Buster Footman's T shirt

Just now, cidercity1987 said:

We.need.an.attacking.midfielder.

There is NO link between defensive midfield and the three forward players

We're not getting one. SL has been clear. I do worry that we are really short of numbers with injuries piling up already. Only 1 senior CB available now with Dickies sending off. Think we were a CB light anyway.  We will get a true indication of the direction of travel over the next week. Hope I am wrong but I can't see us being able to afford to bring in anyone who is better than what we have

Is there an option for video? Not giving me option to purchase 

Not working for me either. Not via website or app. App showing KO as 1600

Could be a case of good Knight Irene. I'll get me coat

Tragic News

1 hour ago, eardun said:

‘He hasn't achieved with the team what either of those two did, but he wasn't just brought in for that.’

Depends how you measure achievement. I would suggest it’s easier to get us out of league one. 

Agree to a point. 

I'm sure this may have been mentioned before somewhere but maybe we could all save some time and effort by just waiting until it is announced on the OS

Norman Whiteside

Pring and Bryan on the left. Looks very well balanced. Not sure we will have had a natural balance like that since Bell (senior) and Tinnion. That didn't turn out too badly 

One of the best I've been to is the Dragao stadium in Porto. Easy to access from centre of Porto via tram, cheap, good stadium. Loads of good bars and accommodation in Porto.

22 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

I think Pep might be saying "Come on, did you really fight off a pack of dogs in the mountains?"

........not until it's announced on the official site

Definitely a club legend. An integral part of many successful squads here. 

My worry is that he ends up back in the Championship. Keith Stroud with Lee Mason as 4th Official anyone? What could possibly go wrong?

19 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

FFs can someone please just confirm that someone has been allocated the job of:

1. Keeping an eye on flights in and out of Bristol. And,

2. An eye on SL’s private jet. 

Can't confirm those but I am leaning out of my car window outside the Avon Gorge hotel

Luckily we can't get Gillingham away

Great as always! It was going so well until mentioning Keith Bloody Stroud as 4th official.

Just arrived to see that line-up. Not fat away from what most of us would pick. Round pegs in Round holes as much as possible. Gone physical really as well with Pring, Tanner and Semenyo(guess that is why he is in for Wells) Andi back where he is dangerous.  Little bit more confident than I was. COYR.

David James. Keith Millen, Wayne Allison, Mark Gavin not sure on the 5th

2 hours ago, Banjo Red said:

Imagine him and Michael Owen together.

And Garth Crooks

2 minutes ago, View from the Dolman said:

Another EFL statement... 

 

Sounds like this could actually be the beginning of the endgame. Cogs starting to turn towards expulsion sooner rather than later? Seems a lot more bullish from the EFL than previously.  

1986 V Hereford...Freight Rover Semi Final 2nd leg. Great first game. Thought it was always gonna be like that. Little did I know. 36 years.

3 minutes ago, Sheltons Army said:

I recall Ashton’s and LJ’s presentation about recruitment at a Fan Forum not too long into their reign

The use of stats etc to identify players blah blah, and used Elliason as an example , and how we had beaten Premier League Sides to his signature

Tbf , it was all very interesting but there was no mention or hint of eyes on recruitment - it was based predominantly on software and analytics

Im not sure or convinced LJ ever saw live a number of players we signed 

Although if I’m correct I find that almost inconceivable, but tbf to LJ I think that’s probably the norm at a lot of , if not most , Clubs

And I have no problem with stats to aid recruitment ( Not a young un but  I dabbled at FIFA a few years back and am amazed how many Foreign players particularly who I signed as youngsters on their FIFA stats / ratings are now appearing at the top level Mendy at Chelsea and Alvarez who is going to Man City two examples - a slightly daft example but actually shows stats have merit)

But

For a multi multi million pound business , purchasing players for millions , paying players £1m + annually in wages....

I simply cannot get my head around the shambles our recruitment set up has been , for , not seasons , but decades

(From Gibbo And Jock , thro Fawthrop to the present day) (Save the efforts and contacts of Keith Burt / SC , and for a large part,  GJs recruitment , - but , as a Club , no long term system or department )

and is as limited now as it’s ever been , or at least appears to me

Would £40-50k a year (Probably less) for a Full time Scandinavian Scout , or a Full time French Scout , Full time Irish , Non League .... not be likely to prove a beneficial investment ?

IMHO a club like ours should have,  or at least aim , to have the best scouting and recruitment set up at this level - We as a Club need it if we are to ever thrive IMHO

Id be happy , as an owner to invest a million a year into establishing and maintaining an excellent ‘eyes on’ scouting network who is in place to provide an excellent service / support to whoever is the manager or head coach at any given time.

