A seemingly good news week and by that I mean we finally got some news after a bleak summer on the information front. From reading between the lines of the comments made about us signing some new players and bringing some others under our blanket I wonder if we have put together most of the parts to enable us, the supporters, to finally enjoy a heartache free season. We don't necessarily have to trumpet from the rooftops but rather just go about our business in a professional way and leave it to the boss to join up the dots when it comes time to start the new campaign. SC joined us at a very critical part of last season and despite being criticized by many on this site, including myself, he managed to steer us to relative safety and let's hope that his efforts on our behalf bear fruit next season. Perhaps he has a few more moves up his sleeve and from what I read from him recently he still has some areas he needs to fill so we await news on those fronts. All in all I see a steadying of the god ship Bristol City and would be interested to hear your comments on the activity so far, and enjoy what's left of your summer.
I think that the lack of apparent activity early on was not indicative of what was going on behind the scenes. So far so good.
Only time will tell if we have recruited the quality needed to continue rebuilding the squad. Elliott proved last season to be a very good all round midfielder at this level. Whether 35 year old legs will last, we'll wait and see. Freeman stood out in a poor Stevenage team and we appear to have a high quality player for Div 3. Little I don't know too much about but he has a good reputation. But as we have seen with El Abd, however diligent the management team are, and whatever a players reputation especially with his previous teams supporters, it is not difficult to sign a complete dog! I am a half full glass fan at the moment.
The proof of the pudding will be at the end of October to see where we are in the league, and especially what our home form is going to be like. To make the top 6 you need a good dozen home wins. To make the top 2 you need 16 home wins or more plus 12 or more away wins and a sprinkling of draws here and there. It's the poor home form that has hurt us the worst over the last 3-4 seasons and that's usually a good yardstick of how good a season a team will have.
2nd week of Wimbledon looms, with the World Cup about to go knock-out, and all I can think of at the moment is Bristol City, our vanishing ground and a raft of new players. I have keenly anticipated the next season for the past couple of years, because I think it may prove to be a memorable one, and the new players fit the standard and dynamic of Cotterill's Bristol City. I see nothing to prevent a continuation of the final ten games of last season, and I expect us to spend much of next term in the top 3.
I remember reading the headlines "Pride of the west" when City got promoted up to the Championship and was able to watch 2 games during our following season on our way to the playoff final at Wembley. Everything was fine and dandy but during the following season I started to see cracks appear at Ashton Gate that gave me cause for concern and if you go back and look at some of my comments during that time my thoughts were well documented. Nothing appeared to go our way and we seemed to stumble at the slightest opportunity and the atmosphere surrounding our team turned decidedly sour and a lot of supporters got turned off by the entire sequence of non-events. The whole Ashton Vale dream faded and died an unnatural death to compound the concerns about the future of our club, and retrenching became the order of the day on all fronts. Not intending to put a damper on the upcoming season but I think we all need to think about those still recent days when optimism was a rare commodity down in BS3 and now we hope we can rise from the ashes to regain our rightful position in the overall scheme of things without thinking of where that euphoria took us the last time. Having to experience our less than graceful fall from grace hurt a lot of us no matter where we live and the level of support we are able to muster so let's hope this time we can get it right for a more sustainable future. I am relishing the upcoming season when I can hopefully hold my head up high and proudly say that I support Bristol City and hope all of you feel the same way. Bring it on!
I'll admit before I write this post that I have had a couple (ish) of glasses of vino tonight, but ............................. I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited about our signings so far Can't wait for the new season
I'm on my third glass of vinho tinto and really beginning to wish the next six weeks away so that 9th of August is tomorrow!
