The Exiled Robin

Every once in a while a footballer comes along who is talked about as "the next big thing".  Even more rarely discussion turns to a potential star of a generation.  Derby County's 17-year-old Will Hughes  probably fits neatly into the middle of these often hyperbolic statements, currently careering right down the centre of this most glittering of sparkly roads in British sport. When you're 17, have just a handful of appearances under your belt but own a reputed list of suitors including both Manchester clubs , Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, you must have something about you. When you throw in the fact that the iconically masterful Barcelona - possibly the finest club side of the last 30 years - own a dossier on Hughes' performances , you know that this boy can play a bit.  At the very least he can obviously control a football and pass to his own teammates, something mystifyingly beyond the alleged best of England's recent crop of midfielders. U...

Last week perhaps signalled the start of a bright new dawn at Ashton Gate, and I’m not talking about the remarkable and dramatic victory at Hillsborough.   When Joe Morrell committed his most formative of years to the club – spurning interest from five-time European Champions Liverpool in doing so – the moment gave the club their launch pad to go on the offensive about the investment in the new Academy. For too many years, millions of pounds have been sunk into an under-performing, unproductive system doing nothing to justify its worth.   Since the class of late-90’s produced the likes of Tommy Doherty, Aaron Brown and Matt Hill, only Cole Skuse has come through and established himself in the first team.   Dave Cotterill & Leroy Lita spent a little time with the Robins before moving on and earning the academy some much needed ‘profit’, whilst recently the likes of Christian Ribiero, Joe Edwards and James Wilson have all threatened the senior squad without ever ...

I have never posted on behalf of anyone raising money on this site before, and I may never again.   Generally promoting one person's campaign leads to multiple future requests and a relentless stream of runners, baked bean bathers and Kilimanjaro climbing crusaders asking you to do the same, making you (unintentionally) feel guilty enough to continue posting pleas for extra money.   However, this one has caught my eye for two reasons.  One it's for a particularly personal cause and one which, I imagine, doesn't necessarily receive big cheques (or electronic transfers I suppose in this day & age) very often.   Secondly, it's because a member of the #bristolcitytwitterfamily who goes by the name of Big Stan Hibbert, is going to wear a Onesie!   For the uninitiated of you, a Onesie is like a baby-gro.  I've got plenty in my house, but they're all in 6-12 month age groups and are a bugger to undo when my Junior Robin's nappy needs cha...

Stu Radnedge returns to the blog with a view - admittedly prior to the Blackpool match (it's been a busy week!)  - on City's disastrous late-Autumn: It’s all just a little bit of history repeating…? Those are, what I consider to be, words from one of the greatest Shirley Bassey songs ever (the Propellerheads are credited for the track but her vocals are what makes the song, in my opinion). And it’s rather a fitting description for what us City fans are hopefully enduring currently. I say hopefully, as the season after this we should be getting promoted… and not from League One. As pointed out by the board last Monday, we’ve been here before. A string of games this long without a win was last experienced in the 2005/06 season which saw a City legend, Brian Tinnion, be man enough to step down after we were annihilated 7-1 by one of the Welsh teams (I can’t mention the name – it still hurts). Step up Gary Johnson, but the resurgence was not instant. City were 23 rd , wit...

Is it too early to talk of six-pointers?  Derek McInnes certainly doesn't think so - his comments ahead of tomorrow's matched were laced with the potential importance to City's season, so ahead of Sunday's crunch clash with Charlton Athletic, The Exiled Robin is delighted to welcome Al Gordon, host of the intruigingly named God, Charlton and Punk Rock blog , to the site, who was kind enough to answer some of my questions: You took the division by storm last season and were deserved Champions.   Has the step up been harder than you expected? At the beginning of the season we would have settled for mid table but had deep down a small desire for reaching the play-offs. The likes of Norwich and Southampton (the two sides we got relegated to League One with) have almost set a precedent for back to back promotions although I don’t believe at Charlton we have the resources to build a Premier League side out of a League One squad in just one season. We’ve played some...

