The Exiled Robin

June 24th could mark a significant moment in the history of Bristol City. Although Neil Kilkenny's signing is not exactly in the league of a Ronaldo or a Tevez, for City fans who have been crying out for a creative midfielder good enough to marshall the centre of the pitch and control games in the Championship, it could be the moment they found their man. The sheer volume of abusive and sarcastic comments from Leeds fans on the forums, blogs and Twitter feed proves only one thing. They wanted to keep him, and he can't be a bad little player. I've dug through the vitriol and found a couple of Leeds fans with a more reasonable outlook on life to share their views of the new general of Ashton Gate. Firstly, Jenny Berry - twitter.com/#!/jenberlufc - a trainee journalist and Leeds United blogger ( jenber.wordpress.com ) takes this view... So, Neil Kilkenny. Good signing for you for sure. I'm really very annoyed it came to this; his contract should've been sorted...

Following the first Exiled Robin review earlier in the week, David Rawson, a Rotherham fan and blogger to boot, has kindly offered a further view on our latest signing. In the end, there was competition. Millwall agreed a fee with us, Scunthorpe wanted to sign him, Barnsley were keeping tabs. But Ryan Taylor signed for Bristol City and is a Championship player. In a lot of ways, it’s a brilliant move for him. Financially, of course, it’ll be a massive pay-rise and from a footballing perspective he’ll be one of a relatively small number of players who jump straight from League Two to the second tier of English football. But it also feels a little unnatural, somehow, a little bit overly challenging, perhaps. In reality, the Taylor that got this move, the one that turned down a new contract offer at Christmas in favour of waiting to “see if the club could match his ambitions of playing in a higher league”, has only been around for two thirds of a season. The greater part of his car...

Ryan Taylor became City's second signing of the summer today, the out-of-contract striker signing from Rotherham for a fee to be decided by either negotiation or tribunal (he's out of contract but under-24, meaning a fee is payable). Whilst you may have seen him score both of the Millers' goals in vain during the play-off final at Wembley a year ago, and know his strike partner Adam le Fondre has scored goals for fun alongside him, I think it's safe to say there aren't too many Robins fans who know much about Taylor, so I've enlisted the help of Jonathan Veal, a journalist who covers Rotherham, to give us the lowdown on our new player. Ryan Taylor was something of a late developer for Rotherham and the season just gone was his first run of games as a first choice striker. He was unlucky in the early part of his career, suffering from injuries and glandular fever and he was only ever a bit-part player that, despite being a local-born lad, struggled to get ...

The first sign of the new football season drifted into view on Thursday in the shape of the Carling Cup draw, and the most eye-catching draw for fans in the West was a derby between two sides with unenviable recent records in the Carling Cup. The bonus of the draw means at least one of Bristol City or Swindon will reach the 2nd round, an achievement that will mark progress for either. In a period of relative success in the league, City's record in the junior cup competition makes horrific reading. It's 23 seasons since the infamous two-legged semi-final against Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, when the width of a post denied Alan Walsh a tie-winning goal, but there has been precious little to shout about since then. Only one progression beyond the second stage in ten years, and five exits in the past six seasons to lower league opposition; Sven Goran Eriksson's Man City the side to disrupt that run in the second round, four seasons ago. Meanwhile Barnet, Cheltenham...

The Exiled Robin recently cheekily asked incoming Bristol City Chief Executive Guy Price for an interview…..and he agreed! Guy talks openly and frankly about the financial situation at the club, the possibility of having Nicky Maynard and Stephen Caulker in the same line-up again next season, the Academy and the importance of the new stadium for the local community. Before we start I’d like to place on record my sincere thanks to Guy for his time in answering these questions – it must have been an incredibly busy couple of months for him yet he’s taken time out to answer these questions for you, the fans, to read. What was your first involvement with City, as a fan or as an employer? When was your first match? I'm from the West Country, so I've always kept an eye on City. I completed Panini's Football '79 sticker album, and although I was very excited about Liverpool's success in Europe at the time, I couldn't help but notice that Bristol City were in t...