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10 Years ago.

Discussion in 'Bristol City' started by wizered, May 11, 2020.

  1. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    This report is 10 years old ~

    Steve Coppell resigns as Bristol City manager after one league game
    This article is more than 9 years old
    • Coppell states he has now retired from management
    • Keith Millen signs three-year deal as new Bristol City manager
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    Steve Coppell has resigned as Bristol City manager with immediate effect after just one league game in charge. The 55-year-old informed his chairman, Steve Lansdown, of his decision yesterday and released a statement through the League Mangers Association today which confirmed that not only had he left the club, but stated he has retired from football management.

    "It is with the deepest regret that I confirm my departure from Bristol City," Coppell said in his statement. "I have made my decision after very careful consideration and I believe that it is in the best interests of both the club and me personally that we go our separate ways.

    "Bristol City is an excellent club, with brilliant support and a chairman with great ambition for the club's future. Whilst I was looking forward to the challenge of leading the players in this season's campaign, unfortunately, it has become clear over recent weeks, that I found I could not, for whatever reason, become passionate about the role and give the commitment the position demands."

    It is not the first time Coppell, who took over at Bristol City in May, has had a brief spell at a club having left Manchester City in 1996 33 days after taking charge.

    He acknowledged that the timing of his decision, following a 3-0 home defeat to Millwall and a Carling Cup exit at Southend, was not ideal. He will be replaced as manager by his assistant Keith Millen, who has signed a three-year deal.

    "I appreciate that the timing of my departure is not ideal, but I believe it is best for the club to appoint a new manager or indeed appoint Keith Millen, who has a deep knowledge of the club and the squad, at this stage of the season. That individual can then make decisions on signing players before the window closes and work with the squad for the full campaign.

    "I am retiring from football management but still feel I have a contribution to make to the game sometime in the future. I would like to sincerely thank the chairman and the board for their understanding and I wish the club and its supporters every success."

    Millen finished his playing career at City in 2003 and has been part of the coaching staff since rejoining the club a year later. Millen finished last season in temporary charge of the Robins following the departure of Johnson in March.

    The 43-year-old was surprised by Coppell's resignation but is excited by the prospect of leading the club on a full-time basis. "I'm still getting over the shock really," said Millen. "I knew I wanted to do the job and last season I enjoyed it, but for certain reasons I decided to step aside from it and I was looking forward to working with Steve.

    "I did enjoy working with him and we are still friends. We met last night, when he told me the news. He apologised for leaving me in this situation. You have to be your own man and go with your decisions. The players know, certainly from last year, how I like things working.

    "I know Bristol City fans like to see entertaining football. I've been here long enough to know what their expectations are. I've got high expectations as well. I'll be looking to bring an assistant in and that's going to be an important appointment."

    Millen's first game in charge will be the Championship fixture at Doncaster on Saturday.
    https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/aug/12/steve-coppell-resigns-bristol-city
     
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  2. Angelicnumber16

    Angelicnumber16 Well-Known Member

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    Another poor chapter in our history.
    A Manager that didn't want the job all along from what's been said over the years.
    The club signing the likes of David James and everything being thrown into turmoil right at the start of the season.
     
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  3. Supcon72

    Supcon72 Well-Known Member

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    I still don't get this whole Coppell saga, if he didn't want the job, why did he take it? Also, David James was the England No1 goalkeeper when we signed him (albeit at the end of his International career), hardly the worst keeper to be thrust upon a manager?
     
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  4. Angelicnumber16

    Angelicnumber16 Well-Known Member

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    I've always understood that Coppell was almost bullied into taking the job, and the likes of David James were not his choice of signings but had already been done for him.
     
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  5. Red Alert

    Red Alert Well-Known Member

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    Went on the pre season tour to Sweden. Spoke to Steve Coppell with others asked how it was going and he said not very well i'm not signing the players!! James was signed by Lansdown on wages higher than players Coppell wanted and couldnt have.
     
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  6. johngalleyfan2

    johngalleyfan2 Well-Known Member

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    we started going through a bad time from 2009 onward … SL sort of acknowledged that about 5 years later after a few managers and mis spent money on players. Signing James it was maybe hoped would attract other better players?
    It was WTSC when he signed LJ .. revamped the stadium, and didn't he cash in a big chunk of his investments? Since then it has been consolidation … [ on a new 5 year plan .. year 4 now? or 3 1/2 ]
     
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  7. Angelicnumber16

    Angelicnumber16 Well-Known Member

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    The club hierarchy and owner love to meddle in things that they've no real right to be that involved with (such as signing players behind a Managers back) and I dare say we have, or at least have had a reputation for interference over the years including the 5 point plan or whatever nonsense it was.
    Maybe that's why we are who and where we are now.
    I'd say that I would hope that lessons have been learned by those at the top, but I've no real belief that they have.
     
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  8. johngalleyfan2

    johngalleyfan2 Well-Known Member

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    the 5 year plan was abandoned for a new one 5 pillars ...lol... but we are in a 5 year plan now! it could be a 5 year plan from LJ'S LAST CONTRACT UPDATE
     
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  9. bcfcredandwhite

    bcfcredandwhite Well-Known Member

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    This is one of a number of Ashton Gate mysteries. We may never know the real reason Coppell left. We can have a fair guess but never be totally sure if it's not confirmed by the man himself.

    Same can be said about Basso leaving when he did - why? Why did Carle and McIndoe fight? And what was the truth about the Dwight Gayle and Andre Gray bids, rumoured to be around £9m and £11m? And that bloke from Hull?
    Why did Pemberton leave? What made our results (surprisingly for me) pick up when he left? What happened between Tomlin and LJ? What went wrong with Diony? (We would have been scouting him for a while and he MUST have done SOMETHING to impress in order to break through where hundreds fail....plus LJ saw him in training every day and still picked him).