After another reasonably-sized absence, The Exiled Robin returns with a vengeance this weekend with two posts in as many days. First up is guest writer Stu Radnedge , who mulls over City's poor run of form on the anniversary of the appointment of Derek McInnes, and debates what's next for the Robins: "It’s time to stand up and be counted…already. It’s been just over a year since City fans rejoiced in the arrival of Del with many, if not all, dreaming of a new beginning for our club and wondering if he really could be the one to take us to the promised land.   Yet again however, we find ourselves asking that time old question of “Where did it all go wrong?” Just one point off the bottom, Del sees the club in pretty much the same position as we were in when he took over in 2011.   The boo-boys, the self-proclaimed realists - whatever you want to label them as - are calling for heads to roll. The eternal optimists are at the polar opposite saying...

Tuesday night wasn't your typical Ashton Gate night.  Opening the home campaign on a Tuesday night seemed strange enough, and that perhaps provided part of the reason for a relatively disappointing crowd of a little over 12,000. For those that were there however, the night is one they'll never forget.  It began with rumours buzzing around that another new player - to add to that of Steven Davies the previous day - was about to sign.  When Derek McInnes failed to present himself to the press pre-match and local journalists began tweeting about 'something going on', the rumour mill really picked up pace. Who had been seen around the ground? Who was that sitting in the Director's box?  Perhaps it was even a double signing, with both Sam Baldock and DJ Campbell reportedly interesting our young Scottish manager.  It soon became clear that whoever it was, there was an on-pitch half-time presentation planned to announce the new signing. The major risk to al...

The signing of Steven Davies seems an awful long time ago already.  Tuesday night's excitement - a win, four goals and another new signing - makes it seem like a distant memory but Davies' signing was, is, exciting and ambitious in equal measure. Coming off the back of a narrow and mildly encouraging defeat at one of the favourites for promotion, Nottingham Forest, many fans were discussing the need for some extra potency up front and, lo and behold, we finally land one of our main summer targets. I'm delighted that Ollie Wright of The Derby County Blog , who penned this piece for The Exiled Robin back in November upon the signing of another Stephen, Pearson, from Pride Park, has returned to these pages to offer a view on City's (penultimate) latest signing. " If the fact that Nigel Clough had been publicly challenging Steve Davies to step up and become a 20-goal striker this season is anything to go by, it's fair to say that the striker's decision ...

The latest guest post from Stu Radnedge reflects on an up-and-down week and the selection dilemma now facing manager Derek McInnes.     "After a week off from work, in order to move into my new house, I returned on Monday and received a lot of banter from my colleagues (Arsenal fans) who all knew I had attended the ill-fated cup-match. They asked what I thought and I said, obviously the result wasn’t what anyone wanted but when Elliott scored about five minutes from time – the blood coursing through my veins said “we’re going to win this” . After lots of laughter, they commended my spirit. When I arrived Wednesday morning, after texting the two in question with a stupid amount of “We’re going up, we’re going up, we’re going – City’s going up” messages after the match concluded 4-1, they didn’t seem surprised. Especially when I explained it’s probably the highest position we’ve been in and the largest positive goal difference we’ve had in two years – maybe more… ...

As with all of the greatest shows, they finish on a high and leave you wanting more.   And just when you think it’s all over, there’s a short encore which wraps everything up nicely and leaves you with a smile of satisfaction as you exit, ready to face the dark night outside. And so it is with pleasure I introduce Tom Langridge, a freelance sports journalist who is mad about Bristol City and looking to get into sports writing.   He has contributed this additional piece, focusing on the seemingly tough pre-season the players endured and then moving on to the hustle and bustle of the transfer window, to complete the picture on The Exiled Robin and setting things up nicely as you exit the site and begin thinking about heading up the M5, M42 and M1 for the start of the season. Tom writes match reports on City for the comprehensive football site It’s Round and it’s White so check out his writing by followinghim on Twitter here : “Excitement. Something...

The final season preview comes from a writer I've much-admired since I saw a series of well-written, well-thought out and ever-so-slightly quirky posts on his own website last year . Since then we've collaborated (albeit over a long period of time which meant a slightly flaky end product) on a review of how City play the so-called beautiful game in an early incarnation of The 72 Football's Tactics Bible . Thus I'm delighted to abe able to introduce Will Jones to the pages of The Exiled Robin - if you don't enjoy this then I'll eat my hat! "There’s a phrase you hear around the pubs and bars of BS3 most Saturday evenings, spreading across the city as the night draws on, uttered in homes at 5pm as the scores come in, and at workplaces the following Monday as bragging rights are conceded for a week.   It’s viral.   The more it’s said the more it spreads.   You’ve probably used it yourself, maybe often.   You’ll certainly have heard it. “Typical City”....