EmersonsRed Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 We had come off the back of losing 9 of our last 10 games league games and a draw against Fleetwood in the FA Cup. We were about to face Cardiff, we lost. We then had Forest in the league, we lost. We were 19th in the table with 24 points. There were enough rumours around of unrest in the camp to fill a lifetime in a club and 99% of people were understandably calling for LJs head. 12 months on, we have 47 points, 1 off doubling our total last season. We've beaten Manchester United and reached a semi-final of a competition and took 8,000 fans away to the first leg. We're 4th, 2 points off a automatic promotion spot. Been on Sky several times, sold out the 'new' AG... We have done all of it on a depleted squad this season, injuries galore. I can't think of any side to have such a contrast within a space of a year without changing the manager and/or pumping a shit tonne of money into the squad. Long may this continue, we have a very exciting few months coming up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCFC1512 Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 Yep my timehop and Facebook on this day is gonna start getting very embarrassing :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phileas Fogg Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 21 minutes ago, Taunton_BCFC said: Yep my timehop and Facebook on this day is gonna start getting very embarrassing Well I don't think anyone could be blamed really for wanting LJ gone last season. It's also basically unheard of for a manager to survive that sort of form. Easy to say it now looking back but I am glad we stuck with him, it's all worked out rather well so far. If he can get us promoted this season (and maybe win the League Cup too!) it would be one of the biggest turnarounds in a managerial career I can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelksRed Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 I called for LJ to go just after Cardiff loss....I'm so fat on humble pie now however that I'll be on a diet for the rest of my natural life. Irrespective of the remainder of the season LJ and his players have given me a reason to feel optimistic about our chances and have, over time, answered my concerns and slowly recovered my faith in our potential to make the next step up to the Prem very soon in the near future. I'm not scared to say it........ #Iwaswrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davefevs Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 The Reading home game (2-3) was the first time I wavered. Preston away (0-5) was when I seriously thought he ought to go, because I couldn’t see how he could keep coming up with the same excuses, and blaming the younger players, who weren’t imho one of the root causes. I still wanted him to stay and succeed, but that was a contradiction....but City meant something (a lot) to him, and therefore you always hoped he’d turn it around. However it looked very ominous. I tweeted SL and JL, and asked them to consider making a change....didn’t get a reply. Attacking the root cause(s) whether that be with support from Lansdown, ultimately is what turned it around. He had the balls to trust he was doing the right thing, and convince SL it was too - he went back to his convictions, swallowed a bit of pride....and has done a magnificent recovery job, and then gone on to the next stage. In pre-season, the bits of BS that wound me up last season, began to get smarter. "We want to build the team around LT" - consequently selling him for more than he was worth to us. Seems GJ did the same to Warnock with McIndoe’s mate Nick Carle! I liked the way he split the media duties. We didn’t get off to the greatest start, but I said if we turned 5 defeats into 5 draws, we’d get near 59 points, enough to probably not be too heavily involved in a relegation battle. Brentford, we got one of those. Games like Millwall and Villa, we didn’t lose, then to top it we went to one of our bogey sides, Reading, and Flint recalled, gets the winner and that felt like 2 more points gained. We’ve just kicked on and on from there. The not quite ready players of early 16/17 and even 17/18 in O’Dowda’s case, began to be material parts of the team. Johnson was back inside with me, and since then he’s matured even more, as have the squad and his support team. The fans have grown up a bit too....not reacting to being 0-1 v Derby, when the team had played well. All looking a bit ominous....even on the back of a 4 game losing run. We are staying the distance this season. What will be will be, but we are a club on a serious up....and doing that by doing things properly, on and off the field. Well done everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Coach Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 But then you never know what could happen in another 12 months. Positive or negative. Very difficult to label success in football Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
