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45 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

Also, the Bescot is a new ground for me to cross off; I never got to see City men play away at Walsall

It's a tidy little ground with decent transport links and parking. It can take an age to get served in the ground if you want a half time pie and a bovril though. There are some reasonable pubs if you fancy a pre-match drink in Walsall town centre which is about a 15-20 minute walk from the stadium. There's not a lot around the stadium itself except a McDonalds.

Edited by Midlands Robin
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6 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

Yep, the team haven't won yet at Ashton Gate this season. Didn't even win any of the Conti Cup group games at the RHPC either

Only win so far this season was away at West Ham

I completely misread the post, I thought it was referring to the Bescot still 

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Just now, phantom said:

I completely misread the post, I thought it was referring to the Bescot still 

No worries! One of the cons of having one thread to cover everything to do with City Women, the topics can change quickly!

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22 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

Coach is organised by the SC&T & football club, with tickets only £16

https://www.bcfc.co.uk/city-women-news/aston-villa-women-away-set-for-priority-sale/

Coach tickets are now £8 as the fixture is on this year's Green Football Weekend. A similar arrangement was done last year when prices for coach travel for Preston away for the men's team were halved

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18 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

Yep, the team haven't won yet at Ashton Gate this season. Didn't even win any of the Conti Cup group games at the RHPC either

Only win so far this season was away at West Ham

I'm afraid having not strengthened by signing any new outfield players in the Jan window it could stay that way. Very disappointed by the lack of ambition, especially when we have the 3rd highest attendances in the WSL.

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Seems a risky strategy if West Ham and others are strengthening too.  Doesn’t feel like it would need much investment to secure our WSL place for next season.  The existing squad has improved no doubt over the last few months but you have to think we need a couple more quality additions or we’ll be in trouble.  

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7 hours ago, old_eastender said:

I'm afraid having not strengthened by signing any new outfield players in the Jan window it could stay that way. Very disappointed by the lack of ambition, especially when we have the 3rd highest attendances in the WSL.

As mentioned in her press conference yesterday, Lauren Smith said she's looking to bring in a couple more players in the window, which closes at the end of January

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2 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

With all this talk of players coming in, one has headed out. On loan, anyway...

 

Surely they have to bring in an outfielder or three now! I was hoping they'd sign Rachel Rowe after Reading went down, maybe she could now come on loan from Rangers, barring injury as she doesn't appear to have played much for them so far this season.

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On 12/01/2024 at 15:51, Eco said:

Surely they have to bring in an outfielder or three now! I was hoping they'd sign Rachel Rowe after Reading went down, maybe she could now come on loan from Rangers, barring injury as she doesn't appear to have played much for them so far this season.

Yep, Rachel Rowe is a name mentioned by some of the fanbase, especially on the Vixencast!

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Shae Yanez starts in goal, becoming the fifth goalkeeper to start for the team this season. No new injury concerns for Clark or Haaland as far as I'm aware, so I think they are being rested.

KO 1pm, live on BBC Radio Bristol on DAB & on BBC Sounds

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2 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

I see we lost 1-0, to Liverpool's only shot on target.

Will we ever win at home?

A goal would also be nice. Hopefully we'll win in a couple of weeks! 

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4 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

I see we lost 1-0, to Liverpool's only shot on target.

Will we ever win at home?

I thought we played well, had decent possession but just poor in the final third. I think we had two shots on target all game and one of those was from goalkeeper! 

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12 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

I see we lost 1-0, to Liverpool's only shot on target.

Will we ever win at home?

Unlikely, if we don't get at least a couple of new quality players in to strengthen before the Jan window ends. 

No doubting the hard work and endeavour the current side have got, but (kinda like the men) need some extra quality badly, or else it will be a quick return to the championship and a great opportunity to consolidate as a WSL side missed. 

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32 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

Unlikely, if we don't get at least a couple of new quality players in to strengthen before the Jan window ends. 

No doubting the hard work and endeavour the current side have got, but (kinda like the men) need some extra quality badly, or else it will be a quick return to the championship and a great opportunity to consolidate as a WSL side missed. 

 

7 minutes ago, slartibartfast said:

Why is everything Bristol Sport so ****** shit ?

