Inevitable, but terrible / Disappointing transfer window (Merged)

[BS4 on Tour...]

22 minutes ago, Sturny said:

Is he really good on paper? Have you literally just looked at him and said "He played in the Premier League therefore he is good" 

He's made 120 appearances in the champ.........and scored 17 times... That's less than Bobby's "One season wonder" 

Weimann has made 107 appearances in the championship and scored 15 goals - not sure where you got your incorrect stats from...my sister is a Villa fan and I’ve seen Weimann play in the premier for them when I went to games with her. I said he’s a solid performer...I haven’t just ‘looked at him and said he played in the premier league therefore he is good.’ However, he played 113 games for Villa in the premier league, bad players don’t tend to play that many times for a premier league club...oh, and before last season, Bobby had scored 6 goals in 63 championship games...

[simon uk]

12 minutes ago, Premier Blue said:

I will. Enjoy the bottom half of the championship

Would rather be bottom half of the championship than cardiff. You have nothing to live for, you have a population of malnourished inbreds and your only contribution to modern culture is tom jones, and a rugby team whose only achievement is beating england once every few years. You wish you were english, and are jealous that you are not.

[Elruliri]

19 minutes ago, downendcity said:

The real Bristol disease is negative pessimism, seeing a glass half empty and always expecting the worst to happen.

I totally disagree, we have always been a selling club. I can go back as far as Keith Curle, sold for peanuts to Reading and then goes to man city via Wimbledon. We've always been a selling club, Andy Cole, Rob Newman, Martin Scott, Darren Barnard etc etc until the current regime. Rag bag City. Get big spend little. That's why we won't make the premier league. 

[BS4 on Tour...]

23 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

Nicky Hunt was one .

Sorry.

Yeh but I said ‘we don’t often sign players who’ve played well over 100 games in the premier league’ which is true....David James was another but we don’t often sign them....

[RedRock]

With Milan gone this has been a lamentable window. Accepting we can do little to prevent players moving on to better Clubs .... (Boro, Cardiff and Fulham - who I always regarded as being equals but have clearly been better managed than us) ..... have we addressed their loss and our general weaknesses?

Keeper.. no. Soft midfield - no. Goals -  just to compensate for those lost - no. Plan B or C - no. Sick note reduction - no. 

Poor, bordering on pathetic form from LJ/MA. 

 

 

[BS4 on Tour...]

20 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

I know, and I am not saying he is a bad player - my point is a lot of people believe he will score a load, his track record suggests that is a false hope.

When Fam is back, and up to speed, which will take a few games, with Wiemann behind him, it COULD be a good partnership- we don't know yet, but my concern is that overall there currently, is a real lack of bite upfront,.

A loan by the end of the month may improve that.

But we , currently, are very light in front of goal and placing our hope in Wiemann is hugely optimistic.

I don’t think anyone has maintained that Weimann is a prolific goalscorer....he is an experienced pro who is only 27 and, as you say, could really help Fammy when he’s back...

[ScottishRed]

26 minutes ago, steviestevieneville said:

What cracks me up with some of the planks moaning on here is that LJ said in his post season interview that it was going to be a difficult summer . Anyone in their right mind knew we were going to lose flint, bobby and joe. 

A lot of the moaners were probably the same idiots that wanted more championship experience in the squad last season. Well 5 of our new signings are all experienced championship players 

We have to replace Milan yes but apart from that we’re looking pretty good. 

There will be more meltdowns on here if/when we struggle in games with famara out. He adds a lot to how we play so we will miss him . Apart from that , get a grip ffs 

When you say Famara adds a lot when he plays maybe you can explain why our best - by a huge distance - football, happened when he was injured last season?

[Mr Popodopolous]

Tactically, think the best for Diedhiou.

4-3-3 with wingers either pushed high or more of a 4-3-2-1 with the '2' being wingers wide and a bit behind. Unsure how Weimann would fit into that as a starter IMO. If he can play across the frontline then perhaps...not to say he can't do well for us but that would provide the best balance IMO.

[1960maaan]

2 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

You are absolutely correct.

And I only wish all three of them the best - and I genuinely mean that.

