Who do you blame for our relagation to league one- Sorry guys forgot to add the players to the list,should be there. But the question relates to people that make the decisions.
I blame 1) the fans (many not all) for expecting too much the season after we reached the play off final 2) the board for changing their plans and trying to make the prem, succumbing to the fans We should have been happy with consolidation in the Championship for 3-4 seasons The order above could be reversed
I would answer the question but I don't know who 'Shaun O'Drisscoll' and 'Derrick Mciness' are? Was this thread composed by an 8 year old?
Agreeing with big John... how do the players get off Scott free? The truth would be all of the above, sod least of all
I might get moaned at by some supporters on here for criticising your loved ones but getting it off my chest. I blame the board for the way they have ran the club as in my opinion it has been wrong since Danny Wilson left (even though we got promoted in the time since). Under Wilson city improved their league position EVERY year up to runner up in playoffs and the board then let him go, if he kept up his record we would have been promoted the following year. under his time we also had success going to finals and winning trophies even if people see them as mickey mouse competitions. Also Wilson started bringing youngsters through and just before he was let go started looking around other clubs to bring in talented youngsters. Steven Gillespie was one who when arrived scored 6 goals in his first 2 reserve games but under new management after wilson went failed to make the first team. When the board removed Wilson they went with the cheap option in Tinnion and with no previous experience and too much of a nice guy it was a failure. Again City went with a cheap option of bringing a lower league manager in Johnson who had the worse start as manager the club has ever seen and it was a shock that he wasnt sacked. on paper it worked out as we won promotion but under his time all our youngsters were sold or released and Johnson favoured more experience players like Adebola, Stern John, Byfield, Trundle. His goal was short term not long term success. I know everyone on here says he was he best manager since Dicks but cant see how he was just on the basis of he got us promoted and then cocked it up in the playoffs by changing the whole team when Orr went off rather than bringing a defender on for a defender. John Ward got us promoted under his management which fans forget but never gets any credit like Johnson did. Under Coppell it was seen as a statement from the board which guess we will never know the exact facts but Coppell said in an interview that the board lied when bringing him to the club and went back on promises so he left. Board again went back to the cheap option of promoting Millen which again failed, after that the board went with a little unknown scottish manager and the gamble again didnt pay off. The announcement of SOD was what us the fans wanted given what he has done at other clubs but cant think any fans would have expected the negative tactics we have seen. Under Danny Wilson his biggest mistake was leaving out Lita in the playoff final and instead going with experience, looks like SOD has made the same mistake of letting the youngsters go out on loan and keeping faith with the players who got us in this mess. People go on about how we should be grateful to have SL but it has also been a curse, which has at times restricted and has got us in to finanical mess because it has been run badly. again great that he has paid our debt but it is a loan so we as a club will still have to pay the money back. The current big loses have been blamed on the cost of the ashton vale project which is madness given that if it goes ahead the club wont own it so why do we take on the costs in the mean time. Like clubs like Man Utd it appears we are taking on the owners debt. I heard this week a fan on the radio who said that the reason for our failure this season was that the board did not give McInnes any funds to buy players which is rubbish, including loans he brought in 15 players and spent about £2.5million on 3 of those players. Maybe if we hadnt bought Baldock and instead spent the £1.6m on two centre defenders maybe things could have been different.
I voted for the Board and owner but the real culprits are the players who have steadfastly refused to perform for Johnson in his latter days, Millen twice, McInnes and now O'Driscoll. Can't include Coppell as he was only here for two matches. And still some posters want these wasters to be here next season. As for Andyandy's post I agree with about 90%. My only disagreements are; Wilson like too many other managers in football, was too negative at important times - lose to Brighton 4-5 in a thriller and we would have come away happy that we went for it. By not playing Lita, he proved to me that the Club did not want promotion at that time! Johnson's penchant for older incoming players at high wages started the downhill slide and it started the financial losses that have continued until now. £1 million for Trundle and high wages for the others was like setting off on the Crest run without a brake on the bloody toboggan. McInnes failure to bring in a couple of central defenders when he knew that it was a massive priority was a crucial matter - but did the owner refuse him the money to sign them? I suspect the Baldock deal was brokered because West Ham could not or did not want to cough up the balance for the vastly over-rated Maynard. Even SO'D has defiantly refused to use any of the under 21's like Bryan, Reid and Burns, so at present he is behaving exactly like many other managers in football, who seem to have this fear of allowing young emerging players to be playing in a relegation threatened team. How refreshing to see Paul Lambert at Villa introducing young blood with the backing of the owner and the FANS. YET SO'D has sent Joe Bryan on loan to Plymouth Argyle who are in the middle of an almighty scrap with half a dozen other teams at the bottom of League Two! SO'D speak with forked tongue, me think.
