Saturday’s game was a big statement. A deserved win against Premier League yoyo club Norwich City, our first win over the Canaries since 2009, a continuation of our unbeaten run in 2023 and a brilliant atmosphere in the stands.
The turnaround since the home defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day has been incredible. Nigel Pearson, his coaching team and above all else the players have to take credit for the turnaround, but credit also has to go to owner Steve Lansdown, Chairman Jon Lansdown, and former CEO Richard Gould.
They stuck by Pearson when there was a growing clamour for his sacking, there was seemingly never a question over his position and they allowed him to make changes in January, supporting him with the outgoings and incomings. The manager himself never gets carried away with a win in the same way as he never gets too downbeat with a defeat.
There have clearly been a number of things that needed addressing at the club and maybe we are now seeing the fruits of that labour. As fans of course we want to see wins but also performances full of effort and commitment.
This team are playing as a team. Players fighting for every ball, fighting for each other and a real determination to keep the ball out of the net.
That was clearly on show on Saturday against a side who were many pundits' favourites for automatic promotion. As I say the atmosphere in the stands was excellent yesterday, with fans feeding off the player's efforts and late in the game when there could have been some nervy moments the crowd undoubtedly with their support got the players through it.
We know we have a small squad and so there was no surprise that the only change to the starting line-up was Joe Williams keeping his place after coming on as a sub for the injured Kal Naismith. They are different players and Naismith is a miss due to the way he plays.
Kal’s first thought is always a forward pass and let’s hope that his injury responds to treatment and that he is not ruled out for many games. We weren’t at our creative, fluent best against Norwich but defensively I thought that we were superb.
To restrict the likes of Pukki, Sargent, Nunez and Dowell to only the one shot on target was a great effort. The two centre-backs, Zak Vyner and Rob Atkinson were excellent. There were a couple of blocks from both in the second half which were brilliant.
As good as Vyner and Atkinson were, the performances of full-backs George Tanner and Cam Pring eclipsed them. Tanner had his best game in a Bristol City shirt.
Clearly happier in a right-back role, he just goes about his business in an unfussy manner. Of course, his partnership on the right side with Mark Sykes has also played a part in Tanner's form.
Tanner likes to defend, and he allows Sykes to push on more but when needed, the former Oxford winger covers his right-sided partner, making one brilliant run and covering tackle in the first half. Let’s not forget when George was signed, he arrived as one for the future. I was so impressed by him but on the opposite side, Pring just pipped him for Man of the Match.
Pring is at the very top of his game at the moment. His fitness levels are incredible, something that I was critical of him last season.
There were a couple of stand-out moments from him yesterday. A run and tackle on the dangerous Teemu Pukki and then his winning of the ball in the centre circle before hitting a slide rule pass into Sykes that led to the winning goal.
What is it with Bristol City and that left-back/left wing-back position? We have had some cracking players in that position and Pring is being talked about as one of the very best.
Another factor at the moment is the strength that we have on the bench. As the game reached 60 minutes yesterday, Pearson was able to replace the hard-working front two of Nahki Wells and Sam Bell with new signings Harry Cornick and Anis Mehmeti.
Then, was able to replace Alex Scott with new captain Andi Weimann and Sykes with Tomas Kalas. It meant a different kind of threat for Norwich and we saw a glimpse of the player that Mehmeti is. Definitely a player who is going to excite the City faithful.
Just on Weimann, who was appointed club captain following Dan Bentley’s transfer to Wolverhampton Wanderers. It seems a good piece of man-management to me that Pearson let the players choose the captain.
Weimann is clearly popular with his team mates but also sets a standard that he expects others to follow. A good decision all round by the looks of it.
With our recent run and the fact that we are now seven points off the final play-off place, some fans are talking about tha possibility. It was good to hear Tanner post-match talking about taking each game at a time and that the players are only thinking of Wigan Athletic on Wednesday.
Our 3 Peaps In A Podcast Bonus show ratings were Max O’Leary 6, Zak Vyner 8, George Tanner 9, Rob Atkinson 8, Cameron Pring 9 *MotM, Alex Scott 6, Matty James 7, Joe Williams 7, Mark Sykes 8, Nahki Wells 6, Sam Bell 6, Harry Cornick 6 & Anis Mehmeti 6 (subs have to have come onto the field before the 60th minute). A game average of 7.08, and a season average of 6.36. For Nigel it’s another 8, the Gaffer keeps getting it right.
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