We Need Direction...

[GlastonburyRed]

First and foremost, please don't think that this a personal dig at Milly, as a human being he comes across as a decent guy and ultimately it was SL who made the appointment.

What I worry about is that, as a club, we seem to be regressing. We have no divine right to be in the Championship but I do think that we have a right to see BCFC moving in the correct direction, that is not the most outrageous of expecations. For years we have been crying out for a creative midfielder and, to a lesser exent, some decent cover at LB but does the situation ever seem to be solved? The squad is far too flabby around in the edges in terms of decent depth but a lack of quality within that depth. For someone with so much business acumen, SL shows naivety in appointing someone who to seems to lack what people might well call the 'X-factor', I just never seem to get a sense of purpose from Milly, does he possess real belief in himself in how to turn the fortunes of our beloved club around? If there was a clear and direct sense of 'things are going to get worse before they get better' then I think there would be more of an acceptance from us fans that we might have to knuckle down in the short term and experience a bumpy ride, safe in the knowledge that are going to be happier days at the end of it, however right now I just can't see that light at the end of the tunnel. I don't subscribe to the argument that as a football manager you have to be ranting and raving on the sidelines to provoke a reaction from your players, but I do think that behind the scenes you have to have that charisma and sense of intention so as to get everybody singing from the same hymn sheet and hence pushing forward.

As much as I like KM, there is no room for sentiment in professional sport and even if we do, fingers crossed, stay in the division I am not of the persuasion that he is the long term answer. I hope upon hope that I am proved wrong, with none of this material being new or revolutionary, plus I know that it's easy to jump on the bandwagon after a particularly poor result as was yesterday's, however for a number of seasons now I believe the transient victories have only been papering over the cracks with no real attempt to address the fundamental floors in our squad. That playoff final should have been used as a springboard to challenge consistently in the Championship but unfortunately it now hangs as a millstone around our collective BCFC necks!!!

[red badger]

First and foremost, please don't think that this a personal dig at Milly, as a human being he comes across as a decent guy and ultimately it was SL who made the appointment.

What I worry about is that, as a club, we seem to be regressing. We have no divine right to be in the Championship but I do think that we have a right to see BCFC moving in the correct direction, that is not the most outrageous of expecations. For years we have been crying out for a creative midfielder and, to a lesser exent, some decent cover at LB but does the situation ever seem to be solved? The squad is far too flabby around in the edges in terms of decent depth but a lack of quality within that depth. For someone with so much business acumen, SL shows naivety in appointing someone who to seems to lack what people might well call the 'X-factor', I just never seem to get a sense of purpose from Milly, does he possess real belief in himself in how to turn the fortunes of our beloved club around? If there was a clear and direct sense of 'things are going to get worse before they get better' then I think there would be more of an acceptance from us fans that we might have to knuckle down in the short term and experience a bumpy ride, safe in the knowledge that are going to be happier days at the end of it, however right now I just can't see that light at the end of the tunnel. I don't subscribe to the argument that as a football manager you have to be ranting and raving on the sidelines to provoke a reaction from your players, but I do think that behind the scenes you have to have that charisma and sense of intention so as to get everybody singing from the same hymn sheet and hence pushing forward.

As much as I like KM, there is no room for sentiment in professional sport and even if we do, fingers crossed, stay in the division I am not of the persuasion that he is the long term answer. I hope upon hope that I am proved wrong, with none of this material being new or revolutionary, plus I know that it's easy to jump on the bandwagon after a particularly poor result as was yesterday's, however for a number of seasons now I believe the transient victories have only been papering over the cracks with no real attempt to address the fundamental floors in our squad. That playoff final should have been used as a springboard to challenge consistently in the Championship but unfortunately it now hangs as a millstone around our collective BCFC necks!!!

Well said!

[Chappers]

I won't dispute that we are going backwards, but I would class that as inevitable, and necessary for the long-term future of the Club. We have gone forward a long way over the past few years, but at a cost of expenditure outstripping income by about £12 million per year. For all this talk of 'going forwards', what we basically mean is 'Steve, please carry on throwing away your kids inheritance'. I don't know what SL's position is, but if I had thrown that much money at City, only to achieve the current mess, I would not be happy, and would expect the Club to be far more prudent in future. We are going to go through a few difficult years, it is going to be hard to shift a lot of our squad, so much of our income will go on wages for players that we do not want. City fans are fickle, so if SL stops chucking money at us, there will be moans of 'lack of ambition', and Season Tickets will not be renewed - Yes, some people expect SL to keep chucking HIS money away, but show a much more cautious VFM approach when it is their own money.

