(FM14) Drink up thee cider!!!

Leeds vs Bristol City - 19th March 2016
3-1
Allione 8.0 rating
Allione 17 mins
Welbeck 46 mins
Bradley pen 90 mins
Allione 52 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made only one change to the side as Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik replaced the suspended Eder Alvarez Balanta. American international Julian Green was with the USA squad losing the Olympic Qualifying final to Costa Rica. Leeds selected ex City player Franco Zuculini against his old club and Sam Baldock was on the bench. They were unable to select Derrick Boyata, James Husband and Rhoys Wiggins through injury. The two teams lined up as follows:

City took the lead through an Agustin Allione volley from a Tom Ince cross in the 17th minute. Against the run of play Leeds equalised through a Bogdan Stancu penalty after Kana-Biyik fouled in the penalty area. After the half time break Danny Welbeck restored the City lead from a Allione cross. There was bad news for MOTM Allione on 52 minutes as he picked up an injury and had to go off. After the game scans revealed that Allione strained knee ligaments and will be out for 6 to 7 weeks meaning he will likely miss the remainder of the campaign a huge blow for Andrew Booy. A Michael Bradley penalty after Mario Buitrago was fouled sealed the win for City in the 90th minute. Arsenal dropped 5 points in the last week to throw the three horse title race wide open:

Tottenham vs Bristol City - 30th March 2016
0-2



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made only one change to the side which was enforced as the injured Agustin Allione was replaced on the right wing by Rodrigo Gomez. The only concern for Martin Jol in the home dugout was the absence of defender Gino Peruzzi through injury. The two teams lined up as follows:

This was Bristol City's game in hand against their title rivals Arsenal and Chelsea and they knew that a victory would put them top of the table with 6 league matches remaining. However the Robins came unstuck against a strong Spurs side who deserved to be leading before Roberto Soldado's brace in the final 20 minutes, the 2nd coming after the 90th minute as Andrew Booy threw everything forward in search of a point. Bristol City remain therefore 3rd in the Premier League with 6 matches to play.

March 2016 - THE REVIEW

Fixtures

Preston vs CITY - 6th March 2016 3-0 FA Cup 6th Round
CITY vs Southampton - 13th March 2016 2-0
Leeds vs CITY - 19th March 2016 3-1
Tottenham vs CITY - 30th March 2016 0-2



Monthly Awards

Best Player - Agustin Allione - average rating 7.60

The right winger wins the player of the month award again for a solid month that was unfortunately cut short due to a nasty looking knee ligament injury picked up in the win at Leeds.

The best player in the Premier League this season is now likely to miss the rest of the season which is a massive blow to Andrew Booy and his side's changes of taking the title on their first ever Premier League appearance.

Highly commended
Tom Ince - average rating 7.48
The left winger performed well in March scoring two goals and grabbing one assist. Andrew Booy will hope the Englishman's form continues in the last month of the campaign to make up for his injured talisman Allione.
Mario Buitrago - average rating 7.46
The City captain scored one goal and grabbed two assists in a pleasing March. His leadership and goals will be vital in the final furlong of the season.

Coming Up.......

Bristol City vs Crystal Palace - 2nd April 2016
2-3
Rodrigo Gomez 61 mins
Green 80 mins
Denswil 85 mins



Manager's review
Bristol City welcomed back Eder Alvarez Balanta from suspension in place of Kana-Biyik in central defence in manager Andrew Booy's only change from the loss to Spurs. Palace boss Tony Pulis had lost all four matches in which his team had faced Booy's City team and had injuries to Ben Gibson and Jonathan Parr. The two teams lined up as follows:

City went into the game perhaps overconfident after their recent record against Palace and were unable to break them down in the first half. They were made to pay for this after the restart as MOTM Lukas Jutkiewicz scored almost from the kickoff to open the scoring. Then amazingly the same player got his 2nd goal with 30 minutes remaining to make the score 2-0 to Palace. This goal seemed to kick the Robins into life and Rodrigo Gomez scored within a minute of Jutkiewicz's 2nd goal after being played through by Clyne on the right wing. Then after Andrew Booy brought on Julian Green for Lucas Evangelista and moved him to an attacking midfield position the American was played in by Welbeck to level the scores with his first goal for Bristol City. Perhaps City should have settled for the point after their comeback but chasing the title meant going for the 3rd winning goal but it was Crystal Palace who surprised everyone with a 3rd goal after a mess-up between Tom Ince and Stefano Denswil resulted in an embarrassing own-goal for the Dutchman.

