Bristol City Post Match Thread

[21st Century Fox]

To be honest Col I came on here expecting something else, but I have to say this is the best post I've seen you write. Genuinely glad to see someone being reasonable about it. Agree with all your points though I'd say that as bad as it must look to drop Mills after one game, Captain or not all the players know they'll be rotations with the team, so you could really look at it from both sides, St. Ledger deserved a chance whatever at some point but he obviously hasn't taken it, Mills or any player shouldn't be able to rest on their laurels. I'm torn with the timing also though.

[Jace]

You are right here... Maynards running and finishing was superb. He is sooo too good for brizzle...

although st ledger gifted him the 2nd he made sure he took it the free kick was class and he was close to setting up a 3rd at the end cant see him putting in a transfer request for our benefit now though unfortunately, thought schmeichel had no chance with the goals

[OzFox]

I think the decision is based on many things including their relationship, Mills character, his physical and mental state unless you know all this and other information I don't think you're in a position to judge.

Having been a manager in business I've had to deal with a number of different people some you give a serious bollocking too and some you put an arm around their shoulder and provide encouragement and support.

Then there is the impact on the team if they feel that Mills the Captain is not pulling his weight and not just under the weather then the dropping sends out a clear message to them of fair treatment to all whatever their status.

It's a complex issue and goes way beyond whether he cost £4.5 mill or is the Captain.

Well said

Add to that Mills attitude and performance in training. Sven has mentioned many times that this has an influence on his team selections

[liamsm]

Now that the anger and frustration has subsided a little I wanted to post a couple of calmer views about last nights performance.

There are those that are calling for time for the 'squad to gel'.... Whislt other squads appear to have already 'gelled' I do think we have actually made so many new signings that we will probably need longer than most to bed them in... So I agree with this

Secondly, there were those last night that were claiming to be happy that Matt mills had been dropped. However shocking mills had been on sat (and to be fair, he did have a stinker), to drop your club captain for the next game is fundamentally ridiculous man management. To do so after a run of poor performances because the player really needs a wake up call is understandable, but to do it after one game is bizarre to say the least. As it happens, St ledger played ok, but that's not the point being made here.

Thirdly, there were times last night when we kept the ball very nicely... Nugent's work rate was again great, king made some good bursting runs and, when the ball actually got to dyer he made a couple of decent crosses last night, one leading to a header in which their keeper made a super save.

So, to summarise.... Neither a Sven hater nor a Sven bummer be... Give him till Christmas time to get this right and if we are obviously not going anywhere under his stewardship by then, a rethink will be needed IMO. By Christmas he will have had long enough to show us whether he is going to be the manager we want or not..

Christmas will be far to late imo

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Anyone else felt depressed last night?

Woeful performance. A few of them didn't seem fit enough to play the whole game.

Agreed Wymesy, some of the Leicester players were shocking fitness wise

[Jiggers the Fox]

I'll happy accept the last 2 results for a win at Forest.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

I'll happy accept the last 2 results for a win at Forest.

amen to that brother

[themotivator]

Now that the anger and frustration has subsided a little I wanted to post a couple of calmer views about last nights performance.

There are those that are calling for time for the 'squad to gel'.... Whislt other squads appear to have already 'gelled' I do think we have actually made so many new signings that we will probably need longer than most to bed them in... So I agree with this

Secondly, there were those last night that were claiming to be happy that Matt mills had been dropped. However shocking mills had been on sat (and to be fair, he did have a stinker), to drop your club captain for the next game is fundamentally ridiculous man management. To do so after a run of poor performances because the player really needs a wake up call is understandable, but to do it after one game is bizarre to say the least. As it happens, St ledger played ok, but that's not the point being made here.

Thirdly, there were times last night when we kept the ball very nicely... Nugent's work rate was again great, king made some good bursting runs and, when the ball actually got to dyer he made a couple of decent crosses last night, one leading to a header in which their keeper made a super save.

