The question that should have been asked tonight should have been why have you a worse record than the previous manager,yet you have spent more on players than him and you are still in a job,yet the previous manager was sacked. Would love to know what he would have said about this.
One comment he did make is he got Davies and Baldock on a small fee compared to others. And also I said this yesterday on the annual loss thread. It ran upto May this year. So it would of included James Stewart Hunt Along with a lot of others on very high money. Tonight they said that the wages have been lowered and that we are heading towards FFP rules. I know you don't like Del but to say he spent more on players than his predecessor is just witch hunting Red. If you wanted all these answers you could of gone it was a open forum
Somebody should have stood up and thanked him for saving us from relegation last season or was that someone else.....
Someone should have thanked him for the position we're in now...lol or for winning one game in .............i've lost count!
As things stand, and despite the fact we are 3rd from bottom not rock bottom, I feel we are the worst team in the division overall.
If you go to item 28 you will have a report from someone who was there last night, unfortunetely the comments are too long to copy and paste on this site. Wiz, Shiny or Angelic if you know a way of putting this on one thread it might be easier for people. If not click the link http://www.otib.co.uk/index.php?/topic/150695-del-tonight/
Rather than starting a new thread, I'll quickly try to summarise here the main points that I can remember from tonight's AGM. It's all from memory so may not be able to be strictly accurate with figures etc that were discussed but hope it will be of interest of here to those who couldn't attend. As usual Derek came across very well when responding to questions, and seems to have a real confidence in what he's doing here and faith that by the end of the season, everything will work out ok. He seemed to agree that we should be doing a lot better this season than we currently are, but intimated that part of the reason we are struggling is due to injuries. He said that we currently have 8 players injured, and of those probably about 4/5 would be in the starting line up or at least in contention. He said that the players follow the reports in the press and therefore didn't want to offer that as an excuse publicly. He remarked on a few occasions that all of the players we spent fees on will prove their worth to Bristol City (Davies, Cunningham and Baldock), and that those who are deemed squad players currently (Anderson, Morris etc) aren't haemorrhaging the club like previous squad players (Stewart, JCR, Hunt) and add value/depth to the squad. On why players like Anderson aren't playing, Derek didn't go into specific reasons or single out individuals but argued that he sees the players in training and therefore is a better judge to decide who should be in the first team. He stated that his favourite formation is 4-4-2 and played this formation 95% of the time while at St Johnstone. There they had players in the defence who were of the right character and ability to ensure he could play this system. 4-4-2 is his favoured system, and one that he'd have more faith in playing if Skuse was available. He stated that 2 or 3 of our current midfielders are more suited to playing in a midfield 5 rather than 4. The reason we set up playing 4-3-3 (or 4-5-1) versus Wolves is because it worked so well at Middlesboro (which he was hoping would signal an upturn in fortunes) and he maintained that the formation also worked well at Brighton, other than two defensive errors that cost us the game. The only two players that came out for the Wolves game were Carey and Bates (from Boro)-he seemed to want to offer this as confirmation that he didn't make too many changes following on from the success at Boro. He agreed that the two six-foot-plus central midfielders for midfield were more aggressive and imposing than our 3 in the middle and also ran around to win the midfield battle. While disappointed in the performance, Del suggested that Wolves are a better side than us and will finish a lot higher in the table at the end of the season. Del also remarked that Davo (Steve Davies) and Baldock aren't really suited to the 4-5-1 system, and it was probably a mistake to try playing Davies up there on his own. He praised Davies' technical ability and believes that he will get 15 goals this season, although argued that Davies doesn't work as hard as our other strikers (Stead/Taylor?) and he has to ensure we have work-rate and technical ability in the team. Davies also currently has a knee-problem which they're monitoring on an ongoing basis. This problem has meant that he doesn't always take part in training sessions but different players have different physiques and qualities. Bobby Reid didn't come on late on against Wolves when the game was lost, because the situation may not have been quite right, and Heaton had a problem during the game, so we had to keep a substitute available in case we had to replace him. Del likes Neil Danns. Enthusiastic player to have around who's keen to stay with us for longer. Seems like the loan will definitely be extended until January but with the option of a recall. The loan came about because Leicester have great strength in the middle (Drinkwater, King, Wellens etc). Seemed to suggest that we may try to sign Neil but obviously depends on Leicester, the player etc. Del will try again to strengthen in January with one or two likely to go out and one or two likely to come in. The main position that Del wanted to strengthen was the much-published right-side centre half position. We came close to landing our targets but didn't quite manage to. This will be a position they'll try to strengthen in January. Del agreed that we'd be a stronger side with Cisse and Bikey in the team. Unfortunately both players had unrealistic wage demands that were so astronomical that they weren't even figures that he could go back to the board with (I think this was Bikey more than Cisse). There was a long period of silence from both players. Bikey came to train with us before the start of the season out of shape. He had lowered his wage demands, but they were still deemed more than extravagant. Del felt that Cisse wouldn't prove value-for-money as wouldn't always be playing and likely to manage only 25 games a season (I guess through fitness or team-selection). Del enjoyed working with both players and argued that although Gerkin played his part in keeping us up (his role was praised by a supporter) Bikey was one of the main reasons. Del couldn't say whether or not we would've survived without his influence. Del likes the new development league for Under 21s. In the past he wasn't really able to give the youngsters a game in the reserves as there were senior players like JCR and Stewart who needed game time. Greg Cunningham may be back for the Derby game, but if not then he'll definitely be back for the following week. Del seems to really rate Greg and can't wait to have him back. Despite missing out on a right-sided centre half (and possibly central midfielder?), Del