Bristol City vs Swansea - 5th April 2016
3-1
Welbeck 8.2 rating
Welbeck 34 mins
Rodrigo Gomez 73 mins
Kana-Biyik 88 mins



Manager's review
In the only Premier League midweek game both Andrew Booy and new Swansea manager Huub Stevens had no new injury/suspensions in their squads to contend with. That meant only Bristol City winger Agustin Allione was absent for the home side. The two teams lined up as follows:

It was a poor start for the home supporters as Swansea top scorer Wilfried Bony opened the scoring on 7 minutes with a typically strong finish. Bristol City came back strong however and after Buitrago's shot was blocked MOTM Danny Welbeck scored from the rebound to make the score 1-1 at half time. In the 2nd half the home team controlled the game and took the lead after Danny Welbeck's tight angled shot fell to Rodrigo Gomez who tapped in from inside the 6 yard box. Gomez then turned provider in the dying minutes of the game as his looping corner was powerfully headed in by Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik at the back post. Next up for Andrew Booy and his City squad is the FA Cup Semi Final at Wembley against top of the table Chelsea!!!!!

Bristol City vs Chelsea - 10th April 2016
1-2
ter Stegen 8.1 rating
Kana-Biyik 83 mins
Pizarro 86 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made only one change to the side. 16 year old right back Martin Kaspar came in for the cup tied Nathaniel Clyne as as been the trend for City's FA Cup run this season. The only absentee for Jose Mourinho's Chelsea was the injured Miralem Pjanic (a transfer target for Andrew Booy in January) The two teams lined up as follows:

Bristol City went into their 2nd Wembley FA Cup semi-final in 2 years as underdogs against a strong Chelsea side still looking to complete a quadruple this campaign. In truth they were outplayed by the London side who should have been more than 2 goals up from Diego Costa and David Luiz after an hour of play. The scoreline was kept down by a superb performance between the sticks for City goalkeeper and MOTM Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The tie was confirmed as over when substitute Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik was send off for a horrific lunge on Eden Hazard in the 83rd minute. There was time for a consolation for City as fellow substitute Guido Pizarro scored a magnificent curling effort in the final 5 minutes.
In the week that followed this defeat FA Cup Finalists and title challengers Arsenal and Chelsea drew 3-3 at the Emirates Stadium leaving Andrew Booy's changes of claiming the title slim with only 4 matches remaining of the season.

Blackburn vs Bristol City - 17th April 2016
2-1
Lucas Evangelista 7.9 rating
Lucas Evangelista 40 mins
Welbeck 63 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made only one change to the side as Nathaniel Clyne returned from his cup tie to replace Martin Kaspar at right back. Due to his horrific tackle and sending off in the FA Cup semi final defender Kana-Biyik has picked up an extended 4 match ban and will be unavailable for the rest of the season. Blackburn manager Morten Wieghorst is battling relegation with his side bottom of the table but he had a fully fit squad to choose from. The two teams lined up as follows:

Again City conceded the first goal going down to an Alan Judge finish in the 20th minute. However up to that goal and for the rest of the match Andrew Booy's side were in control and after a superb assist from Danny Welbeck MOTM Lucas Evangelista levelled the contest with only his 2nd goal of the season. Then in the 2nd half Danny Welbeck got on the scoresheet himself after a pass from the left wing from left back Alex Sandro. The result confirmed that Bristol City will finish in the top 3 of the Premier League this season at their first ever attempt!!!

