Basso for England?

When an unknown Brazilian keeper called Adriano Basso arrived at Ashton Gate from Conference side Woking in late 2005, many City fans questioned the signing. With Steve Phillips still between the posts, having seen off competition from endless loan signings, I thought the same ending was likely to happen in this case. How wrong I was.

Two and half seasons later and Basso has established himself as a first team regular and Phillips, who couldn’t handle the rejection, headed down the road to Rovers. After two fantastic seasons being our number one keeper, Basso now has aspirations of playing for England or his native Brazil. He now holds a British passport after being in the country for five years and at 32 years of age, he still has a realistic chance of fulfilling his dream. I certainly believe he has the ability to do this. In my opinion he is a far better goalkeeper than the likes of Paul Robinson, whose mistakes have cost England dear in the past. With David James still performing well but his age a concern for many, I think Basso is definitely a capable replacement.

Last week, Basso received the PFA Championship Player of the Month award for March, and it was a well deserved accolade as he saved two penalties over the course of the month, and made countless saves. It is a far cry from the player who arrived nearly three years ago who I thought was nowhere near as good as Phillips. For starters, his goal kicking was abysmal as he struggled to get the ball over the half way line, but I am glad to say this has since improved and it is only on rare occasions that one of his kicks will put hearts in mouths. I was also a bit wary of his shot stopping ability, which was one Phillips’s best assets. However the Brazilian has proven me wrong and I am glad he has.

After looking at Basso and Phillips, the ability and attitudes towards football could not be more different. It is clear Adriano understands football is a team game and on the odd occasion when he has lost his place to Chris Weale, he has accepted it. Phillips on the other hand will throw his toys out of the pram and blame every other player around him before he even contemplates whether he made a mistake. This was demonstrated in one of his last appearances in a City shirt when Phillips failed to save a free kick aimed straight at him, against Notts County in the FA Cup. County, who were a league below us, beat us 2-0 at home and Steve blamed the goal on the new ball which had been introduced specifically for the competition.

Since that day, the two goalkeepers have seen their careers go in opposite directions and it is no surprise to me to see why. Basso’s attitude, along with that of the rest of the City squad, is fantastic and that is one of the main reasons we find ourselves in the position we are. The players will work for one another and are pleased to see another team mate do well, even if it means they have to sit on the bench and watch the game. It is a team spirit I hope will not be ruined if we managed to win promotion and see half of the squad replaced with new players. But I don’t think Gary Johnson would let that happen.

If City can reach the Premier League, surely Basso would stand a great chance of gaining his first international cap whether it is with England or Brazil? To me, there is no better goalkeeper in the Football League and we were very lucky to find him. So what do the rest of you City fans think, could Basso play for England?

ANDY DAVIES

Top of the table encounter ends in stalemate

It was billed as City’s biggest game of the season and it certainly was. The game against Watford on Tuesday night was perhaps one of the biggest games for City since they last won promotion to the top flight over 30 years ago. And for the first time this season, football fans in Bristol realised what was at stake as the game was a complete sell-out with 19,000 fans anticipating a titanic encounter. I have said in previous articles about the lack of full houses at Ashton Gate and after last night’s sell-out, it really does show what a difference a full stadium makes.

The atmosphere was electric and the players certainly responded to the occasion with tackles flying in and the two dugouts also seeing plenty of action involved in the fiery arguments. Although I may be biased, from my position just behind the away dug out, it seemed as Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd failed to control his players and staff as they became involved in arguments with Gary Johnson. But tempers reaching boiling point is hardly surprising, given the occasion and importance of the game.

The match itself was not the prettiest of encounters with the ball often in the air and with the windy conditions, both sides failed to make much of an impact. Marvin Elliot going close with two shots well saved by Watford goalkeeper Jordan Stewart was as close as City came to scoring but the Hornets had the best chance of the half to score when McIndoe was adjudged to have brought down Tommy Smith in the box. Darius Henderson stepped up to take the penalty, but Ashton Gate erupted when Adriano Basso’s right-hand palmed the ball to safety and he later thanked God for his help in making the save. Perhaps another ‘Hand of God’ scenario? That save could prove crucial as we struggled to break through the Watford defence and I doubt we would have equalised had Henderson found the net.

