It is no longer pre-season

[Hampshire Red]

After witnessing the first two games and closely watching the body language of Pearson and his support team i have many views on how we compare to how we looked under recent, previous managers. Luckily the 'Johnson-Out' rent a mob have largely deserted this forum so they can be spared their blushes when witnessing the current performances

I am surprised that with all the time we had as a pre-season that Pearson still needs to 'have a good look' at the players although i do understand a team and its players perform differently in front of crowds and more competitive games. Surely in the 16 (?) games he has witnessed he knows what each player can contribute to his best 11? Losing CoD and Williams to injury is bad luck but every other team suffers this as well so not really an excuse

Why am i still hopeful Pearson will succeed, ie get us back to being the top half team we were three seasons ago? 3 reasons; 1)we havent yet seen how serious the problems facing Reading, Derby, Brum and others play out on the pitch; i think we will struggle much less than them. 2)Pearson has proven at Watford and Leicester he can blend or gel a team to be a winning team and i think he has good ingredients at AG right now, even though there is trading to be done in the next 2-3 weeks. 3) There is nothing wrong with a slow start as the cup has already gone and the only thing that really matters is the 46 game competition. Let's hope we can return to being a club that challenges for the top 6 and let's hope it is this season.

[BTRFTG]

1 hour ago, Hampshire Red said:

Luckily the 'Johnson-Out' rent a mob have largely deserted this forum so they can be spared their blushes when witnessing the current performances

The reason Pearson deserves not be judged on his performance since arriving is wholly because of the crap personnel and catastrophic debt Johnson left trailing in his wake.

It's still largely Johnson's squad, his liabilities. That's why Pearson has little wriggle room, has his work cut out in offloading the detritus (he's done pretty well in that respect,) and will need seasons, not season, to recover. We look better organised than under much of Johnson's tenure but that's not saying much, it being difficult to be less organised.

If we finish 6th from bottom he'll have done OK. Top 6 isn't on the cards this season.

[spudski]

Looking at the Villa, Blackpool and FGR games, there is a common theme.

Whilst we look more organised, we still lack conviction.

Look at how many goals against us come from balls out wide into the box...from both sides. We have players in position, but no one is busting a gut to physically stop that ball being crossed or passed into the box. It's almost a symbolic gesture of tracking the man and sticking a leg out. Then the defending of actual balls in the box is even worse. Again...symbolic rather than physical. It's like they are in position, but reactionary in a lethargic state, rather than pro active In an aggressive manner. It's piss poor.

It's way too easy...and has been for a few seasons now. Regardless of manager.

Another common theme with all the managers...is they have all mentioned individual decision making. How long do you need with these players...or are they never going to get it?

I've still to work out our way of play, other than its more organised in a workman like way, but in a state of lethargy.

All these players are better quality than they are showing imo.

 

 

[beaverface]

Well, I think the team that played at FGR have made a rod for their own backs.

I would seriously think that the team that played versus Blackpool is now NP's first choice 11, and all the others now need to prove they're better than that team.

Unfortunately, going out the cup so early has hampered their opportunities to impress NP, therefore they've gonna need to be pulling up trees in training at U23 matches to make any kind of impression.

I suppose the flipside to that, is that the 11 who started vs Blackpool know they cannot make a mistake otherwise that's their place gone. I dread to think what the ramifications will be if we don't cope well with the last 10minutes of a match again? One would hope that the message is being drilled into them over and over, and the fall out of a similar outcome wont be pretty !!!

[GrahamC]

15 minutes ago, beaverface said:

Well, I think the team that played at FGR have made a rod for their own backs.

I would seriously think that the team that played versus Blackpool is now NP's first choice 11, and all the others now need to prove they're better than that team.

I’ve not seen us play yet (I only got back from holiday last night) but isn’t that a bit simplistic?

Clearly a performance where we came within 30 seconds of winning a Championship game is better than one where we couldn’t beat a League Two team, but in the second game Pearson said that Kalas did well & I doubt he was alone, as I posted yesterday I’m not sure what more Janneh could have done than to score twice on his very first start.

