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Bristol City v Sunderland: Betting tips and statistics

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 00:38:00 GMT

Ross Casey, formerly top football tipster of EasyOddsand a lifelong City fan, returns to take a look at the Bristol City betting markets to help you beat the bookies.

Ross’ latest article on The Exiled Robin comes ahead of this weekend’s home fixture against the struggling Sunderland at Ashton Gate. Over to Ross…

Bristol City return from their warm weather training in Dubai looking to improve upon a disappointing performance in their 1-0 loss to Bolton last Friday. The Robins were uncharacteristically wasteful in possession and Lee Johnson was correct in suggesting that we deserved nothing from the game in his post-match conference. The current run of one win in nine is certainly a worry, but it is hoped the break in Dubai will do the squad plenty of good ahead of our fixture against The Black Cats on Saturday.

Last week we pointed out under 2.5 goals and no in the both teams to score market as valid bets, which would have both come in. I hope some of you got on those! Now to look at the latest Bristol City v Sunderland betting odds.

MATCH ODDS

Despite just one win in nine, Bristol City are a best price of 7/10 in this fixture, making them firm favourites and odds on to win. Some bookmakers go even shorter at 8/13 - so make sure you peruse an odds comparison service - this will ensure you get the best Championship odds if you are backing us.

The Robins are now sixth in the league, with Fulham taking our fifth place last weekend with their fifth Championship win in a row. Unfortunately, we lost three points on many sides, with only us and Sheffield United dropping points in the top eight in the league table.

The draw is available at 14/5 with City picking up just three from a possible 20 on their home turf this season, the last coming all the way back in October when we played out a dire 0-0 at Ashton Gate against Burton. Bristol City have drawn two of their last four home fixtures against Sunderland, however!

Sunderland have been made outsiders with best Championship odds of 5/1. When you look at some of the quality they possess within their squad that looks a very big price. They have lost four of their last five away from home though so that probably comes into the equation for the bookmakers.

KEY STATS

Sunderland have scored just two goals in their last five away matches and netted just once in their last five visits to Ashton Gate. If you fancy a clean sheet for City, there is a best price of 6/5 available.

Bristol City are beating Sunderland in the historical head to head data with The Robins winning 17 to The Black Cats’ 15. If you fancy another home win for City here, you can get best odds of 7/10.

Bristol City have only been winning at half-time in six of our 20 matches at home this season. If you think City will win but will have to wait until the second half to come good, you can back draw/Bristol City in the half-time/full-time market at 41/13.

The trio of Famara Diedhiou, Joe Bryan and Jamie Paterson are joint top scorers for Bristol City at Ashton Gate this season with five goals and they are priced up as 16/13, 22/5 and 9/4 respectively in the anytime goalscorer market.

Nine of the last 12 games at Ashton Gate this season have gone over 2.5 goals this season and the bookies have made it a best price of evens that three or more goals are scored in the fixture this weekend in the over/under market.

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I am feeling fairly confident that we can come away with a win in this game, but I do fear that Chris Coleman has done his research and seen the likes of Millwall, Burton and Norwich come away from Ashton Gate with points in the bag thanks to a deep defensive line and allowing us to come onto them rather than looking sharp and incisive on the counter attack. For that reason, I will stay away from the odds on 7/10 price that we win outright as it seems too short a price for me.

I prefer the even money price on over 2.5 goals to be scored. That bet came in during our away 2-1 win over Sunderland earlier in the season and I can see us looking less resolute without Nathan Baker in defence as well as hoping we continue our impressive home scoring form - we are currently on 37 goals in just 20 games in all competitions at Ashton Gate!

Follow Ross on Twitter at @RossCasey24

Ross Casey has six years worth of experience in the football betting industry where he worked his way up from a data management input role all the way to being the editor thanks to his betting knowledge and his editorial skills.

Currently seeking new work after redundancy, we are happy to have the Bristol City fan who has supported the club from birth and had a season ticket for 15 years before moving to London, writing for us weekly. He now attends as many City games as possible and counts Tommy Doherty and Jon Stead among his City heroes.

The Exiled Robin

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Bolton Wanderers v Bristol City: Betting tips

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 10:45:00 GMT

Ross Casey, formerly top football tipster of EasyOdds and a lifelong City fan, returns to take a look at the Bristol City betting markets to help you beat the bookies.

Ross’ latest article on The Exiled Robin comes ahead of Friday night’s trip to Bolton for Sky’s Friday Night Football headliner. Over to Ross…

Bristol City head to the Macron Stadium on Friday night in a Championship fixture broadcast live on Sky Sports. With the Robins ending a seven-match winless streak last weekend, it is imperative that we push on and put pressure on our promotion rivals by bringing home the points!

MATCH ODDS

Despite our mid-season wobble, Bristol City are a best price of 11/10 to win this fixture, making them firm favourites. Some bookmakers go even shorter at 19/20 odds on - so make sure you peruse an odds comparison service - this will ensure you get the best Championship odds if you are backing us.

The Robins are now fifth in the league, just three points off second placed Derby County. However, the play-off hunting pack now goes arguably as deep as 11th with Brentford just eight points behind us with 17 games to go.

The draw is available at 12/5 with City picking up six on their travels already this season, and drawing 24% of their 37 matches this season. Of course, Bristol City drew 0-0 the last time they played this fixture in 2015.

Bolton have been made outsiders with best Championship odds of 59/20. Phil Parkinson’s side have won less home games than we have won away and the fact we have lost just two on the road in The Championship is probably the reason that bookmakers have made them almost 3/1 to win here.

KEY STATS

Only one of the last eight Bolton games have seen three or omr goals scored. If you fancy another under 2.5 goals to be scored on Friday night, you can get a best price of 8/11.

With Gary Madine sold to Cardiff on deadline day (what a classic Warnock signing that is) Bolton have lost their top Championship scorer of 10 goals. The rest of the squad scored a combined 14 without him. If you fancy a clean sheet for City, there is a best price 6/4 available.

In the last 11 meetings between these two sides, both teams have scored just four times! Backing no in the both teams to score Bolton v Bristol City betting market will get you best odds of 20/21 on Friday night.

If Bristol City are to win this one it will be their first ever victory at the Macron Stadium. They have played three times at their so far picking up a draw and two defeats. We even managed to lose back in 2012 despite going 2-0 up within 21 minutes! If you believe in curses, perhaps you will be backing Bolton double chance (to either win or draw) which has been priced up with Championship odds of 4/5.

Bobby Reid has scored 14 goals for Bristol City this season and interestingly, 10 of those have come away from home. The bookies have made him the 13/8 favourite to score in the anytime goalscorer betting market.

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I am feeling fairly confident that we can come away with at least a point in this one. Bolton have lost the focal point of their attack, although it will be interesting to see how Gary Madine’s replacement, Tyler Walker, fares here.

Bolton play a deep defensive line as they are worried about their lack of pace in defence and for me that is a bit of a worry as our counter attack could be neutralised by such a tactic. However, only four Championship sides have scored more on the road than us and for me we can outscore Bolton and pick up our first ever three points at the Macron. Back a City win - but make sure you get the 11/10 and don’t settle for less!

Follow Ross on Twitter at @RossCasey24

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Bristol City v Manchester City betting Tips #MCFC #BristolCity

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 15:17:00 GMT

Bristol City v Manchester City betting tips

Ross’ debut on The Exiled Robin started with an agonising (but very fortunate for us) loss as his Derby to win to nil recommended best bet didn’t come in thanks to the wrong decision not to give Derby a late penalty for a foul by Aden Flint on Cameron Jerome. He did however, point out that Derby have the best home defence in the league and ushered you in the direction of a home clean sheet at 17/10. Over to Ross for the betting preview of our Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on Tuesday night…

Bristol City head into this tie on the back of a gutting late 2-1 defeat at The Etihad in the first leg. The Robins were on a five-match losing streak heading into the match with Derby on Friday, so Lee Johnson was delighted to end that unwanted streak ahead of this massive fixture. Annoying for me is the ruling that away goals count AFTER extra-time, so if the game does go to 120 minutes, Man City will have that long to secure an away goal which will count double, whilst Bristol City only had 90.

MATCH ODDS

Premier League leaders Man City are a best price of 1/4 to win this fixture, making them huge favourites. They disposed of Newcastle 3-1 last time out with familiar ease and Argentinian superstar Sergio Aguero netted a hat-trick.

The Cityzens are still in with a shout of securing a historic quadruple this season under Pep Guardiola and with a tie against Cardiff the following weekend rather than Liverpool as it was in the first leg, I expect him to name a stronger side than he did then.

The draw is available at 11/2 with Man City drawing just four of their 35 matches this season. Of course, Bristol City were seconds away from securing such a result at The Etihad before Aguero headed home.

The Robins have been made even bigger outsiders at 14/1. A far bigger price than the 9/2 winning bet I got on The Robins to beat their Manchester rivals in the quarter-final!

KEY STATS

Both previous League Cup ties between these two sides finishing 2-1 to Man City. That correct score is available at 9/1 for those interested!

Man City striker Sergio Aguero has now scored seven goals in his last five games with the Liverpool away loss the only match he hasn’t netted in during that sequence. With Gabriel Jesus out injured he is the only real out an out striker at their disposal, although Raheem Sterling filled that role in the first leg. He is a best price 11/4 to score first or you can get odds on 8/13 that he scores anytime.

Bristol City have only scored two goals in their last six matches and whilst we saw the return of Famara Diedhiou on Friday night, it will be a while until we see our record signing at his best as he returns to full fitness. With Man City keeping eight clean sheets in 17 away games so far, many may fancy the 21/20 available on Man City to win to nil.

However, a caveat to that would be that Bristol City have scored in every one of their Carabao Cup games this season and in fact historically scored in 21 of their 24 fixtures against Man City, including never once failing to net at home against them! Both teams to score is 11/1.

For the hopeless romantics, there is faith to be had in the fact that Man City have actually now won just three of their last seven AWAY matches in 90 minutes. Bristol City have been made 7/2 to secure a double chance victory – to either win or draw in 90 minutes at Ashton Gate this Tuesday night.

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The potential losses of both Frank Fielding and Nathan Baker are going to hit us hard in my opinion and if Man City name a stronger side than in the first leg as expected, I see a fast start by the away side as they look to put the tie to bed early. For those reasons, I am backing Man City to be ahead after 15 minutes with a best price of 29/10.

Follow Ross on Twitter at @RossCasey24

Ross Casey has six years’ worth of experience in the football betting industry where he worked his way up from a data management input role all the way to being the editor thanks to his betting knowledge and his editorial skills.

Derby County v Bristol City betting tips

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 23:06:00 GMT

We’re baaack!

Well, in a fashion, anyway. Unfortunately, blogging has very much taken a back-seat for me over the past 18 months for a myriad reasons, but hopefully you’ve been keeping up with my thoughts and discussion points on the Facebook and Twitter pages.

And whilst I’m trying to recover my extended writing mojo, I’ve enlisted the support of Ross Casey, formerly top football tipster of EasyOdds and a lifelong City fan, to take a look at football betting markets to help you beat the bookies.

Ross’ debut on The Exiled Robin comes ahead of Friday night’s trip to Derby County for Sky’s Friday Night Football headliner. Over to Ross…

Bristol City head to the iPro Stadium on Friday night in a Championship fixture broadcast live on Sky Sports. With the Robins on a five-match losing streak, it is little surprise that the bookmakers have made the away side outsiders!

MATCH ODDS

Derby are a best price of 11/10 to win this fixture, making them firm favourites. Some firms go even shorter at even money so make sure you peruse an odds comparison service to ensure you get the best Championship odds here.

The Rams are now second in the league after a run of eight wins in their last 11 Championship matches. Their only loss in recent weeks was an FA Cup defeat away at Man Utd, where both goals arrived late on, despite Derby resting many players.

The draw is available at 5/2 with Derby drawing 23% of their matches this season. Of course, Bristol City drew 3-3 in this fixture last season, despite leading 3-0 at half-time.

The Robins have been made outsiders at 14/5 which is probably fair considering the injury list at Ashton Gate and the poor form in this fixture. Since Derby moved into their new home, these sides have met seven times with Derby winning five out of seven. The only victory for the away side came back in 2011 when Jon Stead and Cole Skuse goals sealed a 2-0 win for City.

