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The Official Bristol City v Middlesbrough Match Day Thread


havanatopia

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Good morning everyone. The 16th of January will, I venture, be remembered as the day Bristol City Football Club looked forward to the new era in this most venerable of sporting feasts that we, in these British isles, introduced to the world. In the dark, wet and cold afternoons of early new year winter, before the crocus push through the lawns of England, we have our very own chance of a new beginning.

Behind us on these forum pages, laid bare for all to read for eternity, we have poured emotional copy of the Stephen Cotterill era. Good, bad and downright ugly. Praise for the manager, praise for the board in fairly equal measure with often venomous castigation of both. Such is the emotion that is team football. 

Steve Cotterill 'flees' and the board head for the 'bunker'.....

On this day in 1979 and faced with an army mutiny and violent demonstrations against his rule, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the leader of Iran since 1941, was forced to flee the country. Fourteen days later, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the Islamic revolution, returned after 15 years of exile and took control of Iran.

Also on this day in 1945 Adolf Hitler takes to his underground bunker, where he remained for 105 days until he commits suicide.

One thing is for sure, nobody will be seeking to emulate another 'on this day' coincidence of prohibition; On Janunary 16th, 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes,” was ratified and becomes the law of the land.

Playful analogies aside we must hope and assume that the board of this club made the right decision at the only time they could; and that is the only thought we must take into our hearts, forgetting about everything else lest it fester and cause derision and argument and that, especially at this moment in our history, may very well assist in our downfall. No matter that some will argue, and until the cats return home, that our board are a 'pitiful bunch of cowards'. Such language may get a load off one's chest but it serves no purpose other than to cause a potential rift between fan and club and that does nobody any favours. We can all of us only have the faith that, as always, the board and the owner have the best interests of this club at heart and with the investment being made nobody can doubt that.

It all rather reminds me though of the day when all of the indigenous peoples of the Americas came together in one enormous rally in Mexico to counter the conqueror view of the celebration of Columbus the discoverer. From the tip of Tierra del Fuego to the peak of Labrador the hundreds of cultures of pre-columbus America marched, often on foot, to challenge the celebrated view of history. It was the build up of pressure from a blow hole. The forgotten and trodden on people wanted their voice heard. 

And if I may quote some words from the late great Alistair Cooke I think it rather resonates with the supporter and the owner scenario on the world of all football clubs the length and breadth of this green land albeit in a completely different context..

Columbus was an obsessive egomaniac, a passionate christian, who combined in curiosity, romantic stubbornness and sense of mission something of Galileo, Don Quixote and John the Baptiste. He and his men were ruthless colonizers and actual destroyers of native societies and religions. The Spanish had to deal with considerable ire and the weight of this shameful story. But, we ought to remind ourselves that while they combined great physical courage, endurance and intense religious zeal with devastating cruelty, they behaved no worse than any other European would have done who got their first. They were men of their own time and place. This is a truth always difficult for us to remember when we compare such with our own sainted selves, so enlightened, so compassionate, so... well, in a word, decent.

How fitting that on this very day our great football club, because they are great to us, should lock horns and battle with the best team, currently, in this division. And how unlikely a team they might be to present us with the opportunity of not only securing our first 'six pointer' of the season but also removing ourselves from the relegation zone and demonstrating to potential suitors that we are worth joining, saving and raising our fortunes for in the weeks, months and indeed years ahead. Today is pivotal and the only thought is of a positive outcome whatever that means to each and everyone of us; even if we should lose, but we throw the kitchen sink at them, it might and perhaps should be considered positive. We need a positive response even if the players were united behind Steve Cotterill and he would have told them that in his, no doubt, emotional farewell to them. He would expect nothing less than concentration and professionalism from them. So let it be.

For an alternate match day thread, devoid of analogies, ramblings, and perhaps unconnected nonsense, may i direct you all to the opposite fixture back in August.. 

