ray savino

I sometimes think he was the manager we should have had after Cotts. Maybe he’s past his sell by. I don’t think he is. But with the results and repetitive mistakes of course I still have doubts about him at times. I know he’s not everyones cup of tea, but I do think he knows the score with our club. We are where we are has become a bit of a go to quote from him and has understandably got a slating for saying this when we do badly. But trouble is he’s right. This club has become totally wasteful in recruitment since Cotts. Yes Webster, Brownhill, etc. but the replacements? The punts? Leaving total mess. Forest, Boro, different owners, different backing, different squads with different expectations and status as clubs. They have continued to back their managers with loans. Would SL have backed them with such loans. Not so sure with the mess we have undoubtedly been left with after CEO Ashton. Didn’t Cooper leave Swansea as he wasn’t going to get the backing to subtantially improve the squad? Not trying to defend NP as having any responsibility for the poor results, but where do we find a magician of a manager without taking a punt or paying an absolute fortune that will turn this around painlessly. Yes, I would expect our defending to be much better considering his playing experience. But I do think so does he. I get a distinct impression that he looks on in disbelief in some of the lack of courage, nous and concentration of some of our players. He knows there are a fair few with us that he thinks ain’t got what it takes, but he ain’t got the resources afforded to him as to others over the last 6 seasons. Wow and we were told about the careful research into a players DNA. Look, it’s pretty crap, there have been some good stuff. At least get behind the team to stay up this season. Then the summer activity or lack of will be very telling to the ambitions and situation of this club.

Absolutely, that’s why I think Massengo may be the most likely to go given alround the circumstances. Also it comes back to that old chestnut of recruitment. I f we felt that we had a fairly reliable record or model of good value recruitment over the last couple of years, (think Brentford, even Peterborough at a lower level), then I wouldn’t be so concerned. Unfortunately bar a couple of exceptional deals, we have wasted a lot of valuable cash on poorer replacements and one for the future/clubs in the bag punts, either perm or loan. Essentially my gut feeling is I think we will have to sell this summer in order for NP to get the sort of players he needs. What is crucial is that obviously we sell the players who will have less impact on NP’s overall plans for rebuild. Does that mean we fight tooth and nail to keep HNM or Semenyo, or do we feel we can afford getting rid of Bents, Kalas and replace them easier to the advantage overall of the team/squad. Or do we have plenty of potential/flair/strength in midfield (Scott, Williams, James, Benarous, Kadji, etc.). Or as you say, maybe Kelly, Webster, Brownhill may move with us receiving a nice sell on... and we get to move on high earners like Palmer and Wells? Blimey, decisions, decisions. Nice being manager behind a keyboard, not sure about in real life despite the money!

Yeh, my biggest fear. Just watching the Forest game. Not sure they’ll go up, but if they sell Johnson for a big fee in the summer then could see the likes of this type of club coming in with a cheeky bid again. Along with other ex Championship managers who go up this season or lower Prem who survive, they’ll be well aware of our young talent and are particularly a threat as often they’ll target such players who will be equipped to help challenge again or sell on if they get relegated from the top flight, yo-yo club strategy, etc. Let’s face it, this has been what’s happened the last few years. Far from going to the big name teams, where have they ended up? Bryan (Fulham), Reid (Cardiff, then Fulham), Webster (Brighton), Brownhill (Burnley). All the sort of teams that we would like to (or think we should emulate. At the least we have to get up to competing with the QPR’s, Blackburn’s and Forest’s of this world asap, or we’ll get picked off again and it’ll be pretty much back to square one. Wow, Forest just got a fourth! Look very good. Got to say, Cooper does look to be doing a good job. But would he have been supported with the likes of loans like Davis, the Danish bloke and even Spence (although on loan before Cooper arrived I think). As I was saying... I’ll be amazed if Massengo doesn’t go this summer to a decent Prem or European club. Where I did agree with Ian on the FBC Podcast was in his opinion that HNM is looking too good for us. Okay, makes mistakes, 1 assist no goals? But blimey for a 20 year old you can just see a bigger club thinking how he could fit in with better players around him. If we could end the season staying up with a few more performances like versus PNE, get rid of the last high earning deadwood and most importantly... keep Massengo, Scott, Semenyo, Pring, Benerous together on longer deals, we might have something to really build on. That would make me a lot more optimistic!

