please log in to view this image Steve Lansdown discusses future of Bristol City and reveals he is looking for outside investment The Robins majority shareholder was asked about his succession plans on a fans podcast over the weekend Steve Lansdown has spoken about life after he steps back from the helm of Bristol City. The former Thornbury Grammar School pupil explained that next year will be his 25th year involved at Ashton Gate and that he is continually thinking about what and who comes after him at the club. The Bristol City, Bristol Bears and Bristol Flyers majority shareholder was talking to fan podcast 3 Peaps in a PodCast as he was asked if he had a clear succession plan for when the day comes that Lansdown steps aside. The 68-year-old says that he first got involved in the 1996/97 season when he invested in the club at the behest of John Laycock and Scott Davidson. He stepped up as chairman in 2002, and from 2007 was in sole control of the club, making it his ambition to turn a profit while steering the Robins up the leagues: finally achieved in the previous year's club accounts for 2019. "As for succession, it's always in my mind because I'm not getting any younger - and you never do," explained Lansdown, in a podcast that included Bristol Post fans columnist Math Withers. "I've been involved for 24 years this year, so 25 next year. Jon [Lansdown] is very active and involved, so immediate succession is there. "But I think he's honest enough to say that that's not what he sees as... No, [in his] late 30s. He's not going to do that for the next 30 years. "So we have got to look at getting new investment into the club and developing it and getting the right people in, in the right structure. "Having got the club to the point where we are now, in the sense that [we have] the stadium and High Performance Centre and developed a strong squad I think we're in a very good position to... And I'll be honest we are actively looking for other investors to come in to the football club to expand our brand and grow the club. "Can we get to the Premiership and be a sustainable Premiership club as we are now? Yes we can. We can do it even better with further backing, further investment and thought process going forward. "Like everything else in football, it's got to be the right people with the right intentions, and they've got to buy into our culture and the journey that we're on, otherwise it's a dead loss," he explained. Lansdown also believes that Bristol City should have made the play-offs under Lee Johnson lat season but that "pathetic" league form following the lockdown from June 2020 scuppered the chances of making the top six of the Championship. Johnson was sacked after a run of four straight defeats after the Robins had emerged from lockdown with the play-offs in sight. He also promised to feed back criticism of the club's 125th birthday celebrations held on March 7, 2020, before the home game against Fulham - the last Lansdown was able to attend before the pandemic caused the shutdown of the league. The primary criticism among supporters was how little planning appeared to have gone into the gathering of 40 club legends prior to the game, as they were hurriedly ushered into a corner 15 minutes before kick-off and interviewed with sections of the ground unable to see or hear them. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport...eve-lansdown-discusses-future-bristol-5262153 Bristol City owner Steve Lansdown outlines when Nigel Pearson's future will be resolved The former Leicester City and Watford manager remains on a short-term contract at Ashton Gate until the end of the season Steve Lansdown admits that the long-term future of Nigel Pearson can't be decided until he's able to meet the Bristol City manager face-to-face. Pearson was appointed on February 22, just over 24 hours after a Zoom call involving Lansdown, and the pair have kept in regular contact but the 57-year-old remains under contract only until the end of the season. The former Watford and Leicester City manager indicated on Friday, in the wake of City's 2-0 home defeat to Stoke, that any decision on his future had to be made soon as waiting until the summer would be "too late". Although results on the field have been mixed, two wins and a draw from seven games in charge, there is a near-consensus within the fanbase that the experienced coach's mentality and organisation is precisely what the Robins need to become a promotion-winning outfit. Pearson has spoken glowingly of the infrastructure at City, including the Robins High Performance Centre, the vision of the Lansdowns and a desire to build a winning culture but with just seven games of the season remain, the situation is a little uncertain. Lansdown has been in Guernsey throughout the pandemic, unable to visit Ashton Gate or the new training ground, however, speaking to fan podcast 3 Peaps in a Podcast, claimed a meeting could be scheduled with Pearson in the next "few weeks". "I can’t give you any indication as to whether this is long term or not at this stage," Lansdown said. "All of us are working as if it’s long term but we’ll make those decisions over the next few weeks and the most important thing for me is that I need to get in front of him personally. "I’ve not physically met him yet; I’ve virtually met him but not physically met him. That’s the thing, I mean I speak to him regularly. "You know I’m hearing, he’s given lots of good feedback on the club as a whole, and the staff and the players. A lot of it very positive a lot of it very, very good but some obviously indicating where we need to stiffen our backbone a bit and get better. "He’s very impressed with the High Performance Centre; he thinks it’s an absolutely marvellous set up. "Our relationship is good, I don’t give anything away in that sense and we work towards getting together which will be in a few weeks’ time, to discuss things properly.” Pearson was appointed following a run of six straight defeats under Dean Holden which left City spiralling down the table and concerns over a potential relegation battle. Lansdown opened up on the thought process behind the appointment of Pearson, admitting that initially City wanted to keep Paul Simpson and Keith Downing in charge for longer than the one game they oversaw. The Bristol-born billionaire has revealed there were other names on the club's shortlist but they were "longer-term projects" and the 1-0 home defeat against Barnsley, on Simpson and Downing's watch, accelerated the need for a quick appointment. Pearson's availability and willingness to sign a short-term contract fitted the brief, while has also allowed time for the Robins hierarchy to assess if he was the right man to take the club forward. "We got to the point didn’t we where, I don’t think I am breaking any confidences here, the number of games we were losing, the way that we were performing, I think everybody said it for me really," Lansdown added. "It rang alarm bells and we were on a slippery slope and we had to stop that and we needed to act fairly quickly. "I thought we might buy ourselves some time if I’m honest with the appointment of the assistants (Paul Simpson and Keith Downing) to take charge but to be honest that didn’t work and they admitted it as well and they said you need to appoint somebody quickly. "I won’t say that narrowed our choice down a bit but a lot of people we had on our list and everything else were longer-terms projects so and Nigel was available, had made enquiries through his representatives and we thought yes obviously his CV meets the requirement let’s talk to him so we did this a Zoom conversation, very quickly. "Again you can tell talking with somebody like Nigel is he going to be somebody that’s going to be awkward? Is he somebody that’s going to be work on the same wavelength as you? Is he somebody that really wants to do it or is it just a fill-in? And all the answers back to that were positive. "We felt that he was certainly for the first thing which was the appointment to the end of the season which is what we were looking to get ourselves to was absolutely spot on for us for that. "Also ideally as you want to with any scenario it gives you a chance for him to find out about us and for us to find out about him." https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-owner-steve-lansdown-5263007
First time I have heard SL state there was a period of "pathetric" league form whilst LJ was in charge, first thing to do is get Nige under contract, JL doesn't want to spend the next 30 years at the helm of Bristol City FC, so will it be Chinese money, the Yankee dollar or Arabian oil deposits that SL entices in? Quite a thought.