 

And my apologies for indeed talking about non-football matters but on this day perhaps I may be forgiven for doing so. I will end by saying this...thank you Steve Cotterill, what a brilliant manager and privilege it has been to watch your team especially last season when storming to the League 1 title. Travelling to watch 5 matches from South East Asia, and my brother from the Caribbean, was worth every single centavo. 

Good day all and I hope all of us can rally behind the team and enjoy the game today.

UTC.

 

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Guest rockinrobin
20 minutes ago, havanatopia said:

Good morning everyone. The 16th of January will, I venture, be remembered as the day Bristol City Football Club looked forward to the new era in this most venerable of sporting feasts that we, in these British isles, introduced to the world. In the dark, wet and cold afternoons of early new year winter, before the crocus push through the lawns of England, we have our very own chance of a new beginning.

Behind us on these forum pages, laid bare for all to read for eternity, we have poured emotional copy of the Stephen Cotterill era. Good, bad and downright ugly. Praise for the manager, praise for the board in fairly equal measure with often venomous castigation of both. Such is the emotion that is team football. 

Steve Cotterill 'flees' and the board head for the 'bunker'.....

On this day in 1979 and faced with an army mutiny and violent demonstrations against his rule, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the leader of Iran since 1941, was forced to flee the country. Fourteen days later, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the Islamic revolution, returned after 15 years of exile and took control of Iran.

Also on this day in 1945 Adolf Hitler takes to his underground bunker, where he remained for 105 days until he commits suicide.

One thing is for sure, nobody will be seeking to emulate another 'on this day' coincidence of prohibition; On Janunary 16th, 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes,” was ratified and becomes the law of the land.

Playful analogies aside we must hope and assume that the board of this club made the right decision at the only time they could; and that is the only thought we must take into our hearts, forgetting about everything else lest it fester and cause derision and argument and that, especially at this moment in our history, may very well assist in our downfall. No matter that some will argue, and until the cats return home, that our board are a 'pitiful bunch of cowards'. Such language may get a load off one's chest but it serves no purpose other than to cause a potential rift between fan and club and that does nobody any favours. We can all of us only have the faith that, as always, the board and the owner have the best interests of this club at heart and with the investment being made nobody can doubt that.

It all rather reminds me though of the day when all of the indigenous peoples of the Americas came together in one enormous rally in Mexico to counter the conqueror view of the celebration of Columbus the discoverer. From the tip of Tierra del Fuego to the peak of Labrador the hundreds of cultures of pre-columbus America marched, often on foot, to challenge the celebrated view of history. It was the build up of pressure from a blow hole. The forgotten and trodden on people wanted their voice heard. 

And if I may quote some words from the late great Alistair Cooke I think it rather resonates with the supporter and the owner scenario on the world of all football clubs the length and breadth of this green land albeit in a completely different context..

Columbus was an obsessive egomaniac, a passionate christian, who combined in curiosity, romantic stubbornness and sense of mission something of Galileo, Don Quixote and John the Baptiste. He and his men were ruthless colonizers and actual destroyers of native societies and religions. The Spanish had to deal with considerable ire and the weight of this shameful story. But, we ought to remind ourselves that while they combined great physical courage, endurance and intense religious zeal with devastating cruelty, they behaved no worse than any other European would have done who got their first. They were men of their own time and place. This is a truth always difficult for us to remember when we compare such with our own sainted selves, so enlightened, so compassionate, so... well, in a word, decent.

How fitting that on this very day our great football club, because they are great to us, should lock horns and battle with the best team, currently, in this division. And how unlikely a team they might be to present us with the opportunity of not only securing our first 'six pointer' of the season but also removing ourselves from the relegation zone and demonstrating to potential suitors that we are worth joining, saving and raising our fortunes for in the weeks, months and indeed years ahead. Today is pivotal and the only thought is of a positive outcome whatever that means to each and everyone of us; even if we should lose, but we throw the kitchen sink at them, it might and perhaps should be considered positive. We need a positive response even if the players were united behind Steve Cotterill and he would have told them that in his, no doubt, emotional farewell to them. He would expect nothing less than concentration and professionalism from them. So let it be.

