FAN’S VIEW 23/24 – NO.2

CARABAO CUP ROUND ONE: BRISTOL CITY 5 OXFORD UNITED 1

The Carabao isn’t as important as the League but come the day I wanted an Oxford United victory as much as ever, particularly after Saturday’s disappointment. Go on lads show us what you can do against Championship opposition in competition as opposed to a friendly was my feeling. I was even thinking, stupidly as it turned out, that they might just be taking it less seriously than us because for a club their size one rung higher up the football ladder it’s even less important to them.

This was a trip where I was fortunate enough to be a tourist for the day wandering around, dropping into a few pubs and taking in the sights along with too many photographs. Many of these were of the wonderful graffiti the city has on its walls. Banksy may be the number one but there are many other talents out there. I even had time to visit a museum covering Bristol’s history – so not just pubs. The good weather and the ability to chill on my own may have been a contributory factor but I kind of fell in love with the place.

Arriving at Ashton Gate around 12:30 for a while it looked like hunting a parking space would eat away a big chunk of the seven and a half hours until kick-off. Not that the locals appeared worried about single and double yellow lines but it wasn’t a risk worth taking. Eventually a strictly legal on street spot was found only about a ten minute walk from the ground.

A short while later I was in the Tobacco Factory Café Bar. Previously part of the Imperial Tobacco estate it was built in 1912 and saved from demolition in 1993. In its current guise it is thriving but at this time of day there were just a few individuals scattered around with a hardly touched drink in front of them working away on their laptops. My sort of office although I suspect I’d be sipping regularly. Six hand pumps with some beers from the Bristol Beer Factory which is only 200 yards down the road. The Notorious was in excellent condition and at £4.30 a pint was rather cheaper than I had expected.

With one scalding hot pasty from Parsons Bakery in hand but waiting to cool down, I set off to cross the river. Then having learned of Bristol’s past in the M Shed it was time for another pint. I found myself outside The Shakespeare in Prince Street. It’s GBG listed but it is a Greene King pub and I openly admit to being biased so sought out the Llandoger Trow not far away. The name comes from Llandogo in Wales where flat-bottomed river boats called trows were built. It is grade two listed and tradition has it that Daniel Defoe met Alexander Selkirk, who became the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, in there. Also apparently it’s the inspiration for The Admiral Benbow pub in Stephenson’s Treasure Island. Now you might find comedy, techno, sea shanty singing or bluegrass music on a visit but not today. Pondering whether to have beer or cider the young barmaid helpfully suggested why not a half of both. Sensibly I did and only paid £4.40 for the privilege. The scrumpy was so moreish (beer was decent too). Having struck up a bit of a conversation because she had detected I wasn’t from those parts – that’s a midlands accent isn’t it, I’m from Wolverhampton – I was told that if cider was my thing there was a bar serving loads of the real stuff just a bit further up the road. Tempting but no, time to get closer to the ground.

Back in Bedminster the Old Bookshop was en route. It’s less than two years since it first opened and has already made it into the GBG. Best described as an eclectic cafe/bar once more the beer served was faultless and as it took a few seconds to settle the owner brought it over to me. It was average strength beer though so the price was a bit of an ouch: £5.95 – way more pricey then the other establishments visited but I wasn’t forced to go in. Glad I did though.

From there it was down to the Bristol Beer Factory Tap Room. Prices were back down again but whilst the quality of beer was acceptable it didn’t quite reach the standards that had been set earlier. For one last drink it was back to the Tobacco Factory Café Bar – now packed. Cider from a handpump. I opted for the weaker of the two on offer and it slipped down a treat.

That’s quite a bit on pubs and drinks with no mention of the football. Having been given a fair bit of feedback some people tell me they like this more than my views on the football. Others probably not interested at all. Then there’s the financial and ownership stuff. I really get off on it whilst for all I know it may send others to sleep. I never have a set plan at the start of every season as to how Fan’s Views are going to go. Quite often much of the same but you never know. Watch this space.

This though is very much one of those occasions when I’m in delay mode because I’m looking for excuses not to have to get on to the 90 plus minutes I witnessed.

Suppose I’ve got to though, so here goes.

Wish I could lie when I’m writing this stuff. Would a little white lie hurt? Like saying this was a 5 out of 10 performance and not as I genuinely believe the second 3 of the season.

Two years ago we lost in this competition away to a Championship team in the shape of QPR. It was 2-0 that day and I was very impressed with the quality of their football and there was no denying the gap between the two outfits. We however did what we could, given our limitations and I had no real complaints about our performance.

This time I again admired the way the home side played but anyone analysing this game cannot but find fault after fault with the resistance we put up and that’s without getting on to even thinking about us winning the game.

Our ambition is supposedly to be a top 30 team in England. That’s 10^th or above in the Championship. Last season we finished 19^th in L1 – that’s 63^rd in England. That showed we’re way off target, as did the chasm here. City were light years better than us. Saying we were second best would be kind.

