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A Gypsy Curse on BS3?


bcfcredandwhite

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Why have we constantly underachieved?

I'm sure that we are the biggest club never to have seen the Premiership since its forming (someone might have the time to confirm/dismiss this). We are DEFINITELY the largest city in the UK NOT to have a football team in the Premiership - and this was only NOT the case for a brief time when both Sheffield clubs were out of it (DISCLAIMER - some population count sites list Bradford as being bigger than Bristol - it depends where you draw the boundaries). 

Why, when smaller clubs - the likes of Oxford, Bolton, Swindon, Barnsley, Blackpool, Bradford etc have all supped from the golden chalice, has it eluded us so spectacularly for so long?

Our underachieving predates the current - and previous regimes - we were huffing and puffing long before Steve Lansdown and Lee Johnson came along. We currently have a respected manager in Nigel Pearson, but we had a manager before (Danny Wilson) who had a promotion to the Prem on his CV (with Barnsley) and he couldn't even get us out of League 1!

It seems like we are like a leaky pump; it takes a LOT of effort to get us to the mid-table championship (like being able to half-inflate a tyre), but never seem to have the pressure to be able to push on. Still keeping with the leaky pump analogy; we were able to breeze League 1 under Steve Cotterill, but to me that was akin to inflating a balloon. Now we have a proper tyre to inflate we can only get to a semi-inflated state before the pump plateaus out. Over our history we have even struggled to escape League 1.

It's all very well to point at the current injury situation, or the previous incumbent, or the current squad, or Lee Johnson - even Mark Ashton, but this has been happening for years and years - since the 1980s - long before those individuals were anywhere near our club - or even born in some cases. WHY does it KEEP happening to us? It looks like Brentford could get there before us - and Barnsley are more likely to taste the Premiership for a second time before we've even managed it once.

I admit I don't have any answers. I can point out (as many of us can) likely reasons for failure at specific moments in time, but I can't explain why a succession of different owners/chairmen/managers and players for decades have never managed to take us to the Premiership.

 

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4 minutes ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

Why have we constantly underachieved?

I'm sure that we are the biggest club never to have seen the Premiership since its forming (someone might have the time to confirm/dismiss this). We are DEFINITELY the largest city in the UK NOT to have a football team in the Premiership - and this was only NOT the case for a brief time when both Sheffield clubs were out of it (DISCLAIMER - some population count sites list Bradford as being bigger than Bristol - it depends where you draw the boundaries). 

Why, when smaller clubs - the likes of Oxford, Bolton, Swindon, Barnsley, Blackpool, Bradford etc have all supped from the golden chalice, has it eluded us so spectacularly for so long?

Our underachieving predates the current - and previous regimes - we were huffing and puffing long before Steve Lansdown and Lee Johnson came along. We currently have a respected manager in Nigel Pearson, but we had a manager before (Danny Wilson) who had a promotion to the Prem on his CV (with Barnsley) and he couldn't even get us out of League 1!

It seems like we are like a leaky pump; it takes a LOT of effort to get us to the mid-table championship (like being able to half-inflate a tyre), but never seem to have the pressure to be able to push on. Still keeping with the leaky pump analogy; we were able to breeze League 1 under Steve Cotterill, but to me that was akin to inflating a balloon. Now we have a proper tyre to inflate we can only get to a semi-inflated state before the pump plateaus out. Over our history we have even struggled to escape League 1.

It's all very well to point at the current injury situation, or the previous incumbent, or the current squad, or Lee Johnson - even Mark Ashton, but this has been happening for years and years - since the 1980s - long before those individuals were anywhere near our club - or even born in some cases. WHY does it KEEP happening to us? It looks like Brentford could get there before us - and Barnsley are more likely to taste the Premiership for a second time before we've even managed it once.

I admit I don't have any answers. I can point out (as many of us can) likely reasons for failure at specific moments in time, but I can't explain why a succession of different owners/chairmen/managers and players for decades have never managed to take us to the Premiership.