For an alternate match day thread, devoid of analogies, ramblings, and perhaps unconnected nonsense, may i direct you all to the opposite fixture back in August.. 

 

And my apologies for indeed talking about non-football matters but on this day perhaps I may be forgiven for doing so. I will end by saying this...thank you Steve Cotterill, what a brilliant manager and privilege it has been to watch your team especially last season when storming to the League 1 title. Travelling to watch 5 matches from South East Asia, and my brother from the Caribbean, was worth every single centavo. 

Good day all and I hope all of us can rally behind the team and enjoy the game today.

UTC.

 

Your up late Mate can't sleep with all the excitement ???

Thank you Havanatopia for your commitment to the cause on these match day threads excellent as usual.  :clap::chant6ez::clap:

 

 

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8 minutes ago, rockinrobin said:

Your up late Mate can't sleep with all the excitement ???

Thank you Havanatopia for your commitment to the cause on these match day threads excellent as usual.  :clap::chant6ez::clap:

 

 

Coming up to 3pm here in Manila Rock.. and thanks, it was an easy write up today because I was largely doing so with the power of the mixed emotions of post SC adrenalin.

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Guest rockinrobin
6 minutes ago, havanatopia said:

Coming up to 3pm here in Manila Rock.. and thanks, it was an easy write up today because I was largely doing so with the power of the mixed emotions of post SC adrenalin.

Soz my bad knowledge of your time scale, enjoy your day and lets hope we get the right result and dedicate our first double of the season to our Steve Cotts.

Edited by rockinrobin
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Nothing I quite like better than reading the Havanatopia match introduction on a Saturday morning, large mug of tea in hand, considering the historical implications of the events mentioned, and wondering where Hava sources his material.

Columbus and his marauding army of invaders must have cut quite the site docking on the shores of those unknown lands.  Perhaps one day the vast army of City travelling fans will cut the same image as they conquer Premier grounds up and down the country.  That's in the future, right now we fight to survive and I suggest our managerial gamble will reap rewards; the new boss will ensure safety and the promise of better things next season.

City to draw 1 - 1 today.  Kodjia with the goal, Adomah to score theirs, and duly receive applause from the whole ground.

COME ON CITY.

Good luck to John and Wade; wonder how well they slept last night?

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Love reading your match day threads. I think you've gone up another level with this one though (if that was ever possible). Perfectly put and appropriately respectful of what cotts has done for us.

We need to follow in Cotts' winning mentality to rally round and support the team no matter what today as the players and Pemberton/Wade will need it more than ever.

Thanks again for an excellent read and helping to inspire us all on match day, this certainly made me feel proud again of my club that we do have great fans supporting this club and we'll always be there to keep the red flag flying high!

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Thanks as always, @havanatopia- as with @reddogkev I see this as possibly being a one-one draw, with a reaction from our players to what will have been a hard week.

Much like with WBA; we've very little to lose here, with the likes of Sky Bet predicting a comfortable win, and the widespread perception we are in crisis - here is to the squad thumbing their noses at this.

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Guest BCFC-Keith-1897

This may have been covered in the many other threads and please remove this post if this isn't the best thread to post this in, however no matter what has happened in the past days, weeks and months and no matter what our thoughts are on any of the players and any shortcomings we perceive there might be 'our' players and 'our' team need us today to be behind them more than ever, after all most of these players produced one of our finest seasons yet and for that I'll always be grateful to them, good luck today lads, I'll be there and behind you 100% no matter what!


I'm also looking forward to welcoming Albert back to the gate today...


COYR

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4 minutes ago, ZiderEyed said:

I love Wade Elliot, he seems like a really nice bloke. I hope he does alright for us while he and Pemberton are on the touchline, as unlikely as that seems with our current fixtures.

Just wish the Wade of 18 months ago was on the pitch!