Whilst we pay a single player like Kasey Palmer £1m + a year , plus any bonuses I really cannot see why this area is so ignored.

Have a team of analysts , great , but any decent analyst at every club will quickly identify the stats gems ( FWIW actually see opposition analysis , clearly presented as @Davefevs has regularly demonstrated , far more insightful and useful product , I’m sure to manager and coaching staff) 

IMHO ‘Eyes On’ is the way to identify the hidden gems early , before others,  and with decent scouting appointments , get a prolonged , detailed feel and assessment of suitability , to consider alongside the stats and data. 

 

Am I missing something or is it just me ?

Boom! So obvious and this makes it all the more baffling why it hasn't been addressed since the last Ice Age

13 hours ago, ray savino said:

Today was shit. As a team, the players looked like they were on the proverbial beach. One or two tried, made themselves available for a pass were sort of okay. But, all in all, that was crap.

As for Pearson. Well ultimately he’ll go obviously and takes some of the responsibility. I say some, because the ultimate responsibility for this utter mess is the owner and his son for allowing such a culture of failure, passivity, high expectation (words are easy) with low execution, wasteful and poor recruitment at all levels. To their credit, thank goodness the Academy and its staff appear to have been a bright ray of sunshine behind the grey clouds hanging over Ashton Gate. Pearson has inherited a situation which I don’t think he even thought would be this shit. He’s not blameless by any means, but what I do respect about his words today that resonates with me beyond an obvious assessment of him playing self protection (which partly he may well have been) is this. Pearson has played and managed at the highest level of the domestic game, coming from a humble playing position, being efficient, solid, dependable as opposed to being a natural talent. He knows what it takes, the personality, drive etc, to make it, to get to the top tier of the game. 

For me, he can see the mentality isn’t right within the club to get there. There’s a soft belly and soft ambition here and has been for years. And I think it really has surprised him how much that is. 

Like him or loathe him (and yes words are easy), but Pearson got his assessment absolutely bang on about the club. Apart from the Dicks promo and div 1 team (5 seasons), the Cooper revival period (3 seasons), the Jordan promo and Div 2 squad (2 seasons), the Ward promo squad (1 season), Johnson Snr promo and Champ play-off squad (2 seasons), the Cotts promo squad (1 season), 3 league cup semis, 3 ”historic” FA Cup giant killings v Top tier teams, and an Anglo-Scottish Cup win, all my time supporting the club has been taken watching mediocrity. No matter I love the club (sometimes like today I hate them) and have seen some good players and performances down the years. But all in all it’s been a lesson in supporting mediocrity.

Unfortunately, for all the shiney refurbed stadium, High Performance Training Centre, Rebranding the Robin, etc, etc, we are still left with an underlying feeling of this club talking the talk, but making decisions that only end in serving up mediocrity. Whether it was LJ, DH, Danny Wilson, even GJ (despite getting closest to the Prem), and now NP, all have ultimately served up teams showing glimpses of promise then disappointed.

I hope Pearson succeeds. After watching today and hearing his interview, I don’t think he will. Problem I have is that I believe what he said lies at the heart of BCFC. A total culture change has got to take place. I don’t think that SL or JL have the stomach for it anymore. In some ways I don’t blame them. But they have brought a lot of the problems on themselves. Ultimately they have recruited and signed off the footballing strategies for this club which have by and large has got us into this stale mess. 

The club may indeed need a new manager soon? Well it needs a lot more as well. Energy, fresh ideas, desire and a plan to stick with.

We’re stale and today confirmed it. If we don’t make significant changes throughout the club this summer, I fear that next season we will go down and yet again the big wheel of mediocrity starts turning again.

Sorry to sound so bleeding glum, but that performance felt like it should be a watershed moment for this club, but I’m not convinced it will be. And thats why what Pearson said resonated with me. I’m not sure if the will or desire actually exists at this club to drive it on. We’re all hoping that a new manager will at last arrive to deliver that success at last. Perhaps we might strike lucky with our next appointment. Unfortunately, I think the problems go much, much deeper. With our recent recruitment record, who really trusts our Board to get it right?

Can't agree enough with this. The bottom line is the Board. And therein lies the problem. There is no board, it is an echo chamber. There is no corporate governance. Who is going to challenge SL?........John Lansdown? Gould? Complete vacuum exists. As has been mentioned previously the silence at the top recently is deafening 

Interesting to compare and contrast that statement regarding the situation to the many issued by Quantama. Clear, concise and open and honest. (That is the PNE statement)