KEY STATS

Derby have the joint best home defence in The Championship along with Leeds. The Rams have conceded just nine goals at the iPro Stadium in 13 league games. If you fancy another clean sheet for Championship player of the month Scott Carson, you can get a best price of 17/10.

Derby striker Matej Vydra is joint top scorer in The Championship this season with 15 goals to his name already. The Czech Republic international has scored against City twice in six appearances against us, including the reverse fixture this season. He is a best price 6/4 to score.

In the last six meetings between these two sides, there have been an astounding 25 goals scored! Five of those matches have gone over 2.5 goals with that Derby v Bristol City betting selection available at 23/20 on Friday night.

Bristol City have only scored two goals in their last five matches, with Lee Johnson arguing without a target man up front The Robins have to score the perfect goal at the moment. However, live on Sky Sports, we have scored in each of the six games televised! Both teams to score is a best price of 9/10.

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Annoyingly, I am not holding out too much hope for this one, with our current form and historical crapness in this fixture giving me the feeling that a victory is unlikely. The bookies agree with me too and I will follow the market and back Derby to win to nil at 5/2.

Follow Ross on Twitter at @RossCasey24

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Bristol City 2 Stoke City 0; The Exiled Robin's player ratings

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 08:03:00 GMT

The second fantastic performance in four days at Ashton Gate, last night's win was about as comfortable cup upset as you can get against a Premier League team. Here are my thoughts on the eleven who played, plus Lee Johnson.

Luke Steele, 7: Had a surprisingly quietish debut but did everything he was asked. There were one or two moments of uncertainty when balls fell in the dead zone between him and the back four, but that's to be expected on his first appearance.

Zak Vyner, 6: May seem harsh, but whilst he mainly did ok there were three moments where he misjudged his positioning, leaving Stoke with chances to capitalise. But largely did well against quality opposition.

Aden Flint, 9: Almost faultless. The fact that Peter Crouch shook his hand and applauded him when he was substituted after a completely fruitless evening said it all. No real pace or trickery to threaten his usual weaknesses and made a superb clearance off the line at 0-0. He was the one shouting and organising a back five that hadn't played together before. Provided one of the funniest moments of the game when forward from a corner, he stayed up and ran across the back line, back & forth, about eight times, waiting for a cross or long ball in that never came!

Jens Hegeler, 8: Solid at the back, put in one superb sliding block challenge and at times showed some of the composure on the ball from his first few games with City. My only criticism is he might have been caught out of position a few times against a more attacking team, but no issues tonight.

Hordur Magnusson, 7: Proved we have more genuine cover at left-back after Lloyd Kelly's performance in the last round. Solid enough, kept their wide men quiet in the main, but distribution wasn't always on the mark and one of the few to give the ball away a few times in the first half.

Niclas Eliasson, 7: Earned the 7 for his endeavour but felt he was a bit disappointing in terms of an attacking threat. Didn't really use the ball well enough when in attacking positions, but that should come with more game time and experience.

Marlon Pack, 9 (MotM): Controlled the game superbly in the middle of the park, Stoke simply never got close enough to him. Kept the ball moving at pace and, along with Josh Brownhill, ran the game to such an extent that Darren Fletcher and Charlie Adam were totally dominated, both receiving yellow cards through sheer frustration and moaning to the referee all night. Would have been a 10 had his left-foot 25-yard shot hit the target and not the corner flag!

Josh Brownhill, 9: This guy gets better with every game and tonight was possibly his best performance in a City shirt. Did the leg work to protect the back four, passed the ball neatly, battled to keep possession and was a threat going forward, not letting Fletcher and Adam settle all night. Can't be long until he's the first midfielder on the team sheet every week.

Callum O'Dowda, 8: Excellent hard-working performance down the left flank. He protected Mags well, provided a threat going forward but the most impressive thing for me is how he carries the ball forward. He's not necessarily a tricky, creative traditional winger but he carries the ball well, rarely loses it and more often than not, gets a free-kick once he runs into too many defenders. Did it countless times this evening and linked well with Pack, Brownhill & Taylor in particular.

Matty Taylor, 9: The sponsors' MotM and hard to argue. Any doubts that he has the quality to cope at Championship level were dispelled against experienced Premier League defenders. Came off the front line tirelessly all night to help the midfielders have a pass to make and protected the ball well each time. He rarely loses it and also pressurised the back line, created chances for himself and others. The only minor blot was the finishing - he'll be delighted with his goal and assist but he will know he should have had a hat-trick after three 1-on-1s

Famara Diedhiou, 8.5: Another who surely put in his best performance in a City shirt. Looked stronger and faster than at any previous time, battled well in the air and gave the Stoke back three a truly uncomfortable evening. Before teams started playing one up front the strikers were all about partnerships, and his first game alongside Taylor showed great promise. Got the goal his performance deserved.

Lee Johnson, 10: Coming off the back of seven points from nine, a 4-1 win and facing another three games in seven days next week, Johnson made nine changes and got it absolutely spot on. The recruitment drive is now starting to bear fruit with a young, pacy, attacking squad who look united and full of belief in each other. The side was set up perfectly - those who came in showed true hunger and desire (that's not always easy to make happen) and the high-pressing tactics caused Stoke to have a mistake-ridden, uncomfortable and disappointing night.

Forcing Premier League opposition to change formation to cope with how you've set up and then make a half-time substitution to try and force something to happen is a proper nod of respect.

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Cauley Woodrow - a view from the Cottage

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 23:20:00 GMT

At first glance, the signing of a striker who can't get into Fulham's matchday plans may seem a strange one by Lee Johnson. After all, not only must there be a question over how capable he is based on that scenario, but despite the departures of Lee Tomlin and the pair of Hams this summer (Tammy Abraham and Aaron Wilbraham), City have what appears a top-heavy eight strikers on their books still.

However, that's not the full story. Famara Diedhiou and Bobby Reid have started the season together, with Freddie Hinds acting as cover. Milan Djuric, Matty Taylor and Arnold Garita (remember him?!) are currently injured. That's six, but half are injured. Then you have Gustav Engvall who has gone back to Sweden, probably for the last time, while under 23 goal machine Shaun McCoulsky is (rightly) learning his trade in League Two with Newport County.

The other reason Johnson would have been after an extra body is that although he is 'only' six foot tall, he's more of a target man option than most of the afore-mentioned list. At Brentford on Tuesday, Johnson had no choice available to bring on a physical, big option for the disappointing Diedhiou, and Hinds came on instead. You can argue we had to play differently than we might have otherwise, say if Wilbraham had been available to come on, which may have in turn helped us to equalise, but you can understand why Johnson wants a different option later on in matches and, with Djuric out for another two months, he had nowhere else to go.

By the way, before we leave our long list of forwards, many have questioned why we're bringing in a player when Gustav Engvall is scoring goals for fun in Sweden. It's a fair question, but quite simply, Engvall obviously isn't good enough. We might have spent a lot of money on him, but that happens to all clubs. Watching him in the Swedish league he may have looked quick, incisive, a physical threat but Johnson and his coaching team have now watched him in training for a whole year, and if he's not up to it at this level, then he's not up to it. End of.

So onto Cauley Woodrow. The first thing anyone looks for when a striker is signed is the goals record and in Woodrow's case it's safe to say that it's not spectacular. The positive however, is that his best spell was in the Championship on loan with Burton last season, so maybe he's maturing and, given the right service, can improve his overall goals to game ratio.

We all know fans of clubs can turn quickly when a player leaves them, but the reaction from Fulham fans on today's news was quite something else! It seems Woodrow is far from a favourite at the Cottage, and many were delighted and surprised we were willing to take him on. With that background, I spoke with Andrew Beck, @arbeck on Twitter, from Fulham fan site,Cottagers Confidential, and asked him why there was that sort of reaction.

"Cauley Woodrow isn't a bad player by any means. He's probably a fine striker at the lower levels of the Championship or League One.

He also isn't a great fit for Fulham's system. He's not small, but he's not really big enough to be your typical hold-up forward. He's not slow and unathletic, but he's not fast and mobile enough to be used on the wing.

He's got fairly good technical skills, and ideally he needs to be paired with another forward in a 4-4-2. If you have a speedier technical player Woodrow can combine well with him. If you have a bigger forward, he can float around and find space and combine with other players in the attack.

Part of the reason Fulham fans are down on Woodrow is that they had quite high hopes for him. He was a key figure in some academy teams that had a lot of success and played a lot for England youth teams. His development just kind of stalled after that.

I don't think you'll be able to win promotion with him as one of your two forwards. But I also don't think he would be the reason you get relegated if he's one of your two forwards.

There's also a chance he figures things out and takes a leap forward with consistent playing time, he's at the age where players often have things click and they start to reach their potential. I'd still bet against him becoming much more than he is now, but it's certainly worth a gamble."

Hardly effusive in his praise and all in all, on that reckoning, we appear to have a fairly 'average' player, but clearly the potential has been there through his youth career, and with a run of games, some goals and a bit of confidence, who knows what can happen?

One thing is certain, he sure can hit a ball. This was Fulham's goal of the season winner and you've got to assume it's not a one-off from the fact he even tried it. Very few of our players seem capable of hitting a ball from that distance so that alone would offer a different threat during games for the opposition defence to deal with.

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Tammy Abraham: Boy to Man

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 11:25:00 GMT

Upon first sight last August, Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham looked exactly what he was. A tall, gangly youth who, like all young players these days, looked about 15 and far too youthful to be playing men’s football. Although he stood tall at six feet and four inches, he had a frail looking frame and the instant fear was he’d be swallowed up some of the meatier, cynical, battle-hardened defenders of the Championship.

And in part that was true. Pontus Jansson of Leeds and Matt Connolly of Cardiff in particular seemed to be able to grasp hold of him and keep him contained early in the season, but in around that he was nothing short of sensational in his first full professional season.

There were the goals, of course. 11 in his first 13 games which led him to win the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month award for September. 26 in 42 starts overall, including braces at eventual play-off contenders Sheffield Wednesday and Reading.

But the statistics only tell half the story in how he developed through the year.

Early on it was, largely, just the goals. Bristol City were using width well, getting in behind the opposition full-backs and pulling the ball across goal. Tammy was, invariably, in the right place at the right time. A decent proportion of his early goals were scored in this manner – simple enough on the face of each individual one - but a deadly pattern emerges when you see them all in sequence. His positioning within the six-yard box is a massive strength.

City were flying and Tammy was the talk of the town. Remarkable as it may seem given how they ended the season, Chelsea fans were taking to Twitter in droves to request him back to help their ailing league campaign under their then-maligned new boss Antonio Conte!

But as the wheels came off City’s campaign in spectacular fashion once the clocks went back, so the goals dried up for the youngster up front. Which came first is oft-asked amongst the Ashton Gate faithful, and it was probably a bit of both, but certainly City’s revised, more dogged style in the face of adversity meant Abraham was more and more isolated up front, and the chances dried up.

Through December and January in particular, he was often 30-40 yards more advanced than any team mate, all desperately sitting deep in a typically vain attempt to stop the flood of goals going in at the other end and it was a futile and fruitless task.

What happened then showed the mark of the man and why he leaves Ashton Gate with everyone convinced he can become a serious payer in the top flight.

Game by game he got stronger, more aware of his role. He visibly strengthened and held the ball up better as he was able to hold defenders off and started coming deeper and wider to get the ball and have an impact on the game. He encouraged his teammates forward, he grabbed hold of a vociferous fan-base, baying for the head of boss Lee Johnson, and regularly turned to them, pumping them up during games.

He truly cared – this was no sojourn loan spell for Tammy, he clearly had a lot of feelings for the club, the city and the fans and there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t for any other club and town.

He truly led from the front, as a 19 year old, largely on his own. He had clear respect for the club and the fans and his brief role in that history, but wanted to make his mark. His attitude towards City was summed up by going over and hugging a ballboy after scoring a goal live on Sky in an inspired 4-0 win at home to Huddersfield. He made that little boy’s night and endeared himself further to 20,000 home fans.

