The Exiled Robin

Bobby Gould talks City, Rovers, the Steve’s Lansdown and Cotterill, Wimbledon and Gareth Bale It’s not often one gets the chance to interview a footballing star, someone who has played at the highest level, won trophies as a manager and become a household name, so when I was offered the chance to interview ex-City player Bobby Gould, I jumped at the chance. Bobby started his career at Coventry City alongside then assistant manager Alan Dicks, before a series of moves every couple of years. He was one of the first ‘nomadic’ footballers, quite uniquely playing for nine different clubs, never playing fewer than 34 games but never more than 82 in any one place. Bobby’s Bristol City career never really got going, despite joining because of the influence of then-manager Alan Dicks who he had played with at Coventry City. “I came down in 1972 from West Bromwich Albion who I thought were going to get relegated, and Alan had been assistant to Jimmy Hill but also played in the res...

Well, what a week! Six days after 42,000 of us returned home from one of those special days at Wembley, City return to their ultimate target with a league match against Lee Johnson’s Barnsley. Little Lee just can’t keep away from Ashton Gate, can he. Perhaps a portent of times to come…   This week Stu Radnedge spoke to Andy White, a Tykes fan who has renewed hope for their new regime. “It's been a difficult season back in the third tier for we Barnsley supporters. The football on the whole has been poor/dull, results little better and we've had to say goodbye to yet another manager, the greatest we've ever had. First time around. Unfortunately, results and the failed product put paid to his second coming a couple of months ago now. Lots of us found it a harsh decision to remove Danny Wilson. We were mid table, anything could have happened. But the board sacked him after a 2-1 home defeat against Fleetwood Town. The caretaker managership then oversaw a 5-1 humiliat...

Amidst all the celebrations on the pitch at Wembley last Sunday, and as closely bonded a team as this bunch most evidently are, one player seemed to take a little bit of a lead, be the one who got the fans cheering the loudest. One man seemed to take on the mantle of being the leader of the pack. It wasn’t club captain, Wade Elliott, or the vastly experienced Aaron Wilbraham. It wasn’t even boss Steve Cotterill, who generally allowed his players their well-deserved moment in the sun on their own. No, this figure was a man maligned by many during his first year at the club. A still young player who suffered a torrid time full of own goals and gaffes that threatened to end his City career before it had really started with the blame of relegation ready to be heaped around his shoulders moreso than any other. Indeed, before the start of the season there were considerable question marks over whether he would even be in the first-team squad. But on Sunday evening, Aden Flint m...

The main feature on this week's 'We Are Going Up' podcast is Bristol City. I discuss our JPT win, the success of Steve Cotterill, Aden Flint, Joe Bryan and the rest of the squad, Steve Lansdown, Bristol Sport and Premier League B teams, as well as a special mention for Swindon Town's November title celebrations... It starts 3:30mins in and last about 15 minutes. Link:  aca.st/1614f3     Would be great to know your thoughts - and please share so others listen too! The Exiled Robin Follow me on Twitter  --- 'Like' us on Facebook http://exiledrobin.blogspot.c om www.facebook.com/theciderdiaries --- www.twitter.com/th eciderdiaries

Wembley Stadium. The White Horse, Stanley Matthews, Wimbledon, Pearce’s redemption, Live Aid, Broken goalposts, Gazza’s knee, Coventry, Gazza’s flick over the Scots, Ricky Villa, Queen, Liverpool’s white suits, Di Matteo, Gazza’s screamer, 4-1 v Holland, Moran’s red card and, of course, some people who were on the pitch. If anyone tries to tell you Wembley has lost some of its old magic, that the multitude of club level games now played there means the mystique has somewhat disappeared, then try telling that to the 40,000 Bristolians who will be on the march up the M4 this weekend to watch our fifth appearance at the stadium. Let alone the nearly 30,000 Walsall fans who are delighted and overwhelmed to be making their Wembley bow. And yes, it’s ‘only’ the JPT, isn’t it? Well maybe, but to become the first team to win this competition three times would be a great achievement, albeit one soured by the evidence it offers that we have spent far too many recent seasons playing ...

It says it all about the season we’re having that there was such an empty feeling of disappointment following Saturday’s final whistle. Not the kind of let-down from the past few seasons that lead to booing and hours of vitriol on social media, just the nagging, frustrating whiff of a chance gone begging, this potentially record-breaking season just taking the most minor of knocks against an improved Gillingham side. It’s hardly surprising in some ways. The quality of delivery has been so perfect, so often this season, we’re always going to have the odd game where that quality dips by 5-10%. Perhaps that was the difference, or just one of those days where things don’t quite fall. On the positive note, we’ve got a chance to get it out of our system straight away, with Tuesday’s visit of Crewe Alexandra a decent Hors d’oeuvre ahead of Sunday’s super sweet dessert – the real icing on the cake of what is – hopefully – a sublime fillet steak of a season. To have achieved 80 points, som...

A long overdue return to Ashton Gate for Bristol City this weekend sees them host Gillingham – yes, yet again! – although given the recent run of results on the road, perhaps we’d be just as well off playing away once more. Ahead of our FIFTH match of the season against Kent's number one side , Stu Radnedge caught up with Gills fan Rob Baker https://twitter.com/RobBaker292 for a fresh look at our weekend opponents. “It may well be a cliché, but "a season of two halves" is the perfect description of our 2014/15 campaign. Up until the New Year, Gillingham were barely keeping themselves above water; relegation was a real possibility and the football being played was boring, defensive, negative and not successful (including 2 defeats to Bristol City). On New Year's Eve the previous manager, Peter Taylor was sacked after a bust-up with the chairman and our fortunes changed. The four members coaching staff were all appointed equal co-caretaker managers and, de...

A fair bit has happened to Yeovil since we last played them. A national television appearance and certainly little shame in their huge FA Cup tie with Manchester United, followed just a few weeks later by Gary Johnson paying the price for their season-long flirtation with the relegation zone. Meanwhile City have gone on and on, with our visit to Wembley later this month the reason for this re-arranged fixture. Stu Radnedge caught up with Leeds-based Glover Ben Barrett for his typically humourous take on the situation at Huish Park ahead of the final match in our mini-series against the bottom four. “Last time I did this, I said that 500 words wouldn't be quite enough to describe the goings on at Huish Park this season, the truth is, that three months down the line, this email could turn into a dissertation-length ramble if I'm not careful. Right, let's keep this simple, I'm a positive bloke, I love being a Yeovil fan, but my word - this season sucks. ...

It was the moment many, including myself, truly started to believe. I’m not talking about the win on Saturday that put us an incredible 8 (EIGHT) points clear at the top, albeit with new likeliest challengers Preston have a game in hand. No, I’m talking the win at the Matchroom Stadium last season when we actually looked like – and got the result that – a side who could do something in this division should be getting. Remember at that time we were still battling relegation, whilst Orient were flying high and aiming for an ultimately unattainable promotion, which made the result and the performance even more noteworthy. A year on and the tables have very much turned. As mentioned before, City have bought exceptionally well and brought in a manager who is getting the very best from his bunch of players, whilst Orient have lost last year’s supremo and, whilst they have attracted some decent looking players, for one reason or another they’re clearly not gelling as the club wou...