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It pays to be patient


Onthefence

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How many of us (myself included) were calling for LJ to be sacked a couple of years ago when we had that horrendous run of defeats?

Fast forward 2 years and look where we are now ! The CV reads Carabao cup semi finalists, wins against multiple premier League teams including the historic night against Man Utd, and one of the few teams to genuinely give Man City a fright. Our best run in the FA cup for decades followed  this season, and we now sit 5th in the championship table with 8 games left to play.

Hats off to SL for giving LJ the time to learn from mistakes and build a team from the bottom up. I’m not sure how LJ does it - I’m left scratching my head at some team selections and tactical decisions - but he is the guy responsible for all of that success and has rewarded SL’s patience for sure.

He will continue to make the odd mistake and cost us a game or two here and there but I’m sure he learns from every mistake. 

Now if he could just get himself a new voice he’d have the Premier League clubs fighting for his signature ! Actually it’s just as well he is who he is ?

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1 minute ago, Onthefence said:

How many of us (myself included) were calling for LJ to be sacked a couple of years ago when we had that horrendous run of defeats?

Fast forward 2 years and look where we are now ! The CV reads Carabao cup semi finalists, wins against multiple premier League teams including the historic night against Man Utd, and one of the few teams to genuinely give Man City a fright. Our best run in the FA cup for decades followed  this season, and we now sit 5th in the championship table with 8 games left to play.

Hats off to SL for giving LJ the time to learn from mistakes and build a team from the bottom up. I’m not sure how LJ does it - I’m left scratching my head at some team selections and tactical decisions - but he is the guy responsible for all of that success and has rewarded SL’s patience for sure.

He will continue to make the odd mistake and cost us a game or two here and there but I’m sure he learns from every mistake. 

Now if he could just get himself a new voice he’d have the Premier League clubs fighting for his signature ! Actually it’s just as well he is who he is ?

Lee Juanson and he’s there .

 I agree with your post .

 I thought we should change him as I couldn’t see how he could overcome the awful downward momentum but I realised that he is a fighter and he toughed it out .

I have the utmost respect for the lad and his coaching team and am enjoying watching him up his game with experience.

 

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31 minutes ago, Onthefence said:

How many of us (myself included) were calling for LJ to be sacked a couple of years ago when we had that horrendous run of defeats?

Fast forward 2 years and look where we are now ! The CV reads Carabao cup semi finalists, wins against multiple premier League teams including the historic night against Man Utd, and one of the few teams to genuinely give Man City a fright. Our best run in the FA cup for decades followed  this season, and we now sit 5th in the championship table with 8 games left to play.

Hats off to SL for giving LJ the time to learn from mistakes and build a team from the bottom up. I’m not sure how LJ does it - I’m left scratching my head at some team selections and tactical decisions - but he is the guy responsible for all of that success and has rewarded SL’s patience for sure.

He will continue to make the odd mistake and cost us a game or two here and there but I’m sure he learns from every mistake. 

Now if he could just get himself a new voice he’d have the Premier League clubs fighting for his signature ! Actually it’s just as well he is who he is ?

Judge him when he achieves some silverwear etc, apart from a bit of publicity and extra ££ we don't get anything for being in a cup semi.

BUT have a feeling that this is going to be a season to remember for all the right reasons and we are just starting on one of our now infamous long winning / unbeaten streaks

Disagree about Prem clubs coming calling they will never hire a Manager / coach from a lower league 

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I'm still well and truly sitting on the fence and it's lucky that my rear end is splinter proof.

It is the consistent inconsistency that makes me stay there.

Long periods when we are unbeatable.  Long periods when we couldn't beat a team of seven year olds.

Not enough Academy/young players given opportunities.  Too many Academy/young players given opportunities.

Too defensive and shot shy = few goals.  Too attacking and too many shots off target = few goals.

Poor recruitment of players. Superb recruitment of players.

A real buzz when I wake up on match day. A dread of what is to come when I wake up on match day. 

The life of a City fan is a real roller coaster!

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1 hour ago, Onthefence said:

How many of us (myself included) were calling for LJ to be sacked a couple of years ago when we had that horrendous run of defeats?

