downendcity

The stitch up by the Fa in 1992 ,that resulted in the formation of the premier league, meant that the rest of the pyramid no longer mattered to them. Since then the premier league tail has been wagging the football pyramid dog - as evidenced by this latest decision. Until recently the premier league had money to spare, as long as as little of it as possible trickled down the pyramid, and for them the FA Cup was an unwelcome distraction from the more important business of premier league success/survival and ever expanding European competitions. Having seen some of the eye watering losses more and more premier league clubs are posting, the irony now is that some of them might need lucrative cup runs ( including replays) to bring in additional revenue to help balance the books!

This kit?

How long before PL clubs have a note from their Mums asking for them to be excused taking part in the FA Cup?

More clubs are adversely affected by this decision than the ones that influenced it.

I know it's Archibald Leach!

Thinking back to when Derby "sold" their stadium, they had to show a market rent for being able to continue using the ground. Accordingly, surely if Chelsea is to continue to enjoy the revenue stream from a hotel they no longer own, they must pay a market rent to the new owner, otherwise it would be even more of a sham transaction than it already is! In the wake of Derby, Wednesday and Stoke all exploiting the loophole the EFL left in their revised ffp rules, I think I'm right in saying that loophole has since been closed. It would appear that the Premier League administrators were not quite so quick to plug the loophole that allows a club to sell an asset to an interested third party. I would not be surprised see that Man City's lawyers will be able to drive a coach and horses through the 100+ charges brought against them. Not because they are innocent of the charges, but because it seems that footballs administrators are to naive and cannot see how devious clubs ( especially the wealthiest, with money to afford top accountants and legal advisers) will cheat in order to gain an advantage.

What defines a good ground? A City away win!

They'd have had meaning to them had he lost all 5!

In the days of uncovered wickets he earned his "deadly" nickname. Always remember this photo with every player on the pitch in shot.

Sat and chatted to his Mum and Dad at Scunny years back. They were sat behind the goal with City fans - really nice couple.

Council?

Manning hokey cokey.

A game of two seasons?

Given the number of exceptions to the rule, it seems to me there is more of a seance to it.

Is our Seagull posting on there as well?

I can remember playing double headers at the end of season in the District League, but never hepta headers!

Right there's the definition of " between a rock and a hard place"!

Plenty of occasions were City is concerned, to paraphrase Eric Morecambe, you've got all the right words, but not necessarily in the right order!

No, but we've not picked up a single point in the last 24 hours, so if this is extrapolated over a full season then we are absolute certainties to be relegated next season and therefore can look forward to playing a Bristol derby in 25/26.

Probably not and especially so when you've got umpteen millions in parachute payments to hand.

Sort of reminds me of this interview with Matt Damon - about Tom Cruise.

I liked the Arsenal style with white sleeves - until the suppliers couldn't supply it!

Like you, I'm somewhat in the middle on this as I would have been happy for Pearson to continue ( although I think many view his time in charge, particularly more lately, through rose coloured glasses) and do think Manning has made mistakes, although have seen signs that I think auger well for the future - if he is given the chance! I think Manning's appointment was against a background of growing antipathy towards the owner and senior management at the club, which came to a crescendo with the timing and manner of Pearson's sacking, and think this has affected how he has been viewed by some fans. I don't think any fans really want to see us lose, but do think that some, who have an axe to grind with the running of the club, are happy to "point out" Manning's failures, as it enables them to reinforce the fallacy of the club's decision to sack Pearson. This has led to many things under Manning being compared to Pearson, so that Manning's successes are credited to Pearson ( his players/formation/tactics), whereas poor results and/or performances are put down solely to Manning. Hopefully , if Manning can continue to produce results and performances, as he has recently, and with greater consistency then hopefully he offers less ammunition for those arguments. Then perhaps the forum can get back to a degree of normality and where every other thread does not descend into a Manning v Pearson debate/argument. Having said that, how often in the fairly recent past, and under various managers, do we seem to have had moaners v happy clappers discussions, so perhaps , as @RoystonFoote'snephew says it's down to Bristolian's natural pessimism/negativity!

With 4 gold stars over the crest to commemorate the wins against Blackburn, Leicester, Saints and WHam.