The Exiled Robin

The last couple of weeks has been quite a period in Bristol City’s long history. It’s been chaotic, troublesome and concerning. There’s been anger and abuse (more on that later), antipathy and arguments. And, as is the way with football, things tend to move very quickly. There is now more than a murmur of excitement (not quite full-blown, mind) and significant nodding of approval at the choice made by the club this week. In between all of this City won a game of football, albeit against a team bottom of the league playing with ten men for most of the match. But they won, and got three points and moved back into the top half of the table. Underperforming and not where the club wants to be…? Margins are fine, that’s for certain. So, what has been learned, with the announcement of Liam Manning as Head Coach on Tuesday and what myths do need to be busted? Firstly, the club communications are like Jekyll & Hyde. The engagement pieces, insight videos and some of the fun nonsense ...

The signing of Scott Golbourne (not Goldborne, Goldbourne or Golborne!) must have been as much a relief for those in the club’s hierarchy as it was for us supporters. Constantly barracked and ridiculed over the past few months for the seemingly disastrous lack of transfer activity, Golbourne is only the second permanent signing for the senior squad in 18 months since we embarked on our hugely successful League One title-winning campaign. Plenty of loans have been tried in the meantime, but only Jonathan Kodjia’s bolt-from-the-blue signing from Angers in the summer has caused the editors on Wikipedia to move a player's full time club to Bristol City in that time. Any fan over the age of 17/18 or so will fleetingly remember Golbourne, of course, as he spent his formative years with us but his opportunities were limited at that stage so I knew little about him, other than he’s looked like a pretty solid looking traditional full-back in the games I’ve seen him in since. ...

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...

Ever since Liverpool’s glorious reign in the 1970’s and 80’s under a succession of managers appointed from within the club there has been a romantic view of the old boot-room.   A dingy, cramped room with a grey painted floor, a garish unevenly painted wall and discarded mud pulled from studs all over the floor.   I envisage a shower room with half the taps not working properly and the rest producing only cold water.   There is a blackboard in the corner with chalk lines and circles all over it, depicting the previous match tactics and detailed perusals on the opposition.   There a couple of balls lying around, a few shin-pads and probably the odd pair of used underpants. Above all there is a musty smell, but it’s a comfortable smell.   An aroma that personifies consistency, loyalty and a feeling of comfort.   Why bring in new people, new ideas and a fresh outlook, when all you need is right under your roof? When Bristol City appointed from within th...

Players of the Century Inspired by the excellent ‘Five Stars’ series at www.theseventytwo.com Follow them on twitter @the72football The top 5 Bristol City players of the 21st Century (so far) Rarely has pulling a list together given me cause to consider the title so much. I settled for selecting the five that have given City the most positive of impacts, and helped the club achieve the most success over the past 11 years. More than half of that period was spent in the third tier, so I felt little choice but to focus primarily on players who had managed the promotion or had played at the higher level, meaning some popular and high quality players have missed out in this list. Steve Phillips, Matt Hill, Tommy Doherty, Steve Brooker and, possibly most controversially, Leroy Lita, have all missed out. Purely using the word ‘best’ would have meant spots for David James, Paul Hartley, Marcus Stewart and Michael Bridges for what they’ve achieved elsewhere in the game. If it was ‘fa...