Massengo's a good omen, Martin's sore head, James puts it about - Bristol City's season so far Breaking down the great and the not so good from Bristol City's first 11 games in the Championship this season please log in to view this image Han-Noah Massengo in action for Bristol City There have been a few bumps in the road but just shy of a quarter of the way through the season and Bristol City can reflect on a job well done as they stand ninth in the Championship. There are concerns - the home form, a lack of a consistent goal threat which could become more pronounced deeper into the season and potentially a creativity issue - but there is a lot to like about this team as Nigel Pearson has, at base level, constructed a hard-working and honest squad which supporters can believe in. The four outstanding away days - Reading, Cardiff, QPR and Peterborough - have helped build the aura around his side and if the missing ingredient can be found at home, then the Robins should improve from this point on. Of course, the Championship season is a slog and confidence and optimism in October doesn't always equate to the same emotions in March - last season being the prime example - but City feel like a team moving forward, albeit with pre-season expectations remaining about the same. With table-topping Bournemouth next up, the visitors to Ashton Gate this Saturday, we've broken down some of the key numbers from the campaign so far, via FBREF and Whoscored, offering an overview into what City are as a team and, at the very least, providing a decent source of trivia. 0.6 – Goals per game at Ashton Gate compared to 1.83 away from home. City’s expected goals per game in BS3 is 1.32 and 1.12 on their travels. 4 – Per cent, City’s shot conversation rate at home compared to 17% on the road. 1.83 – Points per game City average when Han-Noah Massengo has played, the highest of any City player. George Tanner and Antoine Semenyo are second on 1.75. 2.1 – Key passes per 90 minutes (of players who have made at least five appearances) for Matty James, 23 in total, the most of any City player. Alex Scott is second on 1.3 per 90. 3 – Players have played every minute of the Championship season far: Rob Atkinson, Matty James and Dan Bentley. Andi Weimann has played all bar one minute of City’s opening 11 games. please log in to view this image Dan Bentley celebrates at full-time after the win over QPR 5 – Goals from set-pieces, joint second most in the Championship and only one behind Huddersfield in top spot. According to Whoscored, City have only scored six from open play. 7 – Times Cam Pring has been substituted from his eight starts as City’s most subbed player. Alex Scott is second on five. 10 – Different players have been credited with assists this season, with only Weimann delivering more than one. Only Fulham can beat that among all 24 Championship clubs with 11 different players. 11.3 – Shots per game by City, 11 th overall in the Championship. A marked improvement on the 7.8 they averaged last term – by far the worst in the division. The Robins average 12.6 shots at Ashton Gate and 10.2 on the road. 15 – Fouls won by Rob Atkinson, City’s most fouled player with Matty James second on 14. Cam Pring has committed the most fouls of any Robins players with 16, Chris Martin second on 14. 16 – Points after 11 matches, four fewer than at this stage in 2020/21, 2019/20, 2017/18 and 2016/17 but the same amount as in 2018/19. 16 - Yellow cards and no red cards. Only Sheffield United - 14 yellows and no reds - have a better disciplinary record. 19 – Total dribbles attempted by Han-Noah Massengo, with Cam Pring second on 18. Massengo is averaging 3.5 dribbles attempted by 90 minutes compared with 2.1 last season. 20 – Interceptions made by Rob Atkinson, the most at the club and 10 th highest in the Championship. 22 – Shots by Chris Martin, only five fewer than he took across his 26 appearances last season. Martin is averaging a shot every 43 minutes he’s on the field, compared to one every 68 minutes in 2020/21. please log in to view this image Chris Martin strikes the winner past Peterborough keeper David Cornell 29 - Attempted tackles made by Matty James, with Han-Noah Massengo and Jay Dasilva on 20. However, James has only been successful 18 times, with Massengo and Dasilva both on 15. 44.1 - Passes per 90 minutes by Joe Williams. Admittedly impacted by the fact he's only played 198 minutes but it will be interesting to see if he can maintain that number as the 24-year-old averages more than Andy King (41.7) and Matty James (39.5). 55 – Crosses attempted by Matty James, accounting for 26.6 per cent of all crosses made by the Robins. 76 – Per cent, the proportion of shots faced Dan Bentley has saved – sixth most of all Championship goalkeepers. City’s No1 also ranks fifth overall for most shots on target against with 50. Barnsley’s Bradley Collins has faced the most with 55. 176 – Aerial duels involving Chris Martin, more than any other player in the Championship. The City striker has won 85 (third most) and lost 91 (highest, 21 more than Barnsley’s Cauley Woodrow in second). https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-massengo-martin-james-6039252