was happy with the acquisitions he made in the summer. He believes that we'll reap the rewards in the future from the changes being made to the Academy, which still requires one or two coaching additions. As referred to on the official site, Del says we need to top the mini-league at the bottom of five. He is extremely confident that by the end of the season we'll be away from the relegation battle and will finish in a higher position than last season. For now though we need to concentrate on topping this mini-league and moving away from that before we can raise our ambitions for this season. All in all, again Del came across very well. With all of the changes that have been made behind the scenes during his tenure, it seems that a lot of faith and confidence has been placed in his ability to transform our fortunes. While at the moment things may not look too rosy, once the form of the first-team picks up we'll start then to be able to be positive about the other changes going on around the club. Del seems to be putting a lot of faith in our fortunes improving in coming weeks, especially when the likes of Cunningham and Skuse return(there was also some talk of Skuse's contract which as yet hasn't been resolved. Del rates him and wants to continue working with him and hopes that Skuse will sign a deal once he's back playing again). Quite a few fans remarked that they liked Del and really want him to succeed. He wasn't giving as hard a grilling as many on here would've liked (other than a few testing early questions from Ian Gay), but as usual he came across in the public spotlight with shining colours. Hopefully results will turn around soon and we'll begin to climb the table. Other points: * Del suggested that Bolasie was tapped up by Crystal Palace. He said that Yannick was involved in 90% of games under him either starting or as a sub, but that he didn't play as regularly under Millen. Bolasie never submitted a transfer request but wanted to return to London to be closer to his family. Del intimated that this wasn't the real reason but didn't actually say this. He could see that Yannick was becoming annoyed. He rates Yannick and wanted to work with him and praised his performances for Palace, but it seemed that once the player wanted to leave, we couldn't really force him to stay with his contract running down.
*Quite a bit of discussion about FFP and the recent publication of the accounts. Lansdown/Harman/Dawe very confident that next year we'll manage to reduce the loss to £10 million and the year after £8 million to comply with the new regulations. Dawe seemed very upset with the losses in the previous year and agreed that it can't continue. If there was an immediate decision he could make to change that he would be decisive and do it, but there is no such option. Dawe also very keen to overhaul the scouting and recruitment strategy in forthcoming years. *Ashton Vale still very much Plan A according to Jon Lansdown. He argued that it would be foolish not to have a plan B (ie redevelopment of Ashton Gate etc) but we have planning permission for Plan A and they're still extremely determined to make that happen. *Question on George Ferguson to Jon Lansdown (banning football shirts from tobacco factory, then wearing red trouser one week and blue the next etc). Lansdown said he'd judge George from this point on and hoping to work positively with him. Bristol needs new stadia and hopeful that this will happen. *Wage figures in accounts include pay-offs of players like Stewart but also include Academy Staff costs etc (lots of staff involved in the Academy). *Very pleased to have signed up Joe Morrell. Del says that he should've joined Liverpool (in terms of their standing etc), but his family were very impressed with the way the academy is changing. Hopeful that in the future the academy will produce better quality and quantity of players for the first team. We need to ensure we sort out our own geographical area and make sure we don't miss out on players like Butland in future. Community Trust should help with this as the club plays a greater role in the local area (admission that this wasn't a strength in the past). *Disabled facilities to be improved by next season. Problem currently with disabled supporters area with subs having to warm up there etc. An elevated area will be constructed in the Williams in time for next season. This will be under-cover and able to accommodate 18 wheelchairs. There was an admission that the current facilities for disabled people are not at all good enough. Dave L confirmed that this would definitely be in place for next season (100%). *Dawe seemed to acknowledge that he is quiet for a chairman. He argued that he is representing the other board members and such a position shouldn't be a 'personality' position. Dawe didn't speak too much, but when he did he spoke eloquently and passionately. *Hopefully other members can elaborate on this, but the club are aiming to reduce the overall debt in the next year. I believe the overall debt figures discussed were £45 million, which will be reduced in time for next year's accounts. A suggestion that Steve L might possibly invest by way of increased share equity. Again, I'm not a financial expert and didn't quite hear some of these points from the back. * Ian Gay asked lots of pertinent questions and seemed extremely knowledgeable on current matters at the club. I believe he used to post match reports on here as 'Bristol Boy'. What ever happened to those? Wasn't there some issue with Gary Johnson or similar due to his criticism of tactics? Does he still post here or blog elsewhere? He seems to know quite a lot as to the goings on at the club (finances etc) and always offered objective match reports with insightful tactical analysis (Apologies for adding this to both this thread and the Supporters Meeting thread but seems this one may be more suitable as discussing Del!)
Well done Shiny for putting that on.. I did read it through and have to say it has not changed my opinion whatsoever, lot's I think we all either knew or guessed. Basically he's bloody clueless about other formations other than 442 which he used with St Johnstone. So if we have players that are out injured that would suit his 442 formation, we're stuffed!!! Excuses are as expected, ie injuries (all teams get them) and I'm sure these excuses will be used again if/when we get relegated. Does anyone still have the confidence in him after reading that?? Even though it was cold last night, it seems there was a lot of hot air coming from Ashton Gate!!
Just to point out that isn't my comments. It was copied off the OTIB for ROD who wanted all to see on here
Bristol boy was always excellent on OTIB, he and i agreed on many many things,he jumped ship from OTIB before me,shame as he was one of the best posters on there,i have not seen him post over here,but he would be a excellent addition on here.
Watching the TV reports there didn't seem to be many there. Was it just the chosen camera angles or was it poorly attended.
fair enough, but I remember derek last season playing down surviving relegation as he believed we shouldn't of been in that position, and I agree Just glad we're not in the same position this season
