The Exiled Robin

  The lesser-spotted blog post... The string of summer signings has inspired the first post in a year, with a focus on new £2m(ish) signing, Jason Knight. He has been likened by some to Korey Smith, his former team-mate at Pride Park, whilst his high-energy approach has been praised widely. To get the real lowdown I spoke to avid Rams fan, Cory Hancock , of top Derby pod Ram's Review .                                                    Picture from Bristol City www.bcfc.co.uk  Tell us about Jason Knight. What type of player are we getting? An energy player who will run all game long. Knight’s engine is second-to-none. He will run hard for the team and do the work of two players. That’s not to say he runs around like a headless chicken, but he will go box-to-box for 90 minutes. He’s also a solid and consistent performer who rarely lets the side down. He’s played a few different positions, I think most expect him to be straying centrally for us as one of two holding midfielders. Woul

Back in 2014, I was invited by the Two Unfortunates website to write about Bristol City's greatest team. It was a story which, of course, ended ultimately in the story of the Ashton Gate 8. Since the site of the original post has long since gone, here it is republished in full. "Eight players with more than 80 years at the club and more than 2,000 appearances between them, cast aside as unwilling saviours" Sometimes, events occur that make you realise your true standing in life. When the emotional mask of expectation is removed and those rose-tinted spectacles are lowered onto the brow of the nose, you can realise that things aren’t quite all they seem. And so it was for me, a lifelong Bristol City fan, when I was asked to talk about our greatest ever team. For when it came down to it, there was only one real choice. One genuinely great team that I could write about even in the perspective-bending world of football and this was one I hadn’t even had the privilege of seein

Hi folks, It's been a while...a busy life and distinctly average, consolidation-season City form has somewhat taken away my enthusiasm for writing recently.  But in what I hope will be the first of a number of pieces for the newly-established Bristol World , I've taken a look at what the season has brought us Bristol City fans so far. You can find the link here - as ever on anything I write I'm more than happy to debate and open to comments - feel free either on the post or over on their tweet.   READ THE ARTICLE HERE COYR

For nearly 100 years of their existence, Bristol City had trundled along like many other middling Football League clubs. A couple of promotions, a handful of relegations, the odd shot at glory and a clutch of notable former players and moments had been strewn across the century. Then in 1976 that changed with promotion to an increasingly high-profile First Division. That story has been well told by many, with the ultimate repercussions leading to the story of the Ashton Gate Eight, men who sacrificed their future prosperity and family’s stability to ensure the very survival of our club. And most of those stories stop there. The remarkable gesture is a great ending to a story, and what came next is just seen as a gradual re-establishment to our standard jostling within the middle two divisions. But to skip over that period of the mid-to-late 1980s would be disingenuous to a man who was front and centre of Bristol City’s recovery, a man who rebuilt the foundations on a shoestring and

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