16 – Points after 11 matches, four fewer than at this stage in 2020/21, 2019/20, 2017/18 and 2016/17 but the same amount as in 2018/19. - Gotta love a stat
Transfer spend - Summer window ~ 2016/17 ..............£8.800.000.........LJ 2017/18..............£11.100.000.........LJ 2018/19..............£8.630.000..........LJ 2019/20.............£15.600.000.........LJ 2020/21.............£1.200.000..........DH 2021/22.............£1.900.000...........NP https://www.transferleague.co.uk/bristol-city/english-football-teams/bristol-city-transfers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020–21_Bristol_City_F.C._season#Transfers_in Just a rough comparisons but stats show the difference in actual spend (Not including loans)
As a fair comparison what are the sales, as we know, a number of those players bought in these figures were sold again, so not overly representative? It’s clear the money isn’t there now due to COVID.
NO - ABSOLUTELY NOT. Spend alone is necessary to increase the negative effect. If you include the sales then it doesn't look as bad. It's essential to leave out certain details when delivering your spin in order to paint the picture you want people to believe in - politicians do it all the time!!!!
I very genuinely put up my links with all business transactions of sales, loans and spend for all to view , there is no denial of profits or loss achievments in that period, you put up information of points and 11th position over a 6 year period and that stats demonstated earlier successes, I in turn produced some some stats on expenditure in the summer transfer windows of the same years and it confirmed a considerably higher figure spent on players signed and increased income costs. I agree with you on COVID but stats does prove points in what ever direction you shove them, personally I think NP and DH did well to achieve virtual equality of performance during the COVID period with smaller budgets, reduced playing squads and COVID restrictions, so far, so good, we will have to wait until the seasons end to make a final judgement.
I personally think that we are doing ok. We've steadied the ship and making ourselves hard to beat (Millwall game aside). Sort our home form out and we'll be riding high!! Regards comparing NP's spend with DHs and LJs; IMHO it really is not as straightforward as one manager spending more, or less than the other. I suppose what WOULD be a fair comparison is how much we spent (and earned) when compared to the other teams we are competing against during the same period. I have not done any research so I'm assuming quite a lot, but my assumption is that we were amongst the higher net spenders in the league under LJ when compared to our rivals, but that is probably reflected in our final top-half league table positions and I would bet that there are some teams who net-spent more than us came in lower. It's not an 'exact science' and it's all very well to want us to be like Brentford; spend hardly anything and play nice football and get promoted, but those examples are extremely rare in football. I would also expect that this season's net spend is pretty much standard when compared to the other teams around us. Apart from the 3 relegated teams and possibly a handful of others I would expect us to be around bang-average in spend. You also have to consider the money spent under previous regimes that are still being used today (Martin, Williams, Massengo, Weimann, DaSilva, Palmer, O'Dowda, Bentley etc) - NP is still getting 'value' from them now, so in effect he is also benefitting from money spent in the past. In short, comparing money spent in the past to NP's spend is a VERY vague and flawed way of comparing the various incumbents, unless ALL the players bought by one incumbent left on a free at exactly the same time as the said incumbent left - only then would it would be a fair comparison. We might as well compare the pies eaten or the tea drunk.
I think much of what you say is correct but the exercise was not a comparison between LJ and NP, it was stats shown over a 6 year period of the first 11 games and points held, I merely showed, transfers inward and total funding stats during Summer transfer windows in the same 6 year period contributed , the figures are self explanatory. Nothing to be gained from profits made in the past or present, players still on long expensive contracts or long term comparisons between LJ & NP, LJ has long departed, is doing well and good luck to him, NP is the man of the moment, he has steadied the ship and we are looking stronger than for a long time.
