Top of the league - Not anymore - Bristol post match

[Grewks]

Anybody know why Terry Connor (ex wolves boss) was at the game today?

Walked past him before kick-off.

Would be nice if he was here for the job of replacing chris powell, he is a very good coach.

[Libertine Dream]

We have yet another opposite manager impressed with us, saying we will be in the PL next year after a comfortable but not amazing win but yet some people still appear down in the dumps. It all looks promising but yet moans still come due to the fact we appeared too comfortable, but why exert yourselves after a tiring period.

Marshall is becoming a concern, I hope he comes back after the break refreshed because at the moment he's slipping towards Gallagher

[Daggers]

The visiting fans must have been so relieved when we just protected what we had while showing decidedly limited ambition thereafter.

Oh by Christ give this shtick a rest.

After the first twenty minutes of tearing them apart we went on to score two goals. Not bad for a side with "decidedly limited ambition". Get a new record you fool.

[inckley fox]

Some of the comments here baffle me.

1) Marshall has 4 assists this season. He hasn't fired on all cylinders but he is still a threat. A winger needs pace and trickery? Well, our best ever winger was Guppy and he had neither. In fact to the naked eye he looked shit most of the time, just happened to set up a staggering number of goals year in, year out. So, well, just saying...

2) It was a solid performance. People pay to be entertained? So what we have to entertain 46 games per season? Is it NEVER enough simply to do a job and wrap up 3 points? It's a sorry thing that a fan can see his team win their 5th game on the trot, having entertained all season, and moan that his side has opted for a pragmatic approach to wrapping up a win. Seriously. If we adopted that approach then we'd never win anything.

3) Whitbread looked fine. He's not played a league game all season, of course he's a bit rusty. Thracian said 'he sure needs to improve', well, yes, he's likely to. I'd have thought that went without saying. I felt that the implication in that comment was that this was a cause for concern. If that's what Thracian was suggesting then he needs to take a step back for a minute, There may be a reason for this.

[Grewks]

Is our home support as bad as we think it is??

Brizzle fans seem to rate it quite highly......

http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/172872-Rod-did-you-enjoy-it

[Kitchandro]

I thought we were very loud in spells, especially the first half hour when we were playing well, sounded brilliant just after the goal. We did go quiet as the game became slower though.

The acoustics are certainly not the best for reverberating around the ground but I can imagine it sounds pretty decent if you're on the pitch, which is something we've heard about the design. I sat at the bottom of the family stand today, never sat there before (well maybe I did in the early days but not for a long time) and it sounds much better than I thought it would, and I think the players would have a similar viewpoint as they're sort of opposite the singing area like I was.

Anyway, I've never thought our home support was bad in comparison to the rest of the league, although of course it could be a lot better. I can remember plenty of good atmospheres. On the other hand I don't think I've ever been to an away game when I've been impressed with the home support.

[MPH]

Anybody know why Terry Connor (ex wolves boss) was at the game today?

Walked past him before kick-off.

Would be nice if he was here for the job of replacing chris powell, he is a very good coach.

I wonder if he has been working with us behind the scenes.... might explain the 5 game winning run!

[foxoffderby]

Anybody know why Terry Connor (ex wolves boss) was at the game today?

Walked past him before kick-off.

Would be nice if he was here for the job of replacing chris powell, he is a very good coach.

Its possible. More likely hes doing some freelance scouting work for another club while hes out of a job.

[accessory]

Very accomplished and professional performance, reminiscent of many during our last second tier promotion season in 02-03.

Bristol's chance in the opening seconds, comfortably saved by Kasper, proved to be the only one they created all afternoon.

We were as dominant in the first half-hour as we've been for a long time, and should have had more than one goal to show for it. Vardy was twice clear on goal but inexplicably chose to pass rather than shoot. Credit to him for setting up Nugent's opener, though.

Thought Drinkwater and King eased up a little after that. Maybe the physical demands of the previous two games caught up with them, and others, a little bit. But Big Wes was as solid as ever, and led the defence superbly. Even the loss of Konch and SSL barely disrupted the side.

