Didn’t that annoy many about LJ though? The promise of Premiership football, European football within 5 years etc? Sometimes it comes back and bites you on the arse!! They’d be better off shutting up and getting on with it!! Sometimes, sacking the manger without taking into account other problems at the club, becomes a short term distraction that doesn’t work!!
Absolutely - I would guess that most people would agree with this. LJ did himself no favours with those stupid statements. 'Sometimes, sacking the manger without taking into account other problems at the club, becomes a short term distraction that doesn’t work!!' I agree with this too. What p155ed me off more than anything about that whole episode was not that we parted company with LJ particularly - no, what really exasperated me was that we sacked LJ with no replacement lined up - and kept Ashton and the rest of the setup. If that in itself wasn't bad enough, we then appointed Holden - what a f-ing joke - and a very tin-pot way of doing things!!!! We have a £billionaire owner, shiny new stadium and proven manager with pedigree at the helm. Ashton and his entourage have gone. Fans back in the ground - what could possibly go wrong?
In seriousness my main concern is where the goals are going to come from, we don’t have enough players who will contribute, for all his faults we need to replace Fam’s goals.
For me NW and CM need to play as a two-CM needs someone alongside him-thought he was superb against Blackpool.
I found his five year comments amusing, risable others (many) obviously did not. What I judged where his words regarding his aims of creating an identity throughout the club from its academy to its XI, versus the resources and time invested.
I am saying that for what ever reason, many of the senior players not currently in the starting 11 are not in the starting 11 for a reason. As I said before it was pretty much universally agreed even on here that the 11 starters and the oncoming subs gave 100% throughout and we were undone by poor finishing and 2 rash decisions at the death, it was also universally agreed that seeing a 100% effort from all 11 players + subs has not always been the norm over the past 2 years. That lack of 100% effort was totally illustrated at the end of last season when several youngsters and especially Massengo actually embarrassed these senior players by showing them what is meant by 'effort' and can be better highlighted in one specific incident when going into the last few minutes of a game at 1 down at Ashton Gate, we had a corner and young Tommy Conway went ballistic at the player ambling across to take said corner, absolutely no urgency whatsoever, I also recall the huge kicking that we took at Watford, nobody but nobody including then club captain Kalas protected Ryley Towler at any stage during that game and Holden rightly removed Towler. You might believe that winning barely one third of the last well over 120 games shows that these players can do it, what it shows me is that they can do when they can be arsed which is often enough, we need the ingredient that LJ, Holden and Pearson (so far) couldn't find consistency. Tuesday night + far too many other games many of the senior players have let themselves, the fans and the younger players down, how many more chances do we give these failures? Yes he did a decent job we all know that (well I certainly do) but the playing side of the club was totally dysfunctional and especially the scatter gun incoming transfer policy. But the squad were not playing for him anymore. The mistake was not bringing in as promised a proven manager and I suspect the reason was managers in the mix at the time almost certainly wanted autonomy over signings and knew how weak the squad had become, you have to ask why else Cook turned us down?, instead they gave the job to another willing participant. I see that you sneakily at the end of your post apportion blame to Ashton, basically saying that he was holding LJ back, that being the case LJ should not have accepted his interference when he signed the 4 year contract as a condition of that contract but he did and again you cannot have it both ways, you cannot claim that he did a good/decent job at the times when it did go well but blame Ashton for when it didn't. My contention is that over the previous 2 seasons some of the senior players who played on Tuesday night have been nowhere near the level of consistency required and expected of them, possibly why none of them are attracting any interest and I personally won't be sad to see the back of some of them.
Think we will see the Blackpool team start at Boro if O'DOWDA is fit [another made off glass] Personally would like to see NW and CM play as a two.
You are basing that 100% effort verses newly promoted Blackpool and the very first competitive game of the season.. I'm sure even under LJ, there were performances like that.. We will see over the coming months if those players continue to perform in the same manner. This is now down to Pearson's motivation skills IMO. No more player blaming, if they have it, it's down to Pearson to get it out of them.......hence the reason he's here..
NP will be Bristol City's highest paid manager in history -He has been given the reigns to sort the football side out and has a three year plan-unless something drastically goes wrong he has a monster job to do and is here for the long term..This we all new after last seasons disaster.
Come on onfer of course there were performances like that under LJ, but sadly in the end they were few and far between. No more player blaming? again take a look see. 2 managers gone in under a year and one struggling to get some big signings to fight for their first team places, there is only one common denominator and that is the senior players that let LJ down, let Holden and last season let Pearson down, not to mention the fans and younger players. You maybe happy to accept a one third win ratio in the previous over 120 games as being acceptable, you may be willing to accept that mediocrity, I ain't. LJ nor Holden could polish the turds we still have left but you expect Holden to do exactly that?. To be honest I would not be sad to Moore and Nagy leave and although I like Kalas I would not be sad to see him go as well, if there is a problem between Kalas and Pearson which there appears to be it does not help with dressing room unity and being brutally honest I wouldn't shed any tears over losing Wells either, he's hardly been a roaring success. As long as we cover the loss of the 2 strikers with 2 new strikers.
Of course there is an irony here, LJ couldn't wait to unload players like Ayling, Freeman and worst of all Elliott and Wilbraham both of whom should have been offered coaching roles, but probably considered a background threat perhaps? Of course as it was a bad move it was probably all Ashton's work.
although hindsight is the driving factor on the facts of the matter in question …… I have to agree, I didn't want him gone, we would have avoided relegation should Dean have remained in charge as it turned out. Whether our season would have been the same had Lee been in charge instead of Dean, [and avoided relegation ] well [ the comparison I did with both's result till Dean got replaced had Lee in the lead ...with Lee just starting a win run! ] so likely the club could be in a better place with ASHTON gone and Lee in charge????? …… or but we will never know..... bit like the saying.. "had that one gone in we would have won" …. well had it gone in everything that followed would have been entirely different. …………………… you could say "had Lee stayed everything that followed could have been very different!
But you also mentioned on numerous occasions v Blackpool, about the players giving 100% so with RR's magician and top man Mr Pearson..we should expect nothing less going forward... Your quote by the way; The best thing was at least I saw all 11 players + the subs actually giving 100%, something I didn't see very much over the past 2 seasons.. ...if they do, we should get an indication how good or bad these players are....or how well they are being coached and motivated.
You can't have it both ways either........either way, we do know that he didn't want to lose our key players, because he said in an interview.......but we did.....let's hope, if Pearson manages to put a decent side together, the same doesn't happen!!
Very true that team gave 100% last Saturday for NP -All fans at the gate could see that-UNLUCKY to draw-but some lovely football played.Ten games will give a better indication where this team sit.
