I am really pondering today, I have looked back on results we have had after a cracking start to our season and where we stand now. After a very active Summer transfer window in which LJ signed 14 new players, various ages and levels of quality admitted, he concluded a total of 33 deals for players either way, we all thought brilliant compared to last year, management wise we have had big changes in our coaching and acadamy staff, according to LJ that has increased our quality and performance at all levels, they are all in tune with his phylosophy and are all singing from the same hymn sheet. We started off with a blast, top goal scorer in the league with Tammy, reaching a top 6 position and everything in the garden was rosy, then the cliches started, next came criticising players in public, then injury problems, players not achieving levels of fitness or match performances. All of this has culminated in us dropping to 14th in the league from 6th prior to todays match results, we have in our last 10 games - Lost 7 - Drawn 1 - Won 2 - GF 9 and GA 14 ( These figures include 1 cup game against Hull) As illustrated below our current form is in a shabby state, 21st in the last 6 games and 20th in the last 10, in other words we continue to get worse. This is not a critique of LJ it's just pointing out our current difficult state and demonstrates we are not as healthy as certain individuals keep saying and action needs to be taken to steady and improve our ship, otherwise we are in for a bad 2nd half to our season. We have a great stadium and sporting facilites, much improved coaching and training , a loyal and bountiful owner who is prepared to continue to back us financially, our support base is way up and faithful, we are told the quality of our players is way up, so the only thing we need is success on the field of play then we will all be happy. Form Table Last 6 matches (total) GP W D L GF GA GD Pts 2.5+ 1 Derby County 6 5 0 1 10 3 +7 15 33% 2 Reading 6 5 0 1 12 7 +5 15 83% 3 Brighton & Hove 6 4 2 0 12 2 +10 14 33% 4 Newcastle Utd 6 4 0 2 11 5 +6 12 67% 5 Leeds Utd 6 4 0 2 9 7 +2 12 33% 6 Fulham 6 3 2 1 18 7 +11 11 67% 7 Aston Villa 6 3 2 1 8 6 +2 11 33% 8 Nottm Forest 6 3 1 2 11 8 +3 10 50% 9 Barnsley 6 2 3 1 9 8 +1 9 67% 10 Preston 6 2 2 2 9 8 +1 8 67% 11 Blackburn 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 8 50% 12 Ipswich Town 6 2 2 2 8 8 0 8 50% 13 Birmingham City 6 2 2 2 5 10 -5 8 50% 14 Sheffield Wed 6 2 1 3 7 8 -1 7 50% 15 Wigan Athletic 6 2 1 3 3 6 -3 7 33% 16 Wolverhampton 6 1 3 2 9 11 -2 6 50% 17 Brentford 6 2 0 4 7 13 -6 6 67% 18 Cardiff City 6 1 2 3 6 9 -3 5 50% 19 Burton Albion 6 1 2 3 4 9 -5 5 50% 20 Huddersfield 6 1 2 3 7 13 -6 5 67% 21 Bristol City 6 1 1 4 6 9 -3 4 50% 22 Rotherham 6 1 1 4 6 12 -6 4 83% 23 QP Rangers 6 1 1 4 4 10 -6 4 50% 24 Norwich City 6 1 0 5 9 13 -4 3 83% Form Table Last 10 matches (total) GP W D L GF GA GD Pts 2.5+ 1 Newcastle Utd 10 8 0 2 20 6 +14 24 60% 2 Brighton & Hove 10 7 3 0 18 5 +13 24 40% 3 Derby County 10 7 2 1 14 4 +10 23 20% 4 Reading 10 6 2 2 16 11 +5 20 60% 5 Leeds Utd 10 6 1 3 13 10 +3 19 30% 6 Preston 10 5 3 2 17 11 +6 18 60% 7 Aston Villa 10 5 3 2 12 10 +2 18 30% 8 Fulham 10 4 3 3 25 14 +11 15 70% 9 Nottm Forest 10 4 2 4 17 14 +3 14 60% 10 Sheffield Wed 10 4 2 4 11 11 0 14 40% 11 Birmingham City 10 4 2 4 11 17 -6 14 50% 12 Blackburn 10 3 3 4 11 12 -1 12 40% 13 Barnsley 10 3 3 4 14 16 -2 12 60% 14 Ipswich Town 10 3 3 4 10 12 -2 12 40% 15 Cardiff City 10 3 3 4 11 14 -3 12 50% 16 Burton Albion 10 3 3 4 8 11 -3 12 30% 17 QP Rangers 10 3 2 5 8 13 -5 11 40% 18 Huddersfield 10 3 2 5 10 17 -7 11 50% 19 Norwich City 10 3 1 6 16 18 -2 10 80% 20 Bristol City 10 3 1 6 10 13 -3 10 50% 21 Wigan Athletic 10 2 4 4 4 8 -4 10 20% 22 Brentford 10 2 2 6 8 18 -10 8 50% 23 Wolverhampton 10 1 4 5 11 16 -5 7 40% 24 Rotherham 10 1 1 8 9 21 -12 4 70% http://www.soccerstats.com/formtable.asp?league=england2
It was never gonna be a quick fix Wiz. Been saying it for months. When you see highlights from other games, and from the match yesterday we look like rank amateurs at times, But we NOW need a new keeper or to replace Fielding with O'Donnell between the sticks. The bloke is a bloody liability.
