Ashton says he is surprised by the quality of applicants for the job. Surely there cant be anymore than 3-4 realistic candidates. Why have they not sorted interviews and appointed by now? Leads me to believe we are being sold a load of bull. The intention was to give it to Pemberton and its hard to believe they are interviewing anybody. Ashton is obviously our new head of propaganda.
Head of propaganda... hopefully, he is a bit more successful at it than Goebbels.... I somehow doubt that the likes of Pearson and Moyes, our 2 desired candidates have applied for the job as we would have presumably snapped them up without hesitation. Alternatively, if they have, it is likely that they have demanded that the coffers be opened which it is pretty clear, is not going to happen so we are going to be left with the rest.....
I heard Ashton being briefed on what to say in an interview (before the Boro game) by someone from Bristol Sport. So not sure he is the Head of Propaganda!!!
Somebody needs to ask SL direct what the f--k is going on at the gate. If he does not want to part with serious cash to change our situation then say so. If it is the boards intention to keep Pemberton then say so. Lets have some clarity and honesty from those in power.
100% agree,however pemberton is part of the old management team,needs replacing. However don't see it myself. All talk,the club should just come out and make a statement and say we will be announcing a new manager,or we are sticking with the Pembo,Elliott combination.
Each passing day makes me truly believe that Pemberton will get the job because nobody else is interested in coming to a dysfunctional club. We have proven time after time that we are incapable of making any decisions that make sense to anyone but the ill informed. The silence is killing us and with another loss today it appears to prove that we will not rectify any problems soon, and I want to scream at SL as to why he is unable to sort out his problems as opposed to hiding behind the usual grin because we haven't been graced with that scenario yet. I fear that we could be headed down the Stuart Pearce road and like many others I think that would be yet another wrong appointment that will bring us back to GO again. Honesty is not a common word heard around Ashton Gate and under this regime it is quickly becoming extinct so when we hired a new level of management in Ashton then my fears grew even worse and my belief that we are being fed bullshit grew even more. It's time to come out of the closet, or show your head above the sand, because the plot thickens and we're getting tired of this shambles of your making, so put your grin away and show City supporters who you really are, because without them City would be nothing. Are you listening Steve?
It is clear that the club is absolutely dead set on following through with the philosophy of only signing under 24's, primarily from the lower divisions because we think that we can afford this (but even that thinking is flawed). This failed before under SOD and SC came in and had to kick this into touch to keep us up. The following season, we signed a squad in this image which was good enough to win the division and went up however the same squad, with one permanent addition, is struggling at the next level. Now I know that we have played well in a lot of the games BUT, look were we are. The likes of Pearson and Moyes will not for one second entertain managing this club with one hand tied behind their back being limited in the players that they can sign. They will insist on coming here with autonomy and being able to sign who they want. If the club is going to insist on sticking rigidly to this plan, then we will end up with a league one standard yes man unable to attract any quality players and in all probability, we will be going down..
Depressing the whole lot it. We can all rant and rave but the reality is the club is full of incompetent idiots, end of.
I'm with you all the way Prem and the next manager won't be ideal, or even experienced at the level we supposedly wish to attain according to SL, and yet again we wake up and realise that Bristol City is a can't have club based solely on the untruths being fed us by our owner. My patience with Steve Lansdown has run out, and unless he faces the supporters and tells them exactly what his plans are (and I use plans in the loosest and most confusing way possible) he will disappear from the public radar altogether. League One awaits and I am starting to believe that SL wants us there so he can rearrange the lifeboats rather than save the ship. Not a clue and even less knowledgable on how football should be run.
We ALL know what the plan is Mike, it has been laid out for all to see for some time now and is in my previous post. Young and hungry under 24's only.... The problem is that it doesn't work at this level, you need your Wilbraham's and your Elliott's to guide the youngsters as whilst their game might be naturally good, it matures with game time and the right guidance. I do agree that SL needs to step in. He is the boss and has appointed people to perform certain roles but it is clear that given the above guidelines, we aren't going to be able to sign a decent manager or players... There are undoubtedly players in the lower leagues who are good enough to play at this level without having to be prepped or nursed but they cost money and we are trying to pick them up on the cheap and are damaging the clubs reputation with players and their agents in the process You can just hear it now. Bradley Dack to Zach Clough, what do you reckon about a move Zach...? Nah don't bother mate, they are cheapskates You know the old saying, if you want a job done properly.....
Just out of interest to everyone who wants a personal message from SL. I said it on an earlier thread, does Roman Abromovich make personal messages? Does the Glaziers? Does the Arsenal owners? No they don't and they have their own tv channels. So why in the ****inghell is Lansdown supposed to be any different? He makes more interviews than most and yet it still ain't good enough. Do you want him to send you birthday cards as well
Abromovich doesn't do messages, he just signs the best - actions speak louder than words in that example.... Here, the silence is deafening....
But with us going for Gray, Maguire, and Gayle at the beginning of the season showed intent and spoke what type we wanted. The Maguire deal was turned down but the other two choose not to come here. Not because the ghost of why Coppell left, they just choose other options. And in fairness not exactly the wrong options either. Like most things it would of taken the one to open the gate.
Oh come on. When we were in League One we signed Luke Freeman, Korey Smith, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Wade Elliott, Aaron Wilbraham and Kieron Agard, Karl Robinson called us the 'Galacticos of League One', we couldn't have got more Chelsea-like if we tried. This season, it's not gone well I will admit, but we're being linked with the best, we've put in a bid for a player which is over 4x our record transfer fee, which Lansdown paid for. Feel free to criticise Lansdown but criticising him from that standpoint is complete nonsense in my opinion.
We have but after the horse has bolted. We went for the best in league one,but we certainly did not go for a upgrade when moving up a league. It is biting us on the ass now.
I have to say that I have always been Steve Lansdown biggest fan, what he's done and what he's doing for the club we all love. I'm sure if we all had his sort of money we would love to do the same, like others have said, it's good to have someone that has that money and is doing for the club he loves.....I have full respect for that. I think the problem is, he's not employing the right people in the football world to orchestrate his dream, hence, so many mistakes with the running of the actual team affairs.......Sometimes pulling the strings himself, i.e David James etc, employing Millen, McInnes etc when he did. Not having that real football knowledge has been his Achilles heel. I know he has others within the board that are supposed to be doing that job, but I imagine he does have the final say on what goes on.. What we need are footballing people in making those decisions, am I asking for a director of football? I'm not sure. But I do feel that Steve does lack knowledge in this department.. I don't want Steve going anywhere as I believe in the LONG term, he is only doing good for the club. But I do believe, for the club to be aiming for heights of the premier league, he needs HELP.....and fast before he holds his hands up and says enough is enough. Going forward, If I was in Steve's shoes, I would have one last punt. A five year plan...Spend some money on a DECENT, well known, bin there done it all manager to come in, give him a fairly open cheque book AND GO FOR IT.... Just my thoughts
Nice one onefour and all it will take is for SL to hand over responsibility to the manager for team purchases, loans and selection and general footballing decisions. However I don't think that is his personal game plan and until he sees the errors of those ways nothing can or will change to head us in a proper direction. We've heard all about the 5 pillars and the new plan which will take us forward but the sad fact remains that we are in serious trouble unless someone takes the bull by the horns.
This season, it's not gone well I will admit Understatement of the century ! We are able to offer silly money for the Grays and Gayles safe in the knowledge that we wont be close to offering what matters most to players, and that is a big money salary.
