O'Driscoll must galvanise stagnating Bristol City squad By Joe Ridge Bristol City have it all to do. They sit bottom of the Championship table and are seven points adrift of safety despite their 2-1 win over Ipswich at the weekend. Looking at those facts, you would think Sean O'Driscoll must have been mad to take the job at Ashton Gate - especially just weeks after he was very harshly sacked by Nottingham Forest. But a closer look at the playing staff at his disposal and it becomes clear that this is a side that are massively underachieving. please log in to view this image Bristol Citys Joy Up and running: Jon Stead's late strike saw off Ipswich on Saturday Take City's strikeforce, for example. Sam Baldock, Jon Stead, Steve Davies and Ryan Taylor cost the Robins a combined total of well over £2million, and while players should clearly not be judged on transfer fees alone, few would argue that City's is not one of the best frontlines in the division, let alone in the bottom half. Target-man Taylor has been ruled out for several months after suffering a broken collarbone at the weekend but there are still plenty of goals in O'Driscoll's side. In fact, only eight Championship sides have scored more than City so far this season. The problem, one therefore assumes, lies at the other end of the pitch. The stats once again back this up. The Robins have conceded 56 goals - making their defence comfortably the worst in the league. But although O'Driscoll clearly needs one or two reinforcements the problem is not one of a lack of individual talent - it is a lack of cohesion and unity that has crippled the Robins. This is a squad cobbled together by four different managers. There are still several players remaining from Gary Johnson's play-off final-losing squad from 2008-09. Highly-rated winger Albert Adomah is the only player brought in during Steve Coppell's very brief spell in charge during the summer of 2010 who remains at the club, but there is a feeling that the ripples from Coppell's sudden departure are still being felt. After exceeding expecations under Johnson, City must have felt they were on the brink of sustained success when the much-heralded Coppell took over, but since his exit a culture of underachievement has developed at Ashton Gate under first Keith Millen and then Derek McInnes. There were positives from both of these reigns, however. Millen brought a defensive solidarity to the club but that would ultimately prove his downfall as City went in search of a manager who could bring them flair and goals. please log in to view this image Bristol Citys MaThumbs up: O'Driscoll has a tough task on his hands Those goals arrived under McInnes but they began to flood in at the wrong end of the pitch too despite the personnel at the back remaining largely the same - centre-backs Louis Carey and Liam Fontaine were both in Johnson's side. O'Driscoll had to start from scratch at Forest in the summer, signing almost an entire new team. But here, the task required is completely different. He must galvanise a squad and a club who have been stagnating despite the obvious talents available to them. Saturday was a great start but there is still big gap to make up if the Robins are to fly to safety.
Good read, Swansea was made up of Martinez Flair Souza Defensive Rodgers Joining it together And then Laudrup improving it Still don't know who is going to be the one to make it defensive for us though, we seemed to by pass that one
Any manager who signs a brick sh1thouse of a centre half will get that accolade. One that throws his body at everything that moves in our penalty box and one who is always goalside of attackers unlike current personnel who are caught on the wrong side of forwards every time a ball is played toward City's goal. Five years is a bloody long time for us to wait for the obvious to happen! Will any manager ever see what the supporters can see? So come on SOD, be that man.