I think Ian should be our manager. When we play well he is always quick to point out he said weeks before how we should be playing and when we are crap he always knows what we are doing wrong. So it’s obvious, he is the answer to all our problems. Can’t anybody else see it?!! In Ian’s defence he’s passionate about City, frustrated like I imagine 90% of us are. My problem with the bloke in the podcast is that he just seems to disregard other peoples opinions and likes the sound of his own voice. This is where he lets himself down. He’s got some good points to make at times, obviously knows a bit of football, but his approach at times is so contradictory. I quite like people who are a bit opinionated and stir it up, either with a bit of humour or some real thinking behind their arguments, but at times he just comes over just a bit David Brent. Ha! Near the beginning of the season I was moaning to my son at a game after some atrocious play by City. Bloke in front told me to stop moaning and go home if I didn’t like it. Whereby I told him where to get off, etc, etc. On further reflection I laughed, realised I was moaning too much, and the other guy laughed because we both realised we are just both passionate about the club, now we chat at most games and generally can have a good constructive chat about the game. I still doff my cap at all those that do these podcasts who give their time and give most of us some good City related entertainment - even if I don’t agree with their opinions all the time. For me, I’d give a shout out to Rob (Ole on here?) who’s opinions I think always seems pretty well balanced, has a pretty dry sense of humour, can come out with some contentious stuff but can at least be a bit self deprecating when he’s wrong.

I posted earlier today, Would I have wanted Steve Cooper to take over instead. Maybe, particularly how Forest have progressed under him. But the club, the situation and squad of players he took over can’t be compared. Would he have coped with the constraints and demands of our board and owners? I’ve still to be totally won over by NP, but in the last month have seen the possibilities of what his ideal side could play like. Hmmm, on second thoughts maybe Ryan Lowe...? Ha, no let NP finish what he’s started. But fair play to Lowe, he seems to have an effect wherever he’s been and looks to be adapting well moving up the league levels. When his name was banded around for us, there seemed a good split of only “lower league proven” to “up and coming young coach” opinions on this forum. Will be interested to see how he develops, but certainly a decent start to hics Championship managerial career. Saturday should be interesting. Would love to see Nige have all his squad to be fully fit to pick from soon, think we could really give people a game if the team can all start to click and we continue to try to play as we have the last few games, minus the giant mistakes of course!.

Interesting taht this is taken from Pearson’s after match verdict: "It's our Achilles heel, it's causing us too many problems and you can practise it all you want, but unless players are prepared to stick their head on the block, that's where the problem is." NP was a pretty no nonsense centre half who played at the highest domestic level, also noting that his successful Leicester side contained such characters as Huth, Morgan, etc. who were uncompromising defenders putting their bodies on the line. Some might not like him or his tactics but he ain’t that daft. He can see potential in some, and can equally sniff out the ones that have got all comfy at this level for a few years. I actually think he would get shot (and will) of more in the coming year. End of the day he’s stuck because of financial situation and overvalued contracts with some. And that’s where the likes of O’Dowda, comes in. He has(had) potential attributes to be an effective player. He has some pace, technique but seems to lack real football nouse. Compare him to the likes of Scott, Massengo, Benarous, Williams who all at least display some moments of vision on the field. O’Dowda should have moved a couple of years ago for his sake let alone ours. His career has gone stale, and as such he seems to have massively lost confidence and bravery on the ball. To be fair to him as a bloke he comes across as a decent lad. I don’t think he isn’t trying, I do think his confidence is shot and he needs a new club to get his career going. What I also noticed towards the end of the game was when Williams had a little dig in the ribs of Mpanzu of Luton. We don’t want to see him sent off let alone injured, but I thought that was just that bit of nastiness that we lack in this team. He looks though he hates to lose and will scrap it out if it comes to it. We need a few more of those in the team to get us going in the future.

