The Pearson Audition

Kasey Palmer fails Nigel Pearson audition but teenage Bristol City midfielder grows in stature
The main talking points from Bristol City Under-23's 4-1 defeat to Peterborough United at Ashton Gate

Performing well but spearheaded by poor finishing, wayward spells of concentration and slow starts - all phrases that could be thrown haphazardly towards Bristol City on occasions this season.

But it was the Robins Under-23s who subscribed to the above after a disappointing afternoon at Ashton Gate saw them lose 4-1 to a lethal Peterborough United outfit .

Nigel Pearson watched from the Lansdown Stand but left before the end, witnessing Alex Ball's side concede twice in both halves and surrender a decent opportunity to extend their excellent start to the season as ruthless Peterborough made them pay for their profligacy.

Saikou Janneh appeared to leave his shooting boots at home while Kasey Palmer cut a frustrated figure as he struggled to impact a game he should, with his experience and talent, have run.

Palmer fails to pressure Pearson
The standout name for City was the inclusion of Kasey Palmer. The attacking midfielder hasn’t had any competitive minutes since being used as a second-half substitute in the 3-2 victory against Reading, over one month ago.

The closest Palmer has come to any first-team game time since then has been steady, polite warm-ups on the touchline in front of the watching fans.

The form of Andi Weimann and Chris Martin, who now have 10 goal contributions (seven goals and three assists) between them, has limited Palmer's minutes as, while he isn’t directly competing for either of the two striker spots, in the current 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 that is being used there isn’t much room for an attack-minded number 10 that is defensively vulnerable.

City struggled with organisation in the first-half and Palmer appeared to be in a free role. His movement from the left side of the attack, into the middle and then even deeper into midfield wasn’t helped by such a slow start that saw his side 2-0 down before the half-hour mark.

Even when proceedings did turn and City started to dominate, Palmer’s touch was poor when he found himself in on goal and neither of his two perfectly opportune free kicks troubled Will Blackmore in the Posh goal.

With first team aspirations top of the list and no Carabao Cup fixtures to offer rotational minutes, the 24-year-old could feel like this match was a chance missed.

Janneh's radar a little off
It shouldn’t be surprising that in a set up that appeared a little muddled in the first-half, Saikou Janneh’s involvement was one that he may wish to forget.

The 21-year-old, scorer of both goals on his full debut against Forest Green Rovers in August, was seemingly deployed as a right wing-back before being moved around. The forward hardly managed to get out of his own half and was tasked with defending much more than he would have hoped.

This allowed the Peterborough left side to push up the field themselves and set up camp in the City half, the way Janneh would have liked to have patrolled the Borough half himself.

He was moved as City expanded into a much cleaner looking 4-2-3-1 with Janneh at the tip of the strike force. He created numerous chances and therefore his positional play, off-ball movement, anticipation and persistence should all be recognised and praised. However, his wayward finishing was below par.

It was almost a cruel joke that Janneh’s final chance of the game proved the first to hit the target, even then he was well stopped by a stubborn Blackmore.

For all the opportunities, with Pearson currently sitting on a partnership that is coming good in the Championship, Janneh would probably have had to score all five or six of his shots to give the manager a serious decision to make ahead of the visit of Fulham on Saturday.

City make a fist of their formations
Many clubs are known to practice a defined system throughout all levels to promote the positional versatility and clear progression pathway to first-team football for development and youth squads.

Although it doesn’t look like Bristol City have this in place it was interesting to witness the formational jumble that the side experimented with against Posh.

Starting with a team that looked to take a defensive 3-5-2 shape, Janneh’s struggles at wing-back have already been discussed and these summed up the team’s uncertain look about it.

With Palmer moving between positions and Dylan Kadji overrun in defensive midfield there was no organisation in the defence that ultimately led to Johnson Gyamfi being free to score two from open play crosses.

It is also worth noting that Pearson himself has expressed his uncertainty and unwillingness to use a back three (or five) from the get-go. He has said “I’m not a massive fan of going to five at the back unless you’re trying to kill a game off. I don’t think our squad is suited to that generally speaking”.

The change to a 4-2-3-1 certainly worked and was a big part of the masses of chances created towards the end of the end half and into the second.

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Bright Benarous
The brightest spark was the trickery of 17-year-old Ayman Benarous. He, like the rest of the City line-up, were on the periphery of proceedings before the tactical switch.

After that, he started to shine on the left and linked up to great effect with Sam Pearson. Interchanging several times and slicing through the Posh full backs, Benarous’ sharp skills were a bright light on the day.

Although the teenager might be deemed as still too young or slight to be sent on loan or into regular first-team training, his advanced attacking brain was ticking and showed signs of a player that could eventually follow Alex Scott into contention.

It is probably still too soon for Benarous to be thinking about first-team matches, but his smart instincts to latch onto a loose back pass was the first showing of promise.

Having the composure that his teammates missed on the day was the second act of brilliance that saw Benarous get himself on the scoresheet. The youngster also offers the type of versatility that Pearson values, being able to play behind the strikers, deeper in a midfield pivot and also from the left.

He, alongside Louis Britton, Sam Bell and Janneh, is another that will be missing out on the lack of Carabao Cup action, with that being the most likely early route to any senior involvement.

Little impact from Britton
After Pearson’s honest admission regarding Louis Britton's status last week, the 20-year-old wasn’t given a chance to impress the manager after he left before the forward could have a meaningful touch.

Pearson stated that despite the striker's form at U23 level - 16 goals last season and another three this term - his level of fitness doesn't make him ready for first-team training, let alone matchday consideration.

Britton was only given 16 minutes as a second-half substitute on Tuesday, by which point City were 3-1 down and any attacking momentum earlier in the half had evaporated.

Although the game was dwindling out, with a point to prove and the physicality to tower over most U23 players - and he really does stand out in that respect - Britton’s lack of time on the pitch and the ball will have been another disappointment on an afternoon in which the home side suffered for their lack of penetration.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/kasey-palmer-pearson-bristol-city-5950150