Referring back to the gangly perception, his footwork and skill on the ball is astounding to anyone seeing him for the first time – this is no Ian Ormondroyd (for those old enough to remember) – Tammy is a very talented footballer who happens to be tall and looks on the skinny side. He’s not a big target man although he’s learned to play with his back to goal, and he thrives in having quick, skilful players buzzing in and around him that he can play off, distract defenders from and plays a beautiful one-two at pace.

By the time a touch of consistency started to appear in the rest of the team, Abraham had grown into a front-man able to lead the line. Not yet with the strength of a Diego Costa, but with more about him that enabled him to give two defenders something to think about. He also started scoring different types of goals, as he worked out he couldn’t always get the six-yard box service he thrived on. The super-cheeky finish at Blackburn demonstrated the confidence he has and the class he possesses. https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/video-chelsea-loanee-tammy-abraham-produced-a-filthy-finish-against-blackburn

A call-up to this summer’s under-21’s squad was an inevitability and he now has a chance to show how much he has developed this season. All his goals are here, if you want to see the man himself in action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm0gFE4f_EA.

So, is he ready for the Premier League?

In my mind, undoubtedly. That doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily play all 38 matches or score 20 goals, but he’s ready for the chance to prove himself. He’s stronger, more mature and knows what his game is about more than he did a year ago.

If he can get the ball put in the right places for him then he’ll be there to tap in – a skill that’s harder than it seems, whilst his fancy feet will be tested much more by the better quality of defenders and he’ll need to learn when to try and when to play the simple ball back or inside.

But he’s an exciting talent, a great goal-scorer already and is surely an England international of the future. It’s just a matter of time.

As for his time at Bristol City?

Well, he walked away at the end of season with a complete clean sweep of all club awards – from the main awards, the senior and the juniors – Player of the Year and Young Player. The last player to make such an impact in living memory was a certain Andy Cole. Whatever became of him?

The Exiled Robin

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Exitlude: It's time for change

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Sat, 21 Jan 2017 19:58:00 GMT

Exitlude

Sam’s Town, the excellent second album from Nevada’s favourite sons, The Killers, includes a song titled ‘Exitlude’. It involves the lyrics:

“Regrettably, time’s come to send you on your way

We’ve seen it all; bonfires of trust; flash floods of pain……We hope you enjoyed your stay….It’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day”

Well BS3 isn’t Sam’s Town, it’s Steve’s Town, and despite Mr. Lansdown’s seemingly unwavering fondness and loyalty towards the Johnson family, now is the time to bite the bullet, so to speak, and bid farewell to Johnson Jnr before too many days are out.

He’ll regret it, of course. As surely will almost everyone associated with the club. Whatever your views of the job Lee Johnson has done, surely no fan wants to see a manager sacked in the grand scheme of things, because that means you’re not performing as a club where everyone feels we should be?

On a personal note, I have always felt the appointment a risk which may surprise some I’ve argued with about his position over the past few weeks. I was as surprised as many when LJ got the job, but as I do with every manager, from that moment on I backed him to the hilt and, naturally, wanted him to succeed more than anything. And for nine months, the gestation period, perhaps, he did just that.

But the last three months have shown warning signs that can no longer be ignored and a run of results which, quite frankly, mean no-one can possibly be surprised, least of all Johnson himself, should he get the phone call this weekend to visit one of the Lansdown residences.

For a while the run looked unlucky – the odd refereeing decision, Tammy missing a sitter, a freak goal from the halfway line. Then it developed into something slightly more sinister, and some started to call for Johnson to be relieved.

However, the consistency of performance wasn’t too bad and the results – as I’ve personally pointed out a number of times – have still been defeats by just the odd goal.

This is still the case – and the one strand of hope many are hanging onto is that we’re still in every game and we’ve been agonisingly close to picking up draws and even wins, but eight successive league defeats, and now 11 in 12, tells a story that can’t be ignored.

In my view Johnson hasn’t ‘lost the dressing-room’ – the easy, knee-jerk comment many immediately turn to – as otherwise we’d be losing games by three or four goals, as we were too often under Steve Cotterill.

He also isn’t ‘clueless’. Inexperienced and still learning, perhaps. Half a dozen games ago many fans were slating him for never changing from the 4-2-3-1 formation we’d played all season. Six games later many of those same fans are slating him for changing formations too often!

Johnson has been accused of not having a plan b (another easily chucked around phrase) but actually his fault has probably been trying too many different plans.

He has tried things, he has tried different players, different tactics, but nothing is working for 90 minutes. The problem is the second it doesn’t work we come under pressure and look so poorly organised when not in possession that it’s fatal.

The last few games have shown some worrying signs of indecisiveness. Multiple team changes, formation moves, poor substitutions and switching from plan ‘A’, to plan ‘B’ and even plan ‘C’ in a single match.

Johnson should be given credit for trying different things. After all, the reason many fell out of love with Cotterill was his stubbornness and insistence on playing the same formation and players every week. Johnson has changed a lot, but he clearly doesn’t really know his best team or set-up, doesn’t really know what to try next and it’s looking increasingly desperate with each passing half of football.

There has been more than one tale of falling out with senior players – the same senior players he should be turning to in these times of strife. There have been problems that he has been unable to mitigate against, and for that reason, I believe now is the time.

The set-up and approach against Reading was heavily criticised but for me was exactly what we needed after a run of defeats where the defence was looking fragile. If our friend Warnock or Sam Allardyce had come in and done that, got the two goals on the break and held out, they’d have been hailed and everyone would have understood the approach. Unfortunately we didn’t hold out and Johnson and his coaching staff allowed the already deep midfield to drop further and further back until we had nine defenders, all getting in the way of each other and leaving mass uncertainty as to who was supposed to do what. To concede the goals we did in that game, with nine men strung across the edge of the box, was inept in the extreme.

When it happened again against Cardiff, you had to move from questioning not only the player’s lack of confidence but the organisation of them. Who saw Johnson, or Dean Holden for that matter, waving the midfield forward furiously on the sidelines as they dropped deep? No-one, because they didn’t do it. They were perhaps as nervous as anyone and allowed the midfield to drop onto the toes of the previously solid-looking newly established back three, and suddenly chaos ensued, the defenders were trying to organise eight men, not three, and it was too much to cope with.

We can’t afford to be relegated this year more than any other, with the signings we’ve made and the investment made in the squad.

The single goal defeats are a genuine reason for hope, and I’m sure what LJ would be pointing to if asked to justify his position. But now, that’s for someone else to get hold of and make good.

Who would replace him? Gary Rowett is the obvious name and the one put up by almost every City fan, but there have to be real questions as to whether he’d join a side in freefall, for all Lansdown’s backing, or if he’d prefer to wait for a bigger opportunity which would undoubtedly fall his way. But that would be a separate discussion and not a reason for not parting ways with Lee.

Johnson seems a lovely chap, is good with the media and is, perhaps, still an outstanding prospect as a coach. He also loves the club more than any other manager we could appoint, and that is a feature we should bear in mind in this era of minimal loyalty across football.

But he’s not learning quickly enough on the job for us and we must take action before it’s too late. It made sense to give him the transfer window, allow signings to settle in and get us going again that way. No-one wants to be at a club which sacks their manager every December/January, and if we’d picked up even one win somewhere, I’d still be maintaining that view myself, but you just can’t keep losing game after game after game and stay entrusted with the main job.

Regrettably, before it’s too late, the time’s come to send him on his way.

COYR

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Bristol City mid-season review: What is going so wrong?

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 23:31:00 GMT

How to solve a problem like Lee Tomlin:

The signing of Lee Tomlin in the summer was supposed to be the big signal of intent. Lee Johnson and Mark Ashton have received plenty of plaudits for their work in adding young, talented players to the squad, and had contract extensions been handed out to the pair of them at the end of September, the news would have been widely acclaimed.

However, a couple of months on, we can’t buy a win – or even a draw come to that – and many of those exciting signings haven’t had the impact everyone would have hoped for.

To address that first, I think it’s clear the policy in the summer was to make a number of signings ‘for the future’. Certainly Calum O’Dowda, Taylor Moore and Gustav Engvall fall into that category to a greater or lesser extent, yet many are now questioning why we spent over £5m on that particular trio. Rightly or wrongly, they were bought for potential and I think any major impact this season from any of them would have been seen as a bonus by the management team. Unfortunately, we’re now in a position no-one really expected to be in, and the clamour for their inclusion grows by the day.

The January transfer window brings a different set of requirements and, therefore, surely an alternative type of target, with a more experienced ‘general’ needed to ensure heads don’t drop so quickly when we come under pressure, and to help us organise defensively at set-pieces.

Off the top of my head I think I’d like us to sign a goalkeeper (Fielding isn’t good enough on crosses, set-pieces or organising his area, O’Donnell seems to have lost basic confidence), a right-back (Matthews isn’t fit enough and Little isn’t good enough to play regularly at this level), perhaps a centre-back with more experience, a truly defensive-minded central midfielder, a striker and maybe a pacy winger who’s ready for the first team. However, to find players of the right quality and who are made available by their clubs is especially tricky and we’ll probably have to settle for two, maybe three signings in key positions.

It’s easy to say now we shouldn’t have sold Luke Ayling and I know many said it at the time, but the position we were in then was that we had a good servant who wasn’t in the frame to play first team football, and we were offered a good amount of money for him to give him the opportunity to play for one of English football’s big clubs. To have rejected a bid approaching £1m for your reserve full-back would have seemed just as strange had Matthews stayed fit and played 25 games so far this season.

The midfield seems a real problem at the moment. Earlier in the season Marlon Pack and Bobby Reid were playing as well as anyone, and whilst they’re still both performing to a decent level much of the time, I have little doubt that Johnson’s masterplan was to have the experience of Gary O’Neil sitting alongside the engine of Korey Smith in the middle to protect the defence and break up play. That seemed a partnership of great promise in theory, but Smith hasn’t seemed to be able to get fully match fit having missed the start of the season, whilst O’Neil’s early steadiness has dissipated to quite some degree.

We must stop conceding goals so easily when we’re put under pressure, either from mistakes, set-pieces or from standing off too far, which we do too often to be successful at this level.

So why is this pressure building? So often we’ve had a good 15-20 minutes of possession, looked really bright and good, but then something happens and confidence drains out of the team.

One of the major problems boss Lee Johnson has in my view, is that he’s essentially trying to build a team around two players – goal machine Tammy Abraham and his self-styled maverick, Lee Tomlin, into a specific formation and it isn’t really working with the players we have.

Tammy has had an incredible start to life in the Championship and has adapted remarkably quickly, showing his class. But anyone who’s seen him, and the team for that matter, flounder somewhat in the last couple of months has called for him to get more support, usually in the mould of a second striker.

However, Johnson’s problem is how you do that and accommodate Tomlin? If you play a second man up top, like Wilbraham, then can you play Tomlin in behind them? That means three men not defending when we lose the ball and that’s not enough. So you are then forced to play Tomlin out wide, where I think it’s clear to everyone he is nowhere near as effective and where he, some argue, sulks a touch and works back even less than he usually does, feeling like he’s been left on the periphery of the game.

If you had an old hand like Wilbraham or the likes of Jon Stead up-front alone, Tomlin could more naturally fit in behind them, let them take the hits and hold the ball up and play off them, but that’s not really in Tammy’s game at the moment, and until Johnson resolves this dilemma in his head, he’s going to cause himself selection problems.

It’s safe to say Tomlin’s own performances have been as mixed as City’s. The away games over Christmas offered prime examples of what he does, and doesn’t bring. At Wolves he gave away possession too easily on three or four occasions in deepish areas, adding to the pressure on the back line, but he also produced four passes/through balls of real quality which led to chances and, indeed, to Tammy’s well-taken goal. At Ipswich he was heavily criticised for being anonymous, not getting involved and not working back. He was played out wide. He is a genius at times, far too good for most teams in this division when he’s on song, but Johnson needs to ensure he gets the most out of him when things aren’t going his way too, and that perhaps is the problem many have faced.

