The Manchester City manager’s faith in his players to perform out of position was shaken on a tough night against a spirited Bristol City sideNothing escapes Pep Guardiola. “Bristol City have already beaten four Premier League sides in this competition,” the Manchester City manager noted beforehand. “That tells me something is going on and we need to be careful.”Goodness knows what sort of a side Guardiola would come up with if he was being cavalier, then. His safety-first policy here amounted to keeping most of his big-name attackers but reshuffling his defence, perhaps not the wisest policy against adventurous opponents full of confidence and on a hiding to nothing. Related: Sergio Agüero rides to Manchester City’s rescue against Bristol City...
Bristol City celebration and Cricket World Cup final were among the highlights in a year when sport too often seemed to reflect the corrosion of the world around itThe sight of Bristol City’s manager sweeping up a 10-year-old ballboy in a dance of pure joy to celebrate their team’s last-minute cup victory over mighty Manchester United last week added a note of sweetness to a year of conflict and contradictions. Many sports lovers had found themselves spending too much time in 2017 worrying about the integrity of what they were being asked to applaud: the integrity of the competitor, the integrity of the competition.From state-sponsored doping to tax avoidance, from child-abuse cover-ups to corruption in sport’s most powerful governing bodies, so...
The Championship side’s fearless play in the Carabao Cup win over Manchester United may inspire Premier League teams trying to combat Manchester CityThere are too few games that I can say are really special – especially those I’ve not played in – but watching my first professional club, Bristol City, do the improbable and knock the holders, Manchester United, out of the League Cup on Wednesday when the cliche “proper cup tie” perfectly summed up the occasion, is one of them. Related: Bristol City’s cup win for the ages built on faith and fearless football | Ben Fisher Continue reading...
Steve Lansdown’s decision to stick with his manager was rewarded in a sack-happy Championship and keeps Bristol City’s broader ambitions on trackIt is the final day of the Championship campaign and Lee Johnson, Bristol City’s head coach, has just welcomed Steve Lansdown, the club’s owner, into his office at Ashton Gate, where a candid discussion about a rollercoaster season, including the need for “big balls” in the dugout, has strayed into a broader debate about a hire-and-fire epidemic in the second tier.Twelve managers were sacked in the Championship between October and April, another two resigned, one departed by mutual consent and one returned to his academy role after his contract until the end of the season was cut short. They...
From Ipswich’s play-off hoodoo to a youthful Nottingham Forest, half a dozen teams who have been on the fringes of the Premier League partyMillwall have only ever had two seasons in the top flight of English football. Founded in 1885, it took them more than 100 years to reach the elite and they were understandably determined to make a strong first impression after going up as champions in 1988. They looked like First Division naturals at first, finishing 10th under John Docherty, thriving thanks to the goals of Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham. They were top after five games of the 1989-90 campaign, but second-season syndrome bit real bad and they straggled home in last place. Related: The Joy of...