The Exiled Robin

"So there you have it.  After wins galore, unbeaten runs, two trophies and 99 points, the Championship  is going to be just a little bit tougher....." Wes Burns, Frankie Fielding and defending set-pieces all a part of my Bristol Post contribution to this week's blog, following the first league game of the season. http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Heady/story-27594151-detail/story.html *Please note this was written before the Dwight Gayle news broke and before the Luton game! 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

I was wrong.   I generally like to feel I have a good, well-balanced and reasonable handle on football matters, usually resulting in a non-emotional and fairly rational opinion which doesn’t waver far from the truth, but on this occasion I was very, very wrong. One year ago today, Steve Cotterill became the Bristol City manager to a somewhat underwhelming murmur of excitement.  I was particularly disappointed for a number of reasons, including the fact I hadn’t wanted Sean O’Driscoll sacked and had hoped we would cast our net wider in our search for a new manager – having been promised a comprehensive review by Jon Lansdown, only to go for the first – and only man – we considered. I didn’t think Cotterill was the right man for the job.  I had seen and read too many horror stories and embarrassing tales from his time at Forest, whilst his main success seemed to be entrenched almost a decade earlier.  I felt there were better options out there.  I was...

A new dawn: It’s always exciting, isn’t it? There’s always that feeling of anticipation, of wondering what could be? Even if you’re expected to be relegated, fans talk about the likes of Burnley and of Blackpool and of Yeovil and they say “you never know”. Newly promoted sides discard the caution that should exist and dream of ‘doing a Norwich’ or ‘doing a Southampton’ and heading to two consecutive promotions. We at Bristol City so nearly did that. Despite these constant over-hyped emotions, which in many cases are shot down in a bitter dose of reality by 4:55pm on the first Saturday, some seasons just feel that much more special than others. Some just feel like it’s your time. And so it is that Bristol City head into their second League One season with a burgeoning spirit of anticipation and excitement, no, expectation buzzing around Ashton Gate.   But is it realistic to be talking of promotion?   Five years of decline have seemingly been halted but that uptur...

A well-planned, increasingly well-executed and intensive summer of player recruitment continued today with the signing of one-time England squad goalkeeper Frankie Fielding, from Derby County.  Fielding's signing is undoubtedly a huge relief for head coach Sean O'Driscoll, who having let understudy Dean Gerken and youngster Lewis Carey leave in May, was facing returning to pre-season and having Sam Baldock, Steven Davies and others slotting the ball into an empty net in training.  A number two must still follow, but Fielding will undoubtedly be SOD's first choice come August 3rd, assuming he is fit. On the face of it Fielding is the headline capture of the summer.  It is hard to imagine Fabio Capello spent many minutes watching lower-league football, but saw enough in Fielding to pluck him from almost total obscuity, having only ever turned out for Wycombe Wanderers, Northampton Town and Rochdale whilst on loan from Blackburn.  Yes, he had Paul Robinson to oust ...