Fuber

2 hours ago, Jeez said:

None whatsoever - more a case of luck than judgement. 

I sense you’re too dug in to accept there were games where Pearson didn’t get it right.

If he always got it 'right' he wouldn't be managing at this level.

28 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

It would figure;

experience in the Championship working on a budget and no real danger of getting promoted. 
Go get him Stevie boy. 

Just pointing out that Rowetts net spend over the last 16months was £9m out the door and nothing back in.

19 minutes ago, Totterdown's Finest said:

Proven at this level, worked effectively with limited funds, out of contract, left Millwall from a position of reasonable strength and with reputation intact

If limited funds is £9m+ net spending out the door in the last 16 months, then sure...

16 minutes ago, Top Robin said:

Yes he had little money to spend but quality managers make even average teams look good.

I think he bought average players - I'd rather he'd bought 2 or 3 of quality than the 5 or 6 he did,  

He played players in the wrong positions, and often set up the team wrong.

Having said that he sorted out the  financial problems we had with he playing personnel.

Think the budget played a massive part in that. But agree to disagree.

Can agree he setup teams wrong on occasion - but nowhere near to the extent of LJ.

10 minutes ago, Top Robin said:

Bit longer than that. 

Pearson did much for us but was never going to get us up.

We'll never know. With the backing he got - no.

We were the lowest net-spending team outside of the parachute clubs for a reason.

In a word.

Yes.

Reminds me of Ipswich sacking McCarthy, except our board are trying to do it mid season with a much less experienced squad.

We desperately need a good appointment, and for them to hit the ground running; with a very depleted squad.

Eustace for me.

Brum were the most organised and well drilled side we've seen this season, and have gone off the rails under Wayne since.

Right Age. Good Coach. Free.

4 hours ago, richwwtk said:

Who or what on earth is Dog?

Am I right in thinking that the OP is suggesting that Bristol Sport are creating accounts purely to try and post positive things about the Lansdowns? OTIB has it's very own conspiracy theory!

I fully realise that on this forum SL is now the devil incarnate and Nige is almost reaching godlike status, but this forum consists of less than 10% of the fanbase, and the vocal people here probably less than 2-3%.

I don't think I have ever heard any City fan I speak to that isn't a user of this forum complain about the Lansdowns in a really serious manner and it certainly has not got worse recently. I will admit it's not a huge sample and very anecdotal, but it really doesn't feel to me like there is a groudswell of opinion against the current owners.

I havew to admit that SL is certainly not perfect, his managerial appointments are hit and miss and have certainly been headscratching at times, but I do not believe that he doesn't have the best interests of the club at heart. Having said that, he has the best interests of sport in Bristol as a whole at heart (fewers aside), and I see how the two can be perceived as not always being compatible,

People talk about the nest egg comment, it seems to me that it is a fairly sensible policy to have, and fully in keeping with the stated policy of making the club as sustainable as possible.

I will agree that the whole Bristol Sport model is very 'corporate' and has taken away the feeling of it being 100% 'our' club, this is an opinion I voiced fairly regularly on here when Bristol Sport was first mooted as a concept but I was pretty much ignored then. I have now come to accept that it is a necessary evil in order for us to compete at the level we are now at. And just think how much less personal it will become should we suddenly be owned by a large multinational corporation or another country's wealth fund!

For most fans, we are regularly competing at a higher level than at any time in our supporting lives, so it seems to me that even ignoring the ground and HPC SL would leave with a positive legacy should he disappear any time soon. The fact that people are unhappy with not being top 6 in the Championship should say everything, when most of our history has been spent bobbing around at the bottom of this division or top half of the one below.

Should it be that Nigel Pearson is the one to go, then so far as I can see he has done a decent job without being amazing - managers such as that come and go over the years and he wouldn't be the first person to depart a job because he doesn't get on with the boss.

 

You were not in the front carriages on the way back from 'diff then I assume?

Fairly light-hearted discussions all things considered, but one lad argued backing SL and got roundly hammered for said opinion.

Don't think you realise how much damage not backing Nige at all besides a loan after the Scott sale has damaged the average fans opinion on him. The average fan sees £23m pocketed and nothing reinvested and that's it.

The second point in bold is what myself, Fevs, and others who look at the finances thought would have been the case following the 'Pillars' plan talked about under Cotts back in 2015.

As Dawe stepped back and SL let MA/LJ have control and backed them to the hilt, where was the sustainability then?

If he and JL stepped back from the club, remained underwriters, and appointed an experienced Chairman on a longer terms and structured plan and actually stuck to it, I'd have a hell of a lot more respect for the both of them.

