The Official Sheffield Wednesday V Champions Match Day Thread

[Chairman Mao]

we need a couple of midfielders and another defender, then I think we'll be fine

[YorkshireSection]

People may just be judging Pack on what they've seen of him , not just today but in his career to date , incl with us in L1 Harry

Just a point to ponder

Don't think people are judging him on today's performance alone and to infer so is naive

Biggest thing for me is zero pace over 5 or 20 yes and you have to be some player to be competitive in a midfield role in Champ to make it without it

I enjoy reading your posts but others are entitled to their opinions (There are a number who saw today's game who disagree with a number of your points) the same as you are to yours

Completely agree with pretty much everything you say there.

I don't think anyone with half a brain cell would write any of our players off yet but we do have the right to say it how we see it, no body is using any one as a scapegoat players like Pack will always get a Marmite reaction and ultimately divide opinion- surely someone whose so itk in the football world should know that.

Players need competition in Thi league, someone experienced in cm is desperately needed, Barton might have been a ridiculous suggestion but he'd certainly have added something today.

[Red Army 87]

Wow! I knew Pack was going to become a scapegoat for most people this season, in fact most had written him off before a ball was kicked, but my god, what a ridiculous overreaction to him today. Didn't think he'd be singled out quite this quickly.

All of the team were poor today if compared with the performances we know they are capable of. No one came out with any credit besides maybe (just) Flint.

Pack got tackled in his own half once in the first half and once in the second. He took a booking for the team rather than letting a man run free (just the same as Fredericks did, but he's not copped any flack for that), he made a couple of poor passes in the first half but spread the ball well in the second including a few passes threaded through to the strikers / wingbacks.

In comparison Korey Smith did pretty much f-all all game, apart from giving the ball away numerous times more than Pack did, including one where he gifted the ball to Lopez on the edge of the box which should have been a goal.

If you watched that game not having seen any of our team play before, you'd say Smith was our weakest midfielder.

I'm not saying he is, nor slagging him off, but he was much worse than Pack today, yet the scapegoat goes to Pack.

For what it's worth, I thought Fielding obviously made a cock-up, Bryan (whilst on) and Fredericks were completely ineffective wingbacks, Smith was terrible, Freeman disappeared second half, and the front 2, Wilb & Kodge were absolutely dire.

Williams was horrible defensively and had a mare against Wallace & Hunt, and Ayling got caught out a number of times down his side too, and susceptible to a ball over the top once or twice as well.

Pack, for me, was probably better than all bar Flint today. He made a couple of bad forward passes, and got tackled twice. Bloody hell. I can sense young Marlon being in a very long season with most of you lot. Ludicrous opinions (that's my opinion).

On first showing, our new signings will need some time to bed in. Kodjia looked very poor I have to say, and Fred looked scared. I'm willing to give them both time to settle in a new team and challenging league, but seems most of you lot have written off Pack on the back of a bad team performance in which he was nowhere near our worst midfielder, let alone worst player.

I was there today and couldn't agree with you more, spot on .

[YorkshireSection]

Read my post #638 Harry please before you say another 'Sadly though, because he got tackled once he'll be everyone's boo boy'

Getting tiresome now tbh

Amen Sir.

[One BCFC]

In a way we will learn more from this defeat than a win.

If we sneaked a win we would have papered over the cracks and forgotten some of the bad performances by some. The players will learn well from this defeat, mistakes at this level are punished.

[samo II]

I respect your posts on here tremendously, Harry, but poor form to just write off everyone who is critical of Pack as "boo boys"; several have articulated why they felt his contribution was part of a poor performance, so it strikes me as narrow minded to write this off so flippantly.

I'm by no means calling for his head, but felt his insistence on taking time on the ball when he had none and bad decisions outweighed his other contributions, such as his long passes.

That isn't to say others didn't perform well too, and Smith didn't cover himself with glory as you say, but deriding the observations of others as the words of "boo boys" is an unfortunate position to take.

[Red Army 87]

When we went 2-0 down I have to say pack was one of the few who tried to take responsibility by creating something. Some great passes over the top for Robinson near the end.

Not even close to being our worst player today, I wasn't impressed with kodjia or Fredericks and ayling, whilst excellent on the ball looked very exposed when defending, as did Williams. Flint was running from one side to the other just to cover them.

The consolation from today, for those of you that weren't there, is that we are capable of playing much better than that and it might give the players a bit of a reality check. I did feel first half that it felt a bit too relaxed from our perspective so when Wednesday picked up the pace we struggled to keep up.

[TRL]

I think Pack has had a bit of bad press on here.  He was probably our most involved player, so his bad points are going to be magnified, he wasn't that bad, he got through a lot of work and also made some good passes and good decisions.

 

I was more disappointed with Smith truth be told, lot of balls won then given away immediately, might as well not bothered winning the tackle.

 

Lots to learn I think from all in the team, last year we had time to win the tackle and watch the great ball we played. this year, we have to win the tackle, get head up quickly and make sure there is movement and good first touch, we will not get away with sloppiness in the championship

[Flagon]

I managed to catch most of the match on a live stream and the main thing I took from it was that Sheffield Wednesday just simply did a better job on us than them and we got badly disrupted following the injury to Bryan. Fredericks is not a left wing back, not that he did a terrible job there but it's obviously not what he was bought for.

They all looked comfortable on the ball which was good to see and I didn't feel that anyone had a shocker. Fielding didn't have a great deal to do. I saw us under alot more pressure in League One at times.

Sheffield Wednesday just did a good job holding back when we had the ball and exploited the gaps vacated by the wingbacks where most of the game we had a new player having to play the wrong side and the other side we had Burns who had hardly even played in league one, who I thought actually did really well and was quite a threat.I feel pretty sure this impacted our ability to create anything clear cut to the strikers where again one is completely new to the football over here let alone the team.

