Bristol City (h); The Preview

22/02/19

Bristol City arrive in Norfolk as the Championship's form team. 6 league wins on the spin since the turn of the year have seen the Robins enter the Play Off mix and with games in hand, could trouble the top 2 with a win Saturday. Andrew Lawn spoke to Jamie Evans from One Stream in Bristol for his thoughts.

Andy – Bristol City in the play-offs? Hang on, weren’t you scratching around near the bottom not too long ago?

Jamie – Yes, exactly. It’s come as a bit of a shock to many City fans as well, although I always felt that we’d finish the season stronger than we started it.

A number of key players had unconvincing starts to the campaign, such as Marlon Pack, Jamie Paterson and Famara Diedhou, but they’ve rediscovered their best form recently, and the rest of the squad is much more equipped to cope with injuries this season than last. Still, 13 league games unbeaten is a terrific achievement, and hopefully it lasts a little longer.

And 6 wins in 6 in the league in 2019 is pretty special. How much do you think the FA Cup defeat to Wolves last weekend will check that momentum?

I don’t think it’ll make a huge amount of difference. We came up against a near full strength Wolves side, were on top for the majority of the second half, and on another day could have got through, so there were plenty of positives to take out of the game.

If we play that well again I’m sure we’ll be a match for Norwich, and no doubt that’s what Lee Johnson will be telling the players this week.

We don’t mind if you want to have an off-day and then pick things up again after a nice rest?

Ha.

So, you mentioned key players returning to form, has that been key or did Lee Johnson mix things up in terms of the system he was playing?

Well, it’s been a combination of the two really. I mentioned Jamie Paterson – he came in for a lot of criticism at the start of the season for his performances, and his improvement has coincided with a slight change of system. Before he was playing as a number ten in 4-2-3-1, but now he’s part of a midfield trio with Pack and Josh Brownhill in a 4-1-4-1. It’s not a huge tactical shift, but it’s suited this season’s more patient style, and made us harder to break down. New loan signing Kasey Palmer has given us a real lift too, and has made a couple of match-winning appearances off the bench.

Do you try and dominate the ball away from home too? Much of the way we play under Farke is characterised by our desire to keep the ball, but recently we have developed a more nuanced approach, letting other teams have it and then picking them off with a high press and a direct counter, so it could make for entertaining fare?

Yeah we usually have a few good spells of possession, but we’re also comfortable without the ball, as our defensive record has been so good.

I suspect that this weekend we’ll do more of the latter – during this run we’ve picked up results against Derby and Stoke with less than 40% possession, and it was similar against yourselves at Ashton Gate too.

My assumption is you’d come here and be happy to take a point back down the M4? Is Lee Johnson the type to settle for a point, he strikes me as a guy who likes to go for the jugular.

In regards to Johnson, presumably this run has won around the fans who were beginning to get restless earlier in the season?

A point would be a good result, although that’s not to say that we won’t show ambition. Looking at the league table, a win here, combined with our games in hand, would put us within touching distance of the Canaries, so we’ll certainly try and win the game; albeit, the game plan would probably be to defend well and try to score on the counter.

We don’t concede many goals, but we haven’t scored more than once too often either, so it’s unlikely to be a high-scoring game.

As for Johnson, he’s had plenty of ups and downs in terms of the fans’ opinions of him, both as a player and as a manager. I suspect that most fans have made their minds up on him, and when we’re winning his fans are more vocal, and when we’re struggling his critics come out.

Where do you stand?

Personally, I like him a lot. I think he’s a good coach, generally plays attractive football, and has a good record of improving individual players. It’s also worth remembering that he’s only 37, which in management terms is still pretty young, and he seems to learn from the mistakes that he’s made.

I’m with you, I was really impressed with the League Cup run last season and to be challenging for promotion again this season is testament to a job well done.

What about your opinion of Norwich, lucky late goal nippers or the real deal?

Yeah, all in all I think we’ve got the hallmarks of a well-coached team, and we’ve got a good record against the top teams in the league.

I saw Norwich play three times last season – once at the 0-0 draw with City at Carrow Road, and then in 1-0 wins at both Ashton Gate and against Brentford at Griffin Park. I was really impressed with the defensive organisation and counter-attacks. As the match-winner in both those games was James Maddison though, I didn’t expect you to kick on so well this season.

You played some really good football at Ashton Gate this season, and dominated the only other game of yours that I’ve watched this year (against Ipswich), so Farke has done a brilliant job of evolving the team. But the Championship is such a brilliant, competitive and mad league that it still feels too early to say whether they’ll stay in their current position.

When we are good, we are very very good. See Exhibit A – highlights from Bolton last Saturday.
Let’s do some predictions, first the top 6 and the 3 who will depart the Championship this summer?

Yes, of course – I’ve seen that viral goal a few times and it did leave me feeling very nervous about this weekend’s game…

It’s difficult to see the three leaders dropping out of the top six now, and I’m optimistic enough to say that we’ll join them. As for the other two spots – West Brom blew us away at The Hawthorns and I think they’ve got a good chance of challenging for an automatic spot, and I think Derby will just have enough to edge out Middlesbrough. I’ve got no idea what order those six will be in, although Leeds will probably win it.

In the bottom three, it seems like Ipswich are pretty much gone already, and having seen Bolton at Ashton Gate a couple of times this season, they don’t have enough quality to get themselves out of trouble. I think they’ll be joined by Reading.

Remarkably our second goal was even better than the one that went viral.

I’d agree with your bottom 3. Bolton looked dreadful and I have a soft spot for Rotherham and Paul Warne. Top 6 wise I can’t see Derby hanging in there. I think the current top 3 will be those sides that get promoted, but Leeds only via some additionally angsty play offs. On to Saturday, comfortable 2-0 home win, yeah?

Wow, I’ll go and find the highlights then.

Interesting. As I said before, and as cliched as it is, the Championship always seems to have so many twists and turns, and it wouldn’t surprise me if one of the current leaders bottles it.

Saturday has the potential to be a really memorable game for us. We’ve done a decent job of staying under the radar in the promotion race, even though we’ve been unbeaten for so long, but that’ll definitely end if we win at Carrow Road. The club has just requested an additional 500 tickets for the game which, given the length of the journey from Bristol to Norwich, is pretty impressive, and should make for a brilliant atmosphere in the away end. I can’t quite bring myself to predict a win for us, but I’m confident we can cause an upset and get at least a 1-1 draw.

It’s the no-look pull back from Pukki that really makes it.

That’s great news that you’re bringing a lot. As you say it’s quite the journey. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a cracker.

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