(FM14) Drink up thee cider!!!

Bristol City vs Huddersfield - 20th January 2014
2-1
Rossi
Alvarez Balanta 61 mins
Rossi 81 mins



Manager's review
Booy named the same side that defeated Yeovil 3 days ago and City had to battle back from being 1-0 down at half time. In the 2nd half Alvarez Balanta got his 1st goal for the club on his 2nd appearance since signing from River Plate earlier this month. Then when it looked like the game might be destined for a draw MOTM Fausto Rossi scored a wonderful 25 yard curling shot with 10 minutes remaining to ensure that City collected all 3 points and remained top of the Sky Bet Championship table.

Leicester vs Bristol City - 24th January 2014
4-3
Buitrago
Denswil 1 mins
Alvarez Balanta 17 mins
Buitrago 21, 32 mins
Ince 47 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy named the same starting 11 for the 3rd match in a row. This FA cup tie was a real humdinger!!! City got off to the worst possible start as centre back Stefano Denswil was sent off in the first 60 seconds of the game....and then Leicester had scored twice to take a 2-0 lead after only 10 minutes!!! City then rallied and scored 3 goals through their Colombian contingent (one from Balanta and two from Buitrago) in the next 20 minutes to lead 3-2 with 10 men!!!. The enthralling first half was not finished though as Chris Wood scored his 2nd goal of the game to level the match 3-3 at half time. City scored immediately after the restart from a Tom Ince rebound and then thankfully the game calmed down to give Andrew Booy and the other Bristol City fans a more peaceful 2nd half. City are now due to play Championship side Derby at Pride Park in the 5th round in February.

Transfer News

Former Club Captain Adam El Abd has joined Spanish side Almeria on loan for the rest of the 2014/2015 season. City will receive around 70k per month in fees for this deal which is fantastic business for a player who has not been involved in the first team this season.

Leicester vs Bristol City - 27th January 2014
0-2
Hughes 88 mins



Manager's review
This was the 2nd game away to Leicester in 3 days, this time in the Sky Bet Championship. Booy made 5 changes to the side to try and keep things fresh. Wilson, Traore, Strandberg, Trebel and Zuculini replaced Kieftenbeld, Olsson, Denswil, Hughes and Kusk. The changes did not work as Leicester scored within 2 minutes of the kick-off. City tried to get back into the game but despite a lot of huffing and puffing they did not have enough quality in the final third to break Leicester down. In the 88th minute with City chasing the game Will Hughes was sent off and then Leicester killed the game off in injury time against the tired 10 men of Bristol City. Despite the loss City remain top of the Sky Bet Championship.

Bristol City vs Nottm Forest - 31st January 2014
1-0
Wilson
Vydra 13 mins



Manager's review
Booy was able to welcome back three go his 1st team regulars to this game with Olsson, Kieftenbeld and Kusk replacing Traore, Strandberg, and Trebel from the disappointing performance against Leicester. City were the better side in what proved to be a quiet game to see off January. The only goal of the game came from Matej Vydra in the 13th minute from a superb Kusk pass. The result ensured City finish the month at the top of the Sky Bet Championship table.

January 2015 - THE REVIEW

Fixtures

CITY vs Man Utd - 4th January 2015 3-0 FA Cup 3rd Round
CITY vs Yeovil - 17th January 2015 3-1
CITY vs Huddersfield - 20th January 2015 2-1
Leicester vs CITY - 24th January 2015 4-3 FA Cup 4th Round
Leicester vs CITY - 27th January 2015 0-2
CITY vs Nottm Forest - 31st January 2015 1-0



Monthly Awards

Best Player - Will Hughes - average rating 7.64

The on loan Arsenal midfielder had a good start to 2015 with a fantastic MOTM performance against Man Utd in the FA Cup 3rd Round. The England U21 international assisted 3 goals for City in January and his 8.60 rated performances against Man Utd and Leicester in the FA Cup were particularly impressive.

Highly commended
Maikel Kieftenbeld - average rating 7.56
The City right back was devastated to miss the Man Utd FA Cup game through suspension but used this disappointment to bounce back for the rest of the month of January. He consistently got match ratings over 7.0.
Fausto Rossi - average rating 7.36
It seems like Rossi is being consistently mentioned in these monthly reviews and because of that he has the highest average match rating in the City squad at 7.31 which is fantastic. in January he scored 2 goals and assisted 2 colleagues as well.