Sheffield Wednesday were similar I thought to Brighton and Forest last night where the main threat was down the wings which could be something we need to watch out for.

I am a bit concerned though by the injury to Bryan. Cunningham would no doubt have been there today so this did show up an early problem - not that anyone wouldn't have seen that coming - well I hope not anyhow! It'll be interesting to see what happens come the end of the month now. Who knows two quick fire results at home and maybe couple more signings and things will feel different very quickly. Can't wait now for first home game to give my full support followed by a nice tasty evening match against Leeds. Hopefully we will be really up for it on the pitch and in the stands.

[BobBobSuperBob]

Agree YS - a experienced central midfielder would be spot on and your point about Barton very valid

For what it's worth IMO there are one or two more who I have doubts about at Championship level and but I'll keep those to myself before WW3 breaks out

I hope I'm wrong on each of them incl MP and they all make me eat my words as All I want is for the team / club to be sucessful, but I'm not a rose tinted specs wearer either.

The players who did so well last year in a league below deserve an opportunity but too much or elongated sentiment will cost us points

The club cannot afford to mess up,in the Champ this time round - we have no excuses this time round - a title winning side that needed polishing with some additions and we had the chance to plan our transfer activity before Preston, MK and the relegated prem clubs

[samo II]

No idea how people can be critical of our front pair today; zero service, and us starting to go long to them as soon as Sheffield closed is down.

At least both Wilbs (who looked lethargic, but still fought for every ball) and Kodjia each did something when they did get the ball.

Thought Robinson added a threat too, drawing their wide men back and spreading their defence, and perhaps the idea of a front three SC mention on his signing is viable, as Robinson certainly has the ability to play in that gap between the full back and centre back, of more ably supported from midfield.

[YorkshireSection]

I think Pack has had a bit of bad press on here. He was probably our most involved player, so his bad points are going to be magnified, he wasn't that bad, he got through a lot of work and also made some good passes and good decisions.

I was more disappointed with Smith truth be told, lot of balls won then given away immediately, might as well not bothered winning the tackle.

Lots to learn I think from all in the team, last year we had time to win the tackle and watch the great ball we played. this year, we have to win the tackle, get head up quickly and make sure there is movement and good first touch, we will not get away with sloppiness in the championship

Agreed

As I said, his mistakes were magnified due to his position on the field etc. Everyone wants him to do well, were also very much allowed yo say when we don't think any player has, that's the beauty of a forum.

[Phileas Fogg]

Kodjia, as expected, showed all the hallmarks of a striker not quite sharp or in tune with the rest of the team yet - by that I mean his runs and touch which were poor. It'll come.

He barely touched the ball really but I was impressed with his angled shot that went over; the technique was good but more importantly the idea to have that shot in the first place.

Looking forward to watching him improve

Edited August 8, 2015 by Phileas Fogg

[YorkshireSection]

Agree YS - a experienced central midfielder would be spot on and your point about Barton very valid

For what it's worth IMO there are one or two more who I have doubts about at Championship level and but I'll keep those to myself before WW3 breaks out

I hope I'm wrong on each of them incl MP and they all make me eat my words as All I want is for the team / club to be sucessful, but I'm not a rose tinted specs wearer either.

The players who did so well last year in a league below deserve an opportunity but too much or elongated sentiment will cost us points

The club cannot afford to mess up,in the Champ this time round - we have no excuses this time round - a title winning side that needed polishing with some additions and we had the chance to plan our transfer activity before Preston, MK and the relegated prem clubs

Couldn't agree more, I also think there's a couple who may struggle and i hope I'm wrong, one things for sure though: If we dont get proper competition for their places then things will get a lot tougher, this league is a very different animal to league one.

Still, a bad start but plenty of time to do well.

[JoeAman08]

I just think our back 3 needs to be exactly that. A BACK 3. We are going to get punished if they keep going so far forward. Especially with inexperienced WBs. Only one I truly trust on the ball is Ayling. Even then he needs to get better defensively until they have that understanding with everyone again

[Cider_boy]

You don't get a point for losing 2-0

haahaa, too much cider earlier, I meant;

 

or it may turn out that we're one of few teams not to come away with at least a point from them.

 

 

although maybe teams that play at Ashton Gate should get a point for losing 2-0 away?

[chipdawg]

My thoughts on today

The first thing to say is that we have to hold our hands up and say Wednesday deserved to win that game. We can dissect the deficiencies of our squad all we want, but they deserved to win. That was certainly not the whole story though. As poor as we were in the 2nd half, we were the better side in the first- albeit a side that didn't create much in the way of chances. Second half they came out and pressured us and we didn't react well. That's perhaps the most concerning aspect of the afternoon: has this team which is so used to dominating got the balls to knuckle under and grind out draws against the run of play?

Individually, the obvious poor performers were the new lads; Kodjia especially looked completely lost and we have to just hope that with time he picks it up. For most of today he looked like the first time he'd met his team mates was kick off. Neither he nor Fredericks looked fit to me, so hopefully they'll improve

As for the Pack criticism, he didn't have a great game but he wasn't the only one. However, the midfield needs improving and in the respect he looks the odd one out. I'd also say Ayling looked suspect defensively but that's perhaps a whole different debate

Positives? Well we were the better team first 45. Nobody looks like they can't contribute and Burns might just have played his way into the side. A lot to ponder, a few things to worry about but no need to panic

COYR

[Harry]

Ayling yes. Pack no way, been caught in possession too often and looks slow off the mark.

 

This was after 36 mins, when Pack had been caught in posession ONCE! Not too often, ONCE.

 

Freeman not impressed with Pack's pass there
 

Pack has been incredibly frustrating 1st half. Poor decision making and his passing has been way off.

 

Overhit 1 cross-field pass up to this point, and played 2 through balls out of play, in attempting to force forward play.  By this stage Korey had given the ball away numerous time too, but no comment on him.