We played well. We played football. We had shape. We give other teams problems now. We still give ourselves problems. We still lack composure and confidence (particularly in our decision making) in both boxes. But it is getting better. I actually enjoyed some of the football we played last night and at times I thought we looked a far better footballing side than Luton. We gave Ashton and Johnson (a bright but inexperienced coach) 4+ years with pretty substantial resources. We gave Holden (a capable coach, totally inexperienced manager) 7+ months with less resources, but still a decent amount particularly in terms of loans. It failed. We made some money, we wasted a helluva lot more. This has ended up with the mess we’ve found ourselves in. So any signs of progress over the last month is a welcome sign for me. Is Pearson the right choice? Is he getting it right? The frustration for me is I wish he had the resources afforded to the previous regimes and we had him 6 years ago. There is a long way to go, but the City board have got to show courage now. We must secure the young players that have stepped up to the plate. Pearson must keep their feet on the ground if we give these players the rewards that may come their way to keep them here. He has to make sure their talents develop and come to fruition. The board have to give Pearson the resources to build around these players, even though we will have to be prudent in the amount of money. Pearson has to be targetted and clever in that recruitment. He has to have enough resource to bring in the type of characters to bring add more discipline and composure on the field. I get as angry and frustrated as any football fan. It goes with the territory of being a fan! But taking myself away from the emotion and tried looking objectively, we looked okay with real signs of potential. Considering the financial constraints and jumbled up squad mess we’ve ended up with after 6-7 years in the Championship shouldn’t be dismissed. Would I have wanted Steve Cooper to take over instead. Maybe, particularly how Forest have progressed under him. But the club, the situation and squad of players he took over can’t be compared. Would he have coped with the constraints and demands of our board and owners? I’ve still to be totally won over by NP, but in the last month have seen the possibilities of what his ideal side could play like. Richard Gould and NP have come in and are having to totally rebuild the bloated, demotivated mess that the club had become, in a finacially difficult Covid scenario. I’ve often said that NP may not be the manager that gets us to the promised land, but may be the man that clears up the crap and puts us on the right road. And after all this waffle, bottom line is I’ve actually enjoyed the last month or so - despite the results, because we’ve actually shown some passion and intent with some young players we can actually be proud of... and the atmosphere has been so much better at Ashton Gate for this.

If nothing else I’ve actually enjoyed the last few games because at last we’ve been more competitive, shown more energy and purpose. No doubt there will be some more poor performances to follow, but fingers crossed we may just be starting to lay the foundations for a brighter outlook. I do think the fans and atmosphere has been much better these last few games because I think we’re beginning to understand the position the club is in. Whether Nige is the man to see the transition out who knows. But I don’t think we should underestimate the job done if he manages to clear the decks of highly paid under performing players, bloods and develops young academy talent, changes the mentality of our players to be more hungry and accountable, and most importantly does this while keeping us in this division, laying the foundations for building the squad again - all with very little scope and money to do this quickly. Let’s face the facts however painful. I and many others on here have loved BCFC from an early age (to a pretty old one in my case!). Most of us know that once you have your club, you can’t just change it like that. Sadly BCFC have enjoyed a very mediocre history with very few high points, but like all football fans, we are prone to that hope that we will have success, even though we know that statistically that ambition doesn’t bode that well. However there is always that chance it works out and it makes the highs that much sweeter when they do happen. That’s what makes football what it is.

Nothing wrong with being critical, or realistic, but this guy Ian puts such a downer on games. Instead of being able to start of giving a nod to the obvious improvement, he’s always got address the negative stuff first. The realism bit is that we have been a basket case of a club with feeble leadership, wasteful recruitment policy and the stuff served up has been generally crap. However the last 3 performances have been pretty good and has shown what could be possible with a few decent signings with the right character, and most importantly building the confidence of this squad. So yes our crossing is often poor, we panic and lack confidence in our finishing, but there are signs that there is something to build on. We are only just beginning a build. In fact we’re still demolishing the crap left over this season while still trying to stay in this decision... oh and we’ve got no money. It’ll be next summer at least before we see the start of the build. I respect a lot of what Ian says on the podcast even if I disagree, all about opinions and all that, but sometimes he needs to allow himself to dish out some credit where it’s due first then get into the detail of what went wrong, but also what went right.

Can’t knock that. Played well. Gotta say just hope we can keep our young players together and developing because I think a lot of them look like they’ve got the mentality as well as ability.

Got to say fair play to all the people who spend their time to put together these podcasts as well as on OTIB as well. May not agree with everything but that’s what it’s all about - different opinions as well as shared views. For me they’ve become a regular listen each week and all have something different to contribute to our love/hate relationship with following BCFC. Also, I don’t underestimate the value and sense of community (in most cases!) they’ve provided during the pandemic/lockdown period in particular. Thanks to all concerned and I hope they continue.

Hmmm, imagine Gow, Hunter, Sweeney, Cheesley, Rodgers, etc. letting Austin get away with last night’s over the top shithousing display? No, I don’t think so. When I was a kid, I remember one Rodney Marsh for QPR at Ashton Gate getting stick from the crowd and giving it back, but had a smile on his face - both the crowd and Marshy seemed to love it and thrive on it. Yes it’s all part of the game, but some of the antics I’ve seen recently look like the acts of overgrown kids in the playground. Could understand the ex-Rovers lad for Luton, who was get pelters all game from our crowd, but last night was just weird from Austin. Was there history between us and him other than ex Swindon?

Xmas would not be the same without them. Nothing quite like the Robins and cheeses football.

Merry Xmas everybody!