Far more likely surely is that certain players (Moore appears to be one) will drop out of contention now but to say all 11 who faced Forest Green aren’t in the frame, seems too clear cut.

[pjg11]

4 minutes ago, RalphMilnesLeftFoot said:

We don't agree on lots but this is spot on

Can’t coach conviction commitment or intelligence can  run as many sessions as you like organising putting people in the right place can’t make players read the game better be more determined want to get the ball first stick your head in where it hurts that’s inside the players all the training won’t give a player a heart and guts . Baker for instance gets criticised for his injuries but no one can say he isn’t committed and his body is put on the line . Just haven’t got enough of this type of player . If we had done our clear out on commitment we would have had about 3 players left

[ashton_fan]

1 hour ago, BTRFTG said:

The reason Pearson deserves not be judged on his performance since arriving is wholly because of the crap personnel and catastrophic debt Johnson left trailing in his wake.

It's still largely Johnson's squad, his liabilities. That's why Pearson has little wriggle room, has his work cut out in offloading the detritus (he's done pretty well in that respect,) and will need seasons, not season, to recover. We look better organised than under much of Johnson's tenure but that's not saying much, it being difficult to be less organised.

If we finish 6th from bottom he'll have done OK. Top 6 isn't on the cards this season.

LJ was 2 managers ago so can't blame him for problems now. The debt is mainly due to Covid and the lack of income last season, not the player trading under LJ where he brought a lot of money in through player sales. Admittedly the squad at the end of last season when NP took over was decimated by injuries but now most of those are available and with new additions and good showing from some of the young players the squad is looking decent, NP has no excuse to be delivering a position below mid table, we will wait and see what happens.

[Red_Alligator]

34 minutes ago, ashton_fan said:

LJ was 2 managers ago so can't blame him for problems now. The debt is mainly due to Covid and the lack of income last season, not the player trading under LJ where he brought a lot of money in through player sales. Admittedly the squad at the end of last season when NP took over was decimated by injuries but now most of those are available and with new additions and good showing from some of the young players the squad is looking decent, NP has no excuse to be delivering a position below mid table, we will wait and see what happens.

We sold our best players (young and experienced) under LJ in the name of progress. The replacements were overpriced and have underperformed in the main. I would have applauded LJ had he resigned in open protest at this debarcle, but understand why he didn't.

Expecting a challenge for top 6 this season?!

We've been told quite clearly what to expect. 

So expect it and after three seasons if we haven't got to the Premier League, then you can claim NP, by his own standard, a failure.

Them's the rules Hampshire. 

 

[Redrascal2]

3 hours ago, Hampshire Red said:

After witnessing the first two games and closely watching the body language of Pearson and his support team i have many views on how we compare to how we looked under recent, previous managers. Luckily the 'Johnson-Out' rent a mob have largely deserted this forum so they can be spared their blushes when witnessing the current performances

I am surprised that with all the time we had as a pre-season that Pearson still needs to 'have a good look' at the players although i do understand a team and its players perform differently in front of crowds and more competitive games. Surely in the 16 (?) games he has witnessed he knows what each player can contribute to his best 11? Losing CoD and Williams to injury is bad luck but every other team suffers this as well so not really an excuse

Why am i still hopeful Pearson will succeed, ie get us back to being the top half team we were three seasons ago? 3 reasons; 1)we havent yet seen how serious the problems facing Reading, Derby, Brum and others play out on the pitch; i think we will struggle much less than them. 2)Pearson has proven at Watford and Leicester he can blend or gel a team to be a winning team and i think he has good ingredients at AG right now, even though there is trading to be done in the next 2-3 weeks. 3) There is nothing wrong with a slow start as the cup has already gone and the only thing that really matters is the 46 game competition. Let's hope we can return to being a club that challenges for the top 6 and let's hope it is this season.