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6 hours ago, havanatopia said:

Good morning everyone. The 16th of January will, I venture, be remembered as the day Bristol City Football Club looked forward to the new era in this most venerable of sporting feasts that we, in these British isles, introduced to the world. In the dark, wet and cold afternoons of early new year winter, before the crocus push through the lawns of England, we have our very own chance of a new beginning.

Behind us on these forum pages, laid bare for all to read for eternity, we have poured emotional copy of the Stephen Cotterill era. Good, bad and downright ugly. Praise for the manager, praise for the board in fairly equal measure with often venomous castigation of both. Such is the emotion that is team football. 

Steve Cotterill 'flees' and the board head for the 'bunker'.....

On this day in 1979 and faced with an army mutiny and violent demonstrations against his rule, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the leader of Iran since 1941, was forced to flee the country. Fourteen days later, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the Islamic revolution, returned after 15 years of exile and took control of Iran.

Also on this day in 1945 Adolf Hitler takes to his underground bunker, where he remained for 105 days until he commits suicide.

One thing is for sure, nobody will be seeking to emulate another 'on this day' coincidence of prohibition; On Janunary 16th, 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes,” was ratified and becomes the law of the land.

Playful analogies aside we must hope and assume that the board of this club made the right decision at the only time they could; and that is the only thought we must take into our hearts, forgetting about everything else lest it fester and cause derision and argument and that, especially at this moment in our history, may very well assist in our downfall. No matter that some will argue, and until the cats return home, that our board are a 'pitiful bunch of cowards'. Such language may get a load off one's chest but it serves no purpose other than to cause a potential rift between fan and club and that does nobody any favours. We can all of us only have the faith that, as always, the board and the owner have the best interests of this club at heart and with the investment being made nobody can doubt that.

It all rather reminds me though of the day when all of the indigenous peoples of the Americas came together in one enormous rally in Mexico to counter the conqueror view of the celebration of Columbus the discoverer. From the tip of Tierra del Fuego to the peak of Labrador the hundreds of cultures of pre-columbus America marched, often on foot, to challenge the celebrated view of history. It was the build up of pressure from a blow hole. The forgotten and trodden on people wanted their voice heard. 

And if I may quote some words from the late great Alistair Cooke I think it rather resonates with the supporter and the owner scenario on the world of all football clubs the length and breadth of this green land albeit in a completely different context..

Columbus was an obsessive egomaniac, a passionate christian, who combined in curiosity, romantic stubbornness and sense of mission something of Galileo, Don Quixote and John the Baptiste. He and his men were ruthless colonizers and actual destroyers of native societies and religions. The Spanish had to deal with considerable ire and the weight of this shameful story. But, we ought to remind ourselves that while they combined great physical courage, endurance and intense religious zeal with devastating cruelty, they behaved no worse than any other European would have done who got their first. They were men of their own time and place. This is a truth always difficult for us to remember when we compare such with our own sainted selves, so enlightened, so compassionate, so... well, in a word, decent.

How fitting that on this very day our great football club, because they are great to us, should lock horns and battle with the best team, currently, in this division. And how unlikely a team they might be to present us with the opportunity of not only securing our first 'six pointer' of the season but also removing ourselves from the relegation zone and demonstrating to potential suitors that we are worth joining, saving and raising our fortunes for in the weeks, months and indeed years ahead. Today is pivotal and the only thought is of a positive outcome whatever that means to each and everyone of us; even if we should lose, but we throw the kitchen sink at them, it might and perhaps should be considered positive. We need a positive response even if the players were united behind Steve Cotterill and he would have told them that in his, no doubt, emotional farewell to them. He would expect nothing less than concentration and professionalism from them. So let it be.

For an alternate match day thread, devoid of analogies, ramblings, and perhaps unconnected nonsense, may i direct you all to the opposite fixture back in August.. 

