I agree with onefor in some sense that Lansdown wanted the same things we the fans did, just as much as we the fans did. But most if not all of us are not qualified to run a top level football team, and our board have certainly proved they do not even have the capacity to run a lower league team. Like Redprint said, the moment you start blaming EVERYBODY else around you, is the day you need to stop, think, look in the mirror, in order to come to the realisation "feck, it's us isn't it?" There is not a single professional, or fan in the game who are familiar with our situation who would not blame anyone else other than the board. A group who are unschooled in football, and like so many owners that come into the game, should not be allowed to run a club unless they were to employ knowledge people to fill the appropriate positions. In short, it is their fault. It was their decision to employ Coppell, a man who has a history of being unstable and mentally handicapped. Millen who had zero experience at first team management, McInnes who's only other experience was managing at the equivalent of a conference south level then being promoted to conference national. SOD a manager on the way down in his career who had a current track record of playing a style of football that had proven not to work and refused to change. Now Cotterill who has had nothing amount to his career in the last 10 years without the sense or care to advertise the position, approach other managers, or interview anybody else. On top of all that our football clueless owner, put his inexperienced, completely inept, fresh faced 30 year old son in a position well and truly out of his capabilities on every single scale. The 5 pillar is utter bull sh!t, and quite frankly an embarrassment. Every one of my close mates are Rovers fans, and I don't even have the energy to banter back with them when they make fun of our club these days, because I think its laughable myself.
If what you say is right, then so be it. Of course, in football, if you wish to progress then you do have to spend money. That is the way football has gone. There won't be many clubs in the championship or premiership that will show profit.
Spot on, regards to the managers they've employed......funny cus I said exact thing as they each were taken on! But that's why I've said in my previous statement that they should employ a footballing person to make all those decisions as although SL is very good at what he does outside of football, he's proved as much in regarding the game, clueless.
Why clubs aren't spending small fortunes on the likes of Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish is beyond me. Smart, intelligent men, who know how the game works, inside and out, played to an exceptionally high level, all managed at just as a high level, all achieved great things in the game. These are the type of men you want on your board. Not 30 year old chinless wonders. Stop signing washed up managers, and giving lesser managers fortunes to waste on journeymen or simply poor poor POOR players high wages. It's a massively simple concept that has alluded a board impotent of any desirable qualities, knowledge or talent.
I was only thinking how we could do with employing a proper football consultant/director of football. It doesn't have to be a youngster but someone who can see the club for what it is and who still wants to be involved with the game I'd suggest someone like Terry Venables would do a job
I think it's a crime the likes of Venables, Wilkins or Gerry Francis can't be utilized in the background by some club. All that down to earth knowledge and expertise. Genuine knowledge as well, not bogus fictitious baloney that Joke In Ear spouts he has. It wouldn't surprise me if one day our board announce he is the new Chairman. Thats the day I transfer my allegiance to Bath.
The 3 men you mentioned would run a country mile from Bristol City, and the same goes for Venables. Open your eyes for a moment and tell me exactly what Bristol City have got that would attract such a man to manage or anything else for us. We are in the same boat as Yeovil, only Yeovil have the good sense to keep their manager because they know that they will never attract a big-shot down to South Somerset in a million years PS Dalgish already works for Liverpool Football Club
As BRR already said. Why would they want to come to us? When have we ever attracted a top manager? Sure one or two have turned out good. But I'm talking top managers, so why would those named even think about us.
I am fully aware we couldn't even attract Francis Jeffers now, let alone any of the above. But 5 years ago when we were knocking on the door of the Prem we could have brought in a Hoddle or Venables. You can't run a football club from top to bottom, when the men at the top are naive, and make bad decisions over and over and over and OVER again!
We can sit here and harp on about the past till we turn blue, of we can just get on with supporting the team of choice. Always remember we choose to support City, it wasn't compulsory, or the law. It's my choice and I will get on with supporting them. You bleated on about SoD and I agree with you he was complete dog ****e and a boring ****er at that. I blame him for Saturdays performance. To me the players looked like they was still restricted to their zones. Once Burns and Reid was on they lessened up and played at tempo. Will SC succeed I don't know, but I will wait until he's had at least the transfer window to decide. The board well I've stated before, we can complain about them but unless one of us has or anyone else £50 million to purchase the club, they are our board. They made mistakes let's be patient and see if they correct their error. It's a great thing time, you can't go back and you can't see in front so every thing is a step at a time. My biggest gripe, and I have a Gashead Step Father (he's dad normally unless it's football talk) is he can moan about the team from not going, or go and pay towards to future of the club. We have fans refusing to go unless the club spends. One reduces income and expects some one else to dip into their pocket. I'm off to bed now, so crack on with picking bones in my rant
Actually I agree with your rant. The reality is everyone has the right to choose who they support. Myself I support Bristol City....(and Paris St Germain, Juventus and Galatasaray), and will see City (and Paris St Germain, Juventus and Galatasaray) through 'till the bitter end. If supporting a small town club from a big city isnt enough, there are a fine selection of great clubs in this country, most of which are just a few hours up the motorway. On the other hand, when ya finished a'whoring around ya filthy fekka, Bristol City are a genuine club with a reasonable past and still hope for a future, with a small but adoring public of notable personality and humour, and Jonathan Pierce as one of our esteemed luminaries (get well soon son), and one day we will get a stadium that doesnt look like a venue for holding sheep dog trials. We all want the best for our club, from rich accountants in Jersey to the tea lady from Easton in Gordano, from strangely distant supporters in Canada and California (or myself up in Leeds) to snotty nosed kids who live in the park across the road and kick a ball around until 3am whilst trying to imagine what Chris Garland actually looked like Stick with it kids, one day your might make your own slice of BS3
I don't recall ever picking apart anything you have ever said on these boards. I am simply commenting on the original post, which is that despite what they think, the board are to blame for us being sat where we are in the league. Its not my fault as a fan, its not yours, its not really even SOD's. The bloke was given an opportunity to come manage a club that was beyond him, beyond many it would seem. What's he gonna say? No thanks, I'll turn down a decent wage, I certainly don't blame him for that. Overall it was down to the board to put him in the hot seat. We are all bored to death of people on here saying "get behind the team", I don't know anyone on here, or people who turn up on match day who DON'T get behind the team. What I will never get behind is incompetence, lack of effort, and bad attitudes. Attributes I am seeing far too much of on a frequent basis at Ashton Gate. I certainly don't believe spending money is the answer either, as when has that worked for us before? So agree with you there. You can't throwing money at a problem where money doesn't necessarily help unless spent wisely. I believe in sensible recruitment, from the board room, to scouts, to youth talent. I support Bristol City because my dad took me to my first game 21 years ago, and his dad took him before that. However I refuse to accept it being my fault, or anyone elses other than the dipsticks at the top of the tree, who as lovely as they might be as people, as rich as they might be, as successful as they might be in other areas of business, have proven they are not capable of running a football club sensibly, shrewdly or with any sustainability for future generations.