But we can all acknowledge that pathetic league form following the pandemic under LJ and was sacked and replaced to improve us the following season.....but that was also pathetic.......and so far, still is..the progress since, in fact has been more pathetic IMO...........Doesn't help, for whatever reason and something NP picked up on, is our prone to injury this club seems to have.......... As to the outside investment.....I believe, if the club, wants to go down that route to being a sustainable Premiership club, it would need the big investment....Not sure the Lansdown empire is big enough...there is no way, we would be able to compete with the likes of Man C etc without...
Yes he lost 4 games in a row and and 3 out of 5 prior to the pandemic close down, that was 7 defeats in 9 games, as SL said "pathetic", Holden his number 2 whom he sacked Pemberton for "pathetic" both sacked for failure, all of the other Championship clubs suffered the same circumstances, the squad of players he bequeathed in the main has not done well you are correct, SL has made and we hope will continue to make the changes, a new manager and hopefully big advances in the Summer, hopefully the fabric of the entire playing side will improve and we can all be happy.
That's it then guys, they've not physically met, SL decision or indeed Nige decision awaits ~ "Our relationship is good, I don’t give anything away in that sense and we work towards getting together which will be in a few weeks’ time, to discuss things properly.”
I’m a bit concerned when he says there were other names on the club's shortlist but they were "longer-term projects" and the 1-0 home defeat against Barnsley, on Simpson and Downing's watch, accelerated the need for a quick appointment. Im hoping we don’t go down the route of someone else like Holden or LJ again.
I also think to be talking about possible investors and JL not taking over, indicates the possibility that it’s already been partly agreed. Should make some of the SL bashing and talking about issues are up in the corridors posters happy that this could all be changing.
If you get the chance listen to the SL interview in 3 peeps in a podcast , I listened yesterday and it was interesting.
Yes didn't he say something along the lines of "we have a great squad" at one point?. At least he has maintained a sense of humour during lockdown.
This is what he said in the above article~ "Having got the club to the point where we are now, in the sense that [we have] the stadium and High Performance Centre and developed a strong squad I think we're in a very good position to... And I'll be honest we are actively looking for other investors to come in to the football club to expand our brand and grow the club. He also added later ~ Lansdown also believes that Bristol City should have made the play-offs under Lee Johnson lat season but that "pathetic" league form following the lockdown from June 2020 scuppered the chances of making the top six of the Championship.
In a way the 'strong squad' reference is worse, in which universe do we have a 'strong squad?', we get beaten up by relegation fodder every time we play them
Indeed, strong squad? really? As for investors, I suspect that when and if planning permission is given for the Do it All and Ashton Vale sites, it will become a far better prospect for potential investors.
"Can we get to the Premiership and be a sustainable Premiership club as we are now? Yes we can. We can do it even better with further backing, further investment and thought process going forward. What a load of utter tosh You had the chance to take us to the big time Stevie boy and you blew it.
from a later article .. getting close to my recollection! I've been away and two managers have gone in Lee and Dean, I never saw Dean manage in front of me. It's a strange scenario. It was weird. You look back on it, and think, 'could we have done things differently?' But, hindsight is a wonderful thing, it's difficult and we got through it. Nigel's come in and he's made that difference and we value his experience and we'll build on it. Nobody knows what's going to happen but I just feel we're in a good place. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-steve-lansdown-pearson-5757896
I am hoping he pulls the iron from the fire and we kick on to a couple of wins in fact I would like to see 9pts on board before end of BOXING DAY GAMES! ... problem is less than 6 pts will be a worry ... we have successfully destroyed the continuity of BCFC THERE IS NO ON GOING PATTERN ..... NP deemed to have failed ... = " by mutual consent!!" ... that leaves CF, ... and no really back up coach / s [ not that CF is likely to achieve anything!? ]