You could try a little experiment, try spending far more than you earn year after year, see what happens eventually!

[red badger]

I won't dispute that we are going backwards, but I would class that as inevitable, and necessary for the long-term future of the Club. We have gone forward a long way over the past few years, but at a cost of expenditure outstripping income by about £12 million per year. For all this talk of 'going forwards', what we basically mean is 'Steve, please carry on throwing away your kids inheritance'. I don't know what SL's position is, but if I had thrown that much money at City, only to achieve the current mess, I would not be happy, and would expect the Club to be far more prudent in future. We are going to go through a few difficult years, it is going to be hard to shift a lot of our squad, so much of our income will go on wages for players that we do not want. City fans are fickle, so if SL stops chucking money at us, there will be moans of 'lack of ambition', and Season Tickets will not be renewed - Yes, some people expect SL to keep chucking HIS money away, but show a much more cautious VFM approach when it is their own money.

You could try a little experiment, try spending far more than you earn year after year, see what happens eventually!

...fair points - but in my opinion SL is throwing his money away needlessly. I'm amazed we're spending so much and achieving so little. He's the man hiring the managers and signing off their spending. If he doesn't like the situation he should hire and spend more carefully and cleverly. Who signed the cheques for this squad to be assembled?...Steve did. If "chucking money" at the club lands us with a bloated squad of bench warmers I'll not be complaining if he keeps his hands in his pockets. As it happens I won't be renewing...but there's no comparison between a chap like me in the Dolman who's getting nothing by way of entertainment out of an ST this year...and a man with money to burn sitting in the directors box who'll get any glory going...

[john shaws hair]

i belive were now reaping all the sh@t johnson sowed as for all the numpties on here saying we need this n that ,we blew a cool 12mill last year

[Donald]

i belive were now reaping all the sh@t johnson sowed as for all the numpties on here saying we need this n that ,we blew a cool 12mill last year

Exactly. Johnson and then Coppell signed alot of shit and as a club we have been going backwards for the last 2 years.

Millen has been left in the lurch with a squad that was a utter mess, fringe players are expensive contracts and years to run and littlevmoney in the pot to spend, people demand a replacement manager but they would still have the same problems, a crap squad.

Millen has madecsome very good signings and had the team playing well and getting results when he's got a fit team.

The injury issues this season have got beyond a joke and after reading when we lost Macca and ribs, I feared the worst, but we still got good results against palace, QPR and Cardiff, yesterday we got dicked but as long as we had so many key players out, there was always a risk it would happen.

I don't thi k it's fair to judge Millen yet or until he can get his own squad together, until he can bomb out the crap though his hands are tied.

[Chappers]

...fair points - but in my opinion SL is throwing his money away needlessly. I'm amazed we're spending so much and achieving so little. He's the man hiring the managers and signing off their spending. If he doesn't like the situation he should hire and spend more carefully and cleverly. Who signed the cheques for this squad to be assembled?...Steve did. If "chucking money" at the club lands us with a bloated squad of bench warmers I'll not be complaining if he keeps his hands in his pockets. As it happens I won't be renewing...but there's no comparison between a chap like me in the Dolman who's getting nothing by way of entertainment out of an ST this year...and a man with money to burn sitting in the directors box who'll get any glory going...

I don't think you will be alone in not renewing, part of the 'Circle of life' at City, we move forward on a wave of enthusiasm, then it grinds to a halt, mainly as we are not really a big Club in the Championship, support wanes, and eventually we end up going down. We then become a big Club in Division 1, normally challenging towards the top, and the upward cycle starts.

[mossey]

First and foremost, please don't think that this a personal dig at Milly, as a human being he comes across as a decent guy and ultimately it was SL who made the appointment.

What I worry about is that, as a club, we seem to be regressing. We have no divine right to be in the Championship but I do think that we have a right to see BCFC moving in the correct direction, that is not the most outrageous of expecations. For years we have been crying out for a creative midfielder and, to a lesser exent, some decent cover at LB but does the situation ever seem to be solved? The squad is far too flabby around in the edges in terms of decent depth but a lack of quality within that depth. For someone with so much business acumen, SL shows naivety in appointing someone who to seems to lack what people might well call the 'X-factor', I just never seem to get a sense of purpose from Milly, does he possess real belief in himself in how to turn the fortunes of our beloved club around? If there was a clear and direct sense of 'things are going to get worse before they get better' then I think there would be more of an acceptance from us fans that we might have to knuckle down in the short term and experience a bumpy ride, safe in the knowledge that are going to be happier days at the end of it, however right now I just can't see that light at the end of the tunnel. I don't subscribe to the argument that as a football manager you have to be ranting and raving on the sidelines to provoke a reaction from your players, but I do think that behind the scenes you have to have that charisma and sense of intention so as to get everybody singing from the same hymn sheet and hence pushing forward.

