MATCHWATCH : Bristol City (a)

[NathStPaul]

It only takes a really poor run of form for BC to suddenly get dragged into it. I can't see it happening, but they won't be taking any chances.

I'm not a massive fan of the "nothing to play for" argument, especially when it's still mid-season anyway.

They literally have nothing to play for though. HTH.

It doesn't make it an easy game though, they've still got some decent players and again, it's only mid-season. Maybe by game 35-40 they'd be thinking they were safe properly, but they'll want to tally a good number of points by then to make sure they are realistically clear. Players will be playing for their futures as well to either secure a contract at BC or elsewhere, especially considering they are under the EFL's FFP hammer now as well it seems.

Oh it will be far from easy but I would much rather be facing an unmotivated Bristol City than a Bristol City fighting for promotion or against relegation, I think this is a really good time for us to play them. That said they are probably thinking the same about us.

[URZZZZ]

If we lose this then we may as well give up. Bristol City's season is more or less over. They won't go up or go down, very little for them to get excited about. We also have a much better team than them on paper imo, it is about time the players show it on the pitch.

It only takes a really poor run of form for BC to suddenly get dragged into it. I can't see it happening, but they won't be taking any chances.

I'm not a massive fan of the "nothing to play for" argument, especially when it's still mid-season anyway.

They literally have nothing to play for though. HTH.

Didn’t actually realise how far off they are to the top 6/relegation zone. 11 and 14 points respectively. In a normal season, 34 points from 30 would keep them relatively close the relegation zone but considering how pathetic us, Barnsley and Peterborough have been, the tally is extremely low this year

[Hound]

It only takes a really poor run of form for BC to suddenly get dragged into it. I can't see it happening, but they won't be taking any chances.

I'm not a massive fan of the "nothing to play for" argument, especially when it's still mid-season anyway.

They literally have nothing to play for though. HTH.

Didn’t actually realise how far off they are to the top 6/relegation zone. 11 and 14 points respectively. In a normal season, 34 points from 30 would keep them relatively close the relegation zone but considering how pathetic us, Barnsley and Peterborough have been, the tally is extremely low this year

suppose take out the points deductions and they'd still be a little nervous about the bottom 3

[Royal_jimmy]

Doesn’t look like many tickets sold for this short trip down the m4.
Bristol been on a poor run recently so not expecting a great game. Hopefully last minute winner will do nicely, we are owed a few!

We have nearly sold out our allocation.

Yeah of about 1k that's an initial allocation, we could get a lot more tickets if we wanted

[NathStPaul]

Doesn’t look like many tickets sold for this short trip down the m4.
Bristol been on a poor run recently so not expecting a great game. Hopefully last minute winner will do nicely, we are owed a few!

We have nearly sold out our allocation.

Yeah of about 1k that's an initial allocation, we could get a lot more tickets if we wanted

So we have nearly sold out our allocation then. Thanks for confirming.

[PieEater]

Expecting Pauno to play Rino on the wing again, presumably because it has to work sometime.

[Hound]

Drinkwater will play though. Even though he's terrible.

If Pauno picks Drinkwater for this, he should be dressed as a cat and sent round to Kurt Zouma's house. Really keen to see the Rino/Laurent double screen of last year return.

[Coppells Lost Coat]

Drinkwater will play though. Even though he's terrible.

If Pauno picks Drinkwater for this, he should be dressed as a cat and sent round to Kurt Zouma's house. Really keen to see the Rino/Laurent double screen of last year return.

Only the Rino / Laurent pre Jan last year though. I still cant put my finger on what changed to stop the partnership being so effective, was it Laurent allowed to play further up the field?

I would take any partnership in the middle as long as Drinkwater is not in there. Literally anyone else but him. Need energy and bite in centre midfield not an unmotivated plodder.

[Hound]

Drinkwater will play though. Even though he's terrible.

If Pauno picks Drinkwater for this, he should be dressed as a cat and sent round to Kurt Zouma's house. Really keen to see the Rino/Laurent double screen of last year return.

Only the Rino / Laurent pre Jan last year though. I still cant put my finger on what changed to stop the partnership being so effective, was it Laurent allowed to play further up the field?

