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Now that the dust has settled.....over to you Steve


Andy082005

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4 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Although Kalas is good he’s not that good.........

He’s better than the SPL. And up until 6 weeks ago, Ajax weren’t that good. Neither will they be great next year after their squad is ransacked this summer.

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On 28/04/2019 at 18:02, Andy082005 said:

Well I can honestly say I cannot remember the last time I left a game hurting as much as I did yesterday. Its been  a long time I can tell you.  The lads gave absolutely everything on that pitch, we couldn't have asked for any more.  Was the referee poor yesterday? yes. As was the referee that we had vs Villa, and you could even argue the ref had a shocker in the Derby v QPR game last week....but now the dust has settled, the reason we haven't made the play-offs is we have just not been good enough over the course of the season, especially at home

I know I am normally construed as the negative one on this forum, but I will be first to say that the other thing this season has proved, is what a fantastic coach Lee Johnson is.  What he has done with some players this year, especially following on from what he done with players like Bobby Reid and Bryan etc, has been fantastic.  Do I think he will ever become a 'Top manager'?.....a manager who can manage the big occasions and pressures? I honestly don't know, however his stock and profile  has certainly risen over the last 18 months and he is proven himself to be a very good coach.

Which leads me on to pre-season.  I genuinely believe this is the first pre-season LJ has had since he joined us where he now holds all the cards, rather then all the cards being held by the board and Lansdown.  Many could argue with how last season petered out and ended, he was fortunate to keep his job.  I certainly don't think he went into last pre- season in a position where he could make certain requests / demands when it come down to money.  This pre-season is completely different. 

Again, I've always been one to push the argument for needing to invest in more experience, however I have loved the fact we have loaned from Premier League clubs the last couple of years.  Some have been exceptional for us.  I hope we continue to do this, HOWEVER, its time to back Johnson with some serious money now or face losing him.  He said something in his interview the other day about next year, and how he is happy here as long as both him, and the club, continue to meet each others ambitions.

There are plenty of fans who just don't think LJ will leave no matter what.  My personal opinion is LJ's ambitions are starting to out grow the clubs.  Now as I said, whether he will go on to prove himself a top manager I don't know, but for the first pre-season since he joined us I think there will be other clubs willing to take a chance on him and give him a better budget to work on 

This summer will really tell us how ambitious this club and its owner really are....over to you Mr Lansdown

Well put arguments but and its a big but and I will repeat what I said on the Congrats forum; he has spent 9.3 million on 4 strikers and Wilder spent 630k. That is my first point. I do not think for one moment owners at other clubs will be oblivious to that fact. The second point is that Steve L asked LJ to improve on last season; currently we have not because we have 1 fewer point. Regardless of how many we garner out of 6 one might argue that is hardly what Steve L was expecting with his remark. 

I think Lee J has done a solid job and deserves another crack but his recruitment, if it is his recruitment and not meddled with by Mark.. , has largely been woeful; I would not have said that at the start of this season although I, like others, would have been critical and we know the windows where it all went pear shaped. 

So let us make no bones about it; Steve L has truly backed his man. The Blades is just one example albeit a very good one. I do not think, therefore, that Lee will be encouraged to leave, far from it, but I also do not believe there will be many knocking on his door. Hopefully, for his career and for City that day will come as it will mean he finally has a promotion on his CV; that is what he needs to be poached.

I can only hope that they sort the recruitment out this time and not waste money.

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7 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Although Kalas is good he’s not that good.........

 

1 minute ago, clunes said:

He’s better than the SPL. And up until 6 weeks ago, Ajax weren’t that good. Neither will they be great next year after their squad is ransacked this summer.

I think I may be siding with @Robbored on this one @clunes, mainly based on how he struggled when he played against England not so long ago.

You could argue that with a better quality of defender alongside him, he will become better. Now whilst that may be true, everytime he has won promotion from the Championship (whilst on loan obviously), he has never had a run of games in that league. Perhaps his previous coaches, along with Chelsea's, have realised his limitations, and decided that he probably wouldn't be as good the next level up. 

If we are able to sign him this summer, then I think that his performance against England will be the main reason why. That is the level of quality he will be coming up against week in and week out.

I personally think that he could play at the next level, but maybe not quite yet. A move to a club with the ambition to go up, may be his best bet at proving he can play at that level. Hopefully it is with us, but that depends if SL is happy to release the funds.

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9 minutes ago, clunes said:

He’s better than the SPL. And up until 6 weeks ago, Ajax weren’t that good. Neither will they be great next year after their squad is ransacked this summer.

Undoubtedly he’s better than the SPL - it’s on a par with our League 1. However if Rangers or Celtic wanted him he could get a far bigger weekly wedge up there than at City.

Can’t see him being classy enough to join Ajax even if they’ll need replacements next season.

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7 hours ago, The hand of RO'D said:

I have inside knowledge that city are going to be waiting another couple of seasons and really establish themselves in the Championship, before SL loosens the purse strings and increases the wage bracket. 

Also expect Semenyo to feature a lot more next season as an out and out striker. The club think he will be a £10m player. 

