Richard Gould

[Rocky]

Very unimpressive interview as others have said. Did nothing to quell the concerns of the fan base. 

[DaveInSA]

I missed the first 5 minutes.

The most worrying thing he said was this:

"Of course, Steve and Jon are involved with the team"

TBH, I wouldn't want Steve and Jon anywhere near the team. Lock the doors of the HPC - quick!

[Top Robin]

16 minutes ago, Rob k said:

I don’t think NP will be back personally 

Yes..Gould was rather unsure when asked if he would be back and replied that we hope he will be back. That word takes the control away from them and makes Nige as the decision maker over all this.

I think the situation is ongoing and things are going on in the background that we are not party to.

 

[woodsyred]

Listening to that sounded very much like a white flag being raised and I would think relegation will be a certainty unless we get somebody else in to coach and organise

[Lorenzos Only Goal]

5 minutes ago, CodeRed said:

Just listened to Gould on RB, deeply unimpressive. On Nige - no real idea if or when he's coming back, just we hope yada yada. Pressed on January - we would like to bring in targets but has to be value etc , difficult window etc, translation = we ain't spending any money.
The whole 20 minute phone interview was unimpressive, lots of we'd like to's and we hope to's but no firm plans to change or do anything other than work hard and hope we turn the corner

He did rule out Shakespeare though. ( Presumably on cost)

So the plan for the season is hope Nige gets better and turns it around with the existing players..... That hasn't worked so far!

Overall - unimpressed with RG. Lansdown still making all the decisions. Jon CGAF. Nige out for the foreseeable. L1 beckons

I thought he said there had been no contact with Craig that was it. 

[Bris Red]

I didn’t catch the interview but bugger me it doesn’t sound good does it. Genuinely think we will go down this season - gut feeling im sorry to say.

[YorksRed]

I don’t think he could say any more than he did in respect to Nigel coming back and it’s wrong to be giving him a hard time about that.  
 

Nigel has always struck me as a proud man who sets himself high standard and is straightforward and honest in how he conducts himself.  It could well be the case that he does want to come back (there’s nothing I’ve seen indicating that he’s not up for it) but will only do so if he is well enough (or believes he will be well enough long term) to do so to meet those standards and be at the level that he wants to be in his own performance. 
 

He’s the only one that can make that decision.

[phantom]

12 minutes ago, SuperDziek said:

I didn’t catch when City/Gould approached Radio Brizzle - has it been mentioned? Just think developments have happened since it was agreed.

Was the opening line from GT

[Kingswood Robin]

4 minutes ago, woodsyred said:

Listening to that sounded very much like a white flag being raised and I would think relegation will be a certainty unless we get somebody else in to coach and organise

If we were looking for some hope, it didn't come from that interview.

[Northern Red]

6 minutes ago, woodsyred said:

Listening to that sounded very much like a white flag being raised and I would think relegation will be a certainty unless we get somebody else in to coach and organise

You had us getting relegated when we were 3rd at Christmas a couple of years ago though, so that's not exactly a startling revelation.

[The Bard]

I despair sometimes.  The man volunteered to go on that and fielded a load of questions a lot of which were disingenuous  a lot of which he couldn't say anything and a lot of which isn't his place to answer (eg where do we need to strengthen).

 

It's called leadership. Fronting up when times are tough.

 

Ashton would've hid.

[WessexPest]

This just gets worse and worse. We are in limbo, then - a rudderless ship heading straight for the League One rocks.

Gould inspires about as much confidence as a Soviet biplane.

[phantom]

2 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

You had us getting relegated when we were 3rd at Christmas a couple of years ago though, so that's not exactly a startling revelation.

That's a cracking memory you have 

[Dunc]

Given the current situation I'm not sure what people were expecting to hear that would make them happy. Unless the club is decisive and either says "we're moving on from Nige whatever the legal / cost implications", or "we're staying with him long term, whatever the coaching implications", it's sensible to be non-committal, see who else is available / how Nige's health holds up. Reading between the lines I think Nige is done and they're looking to sort an alternative to be announced over the next week or two.

[RedEd73]

34 minutes ago, Redrascal2 said:

How do you work that out. Lansdown has pulled the plug on financial support for new signings at City and the Bears. I reckon we will have to get on with what we have.

That's what Gould said. Can't see it personally without selling assets first

[Better Red]

Just listened back to the interview.

There is no way Nige is coming back.

I would suggest from his answers he is  hardly speaking to him.

How could he not have not got any of the answers if he has spoken to him.

He is reacting to questions rather than stating the situation and that can only come from no knowing the answers.

Give it 2 weeks and I think we will get an announcement that says - left by mutual consent.

New manager - another internal no doubt to the summer to save money.

 

[SuperDziek]

9 minutes ago, phantom said:

Was the opening line from GT

Yeah, I wondered when the club approached Radio Brizzle though. Would be surprised if it was done today, for example. But if it was lined up a few days ago, a lot has probably changed in that time putting Gould in a difficult position, particularly if discussions are ongoing about Pearson exiting the club. 

