LJ - His Future & His Contract.

Be interested to know on here, if you think he should be given a new contract or if we should look elsewhere.
For what it's worth, I still think he's doing a decent job and I do think he's a bright young manager and I wouldn't want any of the old floaters to take over, so to me he's worthy of maybe another couple of years.....needs to be backed by the club though if we are serious of progressing..

 

I’m happy for him to remain for now.
We are building a reputation as a solid championship side and that’s something we have found elusive before.
I also think we’ll be up there in the mix again next season (unless the miracle happens and we still make the playoffs)
We are stabilising - which is good - and better players will give us a go as our reputation grows.

 

If he was to go now, I think we will go backwards again. So stay for me.

 

I’m happy for now with the progression we’ve had under his tenure , given the constraints he’s had I think he’s done a very good job.
I do believe we have over achieved each season he’s been with us, the club as a whole is progressing too, so why would you want to risk changing that.
It seems to me this summer , for the first time really since he’s been here, Lee’s on the front foot in regards to wanting the club to show they are as ambitious as he is , if they don’t it wouldn’t surprise me if eventually he moves on to better things elsewhere, as he may well come to the conclusion he’s taken us as far as he can given the constraints imposed on him , maybe abroad. It will therefore be interesting to see what happens over the summer in terms of comings and goings and whether we get the bit of extra quality required, because to maintain our yearly progression we will need to be challenging for automatic promotion next year.

 

How long will he stay though , in order to keep progressing each year will at some point soon need an introduction of quality which I’m not sure SL will sanction, then what?

 

I wonder from both parties if he has one more season to take us up, if he does get us to the Prem, he would stay, if not i think he will move, or be moved on..

 

I would like to think he will see out his contract and then reevaluate his future.

 

I'm not sure where this comes from though to be fair. Aside from refusing to splash £10m+ on a player (allegedly), when has SL really held back? We've spent £40m odd over the past few years and look set to spend more this summer following the sales we made last year.

And even if we did go for it, as far as I can tell from a quick Google, both Sheffield United and Norwich got promoted this season with only 1 signing over £2m between them.

 

Must admit, I wouldn't want us to buy our way to the Prem, which doesn't always work, I would like to think we have a manager that can achieve the ultimate with a average budget. To me that's a proper manager........LJ is still learning!

 

It could be viewed that the spending is not targeted. Bristol City have quite a lot of players, ones for the future, clubs in the bag and if that was cut back resource could be dedicated to attracting more skilled players on higher wages.

Norwich got Tim Krul on a free. His wages will be higher than any of Citys keepers. Krul is an interesting player, last season I suggested Bristol City should go in for him because he could advance City's passing style. That is what Norwich did - advanced their model of play over seasons instead of using multitudes of styles and players.

 

Clearly it is a case of backing him in the transfer market or lose him.

He clearly knows his squad is not good enough and has highlighted it in his interviews.

Personally think Mr L has some decisions to make on which way he wants this football club to go.

Interesting times.

 

When push comes to shove the only person dictating Bristol City's future is Steve Lansdown and probably anyone disputing that fact may be shown the back door. I have criticized our owner on many occasions, for various reasons, and yet he offers a steady hand behind the wheel whilst apparently steadfastly refusing to spend the money some say is needed to get us further up the ladder to the top. You are right RR because this squad, although close to prime time, is quite a few bricks away from the finished article and depending on what the chief planner intends to do will probably play a big part in Lee and City's future.

As has been noted by some other posters you don't have to spend a fortune and default on the mortgage to build yourself a challenger in this division but you had better make sure that the mix is right. I have had the impression for many years that SL is not the kind of person who takes fools lightly and who will stick to his guns no matter what others may think. We seem like an organisation that wants success but are still learning the ropes of achieving it without breaking the bank. Good luck.