Full credit to SC for keeping city in this division,along with one special talent Jet. Without these two we would have been dead and buried to league 4. Next season this league is going to be weaker than the current season,and yes this is a poor league. Nothing outside the top two would be satisfactory,Wolves showed us how to do it this year,city need to do what Wolves have done this year. SC im sure will be fully aware of expectations in a poor league next sesson,and yes he has won over many sceptics including me. Nothing is taken for granted and there will be many battles to win,but with a few additions,which i am sure he has lined up should see us have a season where promotion is a must. I cannot believe how poor this squad has been this season, it has been a disgrace. Next season the players that get the red shirt owe the fans big time.
We need another win for mathematical safety. Play Wynter, Reid, Burns, Bryan and more fringe players to get them match experience.
Football is about momentum - yes of course play one or two fringe players (the ones he thinks may be part of his long term plans), but let's keep this run going. Often good end of season form carries into the next season (as does bad) The back to back Easter games gives him an opportunity to rotate a bit anyway - Burns deserves to start a home game
RRobin, this is not a one man team, all the other players contributed to us hopefully staying in this division, i agree SC has done a sterling job, (you didn't always think so) he will now an idea who he can get rid of, and what we need to push on next season, so well done SC, and best of luck for next season.
Poor Sam Baldock, playing with his heart on his sleeve doesn't even get a mention in RR statement. If we started the season with 11 committed players like Sam we would all be dreaming of a different outcome this season.
SC says he will probably give Fielding and Moore two games each in remaining matches. Why I ask myself? At present Moore is only on loan and thus Fielding is our number one keeper. Is SC planning to sign Moore permanently? Thus Parrish will be leaving? Where would that leave Richards?
I am sure that SC is targeting promotion next season. But so many factors can interfere with our ambitions that to say it is "a Must" is leaving no room for manoeuvre. So long as we perform like a proper team throughout the season, we should be there or thereabouts!
AD fully appreciate where your coming from, but the first half of the season it was only Jet that pulled it out of the bag.Without his goals we would have been through the trap door long ago.
Sam started playing better the second half of the season,First half he needed five chances to hit the net.very poor early in the season.
You could also say without Sam Baldocks goals we would be through the trap door, to be fair the revival started when SC came, and as with any team, you have your stand out players, ie Gerrard & Suarez for Liverpool, but they wouldn't be where they are without the rest of the squad, ie team game.
For me, the only question isâ¦how many are we going to win the thing by. We need to start next term with a bang, and then keep going and not let up. The return of Kelly, a new pair, one in defence and one in attack (please please give him some proper money to spend Steve), the strengthening of our spine, and the doctrine of pace and positivity which SC has bought to Ashton Gate should see us return to the Championship in good conditionâ¦and just in time for our new stadium (well, our old new one if you know what I mean)
Agree we need to return no better chance than next year,having said that i had us and wolves to return this year
Play Wynter, Bryan, Reid, Burns and more for a full 90 minutes, play Baldock so he can win the golden boot, reintroduce Kelly and Pearson, play attacking football and be entertaining for the fans. Don't be afraid to experiment.
Lets not get carried away chaps........... If we can continue to finish this season strongly, keep our best players for next season, and have a good start for once, then who know what we can achieve. It will be the same next season. 4 or 6 half decent teams and the rest will beat each other week in week out and it will be tight at the very bottom. Although it's improved of late, our home form has once again been poor this season which is one of the reasons why we've struggled. Just 6 home wins out of 21 games at the Gate is not good enough by a long long way. For promotion you need to be winning 15 or more home games and 12 or more away from home, with a sprinkling of draws. I'm sure SC knows that this is a high priority if we're to really challenge.
I always said this year would be the start of the rebuild and it WON'T be a quick fix, I can sense that if we don't get into a top two by September some will be hounding SC out. We need to keep hold of a few players and I doubt very much we will keep hold of Baldock. He played with his heart on his sleeve and showed commitment. He must even be reading this site as he saw RR rubbish him that half time only to go on and score twice . If he does go he will be one of the ones that I shall remember for his attitude and commitment to us. I think we will get some new additions but the building process will carry on. To say it's a weaker league when possibly it's only Wolves to leave it who are a big club. The likes of Coventry, Sheff U and PNE all capable of causing upsets next year could still be here along with Peterborough. Barnsley coming down will be the first time in 20 years I think that they have dipped into this league, could also be a threat. Then you always get the unlikely team that no one picks to storm the league for a while Orient this year. I think we can match these on their day, but we will get beaten by crap and beat the stronger ones so let's not think we will steamroll the league and enjoy it. I do feel more confident with SC than I did with O'Driscoll though.
'I do feel more confident with SC than I did with O'Driscoll though' - So do I. Not that I think Cottrerill's any good,it's more I think how useless SOD was. Also agree that it will be difficult to hold on to Baldock - and JET for that matter. Without their goals next season it will be more difficult than some on here think. And unless Cotterill gives up his idiotic tinkering, we'll only bump along next season.
My assumption that we will win the division next season is based upon our capacity to hold on to our best players. That comes down to a) the desire of those players to finish the job in BS3 and take us there b) SL's desire to fork out just a bit more and hoist us onto firmer ground That said, I don't (and never have) envisage next season as being easy. But more to the point, SC (who you hate so much) has given us belief and fight for the first time in four years of meandering downwards, and its that I feel will do the job. Because you add his organisation (ok imperfect but at least present) and stability, and a better quality of players generally than you find in the division, and it all says 'going up' At least I can dream
I'm with you BRR even though I am the biggest pessimist where City are concerned. SC has breathed new life into a dead organisation and has given me some hope that I will again enjoy my visits to Ashton Gate, even if the result is not always in our favour. I can accept defeat so long as the effort is there.
'SC (who you hate so much)' Rickster, don't get emotional. Nothing to do with liking or disliking (better than hate). The bloke is simple, end of. I laugh at his interviews as though he's just invented the wheel. He's another like Stuart Pearce. Simple.
