saintant

Not 100% sure that's the case as surely offside comes into play the moment the ball is passed.

Baz KWP THB Beds Stephens Manning Aribo Smallbone Stu Arma Adams

Agree we need to mix it up more with some longer balls especially when the pitch is as shit as last night.

Anyone else think their first goal was offside? Surely when the ball was played their guy was in an offside position and, the fact that it reached him via a deflection off Smallbone, shouldn't make any difference. Apologies if wrong as I get confused by the constant rule changes but I always thought offside applied from the moment ball is kicked by attacker.

It's been mentioned and I agree that the state of the pitch proved a great leveller last night. It certainly didn't suit our passing game. In hindsight perhaps we should have factored that in and been more willing to hit long balls to the flanks or through the centre - that's the way Brizzle played and it was way more effective. We kept getting bogged down and losing the ball and they then broke on us very swiftly.

It's a good point but obviously Bree is only just back from injury and won't figure on Friday. Teams are working out that the place to attack us is down the flanks, get close to the byeline then cut low balls across the box. I think a back five is the way to go against West Brom with the two wing backs instructed not to be too gung-ho to hopefully restore some defensive stability. Smallbone is not the same player when Downes is missing which is another problem that needs solving. He can't play as the defensive hold that's for sure. Smallbone and Downes have developed a telepathic understanding and work great in tandem - take out Downes and it's a very different picture because his replacement ,whoever it, is fails to do the job which leaves us with an ineffective midfield.

Having slept on it I feel less gutted about last night's result. Having grown accustomed to winning most games I think it hit harder because I never expect us to lose now which is a naive attitude to adopt. Sure, the manner of the defeat raised concerns the main one of which is, how do we set up when Downes is out of the team? We certainly have nobody who can slot in seamlessly so maybe RM has to consider changing the formation. That said we have just put together a 25 match unbeaten run which is an incredible achievement and we didn't become a bad side overnight. We are still well placed to battle it out for second place. Even if we miss out I'd take our chances against anyone in the Play-Offs. On to West Brom and hopefully a better performance and result. Still much to be optimistic about.

Good point about Aribo and maybe he'll go straight into the side.

If we can somehow conjure up a win at West Brom we follow that with two home games and I'm confident we'll win both. That would give us 9 points from the 4 games including tonight's which would be a decent return. The hard part is obviously beating West Brom.

Going to be a tough one and 3 points would be huge for us.

If Downes is still out on Friday I wonder if RM might opt to play 3 at the back to make us more solid. He doesn't have too many choices and might be forced to try a different system. Keep it tight and look to pinch a narrow win. We can't afford to be as open as we were tonight that's for sure. We've leaked 6 goals in less than two games without Downes so he'll have to try to plug the gap somehow.

The spine of the team was broken with the loss of Downes and, to a lesser extent, Adams. It showed and we were guilty of continually giving the ball away cheaply high up the pitch and allowing them to break on us quickly. We need a reaction on Friday.

Yeah, take our Downes and a crucial building block is missing. It upsets the whole balance of our play because individuals get out of position and the shape is lost. You can't overstate how vital Downes is to how we set up and sadly we have nobody who is capable of playing his role. Hope he's back soon.

Spot on. How you start more often than not sets the tone for the match. We are starting games in a far too casual manner - earn the right to play from the first whistle with high intensity or hand the initiative to the opponent.

They comprehensively demolished what was put in front of them - we were comprehensively outplayed and outfought. It's not a good night for us and we need to bounce back on Friday.

Where to start after such a weak capitulation. We were second best all over the pitch in terms of commitment and skill. Where was the crisp passing and clever running to create space and cause chaos? Where was the desire to win the ball back quickly after losing it - and we lost it an awful lot tonight? Quite simply we were dire from front to back. Before the game someone suggested none of their players would get into our team - by the end of it most of them would. The drop off in midfield without Downes was very worrying. It's been a good run and it had to end but not in the meek manner of tonight against an average side. It's a huge momentum swing to Leeds who did their bit by demolishing Swansea while we hardly laid a glove on Brizzle City. That was a hugely demoralising display and RM must drag them up by the bootlaces for a potentially tougher challenge against West Brom.

Smallbone is being let down by others in midfield. He has a great partnership with Downes but those who come in like tonight are not good enough. Not sure what the answer is because we don't have anyone remotely on the level of Downes. Fear a defeat here as things stand.

Yet another very sloppy half of football - giving the ball away under no pressure and look particularly weak in midfield. Too much walking football and not enough angles being made, playing on the half-turn or getting between the lines. We have no shape and if RM doesn't change it up Bristol will eventually take advantage of our mistakes. Very disappointing half.

You got the same vibe as me from what RM said.

Another strong bench and could be key as it was on Saturday. Not sure about Arma through the middle but let's see.

Quite ironic comment seeing as it's posted on a forum site called 'One Team in Bristol' 🙂

Was watching the 'pitchside' video of the game on the official website .Hadn't noticed KWPs reaction to Rothwell's goal. It's on the replay and KWP is obviously totally gobsmacked at what he's just seen. Nice moment.

Not convinced we'll see him in either of the games this week.

Ironically RM admitted on today's presser that he got his assessment of how Huddersfield would play completely wrong.

Yeah but I interpreted his comments as meaning Downes will miss both this weeks games as a minimum and Adams will miss just tomorrows.