The Exiled Robin

The Top 25 players in the Championship were  named a year ago  on The Seventy Two, a culmination of personal views and ultimately a fan's vote.   Fourteen have already been reviewed this week and this fourth u pdate takes a cursory glance at a further six players, four of whom are now on the books of Premier League clubs. Firstly today, Joe Harrison provides an angle on one of the few from the list to have commanded a significant transfer fee since appearing in the vote. Jay Rodriguez:   Top 25 review from 2011 Club in Dec 2011:  Burnley  Club now:  Southampton Progress made?  Moved to the Premier League A year on, it comes as no surprise that Jay Rodriguez would be ineligible for the same list this year, as he has made the step up to the Premier League. Unfortunately for Burnley, it has not been with them, Southampton signing the Lancastrian for a fee believed to be around £7m following his 21 goals for the Clarets last seaso...

Tuesday night wasn't your typical Ashton Gate night.  Opening the home campaign on a Tuesday night seemed strange enough, and that perhaps provided part of the reason for a relatively disappointing crowd of a little over 12,000. For those that were there however, the night is one they'll never forget.  It began with rumours buzzing around that another new player - to add to that of Steven Davies the previous day - was about to sign.  When Derek McInnes failed to present himself to the press pre-match and local journalists began tweeting about 'something going on', the rumour mill really picked up pace. Who had been seen around the ground? Who was that sitting in the Director's box?  Perhaps it was even a double signing, with both Sam Baldock and DJ Campbell reportedly interesting our young Scottish manager.  It soon became clear that whoever it was, there was an on-pitch half-time presentation planned to announce the new signing. The major risk to al...

Following a vastly improved performance and result for City against relegation rivals Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, Stu Radnedge returns to The Exiled Robin with this post-match view and what the future holds for star striker Nicky Maynard. (ER - written prior to City's announcement that Wigan had been given permission to talk to Maynard) From the despair of last weekend’s result against Brighton came a stellar performance and victory for the best team in Bristol on Saturday as City recorded Derek McInnes’ seventh victory in his time as manager.  The victory saw new signing Chris Wood and Kalifa Cisse score well-orchestrated goals in the first half – mounting pressure on the lowly visitors, Doncaster Rovers, who replied with a goal in the second half.  No more so due to them having to play with ten men after Habib Beye was sent off in the inciden that led to City netting their second goal. But, more interestingly for me was the noted absence of one player who was rested ...

The announcement this morning that City had given permission for Nicky Maynard to talk to Wigan was not unexpected, given that it had been rumoured online and in the press overnight, but still caused a fair amount of consternation and discussion amongst the Ashton Gate faithful.   Many have been quick to jump to understandable but slightly high & mighty remarks surrounding the possible destination.  " Wigan, ha ha! Not the dream move he'd hoped for - see you next season " is a fairly succinct summary of many views and with Fulham, Everton, West Brom and Swansea having been linked in recent weeks it is a reaction that has some grounds.  However the truth of the matter is this appears to have been the only official bid received and with only seven days left of the transfer window, this could turn into the only resolution possible for club and player.   Let's also remember the news today is simply that City have given permission to talk as discussions over...

Including the top three moments of the year, as voted by you 2011 has been a difficult year for all concerned at Ashton Gate.   The club started the year trying to edge clear of the relegation zone and ends it in a similar position.   In the intervening 363 days there has been a change in manager, chairman and board, whilst off the field the new stadium at Ashton Vale seems as far away as ever, despite the focus put on it. The January transfer window is about to open with star striker Nicky Maynard officially up for sale and vultures circling over Ghanaian international winger Albert Adomah.   With losses totalling just shy of £30m over the past three years, there are no guarantees about the immediate future of the club, the squad or the division they’ll be playing in this time next year. City face a number of key issues as Britain enters a golden year and these are reviewed below, whilst the review then finishes on a positive note, with detail of the three favo...

One evening during November four fans of different Championship clubs spent a large part of the evening discussing who they thought had claims to be the best players in the league. An idea was born.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and in a twist to the usual advent calendar format, a series was launched and has spent December working through a different footballer each day, counting through the top 25 players in the second tier. Written partly by myself, in conjunction with three excellent writers, Joe Harrison (Cardiff - View from the Ninian ); John Verrall (Peterborough - Standing on the Glebe ); David Bevan (Leicester - and our esteemed host via The Seventy Two ) we initially took views from fans from all clubs via forums and Twitter to come up with a shortlist, with more than 70 names nominated.  This list was then reduced via voting on Twitter from followers of @the72football, and here it is.  All 25 players, detailed with links s...

Saturday’s result at Leeds was disappointing and caused a number of fans (who admitted later they hadn’t been to the game) to react with severe disappointment on Twitter.   There was an instant retort and a handful of arguments broke amongst some of those fans and others who had been to the game and were on their way home.   It’s one of the fascinating aspects of Twitter and online forums that you can have such an instant discussion, particularly for away games when fewer fans actually see the live performance. So was it good and unlucky?   Was it bad and deserved?   I have enlisted the help of some of those that attended - Dale Merry, Melissa Spencer and John Milsom - to put their view across of the game and the performance.   A Leeds blogger, Thomas Hill from www.Leeds.theoffside.com has also been kind enough to offer a view on City based on what he saw at Elland Road. The general consensus appears to be that the performance was decidedly improved o...

The Exiled Robin recently cheekily asked incoming Bristol City Chief Executive Guy Price for an interview…..and he agreed! Guy talks openly and frankly about the financial situation at the club, the possibility of having Nicky Maynard and Stephen Caulker in the same line-up again next season, the Academy and the importance of the new stadium for the local community. Before we start I’d like to place on record my sincere thanks to Guy for his time in answering these questions – it must have been an incredibly busy couple of months for him yet he’s taken time out to answer these questions for you, the fans, to read. What was your first involvement with City, as a fan or as an employer? When was your first match? I'm from the West Country, so I've always kept an eye on City. I completed Panini's Football '79 sticker album, and although I was very excited about Liverpool's success in Europe at the time, I couldn't help but notice that Bristol City were in t...

Twitter-style summary (max.140 chars): Dreadful start,Coppell quit,bottom in Oct. Millen&signings,esp. Caulker,Stead&Pitman got us to boring mid-table respectability, thank God! Player of the Season: I’m just giving this to Albert Adomah over the Young Player. Albert is the one good thing to come out of Coppell’s short, disastrous reign. Signed from Barnet for a small fee, he has terrorised Championship left-backs all season with his speed of feet, great dribbling skills and an ability to get the ball in the right areas. If he scored more goals then the Premier League would already be beckoning – as it is we might get to keep him for another year and hope he & Maynard can take us into the promised land. Young Player of the Season: Stephen Caulker joined in the dark early days but quickly improved the entire back four with his assured displays, confidence and unbelievably mature positional sense. The teenager has played a massive part in saving the club from releg...