Bristol City risk becoming nearly team as Robins left scratching their head after QPR draw

I'm writing this on Sunday morning and I still do not know how we did not come away with three points against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday!

It was a game we dominated from minute one, playing some good football and yet our lack of cutting edge and poor decisions both offensively and defensively have cost us the win. That’s two games on the bounce, we have thrown away two points and those extra points would have seen us in eighth place and only three points off sixth.

Of course, this is all a bit "if my aunty was my uncle", but we aren’t going to be anything other than a midtable Championship side if we do not improve those decision-making elements. Frustrating is becoming the buzzword of this Bristol City side.

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It’s easy to criticise the head coach Liam Manning, but I agree with him that he and his coaching team can’t do the last bit for the players and put the ball in the net. I’ve lost count of how many times this season we have dominated the ball, created good openings but failed with the final quality moment. Players are not showing the composure and clinical edge that is needed at the attacking end of the pitch often enough, and we are switching off or making poor decisions at the other end.

Liam Manning opted to start George Earthy ahead of Marcus McGuane, with the West Ham loanee given the chance to impress as a number 10. There was also a recall for Nahki Wells in for Sinclair Armstrong, who we found out in the pre-match press conference was ruled out with an unspecified injury, what’s the bets on another hamstring injury? Ross McCrorie was named as one of the substitutes and it’s great to have him back for the busy Christmas period. It just seems as though when we get one player back we lose another.

We got at Marti Cifuentes’ side from the start and Anis Mehmeti was unlucky to see his shot in the second minute hit the upright. We created lots of good openings, but I could copy and paste from previous columns that our final cross or our final through ball was not good enough or played at the right time.

There was, as there has often been this season, so much to enjoy about the way we played in the first half and even across the 90 minutes but fans, as I think Manning himself is, are becoming frustrated with being a nearly side. It can’t just be a positive performance playing attractive football, it also has to be about the result and the three points. It’s a balance that must be achieved. I have watched some rubbish over the years and some of that has been while winning games. I genuinely go to games now expecting to be entertained and enjoy what I am watching but I don’t want to just be a mid-table team.

It’s easy to say how poor QPR were but credit must go to us and the way that we played. We were energetic and for me, Earthy set the tone. He is going to be some player in the future.

Of the two goals, it was a great decision to make the change when we did, and Scott Twine showed his dead-ball prowess with a brilliantly executed free kick. Rangers’ goalkeeper Paul Nardi could only watch as the ball flew past him into the top corner. That should have been enough to see us go on and get all three points, but a moment of madness cost us.

Max O’Leary will quite rightly come under scrutiny for his rush of blood in the 65th minute and whilst QPR’s Smyth still had work to do, O’Leary’s poor decision gave him the opportunity to get his side back into a game, a game that in truth should have been long out of sight for them.

Leading 1-0 and taking a corner, you have to question why we had so many in the QPR box. Cameron Pring is often our last man due to his pace but when his poorly executed header was intercepted, one simple ball left us completely exposed. Max got his decision wrong and even when it looked like he might lose out in the foot race, he opted not to make a challenge and that made it easier for Smyth. Could Max have gone to ground and tried to tackle Smyth? Instead, he pulled out and gave him the chance to take the shot.

It was a massive body blow and is another high-profile mistake from Max which cost us points. The sad truth is that when a keeper makes a mistake it is amplified. Max has made a number of point-saving stops this season, but they get quickly forgotten about when he makes a mistake. Personally, and I have said it before, I don’t feel the competition we have in Stefan Bajic and Lewis Thomas is strong enough to keep Max on his toes. We need stronger competition to challenge him.

Dan Bentley was excellent at times for us but when his levels dropped Max was brought in. It doesn’t feel from the outside that Liam Manning, Pat Mountain and the coaching team, think Bajic or Thomas are better than Max even when he has made mistakes. All that said, I don’t expect us to do anything about it during the January transfer window. I don’t think we will do any business in the window.

We are so nearly there but it is those final moments that make the difference between where we are and where we want to get to. “Frustrating!"

I want to give a shout-out to Chris Bradfield, Neil Palmer and the team at Art4fans for their latest project, a mural depicting six "Goal makers and Ace Striker" from the 1950s to the 1990s. Local artist Andy Colwell’s latest artwork features former Bristol City strikers Jimmy Rogers, Jantzen Derrick, John Galley, Tom Ritchie, Alan Walsh and Bob Taylor. The mural can be found on the building next to the Coopers Arms and below it is displayed a list of contributors who, by their generosity, have enabled the murals to be produced.

Our 3 Peaps In A PodCast player ratings were Max O’Leary 5, Zak Vyner 6, Luke McNally 7, Rob Dickie 6, Cameron Pring 5.5, Jason Knight 6, Max Bird 5.5, Yu Hirakawa 5.5, George Earthy 7 *MotM, Anis Mehmeti 6 and Nahki Wells 6.

For the substitutes who must play a minimum of 20 minutes (including injury time), we went Scott Twine 6.5. A game average player rating of 6. That’s an overall season-to-date average player rating of 6.24. For Liam Manning, it was 5.5.

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