054123 Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 4 hours ago, EmersonsRed said: We had come off the back of losing 9 of our last 10 games league games and a draw against Fleetwood in the FA Cup. We were about to face Cardiff, we lost. We then had Forest in the league, we lost. We were 19th in the table with 24 points. There were enough rumours around of unrest in the camp to fill a lifetime in a club and 99% of people were understandably calling for LJs head. 12 months on, we have 47 points, 1 off doubling our total last season. We've beaten Manchester United and reached a semi-final of a competition and took 8,000 fans away to the first leg. We're 4th, 2 points off a automatic promotion spot. Been on Sky several times, sold out the 'new' AG... We have done all of it on a depleted squad this season, injuries galore. I can't think of any side to have such a contrast within a space of a year without changing the manager and/or pumping a shit tonne of money into the squad. Long may this continue, we have a very exciting few months coming up... Truly remarkable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dastardly and Muttley Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 I posted this about a year ago, asking the question, what would it take to bring the fans back on side? Some people, like @cidered abroad were spot on. Success brought people back, sustained success will keep them here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hampshire Red Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 Emerson Red, you quote some facts but one really misleading guess. The 99% Maybe 80% ( another guess!) on this forum at the time wanted Lj to go but this forum had many delinquents ( including many stirring gas of course) Some of us didn't and at every posting got called names like " happy clappers", "Lansdown lovers" and a lot, lot worse. The vindictive nature of many posters ( and they know who they are) forced hundreds of genuine City fans off the forum to continotheir support of club, players, manager and owner in their own ways. Anyway things have improved significantly but don't be surprised if we don't go to Europe and don't get promoted (talk to the bookies who will confirm) and the nature of our current OTiB reverts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
054123 Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 27 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said: Emerson Red, you quote some facts but one really misleading guess. The 99% Maybe 80% ( another guess!) on this forum at the time wanted Lj to go but this forum had many delinquents ( including many stirring gas of course) Some of us didn't and at every posting got called names like " happy clappers", "Lansdown lovers" and a lot, lot worse. The vindictive nature of many posters ( and they know who they are) forced hundreds of genuine City fans off the forum to continotheir support of club, players, manager and owner in their own ways. Anyway things have improved significantly but don't be surprised if we don't go to Europe and don't get promoted (talk to the bookies who will confirm) and the nature of our current OTiB reverts. We can only hope these hundreds of posters return and subscribe to the forum. A welcome boost for @Tomarse I'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cider-Head23 Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 12 hours ago, Davefevs said: The Reading home game (2-3) was the first time I wavered. Preston away (0-5) was when I seriously thought he ought to go, because I couldn’t see how he could keep coming up with the same excuses, and blaming the younger players, who weren’t imho one of the root causes. I still wanted him to stay and succeed, but that was a contradiction....but City meant something (a lot) to him, and therefore you always hoped he’d turn it around. However it looked very ominous. I tweeted SL and JL, and asked them to consider making a change....didn’t get a reply. Attacking the root cause(s) whether that be with support from Lansdown, ultimately is what turned it around. He had the balls to trust he was doing the right thing, and convince SL it was too - he went back to his convictions, swallowed a bit of pride....and has done a magnificent recovery job, and then gone on to the next stage. In pre-season, the bits of BS that wound me up last season, began to get smarter. "We want to build the team around LT" - consequently selling him for more than he was worth to us. Seems GJ did the same to Warnock with McIndoe’s mate Nick Carle! I liked the way he split the media duties. We didn’t get off to the greatest start, but I said if we turned 5 defeats into 5 draws, we’d get near 59 points, enough to probably not be too heavily involved in a relegation battle. Brentford, we got one of those. Games like Millwall and Villa, we didn’t lose, then to top it we went to one of our bogey sides, Reading, and Flint recalled, gets the winner and that felt like 2 more points gained. We’ve just kicked on and on from there. The not quite ready players of early 16/17 and even 17/18 in O’Dowda’s case, began to be material parts of the team. Johnson was back inside with me, and since then he’s matured even more, as have the squad and his support team. The fans have grown up a bit too....not reacting to being 0-1 v Derby, when the team had played well. All looking a bit ominous....even on the back of a 4 game losing run. We are staying the distance