We all support a team from a city that is in the top ten population bases in the country and yet we can't produce a decent football team if our lives depended on it. Surely we have an owner who is regarded as one of the best entrepreneurs in the country but seemingly incapable of doing the same good things for BCFC despite his heart being in the right pla,ce as I'm sure you all agree. I constantly hear that we are so fortunate to have a man of his business acumen at the helm, so how come we never get our business plan in sufficient order to keep our team competitive? The constant revolving door of the managerial tenure is clearly evident to all who come within a stone's throw of Ashton Gate and must turn off any potential new managers and keep them looking for greener pastures elsewhere. Until such time as we hire a good manager (whatever that means these days) who understands all aspects of the game and the sensitivity, combined with discipline, neede to keep their fold in form and in the right mindset. Only when we have someone in place who can handle all the rigours of the job with a confident smile on their face due to the results they are achieving do we stand any chance of earning back the respect of the fastly disappearing paying supporters. Most of us are fast losing our respect for what is happening at Ashton Gate and until we see the commitment to change and improvement from the board, we will continue to question the decisions made at the top level, rather like we've been doing for the last 3-4 years. This could be the last chance saloon for the top brass to get it right if they don't want to lose the supporter base for the long term and when going to watch Bristol City is no longer on their want to do list.
Football clubs are big boy's toys for the very rich, but for someone like SL who yes is rich, is not willing to plough millions into something he knows nothing about, he has the backing of money but I don't think he wants it to be free flowing, hence the reason for being cautious. I don't blame him, unless I had billions I would do the same..... But if you're going to dabble now and again you need to go for it if you want to progress, otherwise what is the point? I think SL felt he had his fingers burnt with Coppell, hense the reason in appointing Millen & Del. He maybe losing the novelty of owning a football club but I believe, he should give it one last push and appoint someone with pedigree....he needs to go for it, as he would feel a sense of failure and that BCFC will be back to square one before he took over.....Over to you Steve!
Not being funny but I don't actually know what City's plan is. Squad numbers are again creeping up and again its numbers v quality.
Frankly at the moment, you could put any manager you like from the premier leagues anywhere in the world and it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. It has become abundantly clear from the likes of yesterdays displays that half of our squad simply can't play football at this level so it would like the old saying of making a silk purse of out a sows ear. Easy solution is get rid of the manager and bring in the much vaunted experienced man e.g. Coppell and watch him do exactly the same thing when funds are not forthcoming. The other answer (the correct one) is to replace our midfield (Danns being the start) and the centre of our defence with FOOTBALLERS and not players that don't make runs and don't have a clue what to do with the ball.... Make your choice but if you go for the manager, pretty soon we will become a laughing stock like Chelsea and NOONE will want to come here...
I do agree with you Prem and have backed Del since day one. I am pissed off that we can see what you are saying so we get a young CH who comes with a good reputation and give him 60 seconds, so far. I really do want Del to succeed and hope that he does, but with his dicision to play Fontaine and Kilkenny just confuses me. Why did it take so long to change the set up yesterday and why when allowed 3 subs only 2 was used. These are the things that I just can-not defend. My wife sent a tweet in to 20p last night she said "I can put up with losing, when the players were at least trying, today I'm disgusted with the team today" I have to agree with her, when we lost to Blackburn we were feeling down to lose but the manner of the defeat was different. I will still hope he can turn it round, but he needs to play the players he signed not the ones he inherited.
Not easiest solution to get rid of the manager, but it's the right one. Most of the players on the pitch are what Del brought in, so this is complete rubbish. Del has no bloody idea what he's doing end of. Give a decent manager a chance and this could be turned around....leave it with Del and we're down. Guaranteed!
Oldest clishe going I know but imagine if Man Utd had got rid of Sir Alex if they had listened to the baying wolves of the sack squad.....or Alan Dicks or Gary Johnson...Let's wait until January and see what develops.....then people like me will be with you...
Don't know that people were calling for GJ's head Wiz in the league one days...as for Sir Alex & Alan Dicks.......things have moved on mate, no manager will ever last as longs as Sir Alex. As for AD, that was nearly 40 years ago bud.......even the game it self has moved on from then. If we want to stand ANY chance of staying in this league, the board needs to act now........
