It’s a bit of a double disappointing whammy writing this column this afternoon and forgive me if I concentrate my thoughts on the away game at Reading after I have covered the Richard Gould news.
The Club announced early on Sunday afternoon, after much media speculation, that CEO Richard Gould will step down from his role at the end of January 2023, to take up a new role at the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Gould who joined the club, replacing Mark Ashton in June 2021, has said that serving as CEO of Bristol City is an honor and a privilege and that he is grateful for the amazing support provided by players, staff, fans and the Lansdown family.
Some fans will ask, is it a big deal? What has he actually done? Well, the obvious answer is that he replaced, in my view, the egotistical Ashton and has provided a stable platform at a time of considerable turmoil, with record losses and a huge wage bill, which was no mean feat.
Gould has helped create a positive atmosphere around Bristol City, whether that is at Ashton Gate or the High Performance Centre. There is a real team vibe around him, and he is clearly very highly regarded by all of those who work with him.
He has gone about his work, quietly and effectively, not looking to steal the limelight and get his five minutes of fame. You won’t see him high-fiving fans after a victory.
Richard has played an instrumental role in improving fan engagement, and understanding the importance of our heritage. He opened the door for fan collaboration for the tribute to the Ashton Gate Eight on the 40th anniversary and has fully backed the Former Players Association initiatives.
Don’t get me wrong, there have been lots of key personnel involved and leading these initiatives, but Richard has been centre of it all, as I say opening the doors.
Some fans will question Gould but as he says the scale of the role at the ECB is a challenge that is just too difficult to ignore. I’m personally gutted, having met and spoken with him a few times, but wish him all the very best for the future.
Our loss is definitely the ECB’s gain. It speaks volumes of the man, that so many feel disappointed when he has been here for such a short time.
City will now look to replace Gould and I would like to think that someone can be in place before January and work with Gould during the January transfer window with no conflicts of interest, hopefully, it can be a smooth transition.
How do I follow that depressing news? I know I can talk about a tremendous performance and victory away at Reading yesterday. Nope, unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. I’m not sure what has depressed me more.
Like Nigel Pearson, I was left scratching my head yesterday at just how, the same group of players that I witnessed give everything in the away win at West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night, could put in such a wasteful, uninspiring, insipid performance against the Royals.
Once again letting down the huge away following. The difference between me and Nige is that it’s not my job to inspire them, it’s not my job to get a level of consistency in performance that is just lacking at the moment.
Absolutely, the players have to take their own responsibility, but it is the manager and his team that coach and picks the team.
From the first whistle, we gave the ball away and we couldn’t muster a single shot on target throughout the entire game. Our defenders got caught out again from a dead ball.
Our wingbacks offered no real attacking intent and when they did get forward, were once again found wanting with their delivery. What has happened to Mark Sykes? He just doesn’t want to take his man on and get the ball in the box.
I’m bored of talking about Jay Dasilva and his terrible delivery and yet we see fit to put him on some of our dead ball routines. Surely, Cam Pring deserves a run of games starting.
We had a midfield three yesterday that played just too safe. No one wanted to take a risk, no one seemed capable to take on a man, get into the box or find a decent pass into the front two of Nahki Wells and Antoine Semenyo. The front two couldn’t hold the ball up and they just don’t seem to work well together.
The game had 0-0 written all over it, Reading weren’t much better but did create opportunities and when they came, they took them but again our defending for both goals was criminal. Surely, we have to look at our decision to make zonally at dead balls as we just concede too often.
I know that the same system and players kept Albion out but generally, it has not worked well this season. I’m sure that the statisticians amongst us can prove me wrong but it’s how it feels to me.
The second goal was scandalous. How Sykes loses out to his player and then Timm Klose gets bundled off the ball by 5 10” Shane Long is a joke.
It feels like we have one decent performance mixed in with two or three bad performances. I could copy and paste a lot of what I say in this column, game in game out, as it’s the same things.
I get that most fans would say, we are where we would have expected to be and that we need to wait for the big summer re-set and Nige’s job is just to keep us in the league, but is it?
I know that they picked up all three points against us but are the likes of Reading and Millwall better than us? QPR and Blackburn didn’t have great seasons last year, didn’t spend big in the summer and yet sit at the top.
We are 13th in the league but every team below us has at least one game in hand and so 13th is arguably not a true reflection of where we are. Of course, not all the teams can or will win the games in hand, but we have to do better when the opportunity arises, as it did on Saturday.
The fans forum at the Hen and Chicken pub this week, will make for an interesting evening, with Nigel Pearson and Richard Gould both expected to attend. Neither will get an easy ride, I’m sure and for those that can’t attend, I would love to know what you would like to ask either.
Our 3 Peaps In A Podcast Bonus show ratings were Max O’Leary 6, Mark Sykes 4, Jay Dasilva 4, Timm Klose 5, Rob Atkinson 5, Zak Vyner 5, Alex Scott 4, Joe Williams 4, Matty James 4, Nahki Wells 5, Antoine Semenyo 5, with subs Andi Weimann 6, Chris Martin 5, and Tommy Conway 6 (subs have to have come onto the field before the 60th minute). A game average of 4.86 and a season average of 6.17. For Nigel it’s a 4, it’s his job to get that consistency of performance and get players up for the game.
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
READ NEXT
