Five games without a win and Bristol City’s 3-0 loss to Birmingham City on Saturday is quite easily the worst performance in that run and the fans certainly made that known.
There was little evidence of the attacking, free-flowing football seen against Luton Town at Ashton Gate and the elements of defensive solidity on show against Coventry City on Tuesday couldn’t have felt further away.
The Robins were undone by set-pieces as Auston Trusty twice beat Dan Bentley in the first half, before Dion Sanderson tapped home from close range to ensure a comfortable win for the home side.
All three goals were disappointing, with City failing to make first contact and clear their lines. Possibly more concerning was that they didn’t give John Ruddy a save to make until the 85th minute and even then, it was a comfortable one.
The Robins have now conceded the more goals on their travels (16) than any other Championship side, and their early season goalscoring has slowed down since the international break, with one goal in their last three outings.
City need to put things right against Preston North End at Ashton Gate on Wednesday, but before that here are the moments missed from St Andrew's.
Friend breaking down City from the stands
The vantage point at St Andrews afforded to the press is a strange one with the ball disappearing behind scaffolding anytime it leaves the floor but stationed just behind us was Birmingham defender George Friend alongside the club analysts.
Friend wasn’t in the matchday squad and could be seen arriving to the ground a bit later than the rest of the home side’s players before making his way to the top of the main stand where he spent the 90 minutes in conversation with the coaching staff on the bench.
Before the opening goal he was sending instructions down for Blues’ players to flock to the back post and like he was in control of the events on the pitch Trusty managed to out-jump three City players to head in.
The celebrations that ensued on the pitch were mirrored in the stands and it became a theme of the afternoon as Eustace’s side scored three times from set-pieces, with Friend declaring to the analyst, “against these, you’ve got to have a set-piece gameplan.”
It was quite an insight into how much the bench can influence proceedings during a match, with every throw-in bringing with it a new set of instructions. Each time the visitors made a substitution, Friend quickly worked to suggest who on the pitch was best equipped to mark the oncoming player from set-plays.
Although few and far between there were moments where City caused minor unrest, early in the second half as Antoine Semenyo broke down the line, Friend remarked “he should’ve started.” It was just another reminder of the Ghanaian's great quality being recognised even if he wasn’t quite at his best in the Midlands.
Downing meeting some familiar faces
From a Bristol City perspective, nearly all of the fun of the closest away day so far this season happened before 3pm and that was the period of reunion between Keith Downing and some members of the Bristol City staff and players.
Downing spent just over a year as an assistant coach at Ashton Gate, firstly under Dean Holden alongside Paul Simpson but departed BS3 not long after Curtis Fleming joined the coaching staff as Nigel Pearson reshuffled his backroom team.
After a spell with Plymouth Argyle, Downing joined John Eustace’s backroom team in July and as we arrived in the press box, he was engaged in a long conversation pitchside with player liaison officer Matt Parsons.
Pearson also shared an embrace and a few words with Birmingham striker Troy Deeney who had worked with at Watford.
As the players took to the field for the first-half smiles and jokes were exchanged between the two dugouts in what seemed a very relaxed exchange but it’s safe to say that Downing and the rest of Blues’ management team were much happier after the 90 minutes were up.
Nige as frustrated as the City fans
It must be just as irritating for Pearson and his coaching team, as it is for the City fanbase, when all the work put in on the training ground seems to have gone to waste within minutes of 3pm.
Pearson’s side started slowly and never really looked close to the standards set by Birmingham who harried City inside their own half, giving Rob Atkinson and Zak Vyner little time on the ball.
This saw Vyner only complete one of his 10 attempted long balls and Atkinson repeatedly give away possession down the left flank and Pearson made little attempt to hide his frustration as he held his head in his hands in disbelief.
Both Jay Dasilva and Atkinson had instructions bellowed in their direction with the former Leicester City manager able to be heard from the press box while looking completely bemused by the performance from his side.
In his post-match press conference Pearson was clearly irritated by his side's sub-par performance and said too many individuals “were way, way off their levels of performance.” However, he dismissed any suggestions he wasn’t the man to fix City’s form quickly replying, “yes, of course.”
Klose happy to make his voice heard
One of the few positives to take from an otherwise miserable day from a City perspective, was the return of Timm Klose into the matchday squad having not featured since the Carabao Cup win over Wycombe Wanderers on August 24 due to a knee injury and personal issues.
Only the former Norwich City man and Max O’Leary didn’t manage to make an appearance from the City bench on Saturday, quite possibly showing that Klose isn’t quite at full fitness and wouldn’t be risked with the Robins out of the contest.
That didn’t stop the central defender getting stuck in from the sidelines where he spent the majority of the game stood up or jogging up and down, but he even found time to channel his inner Andi Weimann and argue with the officials.
After Alex Scott appeared to be fouled in the middle of the park, no foul was given by James Linington and the 34-year-old defender clearly disagreed with that decision as he strode over to fourth official Tim Robinson.
Klose stood nose to nose with the fourth official questioning the decision with his usual animated style, as his protests continued Pearson was forced to drag his centre-back away from the technical area and back to his seat behind the management team. He may not be the youngest member of the City squad but his drive to be involved and see the team is winning certainly remains.
Chris Martin faces the fans
It’s not been an easy start to the season for Chris Martin, having not started a game in the Championship since the 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic on August 13 and having started 43 games last season that may have been a bit of a surprise.
The return of Semenyo and the sudden rise of Tommy Conway has limited his minutes over the last few months, but in his half from the bench at St Andrews he was one of the more positive performers.
But as Nigel Pearson told all the players and staff to thank the 2,248 travelling fans after the final whistle, when the rest of the players had headed to the tunnel, Martin walked over to City faithful and stood alone clapping the rapidly emptying stand.
Some of those who remained jeered and booed the Reds after the disappointing display and the former Derby County frontman was also criticised by a few members of the Cider Army, but he didn’t show anything other than appreciation for those who had spent their day supporting the side.
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