Pope John XXIII
Vital Football Legend
Preamble- my personal thoughts, which the majority of you will have no interest in and many will be offended by just because of who is writing them- highly recommended that you skip
I'm going to avoid the near obligatory summary of this summer. Everything that needs to be said already has been, and we don't need yet another fawning testament to how much money has been spent, how good it is, etc. All I will say is that this time last year I was pretty unhappy with a transfer window that I described as one of our worst ever. That was improved a little by Bridcutt coming in late, but the contrast is stark. Our final priority is to replace the last player remaining from that shocking window. We have a whole new team and subs since then, the first big upgrade in years- since Fawaz came in actually.
Bristol is a horrible opening game for us. We have won there once since 1993, and our record in the last 5 years against them is poor. It's a nasty place to go with fans that tend to look for trouble. We all remember the aradcliffe road incident, their idiot manager of the time complaining that they out so many balls in the box they "must have had a handball penalty somewhere".
But they look weak to me. They have sold two of their crown jewels and replaced them with players that they will be very fortunate to see work out. Their remaining key striker will not play a game in August through suspension. We should be filed under a better player in most positions. The questions will come from our familiar problem- conceding set pieces, not scoring aerially or from set pieces and therefore struggling to find a goal when one is most needed.
We won't be league winners if we do this one 3-0. It wont be a disaster if we lose 3-0 either. It's one of those games that we can genuinly enjoy without too much pressure. We have had lots of good starts in recent years (Davies, Pearce, MW) that have gone no where, so it isn't the be all and end all.
Both BBC and stat sites have yet to update for the FL, because of course nothing outside the PL matters and the small fact that 72/92 clubs kick off this weekend doesn't matter. I will update the below as more info because available. This will be a shorter than normal review because we don't have much to go on yet.
First though, what is new for this season- again, I'll update if I find out more
What's new
Red and yellow cards for managers- managers in the FL will now get yellow and red cards that see them banished to the stands. Examples of offenses for yellow cards include
- Dissent
- Foul or abusive language to match officials or an opponent
- Sarcastic clapping
- Kicking water bottles/other equipment
- Entering opponents technical area
- Conflict with supporters
4 yellows results in a one match ban- read more http://www.skysports.com/football/n...ow-and-red-cards-for-managers-in-efl-and-cups
Sky Sports- have announced that for the SBC, in each of the 8 rounds of midweek matches you can press the red button to watch any of the championship matches being played. That means, whenever there is a midweek matche for everyone, forest should be on. Read more http://www.skysports.com/football/n...mpionship-league-one-and-league-two-in-201819
Safe standing - coming to Shrewsbury this season.
Style and formations
Johnson has tended to use a 4-4-2 formation last year having used that 35 times last season, so it's fair to say he'll do the same again. However, with Reid gone and Diedhou suspended his striker options aren't outstanding, and against our potential firepower it's not impossible he might try something different.
I don't have any information on strengths and weaknesses for obvious reasons. What I would say though is that having lost both of their strikeforce from last year (one sold, one suspended for 6 games), there is a big question mark over goals for them.
Players
As above; 19 goal Bobby Reid has been sold. Famara Diedhiou (13 goals) is suspended. 8 goal Aden Flint has gone. Those are their three top scorers of last season, accounting for 60% of their 67 goals for the season. Not one of them will face forest on Saturday. It's very tough to replace 40 goals from a side. I'm not sure how good a job Bristol have done.
Their attempt to do so starts with Weimann from Derby, a non scoring striker/ winger who managed 5 in 34 last season. This was his best goal return of the last four years.
Mo Eisa is their lower league punt. He is 24 and scored 23 for Cheltenham in L2 last season, having been quite prolific in the Isthmian league before that. He might be an absolute steal, and he might be shite.
I personally would be wearing brown trousers all year if I were a Bristol fan. It's worse than replacing Assombalonga with a 34 year old.
Aden Flint is probably the division's stand out up and coming defender. Unbelievable in the air, he is an archetypal Pulis player and has duly gone there. His replacement is Adam Webster from Ipswich. I'd be lying if I said I'd heard of him. He is 23 and has played in about half of Ipswich's games for the last two seasons.
Other notable additions have been Marley Watkins on the wing, who was excellent for Barnsley in 2016-17 (10 goals) which earned him a move to Norwich... Where he was not so excellent. He didn't score in the league last year and they have cut him loose to revive himself at Bristol.