As much as I like KM, there is no room for sentiment in professional sport and even if we do, fingers crossed, stay in the division I am not of the persuasion that he is the long term answer. I hope upon hope that I am proved wrong, with none of this material being new or revolutionary, plus I know that it's easy to jump on the bandwagon after a particularly poor result as was yesterday's, however for a number of seasons now I believe the transient victories have only been papering over the cracks with no real attempt to address the fundamental floors in our squad. That playoff final should have been used as a springboard to challenge consistently in the Championship but unfortunately it now hangs as a millstone around our collective BCFC necks!!!

think that there are some very worrying signs, starting to think that the players no longer want to play for Millan, as with the last months under johnson , I feel that there is something seriously wrong, the body language of the players and Millan, the players just don't look as if they are prepared to die for the cause, Millian, looks as if running out of ideas and don't know how to change things when not going right, hope I am wrong, but do feel the worst.

[Chappers]

think that there are some very worrying signs, starting to think that the players no longer want to play for Millan, as with the last months under johnson , I feel that there is something seriously wrong, the body language of the players and Millan, the players just don't look as if they are prepared to die for the cause, Millian, looks as if running out of ideas and don't know how to change things when not going right, hope I am wrong, but do feel the worst.

Or maybe other sides have sussed our limitations? Our midfield is far too lightweight, keep Albert and Pitman quiet and you cut our our main threats, attack Nyatanga and Cisse because they are limited players and out of position, and on the other side, Skuse is not a natural right back. A weak, makeshift defence, with a midfield lacking any real bite, any Manager would struggle to cope with that. Going against popular opinion, I think that the two things we are most missing are McAllister at left back, and Skuse in the midfield.

[Greeno]

I think when you talk about finances one of the best things you can do is see if you can find a club of similar stature and make comparisons. The one side that instantly springs to mind would be Swansea. They are a club that gets a similar attendance (According to the figures only 100 difference in the average gate), i would imagine that they work on a similar budget (If anything City's might be bigger) and are equally attractive geographically as each other. I would also hazard a guess that in a lot of pre-season predictions people would have had City and Swansea pretty close to each other. The real difference is squad size. Swansea have a small squad but because of that can afford that little bit more quality. Having said that on paper i would say there isn't a huge difference.

I would agree with the OP that SL has made some strange decisions considering his background. One that continues to mystify is his focus on the new ground. I know a lot of people on here support the new ground, and i have signed numerous petitions, but i think we need to take a step back and look at the facts. The world cup is no longer coming to England, the current average attendace is less than 80% of maximum capacity, the club has not really showed signs of really challenging for promotion for a few seasons and now League 1 is looking a lot more likely than Premier League. If this were the gas we would be saying how ridiculous it was! Yes, the stadium is a big step for the club but ultimately the bread and butter is what happens on the pitch, that will determin how many show up. SL has been, and will continue to be, a fantastic chairman and fine supporter of the club but i fear this stadium project has become too personal to him and he might be losing sight of the big picture. Ultimately i don't think City will be anywhere other than the Championship next year but they need to start the season with a smaller squad with improved quality in a number of positions and, i hate to say it, maybe someone else at the helm.

[Barneyredballs]

First and foremost, please don't think that this a personal dig at Milly, as a human being he comes across as a decent guy and ultimately it was SL who made the appointment.

What I worry about is that, as a club, we seem to be regressing. We have no divine right to be in the Championship but I do think that we have a right to see BCFC moving in the correct direction, that is not the most outrageous of expecations. For years we have been crying out for a creative midfielder and, to a lesser exent, some decent cover at LB but does the situation ever seem to be solved? The squad is far too flabby around in the edges in terms of decent depth but a lack of quality within that depth. For someone with so much business acumen, SL shows naivety in appointing someone who to seems to lack what people might well call the 'X-factor', I just never seem to get a sense of purpose from Milly, does he possess real belief in himself in how to turn the fortunes of our beloved club around? If there was a clear and direct sense of 'things are going to get worse before they get better' then I think there would be more of an acceptance from us fans that we might have to knuckle down in the short term and experience a bumpy ride, safe in the knowledge that are going to be happier days at the end of it, however right now I just can't see that light at the end of the tunnel. I don't subscribe to the argument that as a football manager you have to be ranting and raving on the sidelines to provoke a reaction from your players, but I do think that behind the scenes you have to have that charisma and sense of intention so as to get everybody singing from the same hymn sheet and hence pushing forward.