Namely because, as per point three in bold - his track record of appointments while holding Chairmanship (Tinnion, GJ, Millen, McInnes O'Driscoll, Holden, Pearson) is pretty tragic when you consider Cotts was a Dawe (13-18) appointment by all accounts.

....

And he's just sacked NP

I'm ******* done.

1 hour ago, Dredd said:

We watched a different game then because Knight was superb. Constantly pressing even in the last few minutes, moved the ball well, always asking for it. 
Andi was off the pace today. Offered Sykes nothing in front of him to the point where Sykes was visibly annoyed in the second half. 

He did in the second half more, no question.

Just too many times up to the 60th minute mark both him and TGH spent dallying on the ball at times. Pass, then no movement after.

Ironically thought the issue was in midfield. Knight and TGH both fairly poor today. Namely on the ball, not moving it quick enough.

We need a Scott replacement in Jan - just some kind of creative nous.

Bell and Weimann need to be dropped. 

Just too many lacking end product. If Cornicks chance goes across that line the perceptions changed.

10 minutes ago, Cidre Monita said:

If only we didn’t keep selling our best players. Imagine us with Scott and Semenyo in the team today…

Blame lies squarely with the owner. And yes I'm aware of FFP.

2 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

On the flipside though, if they go up..just McKenna or? Gamble paid off in spades then.

Yet to see them being truly tested with a string of tough away games in the North and Midlands in mid winter, multiple injuries etc.

Luck is part of the game. Could go against them or...

Happened to others (Hudds etc).

17 minutes ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

Mark Ashton like him or not has done a brilliant job. Their fans love him. Maybe Mark wasn’t the issue, again owner and Johnson spring to mind! 

All three were cumulatively responsible.

Ultimately - leads back to the owner.

As for comparing us with Ipswich, it's a similar situation to Luton. 

Let's wait and see Ipswich's accounts for this season. They lost £12m in 21/22 in League 1 with overall wage costs of £16.4m. God forbid what that'll be this season (and last) with barely any real material outgoings (11 in, 6 out; with over £4m net spent in fees)

McKenna is carrying that team - big time. They struck gold.

What'll be interesting is what happens when he gets poached, and future FFP if they miss out on promotion. I'd estimate 22/23 wages of £18m (up from £16.4m) and this season wages, with the (quite) expensive loans of Hutchinson, Scarlett, Williams, adding Taunzebe on a free? - with promotions clauses they're probably looking at around £24m per annum - wouldn't shock me.

It's same as when MA was with us - spiraling costs are fine as long as there is progress on the pitch, and people turn a blind eye until things go wrong. The key difference is that Ipswich have McKenna who has an all out attack style and he sticks to it.

Whereas we had a former player who was friends with the owner and thought he was Jose's better reincarnation.

12 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

If we would have only Vyner, Dickie , Atkinson as natural CBs this is inevitable. You need two right footed and two left footed genuine CBs I believe.

Should we read anything into the fact that these errors came about in Vyner's absence? Vyner-Naismith as a pair worked okay IMO. Not that I don't rate Dickie but different pairs have different characteristics etc.

Always thought the squad 3 light.

This. Essentially. I agree Pops.

Zak bailed Naismith out a couple of times with his pace - an example of where he couldn't was Cullen against us for Swansea's goal (he also jogged back for that one too).

Think Dickie and Zak will be the go to once the latter is fit. Atkinson back as cover also once fit until one of the two go out of form.

What I wouldn't mind is rotating Kal into midfield - he's good in a 50:50 and we lack a bit of steel at times. Ironically will credit Dickie today. Really tried pushing play up the pitch.

One player who hasn't impressed me off the bench so far since back is Andi. Would have bough Mehmeti on to give the latter a chance to make a point.

3 hours ago, Gazred said:

Thought we had a bit more energy about us when they came on. Personally i wouldn't of made 4 at the same time but i don't think that cost us the points today.

The points were lost after the slow restart after HT.

21 hours ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

When the ref left the field after Bellys goal, and it was obvious something had happened to stop play, an announcement was made over the PA and I honestly did not understand a word of it from the South Stand. It struck me then that if this had been an emergency of any sort, we would all be none the wiser. The club should be very concerned at this.

 

That was an announcement?

.... genuinely thought he'd left the mic unmuted and was talking to somebody on the side of the pitch.

50 minutes ago, spudski said:

When SL came out and said that he got involved in the Scott deal because of the amount of money involved, alarm bells rang for me. 