I would take any partnership in the middle as long as Drinkwater is not in there. Literally anyone else but him. Need energy and bite in centre midfield not an unmotivated plodder.

yeah exactly that - that Laurent moved further forward. Moved away from both being defensive mids to try to be more expansive. Never looked the same since really

[URZZZZ]

If Pauno picks Drinkwater for this, he should be dressed as a cat and sent round to Kurt Zouma's house. Really keen to see the Rino/Laurent double screen of last year return.

Only the Rino / Laurent pre Jan last year though. I still cant put my finger on what changed to stop the partnership being so effective, was it Laurent allowed to play further up the field?

I would take any partnership in the middle as long as Drinkwater is not in there. Literally anyone else but him. Need energy and bite in centre midfield not an unmotivated plodder.

yeah exactly that - that Laurent moved further forward. Moved away from both being defensive mids to try to be more expansive. Never looked the same since really

Also the trio of Laurent, Rinomhota and Semedo in a midfield three. Posted the stats at the back end of last season and we achieved a PPG of less than 1 with that trio. Too similar, and they didn’t really look like they knew what they were doing

Would mention though that the first 5 games had a midfield two of Laurent and Rinomhota and we looked awful in midfield then. Lost 4 out of 5 games

So whilst Drinkwater has been disappointing, I do hope we’re not going to start laying all our problems on his door. I guess people will find someone now Rafael, Moore and Puscas are gone

[Hound]

Only the Rino / Laurent pre Jan last year though. I still cant put my finger on what changed to stop the partnership being so effective, was it Laurent allowed to play further up the field?

I would take any partnership in the middle as long as Drinkwater is not in there. Literally anyone else but him. Need energy and bite in centre midfield not an unmotivated plodder.

yeah exactly that - that Laurent moved further forward. Moved away from both being defensive mids to try to be more expansive. Never looked the same since really

Also the trio of Laurent, Rinomhota and Semedo in a midfield three. Posted the stats at the back end of last season and we achieved a PPG of less than 1 with that trio. Too similar, and they didn’t really look like they knew what they were doing

Would mention though that the first 5 games had a midfield two of Laurent and Rinomhota and we looked awful in midfield then. Lost 4 out of 5 games

So whilst Drinkwater has been disappointing, I do hope we’re not going to start laying all our problems on his door. I guess people will find someone now Rafael, Moore and Puscas are gone

we were ok against both Stoke and Preston to be fair. Little unlucky against Stoke as we were prob the better team for a lot of it. But yes the wheels were certainly coming off by Hudders. Worth bearing in mind who was ahead of them up front as well though - one game had Puscas, Swift, Azeez and Bristow - obvs far from ideal.

[URZZZZ]

yeah exactly that - that Laurent moved further forward. Moved away from both being defensive mids to try to be more expansive. Never looked the same since really

Also the trio of Laurent, Rinomhota and Semedo in a midfield three. Posted the stats at the back end of last season and we achieved a PPG of less than 1 with that trio. Too similar, and they didn’t really look like they knew what they were doing

Would mention though that the first 5 games had a midfield two of Laurent and Rinomhota and we looked awful in midfield then. Lost 4 out of 5 games

So whilst Drinkwater has been disappointing, I do hope we’re not going to start laying all our problems on his door. I guess people will find someone now Rafael, Moore and Puscas are gone

we were ok against both Stoke and Preston to be fair. Little unlucky against Stoke as we were prob the better team for a lot of it. But yes the wheels were certainly coming off by Hudders. Worth bearing in mind who was ahead of them up front as well though - one game had Puscas, Swift, Azeez and Bristow - obvs far from ideal.

