The below tells me everything i need to know,city cannot compete in this division. BRISTOL CITY: Cost of Championship survival poses dilemma for the Robins By a_stockhausen | Posted: September 29, 2015 please log in to view this image Comments (2) WITH the three newly-promoted clubs occupying the bottom three places in the Championship, Andy Stockhausen looks at the dilemma of life in the second tier for Bristol City. THE rising cost of Championship football is making it more difficult than ever before for promoted teams to stay there. With a fifth of the campaign already gone, the three clubs that came up at the end of last season are currently occupying the relegation positions in the second tier. please log in to view this image RELATED CONTENT SATURDAY MATCH-DAY LIVE: Ipswich Town v Bristol City MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Catch up with all the action from Bristol City, Bristol Rovers & Bristol Rugby BRISTOL CITY: Sheffield Wednesday eyeing loan move for Robins summer transfer target Jesse Lingard BRISTOL CITY: We showed a lot of courage, says manager Steve Cotterill IPSWICH TOWN 2 BRISTOL CITY 2: Match analysis - City come so close to upsetting the odds IPSWICH TOWN 2 BRISTOL CITY 2: Opposition view with Mick McCarthy IPSWICH TOWN 2 BRISTOL CITY 2: Fan's view with Matthew Withers FULL-TIME REPORT: Ipswich Town 2, Bristol City 2 POST-MATCH REACTION: Ipswich Town 2, Bristol City 2 Crowned League One champions just five months ago, Bristol City are bottom of the table after registering only one win in their opening nine games. And fellow promotion winners MK Dons and Preston North End, immediately above them and one point better off, are also finding the going tough at the higher level. In all three cases, the newcomers are struggling to compete financially in one of the most expensive leagues in European football. Polldaddy.com With the exception of Rotherham United, newly-promoted City, Preston and MK have the smallest turnovers and lowest wage bills in the division. And the latest league table suggests a direct correlation between expenditure and league position. All of which raises the question: should City risk spiralling debts in order to retain their Championship status come next May? Bankrolled by a £20 million interest-free loan from owner Steve Lansdown these days, the Robins ran up debts in excess of £50 million when last in the second tier. please log in to view this image The Ashton Gate wage bill has since been reduced from a high-point of £18.6m to around £6m in a bid to balance the books and those responsible for the day-to-day running of the club are determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Following promotion in May, Robins chairman Keith Dawe labelled the Championship "the league of death." And it is easy to see why; the Championship amassed £1.1bn in debt last season and the most recent accounts for all 24 clubs revealed that total debt was almost double the division's collective turnover figure. please log in to view this image Charged with the task of coming up with a sustainable business plan and operating within their means at the same time as keeping the club in the Championship, Dawe and his fellow directors find themselves between a proverbial rock and a hard place. Their dilemma is reflected in City's performance in the transfer market this summer. Despite Lansdown demonstrating a willingness to dip into his own back pocket and fund large transfer fees, manager Steve Cotterill's prime targets were either not available or not affordable when it came to wages. please log in to view this image City's attempt to woo strikers Dwight Gayle and Andre Gray from Crystal Palace and Brentford respectively, are a case in point. On both occasions, City's bid was accepted, only for the player to turn down a move to BS3. Gayle was not prepared to drop a division, while Gray was unable to agree personal terms after agreeing to talks with City officials. City were not prepared to meet the forward's wage demands and he promptly upped sticks and signed for Burnley instead. A reluctance to pay the Championship's inflated going rate and risk a spiralling wage bill meant precious time was wasted during the key month of August, ensuring City began the season with a painfully thin squad. please log in to view this image Their one cash signing, Jonathan Kodjia, was of the bargain-basement variety, City paying French Second Division club Angers £2.1m for his services. Baulked on price and frustrated by a failure to bolster his squad in May and June, manager Cotterill was forced to pursue a Plan B, which required him to recruit four players on loan. A similar story unfolded at MK Dons and Preston, who made just three cash signings between them. MK paid an undisclosed fee to Real Madrid for Sergio Aguza, while Preston landed City left-back Greg Cunningham and Sheffield Wednesday forward Stevie May on permanent deals. Otherwise, managers Karl Robinson and Simon Grayson were forced to fall back on the loan market to supplement under-strength squads. please log in to view this image Even supplemented by four short-term signings, City's squad comprises a modest 21 players, far fewer than the vast majority of their Championship rivals. City's lack of cover was highlighted as recently as last weekend when injuries to Korey Smith, Scott Wagstaff and Ben Hamer caused Cotterill to name just six substitutes at Ipswich. It is clear further investment will be required when the transfer window reopens in January and Cotterill remains in the market for a striker and a midfielder. please log in to view this image In the meantime, the manager will have to work with his existing squad and hope he can come up with a formula which yields improved results and lifts City out of immediate danger. In short, he must do his best to secure Championship survival with a League One team. Style of play and formations have been debated by City supporters in recent weeks, but these are, in large part, subsidiary issues. please log in to view this image At the heart of the matter lies the fundamental dilemma of whether to accede to inflated prices and jeopardise the club's new-found economic stability or continue to adhere to the strict tenets of financial prudence and risk a quick return to League One. There exists a school of thought, influenced by the belief that you have to speculate in order to accumulate, that advocates a return to the extravagance of old. But any decision to resort to short-term remedies must necessarily be balanced against the long-term interests of an organisation that still has to prove it can stand on its own two feet without the safety net provided by a billionaire owner. Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTO...tory-27882867-detail/story.html#ixzz3n8oBY0Hc Follow us: @BristolPost on Twitter | bristolpost on Facebook
Maybe that's why Swindon deliberately threw their playoff final? No. Lansdowne has stated that he wants to see City in the Premier league. If that is ever to happen we have to conquer this league on the way. God knows the wages in this league will seem like peanuts compared to those being paid in the prem.
