(FM14) Drink up thee cider!!!

Bristol City vs Preston - 26th November 2013
4-2
Baldock
Baldock 37, 60, 68, pen 70 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made four changes to the side that played Crawley 3 days prior with El-Abd replacing the suspended Osborne, Williams replacing Fontaine, De Lanlay replacing Gillett and Burns replacing the injured Bolado. This match was 'the Baldock show' as the City frontman grabbed all four goals as the Robins twice came from behind to eventually win this top of the table clash at Ashton Gate. Baldock took his tally to 17 goals in 23 starts this season and with Andre Hansen in goal is now the only City player to start every game this season. The analysis of of the match winning, goal-scoring performance with an incredible 9.7 rating is below:



This victory takes City 7 points clear of 3rd place and 6 points clear of 2nd place in League 1 and Andrew Booy was delighted that his players never let their heads drop in a match where they went behind twice.

Bristol City vs MK Dons - 30th November 2013
3-2
De Lanlay
Baldock 28 mins
De Lanlay 66, 90+3 mins



Manager's review
Booy made one change to the starting 11 as Strandberg was suspended so in came Gillett in central midfield. It was the 2nd match in a row that City were poor defensively and had to come from behind twice to win. This time City left it as late as possible as MOTM De Lanlay got his 2nd goal and the winner with the last kick of the game in injury time. Even though Booy will be delighted that his attacking players came through for him the form of his defenders (in particular captain El Abd who has average rating in last 5 games of 6.42) will be a slight concern. In fact Derrick Williams was hauled off for Osborne in the 2nd half as he was playing terribly (5.9 rating). The next game for City is in the FA Cup against Chesterfield and Andrew Booy will be hoping that his City side can keep a clean sheet for the 1st time in 8 matches.

November 2013 - THE REVIEW

Fixtures

Wolves vs CITY - 1st November 2013 1-1
CITY vs Southend - 9th November 2013 3-2 FA Cup
CITY vs Coventry - 12th November 2013 1-2 Johnstone's Paint Trophy
Gillingham vs CITY - 17st November 2013 3-1
Crawley vs CITY - 23rd November 2013 1-1
CITY vs Preston - 26th November 2013 4-2
CITY vs MK Dons - 30th November 2013 3-2

Monthly Awards

Best Player - Yann-Erik De Lanlay - average rating 7.46

The young Norwegian right-winger was back to the sort of form that won him the League 1 young player of the month award in August. In fact De Lanlay came 3rd in the running for the same award in November. De Lanlay got 3 goals and 2 assists this month and his MOTM performance and last minute winning goal against MK Dons was the highlight.

Highly commended
Sam Baldock - average rating 7.28
The League 1 top scorer won the League 1 player of the month award for the 2nd time this season after scoring 6 goals and getting 1 assist in 5 league matches this month. The City vice-captain is the runaway top scorer in the league with 17 strikes already this season. His MOTM performance against Preston in which he scored 4 goals in one game will surely go down as the Bristol City performance of the season.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas - average rating 7.14
The City left-winger has had a solid month in November. He has scored one goal and chipped in with 4 assists this month. In fact Emmanuel-Thomas is now City's top provider this term with 9 assists in all competitions.

Andrew Booy also came runner-up in the League 1 Manager of the Month award for November only just losing out to Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson.

Bristol City vs Chesterfield - 7th December 2013
1-1
Baldock pen 88 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy made three changes to the starting line-up as Strandberg (back from suspension) replaced Gillett, Cunningham replaced suspended Catala and Osborne replaced Williams. This match was supposed to be a routine victory against a team in mid-table in League 2 but Chesterfield got an early goal on the break and then sat back in numbers and City did not have the quality to break them down. It was only in the 88th minute that City finally got their break from the penalty spot which Baldock converted to force a replay which does not suit City as they have a fixture pile-up at the end of this month.

Rotherham vs Bristol City - 14th December 2013
2-2
De Lanlay
Morgan O.G. 32 mins
Baldock 53 mins



Manager's review
Manager Andrew Booy made three changes to the side that could only draw at home against Chesterfield last time out. Catala, Williams and Bolado came in for Cunningham, Osborne and Burns. These changes made no difference to the recent script however as City conceded first for the 4th match running. This time the Robins were 2 goals down after half an hour. It seems that Andrew Booy's team only seem to come alive when the are chasing a game as they performed outstanding after going two down. De Lanlay picked up his 4th MOTM award with a rating of 8.4 and two assists to his name. The Norwegian right-winger now has the same number of MOTM awards as Sam Baldock this season who also scored again (his 20th goal of the season). These two players are currently battling it out to be City's player of the season so far and have total average ratings of 7.18 (De Lanlay) and 7.14 (Baldock) so far this campaign.

