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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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