We had nothing up front.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the number of touches we had in the Bristol penalty area didn’t quite make double figures.

We had no creativity.

We had no one who could run with the ball.

We had no width.

We didn’t mark. We left the men Bristol got wide alone.

Or if we did try to mark we often got the wrong side of the man.

We didn’t close down.

We didn’t win 50:50s.

We’ve got players way off form let alone a little below their best.

The defence we thought was sorted is anything but.

Having failed the test on Saturday this examination posed a different set of challenges and we flunked this too, spectacularly.

Recognising that they are our superiors when it comes to footballing ability why not set your team up to at least be hard to beat? Or is it that Liam Manning only knows one way to get his teams playing?

It’s a long term project. He’s only been here a matter of months so turning on him would be nonsensical but there’s head and heart. I’ve often written that it takes me ages before I start shouting or even thinking that it’s time for the manager to go, although for some reason I wanted Pep Clotet gone pretty quickly. Can’t quite put my finger on that but that was how I felt.

However, for Liam to win me round he’s got to start producing soon. The transfer window is not yet closed and the teams he has put out at both Cambridge and Bristol just hasn’t looked right.

I don’t think it’s just me. Reading comments on social media and listening to the commentators on iFollow when I’ve watch the extended highlights tell me that as things stand I’m not barking up the wrong tree.

The first 15 minutes were fairly even with the margin between red and yellow being noticeable but not huge. Then just as they were starting the move that led to the first goal I commented they’re beginning to assert themselves and are showing they’re better than us.

0-1

Bristol were into a pass and move rhythm and must have moved the ball on about 10 times before Harry Cornick ran on to the low ball into the box and planted it into the back of the net. We didn’t put in one challenge and Ciaron Brown looked half paced when compared to Cornick. They had five in our box, we had seven and James Beadle. The commentator: “It’s been coming”

1-1

There was some proof here that we can play a bit but oh, how fleeting. Marcus McGuane picked up a block and the ball went from Cameron Brannagan to Tyler Goodrham who turned around and fed Jordan Thorniley. His cross was nodded back, across and into the goal by Billy Bodin with the scrambling Max O’Leary unable to keep it out. It was one of those goals that take a while to register that they’ve actually been scored because it was at the opposite end of the ground and there was something slow motion about it. Accurately placed though.

The next incident could have seen us take the lead. Stan Mills missed a very presentable chance after he’d been put through by McGuane.

Any hope this may have given us that we had a reasonable chance of making round two soon disappeared.

Bristol just kept playing their game unfazed by the fact we’d equalised.

1-2

Fifteen minutes later they were back in the lead. A terrible touch from Fin Stevens gave them possession. They don’t piss about. A low ball into the box wasn’t dealt with even though we outnumbered them 6 to 4. Brown, looking anything but nimble and flexible, set up the scorer Jason Knight. Again fired in low and hard. The commentator: “Oxford architects of their own downfall”.

A terrible pass from Thorniley when we were at our sideways stuff nearly led to a third against before half time but Beadle saved us. In that incident as Bristol broke we had one midfielder ambling back and not tracking a runner who sprinted into position to give the man on the ball an option. I noticed this on iFollow and can’t identify who it is but it is not acceptable. Even the referee went past him. If that had been much later in the season how damaging could it have been? No way surely could he not be playing for the manager given how early it is into both the new season and Manning’s reign, but that’s what it looked like.

1-3

They were playing one and two touch football and then Haydon Roberts beat Elliott Moore as if our captain had never played the game before. Again the ball was played low into the box and again it was kept low as it was side footed, this time almost through Beadle. We had equal numbers but again, no tackles, no block. Potential for off-side with a home player stood directly in front of our keeper? Doesn’t matter, it was irrelevant. We’d not looked like getting back into it.

1-4

Whilst playing our meaningless football in our own half Brannagan’s pass to Thorniley was too short. Robbed and it was in. The commentator: “So simple for Bristol City.”

1-5

City won the ball in midfield when it was up for grabs then started playing again. A neat ball into the box found the intelligent run from Kal Naismith and the agony had been piled on. So easy. And there was still 28 mins plus to go – but that was it.

Can’t argue with the decision of many to leave before the end on this occasion

I’ll finish with a few quotes plucked from social media made by OUFC fans to show that it is not just me.

“Our defence, bloody hell”

“Christ that defending is so poor. Mills not tracking, Stevens way off, Moore not taking the player out when skinned”

“We lost it last night because for three of the goals their left winger had the freedom of Bristol, same as the goal we conceded at Cambridge on Saturday which started from a kick from Jack Stevens, needs sorting quickly.”

“It was the body language that particularly worried me.”

Then there was the comment from an Oxford fan whose Bristol City mate observed that in the second half we looked like a pub team. Unfair on the Dog and Duck, surely.

Positives? – Some are obviously needed. So I’ll go with, we’re at home on Saturday and it will all be very different. I can’t though produce any logical argument to support that.

Ice slushies have left their yellow and blue mark.  For kids too it was a good day out.  (Until the football)