Danny Wilson talks a fantastic game but rarely gets the job done and I think the only time I ever saw him get excited about us scoring was when Christian Roberts scored that last gasp winner against Hartlepool. He is football's perenial "nearly" man and the Brighton debacle was the last straw and it was time for someone else to have a turn... As for Gary Johnson, the situation when he arrived is not dissimilar to where we are now but back then, the players had taken over the club. The well known spate with Marcus led to the infamous "hand grenade" being thrown in the dressing room resulting in the 7 losses. At this point, that didn't matter so much as Johnson was bought in to restore order and the reason he didn't get the sack was because it was a battle of wills to show who was boss. Johnson won and restored discipline and unity to the dressing room and we all moved forward together for a while. Then, he wouldn't sign better quality players who would question his judgement, he wanted yes men only. When he did finally got some in (Hartley, Sno, etc), they obviously critised his methods and it was only a matter of time from that point onwards... As for the rest, managers come and go but the one common denominator throughout the piece is the players who we all know CAN do it when they put their mind to it so, draw your own conclusions...
Steve Lansdown. The club has gone from well run to making huge losses whioch have seen other clubs crash serioulsy in a short period of time. The club has lost direction and a bigger picture it became spend, spend, employ and spend. The board has been largely replaced since Mr Lansdown has take total control of BCFC. The board also are employed by Steve Lansdown and spending on salaries at boardroom level has increased. The first team is a symptom of the above. A club has not been built it is a load of mercaneries just here for money and as more money gets spent the team gets worse. O'drsicoll is right there should be BCFC way of playing from youth teams up and it cant happen if you get new managers, new ways and players in every season. European teams also build from the bottom up and think long term again can't happen at city due to constant changes in ideas e.g Mcinnes seemingly not knowing what side he wanted to build. City might have been in a better place if Steve Lansdown was not its owner as clubs spending far less have done far more at this level, far far more!! That sounds really harsh BUT BCFC and ashton gate does generate enough money for a championship team without racking up massive losses. Other clubs have done it. Different clubs, different ways but Blackpool, Burnley, Barnsley, Millwall and Swansea have spent less. I also think Steve Lansdown in putting money into the academy and employing Sean O'driscoll is doing the right thing. Spending should be massively reduced its madness spending £2.50 when City only get a quid in. This in time should go towards creating a properly functioning club instead of something that relies entirely on Steve Lansdowns wealth. The picture regarding BCFC, Ashton Gate - Ashton Vale and Bristol sport does i think want clarifying.
Its way too simple to just blame one of the options, they have ALL contributed to our downfall.. The final nail for us was our inability to compete financially for quality defenders, We all knew we needed them, so made a queue of them. (Keogh, Gerrard, Monk) We couldn't get any of the deals over the line due to money. This is a competitive league and if you want to compete in it you have to spend the money for the best players in that division! its all very well harping on about FFP, but other clubs are paying these players the rate and they get the players! We get relegated. If anyone says we don't have the fanbase to sustain the FFP we need for those type of signings, you only need to look at the potential we had under Gary Johnson, even 19.2k against Sheff Weds 2 weeks ago goes to show there is an underlying desire for high level football in Bristol, too many false dawns have dented the ambitions of the Bristol public, outside of the core 12k support, you hear the same complaints! "I seen it all before, I've heard it all before" Before the season tickets went on sale last year the board were telling us " we are ambitious we are looking at promotion this year" We all bought our ST's and then were told weeks later, " We cant afford to keep paying these wages, We have to cut the cloth" You can only mug people off so many times, even the most loyal of all see through it eventually!! For me, We have 2 choices, heavy financial backing and we 'buy; our way to the highest level we can.. or, Smaller finance, find the local gems and get the academy right, and give a manager some real time to have an effect on the club. Most fans will pay lip service to the second option and proclaim it as the way to go, unfortunately in reality. MOST fans just don't have the patience..
I blame DM, the players and the board - SoD inherited an impossible position What's done is done - lets look forward
Steve Lansdown and the board No common sense applied over too many years equals our current fiasco of a situation. Players and managers come and go, he has been the constant
I would disagree with your view in quality defenders as the club can compete financially because BCFC has been outspending clubs have done better with less. Blackpool and Burnley have been promoted spending less. You have to spend money smartily not employ Jodie Morris and David james etc. Not spending smart, and not employing smart then making it up as the club went backwards comes down to Steve Lansdown. Steve Lansdown was trying to buy success and there was a massive increase in spendinf from 2008 onwards and the result is a club in worse position in the league. Swansea City had a long term plan. Hopefully now City will too.
David James had been released by the start of this season when we were desperately trying to get Defenders in ? No excuses there. Jody morris turned out to be a waste of money but we seemed to have replicated the same mistake with Brian Howard? Your point is valid but that wasn't really the point I was trying to make in my post..
All these clubs bought players with potential on the cheap. Blackpool had Charlie Adam who was unwanted at Rangers. Burnley brought Chris Eagles in from Man Utd and Swansea bought in players like Sinclair from Chelsea. Even now Blackpool have brought in players like Thomas Ince from Liverpool. This seems to be the way to go to buy up youngsters from the top clubs who just miss the cut but at our level would be outstanding.
