Ashton, Sexstone, Rance and every other puppet that has been employed as the mouthpiece for this club all come out with the same clever spiel or spin on what will happen in the future. But what is said never comes to fruition. His first utterings include a statement that we would be surprised at the quality of the applicants. Well, what would surprise me is that we actually appoint someone who is proven at the level and who will keep us up and make some real progress next season. But don't hold your breath fellow City fans as you could die of self asphyxiation.
If I was a betting man and thought there was some legs in this I would whack a few quid on the 33-1 sites quickly.
Five year plan - exactly. Everyone wants success overnight but we've tried the short term fixes before and they never work out. The club needs stability and a plan. We've set our stall out regarding the type of young hungry players we want. I will take this over journeymen any day of the week. The issue right now is do you try and throw money around today to stay in this league, with no guarantee of success, or do you stay the course and build a solid future foundation? None of us want to be relegated but the shouting will be worse if we go for the short term play and it fails...... The days of the open cheque book are gone....FPP has been brought in to stop this and allowing clubs to spend beyond their reach and then go into administration and screw their creditors, including their playing and non-playing staff. We're in a tricky spot right now.
How many 5 year plans does a football club need? When Ashton Vale was the buzzword and the dream we had a plan then that included something called the Premier League and I strongly believe that we lost our way completely around the same time. A strong business plan is all very well and good as long as you have thought it through and decided that you will not wander off the path. I have heard and read many words coming from the top of our food chain, even if they become diluted or lost in translation somewhere down the confusing and questionable chain of command, that bear little or no resemblance to the solutions for the problems at hand. This year is it for me because I really can't see SL changing his stripes anytime soon and although I empathise with anybody trying to operate a football club in today's money grabbing world, nonetheless I expect more from Bristol City that basically we have been told we can't have. Greed will always overtake the slow to react crowd every day, and unfortunately I think we have long since missed the boat and our new mooring may not sit well with many.
You don't really mean that Mike. You're as long suffering as many of us but you know deep down that you can't walk away from City. I just hope that SL doesn't think the same as you right now. Where would that leave us........creek & paddle comes to mind!
Probably because you need the stadia to go with the title to play in the prem. When the nimby's won they pushed the dream back. What people forget is that we was one of the only teams not to have corporate boxes that sponsorships love. They generate great income and help sustain the clubs finances. As to getting this player and that player blaming SL for not or buying certain players, people forget that until the club can stand on its feet then the wage bill falls to SL to also pay. So in theory he pays 9 million for a player out of his pocket then he pays 20k a week in wages out of his pocket. So having a wage cap in his eyes is a pretty good idea. Plus this season we are operating on 3/4 capacity so finances can't be improved so in the summer they decided if we are restricted we can only have a wage bill to x. Next season is different and the income could go up massively but until then we have to rely on SL (or anybody else who is in charge) at the time, which going on our history has never been someone to chuck money in like SL has. We could of had someone like Higgs or that sort of calibre of wealth running our club. My step father is a gashead and refuses to go when they are in that league, in theory if 2-4 thousand have that attitude then they restrict the income which restricts the wages which restricts the players. So in reality if we go down and people refuse to support then the club won't reach any sustainability to compete. So when you sit there complaining about this and that, try to think without SL where would any money come from because when we was last in the championship we was only averaging 18-19k a game so the fans couldn't even be bothered to fill the ground.
It's the age old question as to what comes first - the chicken or the egg. The right decisions need to be made this time around or City may lose some of their supporter base who are just fed up. So what's the option, to get in an overseas investor who comes from a culture totally foreign to footballing sense and who often use different to those who abide by the rules no matter what, and I would include SL in the upper class of owners, when it comes to integrity, and yet I wonder if there is more he could do to get us out of our current predicament? The stadium will be a thing of beauty when finally complete and I just hope things can be turned around by making the right critical decisions to take us forward. My concern is that our past record of poor decisions may come our way again and we languish in the dark with many unanswered questions
Sure I heard SL say on radio brizz once that he has never made a bad decision, its just that some are more successful than others.
ROD commented Probably because you need the stadia to go with the title to play in the prem. When .................... ................ when you sit there complaining about this and that, try to think without SL where would any money come from because when we was last in the championship we was only averaging 18-19k a game so the fans couldn't even be bothered to fill the ground. Pretty much sums it up, AND WOULD CONCUR to many are taking the cheap way out and blaming SL... we do not really know and unlikely to know why SC went the last game result may not have been the total reason . more like the dialogue that that occurred and followed it was a mitigating factor. AND transfer list was depleted .............. W E WILL JUST HAVE TO W A I T and SEE what happens this week .. ..Thursday!
I would have though Leicester fans were fairly happy with their foreign owners and management at the moment...
How did Bournemouth find their way to the Prem with a 12k ground I wonder? They have a wealthy owner whose plan was to invest in a good team first, then upgrade the ground AFTER they got the club where they wanted it.
Whichever way round, they've achieved what we just don't appear to be capable of. They've invested and backed a young and talented Manager and have bought in the right players. They are a joy to watch and aren't afraid of anyone. I never thought I'd see them in the top flight but fair play to them !!
It seems to me that we are, in the first 11, maybe 3 players away from doing quite well. First and for most we need someone who is talented at putting the ball in the net. Extra quality and a physical presence in midfield and experience in defence are also required, but our biggest problem this season has been scoring the goals, and our lack of a regular, Championship quality goalscorer. With these 3 elements in place I think the negative vibe would change. Getting them of course is our biggest problem, and a reality check for anyone who kids themselves that we are 'sleeping giants'. Getting in a Svengali-type manager and giving him the funds when he asks for them (at least short term) would maybe by-pass our inability to attract more hi-profile players