Chesterfield vs Bristol City - 18th December 2013 2nd round replay
2-0
Catala
Baldock pen 48 mins
Bolado 65 mins



Manager's review
There was only one change to the starting 11 as Osborne came in for Williams who had a dreadful game against Rotherham giving away a penalty and making too many errors. City as expected dominated proceedings from the off and goals from Baldock and Bolado sealed a routine win for the Robins. A rating of 7.4 from Bolado, Baldock and Catala meant that any three of them could have picked up the MOTM award but is was the attacking performance of the Spanish recent arrival Catala from left wing-back that just pipped it. It was an easy day at the office for Booy which made him wonder why a replay had to be played in the first place? City have been drawn at home to Championship side Birmingham in the 3rd round.

Bristol City vs Oldham - 21st December 2013
3-0
Trebel
Emmanuel-Thomas 31 mins
Bolado 37 mins
Wilson 41 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy was able to name exactly the same team that won against Chesterfield 3 days ago and it seems that the Bristol City manager has hit on a winning formula. Every single one of the Robins starting 11 finished the match with a rating of 7.0 or over in a totally dominant first half performance which enabled City to take their foot off the gas in the 2nd half. The top performers were MOTM Trebel (8.7) who got 2 assists and looked a constant attacking threat in his new role as advanced playmaker, recently back from injury Bolado (8.3) who scored a wonderful solo goal and left winger Emmanuel-Thomas (8.0) who scored his 4th goal of the season.

Andrew Booy signs new contract at Ashton Gate



What a Christmas present for the Bristol City fans as their promising new manager Andrew Booy has just committed himself to the Robins until the summer of 2018. Having arrived in the summer Booy has made an immediate impact propelling City to the summit of the League One table with his brand of exciting, attacking, possession based football.
With only six months remaining on his existing deal the City board were quick to tie Booy down to a longer deal after he has started the first half of his debut season with 18 wins from a possible 28 matches (a win percentage of 64%).
Andrew Booy was quoted as saying "I am delighted to commit my future to Bristol City and I hope to bring success to this amazing club which I have supported all my life. Everybody has made me feel so welcome and I must thank my players and back room staff for the good start we have made to the season. We are only halfway through however and a lot more work needs to be done in order for us to complete the job of getting this club back to the Championship at the first time of asking."

Congrats on the new contract

Leyton Orient vs Bristol City - 26th December 2013
2-3
Emmanuel-Thomas 21 mins
Trebel 43 mins



Manager's review
Bristol City named the same starting 11 for the third match in succession but not with the same result! Leyton Orient had sacked manager Russell Slade in the build-up to this match and new manager Gary Megson had the O's fired up from the start. It was not a opportune time to play Leyton Orient but that does not deflect from the fact that City were not good enough and conceded two poor goals from set-pieces and one penalty. The Robins were only let of the hook by the fact 2nd placed Wolves and 3rd placed Preston both also lost their respective fixtures meaning City are still 4 points clear at the top. A difficult fixture against the in-form Peterborough at Ashton Gate is next for Booy and his men.

Bristol City vs Peterborough - 29th December 2013
2-1
Catala
Strandberg 52 mins
Catala 59 mins
Bolado 74 mins



Manager's review
Andrew Booy reluctantly had to make four changes to the starting 11 for this heavyweight clash as El-Abd, De Lanlay, Trebel and Emmanuel-Thomas were all tired so in came Williams, Wagstaff, Gillett and Bryan. Due to these changes City looked poor in the 1st half and went in at the break one goal down. Booy then boldly made a double substitution bringing on his two tired first choice wingers De Lanlay and Emmanuel-Thomas for Wagstaff and Bryan. The change had the desired effect as the Robins came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Strandberg and MOTM Catala (his first for goal for Bristol City). City then went to a 4-5-1 formation after Bolado's injury and managed to see out the rest of the 90 minutes to get a massive win against the most in-form side in League One.