With regard the called-for support for Tammy, I’m not personally convinced he needs another striker alongside him, but we need pacy, attack minded players in a ‘3’ behind him. I’m sure he wouldn’t look like he needs more support if he had Hazard, Pedro and Fabregas buzzing in and around him, running past him and breaking the defensive line. I’m obviously not suggesting we could sign players of that quality, but the best we’ve looked this season is when we’ve had Tomlin, Bobby Reid and Jamie Paterson on song. They got close to Abraham quickly, they ran past him and the touches, the one-twos and the pace in attack have been present at times.

But Paterson has mysteriously disappeared from the frame, and Luke Freeman, Joe Bryan and others just don’t have the same style and pace to do the same job. Now we look ponderous in midfield, we get caught too often in possession and a few of the players seem to like to let the ball run when they receive it rather than take a touch, presumably trying to keep the ball moving quickly but possession gets conceded too cheaply, too often.

As depressing as much of this sounds, I’m going to end on a positive note!

We are progressing as a club.

The stadium is fantastic and the atmosphere in and especially around the ground in the sunnier early months of the season was fantastic.

On the pitch, last season we conceded four goals on no fewer than seven occasions, and were absolutely battered by Rotherham, Derby and Burnley in the final five weeks of 2015. Only Brighton have beaten us by more than one goal this time around and we’ve been ‘in’ every game besides that, even if some performances have been disappointing. It’s easy to argue we’ve been unlucky and a couple of bits of luck at crucial times in certain games would’ve seen us half-a-dozen points and places better off.

At times when we have the ball we look fantastic. Quick, neat, direct with lots of movement, quick runs and the likes of Tomlin, Reid and Abraham in particular linking together especially well.

Johnson is still undoubtedly learning and he has a stiff task ahead of him. But remember, however good a deal it was, he lost one of the division’s top strikers in August and probably hadn’t truly expected to, and I’m sure he and Ashton are already working on a plan as to who replaces Tammy (and Wilbraham) next season.

He must work out how to make us more solid defensively and forego some of the attacking intent which is admittedly good to watch when it works well, but we need results right now, not excitement. The strange thing is he did exactly that against Ipswich at home but has not approached a game in the same way since, especially odd when we’ve had some winnable away games where keeping it tight and scoring on the break should have been more than possible.

Personally I’d be interested to see what we could do with three at the back, even if that articular set-up was the downfall of Steve Cotterill a year ago. A 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-1-2 formation would suit many of our players better than the current set up. Taylor Moore could come in alongside the centre-back pairing and the wing back position undoubtedly suits Little and Bryan more than the traditional full-back. Two could sit in the middle and help out the back five, and with wingbacks further forward perhaps have more options when winning the ball. This allows Tomlin and Reid/Paterson/Freeman – whoever – to get closer to Abraham. Perhaps we could go with two strikers and Tomlin in behind in home games, but I fear it would be exposed when away at some tough venues. Of course we can all be football managers sitting on the sidelines. It might not work but what’s for sure is I can’t see the harm in trying something new right now.

We have some talented players – definitely more so than this time last year in my opinion, but they’re not working together right now for a number of reasons.

In Tomlin we have a player who has a magic wand for a foot at times, and one of English football’s hottest prospects in front of him rattling in goals. In October we could list a handful of players who weren’t even making the bench and could deem themselves a touch unlucky, so there is depth to the squad.

We have an owner who backs the team and the club to the hilt and will undoubtedly shell out more of his hard-earned cash this transfer window.

With a couple of experienced signings, even if they’re on loan until the end of the season, a touch of luck along the way and if Johnson can focus on tightening up the leaky backline, 2017 can still be a good, progressive year for City.

What is certain is that we need a win, and fast. Hopefully a victory against Reading can dampen down much of the unrest and disappointment felt right now and re-invigorate our season.

COYR!

The Exiled Robin

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Gerry Gow: One of Bristol City's greatest players of our greatest team

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 12:15:00 GMT

The news of Gerry Gow's passing has stirred many memories from fans old enough to have him play in his prime to those younger fans who never did, but who have heard so much about the great man.

A couple of years back I wrote this blog post on City's promotion side of 1975-76, a side which had Gow very much in its engine room - appearing as an ever-present as City, finally, once again reached the top flight after decades in the wilderness.

Quite simply, he was one of the best and most-loved players in our greatest team, and that tells you all you need to know

http://thetwounfortunates.com/great-football-league-teams-49-bristol-city-1975-6/

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Tammy Abraham - a view from Chelsea

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 22:45:00 GMT

It’s been a summer of huge excitement at Ashton Gate with the completion of the West Stand setting the perfect backdrop to the most extravagant outlay of our existence. Millions of pounds we know about, plus plenty we probably don’t in loan fees, signing-on fees and wages have led to a glut of exciting signings of mainly young players, a nice mixture of experienced mid 20-somethings and younger, high potential players.

Having already snapped up players from Juventus and Bayern Munich, Lee Johnson and Mark Ashton have turned their attention closer to home with the latest loan signing and could have just landed the most exciting signing of them all, from Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea.

Whilst there may be a touch of self-congratulation around it, both Johnson and Ashton have talked about the lengths they’ve gone to so as to snap up the teenage striker who was also being linked with a move to Spanish La Liga side Real Betis. As is often the case with these sorts of things, it was as much the club and their new coach, Antonio Conte, who needed persuading of our plans, approach and style of football as the player himself.

On first impressions, we have a young player with all the attributes needed to be an old-fashioned number nine. At six foot five inches tall, he has the height to be a real threat in the air, but also looks to have strength and pace not always seen in those so tall. And then there’s his goal record…

Whilst he was seen briefly in making a superb, immediate impact as substitute on Saturday, many won’t have seen a huge amount of him so I asked the Chelsea blog @PrideOLondon for their views on their youth team star, who has scored an impressive 74 goals in just 98 games during his youth career.

Their youth team expert Siva Sankar penned these words for the Exiled Robin:

"Tammy Abraham has been at Chelsea since he was nine years old. He is one of the top prospects to have come through Chelsea academy and at the age of 18 is ready to take the next step.

Tammy is a naturally gifted with strength and pace that belie his tall, lanky frame. He has had little professional experience to date but one thing that is of little doubt is that physically he's ready to cope with the Championship. His height and strength will give him great advantage when competing for goal kicks or for crosses in the box. But the truth is that Tammy has a lot more in his locker. Chelsea realised long ago that physically he was better than his peers and sought to aid him in developing his footwork and technique.

To that effect, he has been played on the wing quite a lot as well. He can score all sorts of goals and his goal scoring record speaks for itself.

Bristol City sure seem enamoured by him as their pursuit of him has been a long one. This is a loan that will make all parties involved happy.

He has been assigned the number nine and that is very apt because Tammy is the quintessential player of that position. His physical attributes aligned with good technique and a real desire to score make him a potent, well rounded, all action centre forward.

He is also a willing worker who will give his all on the pitch. All these are traits that will endear him to the fans and hopefully he can help himself and the club do well this season. The learning curve will be steep for him and hopefully he will be afforded patience to fully settle into his new environs and the rigors and pressures of professional football.”

My thanks to Siva and Pride of London for their help with this.

If City fans weren’t excited enough by the hype of the signing, then the start Abraham made in his brief appearance on Saturday will have blown it into orbit. But we should remember this is a very young player with a lot to learn, and he will have quiet days, bad games. But with some support in a side looking to attack and work around him as Lee Tomlin in particular will look to do, he can develop significantly in his time with us and play a big part in our season.

And if all that’s not enough, check out all his goals from last season! https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjUyaD65LLOAhVnC8AKHaqNBHoQtwIIRzAH&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Df1Xp-2Atf-E&usg=AFQjCNFTdjJU2xLUAKcE3bl352hVwOL9fg&sig2=N6TEHF8_OYtaUaS4wJwplg

COYR!

Callum O'Dowda - the future's bright!

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:09:00 GMT

In the first of a series of pieces in the lead up to the new season, I take a look at one of our new signings, one who is arguably both the least known and the most exciting in terms of potential.

It’s pretty safe to say that when the rumours started surfacing about City landing this young, Oxford winger, most had to quickly Google the name to find out a little bit more about him. Kemar Roofe took most of the plaudits at the Kassam Stadium last season and was the player fans perhaps hoped we’d be in for this summer.

On a little more investigation, the move comes as little surprise when you hear Mark Ashton was a big fan of O’Dowda whilst at the U’s, and gets on well with his family. Whether or not you feel Ashton should be the one identifying players or not is a matter for another day, but you’d hope and assume with the network now in place that Lee Johnson has also seen enough to be convinced.

Equally, digging a little deeper I have found out that some at the club actually rated O’Dowda as a better prospect than the afore-mentioned Roofe, despite the latter grabbing most of the headlines last season with his goals and form.

So who is Callum O’Dowda? Well I aim to follow this up with a more in-depth look at him via an interview, but for now I’ll give you the words of Patrick McCarry (@patmccarry), correspondent for Irish Sports website www.SportsJOE.ie.

“Bristol City are getting a lad who has seemingly come from nowhere but who looks like he has been around for ages!

He is a pacy winger, with a trick or two in the bag, but likes to drift in and get on the ball. He had a great 2015/16 with Oxford and scored a brace against Barnet earlier this year.

His grandfather, Brendan O'Dowda, is Irish so that made him eligible to play for us. He was called up for Ireland U21s in March and scored on his second appearance for that side.

Martin O'Neill was hearing good things about him so got Steve Guppy to watch him in club action. A senior call-up soon arrived and he made his debut against Belarus in a 2-1 home defeat before Ireland set off for Euro 2016.

He stood out like a beacon in that game, unafraid to take on and beat his man and demand the ball in the tightest of spots.

My SportsJOE colleague, Conan O'Doherty gave him 8/10 and wrote:
‘Was given just 20 minutes to prove himself to O'Neill and, Jesus, he did everything he could to impress in that time. Looked lively, looked creative, confident and positive and really made things happen for Ireland. As late as late bolters go.’

He was a genuine option for O'Neill at Euro 2016, but he went instead with David Meyler as he could cover a number of defensive and midfield roles. Irish fans have only caught a glimpse of him so far but his Championship move should change all that. Expect him to be a regular in Ireland's World Cup Qualifiers squads!”

A regular in a half-decent Republic of Ireland squad and potentially better than Roofe certainly sounds exciting, and helps justify the apparent fee of over one million pounds – one of the largest in our history.

Let’s hope he can fulfil that potential with us and ensure no-one is googling Callum O’Dowda in future to find out who he is.

COYR!

Big Sam Allardyce, England Manager

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 08:58:00 GMT

'Big’ Sam Allardyce. England manager.

Yes really.

On the face of it, no-one should be too surprised. He’s an Englishman who has managed in the Premier League for most of the last 15 years, and – on paper – has done a pretty good job at most of the clubs he’s managed at.

Most recently he got West Ham back up at the first attempt and then consolidated their position in the Premier League, giving Slaven Bilic their platform for his success last season. He then somehow saved Sunderland from inevitable relegation last season, with an inspired signing of Jermaine Defoe providing the firepower once he’d re-organised and patched up the division’s worst-looking defence and turned them into clean sheet regulars.

His hugely successful stint at Bolton is perhaps drifting into the memory banks but what he achieved there – especially when you look at where they are now – was nothing short of miraculous, albeit one that set in motion the start of the build-up of debt that has so crippled the club now. In fact he almost certainly should have got the job in 2006 when Steve McClaren was handed the reins and he has no budget to push for with England.

His time at Newcastle and Blackburn is viewed as being less successful, with Newcastle fans in particular seemingly still reeling from that period, but being sacked at both clubs only tells part of the story. On each occasion new owners – Mike Ashley at St.James’ Park and the infamous Venky’s at Blackburn – had recently come to the club and, as so often happens, wanted to stamp their own mark with their own hand-picked manager.

Both clubs sacked him whilst they were just the wrong side of the table’s mid-point, feeling they were going nowhere. They were though. Both were relegated within 18 months of Allardyce leaving. Was he over-achieving with both?

So what’s wrong with this appointment? Why have so many reacted with such ferocity, suggesting the FA have lost their minds?

Well, it’s ‘Big Sam’.

Some are inevitably likening him to Mike Bassett, with a partly-understandable, partly-unfair stereotyping him of an 80’s style English manager. You know; big man up-front, big defenders, tough midfielders and generally only score goals from set-pieces. That kinda thing.

