Debut for Dele ends in defeat

So the transfer window has finally closed after a month of mass speculation surrounding Bristol City, linking the club with players from Scotland to Turkey. During the month many names were mentioned by journalists locally and nationally, with the majority of the players being strikers or attacking midfielders. In the end their rumours were proved correct as we signed attacking midfielder Nick Carle from Genclerbiligi and striker Dele Adebola from Championship rivals Coventry City. As is commonplace in the game now, the fees paid for both players were undisclosed, but speculation suggests the club forked out £500,000 on Carle and £250,000 for the services of 32-year-old Adebola.

The signing of Adebola, or at least that type of player (a target man), was always on the cards after City accepted a bid from Leeds United last week, for striker Enoch Showumni. He ultimately declined to talk to Leeds and stated his intention to fight for his place. Yet he found himself sitting in the stands last week against Blackpool as Johnson stated publicly he felt the move would be good for Showumni.

Deadline day was fairly quiet for City as Johnson seemed satisfied with his two new signings, but there was still business to be done with outgoing players, as Kevin Betsy headed to Walsall on a month’s loan and Jennison Myrie-Williams extended his loan with Tranmere until the end of the season. Alex Russell also extended his loan with League One local rivals Cheltenham Town and Showumni finally left for Sheffield Wednesday on a month’s loan. This deal was inevitable, as the day beforehand Johnson had made clear in an interview that he had signed Adebola because the strikers already at the club lacked that physical presence.

In a more intimate interview on Friday, Gary said how he had tried to turn Showumni into a target man, but the Nigerian striker still considered his role to be someone who plays off of someone like Dele. With Steve Brooker still on loan at Cheltenham but likely to return in the near future, Showumni’s time at City looks at an end with his contract set to expire in the summer. To me he has always offered us a strong presence up front, but he lacks good ball control and, for a player of his size, he is very poor in the air on many occasions. It is clear Johnson is looking to trim the squad of players unlikely to cope with the demands of the Championship, and as he always says when discussing possible new signings: "We will only bring players in who enhance our squad."

On Saturday we faced QPR, a side totally transformed from the side we hosted on the opening day of the season, a game which finished 2-2. Since then the club has had three new major shareholders in Formula One tycoons Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, worth an estimated £15billion and the world’s fifth richest man.

Going into the game I was confident that we could hopefully collect all three points as QPR had signed many players in January. I thought it might take them time to gel; sadly this was not the case as they stormed into a 2-0 lead by half-time with a brace from new signing Patrick Agyemang. In the second half, we improved and we were starting to dominate, but just couldn’t find a way back into the game. Then against the run of play, the home side scored a third through Akos Buzsaky. Adebola saw an effort hit the post late on and his rebound also hit the woodwork. It was clear that it wasn’t going to be our day and it proved the case.

Next up is Sheffield Wednesday at home, in a game we will expect to win. Judging by the manager’s comments after Saturday’s game, the players have a point to prove and hopefully Dele can be convinced that he has made the right move.

ANDY DAVIES

Johnson refuses to discuss new signings

The January transfer window closes this week and much of the talk surrounding City is whether we will bring in a new striker to shake things up. Goals from our forwards have been in short supply this season with £1million summer signing Lee Trundle only finding the net three times, and Darren Byfield scoring eight goals.

With Steve Brooker out on loan to Cheltenham Town in a bid to regain his match fitness, and Enoch Showumni out of the picture after City accepted an undisclosed bid from Leeds United, (even though he turned down the offer) it is clear we need more options. Gary Johnson has since publicly stated he thinks Showumni should have taken the offer so with his contract up at the end of the season, it doesn’t look likely that it will be renewed.

Some could argue we should start fielding younger players like Tristan Plummer but we need a striker who is capable of holding the ball up front and letting Byfield or Trundle play alongside the target man. Rumours have been circulating for a couple of weeks now with many names mentioned including Coventry’s Dele Adebola and Celtic’s Derek Riordan, neither of which looks likely.

On the subject of new signings, Johnson has always remained tight-lipped about any targets he has, to prevent other clubs being alerted of their availability and to remain respectful to the players who have already taken us so far this season. Gary is in a tricky position as a new signing could bring more goals or upset the tremendous team spirit at the club already.

His only signing of the window so far, Nick Carle, made his home debut on Saturday and to me he looks absolute class. The Australian has a fantastic awareness of the game and is more than comfortable using both his feet, so this is encouraging and he can also play an attacking role if needed. At £500,000 he looks an absolute steal and will surely add quality to the squad. He could surely play at a higher level.

On Saturday we faced Blackpool after a run of two games without a win, so it was important we secured all three points. With the majority of the teams in the Championship competing in the FA Cup, a win would send us top, level on points with West Brom. An early goal from Marvin Elliot sent us on our way to a 1-0 victory and three precious points. Again we failed to score more goals as we were wasteful with our chances and this made for a nervy finale with Blackpool hitting the crossbar and forcing goalkeeper Adriano Basso to make some good saves.

Encouragingly City defended very well without both our regular centre backs Louis Carey and Liam Fontaine, with proves our defence has strength in depth. We are gradually getting to the business end of the season where it is only the results that matter, and hopefully we will still be up near the top in May. So far this has been an incredible season, which has exceded all my expectations, and there is no reason why our current squad can’t take us into the Premier League.

Although I might say different in my next blog if we lose to QPR and haven’t signed anyone!

ANDY DAVIES