Agree with a lot of what you say but to expect this squad to challenge for the top six this season is way off the mark. Pearson needs time to build a squad/team and with virtually no backing from Lansdown it will not be this season.

[Loco Rojo]

2 hours ago, BTRFTG said:

The reason Pearson deserves not be judged on his performance since arriving is wholly because of the crap personnel and catastrophic debt Johnson left trailing in his wake.

It's still largely Johnson's squad, his liabilities. That's why Pearson has little wriggle room, has his work cut out in offloading the detritus (he's done pretty well in that respect,) and will need seasons, not season, to recover. We look better organised than under much of Johnson's tenure but that's not saying much, it being difficult to be less organised.

If we finish 6th from bottom he'll have done OK. Top 6 isn't on the cards this season.

If only there were more that could appreciate this.  

Reading some of the comments on here (especially the 2 match day threads), it's as if people have forgotten about how serious a mess this club is in.  It's as if a couple of months of no football should've sorted all the problems out.  

[beaverface]

2 hours ago, GrahamC said:

I’ve not seen us play yet (I only got back from holiday last night) but isn’t that a bit simplistic?

Clearly a performance where we came within 30 seconds of winning a Championship game is better than one where we couldn’t beat a League Two team, but in the second game Pearson said that Kalas did well & I doubt he was alone, as I posted yesterday I’m not sure what more Janneh could have done than to score twice on his very first start.

Far more likely surely is that certain players (Moore appears to be one) will drop out of contention now but to say all 11 who faced Forest Green aren’t in the frame, seems too clear cut.

I'm not saying they're not in the frame, I'm saying that there is a lot less opportunity for them to prove themselves to justify being in the first choice eleven.

Sure Kalas got a few decent comments from NP. but that was against a League 2 side.  I would say, let's see how he performs against better opposition in the next round of the cup, but unfortunately, the team that played FGR have scuppered that chance of being able to put themselves in the managers favour.

Kalas if anyone (and maybe Wells) would be the only two with a chance at Middlesbrough IMO, but that's based on their reputation rather than what they did at FGR.

Janneh did do well to score twice, but what about the rest of his game? Did he do well enough to oust Martin or Weiman? I doubt not, especially if we read between the lines that NP reckons we didn't manage the end of the FGR game very well (which may include Janneh trying to score from our own area and giving the ball back)

You are right, it is a little simplistic, but it makes sense rather than NP changing, say, four players from the Blackpool game with four players from the FGR game and then trying to justify those changes, which I don't think he could.

 

[BTRFTG]

2 hours ago, ashton_fan said:

LJ was 2 managers ago so can't blame him for problems now. The debt is mainly due to Covid and the lack of income last season, not the player trading under LJ where he brought a lot of money in through player sales. Admittedly the squad at the end of last season when NP took over was decimated by injuries but now most of those are available and with new additions and good showing from some of the young players the squad is looking decent, NP has no excuse to be delivering a position below mid table, we will wait and see what happens.

Just about wrong on every account.

The accounts covering the majority of the Covid period have YET to be published. They will be soon & they'll be catastrophic. They won't be Pearson's numbers & barely Holden's, they'll mostly be Johnson's.

Johnson may have gone, but the dross he signed & more importantly their liabilities tarried long after he'd left. Much remains. That's the problem, when one sacks a manager one doesn't have the option of sacking the dross he's accumulated.

But let's get down to brass tacks. During his tenure Johnson's operational losses rose to in excess of £30m a year. He didn't recoup anywhere near that in player sales. And from the ongoing annual £30m+ (excluding Covid impacts that will have rolled over last year,) nearly all exclusively salaries for the dross he signed, what was there to sell to offset any of it?

Johnson's legacy - in season 19/20 City's Wage Bill (that's wages alone, no other outgoing, not maintaining the stadium, paying the electric, putting on fixtures, buying kit, travelling to away fixtures et al) was 123% of Turnover.  Nearly a quarter more of ALL non transfer income went paying the dross he'd amassed.

So yes, we can blame Johnson until his reckless legacy hopefully runs out.

