There is something to gain from comparing performances and results against teams to show progression across a season. Bristol City’s hard-fought 2-2 draw won’t feel much better than their 3-0 drubbing at the Hawthorns in October but it does show the improvements, and the glaring areas that need more than just some foundation to cover the issues.
Nigel Pearson himself pointed out that the side have now scored 49 goals, a total which is already three more than last season, in seven fewer games. On the other hand, their 69 goals against – still comfortably the third worst in the division – is one more than they shipped last campaign.
More entertaining? In some ways, yes, but more frustrating, certainly. Pearson is having to test the fans with the amount of times being labelled inconsistent can be used as an excuse of a reason before more serious questions are asked.
The time for that might not be just yet, but the Robins are also pushing the limits of just how often they can throw points away in the final stages of games, still increasingly so at Ashton Gate. After yet another 90th minute goal against, Adam Reach’s equaliser won’t have surprised many that have followed City this season, one comparison that has remained is the inability to see games out.
Outside of the penalty appeals and set-piece changes, here are the moments missed against West Brom.
Watch the weatherman
There haven’t been too many times this season when the Bristol sun has shown itself and spread its golden wings across the Ashton Gate turf. This was the archetypal perfect day for Saturday three o’clock football though. Maybe minus the blazing wind, but that just about adds to the occasion.
The City players reflected this determination to make the most of the sun’s appearance and dressed for the occasion. Much like a group of English touristic travellers by the Sandals resort swimming pool, sipping a drink with a lemon and a mini umbrella, there were shorts aplenty.
For once, none of the home side wore their jet-black tracksuit bottoms, and although they didn’t don rubber ducks or flowers on the pristine white shorts, the mass of short sleeved tops that went along with the outfit set the perfect picture.
With the angle of the sun at kick off time, only half the pitch is baked in the sunlight, maybe that’s why the team train in front of the Dolman Stand, soaking up the final moments of warmth before shadowy settings kick in for the match.
After there only being a solitary few wearing anything more than a short sleeve shirt and shorts for the warm-up, as the wind crept over the ground more of the red and white tops came out and told everyone that conditions weren’t conducive to fast, free flowing football on the ground or in the air. Not that either team will have been described like that much this season anyway.
Consistent and persistent wind was causing objects to fly across the ground. Several crisp packets and teamsheets flew around, landing in the press box and blowing onto the pitch as the unsettled air forced play into scruffy clearances across the pitch.
Even with a rumour that Bristol was hotter than Barcelona this week, it might not have felt it as the afternoon grew older and the same wave of disappointment spread in the final moments at Ashton Gate again.
Youthful experience
Seeing images of the red shirts with numbers 39, 30 and 31 next to each other in the City changing room before the game is a nice touch for fans. They haven’t been spoilt on the pitch but they have seen a new crop of emerging talent.
It is worth saying that not everyone that has been spotted with the first-team has played, but by rewarding the U23 side that sit second in the Professional Development League 2 (South), the well performing young Robins have been shown a pathway to senior football.
That has been made apparent by the obvious headline example with Alex Scott. Outside of him have been a strong supporting ensemble of well documented players making the gradual steps that Scott took at a leap this season.
Alongside that are fleeting sightings of the current U23 crop as they progress. On Saturday it was a trio of Duncan Idehen, Dylan Kadji and Josh Owers who travelled with the team and were given shirts before the game, even if only one of them, Owers, was in the matchday squad.
It would be easy to ask what the point of this is when they won’t be playing and won’t be used, but out of that chosen trio, two of them have now been with the squad for at least one match, Kadji is the only player yet to make the bench. When you think about what a matchday entails that a youth game doesn’t, the hotels, the pre-game meals, meet-ups, walks, coach journeys and dressing rooms, there’s a lot to take in.
By acclimatising these players to first-team rigours now, it makes the additional nervous debut easier and a smaller bite to stomach. These are experiences that shouldn’t be overlooked, even if players aren’t seen on the pitch.
These three aren’t taking the rapid rise to relative Championship stardom like Scott and to some extent Ayman Benarous, but it’s always a good watch to see then warming up together in their own small pride.
Their one-touch passing drills involve extra flair, flicks and energy that some of the senior members might hasten to add in. Always taking place in in the same squares of the pitch, it’s an exercise to watch between City’s possible next stars being eased into proceedings at Ashton Gate.
So no, the point of having players "travel" to home matches with the team or earn their name’s place on a shirt isn’t a moot one. It’s one to signify progression and make the process simpler in the long run.
Newman robbed
If you were at the ground and kept your eyes keenly peeled and focused to the stands rather than the pitch, an exercise that might have been more entertaining and worthwhile during the first half, then you might have spotted a City legend in the stands.
