Going to need a couple of Double Decker Buses Saturday against #brentfordfc Toney and Co going to have a field day.
I can't see anything other than a heavy defeat from this game. I won't waste my £10 on it. Its a long time since I was so lethargic towards our games As I said on other threads; I'm not totally blaming DH - we have a dire injury situation which has left him trying to polish t**ds, but we desperately need some decent signings from the January window to save our season - by 'save' I mean to stay clear of the drop zone.
Sorry I don't blame the injury situation-Mawson-Baker-DeSilva-Weimann first teamers only until O'Dowda got injured. The team looks so predictable when playing-DH has actually reduced our attacking threat. Williams and Walsh certainly not our saviours when they return-both need to be given game time to see what they can bring to the pitch, All I can say thank ------ the fans are away from the gate. SL and JL have made a cheap and cheerful appointment and are going to see the fanbase stay away until improvements happen. I think city just need to make sure they stay away from the trap door this season-top six SL your on the wacky baccy.
The injuries are only an impact in terms of depth, meaning DH cannot rotate the squad that much. Only DaSilva and Weimann have been first-team mainstays over the last season and a bit. All the others are squad players, you could argue Baker would be a first-team regular, but he has spent so much time injured the last 18 months it's hard to justify him as a regular for anything other than the physio room. Immediate fixes for me is a new LB/LWB, Rowe is ok to fill in here and there, and off the bench, but his limitations are crystal clear when playing regularly. The problem in the middle of the park will be difficult to assess, we don't know how well Walsh might do in that position, as he's never played there at this level before. Willams has for Wigan, so is probably the first choice alongside Nagy, if he ever gets fit... Bakinson is too laid back and careless with his passing, as is Massengo, both need to go back out on loan when Brunt, Williams and Walsh are fit. With so many midfielders on the books, injured or not, it's going to be a tough sell for DH to ask SL/MA to spend big in that area to improve, without moving at least 2, maybe 3 on, either on loan or permanently.
Not that City are big noises in the divisions but the annual getting outplayed by Brentford game shows where City are. Each season whose more likely to go up? who plays the better football? its not BCFC who spends more money.
We have been awaiting the new Bristol City for quite a few years now but until the overall philosophy changes I can't see much forward thinking coming our way. Consistently we morph in to a below average team as the season progresses and this time out doesn't look any different from any other time during the last 8-10 years. What is so wrong about the mantra of City that appears to make us so inept at addressing the issues or, more importantly, even thinking that we may have one. The support of our manager has been great when you consider the free rein handed to previous managers that has never moved us forward in such a way that we can clearly see the change. I wonder if the decisions made in regard to new potential players to enhance our progress ever sees the light of day on the desk of the manager or is the decision left to people who think they know better?
We seem to line up 4-4-2 / 3-5-2 have been checking on line ups for other teams prem/championship there seems to be a lot "winning teams" using 4-2-3-1 /3-4-1-2 / the odd other 3-4-3/4-3-3 / 2-4-3-1 With SEMENYO WELLS MARTIN are we playing 3 up front? [ 3-4- / 4-3- ?] or is it like this because we are making do with players available? I am confused with our line ups …
I agree with most of this except we DID have an almost perfect season within the past 10 years, but it was in the mickey mouse league that is league 1. Since being in the second tier we haven't ever been able to hit consistency. However, apart from the very first season we haven't been worried about relegation either. Boring, safe, upper mid-table Championship - lets hope we don't yearn for those days soon............
But it's generally not very exciting is it, or at least hasn't been over the past few seasons apart from the LC run in 2017 ? We generally start league seasons quite well, but we soon run out of steam, and we're not the only team like this. Aside from Norwich and possibly Bournemouth, and more recently Brentford, all other teams beat each other even when not expected to. Being a fairly boring, inconsistent, mid table Championship team isn't going to get new blood flocking to the Gate to support the club for future generations. I still maintain that if the owner really wanted it, we could be in the Premiership long before now and once there, I can see no reason why we couldn't or wouldn't get a full house every week and get attendances above 30,000 if the stadium was expanded further.
Brentford looked last night to be on a different level to Bristol City again. That was front football from a team that sells its best players . Recruited well excellent coaching and bang on to watch, the bastards!!
When you say aside from Norwich and possibly Bournemouth. Do you mean the same Norwich that lost to Luton 3-1 and the same Bournemouth that drew 0-0 to Luton? Our record v Brentford at London Town aint to bad, it’s us at home that they hammer us.
The Norwich that are top of the Championship, and the Bournemouth that are 4th with a game in hand, yes that's them Luton is a difficult place to go and get results, but they're not so hot away from home. It would be just like City to upset the formbook and get something at Brentford. But back on planet Earth, in our prediction league I have Brentford down for a 4-1 home win
With the garbage we have produced over the last few games I can't see us beating either team on show last night. They produced a total of 27 shots and 14 on target which probably is higher than we have done all season and it highlights the difference between those who will compete and those who can't, and that's us I'm afraid.
3 defeats coming up then! If we do lose those, it will be 3 wins in 11 games. Not exactly the progression that was the justification for sacking the previous manager! SL needs to wake up and decide if he wants the club to move forward or not, if he does, replace DH with a proper manager!
I am really starting to question some of the decisions made by the top brass and the choice of manager is the most important. Lansdown will never change his approach because after all he owns the club and answers to nobody. That means that he is in total control and will call the shots which I believe turns top people from ever wanting to come to Bristol City and that will continue ad nauseum. Same s**t every season.
Or we could have owners, like the blue few playing in a ground like previously and plying our trade floating between league one and bottom three of the championship. Why not just accept the manager is not your choice it’s the choice of the owners. We are not facing grim times like 82 or are we facing FFP issues. Gone are the times when we can buy our way out this league even Bournemouth if failed would of been hammered as they broke all the rules when they done it.
With the squad left by the previous regime and pitiful backing compared to the last HC, any manager would/will struggle. To suggest another manager would do better than Holden with the poisoned chalice handed to the poor sod - sorry it's cuckko land. The level of criticism aimed at Holden should be fired straight at Ashton and Lansdown.