Lee Johnson was substituted at half time after suffering an injury from a challenge by striker Henderson and City missed their instrumental playmaker in the second half. Lee Johnson, has since he arrived at Ashton Gate last season, been subjected to unfair criticism from some sections of City fans who have failed to realise the importance of his job in midfield. As he is Gary’s son, he can be an easy target for many fans criticising his ability hold onto the ball and tackle an opponent. However, hopefully after his absence in the second-half, these fans will realise what an important player he is to the team. He may not make the most challenges, but this is not necessary when he has ‘marvellous’ Marvin Elliot alongside him, who has been a revelation since arriving from Millwall in the summer, to tackle the opposition. Johnson's role is to help keep the game moving with his quick passing and it was easy to see the ball becoming stuck in the midfield after his departure. But he may have won over some his critics as he was given a standing ovation by the Atyeo Stand as he headed for the dressing room. Hopefully, he will make a quick recovery and play some part in the Westcountry derby against Plymouth.

Tuesday’s draw with Watford is City’s third in a row so a win on Saturday is crucial if we want to remain at the top, but we are now eight games unbeaten so the players should be full of confidence. Saturday also sees Stoke host Watford, so City really do have a chance to move away from the chasing pack, so we have every chance of being top come 5pm on Saturday night.

ANDY DAVIES

'Boom boom' McCombe steals a point

For the first time this season Bristol City had the opportunity to go top of the Championship and stay there on Monday night. Although Gary Johnson’s team have reached the summit on a number of occasions this season, we always seem to be knocked off the top within hours due to a late kick off, usually involving Watford or West Brom. However, on a freezing cold Monday night against Neil Warnock’s Crystal Palace side we had the chance to sit top of the pile. Sadly as most City fans and others fans will know, having watched it live on TV, we failed. Many Championship supporters will however look at our position and say ‘we should be happy where we are’, but are we really satisfied?

At the beginning of the season, all the talk and expectation on fans forums were of staying up or perhaps finishing in mid-table. Some cheeky supporters said we should even push for a play-off spot but many of us were quick to stress survival was the priority. If someone had told me at the start of the season that we would be third in the league, only one point behind the leaders and with a real chance at promotion, I would have called for the men in the big white coats to take them away. Since I have been supporting City, which is for over 15 years now, there has always been an expectation, certainly when were in League One, that we were a big club and deserved better. Which is why for many years, under the likes of Danny Wilson and Brian Tinnion, that we failed in numerous promotion attempts – because of the attitude of some of our players.

Under the guidance of manager Gary Johnson, who has built a fantastic team spirit at the club, we are finally achieving what most fans expect. Now we are in the Championship that expectation, I think, has disappeared. The fans are just happy to be playing bigger teams again and travelling to brand new stadiums like the Ricoh Arena. There is a buzz around the club and this has rubbed off on the players. They are able to play with a freedom, even more so now given that we have virtually retained our status as a Championship club for next season. But we now found ourselves in a position of being in touching distance of the promise land and the question is: Do we go for it?

We have seen many clubs go up to the Premiership, spend a fortune and come down a broken club. Under the guidance of Johnson and wise chairman Steve Lansdown I doubt this would happen and I hope many other City fans would agree. For instance, if we were relegated after only one season we would bank at least £50 million and a further £30 million from parachute payments. Who wouldn’t want to go up? Take Watford for example, they managed two years ago to gain promotion and although they failed in their quest to stay up, they have returned to the Championship a much richer and bigger club.

Anyway, back to Monday’s game. After two straight wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Scunthorpe, confidence was high. I expected three points as our home form has been fantastic this season and Crystal Palace had not won a game since they had beaten us 2-0 in January. Revenge must have been on the minds of the players and I hoped for a good game of football. Unfortunately, Palace seemed intent on hitting the ball long and direct at every opportunity, and we were unable to get our passing game going.

It was a poor first half with the best chance for City going to Nick Carle who shot just wide. Palace improved in the second half and scored with a fine half volley from Lee Hills after 60 minutes. City were awarded a penalty with just five minutes to go after a foul on Darren Byfield. Bradley Orr stepped up to take the penalty, confident after scoring two previous penalties, unfortunately his effort and rebound were saved but in the last minute of injury time Jamie McCombe rescued a point with a bullet header from a corner.

On many occasions this season we have scored late goals to either rescue a point or win the game. With just 13 games left the league is very tight and with Stoke City now leading the way it looks to be a four-horse race for who will gain the two automatic spots. I’m sure City can achieve the play-offs and maybe automatic promotion. As Adriano Basso says, "Always believe."

ANDY DAVIES