As much as I like KM, there is no room for sentiment in professional sport and even if we do, fingers crossed, stay in the division I am not of the persuasion that he is the long term answer. I hope upon hope that I am proved wrong, with none of this material being new or revolutionary, plus I know that it's easy to jump on the bandwagon after a particularly poor result as was yesterday's, however for a number of seasons now I believe the transient victories have only been papering over the cracks with no real attempt to address the fundamental floors in our squad. That playoff final should have been used as a springboard to challenge consistently in the Championship but unfortunately it now hangs as a millstone around our collective BCFC necks!!!

No question we haven't moved on from first 2 Championship seasons. However, the Millen issue was not something SL could have reacted any differently to, surely? Coppell resigns on 11th August, having spent £ on 5 new signings. 20 days left of transfer window. The crazy roundabout in the last 2-3 weeks of managerial sackings emphasises that clubs want managers to be able to buy in the transfer window, thus they sack them just before/at start. With absolutely 0% knowlegde of SC's resignation, I'd imagine the club had not needed to think of who could be their next target; therefore had no idea who could replace him. Was there anyone available who SL's knows well? He doesn't strike me as a man to buy a big name for big names sake. Given the choice of Millen or another, with a few months to decide -e.g. last season; SL went for SC.

Who else would you have appointed in August? Bearing in mind that you've probably spent most of your expected 3 on 5 signings? Not having a go, just interested to see if anyone can suggest any, any alternatives? Millen wouldn't have been my 1st choice either, but the situation 100% dictated it. ****ed from the start this season. Saftey was probably the only priority from 12th August onwards.

[red badger]

No question we haven't moved on from first 2 Championship seasons. However, the Millen issue was not something SL could have reacted any differently to, surely? Coppell resigns on 11th August, having spent £ on 5 new signings. 20 days left of transfer window. The crazy roundabout in the last 2-3 weeks of managerial sackings emphasises that clubs want managers to be able to buy in the transfer window, thus they sack them just before/at start. With absolutely 0% knowlegde of SC's resignation, I'd imagine the club had not needed to think of who could be their next target; therefore had no idea who could replace him. Was there anyone available who SL's knows well? He doesn't strike me as a man to buy a big name for big names sake. Given the choice of Millen or another, with a few months to decide -e.g. last season; SL went for SC.

Who else would you have appointed in August? Bearing in mind that you've probably spent most of your expected 3 on 5 signings? Not having a go, just interested to see if anyone can suggest any, any alternatives? Millen wouldn't have been my 1st choice either, but the situation 100% dictated it. ****ed from the start this season. Saftey was probably the only priority from 12th August onwards.

I can't believe that Keith was the only option open. He has proved a very risky choice. Far from the safe option. Who knows who else was available...or why Coppell left...or what he said that persuaded Lansdown that he was the right man in the first place....but if the club didn't feel they had any alternatives to a rookie they'd already passed over for the top job then they don't do their job of scouting available talent very well...

[Irish_Red]

I was at the match on Saturday (and I will say this quietly) that it was the first match I have seen this season, work and family committments have meant that I havn't been able to get over from Ireland as much as I would like.

I've seen some pretty hopeless team performances in my 30 years of following the City but Saturday was one of the poorest that I have seen for a number of reasons;

1) It's been mentioned elsewhere but there was absolutely no leadership on the pitch, nobody geeing up the players, nobody trying to get a grip on the way the match was going. That out of all the things from the weekend was the most worrying. The players just didn't look as though they knew what they needed to do to play as a cohesive unit.

2) Sitting too deep. From my vantage point in the dolman at many times during the game the midfield were practically sat on top of the defence which meant that Stead kept on coming deeper and deeper and Pittman spent most of his time chasing defenders and the goalkeeper. There there was no outlet, players drifting inside, no width, nothing.

3) Player selection. JCR didn't once go past his man, could retain the ball and kept passing it back to Nyatanga who had nobody to aim for. Cisse, looked like a disaster waiting to happen everytime he got the ball and reminded me of some of Gus Ceaser's cameos. Elliott looked like Bambi on ice and couldn't hold on the ball, make a pass. At least LJ tried to make some tackles and harry in midfield but again couldn't pick a pass at all.

4) Substitutions smacked of panic, throwing on forwards to try and get back in the game just didn't work because there was no looking to make the pass, move into free space, offer an angle. So we had more of the same but with just different headless chickens running around.