And he certainly has a track record of a backs-to-the-wall, attritional style of football. The consolidation pointed to above, with Blackburn, Newcastle and West Ham, is often deemed insufficient by fans and owners alike who get comfortable, want to press on and only realise what they’ve got when it’s gone. And consolidation, of course, hasn’t led to a major trophy win as a manager, something everyone seems very keen to point out about Sam.

But that belies his time at Bolton where he successfully built teams around the likes of Jay-Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff, allowing them the platform to dazzle, create and entertain and reached not only the UEFA Cup, as it was, by finishing sixth, but a League Cup final which they lost by the odd goal.

He’s certainly a Marmite selection and the view of those in support of him barely stretches beyond ‘he can’t do any worse’, but he is the new gaffer and deserves at least the two year window, if not the four years that the international game revolves around.

My own personal view is that England should have cast the net wider. It seems as if it was an Englishman plus one or two options, but when managers of the calibre and with the cvs of Hiddink, Wenger, Pellegrini, Ranieri and Benitez have such strong links to the English game, you have to assume one or two of them would have been tempted with the right offer.

But if you get too snooty about Allardyce being the chosen on, then recall we’ve just been knocked out of one of the most average European Championships there has ever been by Iceland. Remember we haven’t reached a major final for 50 years and that even ‘doing a Wales’ and getting to the last four of a major tournament was last achieved two decades ago, before Marcus Rashford was even born.

Doubts will remain about his style of play and whether England will be entertaining enough. My answer to that is pretty simple. Would you rather keep clean sheets, nick games by the odd goal and win the European Championships like Portugal have just done, or try to keep endless possession, then badly fluff your lines when going forward before showing up immense weaknesses in your organisation in defence, like England managed so adeptly this summer?

Hodson’s idea of attacking, entertaining football was to play any number of strikers regardless of whether they fitted into the team structure or not, but all that did was leave us short on those able to defend and create in the middle of the park.

Whatever the natural ridicule following the Iceland defeat, you can’t say that Walker, Rose, Smalling and Cahill are worse players than those who turned out for Iceland, Northern Ireland or Wales (with the possible exception of Ashley Williams). Otherwise all their players would be playing Champions League football and be plying their trade at clubs finishing in the top five of the Premier League. They’re not, because individually they’re not as good, yet were made to look light years in front of us at times.

You struggle to imagine an Allardyce side would have conceded a goal from a long throw-in. There’s no way he’d have had Harry Kane taking corners and I suspect the honest, hard-working Danny Drinkwater would have been rewarded with a place in the squad over two midfielders with barely a couple of games between them since the early Spring.

Would Andy Carroll have been a more viable option to throw on when things did get desperate, someone to knock down and hold up those 60-yard passes from Rooney out of defence?

So what are we getting with the new England manager? Organisation, set-piece expertise, both defensively and in attack (43% of Sunderland’s goals last season were scored from set-pieces).

We’re certainly getting someone with a lot more character than Roy Hodgson, and maybe that rubs off naturally. One accusation Hodgson could never seemingly shake was that his dour demeanour filtered through to the players who were left uninspired and short of ideas.

You won’t get that with Big Sam. There will be passion, hard work and absolutely, definitely no giving up.

By far the worst worst element of England pathetic exit in France was that with 20 minutes to go we just seemed to give up the ghost without even a snivelling whimper of the quietest order.

Oh, and for those who say Allardyce will take us back to ‘the bad old days’ of long ball English hoofball. Have you really seen a worse performance than the one against Iceland? How can it get worse than that?

One might argue we tried this with Keegan, getting someone in with passion to inspire the players, but Allardyce is substantially more capable than Keegan ever was tactically, hence his prolonged stay at the top of the game.

You can manage on passion for a short while, but then you get found out. The evidence from last season’s successful escape indicates Allardyce has yet to be found out. But now he faces his biggest test in one of the most high-profile jobs in football.

Will we win the World Cup under Sam? Probably not, but then we haven’t won any of the last 12 either.

Have we got a better chance of going further by being better organised, playing with good spirit and being a real team? Of course we have.

What you can be sure of is that Big Sam Allardyce won’t shirk this challenge, in fact he’ll positively relish every second of it.

He won’t give up and for that, at least, he deserves the support of every English football fan.

The Exiled Robin

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Hillsborough: Supporters, not criminals

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 13:13:00 GMT

Justice.

27 long years, almost to the day after the dreadful tragedy on that warm, spring day, the families of the Hillsborough victims finally had their loved ones’ names exonerated this week. Having spent a lifetime being told their criminal activity caused the disaster, their names are finally clear and they can truly, for the first time, rest in peace.

As the truth has slowly seeped out over the last two decades, the outpouring of highly emotive comments from football fans far and wide has been hugely prevalent and that’s not only because it was such an awful event, with such obvious injustice. It’s partly because anyone who attended games at that time, and indeed, anyone who still does now, knows that it could have been them. Their friends, their parents, their children.

I personally remember sitting in Block E of the Dolman Stand on that day. City were losing 2-1 at home to Blackpool in front of a little over 5,000 of their own fans – which tells its own story about the shape of the entire game of football in those days.

I was listening to my Sony Walkman – always tuned to what must have been Radio 2 in those days as they covered sport on a Saturday afternoon before Radio 5Live went on the airwaves – and hearing the events unfold. At first it was just confusion and uncertainty, but then the story began to become clearer.

I distinctly remember mentioning to my friend’s Dad who used to take me to games that the radio was saying there appeared to be a handful of people who were lying dead on the pitch. To this day, despite being just 11 years old at the time, I can recall his response (almost certainly trying to be reassuring for his young match companion) word for word.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad. The media always exaggerate things – it can’t be that bad”.

It was. And on a greater and more horrendous scale than anyone could have possibly imagined.

It could have been us. It could have been any one of us and without wanting to be too macabre about it all, you can see how something could happen still to this day – perhaps not on the scale of Hillsborough thankfully, but crowd control by the police at big matches still often leaves a lot be to be desired.

We’re supporters, not criminals, and that should always be at the forefront of the police’s mind, yet often it is simply not the case. Steve Cotton’s column in the Bristol Post last week shows that completely innocent supporters are still being treated as guilty until they can prove otherwise. Suspicion reigns and certain forces are far more forceful and reactive than others – I won’t name names as anyone who travels away will know exactly who I am talking about.

Yes, there are fans who sometimes turn up drunk and, on occasions, cause a disturbance. Yes there are sadly still some who go to games with the specific aim of causing trouble. But the statistics and the real-life experience is that they are a tiny, tiny minority of the main football-going public. Yet controls, surveillance and ‘hoarding’ is still far too prevalent amongst the rest of us.

On three occasions in recent times (and I only go to a handful of away games these days) I’ve been frogmarched, along with many others I should add, from a pub close to the railway station directly to the turnstiles, not trusted to make my own way there, not able to stop for a bite to eat or a bottle of water, despite showing not a single sign of causing trouble. Indeed on those marches the most likely problems will be a reaction to the over-aggressive shoving and pushing of the police to get people back in line if one dares walk on the wrong bit of concrete, or show a slightly over-exuberant approach to the singing.

That’s an issue for the police to look at themselves and I’d be disappointed if those in charge of forces up and down the country weren’t at least prompted to review their procedures and policies based on today’s rulings.

But today is for those guilty of cover-up, abuse and victimisation to look deep inside themselves and try to understand why they did what they did. Why they felt capable of lying to the families of the innocent dead.

Today is very much for the victims and their families. They’ve fought an unbelievably strong, concerted campaign for justice and today they will feel a million different emotions, the over-bearing one of which must be relief, despite the obvious sorrow.

Their family members were unlawfully killed. It wasn’t their fault.

They were innocent supporters, not criminals.

The Exiled Robin

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Bobby Reid: Is it now or never?

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 19:29:00 GMT

Now is Bobby Reid's time.
He's always shown in fits and starts he can perform with great ability, but has struggled to match those levels consistently.

My latest blog looks in more detail at his recent form and what he needs to do next.

http://m.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-City-blog/story-29096485-detail/story.html

Comments, shares etc welcome as ever.

Thanks all, COYR!

Are Brighton the new model to follow?

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 15:19:00 GMT

My latest blog post for the Bristol Post, focusing on Tuesday night's defeat against Brighton and suggesting they might well be 'the model' we should be following over the next few seasons.

"THERE was a huge popping sound at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night, the noise of a bubble bursting that would have been heard as far afield as Milton Keynes, the South of London and Yorkshire as well as Bolton, had they not all been suffering equally that evening....."

More here:

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTOL-CITY-BLOG-bubble-burst-hopefully-s-blip/story-28802989-detail/story.html

What do you think, reasonable expectations or pie in the sky? Comments and thoughts welcome as always!

Thanks for reading!

Scott Golbourne: He's Coming Home - a Wolves view

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 14:41:00 GMT

The signing of Scott Golbourne (not Goldborne, Goldbourne or Golborne!) must have been as much a relief for those in the club’s hierarchy as it was for us supporters.

Constantly barracked and ridiculed over the past few months for the seemingly disastrous lack of transfer activity, Golbourne is only the second permanent signing for the senior squad in 18 months since we embarked on our hugely successful League One title-winning campaign.

Plenty of loans have been tried in the meantime, but only Jonathan Kodjia’s bolt-from-the-blue signing from Angers in the summer has caused the editors on Wikipedia to move a player's full time club to Bristol City in that time.

Any fan over the age of 17/18 or so will fleetingly remember Golbourne, of course, as he spent his formative years with us but his opportunities were limited at that stage so I knew little about him, other than he’s looked like a pretty solid looking traditional full-back in the games I’ve seen him in since.

His family are City fans, and he’s already talked about “us” in his interviews, and its great to have another local lad, albeit one that went away to pursue his dreams, back on board.

I spoke to Thomas, from WolvesBlog.com, who had these generous words about our new signing:

“First important thing to say is I'm gutted Scott Golbourne is leaving and I think the majority of Wolves supporters feel the same. That's always a pretty good sign you've secured a decent player.

His greatest strength is that he can actually play football. That sounds stupid but for a full-back operating in tight spaces and seeing a lot of the ball, you've got to have great touch, dribbling skills and the ability to thread passes.

Many don't but he does all of that stuff very well and can also put decent deliveries into the box. I wouldn't say he's rapid but you certainly don't see a lot of wingers skinning him and he's got enough pace to get up and down to good effect.

He's been a pretty consistent presence at left-back for Wolves over the last two and a half years, but fallen out of favour lately for some reason. There was talk of a contract dispute which might have hastened his exit and explains the ridiculously low price tag.

I also believe Kenny Jackett thinks he's not up to the physical demands of the Championship, which might have some merit. I think he's been targeted with those long diagonal balls a few times, but he's never been a weak link as far as I'm concerned.

I'm surprised you've got him being brutally honest (only because of your league position) but it looks like you'll pay the wages and it is his home town club so that may have held sway.

He's a very good, consistent player and he'll do a great job, so good luck to him. We wish him well.”

My thanks to Thomas, who can be followed on Twitter here.

Promising indeed. Let’s hope he can establish himself in the way the left-sided players of his youth did. If he can become half as big a favourite as Brian Tinnion or Mickey Bell at Ashton Gate, he’ll have done a decent job.

Welcome home, Scott. You're one of our own.

COYR!

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Lee Tomlin: A Posh view on our controversial new signing!

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 14:35:00 GMT

Just when City’s attempted activities in this transfer window appeared to be heading towards a similarly disastrous outcome as the summer’s opportunity, then the signing on loan of ex-Peterborough forward Lee Tomlin from Bournemouth certainly ignited some excitement into proceedings.

Warmly welcomed almost universally, the temperamental character who tends to play just off a main striker, joins with a point to prove having been given little chance on the South Coast during the Cherries’ hugely impressive start to life in the big time.

He is somewhat notorious to the Ashton Gate faithful already, of course, having been sent off in the opening quarter of an hour in a game against ‘The Posh’ during Derek McInnes’ time in charge, for an elbow on Greg Cunningham. We went on to win 4-2 against a tiring ten-man side, and it’s not the first, and probably won’t be the last time that Tomlin’s fiery nature causes him problems on the pitch.

