Match Day Thread Bristol City v Millwall

Mind boggling Rob,he frazzles my brain cells big time

 

Rob, what you're suggesting about players values is at best hypothetical. You're only guessing with the likes of Hinds, Moore and Bakinson.
In reality - Engvall and Djuric, lost towards £3 million!
We won't make anything,only loss, on £5million Fammy or £1million Watkins, Patterson, Bailey Wright, Pisano, Hegeler, Weismann or Hunt either. The salaries of the above must be frightening and how many of this lot start start on a regular basis.

You and others have a different opinion, that's ok but to me and a growing number of fans only see a scattergun approach to transfer dealings.
And don't start me on the infamous DNA/ Identity tripe that LJ comes out with.

To me his whole ethos is scattergun - how else do you explain selection and set ups !

 

You can’t accuse Rob of being hypothetical when your argument is equallly as hypothetical. You have no idea what we wil get from future transfers

 

You didn’t need to make the word “cells” plural mate

 

The other thing is; just how much say does LJ have over signings and wages? We have sold 3 key players this year and replaced them with (so far) lesser players - LJ didnt WANT to sell those players - he had no choice. Would another manager be able to do anything more with our current bunch - bearing in mind he is unlikely to be given a blank cheque to sign who he wants? Probably not in my view - and I fear may even do worse. Any new manager would have to adhere to the setup which SL insists upon - the sustainability programme. Most proven managers at this level will not want to operate within the strict confines of the regime that is in place down at Ashton Gate. We would probably end up getting another LJ, but one who has to get to know the players from scratch.
For now I think the current setup is more or less the best we could hope for with SLs restrictions.
Norwich have struck gold - as have a few other teams, but that is NOT normal and they are very difficult examples to emulate. Normally, success comes with a MASSIVE and sustained injection of cash - which we are not prepared to do right now.
Not a criticism of SL by the way - he has invested heavily in our club and he is entitled to dictate how his money is spent.

 

As often is the case, only time will tell on this - the truth will likely be somewhere in the middle. £40m is a decent wedge to have spent, even in todays age where the top Championship sides can, will and have spent over £10m on a single player, and in some cases, such as some of the examples Redprintt has given, it's unlikely we'll recoup what was spent (though Paterson in particular stands out as a potential exception from that list - damn you undisclosed fees!).

That said, judge any club by their worst transfer dealings alone and they'll seem like bad business - Sir Alex signed many a turkey for Man Utd (anyone remember Bebe?) for example. I do think it's fair to say that our success in the market has been mixed at best, though getting just a handful of real successes might be considered good enough to offset the bad.

It must be particularly difficult signing players. If the general rule is that you need to sign players better than the ones you already have to progress, then persuading them to join City rather than a more illustrious rival in the Division (or abroad) is an uphill battle, unless you pay way above what they're really worth, in which case you're opening yourself up to other criticism. We seem to be speculating largely on up and coming players, with a sprinkling of foreign imports and to me that approach is understandable, though will wear thin with fans if the failures significantly outnumber the successes.

 

There are a few on here that talk a bit of sense (not many) and you my friend are one of them!!

 

As others have said, you can't dismiss my point on the basis of it being hypothetical when you've made the exact same point on the same premise in the opposite direction.

I wouldn't say it's scattergun. For the most part you can see the logic behind signings. Granted, Engvall was pretty baffling. But Djuric was a decent signing for us, he was great when he played and it's not Johnson's fault he got a long term injury when at the club. I can only assume Djuric was homesick and wanted to leave at the end of his time here.

It is too early to write off £5m Fammy (people forget he got 14 goals in practically half a season last year), Paterson who is worth over £1m imo, Weimann also is worth far more than even the £2m we reportedly paid for him. You're picking and choosing to suit your agenda Redprintt and people can see through it. At least our criticisms of LJ are fair and have basis whereas you just pick any stick and make it fit to beat him with.