 

Look closer to home Pack not good enough for league one let alone championship

 

Written off already.

 

I'm sorry but Pack is well out of his depth here.

 

Written off already

 

Was thinking the same

 

Written off already

 

Pack booked

 

 

Deary me

 

What a great reaction to someone getting booked.  It'll happen to all of our players this season, hope they all get a "deary me".  Pack was booked for 'taking one for the team', bringing down a man who was going to run through.  Good booking in my opinion.

 

 

It's gonna be a long old season for Pack

 

Written off already

 

 

Marlon pack,just letting his man run.shocking

 

This was the comment on the 2nd goal.  Where Pack tracked back with the man from the edge of the Sheff box, all the way to half way inside our own half.  Initially the break was 3 on 3, but Pack correctly didn't dive in, and held the man from running all the way through on goal.  The fact the cross wasn't stopped, and then Fielding went awol is not the fault of the midfielder who tracked 50+ yards and jockeyed his man well.

 

 

Afraid I've never seen enough in Pack to think he may cut it in Championship - looked 'ok' in a very good side at tail end of L1
 

As you said SuperBob, you're judging him on previous, which is fine.  I think a lot of people would say he looked more than just "ok" in L1, so I do think your mind is already made up.

 

Only one game but Pack has looked particularly off the pace to me today out of everyone but no one is pulling up trees by any stretch.

 

Exactly.  One game, where you admit that no one looked good, yet Pack is the one singled out.

 

Packs lack of pace nearly leads to a third...

 

You mean the one when Korey lost it on the half way line, Pack chased the man back, Flint came flying out and overshot his challenge, leaving Pack the only man left, who was beaten for pace by a lad from Portugal who's arrived in this league with one main attribute - pace.  I think Joao would've beaten anyone to that ball bar Burns.

 

I think we will struggle with Pack in midfield this season.

 

Written off already

 

Pack looked niggly and got caught in possession too many times, he also misplaced too many passes but he was probably my only major criticism.

 

Got caught in possession 3 times I think.  Less than Korey, Fredericks, Freeman, Wilbs.  Mis-placed a couple of passes in the 1st half, but much better radar in the 2nd.  Smith, Williams, Bryan to name a few mis-placed just as many if not more passes, yet he was your only major criticism?

 

A lot to think about, though what happened to our midfield? Number of times we had possession in defence but had no options.

 

The midfield saw plenty of ball (how else could they have so say mis-placed sooo many passes.

The fact the CB's chose to hit diagonals too often was not the fault of the midfield, it's a tactic we adopted plenty last season.

 

Anyone else with me in thinking the transfer priorities should be a box to box midfielder (replacing Pack). As for the midfielder I'm not sure if Pack is championship quality, think we need someone to go forward more.

 

Written off already.  This guy wants his shiedling midfielder to go forward more!

 

I think we need more of a defensive midfielder to replace Pack to be honest.

 

Written off already.

 

Midfield was always going to be a problem, even in some game last season, our midfield didn't dominate or control

 

Written off already, and clearly a shot at Pack, not Korey - cuz no one critiscises Korey, even when he's had a stinker today!

 

Pack is my main worry for this season.  His performance against Swindon last season should have rang all the alarm bells.  Against anyone with pace he is toast.  His solution is dodgy freekicks on the edge of our box.  We desperately need a good, pacy central midfielder.

 

Written off already.  How many free kicks on the edge of the box were given away today?  I remember Freeman giving one.

 

Pack imho was the weak link last season and he's had a stinker today. Its early days yet and he did finish the season on a high, improving greatly, I'm not fighting him off yet bit on todays performance he looked way out of his depth

 

Everyone had a stinker today.  All bar Flint looked out of their depth today.

 

I like Pack but he does make a lot of bad choices in dangerous areas, his radar was a bit off today and gave it away too much.

 

As said before, gave it away 3 or 4 times in the first half, but was much more accurate 2nd half.  Others gave the ball away many more times, but aren't receiving critique.

 

End of the day pack was awful which left smith so exposed,if pack can't pass 10 yards without giving it away then we are in trouble

 

Gave it away about 4 times.  2 cross-field diagonals, and a couple of attempted incisive passes.  Don't think it was a case of not being able to pass it 10 yards.  Korey's passing was worse than Pack's today, but no antagonism levelled his way?

 

People may just be judging Pack on what they've seen of him , not just today but in his career to date , incl with us in L1 Harry

Just a point to ponder

Don't think people are judging him on today's performance alone and to infer so is naive

Biggest thing for me is zero pace over 5 or 20 yes and you have to be some player to be competitive in a midfield role in Champ to make it without it

I enjoy reading your posts but others are entitled to their opinions (There are a number who saw today's game who disagree with a number of your points) the same as you are to yours

I appreciate SuperBob that a couple of posters have given their rationale and are perfectly entitled to their opinion, but I don't think I'm being naive at all mate.  Read the 20 or so quoted posts above and tell me that some people aren't going over the top a bit, based on 1 performance where he was nowhere near our worst player.

 

just got back to the batcave and the journey home was full of reflection of the game today.

 

The cider i was drinking in the horse and jockey up the hill from the stadium is out of my system now and there were things i was saying at the end of the game which i would not be saying now. This is the kick up the arse that the club (both on and off the field) need, and a major wake up call as to what the Championship is all about.

 

But one thing still rings true from what i did say at the end of the game, and it appears some have beaten me to it. Marlon Pack.

 

An absolute waste of space, i have no idea what he has brought this club since he joined, yet some people see him as a Pirlo / Scholes-esque player. Laughable. A Cheltenham fan i know was happy to see the back of him when he left them to join us. We are in for a long hard season if he is going to be our first choice central midfielder all season. Smith was poor today but still had a bit of skill on the ball, a lot more movement and i think he was doing the job of 2 players in the midfield battle. The first player we should have bought in the summer was a central midfielder to replace Elliot, but we are where we are and we are only 3 points off top.