However, despite a far from spotless disciplinary record – he received six red cards in four seasons whilst at London Road, but then went a whole season without one for the first time on Teesside – Tomlin has continued to rise through the leagues, ending up in the top flight with Bournemouth after a successful season with Middlesbrough last time out.

Posh fanatic Jamie Jones has written for this blog many times before and I’m grateful to him yet again for these thoughts on a player who is sure to be amongst the most-discussed player in the squad in the coming months!

"One thing is for sure – life with Lee Tomlin around isn’t dull!

One minute he can have you up on your feet singing his name, convinced that he is that special player that can put right all that is wrong with your team, and the next you can find yourself slumped in your seat as he trundles off the pitch, ranting, whilst the ref brandishes the red card and his team-mates shake their heads in a collective “why did he do that?!?!”

On his day, Tomlin has the skill, spirit, will to win and goals to fire City to safety in the Championship. When he is on his game, he can take any match by the scruff of the neck. You know that scene in Teenwolf, where Chubby and the gang sit around on the court eating and chatting whilst Michael J Fox scores all the points and wins the march, well that’s Tomlin and his team-mates on a good day.

When it’s good it’s brilliant but when it’s bad, it’s bloody awful. He has more vision than any player I’ve ever seen play at London Road, he can spot a pass or a run that other players simply can’t. His best times at Posh were with a really mobile, busy centre forward (CMS, Dwight Gayle) in front of him, with Tomlin dropping into space and roaming around looking for the ball and chances to create. When any City player gets the ball, he will be demanding they pass to him and usually that is the best option.

Don’t expect him to chase back or run after a loose ball because before it has even got out of play he will be turning around to scream abuse at the team-mate that failed to ping the ball into his feet. His temper was legendary at London Road with 6 red cards in just 135 appearances for the club. I note that he didn’t get sent off whilst at M’Boro and didn’t get the chance to at Bournemouth, but I suspect that inner anger at a misplaced pass or a poor refereeing decision still lurks within Lee.

You’ve got yourselves an outstanding talent, one that we know can score and create goals at this level and I sincerely hope he keeps City up (and thus send Franchise FC down!).

All the best for the rest of the season.”

My thanks to Jamie for his review – especially a fantastic Teenwolf reference!

Hopefully Tomlin can be exciting for mainly the right reasons. From what I’ve seen of him, he could help provide some power and intensity to the attack that perhaps the more subtle Luke Freeman doesn’t quite offer – neither approach is right or wrong, but it sure is good to have some options for those times games are drifting away.

If he can repeat his from for Boro at the tail end of last season, he’ll certainly be a valuable asset for us in our survival fight and could well be the catalyst required to get us out of trouble.

Welcome to Ashton Gate, Lee. Keep away from those red cards and become a hero!

COYR!

PS For you music fans, teenagers of the 90’s or general cultural enthusiasts(!) Jamie has written a new book entitled, "I Blame Morrissey", which features tales of football and indie music in the 1990s and is available via Amazon.

Knowing Jamie as I do, I’m sure it will be well worth a read! http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=i+blame+morrissey&tag=googhydr-21&index=stripbooks&hvadid=48600019455&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10655897003918540868&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_8zpopum9at_b

The Exiled Robin

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Alex Pearce: What does he bring to Ashton Gate?

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 15:58:00 GMT

The prospect of raiding the under 14’s for squad members seemed to finally jolt City into transfer action this week, as they swooped for the double loan signing of Derby County centre-half, Alex Pearce, and QPR’s ex-Swindon attacking midfielder, Ben Gladwin.

To say caretaker boss John Pemberton moved quickly is perhaps masking the truth somewhat as I have it on very good authority that the Pearce signing in particular was lined up by Cotterill for last Friday morning, only to be delayed following his dismissal the evening before.

We all saw what Gladwin could do last season, in the games against us in particular, but also in Swindon’s other televised games during the run-in. His challenge is two-fold; to prove that the great run of form at the end of the season wasn’t a flash in the pan, and, if it wasn’t, to prove he’s got the intelligence, pace and ability to show it at Championship level.

With Alex Pearce, however, our experience is probably more limited, aside from remembering he was pretty decent for Reading a few years back, so I caught up with Dan from The Tilehurst End (@TheTilehurstEnd) to gain a better understanding of the type of signing we’ve made to see us through until the end of the season.

Firstly, what type of player and character are we getting in Alex Pearce?

What's you're getting is a very solid, unspectacular but honest defender. Pearce knows what he's good at and sticks to that formula, he'll clear his lines, make a simple pass and heads the ball away well under pressure.

What you won't be getting is a cultured defender that you should expect to see majestic cross-field passes or marauding runs from. He's not blessed with great pace or agility yet he's not slow and lumbering either.

Overall he's your prototypical 7/10 defender.

He was your player of the season in your Championship winning squad a few years ago, and was a regular until his move to Derby County in the summer. Are you surprised he hasn't established himself there?

Yes and no. I think Derby have a pretty solid defence and it was always going to take a major injury or suspension for Alex to break in over there. Managers rarely like to break up a settled defensive unit and, with Derby doing so well, Pearce has been a bit unlucky, especially with them being dumped out of the League Cup early on, limiting his opportunity to impress.

What are his main attributes?

As I mentioned, he's no nonsense and what you see is what you get. He's good in the air at both ends of the pitch and pretty strong in the tackle as well. His positioning and reading of the game is also pretty good while he's not afraid to dig out a team mate if they're not performing.

And his weaknesses?

Sadly Alex has always lacked the little bit of extra quality to make it at the very highest level. He's struggled when asked by managers like Brendan Rodgers to play a more possession-based game while he's also been exposed by a lack of pace when up against more nimble forwards. There's also a sneaking suspicion that he needs an established defender beside him to really thrive as he's not coped well when placed in inexperienced or shaky defensive units.

His confidence at Reading never really recovered from a messy contract dispute during the 2012/13 Premier League season and some fans never forgave him for what they saw as a lack of loyalty - yet how much of that was really down to Pearce we'll never know.

What's your favourite memory of him during his time with Reading?

I mentioned his lack of technical prowess but this stepover at Doncaster was so out of the blue it was brilliant (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v383IqbZXb0)! He also scored a fair few goals during our Championship winning season a few years back and as you mentioned took our Players of the Season honours.

And finally, can you give us any facts, unusual or not about him that we might not know?

He's represented both Scotland and the Republic of Ireland at International level despite being born in the Oxford area! He was also dubbed 'the next John Terry' by Brendan Rodgers and while he's never quite reached those heights on the pitch, thankfully off it he's been much more well behaved, gaining a reputation for being a ruddy nice bloke!

Personally I wish him all the very best.

If you're interested in reading a bit more about Pearcey during his time at Reading I'll point you towards a couple of articles I put together on TTE over the years!

http://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2014-15-analysis-opinion/2015/6/4/8727133/john-terry-alex-pearce-reading-fc-derby-county

http://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2011/07/18/the-ups-and-downs-of-alex-pearce

My thanks to Dan for this insight – in Pearce, Aden Flint and Nathan Baker we now look to have three pretty similar options in the middle. Extra height is always a good option, but it will be interesting to see how Pemberton starts to use him – perhaps he sees it as a way to get back to the now-dreaded three at the back with extra solidity?

Regardless of formation plans, it's good to have extra cover anywhere in the squad at present - hopefully Pearce and Gladwin are just the first of half-a-dozen signings to come in and bolster the forces and ensure our Championship survival.

COYR!

The Exiled Robin

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Why Cotterill was sacked

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 01:07:00 GMT

In the end, it was very sudden.

In a season where pressure has increasingly grown on Steve Cotterill for all sorts of reasons, an unknown combination of a lacklustre, exhausted-looking performance at home to Preston, an unsavoury altercation with an abusive ‘supporter’ at the end of that game, or perhaps a behind-the-scenes disagreement over transfer policy look to have ultimately curtailed his time at Ashton Gate.

No manager these days can win just four out of 28 games in a season, be in the bottom three, and expect to be impervious to the threat of being sacked. But given such an incredulous level of success last season, Cotterill was surely closer than most to having a level of credit in the bank to be given until the end of the season?

I share views with many as a general principle where I wish all clubs would give mangers more time to build, but the days of giving a manager the luxury of years of under-achievement, of the type Alex Ferguson enjoyed, resulting in a dynasty of success, look to be consigned to history.

When Cotterill was appointed, I, along with many, was concerned. There were rumours and comments from fans of former clubs of an abrasive nature, of making repetitive excuses for defeats, of being overly self-centred, stubbornness, limited tactical awareness, limited ability to change the game, of a real lack of interest in the youth teams/academy and of direct, attritional football.

If you’re looking for reasons as to why he was ultimately sacked, the last point was perhaps the only one Cotterill truly put to bed this season. The players he picked every week still seemed to be playing for him in the main – I don’t think many would argue he had lost the dressing room – but on Tuesday night they didn’t look any worse than Preston, they just looked absolutely shattered. Physically and mentally.

As alluded to in recent posts, Cotterill’s refusal to change the line up or make substitutions early enough in games has surely culminated in a set of players who may not fully recover full freshness until their rest during the summer. Hopefully they’ve got enough left in them to scrape our way out of trouble and then we can go again.

Keeping the same XI worked fabulously well last year, when we had momentum and an overall quality of player far too good for League One. However, it hasn’t worked this season yet Cotterill has consistently seemed to be trying to prove that old Einstein adage about the definition of insanity correct – trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I’m not a big believer that any given formation does or doesn’t work. So much more goes into a game, not least the ability of the players available, their fitness levels, the chosen approach and an element of luck, but what was clear was that sides had worked out how to play our 3-5-2 formation, with these particular players and the way they played, and manipulated it to score goals. Everyone now knows if you push wide players forward, they had acres of space to run in behind our marauding full-backs. That leads the centre-halves to stretch themselves across the pitch to cover, meaning there was often only one defender in the middle when balls eventually found their way into the danger areas. I could see it, thousands of others could, why couldn’t Cotterill?

Even to the end, he was trying to create a myth that he had no option on selection, that the 11 available were the only ones he could possibly play. Following the Preston defeat he said he “had no choice” but to keep the same team or we’d have lost at West Brom.

That’s a choice Simon Grayson made. He lost his cup tie, but won a crucial three points in the league a few days later. Cotterill had choices, although admittedly limited. He chose not to make them, time and time again.

Stubborness, perhaps, or simply an outlook too limited in its view prevailed over decisions any other manager would surely have made. How can the likes of Bobby Reid, Wes Burns, Callum Robinson, Simon Cox, Liam Moore etc prove themselves worthy of a chance if not given more than a couple of minutes on the pitch? And even then, why would they bust a gut when they eventually get on if they know it’s not going to make one jot of difference to the next team selection?

Linked to this particular misjudgement is Cotterill’s approach to all things youth. I don’t doubt for a second he’ll spend the next ten years talking about the young team he took to the title, about how he gave the likes of Joe Bryan, Reid and Burns opportunities in a great team. He’d have a point, to an extent, but that’s how Cotterill hides his deficiencies, by bringing out singular examples to answer any misgivings. He has previously mentioned about how he brought through Patrick Bamford at Forest. The truth is he consistently ignored his option, but used him as a substitute late in the game on a couple of occasions and talks as if he gave him his big break.

In the main he has completely ignored the much-vaunted Academy and of all my beefs with the chap, the failure to promote an under 21 squad member to the bench on occasions we’ve only named six substitutes is simply outrageous.

When it happened again at West Brom last weekend I couldn’t restrain and tweeted Jon Lansdown to ask if he felt that it was appropriate behaviour, given everything we’re supposedly trying to achieve with our academy set-up. Of course a Joe Morrell, or another young player, probably wouldn’t have got on the pitch, but what an experience travelling up would have been, warming up on the pitch, of seeing a Premier League stadium packed with over 5,300 City fans, of hearing your name cheered when the line ups were read out. But no, Cotterill had to prove what in my view was a childish and petty point to the Board by leaving the space spare. If you’re thinking about defending that particular decision, just think what sort of message that sends a youngster at our club, or indeed any youngster even considering joining us. You’re not good enough. Not now, probably never. That’s what I’d be thinking.

