Bristol City v Ipswich Town
Saturday 17th March 2018 – 15:00
Ashton Gate - 15:00
Pre-Match Thoughts - Bluemike
Week after week I turn up at Portman Road and week after week I leave believing that is the last straw, Mick can't stay after that. Never have I been more convinced that he would be gone than I was Tuesday Evening as I trudged out of a hostile Portman Road having witnessed another home shambles, the abuse hurled at Mick and at times the players was the worst it has ever been, while most of it was aimed in the gaffers direction it is the first time in a while I can remember players being on the receiving end of such treatment. Whatever we feel at the time I think this does take it a step too far although such was my anger Tuesday I do get how you are dragged along with it when the heat of the moment takes over. One thing I will say is that Mick is spot on in his interview today where the treatment of Trystan Nydam is concerned, this is a kid, one of our future players with any luck and for him to be jeered and booed etc was for me plain wrong, it is about as counter productive as you can get and whille those responsible are morons of the highest order it still hits home to the player in question, the boy has done nothing wrong all season when he has played and is learning his trade, we need to be very careful here, players are not fools and word will soon get about that this is not a good place to come to play football, Celina, Carter-Vickers, Connolly, Iorfa, Gleeson and Carayol will all think twice and will also be sharing their thoughts with their teammates at their own clubs, it can spread very rapidly. If we persist in wanting to dish it out we have to be prepared to face the consequences.
I cannot for the life of me understand whay Mick was thinking on Tuesday, Waghorn, Connolly and Webster on the bench and a line up that was just plain hopeless, Sears down the middle and a game plan of hoofing it long to a midget ? What chance did he have ? Abandoning the back Three which has worked so well in recent weeks, by Mick's own admission the 3-5-2 has been really good since Norwich away so why change it ? The icing on the caks was his comments of leaving players on the bench in case they pick up yellow cards !! I've never heard anything so stupid at this stage of a season, especially when it was a must win game to keep any lingering hopes of a top Six finish alive, slim chance I know but a win would have kept us hanging in there, as it is the season is over now with Nine pointless games to go, all that is left is the battle to finish as East Anglia's top dogs.
Trying to take in all the interviews and articles etc regarding the managers position has me chopping and changing my mind as to if he is staying or leaving but following his pre game interview and then his comments after the thrashing from Hull I find it impossible to comprehend that he will be here next August, it just cannot happen and even if Evans was going to offer him that Two year extension I think it is impossible for him to do so now, the fans have spoken like never before and the rift is now a chasm which can't heal, if Evans is as good a businessman as we are all led to believe then he has One action and One action only to take, failure to do so will see the crowds all but implode and that is fraught with real danger for the very existence of the club, only a headcase would take that chance and some time soon Evans will want to sell up, he has to have something to sell.
At least this week sees us on our travels and that should at least ensure a better performance, it's been that way most of the season, the players have far more freedom and are clearly more relaxed and while I get some of the anger in recent days I have said all along the fans have for some time been partly responsible for the poor home form, i've said it for months not just after Tuesday and for me it is a fact, tht is fine but accept your actions have consequences, several players have remarked on it while trying to remain diplomatic but only a fool would argue that it does make things harder for them. Bristol City are not the team of a few weeks ago and have slipped to Eighth place, Three points off the play offs, incredibly should we beat them we would only be Three points behind them and this is a team who are regarded still being very much in the mix, strange old world. Sadly I think they will prove to be too strong for a beleaguered and battered Town team on this occasion and my record of seeing nothing but defeats for Town at Ashton Gate looks likely to continue here. Keep the faith, COYB'S.
The Opposition – Bristol City
The club was founded in 1897 as Bristol South End and changed their name to Bristol City on adopting professionalism three years later when they were admitted into the Southern League. City joined the Football League in 1901. .
Winning the Second Division Championship with a record number of points when they became the first club in Football League history to win 30 games as well as equaling Manchester United's achievement of the previous season in winning 14 consecutive games (still a record today, which was also accomplished by Preston in 1950–51).
They finished as runners-up in their inaugural First Division campaign. Three years later they won through to their only FA Cup Final. After a five season stay in the top flight in the 1910/11season brought City's first ever taste of relegation and it was to be 65 years before top flight status would be regained.
The 1920s were a rocky time as City bounced between the Second Division and the Southern Section of the Third Division. By the 1930s they had slumped into the lower division, and stayed that way until the Second World War. Harry Dolman became chairman in 1949, a post he would hold for over 30 years. An engineer who had bought out the firm he worked for, he designed the first set of floodlights installed at Ashton Gate in the early 1950s. The late 1950s were a better time for City, with a five-year stay in the Second Division, a league they returned to for a further spell in 1965.