    I'm sure RP will simply blame LJ, but I feel there must be more to unraveling these mysteries....... ;)
     
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  10. RedorDead

    RedorDead Well-Known Member

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    What with a 27k seater redeveloped stadium, challenging top half of the championship and selling players for 10 million plus? Yeah you’re correct, what has the Lansdown’s ever done for us.
     
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  11. Cliftonville

    Cliftonville Well-Known Member

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    No owner should be beyond criticism. A feature of Mr Lansdown running BCFC is his frequent changing of direction. At present Mr Lansdown is again pursuing a path he was trying to avoid - A large squad. The result of Mr Lansdowns ownership should be open to question.
     
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  12. bcfcredandwhite

    bcfcredandwhite Well-Known Member

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    Nobody is beyond criticism Cliftonville, but it’s also understandable when you are investing £millions, that you retain a casting vote on now it’s being spent. Sometimes you make the right call (often, or you wouldn’t be a £billionaire), sometimes you get it wrong, but at least you can never turn around and blame someone else for wasting your money.
     
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  13. Cliftonville

    Cliftonville Well-Known Member

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    Twenty years ago if I was told the club would not own its own stadium, share with another club and go from fan owned to be the property of one person while still not achieving Premiership football I would say somebody had got it wrong.

    If Bristol City had dissenting voices or a counterbalance to Mr Lansdown the club could be in better position.
     
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  14. Reliant Robin TC2

    Reliant Robin TC2 Well-Known Member

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    Interesting thought! Or it could be that Mr Lansdown would simply walk away - would you be willing to risk that at this time?
     
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    Last edited: May 12, 2020
  15. bcfcredandwhite

    bcfcredandwhite Well-Known Member

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    I looked up 20 years ago to compare then with now.
    Here is what I found:
    League: Div 2 (League 1 today)
    Final position: 9th (Bristol Rovers ended in 7th)
    Highest league gate: 16,011 against Bristol Rovers.
    Lowest league gate: 7,777 vs Colchester

    Ok we haven’t got to the premiership yet, but so far this season:
    League: Championship (Div 1 back then)
    Final position (to-date) 7th (The Gas are currently 14th in the league below)
    Highest gate: 23,573 (vs Forest, Nov 19)
    Lowest gate: 19,742 (Millwall Dec 19)

    To me, that’s progress. To others it’s a sell-out. Everyone has their own opinions but I wouldn’t want to be back where we were in 1999 and that’s down to SL mostly.
     
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  16. Cliftonville

    Cliftonville Well-Known Member

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    Why would Mr Lansdown walkaway? That is a dim view of Mr Lansdown.

    The club post Coppell went into a phase of huge cost cutting and relegation. FC accounts summaries expressed concerns about the viability of Bristol City as an on going business. Mr Lansdown himself has expressed his own embarrassment at how BCFC lost money. A counter balance could have been asking in the case of Steve Coppell do you think this is a good idea Mr Lansdown.
     
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    Last edited: May 13, 2020
  17. BCFCRob

    BCFCRob Well-Known Member

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    On the flip side, without Lansdown there's a chance we could be little more than Rovers - one of the bigger clubs in League One (us, not them!), a stadium well past it, an outdated training ground and craving investment, with the odd decent youth player coming through. A sort of Ipswich... and we're far closer to Prem football at this stage than they are.
     
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  18. Angelicnumber16

    Angelicnumber16 Well-Known Member

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    Yes we've got a nice stadium, yes we're doing ok in the Championship.
    But huge mistakes have been made in the way things have been run and (mis) managed over the years, whether you like it or not.
    For me the whole identity and presence of Bristol City FC in this city has become diluted under the 'Bristol Sport' banner and the football club no longer even owns the stadium that it plays in.
     
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  19. Cliftonville

    Cliftonville Well-Known Member

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    Highly unlikely.

    Bristol City are the with respect to BRFC and Argyle the largest team in the South West. Both those sides do not start from that point.

    Bristol City's former Chairman John Laycock placed huge emphasis on youth development and has been involved in building numerous sporting projects in Bristol - John Laycock certainly would have pursued a new training ground and youth development. It was Scott Davidson and John Laycock who started the centre of excellence, then applied to become an academy. It was Steve Lansdown who shifted that focus to investing (losing) more money in buying in players v developing them. Mr Lansdown then shifted the focus back and BCFC are still catching up.

    Scott Davidson started redeveloping Ashton Gate. John Laycock and the directors were looking to redevelop Ashton Gate further. It was Steve Lansdown who shifted that focus to Ashton Vale and then back to Ashton Gate. Most of footballs grounds have not stood still. Rovers are an exception.

    Bristol City could have been also a club paralleling the development of say Southampton. The constant financial losses chalked up could have been used to redevelop Ashton Gate and build a facility in line with Southampton's Staplewood.
     
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  20. BCFCRob

    BCFCRob Well-Known Member

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    What concrete plans did we have close to going in terms of properly developing Ashton Gate pre-Lansdown? It's one thing to add a bottom tier to the Dolman or extend the Williams roof, but to actually bring it into the modern era?

    There were plans to extend the Wedlock/Williams corner, there was a plan for Hengrove Park, I think I still have photos of them all... but not sure there was actually anything even close to being built though.

    Can't argue with the youth development focus though. We certainly missed a boat of some sorts on that one.
     
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