The Exiled Robin

So, here we are again!  Just 24 days after City went to the Priestfield Stadium and won  their first cup game in five years to  set up this week's fantastic victory over Crystal Palace, we return for a league encounter with both sides wallowing in the bottom six on two points after a pair of draws and a matching pair of defeats.   Last time out James, the fan we spoke to, was still full of beans on the back of a title-winning promotion, but the Gills, like City, remain winless in the league this season, so are things looking  considerably bleaker?  To keep the thoughts fresh, this time around I spoke to Luke Cawdell, Sports Journalist for Kent Online, and asked his views on the Gills difficult start. Luke, I guess you’re all hoping for a better result than earlier in the month, what did you think of the cup match and each team’s performance? The cup match was typical of most of the games we’ve seen Gillingham take part in so far. City were ...

As hard to believe as it may have been that we were even a part of it, when the draw was made for the second round of the Capital One Cup I think it’s safe to say that many fans were underwhelmed  when Crystal Palace were drawn out of the bowl (there wasn't a hat) to come to Ashton Gate. On reflection, had we been offered a Premier League side at home prior to the televised draw, I’m sure everyone would have taken it.    As it was, it just all felt a bit “samey”, after all we had played Palace a number of times in the past five years, and in some significant games. However, they are a Premier League side and if nothing else, the return of Keith Millen and Yannick Bolaise, not to mention panto villain Ian Holloway as manager will ensure an atmosphere of some description, albeit amongst what I expect to be a fairly small crowd.   City may not have made the second round for half a decade, but have had a highish-profile start to the season with home games agains...

This new series on The Exiled Robin threatened to come a cropper in its early days with a fixture against Franchise FC, as I wasn't prepared to seek an opinion on a club created in such a fashion.  Not that I doubt that those supporters who follow them do so in the same irrational and desperate manner we all do with our clubs, but the way they came about, with the corresponding direct negative impact on another community-based club, manes they are - ironically enough - disenfranchised from the football community as a whole.  Anyway, as a result I decided to instead focus on their predecessors, a club reborn and one that has found it's way back into the football league for a second time. Chris Lines, (NOT the ex-Gas player, as far as I know!) writes his own blog and occasionally offers his view for the fabulous Two Unfortunates, as well as spending his weekends following the fortunes of AFC Wimbledon. You can follow Chris on Twitter @NarrowtheAngle : ...

When you're offered an online exclusive interview with Bristol City Manager Sean O'Driscoll, you don't turn it down! Some of you may have read this in the latest edition of The Bountyhunter fanzine, which was on sale at the Bradford match, but as they don't have an online presence I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to publish it via this medium.  There's some typically fascinating responses from SOD in here, some you'll love, some you'll perhaps have alternative views on, but all equally measured and balanced, as ever. There's also a question from Sean himself at the bottom, which he wants the fans to answer.  So please feel free to comment on the blog below and I'll collate all responses and get them back to the club - it's a good chance to tell the manager (and others) exactly what you'd like to be happening at your club. Enjoy... "Last month we sent the club an e-mail, more in hope than expectation, asking...

It's another big occasion at Ashton Gate on Saturday as our high-profile introduction to League One continues with a home match against pre-season title favourites Wolverhampton Wanderers. Stu Radnedge spoke to Wolves blogger Thomas Baugh who runs the popular 'Wolves Blog' at  http://www.wolvesblog.com/  and ascertained his views on the current goings-on at the fallen Black County giants. Wolves suffered the same fate as City last year, being relegated from the Championship. How tough has it been being a fan and witnessing back-to-back relegations? Awful. What was evident in both seasons was the total lack of any sort of team ethic. They were just a collection of individual players sellotaped together and asked to make the best of it. Additionally, all the managers that came and went had radically different ideas about how the team should be playing, which meant by the end of last season we had this weird, broken down McCarthy/Solbakken/Saunders hybrid. It was ...