When have the club ever let us down ?

[Simon bristol]

6 minutes ago, Calculus said:

People can always complain about any number of things, but the thing I find a bit annoying is the gulf between PR spin and reality. SL is forever banging on about the Prem being the goal, but then  the appointment of successive managers and the regular sale of our best players rather undermines the point.

Condensed version: knock off the bullsh*t....

You got that right, its part of my identity to be a city fan, im sure a lot of us think like that, people walk round with city tattoos where they feel that strongly about it. 
 

the list of **** ups and mismanagement never ends, danny wilson at cardiff, benny, the 3 amigos, russe in the 90s saying we would be challenging for europe, lj saying the same thing, the whole thing is a jobs for the boys culture, we are being run by a billionaires son who is chairman on the basis hes a billionaires son, and some guy who played a few games for west brom who has hoodwinked a billionaire into thinking he’s something special.

[MarcusX]

11 minutes ago, headhunter said:

When has the club exceeded expectations:

1976 - achieving promo to the Top Flight and staying 4 years

1982 - coming up with a novel financial plan to save the club [apologies to the Ashton Gate 8]

1986 - Freight Rover win at Wembley

1990 - promotion under Joe Jordan [inc beating Chelsea in FA Cup] - diluted by losing to Cambridge in FACR5 & surrendering title to the Gas

1998 - promotion under John Ward but coming 2nd to Watford and selling Goater and replacing with McCarthy

2004 - Hartlepool Semi at home  ..... then failing to turn up against Brighton

2008 - Palace semi home & away .... then GJ bringing on his boy not the logical choice of Vasko after Orr went off in the Final

2017 - Man United but then capitulating in 2nd half of the season and never recovered since

There is a theme - BCFC raise expectation then dash them completely!!!!

You missed winning the league at a canter, making it a double winning season

[Red Skin]

1 hour ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Personal gripe but I think the logistics of how AG has been reorganised is a bit of a letdown, the atmosphere is poor due to singers being far from away fans. Very hard to reverse.

I wonder whether this concentration of 'singers' in any area of the ground is the right thing.   If these were interspersed amongst the rest of the ground, I suspect there is more chance of getting others to join in and get the whole ground going. 

There were always certain stands and areas in stands more likely start songs, but when the team were performing this often spread to other areas.  It rarely does now.

To answer the OP, yes generally the club is going in the right direction.  It's taking longer than I wanted but no one has actually been appointed yet despite all the rants and banners. 

[Galway Red]

My dear old dad told me 50 years ago that "City would always let you down" so this is nothing new

[Southport Red]

57 minutes ago, Redstart said:

What have the Romans ever done for us.......

Aqueducts?

[havanatopia]

1 hour ago, Major Isewater said:

A genuine question . 
 

We have all got angst in our pants over the lack of Chris Hughton but in reality when have the club ever let us down ?

I am not talking about playing or not playing this or that player but more globally.

We have been happy with how the club have been doing business over recent years , seemingly becoming professional after so many years of amateurism.

They have genuinely tried to improve on and off the pitch even if we as fans don’t always agree with their efforts ; Pulis, LJ , Ashton Vale ... 

Should we just , perhaps, trust them to do the right thing ? 
 

 

Until they don't I would say yes

A simple statement from our Chairman would not hurt mind.. how difficult can it be to simply say this "we are all working extremely hard to bring the manager to this club that we can all get excited about. Please have faith and remain patient and we will deliver"

Thats all you have to say Jon. 

[Erithacus]

As an old duffer I can recall the darkness of the 1980s and the very real threat that the club would cease to exist thereafter. I know it's looking down one end of the telescope but I suspect many here don't have that perspective.

Other than that, life has been a rollercoaster at BS3 all right - so many memories: good, bad, indifferent. But would we still be saying the same things if we had to go to Yate, Mangots or even north of the Avon to see our football? We may not be setting Europe on fire but we're still here and kicking.

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, Eddie Hitler said:

I would say in making the appointment of an manager with very limited experience in the lower leagues in Lee Johnson at a time when the player budget was sufficiently high to attract an experienced Championship manager.

And we may be about to do the same again.

Tinnion's appointment was an honest mistake that most of us thought would have turned out much better but LJ's appointment was called correctly at the time and every year since as being simply wrong; if you are assembling an expensive experienced squad then you match that with an expensive experienced manager.  It's that simple. 

