Hard for Bristol City fans not to be worried
It has been another disappointing week and while I am trying to remain positive, the manner of our performances against first Watford and then on Saturday night against Preston North End, makes it difficult.
Gary Johnson felt that we didn’t take our chances, didn’t have a great deal of luck and that we were also too powder puff in our finishing. This is a fair assumption.
We didn’t show enough desire, passion, fight, effort or quality. We are creating one or two good chances in a game but not doing anywhere near enough.
Where has the team from last season gone? Confidence is a big factor and it’s true that a couple of wins could turn things around. At the moment, players who were at the top of their game last season are not performing to anywhere near that level.
Gary is saying the same things, that we are not starting quickly enough and that we are not showing enough quality in the final third. Well, why is that? We have to improve or we will find ourselves in a relegation battle. I am not being alarmist and I do believe in the manager and players, but they have to step up and show the spirit that is needed to push on and keep looking forward, as opposed to looking over our shoulders.
Some will say that I am being too critical and that I should support the team. Believe me, I do, but we also can’t bury our heads in the sand. Performances have not been good enough and the players and management have to take responsibility. We have to get width in the side because at the moment the chances that the forwards are getting have in the main been self-made. I have said it many times before and make no excuses for it, but why sign players like Lee Trundle and even more so Nicky Maynard only to expect them to play with their backs to goal?
We have to get our wingers staying wide on the touchline and getting to the byline and putting quality crosses into the box. How many times this season have we done that? Against Preston it was long-range shooting from Michael McIndoe that looked our most likely goal threat.
Come on lads, get back to what you did so well last year.
Comments
by ian, cheltenham
Sunday, November 30 2008, 7:32PM
“Let me prelude this rant by saying that Gary Johnson is a great manager, and that Bristol City are extremely lucky to have him.
That said, the Preston game was so very depressing that I took myself out for a run at the final whistle to get the frustration out of my system. When I get to that stage, I know that things have gone horribly wrong on the pitch for City! There were some obvious factors (to me at least) that made defeat at the hands of Preston sadly inevitable. I submit the following for the consideration of the Bristol footballing public.
Factor number one - City are wingless wonders. McIndoe and (when he came on) Sproule are wingers in name, but neither one seems to have the ability to beat a player, get to the by-line and deliver a cross. The pair of them seem intent on cutting inside. Was there a single cross delivered from either of them, or from any other City player at the by-line through the whole 90 minutes? City need at least one winger that is prepared and able to play on the wing.
Factor number two - Lee Johnson. I am not a Johnson basher, he isn't a bad player. He can be inventive. He has a decent shot. But... against Preston our midfield, and Johnson in particular, went missing. To some extent that was a result of factor number four (see below). It¿s my opinion however that Lee Johnson is too light-weight at this level. He ducked out of half a dozen 50-50 challenges on Saturday. He was shrugged off the ball all too easily. In miserable places like Preston on a cold, foggy night, City need players with presence and bite in midfield (dare I say a Nick Carle type). The only bite to come the way of the Preston players on Saturday came from the icy fog, not from the City midfield, and not from Lee Johnson.
Factor number three ¿ the absence of Stern John. Stern John is our only proven goal-scorer at this level. Let me emphasize that, he is the only person currently in a City shirt who has proved that he can consistently score goals at this level. We've signed him on loan and haven't given him a chance to show what he can do. Strikers like John have a point to prove - look at what Brooker proves when he goes out on loan! Stern John deserves the chance of three or four consecutive starts. The likes of Maynard and Akinde are two for the future who can learn from watching and playing alongside Stern John.
Factor number four - chest or head height passes to Dele Adebola. This seems to be City's predominant tactic of late. It's not pretty and it isn't working. City were so predictable on Saturday. Preston didn't need to think about what shape the attack against them would take. They knew what shape it would take. They knew that Adebola would try to flick the head height ball onto Maynard - it didn't work. They knew that Adebola would try to control then lay-off the chest height ball to Maynard - it didn't work. City have enough talented footballers in their ranks to allow them to keep the ball on the deck and play the ball to feet. The direct ball to Adebola tactic is known about by the other teams in this league. It hasn't got us a whole bunch of goals in the first part of the season, and it isn't going to in the second half.
Factor number five - the final factor - overlapping full backs. I think this one is possibly the most important. In the modern game this adds another dimension to a team's ability to attack. It's hard work for the full-back - I wouldn't want to be charging up and down the length of the pitch for 90 minutes. But this tactic is so effective. Against Preston we didn't employ this tactic at all. Again, this made us predictable, stale and easy to defend against.
I return to my opening comment at this point, I think Gary Johnson is an excellent manager, and believe that he'll ultimately take City to the promised land of the Premiership. However, to get us there (and hopefully keep us there) I also firmly believe City need ”