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Observations from Saturday
at 14:14 18 Mar 2025

Saturday was the second game we have go over to this season , the first being Chelsea. We have had to go the corporate road both times as we haven't been able to secure tickets through the normal channels or came out in any of the ballots. For Chelsea we were in the SBR Suite and on Saturday in the Hall of Fame , neither really our scene but Saturday was more like a normal match experience and the seats were very good. When you put the flights/uber/hotel and beer with the corporate tickets it makes it an expensive trip!

Neither side really laid a hand on each other until the first Forest goal and then we just imploded. Teams have sussed out Davis and it became increasingly obvious that Forest were looking to exploit the space behind him - for me only two options on this , either the other back three shuffle over 15 yards as soon as he bombs on up the wing or just play him in midfield with an old school defending full back behind him.
Greaves looked ok up to the goals and could be considered harshly subbed off but we definitely looked more assured as a defensive unit with Burgess there in the second half.
Palmer is a good keeper , steady , vocal and brings confidence to the set up.
Phillips and Cajuste battled away and I think broke even with their central midfielders , Phillips unlucky with a really clean shot and Cajuste got a great goal.
Philogene, Eniso and to a lesser degree Hutchinson just huffed and puffed (and didn't blow any house down) lots of endeavour but little or no end result.
Delap not getting the service but brutal on their first goal and arguably should have scored with the headed chance he had. Hirst is a likeable sort , comes on gets on with it and will probably get you 10 goals where Delap will get you 15 (nothing wrong with that ) - at this stage KM needs to look at playing both together , Hirst up front , Delap at no 10 , if it isn't tried betweem now and season end I'll be dissapointed with KM.
Taylor looked assured when he came on , he is always looking for the right pass but Jack Clarke was just a like for like for Philogene/Ensisco.
Overall we looked way behind in the physical stakes - other teams are just bigger and faster(in actual speed and speed of thought) and we are prisoners to the system we play. Our inability to tweak or change the system in games or week to week isn't something I expected with KM at the helm and it will stifle his development as a manager/coach long term if can't get around that ( the old adage applies here : definition of madness , doing the same thing every day and thinking something is going to change)
It's been a great adventure though, and a miracle aside we are back down, coming straight back up (easier said than done) would leave the club ,management ,fans better prepared for the Premiership. It's all very doom and gloom now but I'll take a 4 -2 premiership defeat to Forest over the 4 -1 league one defeat I was over for in February 2020 - dark days indeed and puts how far we have come in context.
On the last point on my longwinded post the pre-match meet & greet was hosted by Byran Hamiliton with Carlos Edwards & Mickey Stockwell . Mickey spent about 15 minutes with us at the table and is a sound man - absolute legend and very entertaing

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Bristol City report
at 14:26 7 Mar 2024

Hi All ,

I'm a long time town fan and lurker on TWTD for years. I'm from Ireland so getting to games regularly isn't an option but usually manage to get at least one game in a season since 1999/2000 playoff year .I travelled over with my brother and my nephew for the game on Tuesday and thought a summary of my view on it would be a good introduction to a more active participation on the forum.
Covid interrupted our annual trips and the last game we are at before Tuesday was the dismal 4 v 1 loss to Peterbourgh in January 2020 so comparing ITFC then and now would take an eternity to write up. I've watched or listened to pretty much every game this season on Town TV or Sky but the perspective you get at the game is always better. I'll keep my summary as brief as possible and hope you all take something from it.

1. Footballing style : Brilliant , great to watch , and I am getting more comfortable looking at us knocking it about in our third until we find the gap to play through. The diagonal long pass (rather than just long ball!) generally from right to left seeking Davis is so effective and alone worth coming to see.
2. Team work & spirit : Our pressing, work off the ball, commitment to cause is excellent - no room in that group for any malingering or cry babies. Looks to me like you have to buy in or you move elsewhere. Players not going particularly well in a game are still contributing to the overall goal (I'm thinking Moore and Hutchinson on Tuesday - wasn't their greatest days but still put in proper shifts).
3. Tactic's/Substitutions : The ability to adjust things mid game isn't something you can just do , it has to be coached into the group and the group has to buy in and really trust the management team on it. A three or four man substitution at the one time was once an indication of the manager being cheesed off at a terrible team performance or seeing out a emphatic win and resting players for coming games. On Tuesday night we do it and the whole game changes - new energy and uplift in tempo , new men in just picked up the baton and ran faster with it. Even with the concession of the goals , missing the penalty (why isn't Davis or Chaplin taking those anyway!) the self belief never faltered.
4. Atmosphere : Probably the best I've had at Portman Road (maybe aside from the playoff game against the shower up the road in 2015 when I was right in line with Anderson when he scored). Great to see an almost full house (terrible for getting tickets though , had to take restricted view in block M as we didn't think of more coming available from Bristol allocation). Absolutely savage scenes whenever we scored and
great to hear so much noise in the ground. For years we have been coming to watch dross on the pitch and feel apathy in the stands - that for me is the greatest turnaround and as a fan its what you want , atmosphere, enthusiasm and belief in the crowd has to feed into the team.
5. General : We had a fair old session on the Tuesday , started in Issac's about 12.30 and worked our way around a lot of pubs during the day and finished up around 1pm. I planned on writing this in Stanstead yesterday while waiting for the plane but the hangover wouldn't cooperate!

Anyway we are on cusp - Leeds and Southampton have already blinked and our eyes are still on the prize , it can be done , I see us going straight up

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