December 2013 - THE REVIEW

Fixtures

CITY vs Chesterfield - 7th December 2013 1-1 FA Cup
Rotherham vs CITY - 14th December 2013 2-2
Chesterfield vs CITY - 18th December 2013 2-0 FA Cup
CITY vs Oldham - 21st December 2013 3-0
Leyton Orient vs CITY - 26th December 2013 2-3
CITY vs Peterborough - 29th December 2013 2-1

Monthly Awards

Best Player - Adrien Trebel - average rating 7.34

The French central midfielder picks up this honour because he had a very consistent December. Trebel didn't have one bad game and his MOTM 8.7 rated performance against Oldham where he picked up two assists was outstanding. Began the month playing as a box-to-box midfielder but has grown in the new role of advanced playmaker very comfortably.

Highly commended
Yann-Erik De Lanlay - average rating 7.18
The City right-winger carried his good form from November into December with 3 further assists to his name and a MOTM performance against Rotherham. The Norwegian is currently City's top performer overall this season with a rating of 7.14 over the first 30 matches.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas - average rating 7.16
The left winger has performed just as well as De Lanlay this month scoring two goals and getting one assist. Although Baldock and Bolado are getting most of the headlines for the amount of goals they have scored Emmannuel-Thomas, De Lanlay and Trebel have 10, 7 and 9 assists each this season and their creativity should not go unnoticed.

Andrew Booy offloads Parish and Krans



The English transfer window has now reopened on the 1st January 2014 and Bristol City manager has been quick to show the exit door to two of his reserve team players. Both Elliott Parish (GK) and Kevin Krans (FC) failed to make one appearance for Bristol City even before Andrew Booy took over in the summer and they fell even lower down the pecking order after his arrival.

Elliott Parish was signed in the summer before Booy's arrival on a free transfer but after the arrival of Andre Hansen he was City's 3rd choice GK and when Man City came in with an offer of 600,000 it took the City manager one second to accept the bid. It seems Parish has swapped being 3rd choice at Ashton Gate to being 3rd choice at the Etihad Stadium.
Kevin Krans is a Striker who came through the youth set-up at Bristol City but he never played a first-team game for the side and was simply not good enough. After David Faupala's arrival Krans was shipped out to James Beattie's Accrington Stanley in League Two for Free where he might get some more game-time.

Carlisle vs Bristol City - 1st January 2014
2-1
Burns
De Lanlay 56 mins
Burns 73 mins



Manager's review
Booy made wholesale changes to the team that started so poorly against Peterborough last time out. Cunningham, El Abd, Trebel, Reid, Burns and Emmanuel-Thomas came in for Catala, Williams, Wagstaff, Strandberg, Bolado and Bryan. Some of these changes were due to poor performance and some due to lack of fitness. The changes however didn't seem to change the same old story as City were poor in the 1st half and went in at the break 1-0 down. For the 2nd game in a row Booy brought on his star man De Lanlay for Gillett (who couldn't start the match as he was too tired) and this change invigorated the team. De Lanlay scored the equaliser after being assisted by good work on the right from MOTM Burns. It was then Burns who scored the winner himself, which was his 1st goal for the club. Burns and Booy were delighted the Wales U21 ended his goal drought after being involved in 15 matches this season (admittedly most of those were from the bench).

Bristol City vs Birmingham - 4th January 2014
2-0
Bolado
Bolado 51, 90 mins
Strandberg 78 mins



Manager's review
The start of 2014 has delivered Bristol City with a congested fixture list which meant that manager Booy had to make 6 changes to the side that travelled the long distance to Carlisle 3 days ago. Moloney (1st start this season), Catala, Strandberg, Williams, De Lanlay and Bolado came in for Keane, Cunningham, Osborne, El Abd, Reid and Baldock (1st game he has not started all season). The changes refreshed City as they performed outstanding and easily booked a place in the 4th round of the FA Cup at the expense of Championship side Birmingham. MOTM Ivan Bolado again continued his amazing trend of scoring goals in cup competitions by getting a brace and taking his tally this season to 9 goals from only 7 cup matches (in comparison he has only 6 goals in 19 league matches this season). The only negative from this match was the injury to Strandberg who had a match rating of 8.1 after superbly assisting Bolado's 1st goal. The Robins have been drawn away to Peterborough in the next round of the FA Cup.