Well, we’re all back down to Earth, aren’t we? Bristol City opened their 2022/23 Championship season with a 2-1 away defeat to Hull City at the MKM Stadium.
There were City debuts for Kal Naismith, Mark Sykes and Kane Wilson, but it was last year’s player of the season, Andi Weimann, who broke the deadlock having latched onto Zak Vyner’s headed pass.
The second half saw two goals for the home side as Ozan Tufan scored from the spot and Jean Michael Seri benefitted from a Timm Klose deflection to beat Dan Bentley in the City net.
However, as much the mood may have been dampened by an opening day loss, there was still plenty for the travelling City faithful to remain encouraged by and after all this is just game one of 46 between now and May.
That won’t stop emotions from taking control due to the frustrating manner in which City were defeated in the North-East, but the beauty of the Championship is that there’s a chance to put it all right in just six days’ time as Sunderland travel to Ashton Gate. But first, here are the moments missed from the season opener at the MKM Stadium.
Taxi for City
We got to the stadium nice and early for Saturday’s season opener, a couple of hours ahead of kick-off and witnessed a steady stream of Hull City players making their way into the MKM Stadium, but as time passed there was no sign of Nigel Pearson, his coaching team or the players.
One man present was kitman Scott Murray who broke the news that the City bus had broken down outside the hotel after an electrical fault, leaving the players to arrive in clusters as the Robins quickly found alternative transport arriving at the ground at around ten to two, in a fleet of 10 taxis, just before the teams were confirmed.
Despite this the visitors were the first to take to the field for their warm-ups and started the better of the two sides, with new signing Mark Sykes seeing plenty of the ball as he was stationed down the right-flank.
After Weimann broke the deadlock, rather than the typical finger guns being shot up into the sky, the entire outfield contingent gathered outside the penalty area and sat down on the turf turning their imaginary steering wheels.
The preparation will have been far from ideal for City and we’re fairly certain they will be hoping to not repeat their late arrival again, but it just feels like the first stroke of bad luck in a day that was absolutely full of it.
King takes to the sky
The press area at the MKM Stadium is some vantage point, with all press positioned right at the very top of the West Stand, but on Saturday we had plenty of company as City player coach Andy King stationed himself nearby alongside an analyst.
The Premier League winner was left out of the matchday squad, with Han-Noah Massengo the preferred midfield option on the City bench, so instead turned to his coaching duties as he watched from up-high while sporting an earpiece.
King has been keen to emphasise that he is still a player first then a coach, but an extra set of eyes will only help Pearson and his coaching staff, with King advising the bench to make sure, “Get Zak to check his shoulder,” after he’d lost track of his runner.
The Bristol City fan side of King was on show as well, when Conway drove at the Hull defence in the second half there was advice offered, “Drive, drive. Great ball.” King is a senior member of this playing squad and his desire for City to succeed this season is incredibly clear to see.
You can tell he would love to be out there, his irritated tone as he cried, “Time, time,” when Atkinson headed clear, showed his and City fans frustration with the flustered second half. Like those in the away end he was quick to depart, no doubt to offer his input in the changing room.
No changing the Championship officials
I’m sure all football officials enjoy their summer break, not having thousands of fans hurling abuse at them twice a week, but it definitely feels as though they don’t help themselves.
The usual suspects were voicing their frustrations, with Weimann having a long debate with the fourth official after he thought he was fouled in the second half, only to have it waved away.
The fourth official was a busy man as the City coaching team took turns to voice their frustrations after what appeared to minimal if any contact between Kal Naismith and Benjamin Tetteh for the home side’s penalty.
It only required a couple of passages of play for the conversation to once again be ignited after Rob Atkinson appeared to be pulled down in the Hull area, with the fourth official performing a toned-down Louis Van Gaal dive in response to Jason Euell’s complaints.
City will feel hard done by on the decision front but may count themselves lucky that they hadn’t given away a penalty in the first half after a couple of clumsy chances from Alex Scott and Zak Vyner, but that won’t stop the sour taste they’ve left the MKM Stadium with.
Sykes, the surprise third contender at right wing-back
Let’s be frank, at the start of pre-season it looked to be a two-horse race between George Tanner and Kane Wilson on the right flank for Pearson’s side this campaign, but after impressing in pre-season and now away to Hull Mark Sykes is well in that debate.
He was electric in the first half going forward and could’ve quite easily had an assist within the first ten minutes had Matty James’ header beaten Matt Ingram in the Tigers’ net.
Pearson was eager to highlight his improvements already in the defensive phase of the game and it was noticeable that Zak Vyner had a very impressive day when stationed behind the Irish winger.
The cries of him being a like for like replacement for Callum O’Dowda when he signed for the Robins seem to be fading quite quickly as the former Oxford winger looks to be stepping up through the divisions with ease.
Players as frustrated as the fans
Sadly, most of this Bristol City side have tasted late defeat plenty of times before and the unlucky fashion of Saturday’s loss to Hull City will have been one of the most unpleasant yet.
The reaction of the players showed that they felt hard done by. Bentley was sitting still in his penalty area after the final whistle, only earlier this week he told us how he was a perfectionist who hates conceding so to be left with no chance of preventing either of the Tigers’ goals will have irked the City number one.
All of the Robin’s side clapped the strong travelling contingent in the away end, before Weimann, who was booked after the final whistle, quickly headed towards the tunnel with his head aimed straight down to the ground. As Pearson prepared his post-match coffee the first words spoken were, “I wish this was whiskey.”
But it’s too easy to suggest that this is City falling back into the old habits of last season, the penalty as has been previously mentioned was an incredibly contentious decision and Hull’s winner came with a huge slice of luck having deflected off Timm Klose. One game doesn’t make a season and, therefore, one late goal doesn’t mean this will be a trend again.
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