I would expect the negative comments to start soon but not from me. We should have prepared for life in the Championship as soon as we knew we were promoted but for some reason we did not and now, as you rightly say bcfcredandwhite, Cotts needs to sort it out and he probably doesn't need us to tell him.
um.......................... The red card changed the whole game completely as we were the better team and played great before Freeman's sending off, though we should have scored at least 4 times before it happened
Early days boys keep the faith. Unfortunately it looks like a number of players are not of a high enough quality for us to be competitive in this league. Not sure that we can continue with three at the back as at times today we were pulled apart with ease. I would say on todays showing we need quality defenders and midfield players as a first priority. Positive, first 25mins going forward could have got 4 or 5 but need to make sure we are not so wide open on the counter.
Good to see the match comments Red Hub and sometimes the score doesn't tell the whole story Looking at the stats it looks like we were competitive until the sending off and then the possession went in their favour. Let's move on and trust Cotts to get it right and I would expect to see some transfer activity in the remaining time left in the window. The money we were prepared to spend on Gayle can be better used on other players who want to come to Ashton Gate. When I saw El-Abd on the team sheet I was surprised and saw it as an indicator of how short our bench really is. What about Kodija, Fredericks and Robinson - how did they look? Early days yet boys.
We were good going forwards before the (joke of a) sending off. However we were weak at the back at times due to counter attacking. After the sending off we conceded an unlucky goal and it was one way traffic from there on. We were vulnerable as ever trying to hold up and defend with three at the back. The trouble was that we dI'd t have the subs to tactically change it.
Thought kodjia showed what a raw talent he is plenty of chances just needs a bit more composure in front of goal. Fredericks does not look 100% match fit and was largely ineffective going forward. Robinson looked lively when he came on but at that point we were chasing the game. Nobody had a terrible game but were not able to maintain a high enough standard of play for the whole game. Pack if anybody is the weak link in midfield as he fails time and time again to go with the runner when we are defending and makes it very easy for teams to come through us. Still early days but today shows that we are at least 5 players short.
That's how I saw it, some of our passing and flow was fantastic to watch before sending off. The only change I would of probably made was put Robinson on for Wilbraham after the red card. Packs got plenty of vision just lacks pace, but could gone on and hopefully prove me wrong. Agard I thought offered nothing and would of left Kodjia on. Just out of interest imagine if that was the other way round and Freeman was clattered, would you still say it was a joke of sending off? The issue with this was it was accidental but the player being down for so long made it look more serious.
It was accidental and not a red card offence. Quality of referees generally is getting worse as is their decision making.
There is obviously something untoward going on behind the scenes when it comes to our recruitment strategy. I wonder whether our financial director is getting too involved in football decisions. Last season we were sorted early so whats gone wrong? I am not sure that Cotts or Burt are responsible for our poor recruitment pre season. I think other influences have been getting too involved and causing problems.
It's certainly not lack of funds or backing. It's our targeted players not wanting to come to us. That lad from Hull, now Gayle. There will be more.
Maybe the funds have only just be made available and were not readily there pre season. It just goes to show we need to be looking at the continent for better value for money. Is our scouting network up to this task?
You can blame a bad referee You can blame Freeman for tthe challenge You can say we were unlucky It's also only 3 games into the new season BUT We are conceding 3 goals every game on average so far and scoring just 1 The owner was blatantly unprepared for Championship football is he asleep ? The sort of players we need seemingly don't want to come here Despite punching above their weight llast season, Brentford is a team we should be looking to take points from
Yellow yeah, Red bloody ridiculous, not disheartened at all to be honest after today, until sending off easily on top. Think with settling in time Jimmy will be a real threat, agree with Agard though, even though hes not fully fit yet after pre season injury. Yep fredricks didn't impress me either, also think sometimes Pack and Smith sit too deep and allow other teams to push within 40 yards of our goal un-opposed. Ironically second half Smith seemed to push a little in front of Pack and was brilliant then, breaking up play as he does so well
Refs don't get any better a league higher. He was giving us very little all afternoon. I do agree that we are shipping too many goals already and wonder if 4-4-2 might be a better option
We don't have the players for 442 but it's something we should be looking at to broaden the options for when we need a plan B