Thanks for the opinion you perfectly entitled to.  But do you seriously think Korey played crap because Pack played crap?  Korey was poor in his own right, as were many others.

 

Read my post #638 Harry please before you say another 'Sadly though, because he got tackled once he'll be everyone's boo boy'

Getting tiresome now tbh

Again, read the previous posts and tell me there isn't an element of boo boy mentality in them.

What's tiresome is the entirely predictable backlash that Pack receives from some fans whenever he plays.  Many are still judging him on half a dozen games at the start of Sod's reign.  Pack has more than proven himself over last season, just like Flint, Williams & Fielding, who also had pretty slow starts under Sod, but they've all been forgiven it seems.  Mr Pack just can't shake it off with some fans, despite being one of our most consistent performers in the last 20-25 games last season.

 

 

I respect your posts on here tremendously, Harry, but poor form to just write off everyone who is critical of Pack as "boo boys"; several have articulated why they felt his contribution was part of a poor performance, so it strikes me as narrow minded to write this off so flippantly.

I'm by no means calling for his head, but felt his insistence on taking time on the ball when he had none and bad decisions outweighed his other contributions, such as his long passes.

That isn't to say others didn't perform well too, and Smith didn't cover himself with glory as you say, but deriding the observations of others as the words of "boo boys" is an unfortunate position to take.

Samo.  I'm not calling everyone a boo boy, but just look at how many people have written him off after 1 game, a game in which he was nowhere near our worst player, and in which none of our team covered themselves in glory.

I use the term boo boy quite deliberately, because believe me, I can see it only being a matter of time (and a few defeats), before fans at the ground will start getting vocal.  Some of that will have stemmed from the untruths spoken on here about his performances.  Once it starts, it won't stop, and will spiral into jeers at the ground.

 

I think today was a poor day all round for all of our players.  Fielding, Williams, Fredericks, Ayling, Smith, Freeman, Wilbraham & Kodjia could ALL have fair criticism levelled at them today after their performances, yet the only player getting singled out is Pack.  That's why I use the term boo boy, because there are a number of posters who are singling Pack out for special treatment, and that's not right.

 

I'm not saying Pack is the answer, and I would happily upgrade him and a few others in the team for much better players, but the way some people are writing, is that he's the worst player in the squad by a mile, and he's far from it.

[Olé]

My train broke down three times and then gave up at Derby so I missed the first 15min but I still saw enough to wonder what is going through the mind of people complaining about Pack. WTF. He was the only player finding others in space and opening it up. In my humble opinion I used to watch Korey Smith in awe last season and before Flint's last two months he was my POTY, but he is was really not in it today and light years worse than Pack.

Only one other comment with no disrespect to Wilbs but Flint will be captain before too long and he wants it.

[joe jordans teeth]

Is pack the new lee Johnson ?

. He wishes

[Aaron-Bcfc]

I thought Pack was one of our best performers today! Certainly first half when he was dropping back and doing a job on Nuhiu, who at 6'6 is more than a handful.

[havanatopia]

A confidence boosting win against Luton and this match can be submitted to the trash can of history.

[PHILINFRANCE]

I hope you don't mind a Wednesday fan barging in.  I spent much of my childhood in Bristol and sometimes stood in the Enclosure to watch City in Division one.  (A 3-2 against Leeds comes to mind.  And names!  Merrick!  Drysdale! Sweeney!  Fear!  And - heartbreaking - Paul Cheeseley).  Subsequently have always kept an eye on their results.

 

I  can't comment about individual players: it was bad enough trying to identify our own.  But:

 

• I was struck looking at the programme by how small the squad seems to be.  Obviously that's not an issue that bears on today, but you guys really are going to need more bodies.  
• It really is a big step up.  When we came up in 2012 we had had an immense run from mid-Jan, and I really thought we would be competitive.  Not so.  So take a goal like our second: you can say it was a nice quick punchy counter, and you can say that City's defending was naive, and both are true.  But: the point is you seldom have to cope with anything like that in the lower league.  At the most general level, I would say that players who looked  fine  in league one can often just look slow and clumsy in the championship
• Until the first goal, I thought it was a reasonable well-organised defensive performance was City, esp in the middle.  From time to time you were ripped apart down the flanks, but to be honest Mattias, Wallace and Hunt (all making debuts) are more challenging than you'll normally face.  
• The main worry would be a lack of creativity and a lack of strength upfront.  I couldn't quite see where the goals were coming from.  Tho' possibly you should have had the penalty near the end: I thought not, but both my kids thought it was.  But the upcoming home matches will be the better test.

I wouldn't by any means think of pressing panic buttons, and unquestionably you'll learn.  But Mr L does I think need to authorise some spend..

 

Re. 'barging in', I believe fair, constructive and sensible criticism is always welcome from whatever source, so, personally, I appreciated your comments from the ground (I watched on 'tv') and agree for the most part.

 

I am also intrigued how, of all the players you could have chosen for your user name, you picked the unsung hero Trevor Tainton. 

[havanatopia]

Trevor Tainton IS a hero. End of Phil

 

Agreed, good post by the Wed/City fan

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

Does for me. Hate the place.

You're entitled to your opinion but the City is nice and we sit on the cusp of a national park, stunning scenery if you ever get the chance to take it in.

Glad some perspective of how difficult this season will be. A lot of people need to calm their expectations and support the team.

Positives

1. Loads of empty seats at Hillsborough / pathetic attendance.

2. Gas lost

23k, let me know when you last had a 23k inside your stadium? There was more home fans there than our opening home fixture last season.

[Red-Robbo]

You're entitled to your opinion but the City is nice and we sit on the cusp of a national park, stunning scenery if you ever get the chance to take it in.