Meanwhile Knockaert gave another classy performance, though not quite producing the same kind of heroics as at Huddersfield. He also took a few whacks, though, and with refs in this league being so weak, this treatment is something he may have to endure for the rest of the season. His fitness and stamina will be key to whether we can sustain a promotion and maybe even a title challenge.

There have been so many false dawns in recent seasons that many City sceptics are still to be convinced that this current team is the real deal. The attendance figure of just over 22k is a reflection of this general apprehension.

But if the manager can keep this squad fit and on form, there isn't a team in this league who we should fear, home or away.

[Uncle Phil]

Its possible. More likely hes doing some freelance scouting work for another club while hes out of a job.

Radio Bristol said he was there as a scout as well as one or two others who they didn't name, Sean Dyche was also there.

[foxaholic]

I thought we were very loud in spells, especially the first half hour when we were playing well, sounded brilliant just after the goal. We did go quiet as the game became slower though.

The acoustics are certainly not the best for reverberating around the ground but I can imagine it sounds pretty decent if you're on the pitch, which is something we've heard about the design. I sat at the bottom of the family stand today, never sat there before (well maybe I did in the early days but not for a long time) and it sounds much better than I thought it would, and I think the players would have a similar viewpoint as they're sort of opposite the singing area like I was.

Anyway, I've never thought our home support was bad in comparison to the rest of the league, although of course it could be a lot better. I can remember plenty of good atmospheres. On the other hand I don't think I've ever been to an away game when I've been impressed with the home support.

You have obviously never been to Stoke or Elland Rd

[Corky]

Very comfortable victory, and a professional performance that at times threatened to spark into something dangerous but for the most part was quite calm. We were controlled in defence, all the back four (plus the replacements) give virtually nothing away, the centre midfield dominated their area and our front two looked lively. Knockaert again showed his quality, and Dyer's pace was a problem for Bristol City.

Five wins in a row is excellent, a shame we were knocked off top, but second is absolutely fine. We have a very solid defence at home and are scoring a healthy amount of goals.

Let's enjoy the break and start again in two weeks.

[Kitchandro]

You have obviously never been to Stoke or Elland Rd

Been to Elland Road, league one season. The home fans were very disappointing, barely made any noise until they got their last minute equaliser.

[theessexfox]

Not always going to play well, but we need to win when we're not, and we did this today. We haven't done this in seasons gone by, and it's the mark of a good side.

The International Break now is a bit of a double edged sword - could halt our momentum but could also serve as a well-earned breather, and time to heal our wounds.

[Guest Col city fan]

Not always going to play well, but we need to win when we're not, and we did this today. We haven't done this in seasons gone by, and it's the mark of a good side.

The International Break now is a bit of a double edged sword - could halt our momentum but could also serve as a well-earned breather, and time to heal our wounds.

I'm glad we have a break. Not for the football (I find the breaks sooooooo boring!), but you're spot on about healing the wounds.

Regarding St Ledge though, looked like a hamstring pull and usually out for about 4 weeks with one of those.

[Bluetintedspecs]

Not always going to play well, but we need to win when we're not, and we did this today. We haven't done this in seasons gone by, and it's the mark of a good side.

The International Break now is a bit of a double edged sword - could halt our momentum but could also serve as a well-earned breather, and time to heal our wounds.

Agree essexfox, said in an earlier post sometimes you have to win ugly! I'm glad for the break as IMO quite a lot of the players looked tired which is testimony to our style of play and how hard they are all working

[Corky]

The team has had a tough three weeks, six games in which we've played well in four of those not so great in the other two (Wolves and Bristol City). But we've collected 15 points from thos matches, including difficult trips to Middlesbrough and Huddersfield as well as a game against a then free-scoring Hull.

It wasn't a sparkling display but it won't be like that every week. We did enough to win comfortably and could've had more, you can't improve on three points and that's the main thing.

[Bluetintedspecs]

The team has had a tough three weeks, six games in which we've played well in four of those not so great in the other two (Wolves and Bristol City). But we've collected 15 points from thos matches, including difficult trips to Middlesbrough and Huddersfield as well as a game against a then free-scoring Hull.

