The Exiled Robin

Delighted to welcome back John McGee to the pages of The Exiled Robin, as he answered Stu Radnedge's questions on Carlisle United... Ex-Bristol City "favourite" John Ward was responsible for one of the worst runs of results in Carlisle United's history and was replaced by Greg Abbott, who I believe at the start of this season was the third longest serving manager in the football league (behind Arsene Wenger and Paul Tisdale). So why was the club’s start to this season so bad? That's a good question, and one which isn't easy to answer. My own view is that Greg's management at Carlisle had become a bit stale. He took quite a while to get going; he was naive and made mistakes and that turned quite a few people off him who he had never quite won over, but it's inarguable that he turned us into a pretty good side. His problem was being unable to build on finishing 8 th .  His summer business in 2012 was absolutely disastrous and he never recov...

It’s Hallowe’en fancy dress at Brunton Park on Saturday as City make their longest trip of the season on the back of yet another defeat.  There was another Ashton Gate horror result on Tuesday night as for the first time the vocal minority of fans calling for Sean O’Driscoll to be relieved of his duties became a more significant number.  Two online ‘Sack Him or Back Him’ polls were split almost exactly 50/50 which, when you consider the recent record, actually bears a remarkable testament of faith by the half who remain in support, but the shadows of the Grim Reaper hang long over the BS3 area and if City are on the end of another fright night in Cumbria on Saturday, it could well sadly bode the end of this philosophical, thoughtful and well-intentioned coaches reign. Seven months and 17 days have passed since three points were last witnessed by anyone, so it would be somewhat ironic and perhaps apt if what will inevitably be one of our smallest – but most dedicated – a...

The new year dawned with the return to Ashton Gate of a number of City players who had been on loan at various clubs for the past few months. Performances and form in spells of this sort tend to go a little unnoticed so I asked fans of some of the clubs to do a review of the players’ time with their club and give City fans a feel as to how the players performed. Although many came back, I’ve focused on the three that played the most: Two for the future in Joe Edwards and Christian Ribeiro , as well as long-time ‘Marmite’ midfielder Lee Johnson . Firstly, two views on Johnson. Lee has increasingly found himself on the fringes of the City squad and Neil Kilkenny’s signing in the summer appeared to signal the end of his time at the club, especially when he signed on loan for recently promoted Chesterfield. However sometimes a good loan spell can turn around fortunes so how did Lee get on in Derbyshire? Dean Mansell (@awayend ) is an exiled Chesterfield fan who runs the highly a...