‘City face a potentially tricky week’

Given the fact that Bristol City have played Rovers so infrequently in recent years, the Cardiff game has taken on an even greater significance than it once did. I was surprised to hear that, prior to our victory the week before last, it had been five years since we had been victorious over our friends across the Severn.

That fierce rivalry seems to gone up a notch or two over the last few years, given the feud that has developed between Neil Warnock and the Ashton Gate faithful, including the Johnson family. Lee’s dad, Gary, always relished the contest with the divisive Yorkshire man, and his son has now taken up the same mantle.

So, given what I’ve just said, it was the perfect tonic for City fans to go on their two-week football sabbatical with a victory that propelled us to fourth in the league. The victory was made that tiny bit sweeter by the fact that Warnock’s men suffered an injustice that may have just tipped the balance.

Marlon Pack should have seen red just after half-time for a reckless tackle, and, given he was already on a yellow, the footballing gods were shining on Ashton Gate once again – as they had, many years ago, for the Crystal Palace so-called ‘phantom goal’ that seemed to irk Warnock, and which he appears to have to not quite yet gotten over yet.

City managed the impressive victory over the team sitting in third without our reliable World Cup-bound captain, Bailey Wright. The Aussie was banned for simulation, retrospectively, after the Fulham match, in what can only be described as woeful decision from the F.A.

Wright could, at most, be accused of going over a little too easily. But, to be accused – and found guilty – of cheating has rightly caused uproar among both the club and it’s fans. Thankfully, however, the two-match ban seems to have not hit City too hard, given we won the first game and I would guess Bailey would have been rested this weekend as he’s been to Honduras and Australia in the past two weeks.

Rory Smith wrote an article this week in the New York Times asserting that the path for young British managers was not being blocked by an influx of foreign coaches, but by a group of home-grown managers that seem to always be the likely candidates should a job in the top-flight come up.

The piece was written in the wake of David Moyes being appointed at West Ham and speculation circling that ‘Big Sam’ Allerdyce might be getting back in the fold soon. The article in question got me thinking, and I have to say, I am in full agreement with the author.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not wishing Johnson away from City at all. But, suppose we end up in the top six this season but don’t go up in the play-offs, and let’s say we repeat the same feat next season, as many have done year-after-year in the Championship. In those circumstances, would Johnson not have earned the right to be taken a chance on at a higher level given his relative success on a small budget?

My concern, that I share with Rory Smith, is that that pathway for young British coaches to teams in the lower half of the Premier League is currently being blocked by a group of managers that seem to be on something on a merry-go-round. Mark Hughes, David Moyes, Roy Hodgson and Big Sam have held a remarkable 25 Premiere League jobs between them.

I am not suggesting that the likes of Moyes and Pardew don’t deserve to work in football at all, but we have come to the point where such managers seem to refuse to work outside of the Premiership, despite failing in their most recent jobs in the top-flight.

Clubs seem reluctant to take a so-called risk – as Everton did many years ago with Moyes by taking him to Goodison from Preston – by appointing an up-and-coming British manager from the Championship. This means the only route to working in the Premier League for our home-grown talent is by getting there yourself, as we all hope Johnson will do in the not-too-distant future.

City face a tough week, with two tricky away ties to Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City, with a home Preston North End game sandwiched in the middle. It’s hard to not think that our bubble will burst sooner or later, but given results in the build up to the recent international break, my guess is that Johnson will be targeting a minimum of five points from the three games. So, as ever, fingers crossed the team can deliver.