[BTRFTG]

2 hours ago, Red_Alligator said:

We sold our best players (young and experienced) under LJ in the name of progress

They weren't sold in the name of progress. They were sold as a necessity. We had no option.

That's what happens when you amass a squad the size of a small army and ship £750k each week.

[Red_Alligator]

27 minutes ago, BTRFTG said:

They weren't sold in the name of progress. They were sold as a necessity. We had no option.

That's what happens when you amass a squad the size of a small army and ship £750k each week.

Either way, poor business. 

[Curr Avon]

4 hours ago, spudski said:

Looking at the Villa, Blackpool and FGR games, there is a common theme.

Whilst we look more organised, we still lack conviction.

Look at how many goals against us come from balls out wide into the box...from both sides. We have players in position, but no one is busting a gut to physically stop that ball being crossed or passed into the box. It's almost a symbolic gesture of tracking the man and sticking a leg out. Then the defending of actual balls in the box is even worse. Again...symbolic rather than physical. It's like they are in position, but reactionary in a lethargic state, rather than pro active In an aggressive manner. It's piss poor.

It's way too easy...and has been for a few seasons now. Regardless of manager.

Another common theme with all the managers...is they have all mentioned individual decision making. How long do you need with these players...or are they never going to get it?

I've still to work out our way of play, other than its more organised in a workman like way, but in a state of lethargy.

All these players are better quality than they are showing imo.

 

 

Spot on Spudski and what we lack most of all is, courage.

[steviestevieneville]

9 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

So true. We had a huge wage bill, players on big contracts, some with zero resale value and some big signings allowed to leave on a free. Morale and team spirit were absent and we were unfit and injured. Hardly a set up for success. Granted, individually most of the players have great merit, but it is a team sport, and we have not looked a team for ages. It will take time, and indeed longer than some want, but IMHO we will see this team become very good once confidence arrives. But to expect any manager to come in and sort that mess in a few months is bonkers. None of us know if NP is going to fully work out, that is football, but he has more in common with our recent top managers, SC and GJ than many others. Last season has gone. It is nonsense to talk about losing streaks back into a season that counts for zero in this one. It does not count this year. We have played one drawn one. That is it. I would have loved to see NP with 20M spend like LJ had, but that is not the caae. Like Holden he has had chump change and is tying to get some semblance of a team together with what we have. If Atkinson is the type of signing we make in future , and we are willing to develop our youth in the first team, then that s damn exciting IMHO. Time for cool heads . 

Totally agree with everything you’ve written also on the thread you started. 
I do think you’re going way over the top asking for cool heads unfortunately . Almost everyone said end of last season that this is a season of rebuilding . As soon as we kick off though , all that get forgotten. 

[Davefevs]

6 hours ago, Hampshire Red said:

After witnessing the first two games and closely watching the body language of Pearson and his support team i have many views on how we compare to how we looked under recent, previous managers. Luckily the 'Johnson-Out' rent a mob have largely deserted this forum so they can be spared their blushes when witnessing the current performances

I am surprised that with all the time we had as a pre-season that Pearson still needs to 'have a good look' at the players although i do understand a team and its players perform differently in front of crowds and more competitive games. Surely in the 16 (?) games he has witnessed he knows what each player can contribute to his best 11? Losing CoD and Williams to injury is bad luck but every other team suffers this as well so not really an excuse

Why am i still hopeful Pearson will succeed, ie get us back to being the top half team we were three seasons ago? 3 reasons; 1)we havent yet seen how serious the problems facing Reading, Derby, Brum and others play out on the pitch; i think we will struggle much less than them. 2)Pearson has proven at Watford and Leicester he can blend or gel a team to be a winning team and i think he has good ingredients at AG right now, even though there is trading to be done in the next 2-3 weeks. 3) There is nothing wrong with a slow start as the cup has already gone and the only thing that really matters is the 46 game competition. Let's hope we can return to being a club that challenges for the top 6 and let's hope it is this season.