Also Goater think we play some nice football but won't go anywhere with FD leading the attack. 

Big claim!

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7 hours ago, The hand of RO'D said:

I have inside knowledge that city are going to be waiting another couple of seasons and really establish themselves in the Championship, before SL loosens the purse strings and increases the wage bracket. 

Also expect Semenyo to feature a lot more next season as an out and out striker. The club think he will be a £10m player. 

Also Goater think we play some nice football but won't go anywhere with FD leading the attack. 

First sentence - made up rubbish.........:disapointed2se:

Second sentence - correct

Third sentence - Goater is stating the obvious. We all can see that FD needs another goalscorer alongside him. LJ can see that as well and hopefully that will be addressed in the summer window.

 

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I’d be surprised, actually amazed, if Lansdown splashed the cash. Not gonna happen. He is a financial pragmatist who owns a football club - the two are not compatible unless the club is ran within its means.

You might persuade him that we can spend a bit more than normal as we are within FPP - push the boat out a bit more than usual in yr 1 of 3 but it will still be within our means.

 

 

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On 28/04/2019 at 12:02, Bristol Rob said:

Any one have any idea what we could spend and still be compliant with the FFP rules?

Assuming we don't generate any money from player sales, and guessing what out of contract players might deduct from the wage bill, if there were released.

I remember reading that the fees for 2 of the 3 sold last summer did not appear in the accounts for FFP until this season, so there should be a pretty good wedge available, should they decide to splash the cash!

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9 hours ago, The hand of RO'D said:

I have inside knowledge that city are going to be waiting another couple of seasons and really establish themselves in the Championship, before SL loosens the purse strings and increases the wage bracket. 

Also expect Semenyo to feature a lot more next season as an out and out striker. The club think he will be a £10m player. 

Also Goater think we play some nice football but won't go anywhere with FD leading the attack. 

 

Semenyo ? Well, I'm really not sure what they see in him as I've seen nothing to substantiate the fuss around him after watching him play for Newport (on TV admittedly) and a few cameos for City. Anyway, we need an experienced striker and we need to pay for it.

Goater is spot on. Get rid or bench player.

 

 

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1 hour ago, dave36 said:

I remember reading that the fees for 2 of the 3 sold last summer did not appear in the accounts for FFP until this season, so there should be a pretty good wedge available, should they decide to splash the cash!

Our financial year ran until May 31 2018 I think but can double check- so all 3 should appear this season- plus in the case of Djuric and Magnússon we have reduced amortisation.

All of those gains/reduced costs should appear in 2018/19.

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5 hours ago, Robbored said:

Undoubtedly he’s better than the SPL - it’s on a par with our League 1. However if Rangers or Celtic wanted him he could get a far bigger weekly wedge up there than at City.

Can’t see him being classy enough to join Ajax even if they’ll need replacements next season.

We have been through this before, neither Celtic or Rangers pay the sort of money we do. The economics of Scottish football simply don’t allow it.

I have no idea what Kalas earns but assuming we are paying all of his wages this season, he would be taking a huge paycut to go North.

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2 hours ago, TonyTonyTony said:

I’d be surprised, actually amazed, if Lansdown splashed the cash. Not gonna happen. He is a financial pragmatist who owns a football club - the two are not compatible unless the club is ran within its means.

You might persuade him that we can spend a bit more than normal as we are within FPP - push the boat out a bit more than usual in yr 1 of 3 but it will still be within our means.

 

 

Year 1 of 3?

To clarify, FFP is a rolling cycle.

So since this system in its current form came in it's:

Year 1- 2015/16

Year 2- 2016/17

Year 3- 2017/18

Rolls over- 2015/16 drops off.

Year 1- 2016/17

Year 2- 2017/18

Year 3- 2018/19

Rolls over.

@Bristol Rob

You might be interested, I've some rough early calculations.

This summer our new starting point will be 2017/18 or our £24m loss... lop off about £4m in allowable costs and it's £20m as the starting point.

However this years accounts surely look a lot better and just say the big sales contributed to us breaking even even this season with same allowable costs it means our 2 year FFP loss drops to £16m.

Which means that independent of promotion bonuses which would add on but not count, we could lose a fair whack this coming season... £23m in FFP terms. Which would appear on accounts as £27m.

In other words, if we (SL!)/so chose we could stay within FFP, keeping prime assets and rolling the dice a bit.

Assuming operating losses about the same £3m worth of either wages or fee, independent of any sales or other departures which save wages. Amortisation would improve the latter too.

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3 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

We have been through this before, neither Celtic or Rangers pay the sort of money we do. The economics of Scottish football simply don’t allow it.

I have no idea what Kalas earns but assuming we are paying all of his wages this season, he would be taking a huge paycut to go North.

Celtic might be able to if in CL every year, for Kalas I mean. Maybe?

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1 minute ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Celtic might be able to if in CL every year, for Kalas I mean. Maybe?

Possibly, but as per normal clubs tend to pay forwards more money than defenders and as they are looking to strengthen in that area that is probably where the money will go.