 

And my apologies for indeed talking about non-football matters but on this day perhaps I may be forgiven for doing so. I will end by saying this...thank you Steve Cotterill, what a brilliant manager and privilege it has been to watch your team especially last season when storming to the League 1 title. Travelling to watch 5 matches from South East Asia, and my brother from the Caribbean, was worth every single centavo. 

Good day all and I hope all of us can rally behind the team and enjoy the game today.

UTC.

 

Cats come home?    Sorry to be catty, but I though it was always "Until the Cows come home"   I am sure you will correct if I am wrong.

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4 hours ago, Leroyfromthestart said:

Love reading your match day threads. I think you've gone up another level with this one though (if that was ever possible). Perfectly put and appropriately respectful of what cotts has done for us.

We need to follow in Cotts' winning mentality to rally round and support the team no matter what today as the players and Pemberton/Wade will need it more than ever.

Thanks again for an excellent read and helping to inspire us all on match day, this certainly made me feel proud again of my club that we do have great fans supporting this club and we'll always be there to keep the red flag flying high!

Muchas Gracias

9 minutes ago, EstoniaTallinnRed said:

Cats come home?    Sorry to be catty, but I though it was always "Until the Cows come home"   I am sure you will correct if I am wrong.

You are of course correct; i just felt a cow, being a large animal, was 'overcooking it'. !

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27 minutes ago, EstoniaTallinnRed said:

Cats come home?    Sorry to be catty, but I though it was always "Until the Cows come home"   I am sure you will correct if I am wrong.

And, of course, the coming home of cows is more predictable than that of cats. 

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20 minutes ago, Robin 101 said:

O'Donnell

Ayling Flint Baker Williams

Pack Smith

Burns Reid Bryan

Kodjia

Even if it is just for one game, and one where the expectations should be rightfully low, it feels good to see a trio of Academy boys starting today.

Edited by samo II
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1 minute ago, spudski said:

Whatever the result today....this just proves that the rest of the coaching staff didn't agree with SC's system imho.

Good luck lads...at least you are trying something different...brave... C'mon you reds.

Agreed. And I wonder if they ever tried to tell him. Not that he'd have listened, obviously. 

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2 minutes ago, samo II said:

At least now if Wilbraham is on the pitch for his defensive qualities at that point, he'll not have 90+ minutes in his legs.

Here's hoping that such a turn of events won't merely mean that we trade the 94th minute goal for one in every other minute of the match...

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5 minutes ago, southvillekiddy said:

Very good point mate. He can used as a wise head substitute at the shakey times.

I'd not meant it as a dig at SC either (reading it back it looks like it might be...), but a genuine point, for exactly the reason you mention.

Even though we might lack that height and power in the starting line up, I think we've some nice experience and options on the bench by choosing those players to kick off.

4 minutes ago, RedYoshi said:

Here's hoping that such a turn of events won't merely mean that we trade the 94th minute goal for one in every other minute of the match...

Indeed.  I expect nothing from this game, but there is a lingering fear that SC was using them to their maximum, and this could end up more Derby away than this same fixture away earlier in the season.

Edited by samo II
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11 minutes ago, spudski said:

Whatever the result today....this just proves that the rest of the coaching staff didn't agree with SC's system imho.

Good luck lads...at least you are trying something different...brave... C'mon you reds.

If they had picked the same side same formation, then just as well left with cotts!!!

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18 minutes ago, EstoniaTallinnRed said:

Charlie Austin to Southampton for 4 Mil!

What a bargain although he is still not as good as Trevor Francis.. the first million pound man... and we all thought that was just sillllieeeee money.

8 minutes ago, samo II said:

At least now if Wilbraham is on the pitch for his defensive qualities at that point, he'll not have 90+ minutes in his legs.

Good point... is Freeman injured?

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Guest Chicken Dipper

Whatever you might make of cotts departure, be it the timing, the alleged manner of dismissal or the man himself (or the multitude of other reasons he should/should not have gone), you have to admit; it feels good to see these changes. 

Kick off chaps

 

coyr!

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