Positives: a vast improvement on last year. We are still only 5 points from the playoffs with a better goal difference than Leeds in 6th place. We are also 7 points from the drop zone, again with a superior goal difference, so we are closer to promotion than relegation. Negatives: don't seem to have clicked recently and despite having 2 of the championships top strikers in Tomlin and Tammy we are still struggling of late. Fielding committed a howler on Saturday which will smash his confidence again - let's not forget he has not done badly of late with a couple of penalty saves but this will only make things worse - and there isn't really anyone to step in. I hope they turn it around by Saturday - my first visit to AG this season !!!!
I wouldn't say we are quite at the headless chicken stage yet, but now it is time for LJ to show us that he IS the real deal and not just a poser. I believe he will turn it around quite quickly and get us back up into a powerful position, but buying a goal scorer is key. Our season rests on a shopping expedition Re Fielding, he had a bad day at the office. Show me someone who never has...
After last season I knew this season would be mixed. I knew we'd win a few games in a row and lose a few in a row. We have a young manager, a young team and a young project. This will take time. Those expecting instant success need to have a reality check and buy into what is being done here. For once we have a structure in place that will take a while to get where we want. Stop ****ing moaning and criticising every time something goes wrong. This season is already a million miles better than last. Was about this time last year when it looked as though league 1 was back on the cards. Now it feels like we're closer to the premier league than we ever have been.
Not moaning, not groaning, no critique of LJ, just presenting the evidence of our failure in our mid season results and I offered these stats to back up concerns of a lot of people - last 10 games - Lost 7 - Drawn 1 - Won 2 - GF 9 and GA 14. The facts demonstrate LJ has so far failed and had better pull his finger out and prove that Steve Lansdown faith in him is justified, personally I like the bloke and want him to succseed but Bristol City FC is all that matters to me, I'll reserve my judgement.
The facts of life, like the truth, sometimes hurt and wizered's comments are just pointing out the hard facts of life at Ashton Gate. I am truly starting to question what the hell SL was doing by extending the contract of a yet to be proved manager when the overall effect of his reign has yet to be determined. I predict that tears will fall soon and the same old lame excuses will rise to the surface and if you think I'm a little ticked off then you are correct because here we go again after what I thought was an off season of promise that has fallen slightly flat.
We started off ok, but have lost to the Sheff Weds, Readings , Huddersfield and Birminghams of this division- Its those sort of games that you need to win if you want to go up. You go up by being better than your peers. Sadly, we are not at present and anyone who thought we were going up, whilst admiring their loyalty, must be seen as very ambitious at best. Mid table is achieving for us in my opinion
"There’s a lot of work to be done; we’re just at the start of what we’re trying to build." Mark Ashton While I hate to tow the party line, there is nothing to be gained from ignoring a long-term plan
This. We tried short-term fixes and it ruined us. It's going to be slow but it at least feels like we're moving in the right direction.
I think that all of our expectations were unreasonably raised after the fast start to the season and now the reality is setting in that we're really a mid table team...and that's a huge improvement over past years. What bothers me is that in the 3 games that I have seen on the TV over here this season (Cardiff away, Brighton at home and Huddersfield away), we have looked absolutely shocking. We couldn't string any simple passes together on Saturday. We constantly either gave the ball away or hit it long and hopeful. Same lack of passing against Cardiff & Brighton. Even O'Neil when he came on was just giving it away. We truly deserved nothing from the game. The lad Mooy looked head and shoulder above any of our boys. Compare what he did vs. Pack. Fielding majorly F@cked up for the goal and was lucky to be on the pitch. Why on earth did he not clear with his feet from the earlier back pass? He looked like a complete idiot trying to handle outside his area. It's not all doom and gloom but we need to cut out the stupid mistakes ASAP or it's a downward spiral.
We still seem to be saying the same things year after year and very little changes and now I'm really ticked off that you get to watch the games in the Excited States. Nice to see you on the site Tampa because I must have missed your presence if you were.
