Jeez

An appointment like Ryan Mason would be interesting, pretty sure he's available & this would be a great opportunity for him to build his career away from the Spurs caretaker roles. Will no doubt have great contact & has been around some high-pedigree managers to have developed strong ideas.

This thread is going a bit OTT about Pearson. Nigel is a strong & vocal advocate of players earning their next contract and letting them run down to end of season. So it’s a bit hypocritical for him to get antsy & call out the club for doing the same. IMO Nigel should be managing up as well as down the club. If he could do that, this thread doesn’t exist. I like him & what he’s done for the club, but part of me does think that in principle maybe the club are right to see where we are at the end of the season. Anything sooner than that would be savage. Yes, I’m just as aware an anyone on here about the limitations & him not being backed and I too don’t have much faith in the clubs ability to source the next manager. Shame it’s coming to this as I would personally stick but I won’t be losing too much sleep either.

In answer to your question: it’s most likely LJ & Holden were imposed on Ashton.

I think Spike you may be closest to the truth. Not for one minute do I think his contract terms are linked to SL trying to sell the club. The money involved in a purchase would dwarf any compo & there needs be someone at the wheel. Pearson is taking us as far as he can, given the resources & naturally he wants to aim higher for the squad & fanbase. He’s telling the club what’s needed to progress but the club are intent on profitability & cashflow which is hard to align with guaranteed progression. There is so much Pearson brings to the table especially in terms of values & the work ethic he’s instilled. Could he get more out of the group? Debatable, but I think this might be where the disconnect is with the board. NP is popular with fans, hitting the financial brief, but I suspect SL is expecting more e.g Luton et al. So he’s a bit stuck when it comes to changing manager. I’m ok with a change of management next season if we’re clear on the direction of travel from the top of the club, however, the only real audible or visible leader at a senior level in the club is Nigel, so changing him becomes a huge risk as he’s driving culture more than the club. So if SL wants an easy life, surely a simple 2 year extension fill the brief & the silent board can continue to shuffle around in the shadows.

Just another stop on his journey - hate it all you want but they are where you need to be to sign players of his calibre.

Exactly, this season is far more enjoyable & in games last season. Quite happy to be a competitive force in this Div. Bit more consistency would good tho PL would be great but won’t get excited until we see some serious intent & direction from the club. Stopped buying the clubs PL shtick a while ago.

Apologies for being realistic. But what gives you the divine right to expect better? Its a loss making 2nd tier football stadium.

Or Merde in your part of the world, But for those of us who go to every game, the match day experience is pretty good for a 2nd tier club. On the pitch we’ve troubled the PL playoffs a grand total of once I think a bit of perspective is required No doubt we have potential but so does almost every other club in our Div too

Whilst it would be a fantastic moment to win promotion, I just want to see the club being a competitive force week in week out. Sounds odd, but as we’ve haven’t troubled the playoffs since 2008 there’s not much basis that it’s going to happen anytime soon. Until we start seeing the consistency required for a promotion run, I wouldn’t even think about it.

Some people have short memories We’ve come a long way over the past 10+years especially for a largely unprofitable & unsuccessful club, getting worked up about a few faults sounds a bit entitled. It is only when the Premier League money comes rolling in can you expect the glossy faultless experience.

When you read the article its clear the main reason is the extra 35m per year more form Addidas. we’d play in Adidas bin bags for that sort of cash

Nil - Nil until we score in stoppage time to nick the win. Queue absolute scenes

I get the impression PA didn't handle the AS sale well or in the manner, SL wanted it to be done or extract the maximum value. Hence SL making a point of getting involved in the deal. The board was intent on cashing in on AS before the season ended & we ended up in a situation where we got a fair bit less than the highly publicized price tag. Remember Ashton for all his faults was seen to be good at selling players & better at putting the spin of getting the best price. Might explain the sudden change of direction.

Was right in front of us, he hooked his leg round & got ball 1st.

Could barely hear our singing section today. We need to start singing the classics, get more participation. keep the red flag flying high drink up there cider etc

Enjoyed that, city dominating for long periods without getting in front. Feel we can compete with anyone when we ply like we have lately. Naismith - take a bow! That last minute tackle was superb, right in front of us. If he doesn’t make that they score as their player was in on goal.

Credit where it’s due. 1st 2 shirts are naff but.. Picked up new away shirt today for the lad, (young teen) he absolutely loves it. Have to say it does look decent, quality wise it seems alright TBF, time will tell but 1st impressions are good. O’neill’s brand while not glamorous is growing on us, the stadium branding looked cool on the boards today.

Stick them all in the upper Lansdown

TBF they do, our kids always go to the bar and get pints of water & staff are always cool about it.

A face even his mum would love to punch

Oh now I completely see why it took so long to get the away strip ready, must have been a nightmare to design especially the shorts

Pointless exercise really as their respective budgets & clubs financial positions at the time are incomparable

Maybe, just maybe. Pearson has already declared his desire to leave/retire/take a break at the end of the season, wouldn’t be unheard of. In which case you could argue SL might be wise keep the purse closed.

Last night - It was all so predictably, very Bristol City. We’re just so achingly Meh & for sometime. Having beaten the FFP constraints, got rid of the dead wood then also sold 2 bright young talents for 30-35 Mill our club decides more austerity is required and treading water is the best you can hope for. Not sure where it can go from here TBH. Is the plan to become a Championship Academy? developing & feeding young players to the football market?

Kev - What things will be in place by the end of this season that will mean we can have a right go next season?