No need for defensive IBS - I was not having a go at you or anything personal. We already have enough problems and need solidarity as a support base to solve them. Just a little whimsy and frankly, when reality stinks it is often all we have left
Regrettably we will never get someone to run the team on the pitch successfully until such time as we have someone at the top who knows one when he sees one. The board have proved beyond any reasonable doubt that they haven't got a clue how to run a football club and daddy's boy will never fit the bill. Making a commitment to the supporters by installing the 5 pillars is the biggest joke I have heard for quite some time but then as I said they don't know how to run a football club and until reality hits home then there is no hope for us. I can't understand how a supposedly astute businessman can allow this to happen and not see the problems because they are coming out of every pore that is Bristol City. Making a mistake is part of life but unless you have the mental capacity to learn from them and not repeat the stupidity then you will end up as a no-hoper. Sounds like the board to me.
Things and policy usually get dictated from the top as far as I see it- Its always been like that where ever I have worked, and I worked for one or two of the largest corporates.- As a Manager, in some branches I had very good staff and in others. I had to work with the cards that I had been dealt- You still do it to the best of your ability and get the best out of them- Even if they were really bad, you measured success by seeing that they had at least improved and were trying. It made me think of the Managers that we have dismissed and what they are doing now- Johnson, now successful again at Yeovil- Millen, No2 at a premier league club and was recently in charge temporarily, and D Mac doing well at Aberdeen, even rumoured for the West Brom job. For me, the manager is given the brief and the tools by the board. Something, somewhere, doesn't quite connect.
I know this has been said before in various ways but there is something seriously wrong with the club in general from top to bottom and there is nothing in the 5 pillars of BS that's going to address it. We have employed a succession of journeymen players and managers who should have cut the mustard but didnt, not any of them. We get an occasional star player like Albert, and Maynard who move on to other clubs but by and large it's one bad signing after another. Now the board have the bare faced cheek to say that they are not to blame for us being on the verge of the Premiership 5 years ago and the verge of being in the 4th division now. SL has also said he's embarrassed by spending £50m and getting nothing in return. Well Steve, I would be too, but I'd have tried to have people around me that knew what they were doing rather than making it all up as I went along. Who are they kidding, really ?
Lets take a look at this shall we ? Johnson left City under a cloud and carried his hangover through 2 clubs until he reached Yeovil, the starting point of his tour of clubs. Here he performed his greatest miracle in taking Yeovil to the Championship and so far keeping them there, a league where Yeovil are far out of their depth. Millen coached at Palace, and played a part in their rise to the Premier League. He managed them there for 5 games until another City oldboy moved in. McInnes is now manager of Aberdeen, a far more prestigious club than City having won a European Cup Winner's Cup, four league championships and seven Scottish FA Cups. He arrived here on the back of St Johnston's rise to the Scottish top tier, the successor there to Owen Coyle who subsequently had such fun at Burnley. Coppell had already proved himself at Reading and QPR long before he arrived here, record points hauls with promoted sides to the Premiership, and his credentials keep on coming - he is currently the director of football at Portsmouth - another club trying to recover from financial disaster (so its not about the transfer kitty). Sean O'Driscoll The object of many reds fans drool after his Donny side came here 3 years ago and gave us a footballing lesson. So his tactics DO work, or rather did. Obviously not with us, or Forest. Was actually doing well at Forest before they pulled the rug So not entirely crazy choices, considering the size of our club. A mixture of bad luck, bad timing, and an about-turn to austerity measures by our owner and mentor that has starved each manager out of options has brought us down this road. Embarrassed at losing 50 million quid ? Not as embarrassing as taking your football team to the 4th division mate
Rickster Good points After failing at Northampton and somewhere else I forget GJ took Yeovil up last year out of what was (and still is) a pretty poor league. When he took us up we had a better squad than Yeovil do today, although we also punched well above our weight in that first season. Had SL spent 5% of his embarrassment on ensuring we had players to get into the Premiership when we'll never have a better chance then it might all have been so different.