Not a hope in hell,The fact SL spouts on about premiership is make believe,peter pan stuff,fairy dust. We have more chance of doing a rovers than going to the prem. That summary above says we are goldfish in a koi pond ladies and gentlemen.
Thanks for this thread RR because it sums up my thoughts on what has been happening at BCFC for years when we struggle to achieve anything consistent in the Championship. I have said many times that we don't appear to be able to compete at any level in the division where dreams can come true, and by that I mean the Premiership. My patience with the overall state of the game of football has almost come to an end and when I see my beloved Bristol City, owned by a wealthy English entrepreneur who doesn't keep his wallet closed when it comes to the crunch, struggling to get even a foothold in the 2nd tier it makes me weep at the sad state of the vast majority of football clubs who are facing possible extinction. The moral values have long since disappeared from view and the greed that has overtaken the sport will eventually lead to the death of many clubs who have formed the roots of football in England and all over the of the world. What do they get for their tireless efforts from the big money spinners in the exalted land they call the Premiership - not very much I suspect? The statements made by AS in this post only go to highlight the problems facing us, and many others, when we have to compete against the likes of QPR who get Premiership type money for failure and then use it against the likes of us to take another grab at getting their greasy paws on more unearned money to do it all over again. Am I annoyed at these scenarios, well the answer is YES and although I use QPR as an example of what is so wrong with the system as it is I won't hold my breath waiting for the wealthy clubs to redress the balance and return it to sanity. The level playing field we all hope for will never return so don't expect Bristol City to light up the Premiership any time soon and therefore my dreams of seeing my team play up there one day have now well and truly been put to bed for good. Sadly, I have to say, these thoughts have been in my head for many years and now regrettably they seem to have come to pass and the knowledge that my lifetime obsession with City has borne little fruit leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth which resembles humble pie. The huge sums of money being bandied around the top level of English football has almost become the death knell of the sport as I knew it and it's almost like there are only 2 divisions in English football and they are: 1. Premier League 2. Pretenders (Yo-Yo division) 3. Championship 4. League One 5. League Two Teams in italics don't count in any standings, including financial. Any reference to reality needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. See you all in a month or so, and let's hope when I return all will be well down in BS3.
P.S. Moaning Mike has something to be grateful for, and that is the tickets to Wembley final earlier this year gained through the assistance of cidered. Thanks for that wonderful memory. Dream on Mike.
Mike i personally think Steve Cotterill will leave for better prospects elsewhere, that is my gut feeling. He will be dragged down by the pressure pot building as we try to escape the depths of bottom of the league.
I am sure that he's weighing up his options right now and who would blame him? Sounds like another Steve Coppell to me.
Well the hard facts are that you have to spend big to get up. Personally I want us to build sensible and slowly - buy young hand hungry players - should have bought Tom Bradshaw in June - bet his price has doubled now
The two statements are contradictory. Your first statement does not ring true for Southampton for instance. Southampton used a bottom up philosophy and a long term Club management structure employing top class professionals and facilities e.g Staplewood.
Blackpool got to the prem on £500k. No, I share your frustration RR I really do, but I can't believe that SL is conning us. What advantage would there be for him to see us back in div 3? We would never make a profit there and he would have to bail us out forever. If on the other hand we pushed for the prem, we would start next season with a sold-out stadium plus the £100k+ you get if you are dicked every week and come straight back down - plus the shirt sales and associated publicity which would follow. We have ****ed up definitely, but I think it will turn out ok this time.
I really hope your right,sadly i see one big struggle this season,just don't see us staying up i'm afraid. Weak squad,weaker than last year,no depth,sad state of affairs.
In January we need to spend.... and this time Cotterill buy ****ing players that we can get! Don't waste time on strikers who we're never going to join.
The stadium is a long term plan and I have quoted before that currently we need to sell ever seat for every home game at around £300 just to break even, so it doesn't really matter if it is full or not, a loss is still made. The corporate side of things will sustain income that will be generated on a daily basis, not just once every two weeks. Football stadia can no longer operate in such a manner. its a bit like pubs that don't sell food. I only know of one locally. More money is made out of a student having a diet coke and a sandwich than a hardened drinker propping up a bar supping beer. Yes, lots of good observations on here, we cannot realistically compete at present, but in addition to the 3 promoted clubs there is Rotherham and one or two others, so why not use this season and play in an almost mini league, looking to win it in which case we survive on the basis that there is 3 worse than us at least. Seems to happen in the prem too. Someone ends up staying up that didn't really deserve to
There is 5 of us at the moment, MK Dons, Preston, Us, Rotherham & Huddersfield. We need to keep up with this pack. Staying up this year is a must, do that and we'll be able to attract better players. If not, we can always do the double again, that was fun.
The best since the play off season without doubt,but it has been flushed down the toilet this season very very quickly.