23k, let me know when you last had a 23k inside your stadium? There was more home fans there than our opening home fixture last season.

We haven't had the capacity to seat that number for some time. However that is being addressed.

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

My thoughts :

First off fair play to the City fans that made the trip at those prices 1,184 deserve credit, even the two minibus full of lads who tried to be a bit lairy outside the Leppings Lane End.

On to the game, I thought you were unfortunate to lose the lad Bryan as he seemed a threat, he and Freeman looked lively, wasn't impressed with Flint mind, expected more from him.

You seemed to have the possession in the first period without looking remotely threatening, Westwood had one gimme save to make from Wilbraham, we took a bit of time to settle but could and should have been ahead at half time just Matias and Lopez missed gilt edged chances.

Second half we took control and probed, our patience was rewarded with a simple header from a corner that an unmarked Tom Lees nodded home despite the best efforts of Fielding, you lot tried to get back into it with that Burns header that McGugan cleared and barely thirty seconds later Fielding misjudged a teasing Wallace ball that allowed McGugan to tap home, game set and match.

After that we had chances to extend the scoreline particulary the Matias chance after excellent work by Joao and Kieran Lee although you seemed to have claims for a penalty.

On the whole I felt it was comfortable and ended a 11 year wait for a home win over you.

If you cut out the long balls, which were food and drink for our defence and try and play the passing game you have you'll do ok, not sure Kodjia is the answer, he looked a little lost tbh get another striker in and Agard fit.

All the best.

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

We haven't had the capacity to seat that number for some time. However that is being addressed.

I was being facetious, but found it funny someone slating 23k.....

[Red-Robbo]

My thoughts :

First off fair play to the City fans that made the trip at those prices 1,184 deserve credit, even the two minibus full of lads who tried to be a bit lairy outside the Leppings Lane End.

On to the game, I thought you were unfortunate to lose the lad Bryan as he seemed a threat, he and Freeman looked lively, wasn't impressed with Flint mind, expected more from him.

You seemed to have the possession in the first period without looking remotely threatening, Westwood had one gimme save to make from Wilbraham, we took a bit of time to settle but could and should have been ahead at half time just Matias and Lopez missed gilt edged chances.

Second half we took control and probed, our patience was rewarded with a simple header from a corner that an unmarked Tom Lees nodded home despite the best efforts of Fielding, you lot tried to get back into it with that Burns header that McGugan cleared and barely thirty seconds later Fielding misjudged a teasing Wallace ball that allowed McGugan to tap home, game set and match.

After that we had chances to extend the scoreline particulary the Matias chance after excellent work by Joao and Kieran Lee although you seemed to have claims for a penalty.

On the whole I felt it was comfortable and ended a 11 year wait for a home win over you.

If you cut out the long balls, which were food and drink for our defence and try and play the passing game you have you'll do ok, not sure Kodjia is the answer, he looked a little lost tbh get another striker in and Agard fit.

All the best.

TBF that is Kodjia's first English league game.

In Cotts we trust to fit him into our style which - last season - was based on exactly the sort of passing game you describe.

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

TBF that is Kodjia's first English league game.

In Cotts we trust to fit him into our style which - last season - was based on exactly the sort of passing game you describe.

It was the same for Joao, who did more in 20 minutes than Kodjia did all the time he was on the pitch.

[JoeAman08]

I was being facetious, but found it funny someone slating 23k.....

23k is good. I just think we all feel it could've been more if the tickets would've been a tenner cheaper. I watched it and it didn't look full so I imagine your capacity is around 30k?

We can't say much though as our aren't much cheaper for our opener. Think 34 but that may not be our cheapest. Point is, football ticket prices in England are appalling. Our 16k(for now) will probably just about sell out no matter the price as it's the first game(and about 12.5k season tickets of I'm not mistaken).

To the game, SW surprised me. I thought they'd be less organized than they were with their new signings. Think you did a fair bit of business early though and seems to have paid off. Wallace and your other winger(can't remember but missed a couple gimmes) were outstanding and will be a nightmare for everyone if they play like that every week. I've watched this group for Bristol City quite a bit last season and we always struggled with one of our wing backs missing. We played a good hour without both. Fredricks needs time to adapt to the role and I hope Bryan isn't out long(naughty challenge by the way) and Little can come back soon. With Bryan and Little out there we are much better both attacking and defensively as they both know when to get forward and when to sit back a bit. Our strikers had no service at all. Don't think it's too fair to judge them harshly. Kodjia needs more time to get some English down and an understanding with Wilbs and Agard. Just think it's too early to judge everyone. Think a good spanking will do us some good. Hopefully show our owner we need to spend a bit more, our manager the holes and what we need to work on and the squad that mistakes will be punished and need to be close to perfect.

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

23k is good. I just think we all feel it could've been more if the tickets would've been a tenner cheaper. I watched it and it didn't look full so I imagine your capacity is around 30k?

We can't say much though as our aren't much cheaper for our opener. Think 34 but that may not be our cheapest. Point is, football ticket prices in England are appalling. Our 16k(for now) will probably just about sell out no matter the price as it's the first game(and about 12.5k season tickets of I'm not mistaken).

To the game, SW surprised me. I thought they'd be less organized than they were with their new signings. Think you did a fair bit of business early though and seems to have paid off. Wallace and your other winger(can't remember but missed a couple gimmes) were outstanding and will be a nightmare for everyone if they play like that every week. I've watched this group for Bristol City quite a bit last season and we always struggled with one of our wing backs missing. We played a good hour without both. Fredricks needs time to adapt to the role and I hope Bryan isn't out long(naughty challenge by the way) and Little can come back soon. With Bryan and Little out there we are much better both attacking and defensively as they both know when to get forward and when to sit back a bit. Our strikers had no service at all. Don't think it's too fair to judge them harshly. Kodjia needs more time to get some English down and an understanding with Wilbs and Agard. Just think it's too early to judge everyone. Think a good spanking will do us some good. Hopefully show our owner we need to spend a bit more, our manager the holes and what we need to work on and the squad that mistakes will be punished and need to be close to perfect.

