The elephant in the room has been replaced on the Ashton Gate turf by a giant woolly mammoth that is impossible to ignore.
It is so prominent that the catastrophic consequences that might sweep before it have been accepted by the manager after referencing continuous individual errors could cost him his job in the long term.
When Nigel Pearson chose to throw his team under the bus after their 3-1 defeat to Swansea and hold them to the sword in three separate post-match interviews on Sunday, he knew it was a risky strategy. Bristol City’s defence is in a dire state and with the lack of depth for cover, the worry is that they won't stop leaking goals anytime soon.
