BFTG - Bristol

[PieEater]

A top day out at Bristol in the sunshine.

Prematch at the Nova Scotia where I bust my guts with the infamous mixed grill sitting in the sunshine, then a short walk to the ground.

Away atmosphere was fantastic then two quick goals and it was game over. We really were so much better than them and never really troubled, the only surprise was we didn't score more. Our midfield really controls games, Williams, Quinn and Norwood again playing well. Blackman the hero again with his goal, Vydra adds a lot to the team as a link man but overall we play a lot of really nice one touch stuff. I can't fault anyone really, the team and crowd were superb. This is going to be a great season,

Bit of a shambles coming back, waiting for Wizard to deem drive the train, but who cares with days like this.

[PistolPete]

A game, which we won, a short trip along the M4 away and we have 1 (one) BFTG?!

[Wizard]

Not guilty m8 - stag do yesterday.

[Stevie G]

Good day out, local for us so interesting listening to the bemoaning on the way home. Lots of nagativity and over ambition. Good away atmosphere, thought Brizzle were quiet given their concentration into 2 stands. The Mr Ashton and Rod Stewart impromptus hugely entertaining. The 27k stadium with stainless steel tube style turnstyles seems like it will be overkill if they don't build the squad and attract the fans, they significantly compete with a Rugby culture down here. We didn't get out of 2nd gear for the second half, and Brizzle got it together a bit, otherwise they were in for an Ipswich style drubbing. Vydra was on for a cert around 70 mins if Blackman would've produced one of his trademark crosses instead of being greedy and being forced to shoot by 2 defenders closing in on him. Perhaps the subs should've been earlier, they clearly have quality and are not being used with the opportunity to show it.

[RedRum]

Great day in the Bristol sunshine. Fans were superb, never stopped singing from the out. As Clarke said, this was a very comfortable and professional performance - we raced out the blocks, got two great goals early on and then I thought it would be 4 or 5 at this rate. We never really got out of 1st gear after that and cruised to a solid win. Bristol City were poor tbf and lacked any kind of creativity or threat bar a few set pieces. Hard to tell how we would have fared had we needed to get out of 1st gear, I thought we missed Sa's hold-up play so any threat we posed came from counter-attacking which we did pretty well at. Really feel like there is something special about this team, but can't put my finger on just what that is!

Bond - 6: Not sure if it's justified but always feel like there's an error coming. But tbf made some good claims with all those crosses.
Gunter - 7
Hector - 8: Back to his best. Had a few dodgy moments but was a brick wall in defence
McShane - 8: Superb.
Obita - 7
Norwood - 8: Really love this guy now. Hardly put a foot wrong. He reads the game so well and makes really clever passes all over the field
Williams - 7: Standard Williams performance.
Quinn - 8: He's here, he's there, he's ****ing everywhere...
McCleary - 7: Great goal (although I think the keeper could have done better), great dribbling throughout but often misplaced that final killer pass
Blackman - 7: Again, great goal but decision making was generally quite poor. Missed a great chance near the end
Vydra - 7: Love his movement, his link-up play his superb. Deserved a goal tbh

Subs never really got going to get a rating. Piazon looks tidy though, hoping he starts on Tuesday.

[Mr.Swainey]

One of my favourite trips of the year. Plenty of beers on North Street to celebrate the victory!

[LWJ]

We looked so comfortable throughout it was unbelievable. 2 quick goals and we didn't need to do much more.

City's only threats came from corners which we dealt with okay all afternoon.

We have something we didn't have in this team which we didn't have last season. It's belief, and it's performing wonders with our average joes from last year. (we also have some new faces who have contributed massively to this)

[LoyalRoyal22]

Shape of the team was really good. He went with 433. Norwood Quinn & Williams superb in the middle, perfect combination really.

We are literally getting everything at the moment, strong defence, short but crisp forward passing & slick movement in the final third. This group of players could take us up.

[RoyallyFcuked]

A good day out in the sun. Clarke stuck with the same formation and it still worked with McCleary coming in. Started very well and with two well taken early goals we were in cruise control for the rest of it. The defence looked really solid, Bristol City didn't really look like scoring and the few attempts they had were mostly getting stopped before they could reach the keeper.