 

It does make me a bit angry. You got to feel sorry for Lauren Smith & the team. There would be absolute carnage on here if we got promoted and were 'backed' as well in relative terms.

It definitely show a lack of leadership and forethought. We've put ourselves on the gravy-train of top-end women's football, and want to get off at the first stop. Remarkably short-sighted and stupid. LS should get out while she can on her own terms, because at the very least, it must be a soul destroying position trying keep the side in the WSL with no real commitment from the hierarchy. I think they effectively capped the spend below what was realistically needed to maintain a place in the WSL. Since BCWFC sit under BCFC, I'd be interested to see who is responsible for this.

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Another performance that is more about frustration than disappointment. We seem to be falling into a way of getting the better of the stats except the scoreline. Whilst it is not that concerning for the FA Cup, it does put the rest of the season into sharper focus.

I thought the side got to grips with Liverpool from the start and could have made greater gains, but lacked a quality touch at the business end of the pitch. Better creativity or better movement would have been the springboard for scoring. Sadly, we didn't have that touch today; Thestrup was often isolated by a competent defence. Chances were few throughout most of the game, which largely saw both teams canel each other out.

For a change, the starting formation departed from the 5-4-1, with Powell and Mustaki able to roam into the wing-half positions. That gave some extra width which was helpful. In the middle, Rogers was at the heart of most of the battles; Symes fizzled at times but found progress difficult. Abi Harrison, starting more right-sided for a change, had a few useful moves but it was disappointing to see her taken off at the half.

Defensively, Connolly was commanding and for long stretches of the game Liverpool hardly had a look at goal. Yañez, making her debut, had little to do of note - such was the flow. However, when the opposing player was sent off in the middle of the second half it didn't really make too much difference - Liverpool were already in a resolute mindset and could manage. They even brought on Flint and Van de Sanden and left two up top, with their pace a threat.

But the decisive moment occurred just a few minutes before time at a set-piece, when the unequal numbers was less of a factor. You might call it a lucky break but that doesn't stop it counting. Once that went in, the girls pushed forward more energetically but couldn'd find that touch. Also disappointing was the crowd of a 'mere' 2,500. In the past that would have been considered fabulous but, as a measure of progress, it looks a little underwhelming today. Clearly the draw of the FA Cup is faltering in the women's game too.

In terms of new recruits in the January window, I don't expect much to happen. With the much smaller talent pool in the women's game, there will be fewer to pick from. I also note that the club as a whole is looking at a deficit of £22 million - there won't be much spare for the girls, probably. In comparison, I see Man City are to build a bespoke women's facility at their training ground - a cool £10 million is going into that: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67943010 . How the other half live...

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The subsitution of Abi Harrison was almost certainly down to injury; as she walked towards the tunnel at half time, she was holding the back of her left leg. Could have been a hamstring pull and taken off as a precaution?

As regards the crowd, it was more or less what I thought it would be. The men's and women's team probably have quite a few crossover fans & the men play twice this week; it's the first game after Christmas & before pay day; the weather was nice (albeit a tad cool) today after about 25 years of dark, gloomy weather so maybe the walk-up numbers were down. Any number of reasons why it was down but that said, this game would have been 600-700 at the RHPC last year, it's four times that at Ashton Gate this year. That's rapid progress. 

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52 minutes ago, Hamdon Mart said:

The subsitution of Abi Harrison was almost certainly down to injury; as she walked towards the tunnel at half time, she was holding the back of her left leg. Could have been a hamstring pull and taken off as a precaution?

As regards the crowd, it was more or less what I thought it would be. The men's and women's team probably have quite a few crossover fans & the men play twice this week; it's the first game after Christmas & before pay day; the weather was nice (albeit a tad cool) today after about 25 years of dark, gloomy weather so maybe the walk-up numbers were down. Any number of reasons why it was down but that said, this game would have been 600-700 at the RHPC last year, it's four times that at Ashton Gate this year. That's rapid progress. 