They also signed Hakeeb Adelakun from Scunny, who we supposedly had interest in. He is young (22) but not a big scorer yet. Another one potentially for the future but not so exciting a prospect that I'm gutted we didn't go for him.
Remember Jack Hunt? RB from Palace on loan to us for a bit, I vaguely remember him doing quite well? He's signed for them too.
That leaves us with the rest. Paterson we know well. He scored 5 last season and will always be a threat to us because he wants to beat us so much.
Marlon Pack is the DCM and is an expert at winning the ball in the air as well as a decent passer. Korey Smith is likely to be alongside him. Not a scorer but a reasonable passer.
Nathan Baker remains in defence. Originally of Villa, he is an excellent central defender- though it remains to be seen how much of his performance last year was helped by Flint.
Not much point going much further I don't think. No offence to Bristol, but they look a very average Championship side to me. If they become more than that it will be a result of existing players suddenly making big progress (as last year) or new gamble signings really coming off. That might well happen. But they look like a club in decline to me.
They can hurt us and Ashton is never kind to us. Much will depend on the mistakes we make and how far we can stretch their fairly basic formation.
Form
Bristol have won almost all of their 8 friendly games. Most have been against useless opposition, such as an 11-0 Vs Bristol Manor Farm. They have won away at Yeovil and Cheltenham and the only decent side they have played is a 2-0 win over FC Twente.
At the end of last season their form was poor- 4 wins in their last 22 games, all against poor sides.
Their record against us is annoying though. We have one win in seven, stretching to 2012. They have won 5 of those 7. We have not taken any points from Ashton Gate since 2011 when we won on our way to the playoffs. We have taken about 9 points there in the last 25 years.
Official Vatican Prediction
Infogol are giving Bristol a 38% chance of winning compared to 35% for us, so it's predicted to be even.
I'm going for a score draw, with us impressing in attack but letting in at least one, if not two stupid headed goals.
Weather
A sunny and cloudy 26°c that will feel more like 30°. Humidity will be 54% with the pressure ramped up to 1023 MB
Inspirational Picture
It's 20 years since we had a squad capable of promotion. We have had good squads since and it remains to be seen just how this one ranks. But without doubt, below is what we aim to emulate
I'm going to avoid the near obligatory summary of this summer. Everything that needs to be said already has been, and we don't need yet another fawning testament to how much money has been spent, how good it is, etc. All I will say is that this time last year I was pretty unhappy with a transfer window that I described as one of our worst ever. That was improved a little by Bridcutt coming in late, but the contrast is stark. Our final priority is to replace the last player remaining from that shocking window. We have a whole new team and subs since then, the first big upgrade in years- since Fawaz came in actually.
Bristol is a horrible opening game for us. We have won there once since 1993, and our record in the last 5 years against them is poor. It's a nasty place to go with fans that tend to look for trouble. We all remember the aradcliffe road incident, their idiot manager of the time complaining that they out so many balls in the box they "must have had a handball penalty somewhere".
But they look weak to me. They have sold two of their crown jewels and replaced them with players that they will be very fortunate to see work out. Their remaining key striker will not play a game in August through suspension. We should be filed under a better player in most positions. The questions will come from our familiar problem- conceding set pieces, not scoring aerially or from set pieces and therefore struggling to find a goal when one is most needed.
We won't be league winners if we do this one 3-0. It wont be a disaster if we lose 3-0 either. It's one of those games that we can genuinly enjoy without too much pressure. We have had lots of good starts in recent years (Davies, Pearce, MW) that have gone no where, so it isn't the be all and end all.
Both BBC and stat sites have yet to update for the FL, because of course nothing outside the PL matters and the small fact that 72/92 clubs kick off this weekend doesn't matter. I will update the below as more info because available. This will be a shorter than normal review because we don't have much to go on yet.
First though, what is new for this season- again, I'll update if I find out more
What's new
Red and yellow cards for managers- managers in the FL will now get yellow and red cards that see them banished to the stands. Examples of offenses for yellow cards include
- Dissent
- Foul or abusive language to match officials or an opponent
- Sarcastic clapping
- Kicking water bottles/other equipment
- Entering opponents technical area
- Conflict with supporters
4 yellows results in a one match ban- read more http://www.skysports.com/football/n...ow-and-red-cards-for-managers-in-efl-and-cups
Sky Sports- have announced that for the SBC, in each of the 8 rounds of midweek matches you can press the red button to watch any of the championship matches being played. That means, whenever there is a midweek matche for everyone, forest should be on. Read more http://www.skysports.com/football/n...mpionship-league-one-and-league-two-in-201819
Safe standing - coming to Shrewsbury this season.
