Football / Fan's View
‘Breath of fresh air across Ashton Gate’
As we know, a week is a long time in football. Well, obviously that is not the case; it’s the same in football as any other place, but you catch my drift.
So, last week I/we were reeling due to the, as I argued, untimely sacking of the most successful manager we have had in years.
This week, although I’m not as fickle as to completely change tack from last week’s musings, I will be lording the breath of fresh air that has drifted across Aston Gate since John Pemberton took charge of first team matters.
is needed now More than ever
We have seen, thankfully, a return to simplicity. Four at the back against Middlesbrough and West Brom saw us looking more solid defensively and less vulnerable to the counter-attack. We also utilised our squad over the two games making five changes from Saturday to Tuesday.
Add the substitutions that Pemberton made prior to the 88th minute and all-in-all things seem pretty rosy compared to where we were just seven short days ago.
I, and my friends whom I go with, have also been very much enamoured by the young Bristolians who have popped up in the first team in the two games, most notably Wes Burns and Bobby Reid.
So, looking forward. We have two new loan signings to bolster the extremely thin on the ground squad – Alex Pearce looks the real deal and offers us much needed experience in that central defensive role.
Ben Gladwin looks a slightly more questionable signing. Not on account of his ability, but that he is an attacking midfielder and we already have a number of those at our disposal, whereas a striker and perhaps a left back may seem more pressing positions to fill.
Having said that, Pemberton has revealed the club are looking for three or four more players before the window closes, so we will have to see.
The club has, once again, announced massive losses for the last calender year. I am certain that I am not in a minority of fans who probably pay far too little attention to such announcements.
We are fortunate to have Landsown and his generosity which makes me think, rightly or wrongly, that we will always be OK as long as he is around. The morality of that can be debated another time.
So, optimism is the new negativity for City fans and fingers crossed that can continue with a good result against Leeds and a couple of decent signings, preferably permanent ones, before the end of this transfer window.
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