The guy would have been involved in big deals at Palace...so something felt ' off' when SL said what he did. 

 

It's odd, as PA messaging was basically that he worked on the deal, but he didn't really mention completing it.

Id speculate whether SL got involved, PA got annoyed - had planned out reinvestiture, but was overriden. Hence stepping down due to disagreements at the board level.

It's all very very strange.

2 hours ago, LondonBristolian said:

Whilst I’m more than happy to criticise Steve Lansdown where it is warranted — perhaps it is here - I’m going to play devil’s advocate here. Since Alexander joined, his profile has been pretty anonymous, we’ve had a disaster of a kit  launch, it has been pretty clear from Pearson’s interviews that he has been given confusing mixed messages about our transfer plans and the general sense of a steady ship we had under Richard Gould has given way to a sense we are lurching about without much of a strategy.

And yes - all of this could be due to Lansdown being passive, disinterested and a bit crap because he doesn’t want to own the club anymore but can’t find a buyer. But it could be that Alexander hasn’t been the right fit in terms of executing the club’s strategy and a parting of ways is actually the right thing to do…

Or PA disagreed and didn't want to be the fall guy. We may never know.

1 hour ago, Lrrr said:

It’s an impossible discussion to start with, as others have pointed out ours and everyone else’s financial positions were a lot different but also with Ashton around you can’t say with certainty which signings Lee wanted and which Ashton lumped him with whereas you can almost guarantee that every signing atm has Nige’s seal of approval. 

For the bold - I'm not certain.

He certainly directs the kind of player he wants, but as far as I'm aware NP has always kept a certain distance from the recruitment side of things. It's why he's bigger on the analytics, methodology, and management.

Theoretically - that's the whole reason Tinns is moving in the recruitment focused direction I'd have thought will Ghillespy as lead scout/analyst.

Some pre Tinns moving up signings (King, Simpson, James, Tanner) you can see his influence as early doors he was working without a scouting team that all left with MA as part of the latter's 'consultancy' and seemed to bring in people he felt he could trust. Others I can see Alexander's influence (Mehmeti). God knows whose idea Cornick was.

It's the reason why he had Walsh working with him at Hull/Leicester. The reason for Man Utd U21 poaching that went on appears to be Gordon McQueen, who worked alongside David Mills who is the current, and was under Nige, Head Scout at Leicester and Hull respectively that Walsh bought with him to both clubs following NP along with Shakespeare.

He's seemingly what LJ preached he was, but without the bluster and analogies.

8 hours ago, mozo said:

Worth clarifying that LJ didn't get us into the financial mess. The accounts weren't his responsibility. The owners and CEO take the flak for that.

Although LJs clubs in bag and tactical approach is as much to blame for the wage budget issue - SL refusing to stop the coffers for a 'friend'.

24 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

The Bloom v SL comparison is an interesting one and there are or were definitely some parallels. Up to a point.

Amex eemed to be built rather swiftly, worth remembering that we put in plans for Ashton Vale as far back as late 2007. Battled over it for 5, 6 years didn't we- not the club's fault. Had thst process gone smoothly we would have benefited from revenue far sooner than 2016-17 which was when it really started to kick in.

Council have done us few favours so that held up certain matters. On the pitch yes some questionable appointments for sure and odd rolling of the dice followed by austerity back again.

The council is literally killing the city - I actually feel for Rovers over the stand episode etc as it's stuff we've been through all over again.

They are a joke - simply put. That's not even mentioning the arena fiasco.

4 minutes ago, Redland said:

Yep. I can remember the fans singing “should have built a team and not a stand“.

...wasn't Dolman deposed before promotion? Circa 72-74 thereabouts?

He was Club President until his death I think thereafter.

3 hours ago, Stockwood gate said:

I wonder if Steve is fed up with the money he has given to Nigel who has wasted it on Rubbish players  and said that’s enough until the next bloke walks through the door next season 

His best mate Tinns is in charge of recruitment currently, so...

54 minutes ago, Wanderingred said:

I’d like to see new owners at BCFC.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to throw my toys out of the pram and demand SL sells up because we lost a second round Carling Cup tie.

Jesus H Christ…..

Think it's the fact that his record speaks for itself. Too emotional, too much nepotism, unable to detach the emotional element. Call it either Ego or whatever you wish.

He's not backed the one manager who has met most of the set targets given to him, who wasn't a nepotistic appointment. He deserves to be called out on it, especislly if we get nobody through the doors before the window shuts.

If NP walks, and say we get relegated due to the lack of squad strength and depth from selling Scott and Semenyo, SL's legacy can shove it.