"We’ve gone a long time without a defeat and a bit like our penalties, two on the trot, it’s frustrating for us,” was the assessment from Nigel Pearson after Saturday’s Severnside derby defeat to Cardiff City.
There is a slight feeling of deflation around the Robins. To end the first week of March with two defeats, albeit one at the hands of arguably the best team in the country, creates an air of concern that had disappeared throughout the fine start to 2023.
City fell victim to second-half goals from Sory Kaba and Jaden Philogene to taste defeat at the Cardiff City Stadium for the first time since February 2018 much to the dismay of the more than 3,200 strong travelling contingent.
Perhaps more disappointing for those in the Reds' camp was the loss of Joe Williams and Tomas Kalas to injury, both have had their struggles with fitness in recent years and neither looked like minor issues.
The defence looks injury ravaged while the midfield is starting to look light, but such is the nature of the Championship the Robins have a chance to relight their recent fire on Tuesday when they head to Huddersfield for another showdown with Neil Warnock.
Before we look ahead to the Terriers, here are the moments missed from Saturday’s visit to South Wales.
Injury time chaos
We didn’t envisage a defender ending up in goal, as the match drifted towards what appeared an inevitable conclusion, plus the fact it wasn't until injury time that a single card was shown by referee Matt Donohue. But it took a moment of madness from Ryan Allsop to warrant a straight red in the closing stages.
Having used their three sets of substitutions, the Bluebirds were unable to bring on No2 Jak Alnwick, so after much confusion Perry Ng was the one to pull on the gloves for injury time.
Sabri Lamouchi was as shocked as anyone to see his defender head between the posts, he said: “I didn't expect Perry Ng to go in goal it was absolutely his decision. I expected maybe Mark McGuinness or Kion Etete a tall one, but he wanted to do it, so I said, 'okay, let's go.'"
What was frustrating from the Robins perspective was the lack of ability to test the makeshift keeper, with only one header lightly flighted into his chest from Nahki Wells.
If anything, as City pressed for what had previously been an unlikely consolation, or something to spark them back into life, it energised the home support and ride them of any nerves as each time it got within Ng's vicinity, he received a hearty cheer when it was cleared or the 26-year-old got his hands on the ball.
Tomlin makes his loyalties clear
There was a special feature in Saturday’s matchday programme surrounding Lee Tomlin as a player who had “shared shirts” having played for both sides of the Severnside derby. In recent years there have been more than a couple to pick from including Bobby Reid, Aden Flint, Marlon Pack and Filip Benkovic to name a few.
In the feature was a quote from the attacking midfielder from when he first signed for the Robins in 2016 as he said, “I’m excited about playing and looking forward to it. There’s no pressure on me, I just go out and play. If you express yourself then you should do OK.” Seven years is a long time in football and it’s safe to say any excitement Tomlin once felt has faded.
After the final whistle the now player-coach for Ilkeston Town, who retired from the professional game in October 2022, took to Twitter to retweet the Bluebirds' result graphic with the caption "Too easy", continuing his slightly confusing distaste for Bristol City, having departed Ashton Gate all the way back in 2017. He also replied to a comment saying he had no class saying, “I was class when I kept you in the Championship.”
Long gone are the likes of Lee Johnson - who he had a very testy relationship with - and the squad he shared a dressing room with during his spell in the West Country but for a reason unbeknown to us, other than the desire to wind up some fans, the 34-year-old now plying his trade in the Southern League Premier Division Central, doesn’t hold much love for the Robins.
O’Dowda welcomed by the travelling crowd
The Severnside divide is one often crossed as we’ve discussed above, but it doesn’t mean that there’s still no needle for the players who have made the switch and Callum O’Dowda is the latest to face criticism from the fans.
Long gone are the days of the City fanbase singing “Callum O’Dowda, he runs down the wing for me,” with Anis Mehmeti the latest to adopt the chant, with the Irish winger instead relegated to the second verse of being told to go away with a few additional swear words.
After his name was jeered before kick-off as it was read out by the matchday announcer among the substitutes, his introduction not long after the hour mark for the Bluebirds was welcomed by a chorus of boos from the away end that had been stunned into silence by Kaba’s opener, but the 27-year-old looked comfortable but unchallenged in his left-wing back role.
After the final whistle, O’Dowda embraced a number of his former teammates showing that there is still plenty of love after his fairly acrimonious exit last summer, while City have more than found worthy replacements in Mark Sykes and Mehmeti.
‘Bristol’ make the trip
We don’t have to tell you how frustrating Bristol City fans (and Rovers, it has to be said) find being called just "Bristol", a feeling much shared by both Sheffield sides and whether deliberately or not, Cardiff repeatedly missed out "City" when referring to Saturday’s visitors.
The scoreboard stationed at the opposite end of the ground to the away fans read just "Bristol" while - unintentionally adding insult to injury - the home crowd chanted “Bristol get battered, everywhere they go,” having taken the lead.
Even during the half-time break, the stadium announcer in South Wales read birthday messages from fans that referred to hoping to beat “Bristol” and although a relatively minor issue, it certainly gets the Robins’ backs up.
What may have frustrated a few more making their way home from Cardiff was the fact on the BBC Radio Five Live coverage, the Bluebirds were described as having beaten Bristol Rovers 2-0 in the early kick off.
Sam Bell left isolated up front
Last month witnessed Sam Bell kickstart his senior Bristol City career with a goal away at Swansea City in the FA Cup, but Saturday’s trip across the bridge was a lot more difficult for the 20-year-old who only managed 13 touches in his hour of action.
Even against Manchester City, when the Robins had far less of the ball, Bell touched the ball 20 times and in the wins over Hull City and Norwich City, the young forward was far more involved in City’s play (22 in both).
It’s testament to the striker’s struggle to find himself on the ball on Saturday that Joe Williams who was withdrawn with injury after only 25 minutes managed 23 touches and while as a midfielder, he’s expected to spend more time on the ball, what is damning is that in his relatively poor cameo from Harry Cornick he managed to receive the ball 18 times.
This begs the question as to whether Bell is ready to operate as a lone number nine, especially against a physical backline like that of Cardiff City, especially when Bristol City are struggling to “get into advanced areas, with a lot of quality,” in the words of Nigel Pearson.
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