In 1967, Alan Dicks was appointed manager, and things gradually began to improve, with promotion to the First Division in 1976, ending a 65-year exile from the top flight.
City's second stint in the top flight was less successful than the club's first, with thirteenth position in 1979 being their highest finish during this era.
In 1980, the City team went back to the Second Division in the first of three relegations, their debt mounted and their financial losses increased, with two successive relegations following. Thus, in 1982, they fell into the Fourth Division, and were declared bankrupt. BCFC (1982) Ltd acquired the club's player contracts, and the highly paid senior players who became known as the 'Ashton Gate Eight', each accepted termination of his contract for half the amount due. The club failed to pay its debts to many local businesses which left the new formed club difficulty in obtaining credit because of bad feeling toward them.
City spent two seasons in the Fourth Division before winning promotion in 1984. They consolidated themselves in the Third Division during the latter part of the 1980s, and in 1990 achieved promotion as Third Division runners-up.
Meanwhile, City remained in the new Division One (no longer the Second Division after the creation of the Premier League in 1992) but in the 1994/95 season were relegated to Division Two.
Bristol City again achieved promotion in 1998 as Division Two runners-up, but went straight back down again the following season.
City was a regular Division Two Top Six side over the next few seasons but couldn’t advance through the playoffs each time.
Despite a slow start to the 2006–07 season, City were in the top six of League One by November and at the end of the month began an 11-match unbeaten run which drove them to the top of the division. Promotion to the Championship was confirmed on the final day of the season securing the runners-up place in the division and resulting in automatic promotion.
After a stop start run of form City went top of the Championship on 1 March, However, a poor run ended City's chances of an automatic promotion place. They made the playoff final at Wembley but went down 1-0 to Hull.
After a poor start in the first half of the 2008–09 season, City finished the season in tenth place.
On 22 April 2010, it was announced that former Reading manager Steve Coppell would become the new City manager at the end of the 2009–10 campaign, when he would start a 12-month rolling contract, and that Keith Millen, who had guided the club to Championship safety in his brief spell as caretaker manager, would remain at the club as his assistant. It was announced on 12 August 2010 that Coppell had resigned as manager with immediate effect saying that he would retire from football management altogether citing a lack of passion for the job. This followed his only two competitive games at the club.
On 29 November 2011, the club announced a loss of £11.45 million.
After a promising start to the 2011/12 season City only just survived staying in the Championship having spent time in the relegation zone.
After a poor start to the 2012/13 campaign, Sean O'Driscoll was appointed head coach on a 12-month rolling contract however on 16 April 2013, City were relegated to League One.
After the sacking of Sean O'Driscoll on 28 November 2013, Steve Cotterill was appointed on a three and a half year contract. When he joined the club were bottom of the table and 5 points away from safety with a −7 goal difference. Cotterill made a huge impact and guided the club to safety and finished the season 12th.
Bristol City were promoted back to Championship for 2015–16 season after securing a top spot in 2014–15 Football League One on 14 April 2015. 1955 was the last time they won a league.
With Bristol City just inside the relegation zone, and only 256 days after Cotterill had lead them back to the Championship, Cotterill was sacked by club chairman Keith Dawe, on 14 January 2016.
Caretaker Manager John Pemberton was replaced by Lee Johnson on the 6th February 2016.
Last season Bristol City finished one place below Ipswich in 17th place with 54 points.
The Manager – Lee Johnson
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Media Watch - K L Blue
Form Guide
Bristol City Last 5 Matches – Currently in 8th place with 58 points
21 Feb Bristol City 1 - 1 Fulham
25 Feb Cardiff City 1 - 0 Bristol City
3 Mar Bristol City 4 - 0 Sheffield Wed
6 Mar Preston 2 - 1 Bristol City
10 Mar Burton Albion 0 - 0 Bristol City
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 12th place with 52 points
21 Feb Ipswich Town 0 - 1 Cardiff City
24 Feb Preston 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
6 Mar Sheffield Wed 1 - 2 Ipswich Town
10 Mar Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Sheffield Utd
13 Mar Ipswich Town 0 - 3 Hull City
Fixtures of Interest that could effect Towns standing on the table
NORWICH CITY VS READING FC
BRENTFORD VS MIDDLESBROUGH
LEEDS UTD VS SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
Match Referee – TBA
BRISTOL CITY 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1
Unreal. The world class Hull team that were at PR on Tuesday are having “an off day!”
and yes Mick the more likelihood that you stay, the more likelihood gates will continue to plummet, and 5000 gates wont please ME, so don't count your chickens fella, the sword will fall soon enough.