Bristol City vs Fulham - 23rd April 2016
1-2
Welbeck 46 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made no changes to the side for this crucial clash that all but ended Bristol City's challenge for the title. Fulham manager Felix Magath had only one injury concern with Jordan Mutch missing out. The two teams lined up as follows:

City underperformed in front of a packed Ashton Gate crowd (their 9th home sellout of the campaign) and this defeat against relegation threatened Fulham all but ended their hopes of claiming the title. John Guidetti opened the scoring for Fulham in the 1st half but when Danny Welbeck scored straight from the restart in the 2nd half everyone thought they would go on to win the game but it was Fulham who got the winner through a Moussa Dembele strike. The result means that realistically with two games remaining Arsenal and Bristol City are challenging for 2nd place in the table with Arsenal currently ahead of City by 2 points.

Newcastle vs Bristol City - 30th April 2016
1-4
Buitrago 83 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made no changes to the side that lost against Fulham last time out, winger Agustin Allione had started light training and should be fit for the last game of the season next week. Newcastle were without Tim Krul, Urby Emanuelson and ex City player Maikel Kieftenbeld through injury and ex City player Yann-Erik De Lanlay was on the bench. The two teams lined up as follows:

It was the worst performance of the season for a Bristol City side possibly with one eye on the summer break after a hugely successful campaign. Goals from Luuk de Jong, Ravel Morisson, Shane Ferguson and Papiss Cisse meant City went down to their worse defeat of the season at St James Park. City defender Stefano Denswil had a abysmal game with a rating of 4.6 and would surely be dropped for his recent form if manager Andrew Booy had a suitable replacement available to him. The only consolation was that City striker Mario Buitrago ended his recent goal drought of over 11 hours of football with a goal in the final 10 minutes of the game. Luckily for Bristol City they can still finish 2nd in the table if they win their final game of the season at home to Liverpool and Arsenal lose their away game to Southampton on the final day!!!

Bristol City vs Liverpool - 8th May 2016
2-0
Welbeck 8.8 rating
Welbeck 19, 50 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made only one change to the side as Agustin Allione was back from his injury to replace Rodrigo Gomez. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had three injuries to contend with as Daniel Agger, Daniel Sturridge and Oscar Hiljemark were unavailable. The two teams lined up as follows:

In the final game of the season Bristol City were playing for either a 2nd or 3rd place finish in the Barclays Premier League table. Despite their strong victory against Liverpool (who missed out on the final Champions League spot to Tottenham because of this defeat) Arsenal beat Southampton to secure the runners up spot in the table. Two goals from Danny Welbeck meant that he finished the season as top scorer in the league with 22 goals just beating Liverpool striker Luis Suarez to the award.

SEASON REVIEW 2015/16



Competitions round-up

Premier Division - 3rd (Qualified for Champions League)
FA Cup - Lost in Semi Final (vs Chelsea)
Capital One Cup - Lost in 2nd round (vs Yeovil)

Key Player Stats

Top Goalscorer - Danny Welbeck (25 goals)
Most Assists - Two players Agustin Allione and Mario Buitrago (17 assists)
Player of the Match - Two players Agustin Allione and Tom Ince (7 times)
Yellow Cards - Eder Alvarez Balanta (14 cards)
Red Cards - Two players Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik and Eder Alvarez Balanta (2 times)
Average Rating - Agustin Allione (7.65 rating)

Detailed Squad Stats

Bristol City best 11 season 2015/2016



Bristol City best 11 All Time



Fans/Managers player of the year award

Winner - Agustin Allione



The young Argentinian right winger proved a shrewd summer signing for Bristol City by manager Andrew Booy, signed from Argentinian side Velez for just 1.5 million pounds. Allione played 37 times for City this season, in fact the only games he missed were through injury at the end of the campaign were his City teammates really felt his absence and their title and FA Cup challenge ended. Allione scored 15 times from midfield which was double the amount scored by any other City midfielder this season. He was tasked with the majority of City's deadball situations and amassed 17 assists for the season joint equal highest at the club with Mario Buitrago and 2nd only to Eden Hazard in the Premier League. Again 2nd to only Eden Hazard Allione was voted Player of the Match 7 times this season. Allione also picked up the Player of the Month award in a productive Christmas/New Year period winning the Premier League award in December and January (he also won the young player award once). Allione would not be beaten by his closest challenger Hazard for the Player of the Year award however and won the award with an average rating for the season of 7.65 in all competitions.

