ALC Fox

Cannot wait to see what kind of a difference Bristric makes with all these balls being swung in

Alves has put in some dangerous crosses and played really well overall. Next time it opens up for him I want to see him hit it.

Alves

McCarthy, Okoli, Souttar and Skipp all ponderous in possession. Need to be popping it off more quickly. These lot are pressing us really well. A bit better in the last few minutes but only because our midfield is getting a bit more time on the ball. I just don't think the players above are suited to the type of football Martin wants us to play - at least on the evidence of this game so far.

Managed Notts County on Premier Manager 98 on one of these bad boys. I hope they're as bad as I was when I took the reins at 12 years old.

Just a tiny thing but I've thought for a while that I'd remove the blue border around the pitch and make it proper green grass again. The blue looks a bit sanitised and too on-brand to me. 100% agree about the faded seats. While watching Sunderland 'Til I Die years ago I thought it was emblematic of their plummet through the divisions and I feel exactly the same about ours. I'd like to see proper outreach in the city. I think there's loads of untapped talent. It's been a while since I played but with the past popularity of Goals, St. Margaret's Pastures, etc., I think there's tons of inner city talent that the club could do with finding and nurturing. The adults playing 5 and 6-a-side right now are 99.99% past the point of making it but it shows the interest is there. Finding that talent when they're still at school could be brilliant for the club and the city. Maybe they're already doing something like that but it feels like most of our homegrown talent still comes from the county when there's a ton of kids in the city with potential too.

The Skittles-Smirnoff Jamie Vardy Stadium

100% A decent goal return is enough as long as he occupies defenders and creates space for others to arrive in dangerous areas and score

Would be ideal if both Evans and Otchere play together often. Could be part of a future front two or three for us.

Interesting that he's being signed by a team that finished third in the same league we're now in

The most frustrating thing about this is we're being picked off because we are where we are and the finances are in a perilous state. If we were in the Prem he may still go but we would likely not have to sell and could hold out for the maximum fee possible. If we were pushing for Europe it's likely he'd stay and he could've become a club stalwart and future legend. It's good that we have this avenue to bail us out of the quagmire we've made for ourselves but it still feels like pure sh!t. Seagrave starting to pay for itself is all well and good, but is it too much to ask to have our own version of the Class of '92 who could propel us back up the leagues and have us challenging for trophies? Another thing that sticks in the craw: Top selling off the family silver to save his arse, avoid future points deductions and the prospect of years in the lower leagues and/or a winding up order just so he can get the price he wants for the club and we can finally get shot of him

What's weird about this period is that because of the signings we've made it's like we've taken a step or two backwards compared to some pre-season performances where Martin worked with a fixed group of players for several weeks. We've now had a few more outgoings and a few more coming in plus Souttar properly back from the World Cup and we need to give this changing squad time to get used to one another and form those relationships that looked quite tight among the young players. Some will say, well just play the young lads then, but I guess it isn't quite as simple as that. The more experienced new signings need to get up to speed as they will be important as the season develops. I'd like to see more of Page, Carr, Gray and Neale, for example. But at this point we need patience for the manager's methods to get through to the whole squad, which is still in the process of being shaped, and hopefully the youngsters get minutes as part of a coherent, balanced, winning squad. The win yesterday will have given the players a boost. It's one thing looking good and getting some decent results in pre-season but it's another thing getting over the line when it matters. Hopefully there's another win next weekend and we build from there.

Didn't watch it and only watched the 1 minute 42 seconds highlights. Doesn't sound like it was the best game. What I do wonder, though, is perhaps Martin is doing one of the following two things: 1. Giving the likes of Souttar, Reid and Mavididi enough rope to hang themselves, i.e. if they can't affect games at this level, why would he continue to put his trust in them when he's signing players who can take their place (hopefully at least one CB comes in). 2. Starting the above players while the transfer window is open to give the impression that they are important to us and therefore more likely to command a fee. Or perhaps I'm clutching at straws. One thing I do think is that our starting XIs could still look quite different come September.

The thing about both Choudhury and Thomas is that they both have redeeming attributes. Choudhury has heart and physicality, and he can really time a tackle. Thomas is a decent passer and crosser and gets forward into decent positions. Both of their troubles are in the defensive areas. Thomas has bulked up but he's still often bullied and they're both frequently out of position. I know Choudhury was playing LB against Málaga at the time but he's played on the opposite side enough not to play their goalscorer on by a furlong for their late equaliser. In my opinion, both players have shown that they're not good enough for a Premier League squad or a Championship squad that's chasing promotion. The irony is that the club is now arguably at their level. But they've been at the club long enough that it feels as though we're still aiming higher than their ceilings. I think they'd both be decent squad players at this level. But we want to be higher than where we are and in my eyes they're tarnished by our downfall. They can't just shed that baggage and so I'd rather they both went, unfortunately. It pains me to think like that about academy graduates but I do think the squad needs to move on with fresh energy.

On the one hand Bristric hasn't started many games and at 23 you'd expect him to be a bit further along in his development than he is. But on the other hand he's done well when he has started, his goals-to-minutes ratio is really good and he's started to show that he could be coming of age in a division with a very similar power ranking to League One, showing that - if he can come in and settle - his next step could be starting and scoring regularly at the level we're at. Does that about capture the prevailing narrative?

Bristol City have been knocking on the door of a promotion tilt for a while haven't they. They just keep falling away. Maybe this is their season. I do hope we have something up our sleeve aside from Bristric though.

Me too. I was hyped for him making an impact in difficult circumstances having passed every test thrown at him so far. Maybe it'll be one of those transfers where by January it's obvious that he's ready. It does make you wonder if Bristic is going to be our only out-and-out CF signing, though, or if it is just him with Cullen and Chaplin able to step in when needed. Anyway, I hope Otchere smashes it at Cheltenham and gives Martin or whoever is our manager in January or August next year a real headache.

Every chance he comes here absolutely pumped as well

Genuinely just start Otchere

Orange you glad he never babysat you?

If Joseph is actually keeping Aluko out of the side, he must be pretty decent

Last time we signed Jack Hobbs, Lloyd Dyer, Michael Morrison, Dany N'Guessan, Kerrea Gilbert, Bruno Berner, Paul Dickov, Nicky Adams, Chris Powell, etc. Pearson took us up then into the playoffs the following year. If he hadn't have gone, we probably would have gone up again before he came back and did so in 13/14. We're signing players for now. If we go up again, we'll sign players for then. A lot can happen in a year. We may not be owned by KP by then either.

6'3" winger? Would add to our physical presence. Apparently he's quick as well? Millwall were probably as bad as an automatic promotion chasing team could be last season. We were historically bad and should have beaten them when they were still going for top two. If Brighton think he's a prospect, that's good enough for me. Dropping down to League One, he has something to prove as well, a lot like Chaplin and Martin.

I'm sure he's a brilliant signing for this level so I'm not trying to throw any shade on Cullen. But, you'd think going from throwing silly money at Youri Tielemans and Jamie Vardy in the Premier League to throwing silly money at Liam Cullen in League One would be enough of a wake-up call to Jon Rudkin that maybe this Director of Football lark isn't for him Or at least a wake-up call for his employers. Ah, silly me, I forgot I was thinking about King Power here

100% part of the problem. Absolutely horrid recruitment when the experienced pros had among the worst attitudes in the squad.