Capacity is just shy of 40k.

[havanatopia]

I would just like to add that Sheffield is, on the whole, a pretty decent city. Certainly a lot more interesting a place than Leeds imo. And even if it wasn't not really any need for a poster to run it down. Bristol has its fair share of less than salubrious parts.

[havanatopia]

double post

Edited August 9, 2015 by havanatopia

[chipdawg]

It was the same for Joao, who did more in 20 minutes than Kodjia did all the time he was on the pitch.

Much easier for Joao to come on when your team is 2-0 up and dominating the game (which you were). But there's definitely work to do with Kodjia

I thought we were all over you in the first half, but you had by far the better chances- generally from our mistakes. Second half you just found an extra gear and we fell apart a bit. I think you look a decent team who'll get better as you gel. I think we can probably compete but need to work on our play in the final third

One more thing (and I do stress that this was not a reason for our loss, Wednesday thoroughly deserved the points) but I thought the referee was an utter disgrace. Freeman had his legs kicked out by a player on the floor as he advanced on goal (the Spanish centre mid I think) and we didn't get a free kick, then Bryan was clattered and had to go off (it was VERY naughty btw) and we didn't get a free kick, Helan barged Marlon Pack in the back to win the ball in the build up to the Wednesday second (a theme actually when challenging for headers) and we had a couple of very decent penalty shouts turned down, though Wednesday had at least one. One of the worst refs I've seen in ages. But as I said, not a factor in the result which was just down to Wednesday being the better side on the day

Edited August 9, 2015 by chipdawg

[JoeAman08]

Capacity is just shy of 40k.

Well there you go. Think you could've been close to that at 25 a ticket and appropriate youth tickets. It's over now though. Just think you guys missed an opportunity at filling your stadium. I would've most likely gone if not for the ticket prices and I'm sure you would've had a few more supporters as well.

Oh well though. Have a good season

[Guest ioncetalkedtotrevortainton]

Well there you go. Think you could've been close to that at 25 a ticket and appropriate youth tickets. It's over now though. Just think you guys missed an opportunity at filling your stadium. I would've most likely gone if not for the ticket prices and I'm sure you would've had a few more supporters as well.

Oh well though. Have a good season

I am sure you would have brought more.  The two City fans I am in closest contact with stayed away: one on affordability grounds; one on principle.

 

We'd have had a few more too.  So quite possibly the crowd could have got to around 30k.  But: from the owner's point of view, the game is to get the non-ST ticket holders to take out memberships.  He's also going for highly differentiated price banding (City a higher category than Boro: you stand flattered), which is a sensible approach, but needs some calibration.  On balance he'll be happy enough.  The stayaway predicted by the mardier (local dialect) elements of our support didn't materialise.

 

I don't care for any of this.  But all of us are up against FFP rules which are about anything but fair play, and give massive advantages to incumbents.

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

Well there you go. Think you could've been close to that at 25 a ticket and appropriate youth tickets. It's over now though. Just think you guys missed an opportunity at filling your stadium. I would've most likely gone if not for the ticket prices and I'm sure you would've had a few more supporters as well.

Oh well though. Have a good season

Last time we had close to capacity was in 2012 when we got 39k v Wycombe.

[KeepUpLino]

Capacity is just shy of 40k.

Hillsboroughs stuck in a time warp, needs bulldozing to be fair.... Shithole

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

Hillsboroughs stuck in a time warp, needs bulldozing to be fair.... Shithole

???????

[BobBobSuperBob]

Hillsboroughs stuck in a time warp, needs bulldozing to be fair.... Shithole

Tbf keepy Ashton Gate was stuck in a time warp and Hillsborough is an iconic Ground with loads of history and a cauldron when anywhere near fullish

[JoeAman08]

Last time we had close to capacity was in 2012 when we got 39k v Wycombe.

Well regardless of FFP, think a cheaper ticket would've made your stadium look more full while still getting close to the same income. Say 30k at 30 a ticket compared to 39 at 23k. You make slightly more than at 39 per ticket. Of course you can't calculate it that way with season tickets but you get the point. Like I said it's pointless though as its over and even we are going to charge more than 30(which is too much but for now I'm gonna assume around average for this league) in some matches.

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

Well regardless of FFP, think a cheaper ticket would've made your stadium look more full while still getting close to the same income. Say 30k at 30 a ticket compared to 39 at 23k. You make slightly more than at 39 per ticket. Of course you can't calculate it that way with season tickets but you get the point. Like I said it's pointless though as its over and even we are going to charge more than 30(which is too much but for now I'm gonna assume around average for this league) in some matches.

We'd all love cheaper tickets mate but our new owner is aiming to try and get more season ticket holders by selling them much cheaper than match day (it was 42 quid for my seat but my ST works out at 20.86).

[JoeAman08]

We'd all love cheaper tickets mate but our new owner is aiming to try and get more season ticket holders by selling them much cheaper than match day (it was 42 quid for my seat but my ST works out at 20.86).

Fair enough. Not blaming SW solely for ticket prices just happened to be the first match so easier example. Just like seeing stadiums look full. All the empty seat are wasted. Maybe could've made U12s free for the first match bring more people in. As I said not SW solely just an example as we've seen it.

[KeepUpLino]

Tbf keepy Ashton Gate was stuck in a time warp and Hillsborough is an iconic Ground with loads of history and a cauldron when anywhere near fullish

Not anymore ???

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

Fair enough. Not blaming SW solely for ticket prices just happened to be the first match so easier example. Just like seeing stadiums look full. All the empty seat are wasted. Maybe could've made U12s free for the first match bring more people in. As I said not SW solely just an example as we've seen it.