One in and One out at Ashton Gate

Andrew Booy was largely inactive on transfer deadline day, however he did conclude two pieces of business. He completed the signing of former Sunderland utility player Jack Colback on a free transfer. Colback can play in central midfield and left back and will be used as a backup to the current first team players for the remainder of the 2014/2015 campaign. Andrew Booy has had a recent policy of signing non home-grown players but Colback ensures City can comply with Championship regulations to name at least 6 home-grown players in each match day squad.





As Colback joined one player was shown the exit door at Ashton Gate. Midfielder Adrien Trebel left to join French side Bordeaux for 1.9 million pounds. Due to a clause in his contract Trebel's former club Nantes received 725k of this transfer fee. Trebel was a fantastic servant for the club last season playing 41 games but has seen himself limited to only 8 appearances this season almost all of them from the substitutes bench.



Bristol City 2014/15 Transfers to date

Wolves vs Bristol City - 3rd February 2015
2-0
Olsson
Vydra 58 mins
Buitrago 86 mins



Manager's review
Booy named two changes to the side that one against Nottm Forest last time out. Strandberg replaced the tired Wilson and Hughes returned from suspension to replace Zuculini. Booy was also boosted by the return from international duty of Choupo-Moting and new signing Lucas Evangelista. Both players were only on the bench however as their international exertions have left them jaded and in need of a rest. City put on another class away performance both defensively and offensively, keeping a solid clean sheet and both strikers (Vydra and Buitrago) getting on the scoresheet. City now have both the best offensive and defensive record in the division (scored 60, conceded 35). With no other top half teams playing today City extended their lead at the top of the Championship to 4 points.

In other news
City have made a change to their fitness coaching team with Paul Winsper being brought in and Steve Black leaving with immediate effect. Winsper is the 1st ever City coach to have a 5 star coaching rating and is an English fitness expert and the sports performance director for Nike.

Burnley vs Bristol City - 7th February 2015
1-2
Ince 59 mins



Manager's review
Booy made one change to his starting 11 with Denswil returning from a 3 match suspension to replace Strandberg in central defence. Andrew Booy's old friend Jose Catala returned to haunt his former employers by putting in a MOTM performance and netting the first goal of the game in the first 5 minutes. At the end of the 2nd half Burnley benefitted from a dodgy offside call to take the lead 2-0 at half time. City did pull a goal back from Tom Ince in the 2nd half but despite throughing everything at Burnley, including a debut for Brazilian Lucas Evangelista, they were unable to get the equaliser. The result meant that Burnley did the double over City this season after their 1-0 victory at Ashton Gate earlier in the season.

Bristol City vs Middlesbrough - 10th February 2015
4-1
Kusk
Choupo-Moting 18 mins
Alvarez Balanta 45 mins
Kusk 46 mins
Vydra 90 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made two changes to the side as 1st place played 4th place in this Championship clash. It was the first time since the January transfer window that Booy was able to name his strongest possible starting 11 so Choupo-Moting and Lucas Evangelista replaced Vydra and Hughes. City's full strength team put Middlesbrough to the sword and in particular MOTM Kasper Kusk but on a match winning performance with a match rating of 9.0.

Derby vs Bristol City - 17th January 2014
5-0
Buitrago
Buitrago 21, 53, 81, 89 mins
Alvarez Balanta 45+1 mins



Manager's review
Booy made only one enforced change to the side as Martin Olsson pulled a hamstring in the victory against Middlesbrough so will be out for around 3 weeks. Marc Wilson replaced him at left back. This Derby team were poor possibly due to them having injuries to five 1st team squad members before the game and then losing two key players to injury during the match. City pulled off their best performance of the season and are looking strong for the run-in to this campaign. Mario Buitrago netted 4 goals in one match for the 2nd time this season and was sensational.



Bristol City will play either Cardiff or Wolves in the Quarter Final at Ashton Gate and with Chelsea being the only 'big' team left in the competition who knows how far this City side can go?

