Yet another blue day

Andy Munro on Blues’ defeat at Bristol City.

We may have had more shots than the Robins, but to ship four goals is a worrying sign as the team sink almost inexorably towards the relegation quagmire.

Bristol City have been going through a similar bad patch as us but still had too much for a Blues side who are increasingly showing they have a soft centre. When things go wrong it’s easy to turn on the manager but the insistence of John Eustace in playing three at the back with wingbacks looks increasingly flawed, and Jordan Graham to name just one is a square peg in a round hole on the left side.

Despite being culpable for at least one of the goals one can only hope that Kevin Long might provide some leadership until at least Harlee Dean returns. This is because, technically proficient though Trusty and Sanderson might be, on the pitch they seem incapable of saying ‘boo’ to the proverbial goose.

In front of them the idea of flanking Krystian Beilik with Juninho Bacuna and Tahith Chong leaves us light on power and strength. The return of Hannibal Mejbri and maybe Jordan James or George Hall beckons. Certainl,y if he’s picked then Chong needs to play wide up front as part of a 4-4-3 formation or wide in a 4-4-2.

The bright spots, however, were the return of Scott Hogan and a very promising cameo from Reda Khadra, who came off the bench to score a consolation goal on his debut. It’s not yet time to press the panic button, but another defeat and…