A different view A PRESS conference to announce a new manager is something that always yields a sense of excitement for those lucky enough to cover the fortunes of a football club no matter how many times youâve done it â and Iâve done a few! Here to mark the dawning of another new era, AGAIN, I thought to myself as I pulled up in the Ashton Gate car park just before lunchtime today and It seems Iâm not alone in my feelings of anticipation as I walk into Harryâs Bar in a small corner of the Dolman Stand. I immediately spot BBC Radio Bristolâs Richard Hoskin looking similarly excited encased in headphones with microphone in hand eagerly searching around for anyone with some sort of insight into the man weâre all about to meet. I think it is going to be Steve Cotterill, but I, not being altogether in the loop at Ashton Gate, am still not 100 per cent sure who is going to come through the door and, as a result, I start thinking to myself how funny it would be if Neil Warnock sidled in. Thankfully, for Richard, a nice chap, and some of those other budding Nostradamusâ who had predicted said appointment, Steve, flanked by head of media Adam Baker, arrives just after 11am. Here we go, I think to myself, still excited, but not expecting to be surprised by anything that is to happen or to be said over the next ten or 15 minutes during which Steve is set to introduce himself. These affairs tend to follow a similar format. Only the names, faces and places change. Yet, what happens next does surprise me. Steve takes his place at one of two chairs behind a table decorated with a Bristol City scarf, but, who will sit next to him, I wonder? I look around to search out somebody, anybody, from the board of directors and eventually I clap eyes on vice-chairman Jon Lansdown before watching chairman Keith Dawe somehow avoid an embarrassing fall after getting involved with a microphone lead. By the time I look back, however, the second seat is taken, much to my surprise, by Adam as those directors wander off to the back of a room to stand and watch events unfold from among the numerous club employees who have arrived to swell numbers inside the room to around 50. Perhaps, they are saving themselves for one-to-one interviews, I convince myself, but, as several disappointed members of the local media return from pitch-side, where the second phase of the conference takes place, it is clear that any hopes of quizzing the board about the process, their decision and the way the supporters have reacted to it, have been dashed. Shame, really. We did, however, hear from Steve, and what we heard was pretty standard fare for this type of occasion. The former Nottingham Forest boss, of course, was keen to portray himself in positive light and managed to say all the right things in his first interview. He didnât set specific targets or reveal too much as regards what he thinks about the current squad â but did mention the transfer window to possibly suggest that the team we see on the pitch come January 31 may be a lot different to the one that runs out for his first game in charge against Tamworth in the FA Cup on Sunday. Steve went on to say that he would happily work within the five pillars framework and that he wouldnât be âfrightenedâ to blood young players â as long as they are good enough. He seems to like Steve Lansdown even more. "For me, the best two chairmen in the Championship over the past ten years have been (the late) Nigel Doughty (at Nottingham Forest) and Steve Lansdown," he said before his first interview as manager of Bristol City came to an end. A period of frantic writing an filing copy follows before I leave the room some 90 minutes later wondering to myself what life will have in store for Steve over the coming months at Ashton Gate. Itâs hard to say on what we have heard today, I think to myself, only time, then, will tell. Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/view-S...tory-20253618-detail/story.html#ixzz2mSBEQYAk
It looked really strange to me. Where was the physical representation of support from the directors, the feeling that this is our man and we move forward as a team? It looked poorly organised, with hints of dissension.
The guy is also clearly deluded then. And just to remind him, after 1 good season we hung on for another few always going backwards. If that's the mark of a good chairman then we should have a low expectation on the pitch. The club as a whole just do not learn, and to hear about the senior management skulking around in the background during the unveiling proves what a bunch of idiots they are.