None of them are due the club or us supporters anything.

In my opinion, and I am most certainly NOT ITK, they realized in January that the club lacks ambition and made their decisions based on that.

Don't agree, just because at the moment we are not throwing tickets of cash at the situation doesn't mean we lack ambition. Look at Villa, spent like a drunken 15 year old at a Lap dancing club, only reinvestment saved them for now, even that may change with FFP. We tried the foreign market, with mixed results. Now we have Championship ready players come in, add a very exciting winger (can't help injuries) and what appears a very good loan FB with still time to add another loan or two it could be a reasonable window and a much steadier year.

Totally agree with the first part though. 3 good servants to the club, never gave less than 100% and I think they saw a short cut to the Prem (in BR's case), a real contender for promotion (then a short cut in JB's case) or a last payday and a shot at promotion. Good luck to all three, I'd love Reid to score loads in a relegation season and get a move somewhere good 

[Nogbad the Bad]

2 hours ago, REDOXO said:

Not sure if its too early to judge yet. SL is certainly expecting better than 11th and as said as much!

I think SL is going to very disappointed then.

[ZiderEyed]

16 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

You are absolutely correct.

And I only wish all three of them the best - and I genuinely mean that.

None of them are due the club or us supporters anything.

In my opinion, and I am most certainly NOT ITK, they realized in January that the club lacks ambition and made their decisions based on that.

I can tell you for a fact that Joe Bryan threw his toys out of the pram in January when he and LJ had a disagreement over his situation at the club.

I am disappointed, as is everyone, but I hope they all go on to have excellent careers.

[Portland Bill]

2 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

It's not these players leaving that concerns me

It's the fact we have sold best part of £26m worth of talent and not reinvested quarter of it 

It's the fact LJ said we needed more leaders on the pitch and now....after pre-season...we clearly have less influential players now 

Absolutely shocking transfer window from this club and they have well and truely shafted all the fans who renewed their season tickets whilst hoping that we would progress this season 

I'll just take all the abuse I will no doubt get as I am a notoriously negative poster, but if you all asked yourselves to be completely honest...we are considerably weaker then last season....and we are playing in a league that's considerably stronger then last year

Shocking from the club 

 

The ‘leaders’ issue really concerns me, LJ has more than once made an issue of this over the last couple of seasons. So, the whole leaders issue was either a deflection by LJ because of his own lack of leadership, or he genuinely thought it. 

Personaly I think it’s his own lack of leadership that is the flaw, otherwise why hasn’t he gone out and got genuine good leaders over the last 3 or 4 transfer windows?. 

He told us when signing Gary O Neil, that he would be his own leader on the pitch, but there was clearly a fall out between the two of them, hence GON’s recent tweet saying he now aims to prove people wrong etc. 

A team with good leaders and experience doesn’t go on 10 match unbeaten runs, it just doesn’t happen, and I have real concerns that once again if the going gets tough, we will crumble. Time will tell.

[Sturny]

18 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Weimann has made 107 appearances in the championship and scored 15 goals - not sure where you got your incorrect stats from...my sister is a Villa fan and I’ve seen Weimann play in the premier for them when I went to games with her. I said he’s a solid performer...I haven’t just ‘looked at him and said he played in the premier league therefore he is good.’ However, he played 113 games for Villa in the premier league, bad players don’t tend to play that many times for a premier league club...oh, and before last season, Bobby had scored 6 goals in 63 championship games...

Tbf I added them in wrong there so fair enough but it's still not a "solid" record. 15 goals in 107 isn't anything exciting and quite poor in any league. 

 

Thanks for pointing that out because that's exactly my point as having played in premier league in the past has nothing to do about his current ability neither does Bobby's shite goal scoring record before then. 

 

You are literally trying to convince people a 5 goals in 33 appearances last season striker is better than an 19 in 46 goal scorer and we should be happy about it and I'm wrong for being disappointed. 

[ciderwithtommy]

Why did the players leave? Flint, Bryan and Reid, 2 of them for certain would have or did go to another championship club. Rumour of Reid to Derby prior to his move to Cardiff suggests he would have gone to another champ club if no prem interest. Is it money, prestige or a belief they couldn't achieve their goals within our current setup? (i.e. management, coaching etc.)

