Bristol City press conference live: Nigel Pearson on injuries, team news and Coventry City test
Updates from Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson's press conference as he discusses the fallout from the Birmingham City defeat, selection decisions and the Championship clash at Coventry City
Nigel Pearson on Matty James
We'll have to make a decision on him tomorrow.
Nathan Baker is not available for this weekend
On top of that, Nathan Baker won't be available.
Apart from that, as we were.
I said a couple of weeks ago I didn't expect him to be back for these games. When players suffer such heavy knocks, it's important to make sure they are able to get right ... having experienced plenty myself.
Pearson on Joe Williams
We know exactly where he is. He missed all of last season with a soft tissue injury and not being in good enough a condition.
He's already been out twice this season. I understand why he's impatient but we will make the decision that's best for him.
Pearson on the Birmingham performance
In isolation the other night, we just didn't deal with the threat we knew they had.
In terms of managing the ball we were much better than we had been. It's proved we're not a possession team, because I think we had 62% possession and got beat 3-0. We're at our best when we're counter-attacking.
Speaking to their staff afterwards, they're decided to go direct to Troy Deeney and it's paying dividends for them.
Pearson on Coventry
Just on form alone, we have to be mindful of that because they've had a really good start to the season.
And they play decent football too. They have forwards who work exceptionally hard and they're a very fit side, so it'll be a tough game .... but so what?
I keep saying it, but I'm looking at what we do. If I compare us the other night and what we're capable of, not anywhere near our best in terms of what we can achieve in games. That's what I'm looking for.
Pearson on James' importance
It would have been relatively obvious when he went off (his importance) as there was no control.
For a person who is highly regard, respected within the game and amongst his peers, I never hear anyone shouting from the rooftops about his performance which really does surprise me.
Because it's pretty obvious to me he's among the most influential players we've got. He's the best midfield coach we've got at the club!
Pearson on Bakinson
Tyreeq's a really good passer of the ball but what he's not always had is the ability to play at the pace we need to.
But I thought he tried really hard the other night to do what we're asking him to do and also managed the ball exceptionally well.
He was one of our more positive performances.
Do City have the players to cover for James control in midfield?
We'll see what the performance is like if he doesn't make it. That's something you can ask retrospectively, if that is the case, rather than pre-empt it because the young players that we have are very capable players.
I mentioned the other night, one of our biggest problems is consistency and that's something you can't expect, realistically, from young players week-in, week-out.
Pearson on (a lack of) consistency
Consistency remains our Achilles heel at the moment, in terms of being able to, if they're not good performances, they are still performances that merit us getting something out of the game.
That very statement says something about experience and that is one of the main reasons why, in the summer, it was important to get good experienced players in.
Which we did but unfortunately Kingy is injured at the minute and Matty has got this knock on his foot, which has been problematic for him over the last two games.
Pearson on three at the back
It's not something I would prefer but out of necessity and for the balance of the players we have available, sometimes it's about going that way.
People like to pigeon-hole everybody by saying they like to play a certain way. I would rather have a settled side that's winning but sometimes you have to make changes because of opponents.
It's not my preferred style, I like us to get into a rhythm but we've not really found that and we've had a few players out of form which doesn't help.
But then sometimes players have to play their way out of bad form, that's just where we are.
Pearson on finding the right solution
When you don't win games or you don't play well, it's, 'well, why isn't he playing?' it's just like, let's swap one for another.
The reality is the dynamic about how a football club is run is how the dynamics of the squad are; I've already talking about the dynamics in terms of what the midfield looks like, when we don't have experience.
So it's not just about taking someone out and slotting someone else in.
It's complex because it's trying to strike a balance of having enough options to try and create in a game, but unfortunately we haven't been resilient enough as a team at times.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-press-conference-live-6159593
Updates from Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson's press conference as he discusses the fallout from the Birmingham City defeat, selection decisions and the Championship clash at Coventry City
Nigel Pearson on Matty James
We'll have to make a decision on him tomorrow.
Nathan Baker is not available for this weekend
On top of that, Nathan Baker won't be available.
Apart from that, as we were.
I said a couple of weeks ago I didn't expect him to be back for these games. When players suffer such heavy knocks, it's important to make sure they are able to get right ... having experienced plenty myself.
Pearson on Joe Williams
We know exactly where he is. He missed all of last season with a soft tissue injury and not being in good enough a condition.
He's already been out twice this season. I understand why he's impatient but we will make the decision that's best for him.
Pearson on the Birmingham performance
In isolation the other night, we just didn't deal with the threat we knew they had.
In terms of managing the ball we were much better than we had been. It's proved we're not a possession team, because I think we had 62% possession and got beat 3-0. We're at our best when we're counter-attacking.
Speaking to their staff afterwards, they're decided to go direct to Troy Deeney and it's paying dividends for them.
Pearson on Coventry
Just on form alone, we have to be mindful of that because they've had a really good start to the season.
And they play decent football too. They have forwards who work exceptionally hard and they're a very fit side, so it'll be a tough game .... but so what?
I keep saying it, but I'm looking at what we do. If I compare us the other night and what we're capable of, not anywhere near our best in terms of what we can achieve in games. That's what I'm looking for.
Pearson on James' importance
It would have been relatively obvious when he went off (his importance) as there was no control.
For a person who is highly regard, respected within the game and amongst his peers, I never hear anyone shouting from the rooftops about his performance which really does surprise me.
Because it's pretty obvious to me he's among the most influential players we've got. He's the best midfield coach we've got at the club!
Pearson on Bakinson
Tyreeq's a really good passer of the ball but what he's not always had is the ability to play at the pace we need to.
But I thought he tried really hard the other night to do what we're asking him to do and also managed the ball exceptionally well.
He was one of our more positive performances.
Do City have the players to cover for James control in midfield?
We'll see what the performance is like if he doesn't make it. That's something you can ask retrospectively, if that is the case, rather than pre-empt it because the young players that we have are very capable players.
I mentioned the other night, one of our biggest problems is consistency and that's something you can't expect, realistically, from young players week-in, week-out.
Pearson on (a lack of) consistency
Consistency remains our Achilles heel at the moment, in terms of being able to, if they're not good performances, they are still performances that merit us getting something out of the game.
That very statement says something about experience and that is one of the main reasons why, in the summer, it was important to get good experienced players in.
Which we did but unfortunately Kingy is injured at the minute and Matty has got this knock on his foot, which has been problematic for him over the last two games.
Pearson on three at the back
It's not something I would prefer but out of necessity and for the balance of the players we have available, sometimes it's about going that way.
People like to pigeon-hole everybody by saying they like to play a certain way. I would rather have a settled side that's winning but sometimes you have to make changes because of opponents.
It's not my preferred style, I like us to get into a rhythm but we've not really found that and we've had a few players out of form which doesn't help.
But then sometimes players have to play their way out of bad form, that's just where we are.
Pearson on finding the right solution
When you don't win games or you don't play well, it's, 'well, why isn't he playing?' it's just like, let's swap one for another.
The reality is the dynamic about how a football club is run is how the dynamics of the squad are; I've already talking about the dynamics in terms of what the midfield looks like, when we don't have experience.
So it's not just about taking someone out and slotting someone else in.
It's complex because it's trying to strike a balance of having enough options to try and create in a game, but unfortunately we haven't been resilient enough as a team at times.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-press-conference-live-6159593