I'm not fussed about what we got in to be honest, more home fans than first home fixture last season.

Hopefully winning games will get folk in, that said we charged 10 quid for Reading game last season, only 29k in.

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

Not anymore ???

Hillsborough is beautiful, better than Pride Park etc

[citywest30]

Harry didn't want to quote you're whole post but I think you backed up your argument well. Don't know whether players read this but Fontaine's confidence plummeted and attitudes from fans surely played a part. Hope the same doesn't happen to Pack.

[Lack of Action Man]

Harry didn't want to quote you're whole post but I think you backed up your argument well. Don't know whether players read this but Fontaine's confidence plummeted and attitudes from fans surely played a part. Hope the same doesn't happen to Pack.

Difference between those two players is that Pack has a colossal ego.

[KeepUpLino]

Hillsborough is beautiful, better than Pride Park etc

Location yeah and a proper football ground but it's still a Dive and needs bringing into the 21st century

[samo II]

Harry didn't want to quote you're whole post but I think you backed up your argument well. Don't know whether players read this but Fontaine's confidence plummeted and attitudes from fans surely played a part. Hope the same doesn't happen to Pack.

Was about to post similar; the collection of comments did support the suggestion he's perhaps being somewhat singled out.

Doesn't mean I didn't think he played a role in what was a poor showing, particularly from our engine room in midfield yesterday, but I certainly not write off his season on that from this game alone.

Like with others in the side, think they'll grow into the season.

[Lack of Action Man]

Having just seen the highlights package I have a few thoughts:

Regarding the goals I feel fielding could've done better on both. The first isn't that far away from him, I'd attribute it to a lack of match sharpness. The FF from last season also wouldn't be diving for that, quick feet across and he makes the save. Perhaps he's still lagging a big from injury?

The second goal is exactly the kind of insane head rush he had when he first joined us, the ball was always going to swing away from him, why attempt to challenge it? Lunacy.

Sheffield Wednesday had good chances and I was particularly disappointed to see Ayling losing the flight of the ball in the air - something that is a fundamental skill for any central defender. Equally Flint gave their forward the ball on a plate in the chance which was blazed over the bar. This was exactly the kind of act without thinking action Flint used to do under SOD - again I'm going to say for both of these players they look like they are lacking match sharpness.

Burns should've had a penalty - impressed by the strength he showed to hold off two players surging forwards, I like that very much. And he was clearly elbowed in the back. Sadly the referee would have to be in exactly the right position to see it so I can see why he didn't give it even if I don't believe the correct decision was made.

Little else of note in a 3 minute video summary.

[Harry]

Was about to post similar; the collection of comments did support the suggestion he's perhaps being somewhat singled out.

Doesn't mean I didn't think he played a role in what was a poor showing, particularly from our engine room in midfield yesterday, but I certainly not write off his season on that from this game alone.

Like with others in the side, think they'll grow into the season.

Thanks citywest.

Samo, as said mate, I couldn't quite believe how many poor comments there were. In fact, I tried to 'multi-quote' them but it exceeded the allowable limit, hence I had to copy/paste them instead!!

As I think we all agree, it was a poor showing from pretty much the whole team aside from Flint & Burns. No one should be singled out from it.

[Harry]

Difference between those two players is that Pack has a colossal ego.

Ha ha. Having read your match summary comments, I thought you wrote well, but then you say something like this.

Pack has an ego? And a colossal one at that?? Really???? I'd beg to differ.

[OwlsonlineAdmin]

Location yeah and a proper football ground but it's still a Dive and needs bringing into the 21st century

Away end and Kop do, North and South are quality.

[Lack of Action Man]

Ha ha. Having read your match summary comments, I thought you wrote well, but then you say something like this.

Pack has an ego? And a colossal one at that?? Really???? I'd beg to differ.

Having seen him numerous times out in Bristol, I can only disagree with you Harry.

[Dolman Block B]

My view on the day.

 

Stadium still has an awe about it.

 

You can only imagine what it must be like full, amazing. Its old, the toilets dreadful but have to say the fans were friendly enough in a couple of pubs before the game.

 

Fair play to the City fans, noisy enough but give credit where its due, when Wednesday scored the noise from three sides was good.

 

The game itself? Well our new striker needs to learn a lot about English foootball. Didnt work hard at all, seemed lazy and only a shot on goal. That will come hopefully.

 

Fredricks will come good for sure but his first game and didn't motor up the wings like we were hoping, tracked back a lot.

 

Ayling was our best player as was Bryan till he got whacked and went off.

 

We really need to look at getting another keeper in. I'm not knocking Fielding he just don't seem big enough and flapped around when SW got their second,

 

He just isn't tall enough for me!!!

 

We didn't look in any trouble at all until they scored, after that there was only one winner.

 

Git of a journey home mind.

 

Fingers crossed we can come away with a few points against Brentford and Leeds+

[samo II]

Thanks citywest.

Samo, as said mate, I couldn't quite believe how many poor comments there were. In fact, I tried to 'multi-quote' them but it exceeded the allowable limit, hence I had to copy/paste them instead!!

As I think we all agree, it was a poor showing from pretty much the whole team aside from Flint & Burns. No one should be singled out from it.

I'd agree; as I've said before, I think Pack is being asked to play a role that needs someone alongside him who's singular focus is to break up opposition play, freeing him up to link with Freeman, and yesterday I felt Smith went past him and didn't stick to this task enough.

Across the first ten games or so we'll get a better idea of how and who in the team will make the grade; one game is of course too few.

[Spike]

If you cut out the long balls, which were food and drink for our defence and try and play the passing game you have you'll do ok, not sure Kodjia is the answer, he looked a little lost tbh get another striker in and Agard fit.

All the best.