 

[maxjak]

1 hour ago, Rich_s said:

I good friend who is close to the club told me a couple of weeks after the end of the season that these three were unhappy at decisions within the club and wanted out. I didn't believe him but in fairness he was bang on about the three but it would be conjecture to state whether he was right on the reasons why and no I'm not saying who the source is and neither am I in the main ITK.

With the greatest respect...............This wasn't exactly a veiled secret, just about everyone knew their ambitions and contract situations would make it almost inevitable that all three would be leaving.  I think the club handled it well and achieved good prices, though I reckon BR could have done better than Cardiff?, though I guess he didn't want to gamble if another Prem team would bid?

[ScottishRed]

2 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

The ‘leaders’ issue really concerns me, LJ has more than once made an issue of this over the last couple of seasons. So, the whole leaders issue was either a deflection by LJ because of his own lack of leadership, or he genuinely thought it. 

Personaly I think it’s his own lack of leadership that is the flaw, otherwise why hasn’t he gone out and got genuine good leaders over the last 3 or 4 transfer windows?. 

He told us when signing Gary O Neil, that he would be his own leader on the pitch, but there was clearly a fall out between the two of them, hence GON’s recent tweet saying he know aims to prove people wrong etc. 

A team with good leaders and experience doesn’t go on 10 match unbeaten runs, it just doesn’t happen, and I have real concerns that once again if the going gets tough, we will crumble. Time will tell.

Sad to say, but I feel you have a massively important point.

It looks to me that we have a squad of players that to a large extent will be compliant to the Coaching Staff and it COULD be, that the ones you would not accept what happened from January onwards, have voted with their feet.

I can't see any of the signings being 'difficult ' so all is well in the boot room.

I hoped not to use this again, but #toocosy

[steviestevieneville]

5 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

When you say Famara adds a lot when he plays maybe you can explain why our best - by a huge distance - football, happened when he was injured last season?

If you were at the game Saturday you would of noticed a lack of physicality up top. Famara gives us that focal point , he’s not a proper target man but none the less he’s a striker that runs the channels/ holds the ball up. We need him to get the best out of the wide/attacking midfielders who can join him/ run beyond him in the last third. The ball kept coming back especially second half saturday.

we were playing brilliant football before he got injured last season as well 

[RedRock]

2 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

The ‘leaders’ issue really concerns me, LJ has more than once made an issue of this over the last couple of seasons. So, the whole leaders issue was either a deflection by LJ because of his own lack of leadership, or he genuinely thought it. 

Personaly I think it’s his own lack of leadership that is the flaw, otherwise why hasn’t he gone out and got genuine good leaders over the last 3 or 4 transfer windows?. 

He told us when signing Gary O Neil, that he would be his own leader on the pitch, but there was clearly a fall out between the two of them, hence GON’s recent tweet saying he know aims to prove people wrong etc. 

A team with good leaders and experience doesn’t go on 10 match unbeaten runs, it just doesn’t happen, and I have real concerns that once again if the going gets tough, we will crumble. Time will tell.

Yep. He’s continually gone for non-threatening, compliant players. His experience with an exception - Tomlin - no doubt reinforced his belief  about strong characters. 

Leaders are inevitably strong characters. 

Based on those brought in and the departures, we’re going to be lucky to have ‘a more of the same’ season. 

Always been a Warnock-man myself, very much neutral on LJ.  Really now though beginning to question whether  LJ is the right man for the job. Warnock has demonstrated that he can still deliver. 

[Wolf Island]

20 minutes ago, ZiderEyed said:

I can tell you for a fact that Joe Bryan threw his toys out of the pram in January when he and LJ had a disagreement over his situation at the club

Yet again LJ lacking in man management skills, to the detriment of the club. Talking a good game just isn’t enough.

These last two transfer windows have been a damn disgrace and LJ MA and SL are all culpable. 

[Sturny]

1 minute ago, Ser Davos Ciderworth said:

Yet again LJ lacking in man management skills, to the detriment of the club. Talking a good game just isn’t enough.

