http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTO...ough-took-10/story-28783232-detail/story.html Zach Clough took just 10 seconds to turn us down in Jan. A phone call to his dad telling him about our offer was apparently met with laughter from his dad and a comment of "No Chance"!! Well Zac old boy, good move buddy as Bolton are still right in the relegation mire and nobody else bid for you, so hope you and your dad are happy! Like many you have fallen in to the trap that because Bolton were in the Prem makes them a big club, it does not, much like Wigan you got a rich fan owner in the 90's who turned you from a Div 3 side into a Prem club, which should be applauded, no doubt, but does not as it has not for Wigan either make you a big club. Now Bolton have been bought out they won't even need to sell you in the summer, so you and your dad enjoy L1 next season!!
I think he's very young and has grown up playing for just one club since a very early age. A move down south for an unworldly kid (because that's what he is by the sounds of it) may not have suited us or him. I dare say another Northern club will come in for him if Bolton go down and he'll be happy and so will Bolton. Some things just aren't meant to be.
It's hard to take, as a Bristolian and a City fan, but we are NOT a fashionable club. Burnley, Leeds, Wolverhampton or Blackburn etc may be dire architecturally, financially or socially when compared to our fair city, but when comparing football teams I'm sorry to say that all of those places are perceived to be a far better prospect than Bristol City and deemed more likely to achieve premier league status than us - and history would seem to back up that perception. We have been in the footballing backwater for so long it'll take at least 10 years of sustained presence at the top of the Championship or bottom of the Premiership to change those perceptions - and we haven't seen the Prem since the 1980s. We might have 'potential' (I hate that word), but right now we are a SMALL club.
Despite our owner talking us up, we are a small club. We shouldn't be smaller than Burnley or Blackburn in terms of our fan base and our appeal but we are. They both have recent Premiership experience and we don't. Also and as I've said elsewhere there are so many teams in the Northwest that any player moving clubs up there never has that far to travel. So unfortunately we are also a geographic backwater with the nearest EPL clubs 90-100 miles away in Swansea, Southampton and Villa...the latter if only for a couple more months !
hang on hang on there seems to be a lot of confusion of big clubs small clubs big players little players and ZC is little I had quite a smirk on my face when I saw him in the tv Sat match .. looks even smaller than 5'7" but has talent ... divide the league into 46 top and 46 bottom and Bristol city in most criteria will fall in top 46 so don't decry BCFC........ divide into top 30 middle 30 and bottom 32 we will feature more in top 30 than middle 30!.. show some positivity, seems like we have to be always negative or dig up negative aspects ..we are in a positive vein at present so don't spoil it
Did I read correctly that Ipswich were facing a winding up order but it got kicked out?-We really should be grateful we are in the position we are in- I would much sooner our position than lots of others
Tricky one this - on the one hand it does seem as though there was quite a bit of disrespect towards us, but at the same time, people complain about players being mercenaries and not giving back to their clubs, yet here's a lad who wanted to stay with his boyhood team. Best thing we can do is continue our upturn in form and make him think maybe he's made the wrong decision in years to come - he might say now that 'frankly, Bolton are a bigger club', but I'm not convinced that will necessarily be the case over the next few years. Bolton may have saved themselves from true financial meltdown, but a significant amount of damage has already been done and I think it's more likely than not that they will go down this year, whereas we've probably recently just crossed into more likely to stay up than not (just). Along with the stadium redevelopment, I wouldn't be surprised if we are able to lay the groundwork toward building a side that can assault the playoffs - though as LJ said recently, the new TV money and parachute payments is making it an ever closing door...
They are holding out for bigger and better things. if you take some of what he said it could be insulting, but I don't think that was his intention because he mentions "out of respect for Bristol City"
Guys, I am NOT being negative - I am stating FACT - with careful use of the word PERCEIVED.. I love our club and feel it has massively underachieved for years - and I do take your points JGF. Trouble is, your average fan of, or player at any other club in the country look at us as a Div 3 club which occasionally pops its head into Div 2.
Bolton were given 14 days to resolve their issues or face a winding up order yesterday, they seem confident that a takeover can be completed in time.. If it isn't Cloughs love for his club could have destroyed them as the £2m plus they would have received would maybe have helped to save them. He thinks he's too good for us and I personally don't think he's good enough for us.. hey ho.
not yet we haven't .... still need to get 47 points hatched count chickens don't your comes to mind ... a number of different pundits on TV ..weekly always come up with the comment " a big club in the position they are in" ...... blah blah .. they aint average fans or average players in another club ...been there seen it done it types
...All I said was 'more likely than not' - if it's 51% likely, and 49% unlikely then that's still true. Not exactly 'counting chickens'. Seems as though the bookies agree with me. http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/championship/relegation
Same here is Bolton a bigger club than City mmmm potential no where near as much,is he better that what is here not sure,would he be a starter not sure.
haven't looked for a while but we have never been in the bottom 3 betting wise to go down , cant actually recall seeing us in bottom 4 to go down either ....
4 goals this season and his team nailed on for relegation.... I don't think he's in the position to be "laughing" at any championship team above the line.
He's still a kid and moving to a new city at his age with no close family support may have been a disaster. The whole "10 seconds" thing shouldn't be taken out of context - he's at his hometown club where he is comfortable. I don't think he meant any disrespect by it. It was a sideways move, so why put yourself in that position. If we had been at the top of the table, looking like a possibility for promotion, things may have been different. Anyone who has moved away from home on their own at a young age will understand his feelings.
Quite right Tampa but nonetheless the papers are not filled with world class players beating down the doors of Ashton gate to fulfill their lifetime footballing dreams.
It will be an eye opener for a few who may have been led up the garden path that BCFC don't give youngsters a crack! maybe the same for the other 3 we couldn't get pen to paper on and that Colchester manager... I look out for CUFC every game ... and have to get out a box of Kleenex as the tears of mirth roll down my cheeks .... certainly stopped a couple of youngsters from making positive inroads into their careers! HO HO HO HO .....