[marmite]

My take for what its worth. No point in Shakespeare if Nige isn't going to be able to continue. We cant approach anyone else in case Nige does continue.  So basically we haven't got a clue what to do. Who will do the January window if Nige is still unwell and uncertain about returning?  Can things get much worse?  Of course they can, and probably will.

[RedRock]

29 minutes ago, Dunc said:

That's how I read it. The emphatic no to Shakespeare strange given the obvious fit if you were planning around Nige staying. I assume they're planning for the alternative and looking at other candidates. Pity Wilder just went to Boro. I want Nige to continue (if he's fit and healthy enough to do so) but I wouldn't bet on it now

Yep.
 

That was the only unambiguous answer of the entire interview and was, for me at least, the give-away response.

If the Club wanted to improve the playing situation with Nigel Pearson as manager, give a message to players, staff and supporters that he’s here for the long haul it wouldn’t have been such an abrupt ‘no’.

I fear he’s gone. We’re just playing the compensation game now and buying time for our search for a replacement. 
 

Hope Nige recovers soon. He did his best to sort this soft load of s**te out but doomed to fail. Pity, I was looking forward to a team with at least some identity and passion. 
 

We really are a basket-case of a Club. 
 

 

 

[Roger Red Hat]

11 minutes ago, WessexPest said:

We are in limbo, then

I think you're right, and I thought Richard was a bit on the evasive side!

[REDOXO]

The only positive from the interview I took was that at least someone said something to a reporter from the inner circle

The rest was blah work harder, blah teams try and stop you, blah we need Nigel’s energy, blah, blah, blah!

what most of us were looking for was something a bit decisive….this is where we are, this is where we are going! But nope!

I am getting more and more of the opinion that SL is talking with one or more buyers for Bristol Sport as yet again this feels like a quiet period. Any word from any of the Lansdown’s could jeopardize further discussions. Thus throwing up someone with plausible deniability if the question was asked (it was not) was the best solution. 

[Lack of Action Man]

54 minutes ago, 054123 said:

This is such an accurate representation of that car crash of an interview

My take on it - Gould is a lot less nauseating and grating than MA, he pretty much used the same excuses/diversion techniques to evade the pressing question from 20pence (who, to his credit, did keep trying to press Gould for an answer on Nigel's "absence").

It seemed totally barmy to me that the only concrete answer Gould gave was to categorically rule out Craig Shakespeare, which seems like total madness given out current situation (unless we really are up shit creek without a 'financial' paddle).

Edited November 8, 2021 by OddBallJim
Further thoughts.

[woodsyred]

13 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

You had us getting relegated when we were 3rd at Christmas a couple of years ago though, so that's not exactly a startling revelation.

I wasn't far wrong then no game plan plenty of  hoofball and hope for the best certainly won't get us near the play offs if that was the aim as Mr Gould was saying if you've enjoyed watching us this season you can't like football

[Bedred31]

Have to admit the Shakespeare disavowal is a blow. My impression is that we would if we could but we’ve no money so we can’t. And if we can’t when our manager is kyboshed indefinitely, then that’s grim. Panic spending in January in a desperate bid to stay up seems unlikely. Which just leaves panic and desperation. Think the club is missing a trick here. If they came out clearly with a black and white home truths statement- unable to spend a penny more because of pandemic/FFP, existing personnel, fit, injured, unwell, absolutely the people to get us to next summer, no incoming etc, then 99% of the speculative crap on here would disappear. Think the fans would dig in, make a virtue of necessity, get with the Dunkirk/ Total War vibe, and actually start to value the challenge. 

[exAtyeoMax]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_bristol

[Roger Red Hat]

3 minutes ago, Bedred31 said:

Think the fans would dig in, make a virtue of necessity, get with the Dunkirk/ Total War vibe, and actually start to value the challenge. 

I don't think a lot would. You only need to have read this forum for a short while to see that. The only thing that would get the whole fan base on board is a season like the last promotion season.

[One Team]

The most concerning bit for me was the perception that we’ve good enough Championship quality players when we clearly don’t. 

 

[Red-Robbo]

Sounds like they are fiddling and fretting while Rome burns.

Still if Lansdown worries about how much money he loses on the club now, wait till he sees how many people attend matches and buy merchandise, when the club is in L1.

It sounds like the club admin are in deep denial about how deeply in decline the team is. How likely relegation is. 

Things cannot simply drift on because those in charge don't know what to do.

 

[Sturny]

2 minutes ago, One Team said:

The most concerning bit for me was the perception that we’ve good enough Championship quality players when we clearly don’t. 

 

Well if they believe that then surely they think NP is doing a poor job?

[Street red]

That was definitely a different Richard Gould to that one I watched being interviewed with Mike Atherton on sky sports before he became CEO.. A very uninspiring interview because right now the only ones that sound like they give a T**s is us fans what the hell is going on at city everything about the place is uninspiring.. The last 4 years of boring home games the lack of communications the lack of match day atmosphere and now we are down to this, Honestly I'm starting feel my passion for city is fading something has to give surely.