Could've been contract/money related and something out of LJ's hands for all we know. 

[Red Exile]

41 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

Don't agree, just because at the moment we are not throwing tickets of cash at the situation doesn't mean we lack ambition. Look at Villa, spent like a drunken 15 year old at a Lap dancing club, only reinvestment saved them for now, even that may change with FFP. We tried the foreign market, with mixed results. Now we have Championship ready players come in, add a very exciting winger (can't help injuries) and what appears a very good loan FB with still time to add another loan or two it could be a reasonable window and a much steadier year.

Totally agree with the first part though. 3 good servants to the club, never gave less than 100% and I think they saw a short cut to the Prem (in BR's case), a real contender for promotion (then a short cut in JB's case) or a last payday and a shot at promotion. Good luck to all three, I'd love Reid to score loads in a relegation season and get a move somewhere good 

I know you've followed the club for a long time, as have I, and I agree that this season should be steady, but for me our complete failure to capitalise on the position we found ourselves in at Christmas suggests that whatever SL's fine words we do indeed lack ambition...in the sense that we are going to do something concrete about turning his fine words about the Prem into some sort of reality. The man has form, he failed a decade ago in exactly the same circumstances. I don't doubt that when Lansdown says that he wants to finish higher next year, or that he wants us in the Prem soon, he thinks he means it, but instead of putting together a management team with the experience of delivering on field success he surrounds himself with unproven rookies who have no experience of achieving his stated goals. It's all a bit pathetic really. 

[Johnny Musicworks]

It’s all down to the GIF’s why we struggled from January. The 3 most watched GIF players were Flint, Bobby and Joe. Along with our cup run it put them in the National media spotlight and IMO they became bigger than the club, as no doubt their agents noted.

The seeds of impatience and doubt were planted in these players minds and the siege mentality (that accompanied the underdogs tag) united the team and motivated us just dissolved.

By the end of the season the only way forward was to cut out the open sore of disenchanted players and bring in some fresh recruits. 

I like most am disappointed to lose such talented players but every player has a shelf life at a club and it was time for them to move on even if at least 2 of them are still to reach their peak.

What LJ has to do now is build a team ‘totally committed’ to taking Bristol City to new heights even if some of the individual components,for now, may not match up to last season. Quite a challenge but not impossible.

I believe the squad has better depth now and some of our younger players like O’Dowda, Eliasson, Kelly, Brownhill and Walsh may well step up this season along with some of the recent additions. Glass half full for me anyway.

[maxjak]

18 minutes ago, ciderwithtommy said:

Why did the players leave? Flint, Bryan and Reid, 2 of them for certain would have or did go to another championship club. Rumour of Reid to Derby prior to his move to Cardiff suggests he would have gone to another champ club if no prem interest. Is it money, prestige or a belief they couldn't achieve their goals within our current setup? (i.e. management, coaching etc.)

 

Wages.

[BS4 on Tour...]

17 minutes ago, Sturny said:

Tbf I added them in wrong there so fair enough but it's still not a "solid" record. 15 goals in 107 isn't anything exciting and quite poor in any league. 

 

Thanks for pointing that out because that's exactly my point as having played in premier league in the past has nothing to do about his current ability neither does Bobby's shite goal scoring record before then. 

 

You are literally trying to convince people a 5 goals in 33 appearances last season striker is better than an 19 in 46 goal scorer and we should be happy about it and I'm wrong for being disappointed. 

.....and you are trying to convince people that a one season wonder is better than a player who has made well over 100 premier appearances. Weimann was often used as a wide player at Villa and other clubs so it’s not actually comparing like for like in reality. However, Weimann has never played below championship level in this country, he’s always been a top two tier player....whereas Bobby has played in league two and league one as well as the championship...yet you think he is instantly a better player because he has joined Cardiff....Weimann - 42 goals whilst playing for clubs in the top two divisions....Bobby - 32 goals whilst playing for league two, league one and championship clubs - and they both started their senior careers in this country in the 2010-2011 season....

[Red Exile]

8 minutes ago, Johnny Musicworks said:

It’s all down to the GIF’s why we struggled from January. The 3 most watched GIF players were Flint, Bobby and Joe. Along with our cup run it put them in the National media spotlight and IMO they became bigger than the club, as no doubt their agents noted.

