'Surprising to see balls lumped forwards' - Bristol City rated from the Aston Villa end We asked our colleagues from the Midlands what they thought of the Robins. It wasn't the best match in the end on Friday night but at least the Robins were able to avoid three defeats in a row, Bristol City will need to improve their home form and dispatch teams such as Aston Villa if they're to make the top six this season but there's still time this campaign for the side from Ashton Gate to achieve their ambitions. Following the 1-1 result we asked our colleagues who cover Aston Villa what they thought of the Robins, their fans and the style of the team. Below is the assessment of Aston Villa reporter Gregg Evans. Which Bristol City player impressed you most - and why? Baker and Webster defended well all game and kept both Kodjia and Abraham quiet. Long balls were easily headed clear and whenever Kodjia ran at the defence - and it wasn’t very often - both centre-halves did well to deal with the danger. And who was the least impressive - and why? Matty Taylor struggled to make an impact and made Jedinak look like a commanding centre-half. He also went through Grealish with a challenge that could have resulted in a red card on another day. How would you describe Bristol City's style of play? Pretty direct. It was quite surprising to see the Robins lumping long balls forward, especially in the first-half. That type of direct play is what helps Jedinak flourish because of his aerial dominance. Tuanzebe has been caught out a few times at the back post this season so I could understand the attempts to get deep crosses into the box. But I expected more football on the ground from the hosts. What did you think of the Bristol fans? Impressive. They get behind their side, make plenty of noise and are creative with their chants. They don’t like Kodjia much, do they!? With the stadium upgrade, modern facilities inside the stadium and a large fan base, the setup is there to progress into the top flight. What do you think the rest of the season has in store for Bristol City? I actually predicted they would get relegated this season after losing key players Reid and Flint over the summer. I didn’t see anything yesterday to suggest they will struggle to stay in the division but there’s little chance of a promotion push, either. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport.../surprising-see-balls-lumped-forwards-2060208
Long ball and direct football style of play,no worries about relegation but little chance of promotion, Matt Taylor a poor player, well that's that then.
Don’t tell RR I thought it looked more like head tennis than long balls, which was as he said comfortable for Jedinak.
I can't figure out why some still seem to rate Matty Taylor. He's just not got the quality to play at this level. Get AW and FD in and give them chance to build up a rapport. Eisa will be back soon and I'd rather give him a chance to show what he can do. We already know Taylor isn't up to it. Move on LJ.
Wow very harsh,worked his socks off,very cleaver football player.He gets right in defenders faces and they don’t like it.
He does need to score more John , I do believe he works hard , he influences games and creates space for others , but his first touch at times is poor , and his goals per game ratio is very poor. If he doesn’t improve his scoring record I can see the argument to give Eisa his chance once he returns to fitness . I do think if he could score a couple his all round game would improve with the confidence it would bring. He’s proved coming up through the levels that he can score goals, but he’s yet to do that at championship level.
Their views based on one game means nothing imo, but good to have them nonetheless.. As for Matty Taylor, I do think he try’s, but think he’’s a bit of a fringe player, not first on the team sheet, needs better players around him to up his game..not commanding enough and needs more training on the timing of his first touch.. I wasn’t there but imagine LJ just needed to stop the rot, especially after the last result against them...
Agree with a lot of this,MT favourite position is sat behind two front guys.I wonder if LJ could set that up. Most of his goals at Rovers came from there I do believe.
The longer time goes on the more this looks like a poor result. Villa are ****e - maybe they shouldn’t be with the individuals they have - but they are - and they were there for the taking last Friday but we blew it. If we went ‘long ball’ too then we deserve to struggle - we have never been good at playing like that. 2 points dropped I now think.
I was there and have to say I was happy with a point. I do believe had we’d done better against Wigan it may have been a different story, but as it was it was important we didn’t lose , so went into the game slightly on the back foot .
