BrizzleRed

You’ve clearly got a great handle of the finances of the club Pop and my feelings are more conjecture. I just suspect that with SL’s financial background, he’s stuck strictly to the financial directives, while many other owners have bent the rules to breaking point, to try and get an advantage. I certainly wouldn’t condemn SL for playing fair with the finances. What bugs me is, we get our financial house in order, then without warning, he slams the wallet shut, just when we have some genuine financial leeway to be able to invest. Awful timing and I just wish he’d level with us fans on his plans, as you really can’t read where the club are going atm and it certainly doesn’t feel like any investment is incoming, either from him, or externally Add dumb and dumber into the mix, there doesn’t feel like much cause for optimism …… unless for some bellend named Cole not Gas of course

I completely agree we’ve seen far worse in the past …… on the pitch. I honestly can’t remember such a half arsed, shambolic, amateur, unqualified bunch running the club before though. How SL can think this mob is what’s required to run a successful Championship club completely baffles me and I think this is the root of the problems at this club, not the head coach, though he doesn’t help matters!

But to be blunt, your opininion is based on a single early season start by Manning at Oxford, when many of the Oxford fans weren’t even convinced he’d keep it up. Why does that trump all the years of experience Nigel Pearson had in the game? I’ve put a question mark there, though past experience tells me you won’t be arsed to answer a question!!!

I’d certainly like to know if he’s going to be permenantly sat on that effing nest-egg. At least we’ll then know if the Championship is the upper end of his ambitions, then we can make our decisions accordingly. I just don’t want to hear any more bullshit about Premier League, if he intends to continue to tighten the purse strings. Just be honest and tell us where we stand ffs

Very true. It certainly had that end-of-season atmosphere about it and as you say, you can bet it would have been very different with something riding on it. I still think the club have a hell of a lot of work to do to try and get more of the fans back on board for the new season though.

I think you’ll find this is what you get when you disconnect with a large number of your fanbase. They don’t feel invested any more, so find it far easier to walk away if they’re watching dross. I reckon you can put a large amount of blame down t when we turned from fans into customers. If the product is shit, you can then walk away without conscience.

Just replace Thatchers Gold with Clarks Pies and away you go

Thanks, I didn’t know these meetings were online. I’ll certainly check out

I’ve made no secret that I’ve got little time for the Lansdown’s or Tinnion, especially after recent events. I well remember Tinnion commenting after getting the Manager post that he ‘knew what fans wanted and would be working towards that’, or words to that effect. With the current lack of involvement by the SLO, someone at the club needs to make the effort to show they actually want to engage with the fanbase, rather than treat us as outsiders and largely irrelevant. This would now be a chance for Tinnion to walk the walk and actually prove how well he really does know the fanbase and start bringing some very disconnected fans back on board. As you say, regarding the Atyeo, there could be issues with FA cup games, though we aren’t usually in that competition for long anyway! Potential safe standing at the back of the SS is another subject that should come into play, particularly with the changes around no more new ST’s being allowed in that stand. Potential to introduce some safe standing would also provide some justification for those ST changes. It would also help foster the home advantage and atmosphere. It would be nice to see these things now being treated with some importance, rather than some tentative meetings that could drag on for ages before any decisions are made.

Thanks Phantom and I was aware something was going on between the club and the SC&T. While the SC&T are obviously the representatives of the fanbase, it would really help fix some of the damage in the relationship between club and fans if there was a more general connect, rather than just through private meetings. Maybe it’s just my perception, but it often feels like fans are viewed as just an irritation, rather than an asset and intrinsic part of the club. The club are quick enough to put out stuff on FB, Twitter and email about buying ST’s, so it would be equally easy to engage with the general fanbase on even potential changes for the future and gauge the interest. It just creates a togetherness vibe, rather than them and us, which seems the case atm.