This was just as well really because although Bond didn't have much to do he still looked nervous and dropped the ball a couple of times. I think Clarke signing him was potentially a good move as he is still only 22 and could become a good keeper who can be our no1 for years. At the moment though I don't think he has enough experience and may still make the odd mistake here and there. I'd keep playing him though as his confidence should improve and he will get better with time, besides we don't have much of a choice.

Anyway all of the defence did a great job, McShane in particular was putting himself on the line to try and stop any attack Bristol had. Hector also made some important tackles and blocks, even if he do a couple of Pearce-esque needless hoofs out of play. Not sure why Tshibola was dropped but Williams showed he can also do the job as part of that midfield 3, with Norwood and Quinn also doing well again.

It's good to have McCleary back, he gives us something a little bit different. A couple of his dribbles led him pulling the back but no one was able to get on the end of it. As someone already said Vydra is a good link up man, I remember he put a good ball through to Quinn in the second half and it looked like a certain goal only for him to blaze horribly wide. Some nice one touch passes and lay offs though, in fairness as a team we do that much more now. Also encouraging to see we look a threat when going forward, remember not so long ago we were pretty clueless in the final third. Blackman looks so much more confident and now beats a man with ease and has greatly improved his end product. Perhaps should have had more than 1 yesterday as in the second half he got himself into a good position twice but blasted it over.

Piazon got a few minutes towards the end, he can be another threat in attack for us this season. As did Hurtado who didn't really touch the ball until right near the end where he played a little give and go with Obita (I think) and his cut back to Piazon was blocked, and from the resulting corner we played it short and the final whistle went. Almost forgot to mention I thought our fans were excellent and made noise through out, Bristol fans were virtually silent the whole time but there was a good atmosphere in the away end.

Amazing what a decent transfer window can do, we look a very good side at this level now and there's no reason why we can't be genuine promotion contenders.

[Fox Talbot]

And nice to see us in hoops.

After Brentford I'd assumed Thai Airways were forcing us to wear lilac for every away game.

[PieEater]

It's not lilac, it's African Violet m8. We wear what we want.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Very impressed with the entire 90 mins - we haven't bossed games like this from the middle of the park since the 106 team.

Credit to Clarke - the players he has brought in have made a huge difference

[LWJ]

Not sure why Tshibola was droppeds.

Tsh is one card away from suspension. We thought he may have been saved for Burnley as they will provide more of an attacking threat.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

He's here. He's there. He's every Oxford where. Mr. Ashton!

[Maguire]

Not sure why Tshibola was droppeds.

Tsh is one card away from suspension. We thought he may have been saved for Burnley as they will provide more of an attacking threat.

Remember he's still young as well so perhaps (just speculating) he'll need a rest here and there after midweek games.

I doubt he was dropped on merit given how well he's been playing, but Williams is a class player to come in.

[ZacNaloen]

Not sure why Tshibola was droppeds.

Tsh is one card away from suspension. We thought he may have been saved for Burnley as they will provide more of an attacking threat.

Or even Everton...

[Steve_Upper_West]

He's here. He's there. He's every Oxford where. Mr. Ashton!

.....and do not forget Rod Stewart, who also helped to make it a memorable day !!

[ZacNaloen]

He's here. He's there. He's every Oxford where. Mr. Ashton!

That was a security drill, obviously.

[madstadblues]

Interesting article from Leroy Rosenior writing about Bristol City's performance

Q1) Who was that player ?
Q2) How does he know ?

"It will be no surprise to anyone to hear me say that the other thing Steve needs is some new players – but when Reading had a player on the pitch earning £40,000 per week who, in my opinion, is not very good, that shows you the nightmare scenario he is faced with in the transfer market.

There is a guy here on Premier League money who is not a Premier League-standard player by any stretch of the imagination and is somebody I don't believe would strengthen City's side. That is where we are at in the Championship these days."

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/LEORY-ROSE ... story.html

[Lenny The Tramp]

Wow, he sure don't rate Vydra.