It wasn't a sparkling display but it won't be like that every week. We did enough to win comfortably and could've had more, you can't improve on three points and that's the main thing.

Indeed

[dynamark]

Few points if I may.the payers need a rest.vardy was spent after 30 mins ,SSL was never moving that well all game.

Probably let them have too much ball but again not diving in only 2 fouls against us and they had 1 attempt on target.

Would have liked to have seen NP sort out their left side attack as soon as it became obvious.I think Whitbread will be decent,one obvious bad error but looks good enough.Knocky brilliant again he has that Ronaldo face on him that says I will score.

Lets get everybody rested and fit and go flat out in 2 weeks

[Reynard Bleu]

2-0 at home against a site that fancied itself as our bogey team on a four win run - good enough for me. Points and more points that's what will get us what we want. Great performances alone will not.

To be honest, I am still pincjing myself. Second? Us? Blimey?

[dynamark]

Forget to say thanks to the lads who helped me break into my own car about 5.30 after the central locking failed.Knew a couple of tricks I had no idea of.Thanks fellas

[marbelladave]

Few points if I may.the payers need a rest.vardy was spent after 30 mins ,SSL was never moving that well all game.

Probably let them have too much ball but again not diving in only 2 fouls against us and they had 1 attempt on target.

Would have liked to have seen NP sort out their left side attack as soon as it became obvious.I think Whitbread will be decent,one obvious bad error but looks good enough.Knocky brilliant again he has that Ronaldo face on him that says I will score.

Lets get everybody rested and fit and go flat out in 2 weeks

I am concerned about the tiredness issue, we are playing a very intense, high energy game and it seems to be taking a toll on some of our players, Vardy, Nugent and Moore seem particularly affected.

Rotation might well be the order of the day here, particularly up front where so much is expected from Vardy and Nugent.

Tactically speaking our setup left acres of space down our right and as this has been the case every time Knockaert starts,Bristol knew to switch their danger man to that side and get after us from the off.

Might have been a very different game had Baldock done better in the first minute or so, best if we set up properly in the first place.....

[dynamark]

Vardy in particular bases his game around effort and running and definitely needs the rest,Kasper hit a lot of long balls and neither of them really had the strength to do too much in the air.I think with knocky we have to accept the benefits over the slight problems.As a player it is so good to have someone like that who is always showing for the ball even in tight spaces.lloyd seemed to be getting on his wavelength.

Knocky got clattered a couple of times but he looks as though he is concentrating so much it didnt get to him.Happy days

[Ric Flair]

I am concerned about the tiredness issue, we are playing a very intense, high energy game and it seems to be taking a toll on some of our players, Vardy, Nugent and Moore seem particularly affected.

Rotation might well be the order of the day here, particularly up front where so much is expected from Vardy and Nugent.

Tactically speaking our setup left acres of space down our right and as this has been the case every time Knockaert starts,Bristol knew to switch their danger man to that side and get after us from the off.

Might have been a very different game had Baldock done better in the first minute or so, best if we set up properly in the first place.....

Agreed Dave.

Most fans on here will claim we don't need to mix it up, but there will come a point where things aren't going quite as well for us and we need to have the depth to counter-act that.

The spine of this team is in place and it's what we've been lacking for a few years but we need more than the 11 players we've got performing right now if we are to gain promotion. I think that's why Nigel might be looking at the loan market and free agents to see if we can improve our squad even more.

Saturday was a very professional performance, we were never in any danger and this international break won't do us any harm. We'll get a few players recovering from the intense few weeks we've had and we can work on the next stage of our season.

Drinkwater and King were superb, it was a joy to watch them dictating play.

[MattyFromLE]

Good game, top for 3 hours on my birthday which I think is possibly our highest position for ages! I think the plan was to get the first goal early, hence why we seemed to dip after we scored. Bristol were never going to cause us that many problems, even when Konch and Ledge went off. Professional performance as we did what was needed! Knocky should have made it 3, or even possibly 4 with a few chances in the first half. Still, 2nd in the league!