How many of Saturdays starting eleven has he seen in a city shirt last season at first hand:

• Bentley
• Vyner but not at RB
• Kalas
• O’Dowda briefly one start two subs
• Scott one start two subs also

He’s never seen:

• Atkinson
• James
• King
• Weimann
• Dasilva

Of the subs:

• never seen Williams
• has seen Palmer
• Bell one 16 min injury hit start and one sub

I’d imagine there’s an awful lot still to learn.

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, ashton_fan said:

LJ was 2 managers ago so can't blame him for problems now. The debt is mainly due to Covid and the lack of income last season, not the player trading under LJ where he brought a lot of money in through player sales. Admittedly the squad at the end of last season when NP took over was decimated by injuries but now most of those are available and with new additions and good showing from some of the young players the squad is looking decent, NP has no excuse to be delivering a position below mid table, we will wait and see what happens.

1 hour ago, BTRFTG said:

Just about wrong on every account.

The accounts covering the majority of the Covid period have YET to be published. They will be soon & they'll be catastrophic. They won't be Pearson's numbers & barely Holden's, they'll mostly be Johnson's.

Johnson may have gone, but the dross he signed & more importantly their liabilities tarried long after he'd left. Much remains. That's the problem, when one sacks a manager one doesn't have the option of sacking the dross he's accumulated.

But let's get down to brass tacks. During his tenure Johnson's operational losses rose to in excess of £30m a year. He didn't recoup anywhere near that in player sales. And from the ongoing annual £30m+ (excluding Covid impacts that will have rolled over last year,) nearly all exclusively salaries for the dross he signed, what was there to sell to offset any of it?

Johnson's legacy - in season 19/20 City's Wage Bill (that's wages alone, no other outgoing, not maintaining the stadium, paying the electric, putting on fixtures, buying kit, travelling to away fixtures et al) was 123% of Turnover.  Nearly a quarter more of ALL non transfer income went paying the dross he'd amassed.

So yes, we can blame Johnson until his reckless legacy hopefully runs out.

Ah, you bugger, beat me to it.  Here’s the accounts @ashton_fanfor the period of Ashton / Johnson.

Thank god we did sell some players!!!  Look at those spiralling costs

Holden was left with little to sell, and Ashton (and SL) chose to get value on the pitch….what a joke.

 

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, lukebcfc1989 said:

This debt accusation always thrown at Johnson, I’m not saying he didn’t outstay his welcome but let’s tell the story honestly, every penny he spent he raised through player development/ sales, cup runs and maintaining of Championship status..

His ultimate failure was his continuing the club’s policy of selling our best players year after year and being too careful IMO in too many big games…

You are making the mistake of purely looking at transfer fees.  The honesty is in the accounts I posted up above.    Overall in his time here he lost at least £27m…I’m letting him off 15/16 season because he only joined February.

9 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

So what we looking at 20/21 ? £40m plus loss ? 

Reckon £30m at least.  Although revenues down, certain costs will be down too, e.g. match day employees, event employees etc.

[Davefevs]

11 minutes ago, lukebcfc1989 said:

Flint 6 million 

Reid 10 million

Webster 20 million

Bryan 6 million

Elliason 2 million

Magnússon 2.5 million

Are you ignorant to these numbers? Or just ignoring them due to your clear distain of Lee Johnson 

Brownhill 9 million

For info, LJ paid out £59.35m in transfer fees in his time here….notwithstanding signing on fees, loan fees, agent fees etc.  Don’t forget on your player sales above, we had to pay out sell-ones to:

• Kodjia (Angers)
• Webster (Ipswich)
• Brownhill (Preston)
• Flint (Swindon)
• Pack (Cheltenham)
• etc

I don’t think anyone is really arguing he brought in money from player sales but that is only one part of the finances.

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, lukebcfc1989 said:

End of 19/20 and whole of 20/21 there were 0 crowds.

