there we try and improve by bringing in better quality players. It has to remembered that City are now in the process of travelling a very steep learning curve. Undefeated in three games is a good start but without being disrespectfull to QPR,B'pool and Scunny its hardly the most difficult start considering the teams that are in this division.

The next three months will give us a far more accurate picture of what this league is all about with the likes of WBA, both Sheffield clubs, Stoke, S'pton, Wolves, Charlton, Ipswhich and Leicester all to come.

If City are in the top half at the start of December then I for one will be very happy.

With City I always find the games against the likes of Scunny, Blackpool, QPR are more trickier than when we play the big boys as we always seem to raise our game against the big boys. Our downfall in recent seasons has been down to the inability to beat the teams that we should really be beating.

I am very happy to have come away from 3 tough fixtures with 5 points considering that City are traditionally poor starters and we have some key players like Noble and McCombe out injured.

Yes surviving is the main priority but I sense that Gj and the players secretly feel they can not only survive but make the top 10 and even the play offs.

There is no reason I see why we can't go into every game hoping to take away the 3 points. There is no need to be scared of clubs like Charlton, West Brom etc. Embrace it I say. I would also imagine that the bigger clubs in this division will be more concerned about us when we play them than we will be about them as they know what we are capable of when we put are minds to it.

My hopes for the season is to see a City side that will fight for every lost cause, A team that has a never say die attitude. A team that is willing to fight for the badge. And a team that will provide many memorable exciting moments.

I don't think we will go down but if we do then I want to see all of them things from the team in the process. I think we will finish mid table and if our key players hit top form then maybe we could be the surprise package this season that ends up in the play offs. All the ingredients are in place.

I also think we are 3-4 signings away from becoming a side that could challenge for the play offs each season (that's if none of our key plays leave)

Survival is the main objective at the moment but also I would rather be aiming higher than just hoping to avoid relegation. Glass half full sort of thing.

[havanatopia]

I for one are getting a little fed up with getting patronising comments about how we play decent football and are plucky losers.

The reality of last night we were comprehensively out played for long periods by their reserves playing neat attractive football.

Fair play to all involved for the 2nd half performance but it should not detract from the alarming chasm in class.

The point I am trying to make is where exactly should BCFC aim to be, is our lot in life to be a mid table Championship side

with the odd cup run or are we looking to the next stage.

In order to achieve this you don't have to be a brain surgeon to realise a great deal of money is required and I don't see SL chucking his fortune at us. (can't say I blame him)

So where exactly do we go from here ?

we carry on but you can get off at the next junction.

[Andy Horsman]

There was nothing whatsoever alarming about last night.

There was a gulf in class because the "reserves" we faced last night cost Man City £15-£20m to assemble.

I fail to see how losing narrowly in the league cup to a side a division above with 10 times the money to spend and probably 10 times the wage bill as well can be construed as not trying to win the Championship.

Let's have a faint touch of reality here. The board have invested heavily in the summer and we should finish mid table in our FIRST SEASON back in the Championship. That doesn't mean we won't try to kick on from there.

You're about 3 years premature in your concerns I think.

I agree. The reality is that the Man. City reserve side we faced were better than the three Championship sides we have faced so far this season, and if that was the level we were faced with for 46 games, I would be concerned. However we have made a solid start built on our strengths and will be comfortable at this level.Te time to 'kick on' is when we are established in this division and have consolidated.

I do however agree that despite Mr Lansdown's not inconsiderable investment, it would take serious backing and a major transformation for City to gatecrash the Premiership gravy train.

[Andy Horsman]

don't get fed up with patronising comments , stay away if the team upsets you that much.

City have done really well since GJ took over and you should be proud of what the club has achieved.

Of course there is a difference in class, one of the Man City players cost more than City's entire squad.

City are building, it will be slow but be patient. We have a good alround squad that can cope with injuries.

They have good youngsters coming through and it reminds me of the young squad Alan Dicks put together.

But then they made the mistake of dismissing the Youth policy to concenntrate on staying in the first division.

AJ will not let that happen he is too good a manager

Be proud if not the choice is simple stay away.

How far away, Australia?! Unbelieveable how sanctimonious some of our far flung posters are on this forum.

I am not doubting your support, but it's a bit rich when fans in the Antipodes, Asia etc are critical of posters expressing opinions based on what they are watching week in week out,putting their cash directly into the club's coffers, braving all weathers and performances, and then being condescendingly told to stay away by a fan thousands of miles away if they express their views!!

Freedom of speech and the right to express an opinion are still vaguely acceptable in modern Britain, so live and let live.

[x3widRacin]

In order to achieve this you don't have to be a brain surgeon to realise a great deal of money is required and I don't see SL chucking his fortune at us. (can't say I blame him)

I don't see him stinging on us either. He's said in the past that he will put money into the club as we progress up the league and he has done just that, there are not a lot of clubs outside the top flight that have spent over a million pounds this off-season that i know of but we've spent a good bit more than that depending on the accuracy of the reported fees.