how good are bristol city

[Turkey]

What even if they score a last minute goal from a drop ball that they should have kicked back to us.....yeah sure you will Turkey, what a silly statement to make before the game is even played, they may go all out and try and injure all our players to win, you just don't know yet.

Calm Down!

 

[Lady Whistledown]

IF we lose, I'll hang around for a bit. We'll have to applaud the Albion players off- I for one didn't expect us to get this far at the start of the season having lost Zamora, Brooker, Blackwell etc, then Coppell, so they've done alright.

Plus there will always be a little place in my heart for Danny Wilson.

I fondly remember getting his autograph when I was about 10. he was and is a damn nice guy, not to mention a cracking player for us too. Ah, those halcyon days when we had strong, creative midfielders!

 

[Scoffers]

I don't see why we cannot win. Ok we were poor against Swindon, but we certainly have the capability to beat Bristol City, there is no doubt about that - we just have to rise to the occasion.

If stepping out infront of 60,000 odd supports in a magnificent stadium cannot get the players going, that what else could?

In the end, it will come down to who handles the pressure best. BC showed that they don't give up until the final whistle by scoring twice at the end of their Semi Final, and we equalised in extra time in extra time !

 

[Pavilionaire]

Bristol City have a problem scoring goals.

However, on their day they are as dangerous as any other team in the division.

The table shows that they have played better than us thus far, as do head to head results.

If the final was played 10 times I would expect City to win 7 or 8 of those times. I just hope we go out and attack, rather than soak up pressure.

 

[Hove&Albion F.C]

If we lose will you stay and applaud Bristol City. I reckon I will.

Yes. Definaltely. If they do end up going up- fair play at the end of the day they deserve it.

 

[Hove&Albion F.C]

I don't see why we cannot win. Ok we were poor against Swindon, but we certainly have the capability to beat Bristol City, there is no doubt about that - we just have to rise to the occasion.

If stepping out infront of 60,000 odd supports in a magnificent stadium cannot get the players going, that what else could?

In the end, it will come down to who handles the pressure best. BC showed that they don't give up until the final whistle by scoring twice at the end of their Semi Final, and we equalised in extra time in extra time !

as they say, the form book goes right out the window on these occassions. As you say- its how we react to the crowd/occassion as much as anything. If we get stagefright, we'll get beat. If we rise to the occassion, we've got a good chance. Simple as that!

 

[aftershavedave]

how good? not as good as we all seem to think is my impression. sure they finished 5 points above us in regular season but they choked with about 5 weeks to go and couldn't score....buying tony rougier (much as i like him) is hardly like signing morientes is it?

and they made very hard work of hartlepool even though everyone had them as 4/1 on winning or something like that....i watched both of those matches (apart from the end of the second half of the second match when missus afters threw a wobbly about "too much football") and thought they were ok'ish.

slightly favour them over us, but nothing in it.

albion to win 2-0, goal in each half.

 

[Percy Parrot (bcfc)]

same

I think there is little difference to be honest.
Both similar sides and I think that came through at Ashton Gate.
Discount the 4-1 as we picked you on a day that you were terrible and everything we did seemed to go right (even Aaron Brown scored with a header!!!)

The difference in league position was very small- and we know from play-off experience that that counts for nothing anyway.

I think it will be too close to call. 50/50 and it could well go all the way to penalties.

Maybe it's just nerves but I have a bad feeling. Hope I'm wrong.

I think it's only fair that we get promoted- you get Falmer!

regards

 

[Jim D]

BC are rightly the favourites as they finished above us and also beat us at Withdean. However, this isn't another Man U v Millwall - we've got a fairly good chance of winning.

If we can keep it tight until the second half then it becomes as much a game in the mind as on the pitch. Also, I think it's good that we're the obvious underdogs - it'll make them concentrate just that little bit harder.

I think McGhee will get them into the right frame of mind by Sunday, and as long as we're competitive we've got a chance. All we need is that more of our key players (Roberts, Cullip, Butters, Carpenter, Iwelumo and Knight) have a good day than theirs. We must also hope that none of our players get too nervous - but after the penalties on Thurs I'm sure this won't happen.

