Things have to improve quickly at Ashton Gate

I WOULD like to start this week’s column by replacing one well-worn word we have heard continually for far too long and replacing it with another, one which I am hoping (more heart than head) will be more shortlived and throwaway.

You could say that these words are inexplicably linked. In fact, the failure to act on the former has led us to the introduction of the latter. If you haven’t got it by now, I am of course talking about learnings and failure.

Our constant and continued inability to learn from what is now becoming ever more frequent and occasionally embarrassing defeat has led us into an ever increasing culture of failure. So much so that while I spoke to the loyal season card-carrying supporters that sit around us in the Dolman Stand before Saturday’s kick-off against Saracens, there was an air of doom and gloom before a boot had a chance to caress a ball.

During this conversation, one supporter mentioned he would be happy with a defeat of less than 20 points. In mitigation, I know we were facing Saracens, a team that have looked champion material from the word go in this year’s Premiership, but as great as they undoubtedly are, we cannot forget this was a team missing a full array of international superstars.

Whoever we are playing, home or away, this type of defeatism, of abject failure cannot be allowed to become the norm in BS3. It is simply unacceptable. We are too nice, we need more genuine nastiness on the pitch . What has happened to the Bears ethos and culture?

We spent more time with our heads looking skyward on Saturday from the turgid kicking game than we did looking for the seemingly non-existent firework spectacular we were promised pre–match. Gabriel Ibitoye and Deago Bailey must have been tearing their hair out stranded on the wings, wanting to get ball in hand and run it back to the opposition and both looked lively when they did get the chance to create.

Whichever way you want to word it, things have got to improve quickly at Ashton Gate because I genuinely can’t see when our next win is coming. Up The Bears!

You can listen to Bears Beyond The Gate on all major podcast platforms, including Apple, Spotify and Buzzsprout.

This column usually appears in Monday’s Bristol Post.