Bristol City's misery compounded by serious injuries to two players
BRISTOL City's increasingly desperate season reached a new low last night with defeat at Birmingham.
Beaten 2-0 at St Andrews, the Robins slumped to a sixth straight defeat and remain firmly rooted in the npower Championship relegation zone with a third of the campaign gone.
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To make matters worse for under-pressure manager Derek McInnes, pictured, he lost a further two players to long-term injury.
Already missing left-back Greg Cunningham, centre-back Louis Carey and top-scorer Steven Davies, City will now have to make do without central defender Stephen McManus and midfielder Cole Skuse for the foreseeable future.
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McManus could be out for the season after suffering a suspected ruptured cruciate ligament as City finished with ten men, while Skuse ended the night in hospital with a fractured cheekbone and eye socket sustained in a collision with Blues striker Nikola Zigic.
Yet to keep a clean sheet this season, City's defensive frailties returned to haunt them and second-half goals from Chris Burke and Marlon King were enough to earn Birmingham a first home win in five attempts.
Under growing pressure, City boss McInnes afterwards admitted his struggling side had been second best.
He said: "The first goal was always going to be crucial and it was a disappointing one to concede from our point of view.
"Neither side really settled in the game and it was a bit frantic. But Birmingham created the better opportunities and we never really got to grips with Zigic and King all night.
"We had that extra man in the middle of the park to try to keep the ball and get a bit of confidence back into the team, but it never really materialised. I don't want to hide behind the fact we've played the last ten or 15 minutes with ten men because of injuries. I expect better from us and I think the better team won on the night."
McInnes said: Cole (Skuse) looks like he has fractured his cheekbone up into his eye socket and, if that is the case, then he will be out for at least six weeks. We are pretty certain Stephen (McManus) has torn his cruciate, which is the worst injury for a footballer. If that is the case, then he will be out for the season."
City are four points adrift of safety and this latest defeat means Sunday's home game against Charlton assumes even greater importance.
McInnes said: "The fans deserve better and there is no hiding behind the fact that the better team won tonight. It is right to say that the next game is going to be crucial."
Comments
by DazzyBoy
Thursday, November 08 2012, 9:04AM
“MJ54Gifford- From a small picture like that I am hardly going to think its Ashton Vale, a stadium that hasn't even been built yet am I.
I just thought you might be one of those fans that had a favourite second club! There is only one team for me and that is City, has been for 40 years thin and thin!!
The only reason why I brought up merging the two clubs was out of interest to see what the reaction would be, unfortunatley I don't think many people in Bristol are open minded enough to the idea, and in forty years time I think we will probably be in the same position!!”
by piledriver
Wednesday, November 07 2012, 11:07PM
“Both clubs have a combined average attendance of less than 20,000 in a City of 460,000 with a catchment area of over 1m.
Both clubs are in awful form and in precarious League Positions.Rovers could be Non League next season and if both clubs fired their manager next week it wouldn't be a surprise after two awful seasons.
Rovers have lost four on the spin and City, six.As Del said it's an embarassment.
City's ground is tired and Rovers, frankly, dilapidated.
City MUST stay in the NPC or it's back to the Doldrums of League's 1 & 2 for 5-10 years.We have around the same number of games left as we had when Del arrived and, despite him working very hard, we're in a mess on the field with more questions than answers off it.
We need some luck, some points and a real change of direction.I hope Del's the answer.Do I believe it? No, not really.”
by MJ54Gifford
Wednesday, November 07 2012, 8:17PM
“Dazzyboy......call yourself a city fan?? It's Ashton vale......if it ever gets built”
by CiderheadNott
Wednesday, November 07 2012, 7:59PM
“Just recovering from last night's defeat, which I expected, but I had just hoped that Birmingham might be a place where we could win or draw considering their recent home form.
Besides commenting on the nasty Birmingham fans who attacked City fans (you are not human) there is nothing I can say about City's performance.
Two more serious injuries.
I know teams make their own luck but I do ask myself "Why does it always seem to happen to us?"
I shall travel down from Nottingham and be at Ashton Gate on Sunday even though I don't think we will win. I shall probably be depressed on the way down as well as on the way home! I can see no hope anymore at the moment. It looks very much like City will just keep on losing. We City fans need to see some passion and belief on the field, but it's just not there!”
by DazzyBoy
Wednesday, November 07 2012, 6:18PM
“MJ54Gifford
Just out of interest, I notice on your ID photo is of a nice looking stadium, which club is that then beacuse it certainly aint the Memorial "Stadium" or Ashton Gate”
by DazzyBoy
Wednesday, November 07 2012, 6:12PM
“Bristol city are a medium sized club and Bristol Rovers are a small club. Of course 35,000 went to wembley to see a final, you always get people jumping on the band wagon for a nice day out; that is what success brings and then some of that 35,000 might then become more regular supporters. But in both clubs current postion continued success as you call it is very difficult to achieve!! Where are the 35000 Rovers fans now? When Bristol City had their brief bit of success in the 70's they struggled for a couple of seasons, and then were relegated from Div 1 to Div 4 in succesive seasons including going bust. For sustained success these days it helps to have a very wealthy chairman, a nice stadium and big crowds, Rovers are capable of getting 8000 on a good day and City about 19000 that I would class as small and medium.”
by piledriver
Wednesday, November 07 2012, 6:12PM
“by MidlandsExile:
Amougou's at Middleboro.......Wonder how they' re doing?”
by piledriver
Wednesday, November 07 2012, 6:10PM
“Back to the point.
We were dreadful last night and should have lost about 5-0.We lost two key players and we have a manager who looks like he's struggling.”
by piledriver
Wednesday, November 07 2012, 6:06PM
“@ DazzyBoy
The only merger we should put in place is one where we take the Bristol from their name and the City from ours.
What people fail to realise, especially our "foreign friends" is that if you merged the clubs or one of them ceased to exist, the fans of Rovers wouldn't support City and visa versa.
Rovers, purely in a financial, logistical & playing sense, don't have a thing to bring to the party.
It's daft.”
by Vonner
Wednesday, November 07 2012, 5:43PM
“I see no problem with a neutrally coloured shared ground - it both clubs want to move now they are leaving their history behind anyway. Slightly bigger clubs than ours in Milan and Rome seem to manage it. The only stumbling block is location but personally I don't see an issue with where the UWE site is - it is as close to the centre of Bristol as you can get. Neither club is in any position both financially or in terms of success to be snobbish about it. And could the rugby boys play there on Sundays? This might be what Bristol needs to kickstart a revival of fortunes and attract pepole/investors.
Can't go for Bristol United though - there is no point IMO.”