After
another successful escape from league action and two further advances in
domestic cup competitions (what is happening to our club?!), Bristol City
return to the main objective just ahead of the busy Christmas period with the first
in a series of games many fans have highlighted as ‘very winnable’.
Now, being top and only having lost twice all
season, you could say that’s a case of stating the bleedin’ obvious, but when
you look at the games; home to Crawley (17th) and Yeovil (23rd),
and away to Crewe (bottom) and Gillingham (20th), you understand the
sentiment fully.
The fact
that only Swindon and Preston – both fully entrenched in the battle for the top
and playing good football – have come away from match-ups with City with three
points thus far this season suggests City should have a profitable run of
things by the time we face promotion rivals Notts County ten days into 2015.
However,
football is loved by so many millions for precisely the reason that nothing’s
that easy, and to “expect 10 or 12 points” is disrespectful to the teams,
managers and clubs involved. Slip-ups
are possible, especially if City’s players view this run as light relief
following a tough November which finally saw the unbeaten start to the season
end before that quite scintillating victory at London Road last time out in
front of the Sky cameras.
Saying
that, it does represent a great opportunity to put daylight between ourselves
and the chasing pack in a traditionally critical period of games, given the
frequency and intesntity of fixtures.
So will
City ease up and come a cropper? Well not on the evidence of what I saw on
Wednesday night. City had little to concern themselves in a game which the
first team could easily have looked at and decided it was a chance to rest their
legs, but they simply don’t do that, this team.
The most telling moments of Wednesday for me, aside from again
witnessing the brilliant poise and class of Luke Freeman, came in the final few
minutes.
Firstly
there was Aaron Wilbraham, who as one of the senior pro’s might have expected
to be halued off for a rest after the second goal all but secured the game, but
as the game approached full-time he was still haranguing the centre-halves of
Coventry on the edge of their own area, not giving them a seconds respite and
looking as fit as he did in the first minute of August. Cotterill is clearly either blind to the
potential later season impact of playing his main front man so much, or sees
enough in his stats and training to have zero concerns about his fitness and
stamina. You suspect it’s the latter.
Mark
Little then followed a pass all the way to the opposition keeper, forcing him
into a pass out to his let-back just shy of the half way line before he was
shut down and forced to retreat by…you guessed it, Mark Little.
Throw
into the mix the ferocity in which Cotterill himself was bawling at his players
even in the final minute of injury time and you start to get a real feeling of
why his side are top of the league.
Anyway,
onto Saturday and for this week’s Inside Line, Stu Radnedge caught up with The
Argus’ Steve Hollis, who covers Crawley for the Sussex-based newspaper.
“If
stability is the foundation for a successful team it is no wonder that Crawley
are in the wrong half of the League One table. The past 12 months or so have
been tumultuous both on and off the field for a club which had known nothing
but success for the previous three seasons.
The truth
is that Crawley have risen too fast from non-league football to League One and
do not have the fan-base or infrastructure to support it. Back-to-back
promotions were bankrolled by an anonymous owner in Hong Kong – only known as
Paul – and it appears he is unwilling to continue to pour unlimited amounts of
money into the club. His waning enthusiasm became apparent when Crawley were
put up for sale in March 2013 and belts have steadily been tightened since with
no potential buyers coming forward.
The
club’s academy was scrapped at the end of last season and all but two of the
squad was either released or sold during the summer because Crawley could not
afford to keep paying the wages they were on. Manager John Gregory had to bring
in virtually a whole new squad and considering most are downgrades on their
predecessors it is perhaps a surprise Reds are as high as 17th in the table.
The
problem is Gregory has been forced to adopt cautious tactics to grind out the
points to keep Crawley out of danger and that has led – only with other factors
– to a 30% drop in attendances. That has had a knock-on effect on Gregory’s
budget and forced Hong Kong Paul to reluctantly put inject another significant
sum just to balance the books.
It is all
a bit of a come down for Gregory who made a name for himself by leading Aston
Villa to top eight finishes in the Premier League for three seasons in a row
between 1998 and 2002. His reputation and enthusiasm made him an instant hit
with supporters when he was appointed in place of the dour Richie Barker last
December but that has begun to wane in recent months.
You would
not believe from the feelings of some fans that Crawley will arrive at Ashton
Gate on the back of a six game unbeaten run in League One. The problem is that
the last five of those games have all been draws and they were also knocked out
of the FA Cup and JP Trophy in that time.
A
relegation battle rather than a play-off push looks the most likely prospect in
the New Year especially if Crawley are unable to hold on to their two most
saleable assets when the transfer window reopens in January. Joe Walsh and
Gwion Edwards were both called up by Wales back in October and it would be
surprising if a bigger League One club or Championship outfit did not swoop for
them next month. Edwards has been Crawley’s most exciting player this season
and is second top scorer behind Izale McLeod but unfortunately will be missing
for the game at Ashton Gate after undergoing a hernia operation. Walsh has taken
over the captain’s armband from previous skipper Josh Simpson who was
unceremoniously slapped on the transfer list by Gregory along with four other
players three weeks ago.
Apart
from those two and McLeod’s goals there has been little for Crawley fans to get
excited about this season. Lanre Oyebanjo has shown the fight and determination
supporters love when the going gets tough while Dean Leacock has been a steady
influence at the heart of the defence.
One face the Bristol City fans will be
looking forward to seeing again is midfielder Marvin Elliott who left Ashton
Gate after seven years in the summer. The Jamaica international joined Crawley
on a short-term deal in September which runs out after the weekend. Injury has
blighted his time in West Sussex but it would be fitting if he signed off with
a goal against his former club.”
My thanks
to Stu and Steve for this insight, and let’s hope we keep a close eye on ol’
50p head Marvin Elliott, Elliott, Marvin Elliott
tomorrow – sometimes it hits the right angle!
COYR!
The Exiled Robin
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