Manager Steve Cotterill stands by attacking style of play. By a_Stockhausen BRISTOL City manager Steve Cotterill insists he will stand by the style of play that earned his team promotion last season. The Robins swept to a League One title and Johnstone's Paint Trophy double playing an expansive brand of attacking football which yielded a remarkable tally of 117 goals and 37 wins in 58 matches in all competitions over the course of what was, arguably, the club's most successful campaign in a generation. But life in the Championship has proved altogether more demanding with City, still a work in progress, yet to register their first win. Beaten by Sheffield Wednesday and Brentford in the Championship and dumped out of the Capital One Cup by League Two Luton Town, the Robins were again staring down the barrel of defeat when trailing Leeds United 2-0 at Ashton Gate in midweek. Although Cotterill's team drew on their renowned team spirit and never-say-die attitude to score twice in the dying moments and salvage a 2-2 draw and, with it, some much-needed encouragement, few outside of BS3 will feel sanguine regarding City's prospects against title favourites Middlesbrough at the Riverside tomorrow. At the heart of the problem is a tendency to be exploited by teams that drop deep, invite the Robins to attack in numbers, and then exploit them with swift counter-attacks. Wednesday, Brentford, Luton and Leeds have all benefited from such an approach when playing City this season. Middlesbrough coach Aitor Karanka is sure to have taken note. Leeds manager Uwe Rosler complimented City's "exciting" style of play after Wednesday's game at Ashton Gate, but he was also able to exploit the weaknesses that are inherent in such a system. The immediate challenge for City is to eradicate the costly mistakes and try to contain a Middlesbrough side that boasts Premier League quality in the final third of the pitch. Yet, Cotterill is refusing to countenance a more cautious approach, insisting his team is not about to adopt a counter-attacking style. He said: "We didn't do that last season and we won't do it this season. There is no point in us doing that. "I would rather be the new club in the division and going forward than playing counter-attacking football. "We scored many times on the counter-attack last season when teams had done us over and pinned us back, but that is not how we are set up to play. "Changing is not an option for us. The thing that has made us successful is playing good football and that is the way we are set up to play. "We're not, all of a sudden, going to get over on one side of the pitch, whack it long and fight for second balls. That is not our way. We now have an identity to us and people know how Bristol City play. I spoke to the Brentford manager and coaching staff (on Saturday) and they commented on how my team played good football." Although City have endured a turbulent summer, difficulties in the transfer market and injuries to key players combining to disrupt the manager's plans, Cotterill remains confident results will improve as his players adapt to life on the Championship. Indeed, the Robins have demonstrated sufficient attacking flair in back-to-back home games against Brentford and Leeds to suggest they are more than capable of scoring goals at this level. They now require a quick return to the clean sheets that provided the cornerstone of last season's promotion-winning campaign. Cotterill said: "Irrespective of what goes on in the first ten to 12 games, our players will grow into the Championship and become better. "That is not to say everything will be rosy in the garden and I think it will probably be one of those seasons in which we are very much up and down and not quite sure where we are at certain moments. The aim will be to make sure we don't have as many downs as we have ups." http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTO...erill-stands/story-27646303-detail/story.html
I think we're already fairly close to a successful system, so provided we can tweak things enough to improve our defence then yes, I think overhauling our approach entirely would be a mistake. If we want to excel then we need to do things different from the norm, rather than simply follow the status quo. I may be in the minority, but I'd sooner we really went for it (i.e. push for Premiership football one day) and fail, rather than be safe and conservative and wind up mid-table year after year after year. As disappointing as relegation was a few years back, last season was the most enjoyable in years and I believe the good times will continue if we keep the faith.
SC is right to stick to his guns, at least for the moment. We are capable of scoring goals at this level we just need to shore up the midfield and defence. I'm glad we're not spending silly money on Gray and Gayle, I would rather we spent it on a good, proven, championship midfielder and central defender. We need some experience there at the moment.
Hes right to stick to it as it brings an exciting style with it that you want as a football fan. Most goals have come from errors than us being exploited. Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
3-5-2, 4-4-2 or whatever system isn't City's problem. It's individual mistakes that are costing us. Sheffield Wed : Williams and Fielding. Brentford : Freeman and then Williams twice. Leeds : Fredericks lost the ball 60 yards from our goal and then Hamer/Ref ? No player is perfect and mistakes will happen whatever system is used. Somehow we have to lessen our mistakes, for me a good start would be to sign a left sided defender.
Agree pack is very much the weak link in the middle,but who do we have to change it. Bobby Reid not strong enough. I would seriously bring wade out of retirement until someone is brought in.
I would like to see Bobby given a run of a few games. Went to Southampton when we lost 2-0 or 3-0 in the cup and saw him give a very strong Southampton team the run around. Whether he is strong enough is yet to be proven. However we should have signed 2 or 3 quality midfield players by now and I find it difficult to understand why we have failed in our recruitment in this area and others.
I thought Bobby Reid looked good when he came on against Leeds, put himself about. Beginning of last season, some were not impressed in Joe Bryan and now look at him.
From the games/highlights I have seen so far this season of both teams, I would suggest we need to change for the Boro game or we stand a very high chance of being blown away, Boro have looked very fast and sharp on the attack.
Wade Elliot would be nowhere near match fit, so it's not a viable option. But he added something at we need to caters with a new signing to replace him.
