Football Season Guide

Bristol City had a mediocre last season. They finished in eleventh place with the mid-table position guaranteed from very early in the campaign. The managerial change in November worked well enough and after his first half season in charge coach Manning was given the job permanently this summer. The main issue for the Robins last term was the lack of goals. They scored only 53 goals in 46 rounds. No team in the top 10 scored fewer than 68, even teams flirting with relegation outscored Bristol. Moves to address the lack of cutting edge were made this summer. The Robins spent substantial sums to add 2 new strikers to their ranks. Both Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong are young promising forwards, who know how to find the back of the net. This should improve the scoring record. Another exciting new signing is the Japanese winger Yu Harakawa. His speed and precise crossing should make him a handful for any defence in this division. All these moves give City hope that they will be scoring lots more goals this season. The main player to leave was veteran Matty James. He was influential when available but series of injuries meant that his impact was small and his departure was expected. Max Bird is seen as his replacement. He was signed last winter but spent the spring on loan at his ex-club. Now Bird is expected to form a solid partnership with Knight (both players were teammates at Derby just 12 months ago) in the heart of the midfield. The back line looks pretty much the same. City were solid defensively last season, had the fourth best defensive record in the division. If this is repeated and the forward players start scoring more goals the Robins would certainly be pushing for a play-off spot this season.