I'm unsure about LJ, there were good and bad times. Moreover I'd question whether a more expensive manager may have seen us fall foul of FFP- remember a final one year assessment when Cotterill was sacked, appointment of a big name, fail that and an embargo can arise as soon as January 2017. Was the final one year assessment and a new manager (or any I'd have thought).

I don't believe too that the club would've projected the income to rise quite as much as it did in subsequent seasons, another possible factor. As in new manager demands this, that and then we fall foul.

On the football, think LJ had his good and bad points but it became increasingly apparent that he had issues managing players from a higher level than he himself had played at.

[Red-Robbo]

Football clubs disappoint us all the time.

I remember in the Tinnion managerial reign, leaving work at 4:30pm and pelting down the M4 from West London in the pouring rain in order to get to the Gate and watch us be effortless turned over by some team of barely known cloggers, then getting straight back into the car so I could roar back up the M4 (in pouring rain) in order to be back in time to get a little sleep before I got up at 5am for work.

Not for the first time "Why do I bloody bother" came to mind. I could've been snuggled up to a nice warm lady. Or enjoying convivial company in the pub. Or watching a thought-provoking film.

I guess supporting a lower league club is a bit like religious faith. It passeth all understanding.

In the case of City, the club's infrastructure has improved immeasurably, but customer service, matchday atmosphere and on field entertainment hasn't.

It seems like the physical environment is more advanced than the personnel we have running the club. In lots of ways, we've regressed from the days when two people comprised our backroom staff. 

Tying this lack of executive nous to the current managerial situation, I don't have any faith in the people making the decision.  We've got a lot more people then the staff of two, but not a lot more expertise.

I don't expect perfection, but it would be nice to give people a shot at a time in the sun.  I remember the late 70s. Lots of our fans don't.

 

[Bristol Rob]

Food vouchers.

Chips.

Personal account managers.

Refusal to engage with some fan groups.

Treating fans as cash-cows when we played United, whilst hoping at the same time we'd get promoted so this would become the norm.

Basically, a number of questionable off field decision.

But mostly it's about food vouchers and chips.

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 hours ago, Phileas Fogg said:

It felt like in 2013 we meekly accepted relegation and a sell off of our assets - that felt like a letdown.

Appointing Millen was a letdown.

Arguably David James was a letdown in a different way - negligent waste of money and a player the management didn’t want which led to his departure.

Personal gripe but I think the logistics of how AG has been reorganised is a bit of a letdown, the atmosphere is poor due to singers being far from away fans. Very hard to reverse.

Obviously on the whole they're prudent and sensible - not perfect though. I’d argue a bit naive and headstrong.

2013, there was a bit of an O'Driscoll bounce- at home anyway- for a time.

As I recall we won multiple home games and were in the hunt for survival. Distinctly remember a loss at Wolves in mid March 2013!

Was an important relegation battle, a six pointer of a game and our run in at home and the odd away game, looked accessible at least.

Think we were winning but conceded 2 goals in a few minutes and the whole dynamic changes, for the worse.

[054123]

2 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

A genuine question . 
 

We have all got angst in our pants over the lack of Chris Hughton but in reality when have the club ever let us down ?

I am not talking about playing or not playing this or that player but more globally.

We have been happy with how the club have been doing business over recent years , seemingly becoming professional after so many years of amateurism.

They have genuinely tried to improve on and off the pitch even if we as fans don’t always agree with their efforts ; Pulis, LJ , Ashton Vale ... 

Should we just , perhaps, trust them to do the right thing ? 
 

 

Selling Andy Cole and not being brave enough to build on the 89-90 team and genuinely push for promotion.

Small team DNA is rife within the club.

Im over the moon Steve Lansdown has built a stadium, hotel, conference centre etc.

Good for him

[Chappers]

42 years, just part and parcel of following a lesser football club. The many disappointments make the few highlights even better.

[Matthew me]

Family fan zone in landsdown

Refunds policy 

Engagement with fans generally 

Managerial appointments

Not beating shrews for Liverpool game

Selling off some wonderful players too soon

Ticket off line 

Club shop

[deadredfred]

There are so many occasions in our recent history when poor decisions have been made to the detriment of the club and its progression. Those with a much better memory and a longer time supporting have listed them already. Therefore as a fan I think there will always be an inevitable unease about the larger decisions the club tries to make.

