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I’ve read this several times, but I just can’t understand what you mean. There are Rovers fans, who obviously support Bristol Rugby, in the Heineken lounge! Surely even a hardened Rovers fan once he or she is at Ashton Gate must realise how big the gulf Is between City and Rovers. How has developing Ashton Gate and bringing Bristol Rugby to the ground mean “ we have lost a significant part of our club because of Mr Lansdown’s Bristol Sport franchising.”? The more the ground is used 24/7 the better. To be successful a club just can’t use a ground to play it’s home matches. I can remember the old Ashton Gate and it was total crap. Thank you Steve Lansdown for spending your money to redevelop it

Such a weird day with no match this avvo made all the more surreal seeing FB posts from Gas mates giving it the big one in The Heineken lounge prior to the rugby. Today is one of the first times I have genuinely felt like we have lost a significant part of our club because of Mr Lansdown’s Bristol Sport franchising. It would be just about bearable if our football team had actually got anywhere near the dream we were originally sold when the rugby club came on board. All in all I feel let down by how things have unfolded & the way SL put so much faith in Ashton.

This must go down as one of the strangest 'dig at Lansdown' posts to date!

If there are gas heads following Bristol Rugby at AG, the joke is very much on them.

I think you need to Google what a franchise is

Season’s greetings fellow-Reds. The game being off tomorrow is a double-edged sword for me ? If you read my OP for the Huddersfield match day thread you might recall I was in New York City with my family for a pre-Christmas holiday. Thankfully, my wife and daughters are safely home, however, I tested positive on Wednesday so I’m doing ten days solitary in a really grim Air B and B in Brooklyn. Tomorrow’s game was something to look forward to watching on Robins TV and a good performance/result (however unlikely) would certainly have lifted my spirits ?. As for the double-edged sword a poor performance/result would have only made a miserable situation even worse! Just for a giggle here’s a picture of my Christmas lunch - drink up thee zider! However you are spending this Christmastime enjoy yourself. Thank you fellow OTIBers for making this forum the remarkable place it is.

I think Covid could well be the saviour of English football in the long term.

Don’t forget LJ brought in Macca (from Academy into First Team) so that he could spend less time out on the training pitch and more time on recruitment. That is often forgotten. My view is that both LJ and MA pushed the finances as far as they could. That is supported by some things I’ve heard, inc comments like “if I had a decent budget I’d piss this league”. He had a decent budget in fairness! We pretty much finished in league positions fairly in line with budgets (11th, 8th, 12th)…I totally accept we never had a top 6 budget (PPs put paid for that), but I’d question whether we really over-achieved from 17/18 to 19/20. I often thought play-off challenges were possible because some of the PP clubs were “basket cases” or completely unprepared for life back in the Champ. The worsening of 8th to 12th in his final season were the first outward signs (on the pitch) of a downward trend versus money spent, plus an erratic window too. Totally agree that Ashton assumed the roles of DOF and HOR. I think Richard Latham’s point on FBC pod was relevant that HOR needs to find players that the manager (head coach) wants, and I think that’s really where Ashton was too involved. And I think Johnson got carried away, they both got carried away. I do wonder whether LJ would’ve been satisfied with paying one fee in the summer of 2020 (Williams), having to sell Eliason and not being able to reinvest any of it, and then this summer being told to lose 10 players, cut the wage bill by 1/3rd, etc. I also question my thoughts re this time with - but we found ourselves in / around the top six quite often during his time…only to fall away. I usually resort to - the league is 46 games long And then ponder - what would people have thought of Johnson had we been 14th to 16th each season, but a late run found us just in the top half (instead of the way round he did it) Ah well, Boxing Day musings with no football.

As long as their not singing that laborious Irene garbage

In case anybody's interested (after all the Christmas TV is bound to be crap), this has now been cooked and consumed! Pros: prep. time nil, clearing away time nil, cooking time eight minutes, it was hot, a few glasses of cider took the edge off it. Cons: everything else you can possibly think of and much more!

Yeah, sure he likes it like that...? Bet he loves sitting in a tent whilst visiting fans laugh at him. They’re all jealous beyond belief, over a Century of history at Ashton Gate...our spiritual home. They will never have that and they know it.