Fast forward 2 years and look where we are now ! The CV reads Carabao cup semi finalists, wins against multiple premier League teams including the historic night against Man Utd, and one of the few teams to genuinely give Man City a fright. Our best run in the FA cup for decades followed  this season, and we now sit 5th in the championship table with 8 games left to play.

Hats off to SL for giving LJ the time to learn from mistakes and build a team from the bottom up. I’m not sure how LJ does it - I’m left scratching my head at some team selections and tactical decisions - but he is the guy responsible for all of that success and has rewarded SL’s patience for sure.

He will continue to make the odd mistake and cost us a game or two here and there but I’m sure he learns from every mistake. 

Now if he could just get himself a new voice he’d have the Premier League clubs fighting for his signature ! Actually it’s just as well he is who he is ?

I agree but I'd like to throw in something that many will try and twist into me saying "he needs to go" which is not what I am saying at all. 
LJ is currently the best manager that we could have at the helm and probably for the foreseeable future, the question is will the club make the change when they need to or will what you have mentioned by the reason we hang on too long?
It's fair to say that in football most managers only get the sack when the club is in trouble of relegation or not performing to the level desired by the owner/board. This brings me to my question, should we end the season in a playoff position and fall short what is the new expectations for next season? To further embellish, at what point would it be right to let LJ go and replace?

I don't remember the club being in such a good position in most of my time as a fan with the exception of when we punched well above our weight with GJ, however now we have financial stability (well, as close as we can in football) as well as a much improved stadium, youth set up etc If LJ fails to improve our situation how many seasons without promotion would it take for SL to pull the trigger?

Personally, I hope LJ continues to learn, he's already come on leaps and bounds since joining us and eventually, it leads to a serious push at promotion, not just the playoffs. I think it would be a huge disappointment to end 11th or lower next season if we were not to gain promotion this season and I think that speaks volumes for the work that LJ & co have done, had someone said we'd be where we are now 5 years ago I'd have been very pessimistic towards the person that said so.

One other thing I think many people have frowned upon, especially the elder members of our fanbase is Bristol Sport. I can fully understand that they don't necessarily see the club they grew up watching with the new badge, a lot more corporate aspects being used in the club but as much as LJ has made an impact I think BS has actually been just as positive. I know this will probably anger a few but from a business stance we now have our kits made in-house meaning Adidas, Nike, Hummel etc don't make any money off of us, they have now rebranded the logo to something that has never been used making it totally unique and essentially a fresh start whilst maintaining our identity and we have a future that doesn't rely on a rich sheikh staying interested in his new toy in order to keep pushing forward.

I was very opposed to a lot of the changes that have been made but with a fresh new perspective I think LJ and BS have certainly gone from the target of abuse to prove they have a place in this club and can adapt to suit us, it's still very difficult to be positive as a City fan given the rollercoaster rides we're given most seasons but I for one and feeling pretty optimistic about the overall position of the club at this point. 

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1 hour ago, Bristol Rob said:

To be fair, after overseeing a record number of defeats, he deserved to be sacked.

But it is a credit to SL that the club stuck with him. 

Do you think why SL stuck by LJ? 

It wasn’t a case of obstinacy as some thought at the time, it was a simple case of establishing stability within the club. SL had seen just what a negative effect the merry go round of managers has had. Not just the individual manager but the back room staff that accompanied him all going out the door thereby completely destabilising the management and coaching structure.

LJ knows he was very,very close to getting sacked and SL was getting serious pressure from senior members of staff to dismiss him but he refused and now the entire club is seeing the benefit.

In over 50 years I’ve never known the club to be in such a healthy state as is now - down entirely to SL employing the right people to implement his long term plan.

 

 

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Imo...a change of manager needs to be planned, not a reaction to results and picking someone who is available at that time.

This is why we are now in the play off zone...because it has all been planned.

The Club made a blueprint...many mocked at such terms as five pillars etc. However... we've only been up a few seasons...not even a really established Championship side yet. We've come a long way in a very short time to how our club was being run under SC. Not a knock at SC...but it's so different from top to bottom.

For all his hate...it was SoD who came in and pointed out to our owner what was really needed behind the scenes to run this club professionally. His input initiated much of the blueprint.

Any manager who works for us needs to be 100% behind it for it to work.

That's why it works with LJ...everyone who works for the club needs to be in harmony with it. Hence all the DNA mullarky.