It's these kinds of details where our owner could start rebuilding some bridges with the disenfranchised members of our fanbase. As you say, it may be a marginal % gain for the team at home, but every little helps and it also has the added benefit of making our fanbase feel more valued. There's currently such an aloof attitude from SL that it feels like he hardly cares if we even turn up on a match day. I't would be great to feel everyone was pulling together for the cause at the club, whilst maximising the benefit of us being the home side. That can only be done from the top, but there appears little effort from the top to engage with the fanbase, other than trying to get us to cough up for another ST!

Got a massive amount of respect for the Rotherham fans for how they conducted themselves that day. We’re all aware of some fanbases who can be right knobheads, like the lot in north Bristol for example, but always look on Rotherham fondly since then.

Yeah in all fairness, we’ve had plenty of trouble getting results against lower placed teams, but we certainly gave them a tonking tonight. Still not sure if it was just Blackburn being unbelievably shit, but considering their precarious position and we had nothing to play for, we looked far more up for it than they did and we can’t ask for more than that really. Well pleased tonight and got a nice little run going now

Just wondering, are you naturally a pillock, or have you had really practice at it??

Blimey, that 1930’s shot makes the Gate look more like an out of town ground, with the lack of housing around it. Makes you think what could have been, if there had been a bit of money to buy up a little more of fhe surrounding land for potential future expansion. I guess most clubs have been in a similar position in the past though.

are you sure? Someone else was quite recently.

Absolutely crazy. If the owners saw that manager’s record as a failure, what the hell were they expecting from him to consider him successful??? That’s really taking madness to another level.

Particularly when you have a pitch invasion to celebrate reaching ‘safety’ and pushing your hosts into the relegation spots, only for them to leapfrog you the next week, after you’re beaten at home by a team wearing your spare kit. That’s a gift that will be savoured for ever, as I can’t see something so unbelievable and totally hilarious ever happening again! We should be forever thankful to the 15ers for that absolute gem.

Is it bollux ..... its relevant and is pointing out how history repeated itself over a 9 year period. That '14/15 season was absolutely brilliant and we had that same sort of momentum as we'd had under GJ in our Play-Off season, or more recently you could look at the likes of Ipswich this season. Shows the big difference when a manager is backed by the owner, compared to one who isn't. Shall I just also point out the sale of Alex Scott and not allowing it to be reinvested in the squad and instead, creating a very large nest-egg as another comparison?

I bet it didn't and I'd have paid good money to be there and witness that ..... and then shake Cotts's hand afterwards!

I went down to the Lloyds Amphitheatre where the team were appearing after the promotion. I couldn't believe it When Steve Lansdown got on the mic to speak to the fans, when he was spouting about our wonderful season, but somehow managed to avoid giving any credit or acknowledgement to Cotts for his part in it. I thought at the time it was really odd and classless how Cotts was blanked, and the events of the subsequent season showed Lansdown's actions were definitely no accident. It seemed pretty obvious Lansdown couldn't stand him and it seems to be a very similar situation with Nigel Pearson. Ironic how two of the most popular managers with fans for decades, were actually so thoroughly disliked by the owner.

If we’re playing poorly most of the time, we’re statistically far more likely to be “walking away after a match at Ashton Gate” having lost, rather than won. If we’re more often playing well, the win to defeat ratios are likely to be reversed, so in fhe longer term, better performances are likely going yield better results. One ugly win game taken in isolation doesn’t make a season, does it.

Oh, I’m right with you on everything you’ve said there. We’ve clearly got Manning for the forseeable, so although he’s saved himself with a couple of ugly wins lately, I’d like to see some performances that would at least hint at something better next season. As you say, giving someone a stuffing would be great but equally, if we aren’t up for it, I can see Rotherham nicking a win as a passing shot to the Championship, to just cap a really shit season!

But without the performance, that’s much less likely to happen. Scraping a few more points to finish the season is all very well. I think it’s even more important to be putting in some decent performances over the final matches. Surely that will give far more reasons for optimism for a more sustained improvement next season, than just points alone?

…… well, we’re certainly consistent, but unfortunately, it’s just consistently dull.