Bristol City August Review: Reid’s form

With a two-week break from the Championship for internationals, this is a good time to review how all 24 teams have looked in their first five league games. Here’s our assessment of Bristol City.

What we said in pre-season

“Although Bristol City lost striker Tammy Abraham, they soon replaced him with their record signing, Famara Diedhou. Aden Flint leads at the back behind a midfield with underrated technical quality. If some tactical consistency is found, Marlon Pack and Jamie Paterson will shine in a top half finish. 12th“

Have they surprised us?

Their general performance levels have been close to what was expected. Their passing and movement has been at times excellent, but they’ve not sustained performance levels for long enough during games to win more than one in five.

The positives

Good starts. The Robins have scored five goals in the first half hour of matches, more than any other side. Bobby Reid has scored three of those goals, with four in total to his name. He could have scored more in the first away game of the season at Birmingham, where Bristol City were unfortunate in their only defeat to date.

The negatives

Lee Johnson’s side lost from a winning position in that match and throwing away leads has become a concerning trend. They have scored the first goal in four of their five league games, the same number as Cardiff, but only won one of them. A little more dynamism is needed in central midfield, too.

Late business

Luke Steele signs from Panathinaikos to provide competition for Frank Fielding, who has enjoyed a reasonable start to the campaign. Jonathan Leko adds to Bristol City’s promising wide options, which suggests Josh Brownhill could be moved inside.

The Football Lab’s Grade

An encouraging start, but they need to manage games better. C