The Exiled Robin

“Roses are red, Violets are blue, We are going up*, And might just win at Wembley too!” * - hopefully! Three months to go. Three months in which to seal the glory the first six months of the season would deserve. Of course, it won’t be that easy, but at the moment City are winning games comfortably despite not being at their absolute best, and are in one of those lovely grooves that come along all too rarely when you go to matches not just hoping, but actively expecting to win. Of course, usually with City it’s when you get this comfortable that things start going wrong, and if it’s going to, slap bang in the middle of a six week run of Tuesday – Saturday fixtures is both the possible time, and the worst possible time for it to happen. The squad will be put through a truly tough test, and whilst there are already signs of some rotation – Tavernier/Little now seem interchangeable whilst Greg Cunningham has given Joe Bryan occasional breaks – I was a touch surprise...

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...

More than seven weeks after the last campaign ended with gloating celebrations at Crawley, City’s close season exploded into life this week with the capture of three players to bolster manager Steve Cotterill’s options for the new season.  Wade Elliott’s signature was the least surprising (but still very welcome) deal, whilst Luke Freeman was a name many of us had hoped for but few dared believe we might get, with reported interest from several Championship clubs for his services. His pace, direct running and eye for a goal couldn’t have failed to any watching Robins fan in our encounters with Stevenage last season, despite him ending on the losing side on both occasions. The other signing is a player many may not know much about.  Mark Little may be getting on a bit, I remember watching him in Neighbours when I got home from school at the end of the 1980’s but with Bouncer in tow I reckon we’ve got a great signing…. Mark Little Ah, OK, not him? Right, right…Lit...