Patience is a Virtue and, No Matter How Bellicose.

What Bristol City fans are really thinking over the club's transfer window policy

When it comes to our strategy in the transfer market, opinion is polarised among supporters.

A majority are staunchly behind owner Steve Lansdown and head coach Lee Johnson, who are refusing to pay over the odds for players in January, preferring to adhere to a long-term policy of building gradually along financially sustainable lines.

But there is also a hard rump of fans who believe firmly that the club will never challenge for promotion to the Premier League until they pay the going rate for proven Championship players.

Impatient at what they perceive as a lack of progress on the pitch – City are 16th in the table and have lost six of their last seven games – they contend that the club ought to spend big in order to try and compete with bigger and wealthier rivals in the English second tier.

Constrained by the boundaries imposed by Financial Fair Play and the need to keep the wage bill in check in the interests of balancing the books, City have adopted a long-term view when it comes to recruitment.

In large part, new recruits tend to be aged 24 or under and are signed for their potential and future market value. Johnson and his staff work hard to develop and nurture players on the training ground, an approach that goes hand in hand with a desire to promote the club's youth academy system.

The aim is gradual improvement at an affordable cost, a policy that safeguards the long-term financial prospects of the football club.

By and large, City fans bought wholesale into this ethos when things were going well earlier in the season. The Robins won six of their opening 11 games to establish themselves as potential play-off candidates, reached the last 16 of the EFL Cup and played a brand of attacking football that satisfied those who paid at the turnstiles.

But a recent downturn in fortunes has served to change attitudes and some fans are now openly questioning the club's long-term strategy.

Against a backdrop of growing discontent, it is crucial that those responsible for the running of the football club are not persuaded, against their better judgment, to resort to a quick fix solution, one that will entail even a temporary deviation from their policy of financial sustainability.

January is a notoriously difficult window in which to operate and prices, especially for players on the domestic market, tend to be inflated. Clubs are often reluctant to part with their best players and availability is an issue.

Recent results notwithstanding, it is incumbent upon majority shareholder Steve Lansdown and his board of directors to stay strong in the face of temporary adversity and stick to their value-for-money principles.

Patience is a virtue and, no matter how bellicose the complaints from those who advocate a quick fix in the transfer market, City's board of directors must continue to focus on the bigger picture and not give in to the demands of money-conscious agents and players.

Since the turn of the century, Swansea, Wigan, Reading and Burnley have all made it to the Premier League without compromising their financial integrity, and City have to believe they can do the same.

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/what-b...indow-policy/story-30006558-detail/story.html

 

I can't understand, who is advocating a quick fix in the transfer market, we have been told constantly that our management team have had everything under control for weeks, they know who, what and why they are looking for, Mark Ashton, Lee Johnson and Des Taylor have a list of possibles, they have consulted Steve Lansdown and he has consented to their plans, so the impression being handed out has been everything is calm and under control.

Now we are hearing open truths from Johnson,' lays all bare in most honest transfer window discussion yet ' and 'Under pressure Johnson stands by his principles' and ' Players may leave in January.'and ' The proof we haven't been afraid of splashing the transfer cash before ' and 'Lee Johnson explains exactly what it is he is after.' these are all recent headlines handed out via the local press and attributed to Johnson among many other of his headlines, appologies and promises.

What the hell is going on, who is feeding the headlines, there are too many different stories coming out and causing confusion, just give us the plain facts, we really have been there before, 2 or 3 times it's a familiar pattern, it just needs somebody to get a grip and cut out all of the waffle.