In recent weeks I’ve heard from a reliable source that some of our top youngsters, right down to under 14 level, are considering leaving the club because they see no future, no path to the first team squad. The same person told me he’d never seen Cotterill at any under age games, and that everything from under 21’s down “felt like a different set-up”, lacking the support from the main club.

The one line of note in Keith Dawe’s official statement on the website was that the club had a need to “achieve its overall strategy for player development”. I read that directly as building the club at all levels, including the Academy, and this could well be what eradicated the credit he had left in the bank with the key decision maker.

For those who think it’s a crazy decision to dispose of the manager, those who were backing Cotterill I totally understand why. Personally I had a number of issues with him which I’m outlining here, but I still hadn’t quite reached that tipping point in wanting him gone because of everything he gave us last season.

Ultimately however, just for a second, forget everything that happened pre mid-May 2015. Exactly what has Cotterill done in that period since to prove he was the right man for the job? What signings has he made (I accept there’s the whole other discussion there!), what tactics has he used to change games or change a trend of results? How has he mixed up the team to try something different? What substitutions has he made to have an effect on games?

Interestingly on the last point, I can remember two specific examples of games where I can recall him making substitutions earlier than the 85^th minute. Leeds at home and West Brom away. Look what happened. So why did he not even seem to consider that as an option on so many occasions?

For everything that happened on the pitch, it’s impossible to address this situation without looking at what has – or more pertinently hasn’t – happened off the pitch in the last 12 months.

I don’t think we’ll ever know why signings weren’t made, aside from the headline few who were realistically never going to come. From what I’ve heard on that, I don’t buy into this “Lansdown won’t stump up the wages” argument. It seems as if the four headliners we failed to land barely even spoke to us, if at all. Why would you come to a newly promoted somewhat provincial club when Palace, Burnley, Hull and Manchester United in Lingard’s case, were the alternative option?

Something I believe, from all available evidence, is that Cotterill set his sights too high and never quite worked out how to realign. Fans have talked all summer and season about the likes of Bradshaw, Dack, Washington, Byrne, Roofe and others, without the slightest indication we’re closely watching any of them.

Was Cotterill really so naïve in chasing the stars he forgot to build up his squad beneath? Or did he present a long list that whoever is responsible for progressing forgot about or was unable to act upon.

We’ll probably never know.

Some argue that Freeman, Bryan and, to a lesser extent, Flint were amongst the stars of last year’s League One campaign who haven’t made the step up as expected, so why go after more players from that level. Maybe they still will, but that’s not to say any of those others listed might not have done. To argue that is to suggest there’ll never be another Jamie Vardy, Dele Alli and, dare I say, Rickie Lambert rising from the lower leagues. Some make it, others don’t. Perhaps we’ve got unlucky with some of ours, maybe they’re just taking longer to adjust, but I struggle to believe it wouldn’t have been a good £3-4m investment on fees and wages to snap up Bradshaw and Dack as squad options at the very least.

It seems as if the lack of a Plan B is a constant theme of Cotterill’s management.

Just to be clear, I do not believe Steve Lansdown prefers being a big fish in League One as opposed to being in the Championship. He doesn’t focus more on the rugby than the football. He has backed this club to the hilt over the past decade and if he has a financial ceiling in place, then so he bloody well should!

Last time we were at this level we spent a small fortune to get progressively worse. Shouldn’t we have a certain level of agreed spending? By a crude set of assumptions you can venture that we pay a higher average wage than at least seven other clubs in this league, possibly more. If we had 25 players instead of 17, I’m sure our total wage bill would be somewhere around halfway – appropriate for our relative wealth, ambition and size, in my view.

Build slowly and surely, advancing each year and the impossible becomes more real. We’ve tried the ‘chuck a load of money at it’ method without success. Derby and Middlesboro have spent years establishing themselves before having a splurge to return to the Premier League. Ipswich are the model of consolidation, and each year get closer to being the finished article. Wolves, Brighton, Forest, Birmingham have hardly spent tens of millions to build a solid, competitive team. What’s so wrong with that approach? To chuck accusations around about our lack of ambition is disingenuous at best.

Given the transfer window limitations, there will obviously be questions over the timing of the decision to sack Cotterill, especially given the lack of an obvious replacement lined up. It is a little strange but ultimately our manager’s future seems to rest on his relationship with Steve Lansdown and the perception of the club publically. Lansdown puts great store by having a positive public perception of the whole Sport group and Cotterill’s tirade at the end of the Preston game – whatever the provocation – must have raised eyebrows. Add to that his constant bleating over lack of support in the transfer market/wage budget (when Lansdown himself has come out and said we haven’t been rejected by anyone due to finances) and you can start to see the relationship may well have been unravelling for some time. Cotterill’s “I’ve never had a golden bullet” whinge/comment turned a fair few fans who felt he was being disrespectful considering last year we must have had one of the top two budgets in the division.

Lansdown is a hugely successful commercial operator and undoubtedly has one eye on next season’s season-ticket sales. If he felt a significant shift in supporter opinion, that would be enough on its own to push him into action. He has spent £50m on the stadium, at least the same again in bankrolling the squad and he hasn’t done that to sit comfortably in League One. He was almost embarrassed at last year’s celebrations, constantly reminding everyone that we shouldn’t have really been there anyway.

He isn’t building hospitality boxes and a 27,000-seater stadium for the rugby – they’re unlikely to fill it on more than a rare special occasion – everything is being done to make Bristol City, not Bristol Sport, more successful. If the Sport concept is successful, it will help City, make no bones about that.

So who’s next? Last time Jon Lansdown promised to scour the market and do all “due diligence” to make sure they got the right man. They spoke to one person and appointed him, so it’ll be interesting to see the approach this time.

In my view you’ve got to really question, with just a couple of weeks left of the transfer window, would many do a significantly better job than John Pemberton and Wade Elliott? They know the squad, its capability and they surely are acutely aware of what’s missing. They both have contacts within the game they could utilise for the holes that need filling and the existing players, presumably, respect them as they did Cotterill. As long as they’re prepared to bring their own ideas to proceedings and add a few bodies, why not give them until the summer to keep us up, then look for the longer-term option when we’d be a significantly more attractive proposition?

Whilst this may well have seemed like a character assassination at times, it wasn’t intended as that. By trying to cover all possible bases I may have revealed all of my views on Cotterill’s faults, failings and character traits, but he has without question left the club in a far better position than he found it and that, ultimately, is the measure of success in any job, isn’t it?

He also gave us the most successful, enjoyable season I’ve seen in over 30 years of supporting City.

For saving us from League Two

For Bramall Lane.

For being unbeaten until November

For Gillingham away

For Wembley!

For Flint, Freeman and Korey Smith.

For Swindon at home.

For the last day of the season against Walsall and for that wonderful, magical, still quite unbelievable night in Bradford.

Thanks for the memories, Steve, it’s been a blast!

The Exiled Robin

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The Bristol Post and THOSE Oh-so-annoying pop-up adverts!

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Sat, 24 Oct 2015 22:03:00 GMT

A few weeks back, in one of my more frustrated moments of attempting to access the Bristol Post website through the jungle of adverts, I sent my second lot of tweets to the Local World address - the group that runs the paper. When I looked back on what I had written, and saw the encouragement I received from others who felt exactly the same, I decided that a good old-fashioned letter to the editor - or Chief Executive - could be the order of the day.

I know that even for the best social-media focused companies, unfortunately tweets often get lost in the masses and don't reach the people they need to so I figured this was perhaps a more constructive way.

Below is my open letter, penned to the CEO of Local World, Mr David Montgomery. The reason I have decided to publish this online is because they have been good enough to send me not one, but two, positive and communicative responses, of which I give full credit to them for doing so. Even a written letter is so easy to ignore amongst the masses of communications senior business people receive on a daily basis.

Dear Mr. Montgomery,

As a hugely frustrated reader of, and contributor to, the Bristol Post online website, I hope you take this letter with the good intentions it is penned to achieve.

Everyone fully understands the need for media outlets to attain advertising income. The business model doesn’t work without it, of course, but every business must more importantly understand what its customers want and what annoys them so much they might not come back.

I’ll make an initial statement here to set the scene for the rest of the letter. The pop-up adverts and embedded video that bursts into life as you land on a page on your websites are, by some considerable distance, the most annoying, intrusive and un-customer focused I have seen across the entire internet. To quote one well-esteemed local reader, it is “simply the worst website I’ve ever used”.

Let me give you an analogy.

You open a shop, you have stuff in there people want to buy, but to maximise your income you rent out the front 2m sq to an advertiser. The key bit right by the front door. Your potential customers then have to walk into the shop and have a fistful of leaflets shoved in their face by an obnoxious, loud, brash salesperson who refuses to let customers see any of the merchandise in YOUR shop before you have read what he’s got to show you.

Would you continue to shop in a shop like that? Would you go anywhere near it again? No, of course you wouldn’t.

The real pity is that if you can brave the intrusiveness of the adverts and manoeuvre your way around the minefields of clicks you must achieve just to read, there is some great content there and your hard-working journalists might actually get to see their articles read by the numbers of people they deserve.

Advertising online is a mixture between a numbers game and careful targeting. The numbers game bit you may feel like you’re winning, especially when you can point to ‘number of people served to’ statistics and claim success. If you genuinely believe this is the long-term model for growth and success though, surely you, as a person and a consumer, can see this is woefully inadequate thinking

One day, when your readership has diminished to such a level that even in the numbers game you’re not achieving what’s required, you’ll look back at these tactics as naïve, abrasive and totally, wholly unnecessary.

“I don't even attempt to look on there anymore. The adverts make my phone freeze”

This has annoyed me for a number of years, and as such I estimate I read once a week, rather than daily, or multiple times daily as I do other key websites of interest to me. This particularly came to light for me as I have recently started writing an online blog on Bristol City for the Bristol Post, something I’m proud to be doing, but I know of dozens of people who have said to me words along the lines of “Sorry but I can’t read it, all those bloody adverts get in the way”.

Scale up the dozens who have gone out of their way and written or spoken to me to express this and surely you must wonder what sort of volumes this relates to across the region?

In this modern age it’s not as if there are a lack of alternatives? Long gone are the days when a brand could continually ignore what its customers want and just plough on regardless. If you want readers to engage with you across the multiple platforms, you need to give them reason to do so. In fact, you’re doing the polar opposite – you’re actively turning them off in a way I’ve not seen any other business do.

Look after your customers (readers) and they’ll look after you.

Listen to their needs and their concerns, do something about it, and they’ll respond, as long as it’s not already too late.

To get better advertising revenues you need better adverts and you need people to WANT to click on them, not be forced to.

To get better advertising revenues you need more readers. I conservatively estimate you could double your readers of the sports section in particular on the Bristol Post if you didn’t shove those obnoxious flyers in their face the second they walk through the door. DOUBLE!

The day your group realises that and changes its strategy, could be the first day of the rest of your lives.

Yours, a very frustrated and annoyed potential regular reader,

Paul Binning

I won't reprint their replies word for word, as they are not my words to do so with and they were sent via private correspondence so they may not wish them to be made public, but firstly I had a response from Sarah Pullen, Managing Director of the South West regions, thanking me for my thoughts and offering me the chance to give more detailed feedback to their technical team so they cam look at improving the experience. I will be gladly taking her up on her offer.

This was then followed last week by a reply from the CEO himself, who thanked me for my "well-informed and insightful letter", stating he couldn't argue with my logic.

He promised imminent changes to content layout and an improved user experience.

So who knows, maybe letters such as mine do still have an impact and could lead to an easier read for all involved. There will undoubtedly still be adverts - and possibly some pop-ups - but hopefully they've learned some lessons and a less intrusive and obstructive approach will be implemented.

The Exiled Robin

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Cotterill's Chicks and the Ashton Gate hoodoo

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 11:15:00 GMT

I'm dreading the sort of autobot tweets that might head my way calling this blog post that, but as I review Cotterill's policy of not picking a youth player to fill the bench, you'll understand the heading!

