S
teve Cotterill’s a belligerent man and if I were a Bristol City player he’d scare me. His belligerency came to the fore in the aftermath of Bristol City’s 1-0 defeat to Swindon, ending his side’s unbeaten start to the current campaign. Unimpressed by the manner of Swindon’s victory (see 1min 25 secs into the YouTube footage below), Cotterill opined “even with ten men they didn’t deserve to beat us; they couldn’t open us up”. An interesting take. Cotterill was particularly riled by the red card received by Bristol City’s Wade Elliott in the first few minutes of the game for an apparent elbow in the face of Swindon’s Jack Stephens. A red card seemed harsh, and it was a moment of good fortune for Swindon. It was a shame, in a way, as it spoiled the game as a contest turning it into a high octane training ground exercise of attack versus defence. Whether it was a red card doesn’t really matter. Over the season most teams get a fair share of misfortune. Swindon have already received two unjust red cards this season. Cotterill, with the red mist descending, seemed to forget that Bristol City have had plenty of good fortune already in having had very few injuries and the luxury to select virtually the same starting XI in the opening 17 games of the season. A bit of bad fortune was, arguably, due. Some might counsel Cotterill ‘to deal with it’, rather like Lee Power did.
Wade Elliott’s red card, the
celebrations of Swindon’s Nathan Thompson and Rossi Branco in front of the Bristol
City fans, and Bristol City’s Aaron Wilbraham’s and Cotterill’s post-match
comments, have changed what was previously a fairly vanilla local derby into a
fixture brimming with enmity between both sets of fans and, to a lesser extent,
the players. Steve Cotterill, throwing his hat into the ring for a UN peace
envoy post, said that Swindon should expect a “red hot” encounter in the return
fixture at Ashton Gate.
To give you a sense of the ill
feeling, here are the thoughts of a Bristol City fan posted on the Bristol City
Fans’ Forum on 16th November:
“I for one don't mind losing it
was going to happen but to lose by being cheated to get our played red carded
was slightly annoying indeed. I think we played well first half. Second half it
was clear and obvious they were going to gain an advantage from having one more
player and it showed! God knows how we only lost one nil ! Christ swindon were
shite and to think they are third in the leage we have nothing to worry about
or no team to fear on our day we will beat anyone 11v11. The way they
celebrated was embarrsing to say the least what a bunch of sad acts to say the
least ! Makes for the return match even better. For the ground wow that is all
I can say first time I've been there what a shit hole absolute shithole makes
Ashton gate looks like a palace. So to cut it short they deserved the win on
the basis it was 10v11 let them milk it for all they can it won't last long
before we make our gap grow bigger ...... Imbred and round abouts”.
Nice man. The riposte of plenty of
Swindon fans is to refer to Bristol City as “Bristol Shitty”. I’m not too sure
that quite merits the use of the word, touché!
I suppose my comments above would
rile some Bristol City supporters as they might suggest that there is a rivalry
between Bristol City and Swindon which some Bristol City fans would dispute as
Swindon is not on the same level as the juggernaut, Hargreaves Lansdown owner backed,
Bristol City. Of course, they’re right to a degree: Bristol City is a bigger
club both in support and finances. Why this is something to crow about,
however, I find a little perplexing. Surely the fact that Swindon are going toe
to toe with Bristol City in league table terms is a matter in which Bristol
City fans should feel moderately sheepish about given the vast disparities in
resources (that is if you intertwine morality and virtue with supporting a
football club – a topic for another article)?
The post-match celebrations of
Nathan Thompson and Rossi Branco in front of the Bristol City supporters have
largely been shrugged off by Swindon fans and, of course, vehemently criticised
by Bristol City fans. Clearly, had the roles been reversed I imagine that
Swindon fans would have been equally peeved, although I like to think that they
would not have reported a footballer to the police for ‘inciting violence’ as a
few Bristol City fans did with Nathan Thompson. I don’t think jumping up and
down with your arms aloft bellowing ‘get in there’ or ‘YEESSSSSS’ or ‘come on’
in front of opposing fans merits a custodial sentence. Nathan Thompson’s
actions were quite surprising as he comes across as moderate, polite and
undemonstrative when interviewed. His actions slightly diminished my affections
for him, but only slightly. I think that his decision to sign a contract
extension until June 2017 for less money than he could have received elsewhere
was a more welcome manifestation of his commitment to and fondness for Swindon
Town than goading Bristol City fans. Conversely, and rather contradictory, my
fondness for Rossi Branco increased after the game owing to his celebrations in
front of the Swindon fans in the Don Rogers Stand (see the YouTube footage
below). His celebrations were unco-ordinated, exuberant and almost child-like.
I’m not fond of badge kissing or chest thumping, but when Rossi-Branco did the
latter, it seemed sincere and whole hearted, not calculated for effect. As one
of the most poorly paid players in the squad, he gives a lot and takes very
little. The chest thumping was not an
empty gesture. The Club’s reported offer of a contract extension for him is
thoroughly deserved.
The game itself was not
particularly noteworthy from a footballing perspective. Swindon were not at their
fluent best. They kept possession well but did not offer their typical incision,
which Kasim and Luongo, away on international duty, would have added. Jack
Stephens was probably Swindon’s best player in his new holding midfield role,
looking more comfortable than he does as a right sided defender in a back three
where his lack of pace can be exposed. He offers a welcome alternative to Kasim
as the Club’s deep lying central midfielder. If Cooper wishes to shift the
emphasis on to defence and compactness, particularly in away games or games
against promotion rivals, he might be inclined to play Stephens in central
midfield possibly in tandem with Kasim. Cooper also demonstrated his tactical
adroitness in the game by moving Nathan Byrne from right-wing back to an
attacking central midfield berth midway through the second half which gave
Swindon greater penetration. It was a move that helped Swindon win the game and
led to Michael Smith’s goal.
If I was being particularly
pretentious I could say that my blog charts Swindon’s ‘story’, ‘journey’
through the 2014/15 campaign and that the Bristol City game was a pivotal
moment in binding the players together, heightening the team spirit and
cementing the players’ loyalties and affections for the Club. Perhaps this is
the case. Most of the current crop of players will not probably end their
careers at Swindon, moving on to bigger clubs higher up the football ladder.
However, hopefully, they will still have a residual fondness for Swindon Town –
in many cases, the Club which gave them their first experience of senior league
football (rather like Mark Lawrenson’s feelings towards Preston North End) and the
camaraderie (heightened by playing in a team of a similar age profile) – which
might benefit the Club in some unforeseen way in the years to come.
No comments :
Post a Comment