Agree but you can spin it the same way for Drinkwater. Most people agreed he was decent up until *that Blackpool game and been pretty dire since. The month where Drinkwater looked good was where we had a relativity balanced side, where the likes of Hoilett and Halilovic were fit who offer us a different dimension. We haven’t really had that luxury since with those two aforementioned constantly injured and Drinkwater has been part of a team full of soft AM’s, creating an extremely one dimensional tactic and for a midfielder of his style, it isn’t ideal

So whilst Drinkwater’s performances have generally left a lot to be desired, he’s been extremely hampered by personnel and tactics and for that reason, I’m reluctant to scapegoat him. You put him in a different setup with more rounded players and you’d see an infinitely better player

[Simon's Church]

The issue with Drinkwater is that he's so slow and unathletic he's basically a complete liability defensively, which is why I think Pauno tried to move him further forward against QPR but obviously that cant work either. Maybe he can turn it around but he reminds me of Charlie Adam after he was found out by opposition teams too.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I agree with it being a case of him being unathletic, which is a pretty bad trait to have a midfielder. He's probably on a par with Swift in terms of technical ability, he maybe even exceeds him, but it's his athleticism that really lets him down and he can get found out quite quickly in this league, particularly with the physicality of it.

It's no real surprise that he was successful at Leicester alongside players like Kante who basically covers the ground 2 midfielders would as well as Okazaki who worked hard up top with Albrighton on the left who did the same whereas Vardy would stay high and Mahrez was probably a bit lazier. We have the same with Swift now, but Rino and Laurent could cover the ground last season but something has changed there this season (playing Rino on the right should be scrapped). It just needs to go back to those 2 in front screening the back 4 and letting Drinkwater, Swift, Dele-Bashiru, Ince, Hoilett and Halilovic doing the creativity further forward (when fit) whilst they provide the durability we need in the midfield. The midfield is a big reason we lose so much shape defensively and look vulnerable every time the opposition comes forward.

[NathStPaul]

Team for tonight should be:

Southwood

Yiadom
Morrison
Holmes
Baba

Rinomhota
Laurent
Dele-Bashiru

Swift
Joao
Hoilett

Would like to see Swift in a free role just floating around Joao. I want him to stay in the opposition half, no defensive responsibility.

[paddy20]

Southwood
Yiadom Morrison McIntyre Rahman
Rino Laurent
Ince Swift Ejaria
Joao

Would be my team that I would expect to play on Tuesday. Drinkwater and Dele-Bashiru maybe a shout for CM and LW given the managers preferences recently as well as fitness as others, namely Ejaria.

Pauno stated this was the month where he believed we could kick on properly so, putting a dismal January behind us, hopefully we can start February in decent fashion. A much improved performance and hopefully taking something out of the game would be a good start for us.

I'll go for a 2-2 draw. Both teams like to concede goals.

Macintyre is not match fit yet. So Holmes will play despite his poor performances. May see a start for Hein. Knowing Pauno may be the same starting 11 as got thrashed at QPR

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Southwood
Yiadom Morrison McIntyre Rahman
Rino Laurent
Ince Swift Ejaria
Joao

Would be my team that I would expect to play on Tuesday. Drinkwater and Dele-Bashiru maybe a shout for CM and LW given the managers preferences recently as well as fitness as others, namely Ejaria.

Pauno stated this was the month where he believed we could kick on properly so, putting a dismal January behind us, hopefully we can start February in decent fashion. A much improved performance and hopefully taking something out of the game would be a good start for us.

I'll go for a 2-2 draw. Both teams like to concede goals.

Macintyre is not match fit yet. So Holmes will play despite his poor performances. May see a start for Hein. Knowing Pauno may be the same starting 11 as got thrashed at QPR

I wasn't aware that McIntyre wasn't fit enough to start when I posted that, so yes it will be Holmes. Hopefully a decent break with most/all of our players training now would give us a big boost.

[windermereROYAL]

I`m not going back over seasons but are away midweek form is woeful (at home it is 18 defeats in 28) i wouldn`t expect that to change this evening.

[tidus_mi2]

I`m not going back over seasons but are away midweek form is woeful (at home it is 18 defeats in 28) i wouldn`t expect that to change this evening.

Well we only win midweek away games against teams starting with a B...

[Zip]

Team for tonight should be:

Southwood

Yiadom
Morrison
Holmes
Baba

Rinomhota
Laurent
Dele-Bashiru

Swift
Joao
Hoilett

Would like to see Swift in a free role just floating around Joao. I want him to stay in the opposition half, no defensive responsibility.

I would go with this side. We will still be light on bench options with only Ince and Drinkwater as senior player options. Meite back for Coventry will help.