The Exiled Robin

You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief across south Bristol at half-past-two on Saturday afternoon, as referee James Linington drew an end to one of the most disappointing and frustrating seasons in recent Bristol City history. Awful because we haven’t been able to go to games. Awful because of the never-ending stream of injuries, serious injuries, repeat injuries. Awful because of the inability to take enough shots on goal. Awful for the basic inability to pass the ball which has blighted our performances throughout the season. Awful for the apparent lack of care from a number of senior professionals in the last third of the season. Despite their constant references to fans being missed, I suspect there is a fairly significant contingent of players, staff and directors at Ashton Gate saying a little prayer of thanks that fans haven’t been allowed in during these last few months. The atmosphere would have fluctuated from frustration to anger to sheer vitriol, certainly...

Ross Casey, formerly top football tipster of EasyOdds and a lifelong City fan, returns to take a look at the Bristol City betting markets to help you beat the bookies. Ross’ latest article on The Exiled Robin comes ahead of this weekend’s home fixture against the struggling Sunderland at Ashton Gate. Over to Ross… Bristol City return from their warm weather training in Dubai looking to improve upon a disappointing performance in their 1-0 loss to Bolton last Friday . The Robins were uncharacteristically wasteful in possession and Lee Johnson was correct in suggesting that we deserved nothing from the game in his post-match conference. The current run of one win in nine is certainly a worry, but it is hoped the break in Dubai will do the squad plenty of good ahead of our fixture against The Black Cats on Saturday. Last week we pointed out under 2.5 goals and no in the both teams to score market as valid bets, which would have both come in. I hope some of you got on those! ...

Ross Casey, formerly top football tipster of EasyOdds and a lifelong City fan, returns to take a look at the Bristol City betting markets to help you beat the bookies. Ross’ latest article on The Exiled Robin comes ahead of Friday night’s trip to Bolton for Sky’s Friday Night Football headliner. Over to Ross… Bristol City head to the Macron Stadium on Friday night in a Championship fixture broadcast live on Sky Sports. With the Robins ending a seven-match winless streak last weekend, it is imperative that we push on and put pressure on our promotion rivals by bringing home the points! MATCH ODDS Despite our mid-season wobble, Bristol City are a best price of 11/10 to win this fixture, making them firm favourites. Some bookmakers go even shorter at 19/20 odds on - so make sure you peruse an odds comparison service - this will ensure you get the best Championship odds if you are backing us. The Robins are now fifth in the league, just three points off second placed De...

Bristol City v Manchester City betting tips Ross’ debut on The Exiled Robin started with an agonising (but very fortunate for us) loss as his Derby to win to nil recommended best bet didn’t come in thanks to the wrong decision not to give Derby a late penalty for a foul by Aden Flint on Cameron Jerome. He did however, point out that Derby have the best home defence in the league and ushered you in the direction of a home clean sheet at 17/10. Over to Ross for the betting preview of our Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on Tuesday night… Bristol City head into this tie on the back of a gutting late 2-1 defeat at The Etihad in the first leg. The Robins were on a five-match losing streak heading into the match with Derby on Friday, so Lee Johnson was delighted to end that unwanted streak ahead of this massive fixture. Annoying for me is the ruling that away goals count AFTER extra-time, so if the game does go to 120 minutes, Man City will have that long to secure an away...

We’re baaack!  Well, in a fashion, anyway. Unfortunately, blogging has very much taken a back-seat for me over the past 18 months for a myriad reasons, but hopefully you’ve been keeping up with my thoughts and discussion points on the Facebook and Twitter pages.  And whilst I’m trying to recover my extended writing mojo, I’ve enlisted the support of Ross Casey, formerly top football tipster of EasyOdds and a lifelong City fan, to take a look at football betting markets to help you beat the bookies. Ross’ debut on The Exiled Robin comes ahead of Friday night’s trip to Derby County for Sky’s Friday Night Football headliner. Over to Ross… Bristol City head to the iPro Stadium on Friday night in a Championship fixture broadcast live on Sky Sports. With the Robins on a five-match losing streak, it is little surprise that the bookmakers have made the away side outsiders! MATCH ODDS Derby are a best price of 11/10 to win this fixture, making them firm favou...

The second fantastic performance in four days at Ashton Gate, last night's win was about as comfortable cup upset as you can get against a Premier League team. Here are my thoughts on the eleven who played, plus Lee Johnson. Luke Steele, 7: Had a surprisingly quietish debut but did everything he was asked. There were one or two moments of uncertainty when balls fell in the dead zone between him and the back four, but that's to be expected on his first appearance. Zak Vyner, 6: May seem harsh, but whilst he mainly did ok there were three moments where he misjudged his positioning, leaving Stoke with chances to capitalise. But largely did well against quality opposition. Aden Flint, 9: Almost faultless. The fact that Peter Crouch shook his hand and applauded him when he was substituted after a completely fruitless evening said it all. No real pace or trickery to threaten his usual weaknesses and made a superb clearance off the line at 0-0. He was the one shouting and ...

At first glance, the signing of a striker who can't get into Fulham's matchday plans may seem a strange one by Lee Johnson. After all, not only must there be a question over how capable he is based on that scenario, but despite the departures of Lee Tomlin and the pair of Hams this summer (Tammy Abraham and Aaron Wilbraham), City have what appears a top-heavy eight strikers on their books still. However, that's not the full story. Famara Diedhiou and Bobby Reid have started the season together, with Freddie Hinds acting as cover. Milan Djuric, Matty Taylor and Arnold Garita (remember him?!) are currently injured. That's six, but half are injured. Then you have Gustav Engvall who has gone back to Sweden, probably for the last time, while under 23 goal machine Shaun McCoulsky is (rightly) learning his trade in League Two with Newport County. The other reason Johnson would have been after an extra body is that although he is 'only' six foot tall, he's ...