 

I think you've nailed it with the long balls, I still don't understand why we kept playing them, it really was infuriating as it just gave you more and more chances to attack with patient build up from the back.

With regards to Kodjia, I think he'll come good if we play to his strengths, the problem is he plays better with the ball being played to hit feet in the final third and that only happened on one occasion and when it did he ran through two of your players and had a long range shot that was about a foot over. I just think we played him out of that match by giving you back the ball so frequently and expecting Kodjia and Wilbraham to work miracles with scraps!

[The Batman]

Having seen him numerous times out in Bristol, I can only disagree with you Harry.

My wife's sister knows him. Very few people have nice things to say about him on a personal level. I haven't rated him since he arrived here and hearing that just put the cherry on the cake on my opinion of him.

[Red Exile]

[YorkshireSection]

I would just like to add that Sheffield is, on the whole, a pretty decent city. Certainly a lot more interesting a place than Leeds imo. And even if it wasn't not really any need for a poster to run it down. Bristol has its fair share of less than salubrious parts.

Well having spent a decent time in both your are completely wrong IMHO.

Leeds is a fantastic city, beautiful architecture attractive parks, burgeoning arts and creative scene, established media centre and fantastic retail projects, the only city after Bristol that I'd even contemplate living in.

[Aaron-Bcfc]

A confidence boosting win against Luton and this match can be submitted to the trash can of history.

We'll lose to Luton, as let's face it we always do in the League Cup, and this forum will go into complete meltdown. In all honesty I don't think losing that game would be the worst outcome, could do without the extra games at the moment with the thin state of the squad.

[YorkshireSection]

We'll lose to Luton, as let's face it we always do in the League Cup, and this forum will go into complete meltdown. In all honesty I don't think losing that game would be the worst outcome, could do without the extra games at the moment with the thin state of the squad.

It's never good to lose, winning breeds winners, losing breeds losers.

It's a great time to try and restore confidence and rebuild some momentum, we should be able to beat lower league opposition with the likes of Reid and Burns on the field. I'd put Robinson into Fremans position, start Reid for Pack and get Wes upfront with Kodjia who needs as much experience as possible.

That's a hell of a lot of pace and I think Wes' confidence will be sky high, Bobby has had a good pre season and deserves a game, Robinson has one of the quickest footballing brains I've seen at his age, his incisive passing may give Kodjia ammunition to kick off his English goal scoring account.

I'd also love to see a BIG keeper signed ASAP, not knocking Frankie but yesterday wasn't the first time his lack of height has been exposed.

[BCFC Jordan]

We'll lose to Luton, as let's face it we always do in the League Cup, and this forum will go into complete meltdown. In all honesty I don't think losing that game would be the worst outcome, could do without the extra games at the moment with the thin state of the squad.

 

Hope SC doesn't do what the last SC did, if that situation occurs.

[Aaron-Bcfc]

It's never good to lose, winning breeds winners, losing breeds losers.

It's a great time to try and restore confidence and rebuild some momentum, we should be able to beat lower league opposition with the likes of Reid and Burns on the field. I'd put Robinson into Fremans position, start Reid for Pack and get Wes upfront with Kodjia who needs as much experience as possible.

That's a hell of a lot of pace and I think Wes' confidence will be sky high, Bobby has had a good pre season and deserves a game, Robinson has one of the quickest footballing brains I've seen at his age, his incisive passing may give Kodjia ammunition to kick off his English goal scoring account.

I'd also love to see a BIG keeper signed ASAP, not knocking Frankie but yesterday wasn't the first time his lack of height has been exposed.

Would normally agree, but look at the last time we had any kind of success in the League Cup. It was under Sean O'Driscoll and despite comfortably beating Gills and a decent Palace side, it certainly didn't inspire any confidence in the league as we didn't win for the first 13.

[Guest ioncetalkedtotrevortainton]

Well having spent a decent time in both your are completely wrong IMHO.

Leeds is a fantastic city, beautiful architecture attractive parks, burgeoning arts and creative scene, established media centre and fantastic retail projects, the only city after Bristol that I'd even contemplate living in.

Leeds Town Hall is in my top five favourite English buildings.  Along with Clevedon Pier.

 

All the same, I'd pick Sheffield as the place to live over Leeds, unless I was going for a city centre apartment.   Arts scene as strong as Leeds, equally as green, retail is why God gave us the internet, and some hugely western suburbs of big Victorian houses leading into the Peak District.  Admittedly I choose to live in one of the Derbyshire villages, just outside the city boundary, but you get the point.

 

Anyway, enough.  I am sure City will be ok.  As to Wednesday: five home wins last season; first goal in open play at home was scored on 29 Nov.  Eyebleedingly dreadful.  More than anyone else in the division, we are a completely different team.  A better team.  In a few weeks time we'll get a sense of how much better.

 

Until April. x

[chipdawg]

Well having spent a decent time in both your are completely wrong IMHO.

Leeds is a fantastic city, beautiful architecture attractive parks, burgeoning arts and creative scene, established media centre and fantastic retail projects, the only city after Bristol that I'd even contemplate living in.

I've lived in both Leeds and Sheffield. I love Leeds to bits- I had some great times there, I met my wife there and some of my best friends in the world live there. When I was in my 20s I loved in. Now I'm in my 30s, I much prefer Sheffield. Greener, more laid back, fantastic pubs, on the edge of the Peak District. It's a great city. Don't get me wrong, Leeds is great. But Sheff is better

[Lack of Action Man]

Leeds is a fantastic city, the only city after Bristol that I'd even contemplate living in.

This is how I feel, but with Sheffield not Leeds.

[Harry]

Having seen him numerous times out in Bristol, I can only disagree with you Harry.

Fair do's Jim. Intrigued now to know more detail on your experiences. From what I understood he was a very down to earth bloke (this from many I know at Cheltenham). Be interesting to hear your side of the story and what you've witnessed.