Glenn has hit the nail right on the head. It clearly isn't SOD's decision. To be honest I doubt that any teams would have looked at JET if he didn't say this. The guy has only been here for four months. You usually don't sell your prize asset after four months, and you definitely don't try to buy someone based on less than half a season of good results. It's annoying that so many people on here are saying "OMG, the club wants to sell JET, SOD out!" when clearly SOD isn't the one pulling the strings in the transfer market. If Lansdown wants his money out, then I think he should just take it out and hand the club over, debt and all, to a fan consortium. Then the fans can put the club into administration and start selling our assets. We might hit League 2, but if it means that we're not owned by anyone we can start to rebuild without the insane debt our owner has put on us. At that level we might also be able to start using some of our academy prospects. A lot of talk is made about the debt, but Lansdown has had the club for many years now and it doesn't appear that he's made any effort towards monetising the club.
I think the right thing to do would be for Lansdown to level with the supporters of this club, and tell us where the land actually lies and what he intends to do about it. We are owed that much. If he does sell JET I think he will have a riot on his hands anyway. Why oh why did I get cursed with being a Bristol City supporter
Bollox to him sell sell sell, BCFC are not worthy of any talent, we're the ****e side that's languishes in the lower divisions...
Sod must be some character to want to manage the club,when he is being told we have to sell our best player. How the mighty have fallen. SoD must be mad wanting to manage this club he has been hung out to dry by the incompetent board. He has some bottle,if i was him i would say i do not need this **** you can keep it.
Fair play to SoD for coming within a 100 miles of his biggest stalker. I hear you changed job now to SoD's window cleaner, bin man post man and milkman. You do realise if you persist with this behaviour RR he will never let you sit on his knee at Christmas at the City Christmas party.
I have a feeling that many have misinterpreted the comment made by SO'D because he may have assumed that we would all understand where he is coming from. So here is my take on it, and before I list my reasons, I will also add that I am not his greatest fan by a long way. Firstly under the SCMP rules where we are only allowed to use a maximum of 60% of income on players wages. Thus an owner is not allowed to shovel money into the club in the same way that SL did between 2007-12. We have probably used the transfer fees received for Adomah and Davies to pay JET's wages. I say this because SO'D did not include JET in the list of five players who are paid 80% of our wages bill; Kilkenny, Elliott, Pearson, Baldock and J Wilson. I cannot believe that JET is being paid a miserly wage as prt of the remaining 20%! And now to the real nuts and bolts of what SO'D meant by his comment. As emphasised above, the owner of any League One / Two club cannot under the financial rules, just shovel money in for transfer fees and wages. So it is abundantly clear to me that any incoming transfer, signing on fees and wages that would take us above the 60% limit, have to be financed by sale or sales of current players. It is therefore, not rocket science to realise that our most saleable/valuable player is JET. The only others who might command a fee large enough to fund multiple replacements are Joe Bryan, Bobbie Reid and perhaps Elliot Parrish. Until we get a successful team, playing in front of significantly larger gates and in the Championship, we have to accept that we will probably have to sell at least one player a season, to help fund the rebuilding that is so desperately needed. So I think SO'D got the message right, but in totally the wrong context.
Indeed, but going from feast to famine has seen us plumb the depths of Division 3 and struggle to get points on the board by making us play with make do's. I'm bored with saying it, but this is just yet more bad decision making at the top.
Agreed - we are now paying for mistakes made in the past - at least now they are doing something about it, but will take time (and the medicine is not nice!)
But are they? At the moment, all they're really doing is limiting our spending. This has been happening for a number of years, and to be honest, I think it'll happen until the club can sustain itself. From what I can see, the club still isn't anywhere near being able to sustain itself. Even now, with a limited budget, it sounds like Lansdown still needs to cut back because the club just isn't making enough money. The real issue shouldn't be why we need to sell certain players, but why the hell aren't we earning enough money to sustain ourselves, especially after all the time playing in the Championship. Why haven't attendances risen over these past ten years, why do we still have a piss-poor excuse for a website and online booking system when we live in a city with some great design/tech talent? Why are we ditching Ashton Vale? Why did Coppell really leave? Look at nearly every problem with the club, and it can be traced back to the board. Many will disagree, but I don't think GJ, Coppell, Millen, McInnes, or SOD are responsible for our poor form at all.
I rather suspect that JEt took a pay cut to come here and try and rebuild his career which has been patchy so far so I somehow doubt he is on huge wages (relatively speaking)... As for some of the flack directed at "Lansdown" on here, I strongly suspect that SL would NOT be looking at spending £10's of millions on either Ashton Vale or re-developing AG if he was going to leave the club in the lurch. He always said that he will not be the one responsible for leaving the club broke so if he IS going to walk away, I suspect it will be with a self sustaining budget (where we are headed now) and a brand new shiny stadium (which has ALWAYS been the plan).. Or have people forgotten that...?