this season. What will be will be, but we are a club on a serious up....and doing that by doing things properly, on and off the field. Well done everyone. Great post Fevs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 14 minutes ago, 054123 said: We can only hope these hundreds of posters return and subscribe to the forum. A welcome boost for @Tomarse I'm sure. Posting counts and views have risen year on year for the last ten years at least Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leveller Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 1 hour ago, Hampshire Red said: Emerson Red, you quote some facts but one really misleading guess. The 99% Maybe 80% ( another guess!) on this forum at the time wanted Lj to go but this forum had many delinquents ( including many stirring gas of course) Some of us didn't and at every posting got called names like " happy clappers", "Lansdown lovers" and a lot, lot worse. The vindictive nature of many posters ( and they know who they are) forced hundreds of genuine City fans off the forum to continotheir support of club, players, manager and owner in their own ways. Anyway things have improved significantly but don't be surprised if we don't go to Europe and don't get promoted (talk to the bookies who will confirm) and the nature of our current OTiB reverts. I’m not sure how many of us actually left but it did get unnecessarily bitter and twisted, that’s for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd socks Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 Well I have just joined the forum ,and I am sure many more will , Supporting City for 60 years, as a st holder for 15 years ,and attending matches as and when possible.I have seen the highs and the very lows, all the good and bad times...... But this time is special . Never has the future of this club looked better ,superb stadium ,and a group of players and staff that will ensure that BRISTOL CITY . will be a Premiership club Also it's about time we played in a proper final ..and go on to win that as well . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Balls Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 I have already done my bit of humble pie on the thread pinned to this. Happy to admit that things have exceeded expectations beyond what anyone could really have predicted last year. SL has been vindicated by standing by LJ. LJ's reputation has reached stratospheric levels, which will likely only be outdone if we beat Man blue & get promotion. The other interesting thing is that for all we say that we have a young team, in fact we have a core of players who have been with us for 3 or 4 years, played 100-200 games for the club, and had similar success 3 years ago, albeit in a division below. I would suggest that getting confidence back into that group has been a huge factor in our success this season, especially as they have had 2 seasons at this level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmersonsRed Posted January 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 4 hours ago, Hampshire Red said: Emerson Red, you quote some facts but one really misleading guess. The 99% Maybe 80% ( another guess!) on this forum at the time wanted Lj to go but this forum had many delinquents ( including many stirring gas of course) Some of us didn't and at every posting got called names like " happy clappers", "Lansdown lovers" and a lot, lot worse. The vindictive nature of many posters ( and they know who they are) forced hundreds of genuine City fans off the forum to continotheir support of club, players, manager and owner in their own ways. Anyway things have improved significantly but don't be surprised if we don't go to Europe and don't get promoted (talk to the bookies who will confirm) and the nature of our current OTiB reverts. Yep... I was called all sorts! Never wavered from Johnson. I got called a gashead for maintaining that he was a fantastic coach and the right man to lead us forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiderEyed Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 Properly dislike the "I was Johnson in all along" brigade. Were you? Okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmersonsRed Posted January 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 15 minutes ago, ZiderEyed said: Properly dislike the "I was Johnson in all along" brigade. Were you? Okay. Edit: Looked at your profile... Nevermind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 56 minutes ago, ZiderEyed said: Properly dislike the "I was Johnson in all along" brigade. Were you? Okay. The last poll of that torrid run had 93% wanting him gone. Very few on here expected him to survive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiderEyed Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 1 hour ago, Tomarse said: The last poll of that torrid run had 93% wanting him gone. Very few on here expected him to survive I thought it was inevitable. Fair play to SL for backing him and we're obviously now starting to reap the rewards for that, just goes to show we as fans don't have the full picture of whats going on inside the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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