Sounds grim Jerseybean. At least you appear to be symptom free. My thoughts are with you in your solitary sentence. Merry Christmas

And I suspect he was one of the `sixth richest club in the league, unlucky da shit` brigade,

The big question for me, is without access to Failand / HPC, and knowing input, influence etc, is that we are in a huge rebuild (2-3 years to get us positioned for a promotion push), why would we try attribute success or failure to one person, an assistant coach, and try to qualify it in 10 games either…whichever side of the fence you sit on. I really am bought into the long term view (maybe I’m gonna be proved wrong). I don’t think we will know where we really are until the summer, end of Jan window might highlight trajectory, as may 20/21’s accounts when they’re out. I see us as 23 games in, not 38/40 (whatever it is since Nige joined), because the summer was a “clearance the site and digging the foundations” period. That’s very selective of me, but that’s my “day zero”….I see little point in saying we were still top half when Holden was sacked, because we had to go backwards first. I thought we’d be middle-eight (red shading below), lower end of….predicted 13th end of season finish as a slow burner. I didn’t expect the Champ to be quite so tight outside the playoffs and relegation spots. We are level on points with 16th (goal difference), 8 points clear of relegation (I’m not gonna talk about the other end) and 3 points off 13th. I think we are on track….albeit level of performance on the pitch has been under par (in the main). If I’m in a positive mood, I wonder what we can achieve if performance levels pick up too? Appreciate many won’t view it like I do, what hey-ho, all about opinions.

I think a lot of people think that LJ was in charge with MA but those in the know have clearly spelt out otherwise. There is a hierarchy of positions in football: CEO DoF Manager Coach From what I have seen LJ focused on the coaching and probably stretched 50% in the manager role. This meant MA did the CEO self appointed himself DoF and did the other 50% of the management. The entire financial side of the club was run by MA and LJ was consulted (in the same way I'm consulted when my manager says we're doing something). There wasn't much wrong with our coaching when you look at what's happened since he left but our finances are a mess by the sounds of things and I don't really know how much involvement LJ had in that, if you want to know where problems lie follow the money.

Seasons greetings Davefevs let’s just say I was actually hoping that my sense of smell and taste had been impaired!

Not covidrelated but remember back in the 80ties. Luton- Southampton put a bet on Southampton, Luton won 7-0 he he. Since then I always says: Southampton is not good away, he he.

Totally agree, and in modern work cultures (due to HR policies, be it a football club, a factory or a bit corporate) these things take time and need to be handled carefully. I'm still of the firm belief we will get towards the playoffs under Pearson but we need to show some patience in the meantime.

What I liked about the Ben Foster story is it sounds like he creates an environment where there’s nowhere to hide. He clearly sets the expectations for everyone and looks you in the eye when he says it so there’s no mistaking what he means. I can’t help but feel there have been a few work dodgers in the club over the past few years and NP certainly seems to be addressing that.

It’s a shitfest and we are right there near the top! How clubs will survive I don’t know, particularly if FFP rules aren’t adapted and the EFL start throwing around points deductions.

4 x 500ml cans later! Better be good. 20 mins per lb plus 25 mins. 1 hrs 45 mins. We'll know laters

Lost Earl and Malins and haven’t replaced them, plus a couple of long term injuries

I predict lots of high earns stay exactly where they are.

Wow typical Bristol. Giving a penalty away with possession with 30 seconds to go

Tbh the crowds they get down the gate since they moved here have been huge compared to what they got at the potato patch. If they did lose any fans they certainly gained more than what they lost.

This might be true of MA but I don’t believe it at all re: LJ. LJ had his influential players sold from under him and that’s contributed to why we lost direction and stagnated. if he hated influential players that much he wouldn’t have made them team captains just before getting rid of them (Pack, Brownhill)

The big.... 'MY GOD, THEY HAVE GENUINE FANTA' one. That's my guess.

And bringing the rugby in to it just for good measure... Weird.

Imagine how the Fewers feel, being part of the Duane Sport offshore franchise.

