Mixed fortunes for Bristol City

Bristol City’s weekend has been somewhat of a mixed bag. The 3-3 draw at home to Barnsley was on the face of it a poor result, Barnsley are not one of the strongest teams in the division and City will need to win this sort of fixture if they want to have any success this season. There were mitigating factors however, the club are still blighted by injuries, and Steve Coppell’s shock departure will still be playing on the minds of those at the club. The manner in which Bristol City came back in the game will be pleasing for Keith Millen, whilst it looks like there will be some new arrivals at Ashton Gate this week.

Prior to the game against Barnsley most fans would have been disappointed if they knew the match was going to end in a draw. For a side that has play-off ambitions, it is not a good result. Barnsley finished 18th last year and will again be tipped for a season of struggle this term. Bristol City supporters would have been optimistic of a positive result, but any confidence fans had was decimated inside the first 12 minutes as striker Andy Gray netted two early goals. Marvin Elliott and Albert Adomah soon levelled the match before Adam Hammill made it 2-3 Barnsley. David Clarkson tied the match with a penalty 11 minutes later. City manager Keith Millen will have mixed feelings about the game, whilst the result was not great, there were positives to be taken from the match. Millen’s side badly depleted by injury, a situation unfortunately worsened this weekend when midfielder Cole Skuse was stretchered off, showed good resilience to twice come back from behind. New signing Albert Adomah also scored his first league goal for City, which will hopefully give confidence to the player. After such a bad start to the game, Millen will be relatively pleased that his side managed to force a draw.

Some genuine good news did emerge from Bristol City on Sunday, when it was revealed that the club were on the cusp of making two important signings. City have agreed a fee and personal terms with Bournemouth hotshot Brett Pitman, whilst a deal for Ipswich striker Jon Stead has now been completed. With key striker Nicky Maynard out for a number of months, a goalscorer will need to fill the void and both of these players should be capable of doing this. Pitman racked up 28 goals for Bournemouth last season as the south coast club were promoted to League One, and he has already claimed his first hat-trick of this season in Bournemouth’s first home game. At one point it appeared the Jersey born player was on the move to Blackpool, but personal terms could not be agreed and the move broke down. City fans will be delighted at the prospect of seeing Pitman in a City jersey, but the Championship is a step up and it will be interesting to see whether he can maintain his good form at a higher level. Jon Stead has now moved to Ashton Gate, with the club having been tracking him over the summer. At one point the deal seemed to have died, but it has obviously been re-ignited and he will be another good acquisition to the squad. Although Stead has never been the most prolific of strikers, he is an aerial threat and he can hold the ball up well, he provides another option in what is becoming a strike line full of depth and no short amount of quality.

If these signings are completed as expected, Bristol City will have good cause for cheer and the season may yet yield fruit for the club.

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