The bulk of the article looks at the nervousness and lack of confidence seeping through the club at a pace right now, whilst I finish on what is sure to be a topic to get you talking - Cotterill's lack of willingness to put a youngster on the bench when there's a spare spot, something I personally feel quite strongly about.

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTOL-CITY-BLOG/story-27966626-detail/story.html

Please let me know you thoughts, via the blog comments, the Post comments box or via more traditional channels such as Twitter/Facebook

Thanks all for reading!

The Exiled Robin

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Ipswich Town v Bristol City: The Tractor Boys' view

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 17:38:00 GMT

With memories of a 6-0 drubbing, amongst other Portman Road defeats, still relatively fresh in the memory, as well as Ipswich’s pedigree at this level, then Suffolk is probably one of the last places City would choose to head towards to right the wrongs of a difficult start to the season.

Saying that, a win at Middlesbrough earlier in the season should give them confidence that, on their day, they can go anywhere in this division and get a result.

A game that at the start of the season where many might have thought “ah, we’ve got ‘x’ points, it’s not been a bad start and we never do well there. A loss may not be too hard to take” has suddenly into another critical test of City’s credentials at this level.

Given the start to the season and our inexperience at this level, many managers of many sides would head into this match considering a 4-5-1 formation to bolster the hitherto porous defensive record.

Get ten men behind the ball, keep it tight and if we can snatch a breakaway then fantastic. That sort of approach doesn’t seem to be in the mind of boss Steve Cotterill right now however, and it appears as if the 3-5-2 – and attacking philosophy – is here to stay. For now at least.

Ahead of this game (and Ipswich’s trip to Manchester United for a high-profile league cup-tie), I caught up with Tractor Boys fan Jordan Mitchell, who offered this view on Saturday’s opponents.

How has your start to the season been, are you pleased with your progress?

“At the time of writing, our game against City is a million miles away. The glitz and glamour of a trip to Old Trafford in the Capital One Cup is all that’s on the fans mind. The bright lights of the Theatre of Dreams are certainly dazzling in the fan’s eyes, but all hopes are that this doesn’t distract from the bread and butter of the Championship come Saturday when the Robins roll into Suffolk.

Like many a season following Town, it started with so much hope and saw us top of the table as we approached the end of the first month. Wins over Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley, Preston along with cup wins over lower league opposition were somewhat soured with an eye opening defeat to Brighton at Portman Road. The 3-2 score line somewhat flattered us after an atrocious first half display where Brighton opened our defence at will. More alarmingly was the 5-1 humiliation at the hands of Reading, which again demonstrated our defensive frailties, live into the living rooms of all who wish to observe.

A typical Mick McCarthy response came at Leeds as we ground out a well-earned 1-0 win, and followed that up with a 1-1 draw at home to surprising high fliers Birmingham, a match we could and probably should have won.

All in all a successful start to the season which has left us sitting in a position which reflects our exciting start, and newly uncovered frailties defensively. Going forward, we need to win our home games, and pick up as many points of possible and ultimately reach the aim of the Premier League.”

Who have been your standout performers this season?

“Our success this season has really been down to the exciting additions to the strong side we had from last year on the wings. Ainsley Maitland Niles and possibly more so Ryan Fraser, coming in on loan from Arsenal and Bournemouth respectively adding some much needed width which top scorer Freddie Sears who has thrived on the service.

A lot will depend on the action in the north west on Wednesday, but City alike many others may struggle with last season’s top scorer Daryl Murphy and ever lively David McGoldrick should they start on Saturday. Ashton Gate hero (ER: That will provoke some debate!) Cole Skuse will run the game given the chance to and defensive duo Christophe Berra and Tommy Smith are always prone to a goal from a set piece.”

What are the views of the locals on the gaffer, Mick McCarthy?

“The Telegraph’s greatest ever Yorkshire-man (a vote possibly rigged by Town fans), Mick McCarthy has become one of the most loved men in Suffolk since taking over in November 2012. Taking us from the foot of the Championship to occasionally the summit on our now famous ‘shoestring budget’ just shows the skills and ability the man has. Ultimately last season was a disappointment, losing to ‘them lot’ in the play-offs, but one which saw us punch well above our weight and surprise many of the more spoken about sides.”

What are the strengths and weaknesses of this Town squad?

“With a million and one combinations of squad that we’ll play at United, it’s hard to say who will face City come Saturday, but our defence has come under severe scrutiny in recent weeks. Communication between ex City keeper Dean Gerken and our back line is a huge weakness and is often exploited. Portman Road is not an easy place to come, and with 4 excellent strikers at our disposal it’s likely to be another tough test for Cotterill and his side. Our usual 4-4-2 has been chopped and changed often becoming a 4-3-3 away from home, with the wide men often linking up well with our full backs to great effect.”

Jordan is also in a relatively unusual position of having watched nearly as many City games as Ipswich in the past year or so as his girlfriend is a huge City fan. She has persuaded him to follow us around the country, in exchange for her catching up on the progress of the likes of Cole Skuse, Paul Anderson and Dean Gerken in Suffolk.

It’s always interesting to hear a fairly neutral view on the club, so first of all I asked him what his views were on City’s surprisingly stuttering start to the season. (He’s a bit of a fan of ours, really!)

“Having seen a lot of City last season with my better half being a lifelong City fan, I was honoured to share an incredible season and witness some of the clubs finest hours throughout the season. From JET’s last minute penalty at Notts County, through to Wembley in March and promotion come May, I was impressed with the side from front to back time and time again.

So far this season, however, there are some clear differences in how things have gone. From the outside, talking about City with those Ipswich fans without the inside view that I have, they’ve been written off already by many and are expected to be an easy three points on Saturday. Having been at St. Andrews a week ago, it’s clear to me that City are in need of a real confidence boost along with a couple of additions in the loan market.

As much as I praised him last season, Luke Ayling is not a wing back, and cannot do the job that Mark Little did so well last season. This along with not being Championship savvy again when it comes to playing the referee and some basic errors mean that City are struggling before their trip to Suffolk.”

From what you’ve seen, who are you most worried about facing?

“Immediately what worries me watching City is the ever increasing threat of Johnathan Kodjia, and the fantastic talent of Luke Freeman. Both started the season slowly, but with each passing game seem to be more and more of a threat as they adapt to Championship football.

My main worry however is City’s own Joe Bryan who rightly has been attracting attention from the higher reaches of the game. He will cause often shaky right back Luke Chambers several problems if he plays at his best.

No discussion about City’s top players would be complete without discussing Aden Flint. His ability at set pieces is sure to test our struggling defence and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him latch onto a second ball in the box and add to his goals tally.”

And how do you think City’s season will pan out?

“Despite their tough start and poor results, City haven’t been outplayed in any of their games, bar the opener against Sheffield Wednesday. With a possible loan addition and a little bit of luck will see City achieve a good mid-table finish without the worry and stress of a relegation fight. Steve Cotterill has worked wonders since arriving in BS3 and I expect him to be given the time and support needed from the board and more importantly, the fans, as the season goes on.

Saturday will be a tough game, regardless of City’s start to the season. Tiredness and the excitement of the glamour tie will undoubtedly have an effect on Ipswich and may work in City’s favour.

Regardless of this, I can see a 2-1 home win on Saturday, because of our ability to grind out a result when needed and City’s current woes when it comes to converting chances."

Massive thanks to Jordan for his time and for answering the questions. I know he wishes us well for the season (after Saturday) but let’s hope we aren’t the ‘easy game’ some Ipswich fans clearly perceive us to be.

COYR!

The Exiled Robin

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We deserve better! - Bristol Post blog

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 12:14:00 GMT

My latest blog for the Bristol Post is here, focusing on our start to the season, whether or not we are in a false position and examining whether wholesale changes are required to reverse results in our favour

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTOL-CITY-BLOG-Robins-doing-doing/story-27817156-detail/story.html

Thanks all for comments, shares, RTS etc - the reaction to these so far has been tremendous!

Five games in - season review so far

noreply@blogger.com (The Exiled Robin) — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 21:28:00 GMT

Last week an email popped into my inbox from my Dad, who had decided to pick up the virtual pen and key some thoughts on the start to City's season. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to upload this until now, so some comments (especially those on the transfer window) are a touch out of date, albeit, ultimately prophetic!

Over to Mr Binning Snr...

"Gary Johnson always used to say that you have to wait for ten games to assess how you are doing in a new season, and then reassess in ten game blocks. Well as we are fans we don't need to wait ten games, do we?

We now have an international break after five games and I am off to the sun (hopefully!) for a week, so that I don't miss a City match.

Having seen every minute of every League game so far, I think that four points from five games is harsh, when set against our performances so far. I suppose it could be a bit of a reality check that in this much tougher Division than League 1, you have to do a bit more than just play good football.

It has been very refreshing that Cotts has stuck to our attacking football philosophy, but in order for that to be successful we now need a stronger and better defensive base.

Against Sheffield Wednesday I thought we were very naïve at times and whilst I don't very often disagree with what Cotts says after a game, I really didn't think we deserved anything out of that game.

They got the first goal from a set piece, which was a rarity for us to concede from last season. This may be an indication of different qualities needed at the higher level as it has already become a recurring theme so far. Whenever we started playing fast passing football they slowed the game down, either by wasting time or players going down feigning injuries. It completely disrupted our rhythm. We nearly scored from a corner and they immediately broke away and scored a second goal. End of game.

First home game against Brentford, and wasn't it exciting to see the brilliant new stadium taking shape? Thank you Mr. Lansdown! Our football for the first 35 mins was breathtaking, but unfortunately we didn't make enough of our opportunities, and then Luke Freeman got sent off. However even in those first 35 mins we were still a bit loose defensively. It was always going to be a bit of an uphill struggle from then on, and sure enough Brentford won, but we still made mistakes to contribute to some of their goals.

Next to the home match against Leeds in midweek. Things are starting to get a bit repetitive now. Started strongly, played some good football, got caught out and gave a goal away. We gave away a poor second goal in the 2nd half and we were up against it again. We managed to stage a grandstand finish for those fans that hadn't already given up and grabbed a draw at the death. As Cotts said, it was the least we deserved.

Why do so many people leave early? It might only be half an hour of your life but if you have taken the time and effort to get there in the first place why go before it finishes?

On to Boro with no great expectations. We were brilliant in the first half, deservedly took the lead and should have been more than one up at half time. It was obvious they were going to come at us hard in the second half and they certainly did that. We dug in and defended well, had a bit of luck for probably the first time this season, and hung on for the win.

Boy, that was well worth the long drive home through some of the worst thunderstorms I have ever driven in.

Was that the springboard for us to kick on? Well yes, and no really! Again we were brilliant against Burnley for the first 30 mins and should have scored a goal or two. But we didn't and they scored from 2 corners. We certainly don't lack anything in effort and team spirit, but at the moment what we do lack is a bit of guile and experience at this level.

Writing before the transfer window closes what do we need? On the player front, I have not been convinced so far by Hamer, and I think the defenders in front of him are a bit nervous of his decisions. Flint has been outstanding, probably our best player so far. I'm not sure about Williams mainly because he gives the ball away too easily, and it has cost us goals. Ayling is a good footballer and a bit of a free spirit, but maybe more suited to wing back if we can get another defender in, or right back if we play a back four.

It's too early to judge Mark Little yet as he's obviously not up to match fitness yet. On the other side Joe Bryan has done most of what you could expect up to now, and I'm sure he will improve just as he did last season. Not much wrong with Smith and Pack in the centre of midfield, although I hear the moaners are starting to get on Pack's back.

Bobby Reid has been a revelation since he came on against Leeds, although when he starts a game he seems less effective in the second half. With Luke Freeman coming back next game we should certainly have no problem in that area. Wilbraham has worked his socks off every game, but he can't keep doing that for another 41 games. Kodjia has looked better with every game, I do hope he is settling in ok as he could be a real prospect.

So what do we need? I would say two central defenders, one on each side of Flint, and another striker. Easy isn't it? Get on with it Cotts!

All joking aside, I like most City fans think that Cotts has done a great job for us so far, and I'm sure with Steve's backing we can establish ourselves in this League, even if some of the big names don't want to come down to Cider country.