So, to summarise.... Neither a Sven hater nor a Sven bummer be... Give him till Christmas time to get this right and if we are obviously not going anywhere under his stewardship by then, a rethink will be needed IMO. By Christmas he will have had long enough to show us whether he is going to be the manager we want or not..

i agree. it took too long for us to regain control after their first goal but when we did i was very happy with the football we were playing. i didn't think that there was a problem with the way we built up play patiently because when we did find the right pass to their box we were passing it around quickly and dangerously. in this period DN scored his goal and could have got another. i don't think our fans gave us enough credit. instead they screamed and shouted every pass which didn't send a player through on goal. there is not much i can say about the SSL incident other than it was the last thing we needed to happen. totally broke the control we ha over the game in the second half.

[Thracian]

On reflection, there were times when we got forward and played some lovely passing football, just the final penetrating pass was lacking and that will come once the players get to know each others movement more, you may say that's what pre-season is for but the games we played were nothing like championship games!

You're right but we can't have kamikazi defending and our already questionable back four trying to twist, turn and dribble their way out of the back third. Better Wayne Brown than that! I'm sure these footballers play two-touch on the training ground - why not do the same for real? Or aren't they good enough?

[Jace]

Christmas will be far to late imo

you got to give the team a chance before then would be too soon to change around the team yet again, the transfer window wont open to january anyway this is svens team

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

you got to give the team a chance before then would be too soon to change around the team yet again, the transfer window wont open to january anyway this is svens team

Christmas is too late. He has had most of last season and a pre season to get in his players and make things work. I'll give him ten games max and if we arent up there I do think he should go.

[dwheatstone]

How about this for a suggestion, playing a back 4 of konchesky, mills, st ledger, peltier with babmba just in front then wellens, danns and king with vassell and nugent up front worth a shot?

[Guest Col city fan]

How about this for a suggestion, playing a back 4 of konchesky, mills, st ledger, peltier with babmba just in front then wellens, danns and king with vassell and nugent up front worth a shot?

Not a bad shout actually.. Again though it gives us little width... On the subject of bamba playing just in front of the back four, I suggested this last season but was shouted down... From what I see of bamba he is good in the air, good at tackling AND can bring the ball forward quite comfortably. He might look like a gangly bloke but is actually quite fleet of foot for a big fella. Bamba as a defensive midfielder playing just in front of the back four? Yes... I can see mileage in that

[lcfcadam]

No amount of "morning after the night before" will change my opinion that Sean St Ledger's overall performance, attitude and demeanour on the pitch last night was amongst the worst performances by a Leicester player I've ever seen.

Up until THAT mistake, he'd been utterly uninterested, slow to respond and generally just not bothered.

Then take a look at his reaction to losing the ball which led to the goal - he jogged back towards the goal at a slow canter throwing away any potential for salvaging the situation had Maynard made a mistake. If that'd been a proper footballer, he would have been BOMBING back towards goal as soon as he lost the ball, desperately trying to make up for his terrible mistake.

He needs to change absolutely EVERYTHING about his game if he's to be a success here, quite a big ask...

[marbelladave]

First of all I thought the team selection was reasonable, on paper at least.

However Peltier was a bit off the pace for him, maybe brought back a game or two earliy.....

Mills missed a fair bit of pre season with his injured toe, he looked a bit unfit to me so I was comfortable with him being rested.

The rest of the team selection was reasonable given what was available but naturally I would have preferred Danns (or pretty much anyone else) to Wellens.

In reality it was very different, SSL looked nervous as hell and with Peltier not at his best the right side of our defence looked fragile. Fernandez looked dazed, Wellens pretty useless and as holding players they were largely ineffective, getting in each others way on ocassion.

King as a forward midfield player is a joke, he does little during the buildup and simply does not have the skills to unlock a set defence, either by running at the defence or incisive passing.

Our forward players may not be the best but given what they had to work with it is hardly surprising, Nugen was decent first half and very good second, pleased for him that he got the goal.

[El Sieffsi]

Another frustrating game last night and some things have GOT to change playwise..it was almost a carbon copy of the Reading game,same long balls to Nugent with no support,(nice goal btw..knew it was coming..MOTM imo),same nervous passing from midfield,getting into space was almost non-existent and when there was a chance to run through gaps as wide as a road..the ball got played sideways instead of putting pressure on their defence and maybe drawing a foul/penalty.Most of our chances came from crosses from the corner area..when we did get a corner it was the same set up again and again..all grouped together around the far side of the 6 yard area and Bamba smothered,same as last season when it took over 100 corners to score from.

