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Bristol City Fan - In Peace!
at 12:31 22 Aug 2014

Hi All, I am going to be one of the 1,000 odd fans making the early start to head up to Spotland tomorrow, for what should be a good encounter between both sides. I am here to give my opinions on the threats you will have to overcome to beat this current Bristol City side tomorrow, the weaknesses in our side, and also to get an insight from your fans of what to expect from your side!

On the pitch, we have made a solid start, picking up 7 points out of 9, without playing near our full potential. Things haven't quite clicked yet, the new signings are slowly settling in, some impacting the few games we have played more than others. Currently, Cotterill has got us playing the 3-5-2 system which he puts much faith in, the same system which he implemented on the side when he took over back in January last year, which sparked a change in fortunes, and got us playing much more efficient and effective football.

We have done our business this summer very effectively, picking up all but one player (Agard) early in the summer, allowing them to bond in the Pre-Season tour we took part in of Botswana and South Africa. Despite making such a tidy start, I and many fans don't class us as Top 6 certainties just yet, although it looks very likely, I believe we are still vulnerable in two areas of the pitch.

I'll start with our keeper, Frank Fielding. Frank signed last summer, and made a horror start, getting dropped after 5 games or so, and Frank's #1 jersey was not regained until the end of last season, where he came in and put in some good performances. In the first 3 games, Frank has not made any notable huge mistakes, but it is little things that make you un-certain about him, and the bloke definitely has a mistake in him. Pressure him hard enough tomorrow, and you'll get a goal out of the bloke. A new number one is one area in which we need to re-invest.

Another department in which we look weak in, is LCB. It is early to judge yes I know, but from what I have seen in these early parts of the season, teams are using out weaker left side to their advantage, and looking to exploit it when possible. Saying this, we do have a starter to come back in, Karl Osborne, who is now available after receiving a horror injury in our Pre-Season tour, whether he is selected for the squad remains to be seen, as fitness may play a part in this. As I referred to earlier in the post, we are playing the 3-5-2 system at the moment, currently selecting either Bryan or Cunningham at LWB, neither are natural LWB's, but can certainly do a job and play a part in getting us out of this division.

Onto the strengths of our squad, and believe me, there is much more to be pleased about in the last few months being a Bristol City fan, and that being down to the depth of our squad that Cotterill has created. In the striking department, we have really created a pairing of 4 to be afraid of. In Baldock, JET and Agard, we have 3 players who scored 72 goals in this very division last season, and currently JET isn't even getting a look in! We also have a new man in Aaron Wilbraham, who has came in and scored 3 in 3, and looks a good asset to have. Wilbraham did seem to like a tad tired Tuesday, and whether he plays or not with Agard coming in yesterday remains to be seen. One of the problems with not having either JET or Wilbraham in your front 5, is that we have no-one else in it over 6 foot, so both of those two bring a different outlet to the team, and give us something else to resort to if Plan A is not proving successful.

Our midfield is neat and tidy, with the recruits of Wade Elliot, the 35 year old experienced midfielder who was on loan with us in the latter stages of last season, and Korey Smith, the rock infront of the back 4, who breaks up play and is a hard tackler; someone we have missed for years. The backup in this department doesn't look half bad either, including Pack, who started Tuesday and had a tidy game, and also Reid, one of our academy graduates, but is more of an attacking flair player.

At the back we look more organised than in recent years, picking up Ayling from Yeovil who has done a tidy job, and also with the vast improvement of Aden Flint, who is now proving to be the player we thought we had signed 12 months ago, but he didn't quite cut it last season, and found himself sat on the bench a lot of the time. In the backup department, we have Adam El-Abd, the experienced defender from Brighton. He came in last January, and made numerous mistakes and found life hard adapting to a new team, but after a good pre-season, looks to of found his feet, and has been neat and tidy when brought on to hold out a lead.

Overall, I'm pleased with the balance of our squad, and look forward to the upcoming season. If you got this far on reading, fair play to you, and I look forward to the day tomorrow, and also reading your responses your fans have, and also to get an insight on what to expect from your team!

That's all from me guys, thanks.

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BrizzleLadInPeace

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