Rapid progress that will all be for nought if the team are relegated at the end of the season. I appreciate that the finances for Bristol Sport might be a bit tight as the Lansdowns want to stem the overall losses and need to consider FFP, but the rules are different in the WSL and the fact remains that staying in the top tier has to be an absolute priority. No investment in new players would signal that the owners don’t really consider Women’s football as a growing product, which again suggests that they have little or no understanding of sport in general, and the expansion in women’s professional sport more widely.

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11 hours ago, Dr Balls said:

Rapid progress that will all be for nought if the team are relegated at the end of the season. I appreciate that the finances for Bristol Sport might be a bit tight as the Lansdowns want to stem the overall losses and need to consider FFP, but the rules are different in the WSL and the fact remains that staying in the top tier has to be an absolute priority. No investment in new players would signal that the owners don’t really consider Women’s football as a growing product, which again suggests that they have little or no understanding of sport in general, and the expansion in women’s professional sport more widely.

Bristol Sport doesn't directly financially support the women's team, they are not connected apart from both being owned by Pula

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59 minutes ago, phantom said:

Bristol Sport doesn't directly financially support the women's team, they are not connected apart from both being owned by Pula

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Not part of Bristol Sport? So does that mean that the Women’s team are expected to be purely financially self-sufficient, whereas other WSL clubs can bundle their funding in with all of the other football club spend including sponsorships etc? That includes all of those major men’s Premier League clubs who now have successful Women’s teams, in large part financed through their men’s teams. If so, poor Lauren Smith is even worse off than Nige was compared to the other clubs in the division.

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42 minutes ago, Dr Balls said:

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Not part of Bristol Sport? So does that mean that the Women’s team are expected to be purely financially self-sufficient, whereas other WSL clubs can bundle their funding in with all of the other football club spend including sponsorships etc? That includes all of those major men’s Premier League clubs who now have successful Women’s teams, in large part financed through their men’s teams. If so, poor Lauren Smith is even worse off than Nige was compared to the other clubs in the division.

They sit under Bristol City Holdings.

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Not really sure where I'm going with this, but in Bristol City's infancy we became known as The Bristol Babe due to our fast rise up the league and FA Cup final appearance. Back in the day, we never really built on those foundations, and capitalise and invest to become a powerhouse in football.

Could the same argument be said with the Womens football team? Didn't we play and beat Barcelona only a few years ago? We now find ourselves back in the top division with almighty attendances compared to other teams (Arsenal aside) and so, are we at risk of falling into the same trap as The Bristol Babe, and ultimately missing the boat on becoming a true player in womens football due to lack of ambition?

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Would be interesting to know what was the mid-season friendly that Lauren referred to in her pre-match interview.

Also, I'm gutted with yesterday's result. Good to solely focus on the league now, but as the game progressed on, I genuinely thought it could have gone to extra time.

Looking at the other results in the fourth round, this was the only 1-0, which shows how close it really was

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14 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

Would be interesting to know what was the mid-season friendly that Lauren referred to in her pre-match interview.

Also, I'm gutted with yesterday's result. Good to solely focus on the league now, but as the game progressed on, I genuinely thought it could have gone to extra time.

Looking at the other results in the fourth round, this was the only 1-0, which shows how close it really was

It was more of a disappointing result rather than a bad performance. On lots of the stats the Vixens outplayed Liverpool but the lack of goals remains a major concern (similar to the men’s team). And the bigger position of relegation remains worrying, considering the recruitment by other clubs, especially West Ham.

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2 hours ago, When the river runs said:

They don't have any money and never have.

Only a few years ago , that academy players parents were paying subs for the year that would go towards supplying the first team with balls apparently. 

Why do you think managers leave. It's bang amateur down there.

Not sure that's accurate, they're funded by Bristol City Holdings now 

But is coming out of the same pot our mens team is funded 

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"Bristol City have a rich history of producing high-profile women's footballers, including England's Lauren Hemp, Mary Earps and Katie Robinson. As they bid for WSL survival, youth development is still their calling card"

New article in The Mirror

 

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39 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

"Bristol City have a rich history of producing high-profile women's footballers, including England's Lauren Hemp, Mary Earps and Katie Robinson. As they bid for WSL survival, youth development is still their calling card"

New article in The Mirror

 

It’s because buying young players is cheap as are their wages. But as they improve, they leave for better options and success elsewhere, while Bristol City remain at best also-rans. The similarities with the men’s team is perhaps bigger than we think!

