Saint86

Manning's passing has been woeful so far, has to be said. Stopped attacks or put us under real pressure a couple of times.

Blame absolutely on the mananger for another poor performance. The goal is automatic promotion, and be expects to win every game 1-0 with a perfect defence where the opposition never score. Has to be pushing on and getting a 2nd... We just aren't doing enough and a these dropped points will cost us.

So the French Ligue 2 rendition of us last year with Selles? 😄

Yeah that was me, i wish we'd signed him. Madness to think what we went on to spend money on as well... Sadly can't think of any other good ones that are attainable either atm - we're fishing in a different pond this season, and like it or not, championship clubs will struggle to get that tier of young talent from top Belgian / Dutch sides if they're already getting european footy 😕 I think we've signed Stewart for nearly twice what Openda went for... (and Openda was desperate to leave as well)... Let alone what we spent on Onuachu and Mara 🤣 FWIW, provided we don't get any more significant injuries, i think we've got enough to get promoted this year. So any sensible signings can only strengthen us. We'll be looking for players that can go into a prem side next season, which isn't easy (and won't be cheap) for a championship side that isn't certain of promotion.

Very good performance today. Thought we actually looked better without Sulemana. Armstrong offers more from a defensive stand point and keeps hold of the ball better. Arma and KWP had very good games in particular. Baz was solid when called upon. Manning generally pretty good and offered a fair amount going forward. Impressed by Aribo when he came on (if he's going to play like that he can start), and Fraser as well. Even Mara looked half decent when he came on.

I don't disagree on that. But fans shouldn't be expecting him to be some wonder finisher - and i just can't see Martin playing to his aerial threat (sadly).

Who is our quality finisher? Do you mean Stewart? The guy scores predominantly tap ins and free headers, and some very average penalties. There is precious few "quality" finishes with his feet in these highlights. Most of those goals are vs League 1 opposition as well, he'll find it a lot harder to be unmarked or able to just about run past players at this level - let alone the prem. A lot of fans have got blind hope in this guy. I don't see him as any better than Che or Armstrong... each of them adds their own set of skills, and for Stewart it appears to be off the ball movement and decent heading (which we are unlikely to really utilise). I will grant he probably hits the target more than Che though 😅

For anyone feeling very optimistic, Leicester dropped points...

Did chuckle when the two city pundits were saying that we'd sold JWP for a lot of money that we were basically the same side, and it was really unfair that we had the parachute payments that allowed us to keep all our players 🤣

Good second half, but i think Bristol city just lost all discipline. We really aren't creating enough clear cut chances though, and certainly not taking them.... End up in the playoffs vs a side like West Brom and we'll get punished.

Great recovery by Manning there tbf.

It really is like being managed by Southgate. Dross tactics, snore football, and dug out by superior players.

Awful tackle by manning, wtf was he doing.

Because we have a domestic Gareth Southgate as manager.

Well, if it is an ACL, in all likelihood it will be the end of his top level career prospects. Terrible terrible news. Edit, looks grim indeed (circa 10-20 seconds in), possible over extension / twist of the knee? Nice little move by him as well tbf.

I personally reckon we should co-opt the old celtic Wanyama chant. Would fit Carlos Alcatraz rather effortlessly. Clapping in time optional for our lot though.

Highlights as well that we really can't be playing with one of Stu or Alaraz on the pitch minimum. Zero creativity. Martin basically managed that game to death in a fashion worthy of southgate. Took off Sulemana and Stu, then didn't play Alcaraz... Just simply isn't enough else there, 1-0 is never enough for us to be safe, and we're far better when we just go at teams and keep the ball on the front foot.

Looked well off the pace today.

Absolutely shocking second half. One of the worst sides with so many injuries they can barely put out a full squad, and who had to bring a LWB on as a striker. Joke.

Bree had absolutely no idea he was behind him then. Worrying. Thank god he realised.

Class that by smallbone, what a lovely little dink over.

Adams hasn't signed that deal that was offered. The club will be trying to shift him in January before he is a free agent. His time at the club is all but done... Which makes mara 3rd choice imo.

I think they're probably in deep shit tbh. If they weren't they'd just accept the punishment and move on quickly. They're wide open to some very heft legal cases from at least 3 clubs, which will cost them far more than the points deduction - incurring more ffp restrictions and jeopardising their future takeover and possible investment. I also wonder if the standard of the league around them might give them into a slightly false sense of security, but the reality is that their upcoming games are a bit tricky: Manure (h) - 26th November Forest (a) - 2nd December Newcastle (h) - 7th December Chelsea (h) - 10th December Burnley (a) - 16th December Spurs (a) - 23rd December City (h) - 27th December. They're going to have to beat Burnley and forest away. And if they don't beat forest, by the time that Burnley game comes around they could actually be under quite a lot of pressure. You also might see some of the other clubs down there risking it a bit more (re transfers) in January given Everton are now right in the mix. I.e. the risk reward ratio favours spending a more now. Annoyingly they do have a good manager for this kind of situation, but i still think they've got like a 40-50% chance of dropping.

Exactly this. Can't stand them and their sense of entitled victimhood. I was looking at their next 5 fixtures, quite concievable that they're rock bottom come Christmas.