The players look lost and I'm not saying that the manager should be leaping around like some demented idiot but I remember reading Nobby Stiles autobiography and he said that it is so important to keep talking the players during the match, encouragement, to try and affect some change, it is only the really top players that can do that during a match and even then you see the top managers and coach's out trying to change things etc. Leadership needs to come from the top.

The match was almost like an end of season affair with nothing to play and both sides looking quite content to get a point until Cisse bundled the ball in and then Middlesboro realised we had nothing to offer. They weren't great by any stretch of the imagination we just didn't look interested. The only player that comes out of the game with any credit was Caulker who tried to lead from the back and was the only player who got forward, made a few runs and tried to offer something but you could see him giving up after the third goal.

I don't mind if we lose (I do really) but what I cannot tolerate or stand is a lack of passion and determination. The players need to offer everything everytime they pull on the shirt and play for the club. As it has been said elsewhere very few of the players could say that today.

Irish Red

[chipdawg]

Look, i wasn't there and so will not attempt to say that the performance is anything other than the result suggests; shocking. However, considering the size of a squad we still had to play a CM at right back, a CM at centre-half, a centre-half at left back and a right winger on the left. Admittedly, all of those players have worked in those roles before, but it is far from ideal. Hopefully with the likes of Fontaine, Carey, Ribs and Rose nearing or back at full fitness, the problems will abate somewhat, but I don't think the paucity of this squad or the injury problems that have beset it can be laid at Millen's feet. Until Sheff Wed last week he had the team playing well and most would argue playing the most entertaining brand of football we've had down at the Gate for 5 or 6 years. Thats not to say that there are not glaring weaknesses in the squad that need to be addressed, but i don't think the steps forward that KM and the team have made since October have been completely undone by 2 bad results on the bounce. Talk of relegation has once again come to the fore, but people forget that we've only lost 1 league game. Clearly Millen is aware of the issues with the squad; he's come out and said we need a CM and an LB so anyone regurgitating that on these forums is not exactly the reincarnation of Brian Clough, but we need to accept that we are going to be towards the wrong end of the table this year. I would actually relish seeing KM given a summer to bring in som players- his record in the transfer market so far has been impeccable

[Slave to the rhythm]

I was at the match on Saturday (and I will say this quietly) that it was the first match I have seen this season, work and family committments have meant that I havn't been able to get over from Ireland as much as I would like.

I've seen some pretty hopeless team performances in my 30 years of following the City but Saturday was one of the poorest that I have seen for a number of reasons;

1) It's been mentioned elsewhere but there was absolutely no leadership on the pitch, nobody geeing up the players, nobody trying to get a grip on the way the match was going. That out of all the things from the weekend was the most worrying. The players just didn't look as though they knew what they needed to do to play as a cohesive unit.

2) Sitting too deep. From my vantage point in the dolman at many times during the game the midfield were practically sat on top of the defence which meant that Stead kept on coming deeper and deeper and Pittman spent most of his time chasing defenders and the goalkeeper. There there was no outlet, players drifting inside, no width, nothing.

3) Player selection. JCR didn't once go past his man, could retain the ball and kept passing it back to Nyatanga who had nobody to aim for. Cisse, looked like a disaster waiting to happen everytime he got the ball and reminded me of some of Gus Ceaser's cameos. Elliott looked like Bambi on ice and couldn't hold on the ball, make a pass. At least LJ tried to make some tackles and harry in midfield but again couldn't pick a pass at all.

4) Substitutions smacked of panic, throwing on forwards to try and get back in the game just didn't work because there was no looking to make the pass, move into free space, offer an angle. So we had more of the same but with just different headless chickens running around.

The players look lost and I'm not saying that the manager should be leaping around like some demented idiot but I remember reading Nobby Stiles autobiography and he said that it is so important to keep talking the players during the match, encouragement, to try and affect some change, it is only the really top players that can do that during a match and even then you see the top managers and coach's out trying to change things etc. Leadership needs to come from the top.

The match was almost like an end of season affair with nothing to play and both sides looking quite content to get a point until Cisse bundled the ball in and then Middlesboro realised we had nothing to offer. They weren't great by any stretch of the imagination we just didn't look interested. The only player that comes out of the game with any credit was Caulker who tried to lead from the back and was the only player who got forward, made a few runs and tried to offer something but you could see him giving up after the third goal.

I don't mind if we lose (I do really) but what I cannot tolerate or stand is a lack of passion and determination. The players need to offer everything everytime they pull on the shirt and play for the club. As it has been said elsewhere very few of the players could say that today.

Irish Red

Very, very well said. Agree 100% with all of that.