I suppose it depends on the shape of the Xmas tree that Ian gets each year!

Anybody interested in trip down football cards memory lane this is worth taking a look. Hope the link works. http://cards.littleoak.com.au/index.html

Not long before Shoot was first published, a neighbour who was a newsagent gave me a publicity/promo copy sent out to retailers to get them to order. The cover (featuring Bobby Moore) and most of the contents, including Free League Ladder and Team Tabs, was the same as the first copy on sale. However what was interesting it also featured comic strips of which the one I remember was Billy’s Boots. Obviously the strips were dropped by the time it got to the shops and Billy’s Boots ended up in Tiger and Jag or another title I think. I also used to get Goal, and it was always excited when a City player was featured as a Colour poster page. Seem to remember John Galley in one, and Alan Skirton in Shoot. Did anyone else used to collect the colour shots and put them in those old hard back exercise books like a scrapbook. Found mine the other day. Remember seeing fans outside players entrance trying to get autographs holding these scrapbooks most games. Also Bubble Gum cards... those were days... jumpers for goalposts and all that.

Again, I’ve no inside knowledge and most of my views based purely on speculation and my own reading of the situation. But I would say you’ve got this spot on @Davefevs. Most of us do not like feeling we’ve been conned let alone publicly admitting it. I have found that this often seems the case with people in charge, are incredibly successful, etc. SL is human and yes is probably livid. His son is on the board as his eyes and ears, so he’s probably even more frustrated that the football operation turned into a ****ing shitshow. But as I posted yesterday, our Board of Directors on the football side needs expanding with intelligent, visionary, knowledgeable people who know the football industry. Also more representation on the Board would hopefully allow for different ideas and maybe have a voice to challenge decisions that have allowed the likes of Mark Ashton run amok within his role. I don’t advocate large Board membership for the sake of it, particularly if we had personnel who demonstrably made a plan which made the footballing side better. But we haven’t. SL has been fantastic at developing the physical infrastucture, buildings, facilities, etc. of the club - all with help and advice of people who know that side of the business. On the football side, much less so. Apart from the academy investment which is starting to show real signs of bearing fruit. Until we get Board members with the imagination and intelligence to build the football side I fear we will tred water as we have done during most of SL’s tenure. I actually feel SL is a decent owner and genuinely wants the club to succeed. But he needs to find a Board member with that football world know-how that he trusts to build and implement a realistic, but dynamic plan to get the club move in the right direction. He may have thought he had this with MA, and unless he is in denial about the outcomes of MA’s reign as CEO, he is understandably unsure about relinquishing power to someone again. This is why part of me hopes he can find the right investors to share some of the ownwership of the club, and most importantly have the vision and knowledge to give us a plan that can be followed throughout the club. At the end of the day, Football is the product of BCFC. We can artificially build it’s brand with smart logos, fashionwear, hospitaility packages and social media campaigns. These all help in todays world however much we may criticise them at times. But they will only truly work if we get our primary product right, because after all that’s what we really all go for and share with eachother as customers...sorry I mean fans!?

Keep saying it. He is ultimately accountable for this. He has presided over the recruitment of a structure and Board of Directors that has resulted in our position now. Until there is a sign of expanding the levels of football expertise and broadening the input towards decision making at that level, it would appear that we will get to the Premier promised land more through luck or the alignment of the planets than the apparent current ‘Plan’. I don’t dispute that SL has put in a huge amount of financial investment over the years, or that he has representation on the Board in the shape of his son, JL. Most fans are grateful that we have an improved stadium and the squad have modern training facilities. But SL should not be beyond criticism. There is a problem. He has not reached his ultimate goal, despite seeing clubs with lesser investment reach theirs or at least surpass ours. What is worse is that we appear to fail to build on any positive signs of momentum in our clubs playing history, frequently ending up going backwards and having to rebuild again and again. We are rebuilding now yet again. Except we haven’t really started properly yet as we’re still having to crash and sift out all the contracted deadwood in the squad. Whichever manager is in charge clearly was going to have to do this. My big fear is that the biggest reorganisation has to start at the top table with a crystal clear plan, recruitment of the correct people throughout the club to implement the plan. We may have some of those people in place... we may not. The evidence in front of our eyes says there is still a long way to go to convince and communicate to us that this board have that coherent effective plan. I just feel that our board have lacked the imagination and know how of the likes of Brentord, Swansea, Norwich and all the other obvious candidates that have surpassed us in terms of playing vision, success and style over he last few years.