Style and formations
Johnson has tended to use a 4-4-2 formation last year having used that 35 times last season, so it's fair to say he'll do the same again. However, with Reid gone and Diedhou suspended his striker options aren't outstanding, and against our potential firepower it's not impossible he might try something different.
I don't have any information on strengths and weaknesses for obvious reasons. What I would say though is that having lost both of their strikeforce from last year (one sold, one suspended for 6 games), there is a big question mark over goals for them.
Players
As above; 19 goal Bobby Reid has been sold. Famara Diedhiou (13 goals) is suspended. 8 goal Aden Flint has gone. Those are their three top scorers of last season, accounting for 60% of their 67 goals for the season. Not one of them will face forest on Saturday. It's very tough to replace 40 goals from a side. I'm not sure how good a job Bristol have done.
Their attempt to do so starts with Weimann from Derby, a non scoring striker/ winger who managed 5 in 34 last season. This was his best goal return of the last four years.
Mo Eisa is their lower league punt. He is 24 and scored 23 for Cheltenham in L2 last season, having been quite prolific in the Isthmian league before that. He might be an absolute steal, and he might be shite.
I personally would be wearing brown trousers all year if I were a Bristol fan. It's worse than replacing Assombalonga with a 34 year old.
Aden Flint is probably the division's stand out up and coming defender. Unbelievable in the air, he is an archetypal Pulis player and has duly gone there. His replacement is Adam Webster from Ipswich. I'd be lying if I said I'd heard of him. He is 23 and has played in about half of Ipswich's games for the last two seasons.
Other notable additions have been Marley Watkins on the wing, who was excellent for Barnsley in 2016-17 (10 goals) which earned him a move to Norwich... Where he was not so excellent. He didn't score in the league last year and they have cut him loose to revive himself at Bristol.
They also signed Hakeeb Adelakun from Scunny, who we supposedly had interest in. He is young (22) but not a big scorer yet. Another one potentially for the future but not so exciting a prospect that I'm gutted we didn't go for him.
Remember Jack Hunt? RB from Palace on loan to us for a bit, I vaguely remember him doing quite well? He's signed for them too.
That leaves us with the rest. Paterson we know well. He scored 5 last season and will always be a threat to us because he wants to beat us so much.
Marlon Pack is the DCM and is an expert at winning the ball in the air as well as a decent passer. Korey Smith is likely to be alongside him. Not a scorer but a reasonable passer.
Nathan Baker remains in defence. Originally of Villa, he is an excellent central defender- though it remains to be seen how much of his performance last year was helped by Flint.
Not much point going much further I don't think. No offence to Bristol, but they look a very average Championship side to me. If they become more than that it will be a result of existing players suddenly making big progress (as last year) or new gamble signings really coming off. That might well happen. But they look like a club in decline to me.
They can hurt us and Ashton is never kind to us. Much will depend on the mistakes we make and how far we can stretch their fairly basic formation.
Form
Bristol have won almost all of their 8 friendly games. Most have been against useless opposition, such as an 11-0 Vs Bristol Manor Farm. They have won away at Yeovil and Cheltenham and the only decent side they have played is a 2-0 win over FC Twente.
At the end of last season their form was poor- 4 wins in their last 22 games, all against poor sides.
Their record against us is annoying though. We have one win in seven, stretching to 2012. They have won 5 of those 7. We have not taken any points from Ashton Gate since 2011 when we won on our way to the playoffs. We have taken about 9 points there in the last 25 years.
Official Vatican Prediction
Infogol are giving Bristol a 38% chance of winning compared to 35% for us, so it's predicted to be even.
I'm going for a score draw, with us impressing in attack but letting in at least one, if not two stupid headed goals.
Weather
A sunny and cloudy 26°c that will feel more like 30°. Humidity will be 54% with the pressure ramped up to 1023 MB
Inspirational Picture
It's 20 years since we had a squad capable of promotion. We have had good squads since and it remains to be seen just how this one ranks. But without doubt, below is what we aim to emulate
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