The Exiled Robin

Two away defeats may not feel like ideal preparation going into a “should-win” home game, but the encouragement players and fans alike could take from the spirit and the long spells of control and quality in the matches at Swindon and Southampton bodes well in terms of driving us towards that elusive first league win. The possession and chances created at Southampton in particular should give everyone the confidence that we’ll soon be taking great strides up the table, but there remains a concern – one which I’m certain Sean O’Driscoll will bring up in his pre-match press conferences – that the pressure of performing in front of an expectant and increasingly (largely understandably) impatient home crowd will prove to be this young team’s undoing yet again.  It will only take a couple of misplaced passes, or a rush of blood to the head of a defender for anxiety to sweep around Ashton Gate in a manner that simply can’t have been replicated with a smaller, less dominant away follow...

It’s not very often that Bristol City play a team that are placed higher in the league than Manchester United, or have just won at Liverpool, but that’s the fate to befall us on Tuesday when we travel to what has been a successful stomping ground for us in recent history. There is little doubt the Saints have moved on somewhat since a Christmas-time backs-to-the-wall 1-0 win there in their promotion-winning season, but those recent good outcomes (City have won four consecutive matches against Southampton), along with the expectation that many of the starting XI who won at Anfield on Saturday will be rested for the cup-tie, has led to some raising of hopes ahead of the journey down to the south coast. To put this in some perspective, Southampton rested nine players for the last round, and won 5-1 at Championship side Barnsley without the likes of Osvaldo, ex-Bristol Rovers and England striker Rickie Lambert and Wanyama, whilst City may also make some changes – O’Driscoll hin...

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...

Following on from the publication of the Top 25 players in the Championship,  named a year ago  on The Seventy Two, this third of five updates tracks the progress of each of the players voted one of the best on view at the time. First if all I relook at a man often accused of being a flat-track bully over the years, but who is now proving his ability at the highest level. Rickie Lambert:   Top 25 review from 2011 Club in Dec 2011:  Southampton  Club now:  Southampton Progress made?  Promotion to the Premier League There's little greater compliment I can pay than to say that upon reflection of the original article, it became quickly apparent that I could actually just rewrite the whole piece, simply replacing the word 'Championship' with 'Premier League'.  Such has been the smoothness and vivacity with which this one time lower league journeyman has taken to the oft (falsely) quoted "best league in the world". The doubts tha...

A little over a year ago, four writers having a conversation on Twitter one evening were debating who the best player in the Championship was at that time.  We came up with around a dozen contenders ourselves and then opened up the question to a relatively extensive follower base and, eventually, came up with a list of the top 25 voted for by our followers, released in a daily format in an advent calendar style throughout December 2011. The well-received list was published on The Seventy Two, and now resides in the archive of the same name on the fabulous The Two Unfortunates . One year (and-a-bit) on and we thought it would be an interesting experiment to review all of the names on the list and see where their careers had taken them.  Upon reflection the list doesn't look that bad a stab, with 10 of the 25 players now with Premier League clubs, plus at least another three at Cardiff seemingly destined to reach the top flight in May (or indeed, April). There are of...