Robins legend’s stories offer a glimpse of what it takes to build a winning team
IT was fantastic to have Brian Tinnion on the Robins On The Wire podcast this week. We have been lucky to have some amazing guests on the podcast and the stories Brian came out with had the Post’s City writer Gregor MacGregor and I in stitches.
You must listen to find out which ex-England star drove over Brian’s parents’ front lawn and ruined it! He also talked about that Swansea City defeat which led him to leave as Bristol City manager.
Whenever we sit down with those at the club it really gives an insight into the complexities of making everything run smoothly.
Brian oversees the young players at Bristol City, including who goes out on loan to various football league and non-league clubs.
He spoke with enthusiasm about the talent out on loan and if you follow him on Twitter he often tweets about young players’ perfor- mances, this week highlighting Callum Pring who is on loan at Newport County.
It may seem a little gloomy around Ashton Gate on these short winter days with the team not quite firing on all cylinders, but this interview gave such a great insight into these young players and the positivity surrounding them.
Bristol City are, so far, having a distinctively average season and a lot of that is being put down to the strikeforce.
Goals at home are a big concern. Indeed, only once have Bristol City scored more than one goal this season at home.
The team and squad need the supporters stick with them but they also need to entertain the fans.
Lee Johnson has spoken about the stats and how Bristol City were right up there for having the most shots on target, and how they are missing that spark to find that end product.
It will be interesting to see how Mo Eisa does. I recall seeing him against Bournemouth in a pre-season friendly over summer. I jokingly tweeted he did more in five minutes than Lois Diony had done in five months.
Eisa, pictured below, looked really exciting but has since had injury problems. Perhaps the coaching staff will be tempted to give him a chance sooner rather than later with the other strikers struggling to find form.
It is important to remember though that he will need time, having jumped up six leagues in the space of just a year-and-a-half.
Famara Diedhiou has looked better in the last couple of games, but unfortunately Andreas Wiemann just cannot find the golden touch that he had at the start of the season.
Saturday’s opponents Birmingham pose a big test. Garry Monk has done a brilliant job especially given the Financial Fair Play restraints he has had to deal with.
However, the last four visits to St Andrew’s have ended in defeat. Going further back the Robins have not won there since 1993! That is eight visits without a win, and now is the perfect time if Bristol City want to stand any very slim chance of making the play-offs.
Birmingham remain the only unbeaten home side in the league, saying that, they have drawn six of those matches. On a more positive note, it is worth remembering that only three sides in the whole of the Championship have won more away games than Bristol City.
That may come as a something of a surprise, given the position of the Robins, but it will perhaps be a good thing for Lee Johnson and his coaching staff to reinforce to the players ahead of a tough task on Saturday.
Just to add, I hope you can join us at our special Robins On The Wire Christmas Quiz next Thursday at the Rising Sun. It would be great to chat and get your thoughts on the season while raising money for Children’s Hospice South West. You can put your knowledge to the test and raise money for a great cause!