I don't have a different opinion. I think I'm pretty much done with LJ in all honesty. But I'm not going to give him unwarranted criticism based on emotion rather than logic.

 

Unfortunately RP and others have "LJ hating cells" in their blood stream which are not treatable!
Because of this, the haters will always comment with the negatives, especially after a bad run.......nowhere to be seen when it's going well (apart from those whom like to drivel on regarding the budget he's been given).
Every club in the championship are fighting to either go up into the premiership or to stay in the championship, which we all know, teams on their day, top can beat bottom.
Results every week comes up with surprises, making it one of the most competitive leagues in the world...
My take on LJ is that, if he had all the players that he really wanted (blank cheque book), he would put a really good side together playing very entertaining football with promotion in sight. I do think he has the vision.....I just don't think we draw in the right players...my question, is that all down to LJ?
The negative to LJ is, with what he has for whatever reason it's not gelling, maybe tries a style that just doesn't suit the players he has....tinkering too much...
I still back him but a struggle this season, may mean, we are as far as he can take us!!

 

then take your head out of the microwave oven...….

 

It's a good point but Ipswich were fed up of the status quo, and it was plainly obvious McCarthy was punching above his weight to some extent with that team.

I feel the opposite with Bristol City and LJ. I feel that with the team he has LJ is underachieving. Which makes sacking him somewhat less risky, though undoubtedly a big risk regardless.

 

Spot on Rob,blimey I'm agreeing with your comments

 

There is both under and over achieving in the CHAMPS this season, there is some real "unexplained purple patch's /luck?" Brentford City and Wigan TOP 8!
PNE 23rd Brum 17th … after 8 games

 

head out of the oven then? ………….

 

Saying that, Norwich had been dreadful over the last two seasons, I have lots of friends in Norwich, many saying the supporters were not happy with the manager....but look at them now.......same manager!!

 

This is where I am with LJ, I don’t like the tinkering but continually playing some players out of form. Patterson being one example even though he seems to be coming through it now. But IMO he should of been taken out, now he’s going to be a scape goat to lots of fans now.

My main concern is any decent managers out there, as we do have a big squad now so we could fall into the trap we did when last in the championship. So anyone brought in will have to work with players already here.
Plus I’m not convinced that Ashton could entice a decent manager and we will end up with someone like Appleton.

 

just a revamped squad they got rid of a couple brought in some free's and hey presto dodgy start and wooooooooooomph …..
We had a very tight knit squad in Div 1 team almost picked itself every week and success .. now we are awash with a squad that if all were fit would be almost 3 players for each position! except we need a goalscorer! …
Have we been able to get a settled side?NO .....injuries mostly and suspensions … think Fammy's did him a lot of harm .. on the does he deserve another window aspect ...actually YES on second thoughts … The summer was WTSC.. so needs to fine tune, makes sense … NO team in the leagues sign every player as a perfect fit even the top 10 in the prem! … what a player shows at 1 club may not fit his style at another etc etc ….

 

........Or Lee Johnson.

Ashton is biding his time and won't be here long citing he can't do 2 jobs simultaneously.

 

Gosh - ta for that. I think some will write me off as simply a 'happy clapper', but I try to look at things objectively, which usually means not being too negative when things are going s**t and not getting carried away when things are going well. Unfortunately, one of those things tends to apply more than the other...

 

Does my head in, the knee jerk reaction on here sometimes and then there are the haters (just because you know what!!), where it's predictable they come on here after a bad run happily putting the boot in...Of course when we go on a good run, it's nothing to do with what the managers doing, just the money that's spent..
Most of us don't know what goes on behind the scenes, at training etc, the niggles or injuries that occur..all these have fundamental effects come match day..Being able to field your best team with the players that gel must be a nightmare week in week out..Every club has the same problems I know, but at the moment I don't see LJ being a bad manager for us.At this moment in time I see us, fairly stable in the championship, more than we've been for many years......