The money spent was earned based on the evidence he showed of being able to develop players and sell for a profit
Boring tactics and worried too much  about what the opposition we’re doing I will have about Johnson as a valid criticism 

But putting the club in debt False accusation 

We made a loss in every season he was here bar one, not a false accusation….SL has to turn the debt into equity every year.

Most clubs do make a loss but that doesn’t mean he didn’t create debt.

[Davefevs]

10 minutes ago, lukebcfc1989 said:

We we’re looking to push on in to the play offs each year and we have always spent when showing promise…

Johnson deserved backing and every penny he spent he had a case based on his record to suggest would ultimately turn in to a profit…

Dont forget also in Johnson’s era of management was during a time of big average attendances and higher revenues from the stadium. 

It is thinking like that, that got us into this mess….blasé recruit where every player would turn into a profit.

Just look at the figures…..revenues increase (correct), but costs increase at a much quicker rate.  You don’t need to tell me not to forget anything.  You have a bad habit of looking at only one side of the equation, the rosy side….you need to look at both.  I’ve laid it out for you above.  If you look at the pure football operation, costs have increased twice as quickly as revenues.  That’s a pretty worrying trend isn’t it?

Lets see what last season’s accounts bring….less so LJ’s responsibility, but he left that cost base for Holden and Ashton….Ashton made it worse.

Nige and Gould are in repair mode.

[alexukhc]

I feel like we are all hungover trying to run a marathon 

[BTRFTG]

46 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

It is thinking like that, that got us into this mess….blasé recruit where every player would turn into a profit.

Just look at the figures…..revenues increase (correct), but costs increase at a much quicker rate.  You don’t need to tell me not to forget anything.  You have a bad habit of looking at only one side of the equation, the rosy side….you need to look at both.  I’ve laid it out for you above.  If you look at the pure football operation, costs have increased twice as quickly as revenues.  That’s a pretty worrying trend isn’t it?

Lets see what last season’s accounts bring….less so LJ’s responsibility, but he left that cost base for Holden and Ashton….Ashton made it worse.

Nige and Gould are in repair mode.

I don't need to tell you Davefevs that either you get it (you clearly do) or you don't.

Perhaps we should ask lukebcfc1989 to publish his 'business cases' for each of the 67 signings made by Johnson? I'm not sure there's that much creative accountancy in the known universe to explain the majority of those.

I really hope when the accounts are published the auditors make it explicit - without Lansdown's extraordinary generosity City would likely be no more.

46 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

 

 

46 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

 

 

[Simon bristol]

2 hours ago, lukebcfc1989 said:

This debt accusation always thrown at Johnson, I’m not saying he didn’t outstay his welcome but let’s tell the story honestly, every penny he spent he raised through player development/ sales, cup runs and maintaining of Championship status..

His ultimate failure was his continuing the club’s policy of selling our best players year after year and being too careful IMO in too many big games…

Yes, and there was an owner who was sanctioning those signings and their salaries, it was mismanagement at all levels.

[Hampshire Red]

Dave Fevs; you seem to have thousands of Stats about previous managers. I started this post becuase of the current position; last few months of NP in charge, this pre-season and the first two competitive games. You and some others seem blinkered on blaming people who's only opportunity to correct you with facts and future preformance have moved on.

As a City fan please move on to the current manager, his ability to produce exciting or winning football (or preferably both) rather than harking back to the same old excuses!

Hope you get to see some great away wins as we witnessed in the past 3 seasons and can also enjoy some home wins too? Pearson has an awful lot to prove to City fans and he should start showing his credentials soon as he has not done anything visible and well yet

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, billywedlock said:

So we are very close to FFP failure too. Assuming wages last year were similar to 19/20 and depreciation similar , and with an estimated loss of £10m in revenue , our results are going to be brutal for FFP. I have not yet understood the covid treatment for FFP losses. When do we have file  our results ? 

Companies house will be Feb(ish) next year….accounting year end 31/5/21….think you get 9 months?

