Sitting here in my Rocky Mountain hideaway has left me pondering the fate that Bristol City faces in the coming days. Obviously relegation is fast approaching us and the thought of next season's fixture list fills me with wondering if anything could, or should, have been done to save our Championshp status? We saw what was facing us over several seasons and yet no one seemed to have the necessary footballing acumen to fix the problems and at least turn us in to a team more than capable of survival in this division. Surely we must have someone on the board who was capable of sitting back and assessing the needs of the team and offering support to the manager to meet those needs in a timely fashion. Massive mistakes continued to be made and still the board sat back and did nothing allowing the team to fall even further off the pace to stay up. By my assessment many things could have been done but without the acceptance by the board to change our future all efforts would have been in vain. Below is my list of factors that were not addressed when they needed to be and some critial timelines that were allowed to pass by without any action. 1. Should McInnes have been let go earlier and if so when? My thoughts are last summer. 2. Did we ever really address the issue of better mid-fielders of full backs? My thoughts are no on all counts. 3. Should we have been more active during the transfer windows? My thoughts are sketchy on this one for financial reasons. 4. Has the financial situation been our biggest negative factor? Yes! 5. Has the board supported the manager of the day in every aspect of his job? No! 6. Is the board competent enough to ensure our return to competitiveness? 7. Do you think Sean is the answer? Perhaps you can come up with some other aspects of our failure this season and give yoyr reply.
Steve Lansdown has provided more than adequate funding for a championship team. How Derek Mcinnes spent that money and selected, coached ... Is where things went wrong. Wrong bloke wrong club.
Sean O'Driscoll said this in an interview over the weekend, " This club ran out of time two or three years ago." long before Derek McInnes joined we had our problems. Since the tailend of Gary J, Coppout, Millen and Delboy all helped towards our downfall, the new thinking of SOD is worth looking forward too, it's all we've got, let's get on with it.
McInnes was kept on because he kept us up. Which was because last season there happened to be 3 crapper teams than us (+ pompey with deduction) This year it has clearly shown that we are the ****test team in the league. It could have been different if McInnes decided to spend the 3 million on 2 defenders instead of Davies and Baldock. It could have been different if the board had the balls to sack McInnes Late November early December after it was quite clear he hadn't a clue what to do. Its all ifs and buts, Could ofs and should ofs but we're now sat bottom of the league and heading for league 1. To answer your Question mike, What could of been done? Quite a lot but sadly nothing was.
Second guessing is usually just for losers and I'm with you 100% Shiny in that we sat back and did nothing to change the situation. Sad comment I know but I now believe it was a death wish that was allowed to happen due to the overwhelming debt situation. I just hope that administration is the next answer to the problem of starting over in a lower division. Bristol City have let their supporters down by doing nothing again.
**** me we was one of the lowest scorers last season so they got goal scorers everyone was ****ing themselves silly when Baldock signed and now is was the wrong decision. I have said it time and time again Monk, Ward, Gerrard and Keogh all players we tracked and went for but for some reason they all us down. I not defending Del he lost the plot and needed to be changed. But you was singing his praises when we were winning early on in the season Mike. And now we should of removed him in the summer We are ****e because of ****ing numerous things stop trying to pin point it. But most importantly hindsight is a wonderful thing, but let's just get on with supporting the team going forward.
Yes ROD we got excited as fans that we had signed good strikers, At the time it was exciting but the wrong decision. We needed defenders, Obviously something went wrong for us to spend so much on a striker and yet wouldn't spend anything on Keough.
Its ok saying it was wrong to sign Baldock & Davies Shiny, but i think without there goals we would have been relegated awhile ago, to survive in any division you need good strikers, and they are very good. Derek McIiness tried, like Red said, to sign a number of defenders, to no avail, and that was down to the board, obviously his hands were tied, and had to get on with what he had, yes, he did lose the plot, and was rightly sacked, but the question remains, why didn't SoD sign any defenders when he had the chance, maybe his hands were tied as well, thats why we are where we are, and it will be a long while before we will be back.