Have you ever seen a team like this in recent years with such harmony even when chips are down?

Our fighting spirit is infectious..and brought about by belief and loyalty through thick and thin.

 

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8 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Do you think why SL stuck by LJ? 

It wasn’t a case of obstinacy as some thought at the time, it was a simple case of establishing stability within the club. SL had seen just what a negative effect the merry go round of managers has had. Not just the individual manager but the back room staff that accompanied him all going out the door thereby completely destabilising the management and coaching structure.

LJ knows he was very,very close to getting sacked and SL was getting serious pressure from senior members of staff to dismiss him but he refused and now the entire club is seeing the benefit.

In over 50 years I’ve never known the club to be in such a healthy state as is now - down entirely to SL employing the right people to implement his long term plan.

Just to add to that, every business and every situation is a learning curve. What you've described is the perfect case of SL learning from the last stint in the Championship where he was convinced changing managers was the right answer. Everyone makes mistakes at various stages of their careers, and SL's ability to learn from those are what has allowed him to become a billionaire and the club is now reaping the rewards of that mentality.

People will often say that in order to progress club's should take a relegation and rebuild, and in many cases it can be a silly suggestion. But imo that's exactly what's happened with us - in the period before the relegation LJ would no doubt have been sacked.

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37 minutes ago, Spike said:

I agree but I'd like to throw in something that many will try and twist into me saying "he needs to go" which is not what I am saying at all. 
LJ is currently the best manager that we could have at the helm and probably for the foreseeable future, the question is will the club make the change when they need to or will what you have mentioned by the reason we hang on too long?
It's fair to say that in football most managers only get the sack when the club is in trouble of relegation or not performing to the level desired by the owner/board. This brings me to my question, should we end the season in a playoff position and fall short what is the new expectations for next season? To further embellish, at what point would it be right to let LJ go and replace?

I don't remember the club being in such a good position in most of my time as a fan with the exception of when we punched well above our weight with GJ, however now we have financial stability (well, as close as we can in football) as well as a much improved stadium, youth set up etc If LJ fails to improve our situation how many seasons without promotion would it take for SL to pull the trigger?

Personally, I hope LJ continues to learn, he's already come on leaps and bounds since joining us and eventually, it leads to a serious push at promotion, not just the playoffs. I think it would be a huge disappointment to end 11th or lower next season if we were not to gain promotion this season and I think that speaks volumes for the work that LJ & co have done, had someone said we'd be where we are now 5 years ago I'd have been very pessimistic towards the person that said so.

One other thing I think many people have frowned upon, especially the elder members of our fanbase is Bristol Sport. I can fully understand that they don't necessarily see the club they grew up watching with the new badge, a lot more corporate aspects being used in the club but as much as LJ has made an impact I think BS has actually been just as positive. I know this will probably anger a few but from a business stance we now have our kits made in-house meaning Adidas, Nike, Hummel etc don't make any money off of us, they have now rebranded the logo to something that has never been used making it totally unique and essentially a fresh start whilst maintaining our identity and we have a future that doesn't rely on a rich sheikh staying interested in his new toy in order to keep pushing forward.

I was very opposed to a lot of the changes that have been made but with a fresh new perspective I think LJ and BS have certainly gone from the target of abuse to prove they have a place in this club and can adapt to suit us, it's still very difficult to be positive as a City fan given the rollercoaster rides we're given most seasons but I for one and feeling pretty optimistic about the overall position of the club at this point. 

Thank you Spike for these very salient and considered comments. 

Unless Lee becomes a total fixture and silverware provider a la Sir Alex, you make a very interesting point about when will it be time to replace Lee.

And I fully agree with comments about Bristol Sport. They have made mistakes because they are not football or rugby people but the philosophy of the organisation is first class. Savings for each club on stadium maintenance, ticket sales, match day staff are considerable for both City and Bristol leaving them to concentrate on the playing staff and winning games. And the significant increases in non football income, hospitality etc, also have a positive effect.

I see the future of City and Bristol as very positive especially with regard to the quality of young players in the Academies. Bris have already made the Premiership and unless they implode in the next few weeks, should be there again next season. City have to make the same move within a couple or three years if only to keep the support thay already have; if we become eternal near missers, the interest will fall away from the "floating fans" and we might have problems keeping the best members of the playing staff. 

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