 

[aftershavedave]

Re: same

I think it's only fair that we get promoted- you get Falmer!

most if not all of us would settle for that...

 

[brighton rock]

who bc best player?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I don't think they're really a team of stars.

They seem to have a collection of decent players, but nobody outstanding.

Nobody's scored loads of goals for them, though Peacock has a few. They seem to score from various positions on the pitch.

Doherty is supposed to be good, as is Danny Coles. We all know Rougier, Roberts can be tricky but inconsistent, and Tinnion is apparently a BC legend, but is getting on a bit. Don't rate the goalkeeper Phillips, despite him getting voted into the PFA Div 2 team of the year. He must have chucked Gordon Taylor a few quid for that. I could think of plenty of better keepers than him in this league.

 

[ciderred]

who bc best player?

Roberts , rougier , murray , goodfellow and lita are all threats attacking wise. Tommy doherty our captain is our best midfielder but isn't much of a goal threat.

Defensively butler is well dodgy , coles and hill are quality though.

 

[ciderred]

I don't think they're really a team of stars.

They seem to have a collection of decent players, but nobody outstanding.

Nobody's scored loads of goals for them, though Peacock has a few. They seem to score from various positions on the pitch.

Doherty is supposed to be good, as is Danny Coles. We all know Rougier, Roberts can be tricky but inconsistent, and Tinnion is apparently a BC legend, but is getting on a bit. Don't rate the goalkeeper Phillips, despite him getting voted into the PFA Div 2 team of the year. He must have chucked Gordon Taylor a few quid for that. I could think of plenty of better keepers than him in this league.

Phillips is class mate , i dont know what you're on about. He's a fantastic shotstopper (premiership standard) but he's dodgy on crossing , although that has improved a lot recently.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

How's Murray been since he came back Ciderred?

Didn't think he'd done much, compared to his previous form with you? Agreed Butler looks a bit iffy, and I was surprised Carey made the Div 2 team as well.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Obviously I haven't seen as much of Phillips as BC fans, but I think if you ask fans of other Div 2 clubs who the best keeper they've seen is, you won't see many votes for Phillips. Not saying he's rubbish, merely that I think there are better around in this league- Pogliacomi, Provett spring to mind, even if Provett looked nervous against you in the semis.

Saying he's a great keeper, but dodgy on crosses is a bit like saying someone's a great striker, but can't volley the ball isn't it? Bit of a fundamental flaw to be dismissing that lightly!

No doubt the git will prove me wrong on Sunday....

 

[Lammy]

I'd give our chances 50/50. It's a final. Nothing to lose. There will be nerves on both side. Neither team has a home advantage. We finished 3rd and 4th in the league. The best team on the day will win. Simple really. I'm going there to enjoy the day out and I intend to stay and applaud Bristol if we lose as I'd like to think they's do the same if we win. However, this is said with a cool head. Not sure how I will react after lots of beer and it depends how they win. (if they win)

It's going to be an amazing day out and at the very least a chance to air our views on Falmer to a massive audience. Falmer is far greater a match than ANY game of football.

 

[ciderred]

Obviously I haven't seen as much of Phillips as BC fans, but I think if you ask fans of other Div 2 clubs who the best keeper they've seen is, you won't see many votes for Phillips. Not saying he's rubbish, merely that I think there are better around in this league- Pogliacomi, Provett spring to mind, even if Provett looked nervous against you in the semis.

Saying he's a great keeper, but dodgy on crosses is a bit like saying someone's a great striker, but can't volley the ball isn't it? Bit of a fundamental flaw to be dismissing that lightly!

No doubt the git will prove me wrong on Sunday....

I did say he had improved on crosses recently though!
Did you not see the hartlepool away game , he kept us in it with some top class saves , especially the volley in the 85th minute.

As for murray he has'nt done much since he came back but thats because rougier has kept him out!! He started his first two games and set up the goal that beat qpr but got injured against plymouth and he hasnt featured since really. He played the majority of the hartlepool second leg and played well , but he's still not back to his sharpest.

 

[berkshire seagull]

They have skill unlike us

 

[Beach Hut]

I've had two mails fro STFC fans today saying you need to be lucky to win the play-offs but have we used all ours up.

I am confident we haven't and will put on a magnificent display Sunday.