 

It does make you wonder. 

Every time we seem to get ourselves into a position where we are well placed push on, something goes horribly wrong and scuppers it.  

We may just be masters of ballsing it up, but you could be forgiven for thinking there could be dark powers at work.

 

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13 minutes ago, BrizzleRed said:

It does make you wonder. 

Every time we seem to get ourselves into a position where we are well placed push on, something goes horribly wrong and scuppers it.  

We may just be masters of ballsing it up, but you could be forgiven for thinking there could be dark powers at work.

 

Happens when you make a team from good human beings instead of winners

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2 minutes ago, Big C said:

Never understood why people think the size of the city should equate to how successful a team should be. Its not like the clubs are limited to home town players

This is true, but it DOES give a club an advantage, due to catchment area and the likelihood that local people will come out and support the club, hence generating income - which could (should) be reinvested on the pitch.

A club in a city of 800k inhabitants is more likely to see 20k of them at the ground each week buying merchandise, than a small town of 5k inhabitants.

It's about probability.

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Clutton Caveman said:

Happens when you make a team from good human beings instead of winners

Exactly right ?

Same goes for nice Head Coaches and look what happens when someone who’ll tell it how it is comes in ..... toys get thrown out of prams and tools get downed!

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Much is being said currently about the apparent apathy of the City players.

I would argue that the apathy of the Bristol people is a thread that runs throughout the lifetime of Bristol City FC. People at large just dont see their Football club as being an integral part of the city's face and fortunes.

Couple that with the gradual gentrification and increasingly non-Bristolian population, both of which have never been conducive to a football club's success, and you are left with? Well, Rugby isnt it Mr Lansdown?

Bristol is made for football mediocrity - and guess what.....????

 

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1 hour ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

This is true, but it DOES give a club an advantage, due to catchment area and the likelihood that local people will come out and support the club, hence generating income - which could (should) be reinvested on the pitch.

A club in a city of 800k inhabitants is more likely to see 20k of them at the ground each week buying merchandise, than a small town of 5k inhabitants.

It's about probability.

 

 

An average attendance of 20k compared to others in the division puts us midtable, which is near enough where we are

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Quite strange really, we have never actually had a quality side, by quality I mean a side that is respected at a national level. Since 1909 we have never had a season better than Sheffield Utd did last year. Not once. Not even a League Cup final appearance. That's how bad we have been. Historically inept. One of the worst clubs in English football. Probably European football, given the size of city Bristol is.

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34 minutes ago, Red_Alligator said:

Much is being said currently about the apparent apathy of the City players.

I would argue that the apathy of the Bristol people is a thread that runs throughout the lifetime of Bristol City FC. People at large just dont see their Football club as being an integral part of the city's face and fortunes.

Couple that with the gradual gentrification and increasingly non-Bristolian population, both of which have never been conducive to a football club's success, and you are left with? Well, Rugby isnt it Mr Lansdown?

Bristol is made for football mediocrity - and guess what.....????

 

I think this probably gets as close as anything to nailing the reason. 

Add to this the city council's attitude towards the club being, at best, apathy and at worst outright hostility, instead of seeing it as a shining asset to the city, serves to compound the problem.  

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47 minutes ago, Red_Alligator said:

Much is being said currently about the apparent apathy of the City players.

I would argue that the apathy of the Bristol people is a thread that runs throughout the lifetime of Bristol City FC. People at large just dont see their Football club as being an integral part of the city's face and fortunes.

Couple that with the gradual gentrification and increasingly non-Bristolian population, both of which have never been conducive to a football club's success, and you are left with? Well, Rugby isnt it Mr Lansdown?

Bristol is made for football mediocrity - and guess what.....????

 

While I agree with a lot of what you say, surely people moving from outside the area are potential fans, and any of their offspring are automatically Bristolians if they are born here. Not sure the relevance of that. People in Bristol have always supported other teams first or alongside one of the Bristol clubs ever since I was a kid (longer than I care to remember). The main issue is being crap for so long the fans are used to it and the city is used to it.