On the whole, I feel like the club has been on an upward trajectory but in the last 18 months or so has plateaued and stagnated, resulting in LJ's inevitable dismissal. I've recently felt very proud of large aspects of how the club operate. The new stadium, the cup run, the play-off push, the year on year improvements, the outward marketing of the club, the calibre of players we can now recruit and the momentum that this seemed to be building. All of which has led to my feeling of entitlement that we should now really be challenging for play-offs and promotion. For me, credit for this needs to go to how the club is being run and also to the work LJ did.

The point for me is that all of this progression and improvement is now under huge risk because, based on current speculation (admittedly we may know very little), the decision makers have once again made an absolute pigs ear of what should be a relatively straightforward process. They risk undoing all the work of the last 4-5 seasons because they've lacked the professionalism to go about it the right way, or to accept that to progress to the Premier League we must be open to changing our approach and evolve accordingly.

In 5 weeks we've regressed 5 seasons. And that for me is the crux of the issue and the point of my frustration. What a shambles.

[Oops]

They let us down the moment we became customers instead of fans.

The deliberate dilution of atmosphere after the Lansdown was built by creating a “singing section” which is proportionally about 5% of every home gate.

The pathetic social media.

Being just about the last club in the country to offer refunds on season tickets after lockdown.

The monumental arrogance of Mark Ashton and his sock puppet Jon Lansdown.

The lack of ambition.

Apart from that, never.

[reformed_red]

Downsy 

[Major Isewater]

1 hour ago, MarcusX said:

I dont think LJs appointment was "correctly called". He didn't get us promotion, but many expected much worse than what actually happened.

We had a fantastic cup run and beat Man Utd then took Man City all the way in two legs. We were flying in the league until the tiredness and steam ran out, playing very attractive football. Unfortunately Lee never really recovered from the hangover of that capitulation and losing his best players.

I'd have preferred a more experienced manager in hindsight, but I dont think Lee was a failure here. He made us an established Championship side that struggled to get over the finish line for whatever reasons. It's hard to say that anyone else would definitely have done better.

He was just kept on too long.

[Mr Popodopolous]

13 minutes ago, Matthew me said:

Family fan zone in landsdown

Refunds policy 

Engagement with fans generally 

Managerial appointments

Not beating shrews for Liverpool game

Selling off some wonderful players top soon

Ticket off line 

Club shop

Could you square the circle with accounts/FFP and loss limits? Sheffield Wednesday didn't like to sell, as it stands will be beginning next year on - 12. (More complex than that).

I am of course assuming you mean in the last few seasons from say Kodjia onwards.

@exAtyeoMax Summer 2015 I think the club was between a rock and a hard place, financially speaking. I'm unsure that the wishlist of Cotts was feasible at that time sadly. 

Unless we'd gone straight up in 2015/16, we would have had a short window to downsize and sell in order to avoid a January 2017 embargo IMO.

This also would have restricted us in transition to the new system- none of which would've found favour with Cotts and this surely would have been to our detriment on the pitch.

[Kingswood Robin]

1 hour ago, CodeRed said:

You missed out the Dolman tannoy, and the cold hand driers together with the equally cold pies. The promised chips in the Dolman concourse, Jon's centenary shirt and trap 4 was blocked by a huge log at the last game.

The list of the club's crimes is endless!

Didn't realise the Dolman still had a Tannoy

[lenred]

I’d forgive them everything if they turned off the lights in the stands at night games 

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, Calculus said:

People can always complain about any number of things, but the thing I find a bit annoying is the gulf between PR spin and reality. SL is forever banging on about the Prem being the goal, but then  the appointment of successive managers and the regular sale of our best players rather undermines the point.

Condensed version: knock off the bullsh*t....

Have you an alternative financial plan? 

Combined operating losses (for BCFC Holdings) in the last two seasons worth of accounts- ie 2017/18 and 2018/19- in excess of £50m.

I'd argue us keeping key players in January 2018 given that we were close to the line, this was a positive mark of intent.

[tin]

3 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

A genuine question . 

