Steve Lansdown & Things.

BRISTOL CITY BLOG: Can January window right last summer's wrongs?
Paul Binning, aka the Exiled Robin, catches up on events at Ashton Gate.

Listening to the various interviews Bristol City owner Steve Lansdown gave recently was fascinating for the honesty shown, his frankness and, in places, seemingly a whiff of defensiveness of his record in backing the manager financially.
Week by week, as results fluctuate, opinions amongst the fanbase switch from positivity and a feeling of contentment, to one of dread and fear and predictions of relegation. Cotterill in, Cotterill out – opinions seem to sway by the week.
What is felt pretty unanimously is that the summer transfer activity – or lack of it – was, quite frankly, a bit of a shambles and is no doubt contributing to this unexpectedly difficult start we've made.
So, with the January transfer window on the horizon, following a busy, tough looking Christmas period, what are City's benefactor's opinions on what went so wrong and, more importantly, what lies ahead?

Firstly, the squad is too thin on the ground – Lansdown admitted that by saying perhaps we didn't go for the right sort of player. He name-checked Sam Clucas and Liam Cooper – both previously of Chesterfield – as two examples of Championship players performing well who might have joined us, whilst the fans could name many more; Tom Bradshaw, Nathan Byrne and Bradley Dack, for instance, who would surely have added something to the squad during some of this season's trickier moments, and been realistically attainable and affordable.
That there weren't half-a-dozen additions made, from any level, is negligent. Steve Cotterill kept indicating that he didn't want to bring in players who weren't as good as those we had in place already, but we had lost much of our usual subs bench and anyway, isn't that the point of having a squad? Having some options, having some players who might develop at a different pace, or adapt more readily to the demands of the Championship would surely have left us less exposed and as limited in options as this season's struggles have played out?
Whilst I personally have little problem with the attempt to sign Dwight Gayle and Andre Gray (you never know until you try), what was concerning was that all our eggs and efforts seemed to be in one basket, so to speak.
Lansdown admitted we probably aimed too high, at a couple of players who would never have been interested in coming to Ashton Gate, but at the same time the bids were accepted and, according to Lansdown, the wages weren't the problem – as has been perceived by many – simply the ambition of the players to be greater than that of a recently promoted side based in the Westcountry.
He also mentioned that we hadn't adequately replaced Wade Elliott, from both an experience and quality point of view, and many would add Jay Emmanuel-Thomas as well, and that surely has to be a priority in the next few weeks.
Whilst the owner indicated he was fully expecting a new list of targets to be presented to him of slightly lower calibre (i.e. more attainable), he also kept reiterating that he has never yet said "no" to going after a target due to the price or the wages, so there may well still be a headline or two to be written!

Given all of that, you might be expecting a deluge of new signings, but there was also a reiteration of the need for sustainability. His commitment to the Academy and signing players under the age of 24 as a rule; albeit not a mandatory obligation, was spoken of, whilst he also referred to the fact our budget is nowhere near many in this league. We have a turnover of £8m-£9m – that's the equivalent of a low-ish annual wage bill in the Championship, so until the stadium is complete and is generating more revenue, the transfer fees, additional wages and all the extra staff – including the management, coaches, physios and Academy has to be paid for elsewhere. Equally, he suggested we won't just be signing 'anybody' – something that could prove to frustrate the supporters if deals aren't done as quickly as they'd like. He certainly didn't sound like a man willing to break the bank for a couple of journeymen, like he has perhaps been persuaded to do before.
Whilst City may not be signing three players on New Year's Day, and there is still plenty of work to do before players pack up their kit bags and head down the M4 or M5 to join us, both Lansdown and Cotterill have been adamant the squad will be improved one way or another over the coming weeks. It's a huge test for both and one they know they must come through if City are to succeed in achieving a comfortable mid-table status.
On the position of the manager, the two interviews ranged markedly. Talking to Geoff Twentyman he insisted that he wasn't going to start discussing anyone's position – the sort of deflective, non-affirmative comment that often leads people to suspect something's afoot. However, he followed that on the City Player with a resounding rubber-stamping of the manager's credentials and left me personally in no doubt that Cotterill is his man, and will be for a while yet.
He talked of how wholehearted the boss is and there was real admiration in his voice when he talked of how much he'd achieved and, pointedly, remarked that the players were absolutely giving all they could for their manager, refuting certain speculation. He nodded towards the way Cotterill is so publicly committed and emotional by saying sometimes he's had to be lifted himself because he's so disappointed by our position, but from what was said that seemed a minor concern and one which passes quickly.
What was clear, yet again, was how unhappy he was to be in League One – we've spent too long recently in that division and we've now got a rebuilt, expanded stadium to fill. Lansdown quite evidently has ambitions to be in the Premier League. The accusation he's not prepared to pay the wages is one he takes umbrage with and quite rightly points at the success of half a dozen clubs who haven't completely broken the bank to get promotion or head up towards the top of the league.
Finally he also talked of the lack of experience many of the squad have at this level, something I am certainly holding onto with some optimism. The likes of Luke Freeman, Joe Bryan, Aden Flint, Derrick Williams, Johnathan Kodjia, Kieron Agard, Marlon Pack, Bobby Reid and Korey Smith have barely played at this level and are all still pretty young in footballing terms. Perhaps there was far too much expectation that such a core of the team could just step up immediately. They're gaining knowledge all the time, of playing in big stadiums, of facing quality players of the likes of Tom Ince and, as they develop, perhaps the second half of the season will see us eke out a few more goals at critical times, eradicate more of the silly errors and gain those home wins, in particular, that have evaded us thus far this season.
Freeman & Bryan both had as big an impact on Saturday as they have all season, perhaps a sign they're learning and about to break through. If those two in particular can return to anything like the form of last season, then it'll be a bit like having two new players from January onwards and that's two signings we don't need to make!
let's hope 2016 can be even remotely close to being as successful as 2015 has been!

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTOL-CITY-BLOG/story-28446581-detail/story.html