I'm not on the "time to gel" bandwagon,they are professionals who have been playing together pre-season and in training for long enough to know when to make a run/play the through ball to em..just seems to me the way we are playing is as easy to read as a See Spot Run book..but as Waghorn said repeatedly in yesterdays Mercury..it's "early doors"..I'm sure the wins will come,but the sooner the better,not just for the morale of the team,also for the fans..especially the ones who boo'd,I'm not saying they don't have the right to..but it really doesn't help..I'm sure most of us have been told we were sh!t at something and I'm sure we can recall how we felt after..some will agree and some will not..but it's counter productive imo..1 more thing while I go off on another tangent..why is "E I E I E I O" sung before the final whistle when we know we have gained points?..pride before a fall and all that...Keep the Faith/Passion!!

Oh..and did anybody else see the so called "ref" smirk when he gave the second foul throw??..the Thomas Tanker!!

[Corky]

Well, I was one of those that thought Saturday was a one-off and we would bounce back, sadly I was mistaken.

We were all too predictable, no cutting edge and no stretching the opposition. We kept possession better but weren't quick or sharp enough with our passing, allowing Bristol City to get men behind the ball and keep a shape.

Bad goals conceded again and even more worryingly, a lack of shots on target. There is none of the fluency to our play as seen last season, players aren't making themselves available.

There are some games where you come away feeling we did enough to win and didn't get the goals. There was no feeling of that sort last night, just flatness and frustration. I should've seen it coming.

[cc_star]

Christmas is too late. He has had most of last season and a pre season to get in his players and make things work. I'll give him ten games max and if we arent up there I do think he should go.

There's a 2 week international break after 10 to 12 games, that break helped Sven massively when he took over after Sousa's departure, ultimately it was too late to save the season last time around, but any sooner would be madness & any later & we may as well keep Sven rather than pay him his £1.5m wages to get himself out of the mess (if we're in one) than paying him off so that to look for some other rich owners to con.

[Corky]

It just showed me that we need a ball-playing central midfielder, someone who will receive the ball from the defence and move it on quickly.

Our build up play is too slow.

[WardyisPukka]

Totally agree Corky!! our build up play is far too slow and opposing teams work us out straight away

We haven't got one genuine player who is willing to run at defences at create chances. We need a winger just as much as a striker!.

[kingfox]

1.Mills confidence was knocked to the core, he shouldn't be captain anyway in all fairness had a bad game and St Ledger deserved a chance.

2.We created more chances than we did against Reading by an absolute mile.

3.Someone saying they felt nervous with Kasper in goal, he caught and punched perfectly well in my opinion

4.We lack creative players, we created more but we need pace and strikers to finish the goods.

5.St Ledger played much better 2nd half, wish people would stop slating him.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

IT'S NOT ONE GAME! Has everybody missed the other games that he's played including at Cov where he looked average and Rotherham where he scored a poor own goal?

For me he's shown nothing so far, dropping him was justified with St Ledger waiting for his chance.

You've been poor, we expect better, I don't care who you are, you play poorly you're not gona keep your place.

As I said in another thread, this is no different with Pantsil and Peltier. Neither will have been told they're first choice, they're both more than adequate of playing in the Championship. Whichever one is playing will know that if he doesn't perform then the other will be in to take his shirt, it's competition for places.

You get dropped and you start to sulk? Then it's more than likely the guy who's replaced you will keep his spot

You work hard in training to win your place back? You'll be back in the team.

Sven's banged on about two in every position all summer, these guys will have known the deal when they signed up.

[Amin]

The thing I don't get is why I feel so pissed off. I've been telling myself all pre-season that we will probably make a slow start and that last year shows that it is never to late to make a promotion charge, but I still feel so dissapointed.

[MikeyT]

Richie Wellens has described the boos after last night's defeat to Bristol City as "a bit harsh".

[Kent]

Richie Wellens has described the boos after last night's defeat to Bristol City as "a bit harsh".

He's probably right, it wouldn't surprise me if our away form ends up better than home at the minute.