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51 minutes ago, Red_Alligator said:

I would argue that the apathy of the Bristol people is a thread that runs throughout the lifetime of Bristol City FC.

You do realise that City have supporters from outside of Bristol?

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25 minutes ago, Chairman Mao said:

Quite strange really, we have never actually had a quality side, by quality I mean a side that is respected at a national level. Since 1909 we have never had a season better than Sheffield Utd did last year. Not once. Not even a League Cup final appearance. That's how bad we have been. Historically inept. One of the worst clubs in English football. Probably European football, given the size of city Bristol is.

Can’t really argue with that mate as utterly depressing as it is..

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1 hour ago, Laner said:

Maybe that's part of the problem?Perhaps as fans we're too nice? Not demanding sucess to really worry or motivate those in charge.

Yeh definitely, I think it doesn’t help that the club come out and say we are aiming for promotion then run the club like one that’s got no ambition 

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1 hour ago, Chairman Mao said:

Quite strange really, we have never actually had a quality side, by quality I mean a side that is respected at a national level. Since 1909 we have never had a season better than Sheffield Utd did last year. Not once. Not even a League Cup final appearance. That's how bad we have been. Historically inept. One of the worst clubs in English football. Probably European football, given the size of city Bristol is.

There's a cheery thought for a Thursday afternoon... 

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3 hours ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

Why, when smaller clubs - the likes of Oxford, Bolton, Swindon, Barnsley, Blackpool, Bradford etc have all supped from the golden chalice, has it eluded us so spectacularly for so long?

 

Not sure that Oxford have been in the Prem ?

Going off topic for a minute, Bradford have been down in L2 for what seems like years.

How have they NOT managed to get into L1 by now ?

Must be making the same mistakes as us, maybe. Just at a lower level.

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Had we invested heavily in January 2008, might the trajectory have panned out differently.

It's one thing to compare to smaller places, smaller clubs but each one had differing models so it only works to a point. 2008 when it was quite an open season and FFP didn't exist, that felt like the one really.

Still it seems even those with good or decent track records can go to shit or not quite deliver what was hoped let's say.

Coppell had 3 promotions to the top flight yet he walked after 2 games!!

O'Driscoll was a safeish pair of hands PRIOR to joining us but overall was a complete disaster.

Hopefully Pearson can start to break the mould but will he stay.

It's easy for players to slip here too...

1) Good wage

2) Stable ownership

3) Fine facilities

4) Nice city

5) Alternatively nice rural areas outside.

Lot of little things don't help us IMO.

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1 hour ago, phantom said:

You do realise that City have supporters from outside of Bristol?

Of course i do Phantom and we are blessed to have them! I was referring more to the social relationship between the club and the population of Bristol through the years. 

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1 hour ago, Murraysrightplum said:

While I agree with a lot of what you say, surely people moving from outside the area are potential fans, and any of their offspring are automatically Bristolians if they are born here. Not sure the relevance of that. People in Bristol have always supported other teams first or alongside one of the Bristol clubs ever since I was a kid (longer than I care to remember). The main issue is being crap for so long the fans are used to it and the city is used to it.

Yes, the City doesn't expect a decent level of football from Bristol City, thats why they walk around in Premier League shirts. Its just not in the Bristol psychie to expect anything from Bristol City, therefore its a shrug and just follow a team that is successful.

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2 hours ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

I think this probably gets as close as anything to nailing the reason. 

Add to this the city council's attitude towards the club being, at best, apathy and at worst outright hostility, instead of seeing it as a shining asset to the city, serves to compound the problem.  

Yes, i have family in Sheffield (who support Utd) and a friend who is an Owl's fan. Both are adamant that their recent success and decline respectively are a reflection on Sheffield as a city first and foremost. Pride in one is intrinsically linked to the other.

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