The Exiled Robin

Bearing in mind the single bright spot of Keith Millen's reign was a shock win at The King Power (the ground formerly known as the Walkers Stadium), there is perhaps more hope than most fans might imagine heading into the first of City's home match double-header.  After all, of the eight wins this season, there are already two doubles on the record - Southampton and Millwall - with the victory against Doncaster matched up with an away point.  Leicester, Barnsley and Burnley have yet to cross our paths a second time. Indeed, one way to look at City's season is they haven't yet lost to a team they've taken maximum points from - OK, OK, clutching at straws maybe, but nevertheless, losing runs don't go on for ever and maybe, just maybe, Leicester are there for the picking. David Bevan , editor of the always brilliant The Seventy Two , is also a Leicester fan and kindly offered me this detailed insight into Leicester's form and the trends that lead him to thi...

Unfortunately a manically busy few weeks at work has disrupted the normal flow of posts to the site so here's a chance to catch up with a couple of my recent pieces for the Bristol City programme, Red Alert: Firstly from the match against Leeds on February 4th, a guide as to some of the best footballers to follow on Twitter - many of the programme readers are either new to Twitter or aren't a member so it was a bit of an insight as to what they could expect. The second offering was for the Crystal Palace game (Valentine's Day) and is a view as to why I set up my blog in the first place, whilst also touching on some reasons why other writers have recently hung up their keyboards. Football follows on Twitter With more than 50 million users logging in every day and a billion tweets per week, it would be easy to get lost in the jungle that is Twitter. If you’re new to the game and have only recently signed up, or have been active for a while but still see only c...

One single, lonely point from the last seven games, and that via an injury-time equaliser. 17 (Seventeen) goals conceded in the last six outings. Form guide: 0-3; 1-3; 0-3; 2-2; 0-3; 0-3 The worst goal difference of all 72 clubs in the entire football league.  Fewest goals number of scored in the entire football league. How Bristol City are not adrift at the bottom of the league is quite remarkable when those statistics are absorbed?  If I wasn't already worried about City's prospects this season then I am now.  Even Portsmouth's financial woes which, with the removal of 10 of their hard-earned points seemed at the time a personal silver lining in a sad tale, now appear to be the opposite of a blessing in disguise.  A glance at the table as it would stand if Pompey went out of business in the week showed City 3rd bottom and just two points ahead of the revised relegation spots.  If a point is somehow miraculously gained at Fratton Park later this month C...

Although the timing of his signing means many of you will have already seen Stephen McManus in a City shirt, 90 minutes can never prove too much about a new player, so Anthony Vickers , who writes the Untypical Boro  blog on the Teesiders for the Middlesboro Evening Gazette , has been kind enough to provide this take on City's newest signing. "BIG 'Mick' McManus will be missed at Boro but has been sacrificed as part of the usual on-going financial jiggling needed at this level. He arrived from Celtic initially on loan as part of the great Strachanovite experiment with Jockification - an influx of experienced battlers/leaders who would sweep Boro to glory. Sadly many fell by the wayside or struggled to make the leap from a regime of one intense Old Firm game a month followed by a few easy outings to the relentless twice a week hurly-burly of an attritional Championship campaign. McManus slotted in well though. Although he was a bit slow he was experienced, big, s...

I wanted to share some of my recent offerings on other websites. Hope you enjoy! Firstly, a review of the big winners and losers of Transfer Deadline Day on @The72Football : http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2012/02/02/the-football-leagues-winners-and-losers-in-the-january-transfer-window/ Next up are two previews of the home game against Leeds for two different sites; 'The Scratching Shed' and 'The Offside - Leeds' : http://www.thescratchingshed.com.customers.tigertech.net/posts/away-fans-views-bristol-city-a-2/ http://leeds.theoffside.com/team-news/interview-with-an-away-fan-bristol-city-2.html Finally, just to act as Mr. Smarty Pants, my preview of the last week's Reading game for @TheTilehurstEnd , including an unfortunately accurate prediction of the impact the signing of  @JasonRoberts30 would have on the outcome (and a pointer towards Peterborough's prospects that seem far more real after a heavy home defeat)... http://t...

Stuart Radnedge returns with a post-Reading view on matters and an interesting angle on whether geogrpahy affects the calibre of player City can attract - something I've certainly felt for a number of years. "I realised quite a few things when I heard ex-Gashead Jason Roberts had scored against us on his debut for Reading on Saturday.  And it wasn’t anything to do with my hatred for him being reignited. I began reflecting on footballing situations. Roberts is one of many former Premier League (he did somehow get that far!) footballers who take a step down a league and ply their trade in the Championship.  But why is it that these players always seem to join other clubs aside from us? Is it the London, Manchester, Midlands factor? Players join a club near those areas because they’ve already set up home nearby and are hoping to stay at the club, like Reading, or alternatively play well and then move on to another not too far away? Maybe. But by that ratio...

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 ...