Bristol City vs Ipswich - 21st February 2015
3-0
Rossi
Buitrago 3, 37 mins
Choupo-Moting 10 mins
Alvarez Balanta 38 mins
Lucas Evangelista 63 mins



Manager's review
Booy named that same side that performed so admirably against Derby last time out and his City team carried on exactly were they left off storming into a 3-0 lead in the first 37 minutes of the game through goals from Buitrago (2) and Choupo-Moting. Who knows what the score could have been if Alvarez Balanta had not been sent off for his 2nd yellow card in the 38th minute. The sending off killed the game and City held on to extend their lead at the top of the Championship to 8 points. Lucas Evangelista hobbled off the pitch with 30 minutes remaining but thankfully his injury was not serious. Choupo-Moting however twisted his knee in the 1st half (he was sacrificed when Alvarez Balanta was sent off) and will be sidelined for about two weeks.

FA Cup Quarter Final Draw

Bristol City's opponents for the Quarter Final FA Cup have now been decided. They will play Wolverhampton Wanderers after they prevailed in their 5th round replay with Cardiff. The game will be at Ashton Gate on the 7th March and Bristol City have a real chance of making the Semi Finals at Wembley!!!!!

Charlton vs Bristol City - 28th February 2015
2-1
Buitrago
Ince 60 mins
Buitrago 76 mins



Manager's review
Booy made two enforced changes to his City side with Strandberg replacing the suspended Alvarez Balanta and Vydra replacing the injured Choupo-Moting. City went in 1-0 down at half time at The Valley thanks to a comical goal scored by the Championship top scorer Parzyszek. Benoit Costil kicked the ball straight into the striker who then had the easy task of scoring into an empty net. Thankfully for the French goalkeeper Tom Ince and Mario Buitrago scored in the 2nd half to give City another victory which takes them one step closer to promotion to the Premier League.

Other News

Arsenal have won the Capital One Cup final thanks to an extra time 1-0 victory over Man Utd.

February 2015 - THE REVIEW

Fixtures

Wolves vs CITY - 3rd February 2015 2-0
Burnley vs CITY - 7th February 2015 1-2
CITY vs Middlesbrough - 10th February 2015 4-1
Derby vs CITY - 15th February 2015 5-0 FA Cup 5th Round
CITY vs Ipswich - 21st February 2015 3-0
Charlton vs CITY - 28th February 2015 2-1



Monthly Awards

Best Player - Mario Buitrago - average rating 8.00

Buitrago won the Sky Bet Championship young player of the month award for February. He scored 8 goals in the month and now has 28 goals in total for the season. He was also recently instated as the new Bristol City team captain taking over from Stefan Strandberg, a fantastic honour for a player still only 20 years old.

Highly commended
Fausto Rossi - average rating 7.74
The advanced playmaker has yet again been a key player in City's team this month. He contributed 3 assists and has began to form a fantastic partnership in central midfield with new signing Lucas Evangelista.
Kasper Kusk - average rating 7.74
The right winger has had a strong month contributing four assists and one goal. He is now joint with left winger Tom Ince for most assists for the season with 11 in total.

FA Cup Quarter Final
Bristol City vs Wolves - 7th March 2015
4-2
Buitrago
Buitrago 21, 87 mins
Rossi pen 53 mins
Vydra 63 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy had Alvarez Balanta returning from suspension and Martin Olsson recovered from injury so they replaced Strandberg and Wilson in the team for this crunch FA Cup quarter final clash. City started well taking the lead through top scorer Buitrago only for Kieftenbeld to concede a penalty in 1st half injury time to make the scores 1-1 at the break. After some inspiring words from manager Andrew Booy during half time Bristol City came out much stronger in the 2nd half and a penalty from Rossi, followed by goals from strikers Buitrago and Vydra, meant that Andrew Booy has booked a place for his Bristol City side against Premiership Southampton at Wembley in the FA Cup semi final.

Before the Quarter Final manager Andrew Booy made the bold decision to appoint Mario Buitrago as the new Bristol City club captain. It is a bold move to change the captaincy to such a young player especially before such a big game for the club. However, Booy truly believes that Mario can lead the club into the Premiership and beyond in the future. Stefan Strandberg was demoted to Vice Captain with Fausto Rossi relieved of the role.

Bradford vs Bristol City - 10th March 2015
1-1
Buitrago 72 mins



Manager's review
City named the same side that booked a place in the FA Cup semi final 3 days prior and perhaps that exertion was why the team performed so badly against bottom of the table Bradford. Mario Buitrago was again the saviour for the Reds as he salvaged a point with around 20 minutes remaining but there wasn't enough time after the equaliser for City to get the winner. This was the 2nd time that City had drawn 1-1 with bottom side Bradford this season....hopefully the dropped points won't hurt City's promotion push!