Occupying a seat in the Lansdown Upper was former defender Rob Newman, and before we get onto some possible bad news relating to that, let's appreciate another old face coming back to watch his beloved Robins.
We will blind ourselves slightly and keep thinking for a moment that this was entirely a personal and pleasurable Saturday lunchtime experience for Newman because the Hammers aren't in action.
Having played nearly 400 times over 10 years in the City red and scoring an impressive 52 goals, Newman is a well established part of the furniture, maybe the rustic armchair that sits in the corner of your room with a blanket over the top. Rarely used and recognised now its older days, but always appreciated for it's class.
Anyway, onto what could be the bad news. Newman is currently in a very different role and one that might harm City before it heals them in any way. As the Head of Recruitment at West Ham, there's every chance that his overt display of support on Saturday was actually a scouting operation.
Not that Newman had a clipboard, some notes and binoculars on him, he'd be a bit more subtle than that, but given the attention that City's young stars are attracting, there's reason to worry that his mission to the West Country was for business, and not the sort that will make City fans happy to see him again.
The Hammers have well documented interest in Alex Scott because frankly, who doesn't? Perhaps fortunately on this occasion Scott missed the affair with a nagging injury from Tuesday's defeat to Barnsley, meaning Newman couldn't pick up anything new from watching him in person.
Outside of Scott, might he have made his excursion worth it by tracking Antoine Semenyo too? Well, that too would have fallen pretty flat, pretty quickly after his injury just six minutes into the contest.
Nevertheless, it was nice to see a familiar face back at Ashton Gate. If the Robins are going to keep hold of their prized assets this summer then it's unlikely that an injury to Scott and Semenyo for this one game will keep them away for long, but for this time, it's 1-0 City and Newman has to walk away relatively empty handed.
Pitch problems?
We’ve mentioned the weather, it wasn’t the best, it wasn’t easy to play football on Saturday, but that didn’t excuse what can only be described as a pretty poor advert for Championship football. No, expecting Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona style shouldn’t be your hopes for a game between two inconsistent teams, but the first 45 minutes will have deeply hurt some of the footballing Gods.
Steve Bruce’s first words in his post-match press conference echoed this thought as he claimed it nearly put him into retirement and made the ex-Newcastle and Sunderland boss contemplate his future, albeit in a joking manner. It wouldn’t have been impossible to spot members of the crowd stealing a yawn or five.
Bruce’s excuse was the pitch quality, given that Bristol Bears did play on the same turf less than 24 hours earlier it shouldn’t be a surprise. The grass didn’t appear to be too cut up and other than the feint outlines of the additional pitch markings and if you didn’t know that the Bears had done their bit on Friday night then it probably wouldn’t have been a talking point.
As it is, Bruce was keen to stress that the pitch didn’t help his team, saying, “the first half was as bad a game of football as I’ve seen in a long, long time some bad conditions. Swirling wind, a pitch that had rugby played on it yesterday and it looked like it.”
In the first half that might have been fair enough. There were players slipping over around the ground as a few patches of sludgy mud started to appear, not that any of them were too influential in the game, but it was notable that the pitch did break up a bit.
Given the impact of two top high tier sports teams playing on the same pitch within a day of each other, the hard handiwork of the loud grazing lawnmowers and groundsmen should be applauded though.
Bruce’s comments aside, the lacklustre first-half – to be nice – didn’t come from the pitch, it came from two football teams deeply unsure of themselves. Four goals from five shots on target tell that story.
Cundy cat fight
It looked as if the foul won by Robbie Cundy in the 85th minute might have been the unexpected event to change the direction of the game. As he tussled to get in front of Jake Livermore and win a foul, the big centre back making his first home start was then dragged into a small fight with the former England midfielder.
It didn’t quite escalate into blows but there was some heat building between them as both teams fought for victory outside of the foul. The West Brom skipper had already been booked and didn’t give much else away but Cundy wasn’t willing to let the issue slide.
As Livermore started to move away Cundy picked the ball back up and moved deliberately towards his opponent, barging into him like he tried to be subtle but with the desired effect of riling up Baggies captain.
He’s already been sent off this season and has a history of poor discipline but didn’t bite back at the fishing rod this time. Whether this delay unsettled the visitors defence or not is an unanswerable question, but when City pounced on Cundy’s long ball into the box and scored, it looked like the last laugh would be his.
In typical City style, it wasn’t, not that we think Livermore was bothered by his coming together with Cundy when Adam Reach equalised with his first Albion goal, but it would have been a nice moment had it brought an extra two points with it.
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