Tbf the first thing you see on the page is the news article that the games off

The Fruit Market project is not going to happen as hundreds of City fans have been walking their dogs there for generations. We’re just waiting for the right moment to disclose.

Well said.. Chin up JB.. You’ll be through this in no time. Here’s to a better 2022

Probably the bowlers fault that they can't bat...

Thank you ChippenhamRed and merry Christmas to you. It is all a bit of a learning curve for me and tbh I have done what I believe to be the right and best thing, although it’s not without flaws….in reply to your questions: When tested positive - told to follow the local restrictions, which in NYC means 10 days immediate self isolation. Although ‘immediate’ isn’t strictly possible in every case e.g. I was in a hotel room which I had to check out of within an hour of getting a positive result! I was responsible for finding alternative accommodation. I didn’t want and could not afford to stay in a hotel (just one room, expensive, no cooking facilities, therefore deliveries or room service the only options, etc.) As you note that did mean putting others at risk as I got from A to B. Although of course I may have, unknowingly, been positive a day or two prior to the test when I was moving freely around. Food is a tough one - I opted for Air B and B so I had a kitchen (of sorts) as I didn’t want / couldn’t afford to have ten days of home deliveries. I therefore opted to visit the supermarket on the way to my accommodation and stocked up on medicine and basic foodstuffs in order to sustain me for the period of self isolation.

I am no longer a kid, but I still get upset when leaning bent and Newman left.

The donkey told the tiger, "The grass is blue." The tiger replied, "No, the grass is green." The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion. As they approached the lion on his throne, the donkey started screaming: ′′Your Highness, isn't it true that the grass is blue?" The lion replied: "If you believe it is true, the grass is blue." The donkey rushed forward and continued: ′′The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me and annoys me. Please punish him." The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 3 days of silence." The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating ′′The grass is blue, the grass is blue..." The tiger asked the lion, "Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?" The lion replied, ′′You've known and seen the grass is green." The tiger asked, ′′So why do you punish me?" The lion replied, "That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is degrading for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with an ass, and on top of that, you came and bothered me with that question just to validate something you already knew was true!" The biggest waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn't care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions. Never waste time on discussions that make no sense. There are people who, for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand. Others who are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment, and the only thing that they want is to be right even if they aren’t. When IGNORANCE SCREAMS, intelligence moves on.

Really? I thought it looked like it was rife They all wanted ‘Deano’ to get the job so they could simply keep rising the gravy train They got away with murder for to long under both LJ and Holden

A new Red has joined us today

Spot on. Honest trier who was fondly remembered & signed off his City career with a winning goal at the Mem. He cost us £30k for ****’s sake, I watched the 4-2 win at Twerton last night, his cross for Agostino’s goal, our third (& what a player he was) was worth that alone.

He may well have been - away to Leeds comes to mind - but you are undoubtedly aware he was suffering from mental health problems at the time. By all means, give a hard time to ex-players who took the proverbial or ex-managers/CEOs who were worse, but I maintain it would be harsh to abuse an ex-player who gave of his best, but was prevented from giving more due to illness.

Because his time as first team coach at the club coincided with, arguably, the worst coached City side ever.

We lack ‘ strong characters and leaders at the club’ - absolutely. And the reason for that is those are not qualities that MA and LJ wanted. Ultimately, they both knew that characters of that nature would, in the end, expose them, and that was not a risk they were prepared to take.

Having been on this forum for years I know you lot are probably multi lingual but for those who’s many languages don’t include French in this clip Han Noah says……roughly translating……. When he was at Monaco they went out for a meal with coach Thierry Henry to a very posh restaurant. H-N being very young was eating chicken with his hands and discarding the bones to one side. Thierry reprimanded him saying this isn’t how you behave in a posh restaurant and he must do 100 lines as punishment. H-N wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not so did the 100 lines just in case.

**** sake, self-isolating alone on the other side of the country, and that was one of the saving graces

I had a feeling this was going to happen. Luton must really have Covid as they won’t get a better chance of three points than now. Seriously, I hope everyone is ok. Bears Rugby for me tomorrow now.

Some prefer the radio - that way you don't have to actually see us play.

Latest from Bristol band Glass Violet, another cracking anthem of a tune.