Matty Taylors a Red

Geoff doing very well, Ashton can’t even hide his BS. Listening to him is not good for my blood pressure though.

This is one of my fears and something I despise about SL. People go on about how he’s gifted us our amazing stadium. In reality Bristol City owned a half decent stadium....now Bristol City own no stadium and SL/Bristol Sport have an amazing stadium. How has he just stolen Ashton Gate so easily? Maybe it’s not as straight forward as that but I do worry if he ever has enough and sells the club, where will we play? Wouldn’t any buyer have to buy the entirety of Bristol Sport or at least Ashton Gate, but what if SL only wants to sell the club? Wouldn’t we be in a bit of trouble like Coventry?

Agreed, felt the same for a while too, but until recently you’d be lynched for saying anything anti-SL. Admittedly he’s proved us doubters wrong quite often, he’s definitely a “safe” owner and stops us dropping to far, but overall I still feel he’s holding the club back massively. The one positive of this whole debacle is that people are starting to realise.

Random thought - but I wonder how this appointment will be viewed by BLM/Kick It Out with all the recent discussion around lack of BAME managers? I don’t mean to suggest that race came into this at all and I’m certainly not looking to stir up trouble, but with everything that’s gone on lately I wouldn’t be surprised to see the club under the spotlight. Would be embarrassing to see sky sports news debating why else Hughton was overlooked for Holden. We all know it’s typical City, but outsiders may conclude otherwise.

Throughout all the rumours and speculations I’ve felt angry. Now I just feel sad. So deflated.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but after LJ’s record losing streak didn’t SL come out in a long interview and literally say “it’s my club and I’ll do what I want with it”. I’m adamant I saw it on the big screen and my old man is sure he remembers it too.

Specifications being decided in advance automatically makes them right? Don’t think so. If MA/SL decided in advance that they wanted the tallest manager this time around, is that right and would that produce the best candidate? Of course not! And how do you know that the best candidate will be selected? Whether you mean objectively the best or the best based on these “specifications”, you can’t possibly know for a fact that the best coach will be selected. You can believe it all you want but it doesn’t make it true.

I agree with you that there’s every chance DH ends up a better appointment. But you’ve mentioned a lot of ifs. Based on the experience both coaches have I just think the suggestion is more optimistic than realistic. In my opinion if DH meets the job specifications better than CH then the specifications are inappropriate. As many have suggested the specifications will have been focussed on withholding control as opposed to success on the pitch.

You do have a choice though and it’s not mutually exclusive. There’s a difference between “supporting” and stating that you trust the board have made the right decision if it is Holden. I’ll support too, and I suppose we will never know who would’ve actually been better, but realistically Hughton is a better decision than Holden.

I admire your optimism but you’re being far from realistic.

I’d like to agree, reducing the clubs income is just cutting off your nose to spite your face, but what’s the alternative? Fans need a way to make their voices heard. If the club go through with the appointment then they clearly don’t care what’s said online, and we can’t vote with our feet due to covid. Denting their pockets may be the only way we get them to listen. I certainly don’t think we should just sit down, shut up and let Lansdown/Ashton do what they want with the club with no blacklash.

Any odds available for top 6? Whatever they are getting Hughton in would see them drop.

You surely can’t be this naive. It’s not about prejudging him as a certain failure. Of course there is every chance he’s our messiah. However, based on probability, our chance of success will take a huge hit with Holden. A decent illustration of this is thinking about how the bookies will view the appointment. Under Hughton we’d be relatively short odds for top 6. Under Holden we’ll be no where near. Of course the bookies aren’t always right, but their initial prices will be based on calculated probabilities and they’re right more often than not.

Made this point to my mate and he rightly argued “in that case why not just keep LJ?”. Surely cheaper overall, knows the squad better than anyone, and should’ve been capable of keeping us safe at least. Can see MA trying to go down this route in his justifications though, hope Gregor interrogates him on it.

Call it what you want. This is the reason we’ve spent so long outside the top division.