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Bristol City Fans Verdict: A Decent Point On The Road

How the Loyal Royals reacted to a first away point of 2023.

PA Images via Getty Images

The international break probably came at a good time for everybody’s mental health. The previous few weeks had been pretty tortuous and I think it was probably a good thing that we all had a fortnight off.

However, we were back to it on Saturday with a trip to Bristol City. It would be naive (and wrong) of me to say there was any form of confidence going into the game from us fans - but we came away with a point.

A point is better than none of course, but was it really a result that changes much in the grand scheme of things? Here’s how the fans reacted to the big talking points to come from the game.

Lucas Joao

Joao had a strong international break, grabbing his first goal for Angola, and Ince went on record to heap praise on the striker in a recent interview, saying “we all know what he’s capable of”. So, of course, Ince demoted him to the bench for the Bristol game.

The underuse of Joao has been nothing short of criminal in all honesty. On Saturday his benching bemused fans, before he caused Absolute Limbs™ with a key equaliser (and some major frustration after he messed up a huge chance to get all three points)...

Paul Ince and the performance

Like I said before, a point is better than none, and is probably better than any of us really expected going into the game. However, it doesn’t change anything in the grand scheme of things really and it definitely doesn’t look like it’s changed the fans’ opinion on Ince.

It was by no means a fantastic performance - the hosts had more than their fair share of chances to kill off the game before our equaliser - and there were some more questionable tactical decisions and post-match comments (as ever).

The fans are really starting to fear that with Ince at the helm, there is a serious chance of relegation...

Relegation

The points deduction has been ‘imminent’ for about three weeks now, but with Ince saying on Thursday that it should be coming very soon, and results going the way they did on Saturday, things are starting to look very bleak.

A six-point hit would take us to 20th, one point off relegation. Before Joao equalised, that deduction would have put Reading into the bottom three. With Huddersfield Town beating Middlesbrough on Saturday, us not exactly hitting form and having to play Wigan Athletic and the Terriers in the last two games of the season, the threat of relegation is real.

The fans are certainly getting concerned...

Conclusion

Essentially my overriding feeling is: yeah a decent result. But it’s just not quite enough. We need wins and we need them really, really quickly. We’re getting ourselves in a horrible position now and, with that six-point deduction coming, it’s only going to get worse.

The difference between this season and last season is that, at this stage of the season, we were all on the same page that we needed to stick together. However, this season, the majority of fans want Ince gone and want him gone now. That isn’t to say we won’t back the boys all the way come a Saturday afternoon, but the camaraderie of last season just isn’t there this season.

I think we need to realise that Ince is going nowhere and, love it or loathe it, we need to channel the same spirit we did last season to get us over the line. It’s going to be a tough end to the season.