 

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1 hour ago, shahanshahan said:

"Bristol City have a rich history of producing high-profile women's footballers, including England's Lauren Hemp, Mary Earps and Katie Robinson. As they bid for WSL survival, youth development is still their calling card"

New article in The Mirror

 

Bristol Academy must take some credit there surely?

It's all a bit desperate clinging to players from so long ago

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5 hours ago, phantom said:

Bristol Academy must take some credit there surely?

It's all a bit desperate clinging to players from so long ago

It covers from that time and since the City rebrand. Lauren Hemp, for example, was with City...

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3 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

It covers from that time and since the City rebrand. Lauren Hemp, for example, was with City...

I hadn't realised she came through with us 

It was interesting listening to a Mary Earps interview earlier in the week, she said until recently women only ever had year to year contracts, hence why so many moved around multiple clubs 

It's only in very recent years anyone is staying at a club for a longer period of time 

1 minute ago, shahanshahan said:

And she's gone...

 

I've lost track of what is happening in goal 

It's been a revolving door recently 

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20 hours ago, phantom said:

With Villa winning at Leicester this evening, we're getting very close to a situation where we could get left behind at the foot of the table 

Screenshot_20240119_221304_BBC Sport.jpg

They are level on points with the team immediately above them and three points behind the team next up again. 

There are 12 games left still.

Don't agree that they are in danger of getting left behind at the bottom. They play Brighton tomorrow and the Hammers next weekend, pick up points from those games and the table looks healthier.

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6 hours ago, When the river runs said:

It's the same old story and problem all the managers have complained about.

I said in a previous post about the academy, that parents had to pay subs of over £200 a year. 

You would never think a Billionaire owned them . Probably why he's a Billionaire though

 

Yep, Scrooge McDuck might throw a few more pennies at the women’s team than the Lansdowns. I just don’t understand the logic of the only top flight football team in the whole organisation, with massively bigger crowds this season, in a competition that is growing, with a relatively high media profile, and not at least investing enough to ensure survival at that level. It’s just a fraction of the men’s team. Crazy but then bonkers decisions at Ashton Gate is hardly new!

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Canadian international, plays in midfield. This announcement came out of nowhere, especially as Lauren said in her press conference today that the transfer window was going slower than she thought!

A compilation from her time in Sweden...

 

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1 hour ago, Hamdon Mart said:

They are level on points with the team immediately above them and three points behind the team next up again. 

There are 12 games left still.

Don't agree that they are in danger of getting left behind at the bottom. They play Brighton tomorrow and the Hammers next weekend, pick up points from those games and the table looks healthier.

West Ham are playing Spurs tomorrow, so it's more likely that Spurs could beat West Ham, and will ease things if City beat Brighton tomorrow 

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1 hour ago, shahanshahan said:

Canadian international, plays in midfield. This announcement came out of nowhere, especially as Lauren said in her press conference today that the transfer window was going slower than she thought!

A compilation from her time in Sweden...

 

In fairness, it seemed very clear to me that Lauren thought there was a signing very close indeed.

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9 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

Canadian international, plays in midfield. This announcement came out of nowhere, especially as Lauren said in her press conference today that the transfer window was going slower than she thought!

A compilation from her time in Sweden...

 

From the clips looks REALLY good, just the calibre of player we needed, let's hope she is not the only one we bring in.

Guess may not be available for today's game sadly...

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13 hours ago, Hamdon Mart said:

They are level on points with the team immediately above them and three points behind the team next up again. 

There are 12 games left still.

Don't agree that they are in danger of getting left behind at the bottom. They play Brighton tomorrow and the Hammers next weekend, pick up points from those games and the table looks healthier.

That's my point, if we don't we will be adrift at the bottom 

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1 hour ago, old_eastender said:

From the clips looks REALLY good, just the calibre of player we needed, let's hope she is not the only one we bring in.

Guess may not be available for today's game sadly..

Deadline is 12 noon the day prior to a game.... So could be available 

Reading the below she sounds like she's got all the solutions, let's hope she has a positive impact on the team 

Screenshot_20240121_065757_Instagram.jpg

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