In terms of FFP, we will have already submitted projected accounts to 31/5/21 in March, so done already.  I suspect we have to report regularly whether they were a good projection or not.  If we are near the mark, then we will be under regular reporting anyway.

Personally I think we are fine for last season’s 3 year cycle, but this season’s accounts will be in a 3 year cycle where 18/19’s profit has dropped off.  That is what is driving prudence this summer….imho.

[ashton_fan]

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

We made a loss in every season he was here bar one, not a false accusation….SL has to turn the debt into equity every year.

Most clubs do make a loss but that doesn’t mean he didn’t create debt.

But this isn't unique to LJ, BCFC rarely get enough income to pay the wage bill let alone all the other costs associated with running the club. I'm sure if you looked at nearly all the seasons preceding 15/16 this would have been the case, although the wages would obviously have been less when we were in L1. Bristol City has been a loss-making venture ever since I've been supporting them and have relied on bail-outs by owners and board members, and of course in 1982 to all intents went bust. Under LJ we stayed within the limits of FFP which several other Championship clubs have failed to do, the losses have increased as Championship wages have gone up but we have to pay them if we want to compete at this level. 

[Davefevs]

36 minutes ago, ashton_fan said:

But this isn't unique to LJ, BCFC rarely get enough income to pay the wage bill let alone all the other costs associated with running the club. I'm sure if you looked at nearly all the seasons preceding 15/16 this would have been the case, although the wages would obviously have been less when we were in L1. Bristol City has been a loss-making venture ever since I've been supporting them and have relied on bail-outs by owners and board members, and of course in 1982 to all intents went bust. Under LJ we stayed within the limits of FFP which several other Championship clubs have failed to do, the losses have increased as Championship wages have gone up but we have to pay them if we want to compete at this level. 

SL won’t let us bust FFP.  That’s one thing.  We stayed within FFP whilst building a huge millstone around our neck, in wages and amortisation whilst other costs increased too.

You don’t have to push FFP to its limits to compete in this division.  You have to recruit better (and waste less), you have to coach better, etc.  You have to recruit to a plan, then coach that plan.  Barnsley got to the playoffs on a budget 40% of ours.  The likes of Preston, Millwall and Blackburn have all been competitive with budgets no higher than 60% of ours.  You don’t have to fall into the trap of Derby, Reading etc.  And I’ve not even mentioned Brentford, budgets a bit higher than the other 4 I mentioned but less than ours nonetheless.

As I type this Rasmus Ankersen is on Sky Sports talking about recruitment.

Ultimately we have been wasteful with our resources, we’ve been increasing gate revenues, increased commercial revenues, money from transfers, etc….but let it flow out the door quicker than its come in.  You don’t have to pay some of the wages we have paid out, you don’t have to pay the fees, signing on fees, agent fees, penalty clauses we have.  LJ, MA and SL take responsibility for that.

[Daniro]

Back to the OP, I've given Nige his first black mark since he took over.  Like many I was delighted with his appointment, the experience he brings and his commitment to a long term project.   I gave him the benefit of the doubt through all last season's misery.     Its clear he has a massive job on his hands as discussed on this thread above.

The black mark is for three reasons:

1.  He should have put a team out to win against FG.    They are minnows, we haven't had a win in ages.  Yes it was close etc etc,  but I'm sorry,  it's Forest flipping Green, guys.  Get it together.  

2.  Conceding injury time goals in both games is a mindset thing and you'd think he'd have got that through to the players by now.   Remember (I know it's a long time ago) how often we scored last minute in our promotion seasons?  If he's recruiting leaders and seasoned campaigners to build team spirit, where is the evidence of that in those two games?

3. His rude attitude to Gregor.  Yes Greggy asks some stupid, closed questions, but he's on our side and the principal we get to hear questions asked that we all have on our minds.  NP chatted amicably pre-season to the staff interviewer, and to 20p on radio,   so why not show some respect to Gregor?  

Just the one black mark for three offences,  and I'm still optimistic, but I'm watching you, Mr P.   Getting your ass down pitchside might concentrate the lads' minds too.