We have all got angst in our pants over the lack of Chris Hughton but in reality when have the club ever let us down ?

I am not talking about playing or not playing this or that player but more globally.

We have been happy with how the club have been doing business over recent years , seemingly becoming professional after so many years of amateurism.

They have genuinely tried to improve on and off the pitch even if we as fans don’t always agree with their efforts ; Pulis, LJ , Ashton Vale ... 

Should we just , perhaps, trust them to do the right thing ? 

For me, Major, being let down is closely tied to expectations and everyone’s expectations are different. 

Having seen Bournemouth, Cardiff, Reading etc play in the PL, I think it’s reasonable to expect to see City in PL in my lifetime. The board is happy to go on record to state PL is the aim. 

In order to get to the PL, they need to invest in the best staff available. That is not Holden, IMO, and that would be a let down. We’ve been here before with Tinnion and Millen, but our stock back then is not as high as it is now. The appointment of LJ was a let down with that goal in mind, too.

Other things about the club disappointment me, eg lack of communication/poor PR, taking fans for granted, the poor content on the office site. The business side of things, I can’t fault. 

 

 

[Atticus]

3 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

A genuine question . 
 

We have all got angst in our pants over the lack of Chris Hughton but in reality when have the club ever let us down ?

I am not talking about playing or not playing this or that player but more globally.

We have been happy with how the club have been doing business over recent years , seemingly becoming professional after so many years of amateurism.

They have genuinely tried to improve on and off the pitch even if we as fans don’t always agree with their efforts ; Pulis, LJ , Ashton Vale ... 

Should we just , perhaps, trust them to do the right thing ? 
 

 

Appointing Millen.

Not backing Cotterill

Sacking Cotterill

Creating the ludicrous "head coach" position.

Appointing LJ

Seemingly appointing Holden.

Bristol Sport in general. 

That constant feeling of "jobs for the boys" that wont go away, that also lets me down. 

[Abraham Romanovich]

1 hour ago, Bristol Rob said:

Food vouchers.

Chips.

Personal account managers.

Refusal to engage with some fan groups.

Treating fans as cash-cows when we played United, whilst hoping at the same time we'd get promoted so this would become the norm.

Basically, a number of questionable off field decision.

But mostly it's about food vouchers and chips.

I'd add appointing Downsey, someone who clearly knows **** all about football .

[Clutton Caveman]

Allowing 2 years of totally boring negative football to be dished up by LJ

[Snufflelufagus]

I once had a cold pie. That was a let down.

[Son of Fred]

3 hours ago, Keith Welch said:

the strategy is to keep cautious and sustainable while other clubs crash and burn

Well,,by that volition it crashes & burns on the runway...let alone untruths about a head coach with the tools to take us to that 'next level..

Sacking Lee,,paying him compo then employing his very inexperienced assistant to do the job is anything but prudent in its simplest view.

Short termism.

[054123]

2 hours ago, Erithacus said:

As an old duffer I can recall the darkness of the 1980s and the very real threat that the club would cease to exist thereafter. I know it's looking down one end of the telescope but I suspect many here don't have that perspective.

Other than that, life has been a rollercoaster at BS3 all right - so many memories: good, bad, indifferent. But would we still be saying the same things if we had to go to Yate, Mangots or even north of the Avon to see our football? We may not be setting Europe on fire but we're still here and kicking.

Absolutely, but aren’t you even a little bit curious as to why we have achieved so little?

[Red Exile]

2 hours ago, Erithacus said:

As an old duffer I can recall the darkness of the 1980s and the very real threat that the club would cease to exist thereafter. I know it's looking down one end of the telescope but I suspect many here don't have that perspective.

Other than that, life has been a rollercoaster at BS3 all right - so many memories: good, bad, indifferent. But would we still be saying the same things if we had to go to Yate, Mangots or even north of the Avon to see our football? We may not be setting Europe on fire but we're still here and kicking.

I get that, but as someone who does recall the darkness I'd simply say that for younger folk talking about events in 1982 is akin to our younger selves hearing about the club's struggles during the war...and to them about as relevant as it would have seemed to us in 1982.

I'm amazed that people of our generation are as satisfied as some appear to be with the way things have gone. City have flattered to deceive for 4 decades. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is a club specialism...we could be about to do it again!