Bristol City v Fulham

I think these two upcoming away games starting with Bristol are two big games mainly for Kit but secondly for us to work out if we can actually challenge for the top six or just sit comfortably in kid table. Four points or more will give Kit more time, less than three points and I think we will change manager, three points and who knows.

Bristol City are a funny old team at the moment, obviously struggling down the wrong end of the league but have had some very good performances, they went away to Boro and won with a great performance, comfortably beat Forest and a very credible draw at Ipswich.

I went to Brighton v Bristol City last week, I live close by and a friend got me a ticket in a corporate box, and I was very disappointed with City I thought they looked poor and was very confident that we may get 3 points against them, but then I read the game previous to this they beat Forest two nil and then the game after this I watched them play away to Cardiff on TV and thought they dominated in a nil nil draw hitting the woodwork three times.

On a side note there striker Kodija looked very lively and you can tell they spent a bit of cash on him, I think he has already scored 7 goals this season. Also Nathan Baker on loan from Villa went off injured against Cardiff and is unlikely to play against us.

After Bakers injury Bristol changed to a 5-3-2 formation with wing backs which got the better of Cardiffs 4-4-2, for me any team playing 4-4-2 against wing backs has to play with proper wide players and try and double up on the wing backs, if you play narrow the wide players get dragged in to make numbers up in the middle of the park.

 

Kodija appears to be a key player.

Got my ticket for the game, but have not got a clue which Bristol City will turn up. And for that matter Fulham.

COYW!

 

Good points Cookie and yeah, your right on about Kodjia GS. Here's the highlights from their game against Cardiff the other night demonstrating the kind of threat he is:

Steve Cotterill's a bagfull of energy and has them well organised. With a few exceptions, games they've lost have been close and their position (20th) is perhaps deceptive. Their goalie is prone to rush out kind of blindly and hopefully we can exploit that. Mind they're a big side and hopefully Kit takes that into account in his selection. Dan Burn?

 

Dan burns inclusion is definately worth thinking about, although he is our third choice centre back he should def start against a lot of teams in this division. Blackburn at home he should have come on at half time the second they brought on there big striker and I would have started him against Wednesday as well. Bristol City is a hard one they are a big team and Burn would help at set pieces but Kodija upfront is quick and tricky and would murder Burn if one on one.

 

No press conference from Kit today – autograph time at the Cottage. However, the Club have confirmed that Jazz Richards is out for 2 to 3 weeks with a calf injury but otherwise all okay.

O’Hara will be back, so what to do with Cairney? As Cookie brillianly analysed in the other thread he was very influential in the centre against Reading. Should Kit revert to sticking him out on the wing? In a word .. no!

He hasn’t got pace and tends to come inside most of the time anyway. If we play too narrow there could be trouble. In their game against Cardiff the other night Bristol City started 4-4-2 against 4-4-2 but when he saw that wasn’t working Steve Cotterill switched to 3-5-2 and now with attacking wing halves they played high and with width. If we attempt a similar, flat 4-4-2 against them and, as said, are very narrow in midfield they have us playing deep and on the back foot.

So, can we accommodate both O’Hara and Cairney in the centre? In a word .. yes!

…………………………Lonergan……………
…………….....Stearman…..Ream……
..Fredericks....Tunnicliffe…O’Hara…..Husband..
.LVC……………….Cairney…….……McCormack…
………………………Dembele…..


As you’ll see I’ve opted for:

Lonergan ahead of Lewis – simply because Kit will.
Husband ahead of Garbutt – simply because it’s a no brainer on form alone.
Ream ahead of Burn – simply because TR is a more calming influence.
LVC ahead of Kaca – both have pace but LVC has more vision and I’m not convinced about Alex’s consistency. There’s a case for Kaca instead of McCormack but that’s not going to happen.

 

I'm a big fan of the 4-2-3-1 formation that Cottager has posted above, it was all the rage a few years back when everybody in the world was trying to emulate Barcelona and Spain. It allows you to have four very attacking players on the pitch but still with protection of two defensive centre mids in front if the defence.
The only issue with us is McCormack, I don't think he could play the one upfront and definately isn't as suited to that role as Dembele which means him playing as one of the three just behind the striker, didn't he speak with Kit earlier in the season about not being happy playing deeper ??