It all went wrong from after the board sacked GJ end of; Then came the blunders. Our Joke of a board, Bringing in Coppell, promising the earth to fund what was required, but instead wasted money on the likes of David James, IMO Coppell didn't want, saw the light and got out. Our Joke of a board, then appoints Millen, disaster in the making. SL removes himself from the board, members of the board having very little knowledge of football. Club too wrapped up in Stadium plans etc and not what was happening on the field. Millens removed, only to be replaced with an inexperienced manager at Championship level In Del. Throughout, no decent signings for a CB or creative midfielder. Throughout, our football reverts to long ball kick and hope rubbish, hence the reason why the likes of Maynard didn't live up to expectations. He was not signed as a Peter Crouch, but we continued to launch balls in as if he was. Joke of a board, Could not make the decision by November, when it was there for all to see that Del was leading us into one direction.... Down. Had the board made that decision, would have enabled the new manager (whoever) to have brought in some players by the January deadline. That in a nutshell is why we are where we are. And before anyone says anything........Most of the above, I made my views very well known throughout.
Thank goodness we have a realist on this site and well said onefor! This site is all about people speaking their own opinions and whether you agree with them or not you should at least respect their rights to speak out loud. I agree with eveything you have said and I know that you will also get berated for your comments. My support for Del was certainly there during the early days of the season because the results were sort of going our way and then the wheels fell off and the overall mood changed at AG. My comment about the possibilty of Del being removed last summer was only intended as an afterthought for discussion rather than my opinion at the beginning of the season. You seem about as angry as most of our supporters ROD and you're right in saying that second guessing solves nothing but ibn reality we all know who is to blame for this mess and can only wish that they have learnt from the experience. Quite frankly I doubt it very much, and so we move on and see what the future brings.
Relegation is probably going to be the one thing that saves our club. Whether we like it or not the blueprint was wrong and it's needs to be ripped up and re written. I wasn't rubbishing you Mike just pointing out that we were on a crest of the wave but unfortunately we fell off. At the end of the day we all knew in November Del had lost the respect of the players and needed to go. Looking back I was one of the stubborn ones simply because I knew there wasn't anything better out there IMO but I hold my hand up and say anyone was better. We all slagged Del of for continueing to play Fontaine, but he has been an ever present in SoD team's. Perhaps SoD gave Fonts simple instructions but to me a defender should know what to do. We did have 2 players come into the team around the time the defence improved a good right back in Moloney and Liam Kelly who probably mops up and chases the runners to protect the back line. We are down so let's get the high earners out, let them live their dreams of being championship players at someone else's displeasure and let the kids and hungry players drive us forward. In my opinion we won't come back up next year, we need to gel the team and then drive forward if we do come back up ala Donny then fantastic but I want to come up sorted and ready to hold onto championship status not come up for more relegation battles.
Johnson left by mutual consent rather than be sacked by Steve Lansdown for misconduct. Gary Johnson in the end spent wildly and there was a large increase in annual losses due to his signings.The board as such are Lansdown employees and roles like Doug Harmans doesn't affect player or manger recruitment. Steve Lansdown appointed Millen and Coppell. Any further appointments also go through him.Too wrapped up in Ashton vale maybe but again this is Steve Lansdown,s baby as it will be his money and business partners who own any development there not the club.
It seems to me that the major problem highlighted by the responses to my thread is the fact that we had so many chances to change things but for some reason, probably financial, the board chose to do nothing. Relegation has been on the cards for several seasons now and finally we have to face the reality and move on from a sad situation. Finger pointing, although it may give us personal satisfaction, cannot save us from the inevitable fact that will probably be staring us in the face in about 5 hours from now. I usually listen to the games on Radio Bristol but tonight I will pass on the broadcast and sit on my backside and await next season with many questions to be answered. Will the board get it right this time, and I think that the activity during the summer break will give us all a clear indication as to where BCFC is headed in the future. So many mistakes and disasters have followed us for the last few years and the first season back in League 1 will be a yardstick for our future growth.
Mike the board do by and large what Mr Lansdown tells them to do. Attend supporters trust sessions with Steve Lansdown and its clear who runs the show.