I'd have thought it more likely that exhausted as they all will have been, the squad being stretched to the limit by the number of games and injuries, they saw the three recruits brought in to 'strengthen' it and consolidate the league position, and as each of Diony, Kent and Walsh arrived thought...is that it?! If any of them wanted to play at a higher level any time soon I'd have thought they and their advisors would have drawn the obvious conclusion that it wouldn't be with Bristol City!

[ciderwithtommy]

1 minute ago, maxjak said:

Wages.

It plays a part, not sure if it''s the whole answer. The difference between what we would have pushed to (for Reid and Bryan) must be competitive in this division, not the prem tbf. Would love to know what was said last summer and January behind the scenes. 

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

2 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

It's not these players leaving that concerns me

It's the fact we have sold best part of £26m worth of talent and not reinvested quarter of it 

It's the fact LJ said we needed more leaders on the pitch and now....after pre-season...we clearly have less influential players now 

Absolutely shocking transfer window from this club and they have well and truely shafted all the fans who renewed their season tickets whilst hoping that we would progress this season 

I'll just take all the abuse I will no doubt get as I am a notoriously negative poster, but if you all asked yourselves to be completely honest...we are considerably weaker then last season....and we are playing in a league that's considerably stronger then last year

Shocking from the club 

 

Not only negative by your own admission, but bloody patronising as well.  If we are honest with ourselves we will come to your conclusion that we are considerably weaker than last season. Well I for one am always honest with myself (what’s the point of being otherwise), have taken a considered view of the transfer window and concluded that we are not weaker. 

[Sturny]

12 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

.....and you are trying to convince people that a one season wonder is better than a player who has made well over 100 premier appearances. Weimann was often used as a wide player at Villa and other clubs so it’s not actually comparing like for like in reality. However, Weimann has never played below championship level in this country, he’s always been a top two tier player....whereas Bobby has played in league two and league one as well as the championship...yet you think he is instantly a better player because he has joined Cardiff....Weimann - 42 goals whilst playing for clubs in the top two divisions....Bobby - 32 goals whilst playing for league two, league one and championship clubs - and they both started their senior careers in this country in the 2010-2011 season....

Bobby's best days are ahead of him while Weinmann's are behind him. This whole "He used to play in the premier league therefore he is good" sillyness needs to stop. 

Why did Cardiff sign Bobby and not Weimann as he was clearly cheaper and a better experienced premier league player therefore a better option, according to your logic? Sorry, I just don't see it mate. 

[BS4 on Tour...]

1 minute ago, Sturny said:

Bobby's best days are ahead of him while Weinmann's are behind him. This whole "He used to play in the premier league therefore he is good" sillyness needs to stop. 

Why did Cardiff sign Bobby and not Weimann as he was clearly the cheaper option and a better experienced premier league player therefore a better option, according to your logic? 

Weimann (not Weinmann) is only 27, Bobby is 25 - you’re talking like Weimann is 32+ - our Austrian international player has hopefully plenty of good years ahead of him....and I have never said Weimann is good ‘because he used to play in the premier league’ - but the point stands that Weimann was a premier league player only three years ago...Bobby was a league one player three years ago...

[ScottishRed]

8 minutes ago, maxjak said:

Wages.

To an extent yes.

In any walk of life an opportunity to increase your income X fold is a simple decision.

BUT, a professional football player at this level is hardly worrying about putting food on the table.

Its about testing yourself at the highest level possible, it's about winning things.

And the club very very clearly showed, in their eyes, a huge lack of ambition, and so they chose to leave.

Put yourself, for a moment, in their position. second in the Championship in late December, just knocked out one of the biggest clubs in the world in a domestic cup competition at the Qtr Final stage.

The window opens and we do what we did!

Add to that the alleged MA statement.

What would you think? What would you do?

The opportunity was there and the club did nothing to force that through.

We are paying the price for that now but, we "go again"! 

Well, let's see when in the next 10 years that opportunity comes up again.

SL said in his RB interview that he is expecting an improvement on 11th season..........mmmmm!