 

Can't call this one chaps - with the exception of our Reading game, where we were absolutely dire from start to finish we have played well but failed to capitalise. Out of our 12 games, the opposition keeper has been made Man-of-the-Match; Ipswich, Preston, Brighton and Cardiff (interesting what Cookie says above about the Brighton game - the reports say we gave them a good game and a bit of a scare), so we clearly make the keepers work a bit.
Our trouble is when opposition teams play 'direct' - we can't defend long balls or set pieces - and in 4 games we have conceded a goal in the last 10 minutes of the game - that has cost us 5 points.

Oh, and please can we have Matt Smith back?

 

Bristol interesting what you say about struggling when teams goes direct that is exactly our issue as well, QPR turned up as a passing team and we played them off the park, Blackburn first half we were brilliant then at half time they brought on a target man went more direct and we struggled, Sheff Wed we lost 3-2 to three set piece goals.

The plus side for you guys is we will try and play football and not go direct but if we up against another footballing team we can be quite good at it.

The Brighton game first half the game should have been over, not sure you got out of your half for the first 30 mins then the one time you did you scored the only goal of the half. Second half was more 50/50 but Brighton still created the better chances hence the two goals.

 

It's strange how Kacaniklic had a good game against Reading, but I can't put him in, as he is so inconsistent, and his lack of any defensive qualities can mean we play with 10 men.
If Smith is fit I'd like to see him in one of the next 2 games playing up front with Dembele, there's a case against City as he played for them, but McCormack has been scoring and had a good game against Reading in 2nd half, so which one to leave McC out against.
I'd like to see Matilla play the Defensive Midfield allowing wing backs, and give license to O'Hara and Cairney to get forward on counters.
Every time I've seen Matilla he seems to have a good passing game while being strong in the tackle. Tunnicliffe is less disciplined and can switch off in his marking, but probably better going forward..

…………Lonergan/Lewis……………
..Fredericks...Stearman...Burn…..Ream……Husband.
............Cairney.…Matilla .....O’Hara…...
……Smith/McCormack……Dembele…..

 

Join the club Bristol. We dropped 8 points in our first 10 games as a result of conceding goals after the 86th minute. So what'd you reckon, 0-0 ten minutes from the end and ask the ref to toss a coin?

Believe it or not I'd forgotten about Matt Smith when thinking about our team selection. Bet he'd love to play in this one. He's only had game time with our U21s since his injury and although he was on the bench last weekend, can't see our manager picking him. Noticed with more than a bit of interest that Steve Cotterill said in his press conference today that "there was no phone call to Symons in the summer enquiring about signing Smith"

 

Nah - we nearly always score - it's just how many we are going to concede!

2-1 to us at 90 mins, but with Smith coming off the bench and getting the equaliser in the 95th minute

 

Surprised at that, signing Smith would have been better than spending £9 Million pound on Andre Grey

 

Does it for me. My Crystal Ball prediction on the Board two weeks ago was 2-2.

 

It's what he said. Link - http://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/article/managers-fulham-press-conference-2772045.aspx?

 

Good thread but can I just make a suggestion, we are called Bristol City. There is also another club albeit a tin pot **** club plus a Rugby team which goes by the name Bristol.
Just a suggestion like no one calls Man U Manchester.
Anyway good thread, and you're correct about Kodjia he's really fast and does have a few tricks up his sleeve. Can't really see him staying with us at season end, if he carries on the way he's going there will be clubs sniffing around him.
Enjoy your day if you are going.

 

Point taken RedorDead. We sometimes forget, being lucky and not having any rivals in West London.

As bcfcredandwhite said earlier should be a close call. Your carrying it defensively with two clean sheets in the last four and here we are, top goal scorers in the League.

 

Looking forward to this game,close game us shading it 2-1 kojack and wilbs to score.
Sold out as well should be a good atmosphere,however we only have three stands at present.

 

Fulham taking our full allocation, virtually

Fulham have taken the full allocation, so we should certainly contribute to a good atmosphere. Looking forward to the match, probably ending in a 2-2 draw.

See all on the M4 - COYW !!!!!!

 

Think it will be a high scoring game- Good point raised earlier, depends which two teams turn up!

 

Right 3 points is now very very important, not for Kit, not even for our chances of a top six challenge...... No it's because QPR and Brentford are both currently above but 3 points today takes us above both of them!