Bristol City: Halfway point of the season will tell me a lot more, says boss Steve Cotterill. Steve Cotterill says he will have more idea regarding Bristol City's long-term prospects in the Championship when the season reaches its halfway stage. Since achieving promotion as League One champions last May, the Robins have experienced a difficult introduction to life in the Championship. Bottom of the table, conceding goals at an alarming rate and visibly low in confidence a month ago, City looked to be in for a prolonged battle against relegation. Recent results and performances, however, suggest the Robins are gradually coming to terms with their new surroundings. Manager Cotterill points to a fixture list that has required his Championship newcomers to play all but two of the top 12 clubs during the opening three months of the campaign. City have only played six sides in the bottom half and are yet to lose to any of those rivals in and around them in the lower reaches of the table. The Robins have to play struggling Rotherham, who are bottom, Huddersfield and Charlton between now and Christmas. Cotterill said: "We've played ten of the top 12 and only six games against the rest, of which we've won two and drawn four. "I've said it before, we've had a tough start to the season. We played nearly all the teams at the top of the table and we've played quite a few of them away from home. "Derby and Hull are the only two sides in the top half of the table that we have not yet played. We have quite a few games to come against teams around us. "Only then will we know where we are going to be. We will know that around halfway through the season when we have played everybody once." City have more than held their own against sides in the bottom half. Cotterill added: "We've been adjusting to Championship football from the moment the season started and we are still adjusting to it. "The important thing is that, while you are adjusting, you continue to pick up some points along the way. "You have to try to learn along the way and pick up points at the same time. That is something I think we have done so far. "We are getting better all of the time and we are definitely looking up the table rather than down it. We have to be realistic about where we are, but I can see progress, for sure." http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Halfway-point-telling-says-Cotterill/story-28150632-detail/story.html
Here are the 7 games to take us to 23 (half way) games. Fixtures.....................W........D........L.. Hull (h).................................01........... Rotherham (a)..........03....................... Blackburn (h).......................01............ Huddersfield (a)...............................00 Derby (a)..........................................00 QPR (h).................................01............ Charlton (h)..............03........................ Total.........................06.........03........00 I think this will be a fair return if we achieve 9 points from the next 7 games and give us a total of 24 points at the half way mark. Is this enough, will Cotts be happy and what do you think we will achieve?
As a gauge, last season Rotherham survived on 46 points and Brighton got 47. To be safe we probably need around 52 points, and so 24 points at the half way stage is close to what we need, but as the article says we've had to play a lot of the top 12 teams already. The key for me will be improving the home form, and taking every possible point off of our fellow strugglers.
Manager Cotterill points to a fixture list that has required his Championship newcomers to play all but two of the top 12 clubs during the opening three months of the campaign.City have only played six sides in the bottom half and are yet to lose to any of those rivals in and around them in the lower reaches of the table.The Robins have to play struggling Rotherham, who are bottom, Huddersfield and Charlton between now and Christmas. It is good to see SC IS USING MY STATS to highlight the difficult start regarding who we played and of course others have played MKD and PNE have as I pointed out played mostly the lower half teams. MKD ... ... P 7 .. 13 pts .. WWWWDLL 3wins at home and win and away,away ! PNED.. .. . P6 .. 12pts .. .. WWWDDD win and 2 draws and away 2 wins and a draw HUDS .. .. P4 .. 8 pts .. .. WWDD CITY ... ... P4 .. 6 pts .. .. WDDD Won and drew at home, drew 2 away BBRN .. .. P4 .. 5 pts .. .. WDDL FLOR .. .. P5 .. . 5 pts .. .. WDDLL BOLT .. .. .P 4 .. . 3 pts .. . DDDL ROTH .. .P 4 .. ..2 pts .. . DDLL CHAR . .. P 6 .. . 2pts .. .. DDLLL
a note regarding all of the above stats mine and those used by SC THEY APPLY AT CURRENT positions Blackburn and QPR could both spoil the party by becoming top 12 by the time we play them!