You and me have been staunch critics of Delboy and have had doubts for a long while,of course we wanted him to do the business,but sadly it ain't happening,I really cannot get my head round fans that still think he can turn it around.
Mainly because they wanted him in the first place RR, the thought of an up and coming manager with fresh ideas that wasn't a same old name floating around was the attraction and their sticking by it. But there comes a time (which I would have done if things were good) that you have to hold your hands up and say I was wrong, it ain't working and it was a massive mistake. Most of Del supporters are hanging on, to the thinnest of threads, somehow thinking he will turn it around. All in vain IMO. For the sake of the club I hope SL & the board lets go of that thread sooner rather than later.
Actually, less than half of the team that started yesterday, i.e. 5, were bought in by Del (maybe this is causing some confusion..?) IMHO, the players that are causing the problem are mostly the old ones. Marv is a shadow of his old self and Kilkenny who I have neutral on until now (but many others are less generous) might as well have not been there yesterday. Pearson drifted in and out and it is clear that he could be way more aggressive but I don't know if he feels he has to cover the others...? Lastly, I have not joined in the critism of him until now however it has become more and more noticable in recent games that our weakest link is our number 4 who is often seen trailing in the wake of the opposition player about to score. I grant you that Doyle should never have been left clear passage to waltz all the way through the centre of our midfield yesterday but then again, he went past the old guard mentioned above. We clearly have better players now but the old thing applies, I saw Bates giving it a moment yesterday, clearly exasperated by the way that Doyle went unchallenged. Likewise, I made a point of watching Sam Baldock yesterday and once again, the AG strikers curse (e.g Chris Wood) is coming into effect as he made many runs but due to our deficiences in midfield, the ball NEVER CAME - if it carries on, like Nicky, he will stop bothering soon. The one thing that is the most telling stat of all to me is the lack of fouls, I have to confess that I haven't researched this but it seems to me that this is a big sign of our lack of competitiveness. According to BBC, we committed only 7 fouls all game yesterday and the first free kick I spotted was at 16 mins (I only noticed as it seemed pretty incredible to me that the game had gone that long without a free kick). Now we know that this isn't because we are playing that well that we are running rings round the opposition, we just DON'T TACKLE. I am not suggesting that we throw ourselves recklessly at everything but if you are putting in a decent number of tackles, then the foul count would be higher. I am as frustrated as anyone else about our lack of form at the moment BUT, we have seen it all before and the team will pick up and dig itself out of the mire and to suggest that we are relegated in November/December is frankly nothing short of ludicrous...
McCinnes has sighed enough for an entire team. The buck stops at McCinnes because the bench was full of his costly signings. the most telling thing about his side is not the lack ot tackling it is the lack of pressing of the ball players hunting in packs closing down space and forcing errorts. that comes from the manager laying down how he wants his team and squad to defend. week in week out the sides shape goes. what lines are players taking away from the back four? are they man marking or is it something else? teams like barnsley walked through city earlier in the season now its was wolves months later. the teams shape is its weak link not individual players. crap teams can still defend and osman did that. defending is done front to back as well as back to front. McCinnes team has not done this all season bar the odd blip and it is crisis because the manager cannot coach anything approaching consistent out of them.
I was (luckily) away for the weekend. Losing to a team by 4 goals to 1 that hadn't previously won in their last 9 attempts is taking it close to breaking point for me. The club is rotten from top to toe and has been for a long time. Some of the things that I find the worst are 1) Cooking the books and never giving the correct attendance whenever there is a big game 2) Meddling - appointing the likes of Sexstone and SL chasing Coppell 3) Giving the job to Tinnion and then making the same mistake with Millen 4) Our owner not using his business acumen when he has had every opportunity to do so and has the experience 5) Not being able to keep a clean sheet, or a lead collectively Even with recent history, Saturday was yet another new low point for me in our quagmire of a season
its not just pressing the ball in one and twos it also about knowing where to be as a unit. season long players have failed to get into positions where they can start to defend. McInnes it is.