Lets face it. If we stay up this season it will be a miracle the way we are playing. Actually we will stay up by the skin of our teeth because there are some slightly weaker teams than us. Again if we had all our better, more aggressive, disciplined players available, eg Williams, James, Baker, Tanner then we might fair better. Mentally we are so flakey. Our forward play is terrible. The amount of money wasted on the likes of Palmer and Wells in particular is a disgrace. For a player to not be aware when he broke forward is bad. Once can be a bad mistake, but he’s done this before and I think its pretty inexcusable. I’ll give him that service isnt great, hes shown the odd good finish, but compare him to the likes of Sharp, McGoldrick. They’re more aware, streetwise etc. We’ve got too many players that look technically good in training videos but come a match they look lost, lacking basic skills to read a situation. Thew manager? I think Pearson knows it. This is a shitshow of a playing squad. But I really don’t think he thought that things ran that deep. Must say I thought he would have done a Warnock by now and at least got us solid, organised but it aint happening bar the odd scraped result. I want him to succeed more now because I can’t for the life of me who would come in with the lack of resource available to do anything. We are where we are and quite frankly I don’t trust Steve Lansdown with any football recruitment decisions at this club.

Sheff Utd got better players than us no doubt. But they arent any great shakes. We can get back into this game if we try passing, stop hoofing the ball to the front 2 and look to pass and move. We need to be braver football wise. Cmon City lets at least get a draw from this.

W’ve got to have some energy second half, someone to occupy their back players and try holding the ball up. I get it. We are what we are at the minute, pretty dull, lack spark. But blimey are we crying out for some mobility and aggression up front. If you got to keep playing on the back foot all the time, you are going to crack most times.

Ball as ever keeps coming back. Nothing … and I mean absolutely nothing up front. Martin is a half decent last 20-30 minutes man. Weve got to get someone with good movement and pace up top. We give them nothing to think about except for the odd set play. When we do start to break further up the park everything stops at the last third and hey presto we’re on the back foot again. Our defence have blocked so many times in our box. We have no outlet and haven’t had all season.

I know I’ve referred to him in the past, but the Stuart Webber bloke at Norwich seemed pivotal in the building of success at Huddersfield and Norwich. Someone on here referred to the podcast (link below). https://play.acast.com/s/the-high-performance-podcast/stuartwebber-thevitalimportanceofpatience-preparationandplanning If you get a chance, very interesting and I feel seems very relevent to our type of club in comparison to those clubs he has taken a role at. The fear is that these type of positions can seem to attract the Mark Ashton type of bullshit, but equally if you do your background research and get a goodun in the club can be transformed for the better. It’s interesting that he managed to build a good and trusting working relationship with Delia and her husband despite his straight talking approach. My worry is whether SL can find the right advice to get the right football man in. Perhaps he should look to include the knowledge and networks of City fans and associates like Scudamore and Jordan to get some suitable names or contacts. Who knows, maybe SL has always been doing this anyway. Whatever the role entails in detail, it should be overall someone responsible for constructing, developing, agreeing with the rest of the board, the football direction/philosophy of the club. Once decided the whole recruitment philosophy for managers, coaches, staff and players should then be implemented to fit. Richard Gould looks over the entire operation of the football club, to see that commercial, budgets, performance are all on track. Unlike Ashton who appeared to be at the centre of everything. I think Nige has been doing a bit of this but I think that for continuity you need someone full time at board level. In fairness we seem to have made attempts at a plan at different times, but it seems to go only so far and chops and changes. After Ashton and several managers/directions, SL must feel very cautious about appointing anymore board members, understandably. But then a lot of this seems to have been of his own making. Come on SL, be bold, get a smart streetwise football person in the boardroom!

Been supporting since my dad took me down at beginning of 66-67 season. I suppose it’s become such an integral part of my existence and a bit like with a soundtrack to my life with various music touch points, I can do the same with City matches relating to key bits in my life. Sad or what? Well maybe not. Football, it’s only 22 people kicking a ball around a field, all a bit culturally low brow for some. Not to me, it represents memories with my mates, great times out bonding with my old man as I was growing up and passing that burden onto my son! Gotta say sharing that feeling of pride and joy in beating United with my son, years after the same feelings I had being alongside my dad the night we beat Portsmouth at the Gate for promotion in ‘76 are irreplaceable to me. I have wondered recently though, if it was time to feel a little less emotional about it all, years of dashed hopes gets a bit exhausting. Even if it gets to the time where I can’t be bothered or afford to renew my season card, I know that I’ve invested far too much of my time (and emotional well-being!!!) following the City to give up on them completely. It would be nice to just have at least one more chance to get to experience watching us in the top tier again. There I go again - setting up those hopes to be dashed again!