I honestly don’t see Kalas being tempted by Celtic, I think someone like Fulham - obvious connection, or maybe Huddersfield, as much more likely destinations.

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6 hours ago, havanatopia said:

Well put arguments but and its a big but and I will repeat what I said on the Congrats forum; he has spent 9.3 million on 4 strikers and Wilder spent 630k. That is my first point. I do not think for one moment owners at other clubs will be oblivious to that fact. The second point is that Steve L asked LJ to improve on last season; currently we have not because we have 1 fewer point. Regardless of how many we garner out of 6 one might argue that is hardly what Steve L was expecting with his remark. 

I think Lee J has done a solid job and deserves another crack but his recruitment, if it is his recruitment and not meddled with by Mark.. , has largely been woeful; I would not have said that at the start of this season although I, like others, would have been critical and we know the windows where it all went pear shaped. 

So let us make no bones about it; Steve L has truly backed his man. The Blades is just one example albeit a very good one. I do not think, therefore, that Lee will be encouraged to leave, far from it, but I also do not believe there will be many knocking on his door. Hopefully, for his career and for City that day will come as it will mean he finally has a promotion on his CV; that is what he needs to be poached.

I can only hope that they sort the recruitment out this time and not waste money.

Hav.  I see some of my thoughts in your post.

  1. I like LJ.  There are a load of crap managers doing the rounds.  He loves the club, has a good relationship with SL.
  2. He’s doing a good job, certainly above par, but room for improvement
  3. He frustrates the hell out of me at times.  But he is the professional, I’m just a supporter / casual observer.  He over-complicated things.  He isn’t consistent.  Those are often the common theme in any criticism I give him.
  4. He is better picking the players than MA and his “funnel”.
  5. But he must be reined in from recruiting “clubs in the bag”.  In terms of first team players he must follow his mantra of only bringing players that are better or make other players better.  Ones for the future either need to be nearer the future if spending £1.5m+, or if a season or two away, need to be cheaper.
  6. He needs to play players he’s brought in.  For every Dasilva or Tammy, there’s a Palmer, Kent, Woodrow, etc going back to their respective club with not such a positive view of LJ and / or Bristol City
  7. 6th (I hope) but likely 7th or 8th is a very good season. But must be built upon.  We haven’t fallen away dramatically like last season and assuming we don’t get 6th, we need to go that extra 4 or 5 games next season.
  8. re 7. We should be in a good position to strengthen, but it must be strengthen, not status-quo.  Fulham, Huddersfield and Cardiff coming down are not Newcastle, Villa and Norwich, and I think next year it can be really open.  SL and LJ have positioned themselves nicely for a push....and that doesn’t mean blowing money....because if we don’t compete it will be a millstone for another couple of years.
  9. Norwich and Sheffield Utd have proved that astute recruitment, clarity of style can get you there.  Norwich more youthful, but Sheffield Utd, showing you can use “journeymen” to your advantage in the right mix
  10. Maybe get an outsider into the coaching set-up, even if short term to provide some challenge.
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6 hours ago, Robbored said:

Undoubtedly he’s better than the SPL - it’s on a par with our League 1. However if Rangers or Celtic wanted him he could get a far bigger weekly wedge up there than at City....

Not sure that’s correct Robbored .... Celtic’s average squad salary is apparently £16k per week and Rangers pay their players just under £9k per week on average - so I don’t think Kalas could get a far bigger wedge at Scotland’s top two clubs in the Scottish Premiership ....

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Our recruitment and retention over the summer will be critical. There are big decisions to be made in most positions and some more established players maybe let go or not be quite so automatic in their positions.Wages will be as key as transfer fees, considering McGoldrick and Pukki were both signed as free transfers last summer.

The critical decision will be how we strengthen midfield. Smith has become as injury prone as Baker, so we need a replacement there. COD will probably be sold as the club won't want to risk him leaving on a free. We need an upgrade on Paterson, and an alternative to Pack. All quite a challenge to find but not impossible. And just as Kalas was surplus to Fulham's requirements, so was Norwood, who has now been promoted with Sheffield United. Looking for offloads from the 3 teams going up, may be an option.

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14 minutes ago, Dr Balls said:

Our recruitment and retention over the summer will be critical. There are big decisions to be made in most positions and some more established players maybe let go or not be quite so automatic in their positions.Wages will be as key as transfer fees, considering McGoldrick and Pukki were both signed as free transfers last summer.

The critical decision will be how we strengthen midfield. Smith has become as injury prone as Baker, so we need a replacement there. COD will probably be sold as the club won't want to risk him leaving on a free. We need an upgrade on Paterson, and an alternative to Pack. All quite a challenge to find but not impossible. And just as Kalas was surplus to Fulham's requirements, so was Norwood, who has now been promoted with Sheffield United. Looking for offloads from the 3 teams going up, may be an option.

I think Smith will be fine with a full pre-season ahead of him, IMHO he was brought back to early and that decision has cost us dearly.

You can't deny Packs endeavour but he doesn't have the consistent quality needed to bring us success in what is such a pivotal position. Even when partnered with a fully firing Smith, the partnership is often found lacking. Its time for Pack to move on.

 

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