Danny Welbeck 15.5 million to Newcastle Utd

The England international was only at Bristol City for one season after his 3.7 million pound move from Man Utd last summer but what a season he had. He scored 25 goals in 44 appearances and picked up the Premier League top scorer award. However when Newcastle bid 15.5 million Andrew Booy reluctantly accepted the bid in order to fund a summer move for a replacement striker he has been eyeing for some time!!!



Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik 5.5 million to Liverpool

After joining for free last summer the Cameroonian started the season in the starting 11 but lost his place when Alex Sandro joined in January. Initially Andrew Booy didn't want to sell to rivals Liverpool but couldn't resist the 5.5 million offered.



Marc Wilson 2.6 million to Southampton

City vice captain Wilson has been at the club for two years following his Bosman transfer signing in 2014. He was a regular in the Sky Bet Championship winning team in his first season but was clearly surplus to requirements in the Premier League starting only 2 games last season.



Guido Pizarro 2.8 million to AC Milan

Defensive midfielder Pizarro was signed last summer on a Free transfer but couldn't establish his place in the starting 11. He played in 31 Premier League matches last season but only started 7 of those games.

Jese 16 million from FC Bayern



Jese is a 23 year old Spanish striker from the Real Madrid youth system who joins from German Champions Bayern Munich for 16 million pounds and will serve as a direct replacement for the departed Danny Welbeck. In 2014 after failing to establish himself in the Real Madrid team Bayern paid the Spanish giants 23 million pounds for his services, however it was the same situation for Jese in Germany as the striker only started 12 games in two years at the Allianz-Arena. The forward is still young however and hungry to prove himself in England at Bristol City. He signs on a five year deal worth 75,000k a week.



Emre Can 18 million from Leverkusen



Emre Can is a versatile 22 year old German player who began his career at FC Bayern before moving to Leverkusen for 4.2 million in 2013. He played regularly for Leverkusen for three seasons before Andrew Booy noticed his potential and snapped him up for a Bristol City record transfer fee of 18 million pounds. Can can play at left back, centre back and central midfield but arguably his strongest position is left back. He signs on a 5 year deal worth 43,000k per week.



Eugene Konoplyanka Free from Dnipro



Konoplyanka is a 26 year old Ukrainian international left winger who joins for free from Ukrainian side Dnipro after his contract expired. He has played 192 games in Ukraine since 2007 and also won 65 caps for his country. He has won the Ukrainian player of the year award three times. He signs a four year contract worth 48,000k per week.



Domenico Berardi Free from Juventus



The 21 year old Italian striker spent one year at Serie A champions Juventus following a 6.75 million pound move from Sassuolo in 2015. He played 26 games for Juventus (mostly from the bench) scoring 5 goals. He will join as backup to the main strike force partnership of Buitrago and Jese at Ashton Gate. He signs a 4 year deal worth 61,000k per week.



Chris Smalling Free from Man Utd



Smalling is a 26 year old defender who joins from Premier League rivals Man Utd on a free transfer. Smalling joined the Red Devils in 2010 from Fulham for 7 million pounds and went on to play 118 league games for the club over 6 years. He can play at right back or his preferred position of centre back and is likely to be a backup in both those positions as Bristol City enter their debut Champions League campaign. He joins on a four year 23,000k per week deal.



Youri Tielemans Free from Anderlecht



The 19 year old Belgian was once considered the golden boy of European football and Andrew Booy has taken the chance on the central midfielder in the hopes that he will eventually reach his full potential. He will probably be sent out on loan this season as he is backup to the first team squad.



Fanch Le Bras 8 million from Stade Rennais FC



Fanch Le Bras is a 16 year old region central defender who has a potential rating. 8 million pounds seems like a large amount for a 16 year old but Andrew Booy has confidence Le Bras will develop into one of the best defenders in the game.



Joaquin Guillamon 2.5 million from Murcia



Guillamon is a 15 year old central midfielder who like the Frenchman Le Bras has a potential rating of .

Transfer Summary Summer 2016/2017



Financial Summary Summer 2016/2017