Fuber

Cornick can play anywhere across the front three, is fairly quick, and from all accounts a hard worker.

All it takes is Sykes or Sykes getting a knock and he's starting. Same with Mehmeti if Bell gets a knock. You then have Weim

It's, for me, about options. Cornick may not be as clinical as Andi (who for me before his injury struggled slightly), but he's very similar to Baldock albeit not quite as fast - but then better aerially. Baldock also used to be awful at 1v1s, then got a bit of confidence and started bagging them.

Compare that with CM - one position, no versatility, lack of mobility. Add that to the way we play and a lack of depth, and it's a very straight forward signing.

He's one of those players, ala Skuse and Cisse, where you notice when he's not there.

He's disciplined, knows the game well, cuts off passing lanes, and plays the simple passes - not as expansive as Naismith - but mentally mu h more switched on and less prone to errors,

Every team needs that 7/10 man in midfield, in the Cotts side it was Korey  - and we missed having one under LJ when Korey was out and Pack was sold.

Fact of the matter is, if you have a deep lying midfielder in a three, and the opposition struggle to play through you and fail to score, but more importantly only have one shot on target?

8/10. Every time.

Are there any Academy players that could make the step up as cover?

I.e. Omar Taylor-Clarke, or Jamie Knight-Lebel?

44 minutes ago, SecretSam said:

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Kalas offered a reduced terms deal, based on games played, rather like Bakes was

Nope. Not taking another risk with injuries again imo.

Wells I could understand due to his availability.

19 hours ago, ashton_fan said:

I'm sure SL approved of the transfer policy and you can't ignore the money from the Webster transfer just because it kills your argument!

It doesn't kill my argument - it supports it and is quite literally my main point.

SL gets equal blame along with Jon, MA, and LJ, I've never stated I don't include SL as accountable as I thought that was a given - I'm very critical of his role in all this as well as his general running of the club.
The buck stops with LJ, for me, simply due to the fact the latter can simply have said he no longer needed players, if he was being overridden in his role of manager then he should have resigned - it's quite literally that straight forward if he has/had any integrity on the assumption that was the situation. So for my view of LJ, and this is purely my opinion not fact - he loses face for myself in either situation.

My point is that we were reliant on just one or two transfers - but we were relying on keeping that up. Before Semenyo's emergence the last twelve months and Pearson blooding the like of Vyner, Scott, Pring, and others, we were in the proverbial shitter.

With regards to a chairman whose message was - 'sustainability' - from the outside in, I view it as utter incompetence and stupidity when contrasting that with the club accounts.

For example, we would of needed net transfers profit of £10m per annum to keep anywhere near FFP guidelines, never mind being self-sustaining under the strategy.  Demand from outside can not be managed or assumed - ergo its a high exposure risk that should not have been undertaken in that setting.

You must reinvest wisely and not blow huge fees out for that system to work, including wages, to emulate the likes of Brentford which is what we in effect needed to do, between academy players, free agents', loans, and a good scouting network getting value for money where possible.

The fact that the previous scouting setup was loyal to MA and not the club, speaks greater volumes than anything else. There was nothing sustainable about that period, so no quarter should be given for such.

SL is bankrolling his own ****-ups currently, appointing both MA and LJ, and we're in the climax of the storm in terms of weathering the impact of it.

18 hours ago, REDOXO said:

To be fair it was coined by GJ! LJ hijacked it!

Of course spending at these levels would have had to been approved by SL or someone working on his behalf (Jon). 
 

However what gets me is where was a CFO amongst all this. It seems SL and his minions would back Ashton and Johnson at any cost. Quite literally! 
 

 

Doubt there was one, Nepotism at its finest with zero checks in place to balance actions from the top.

3 hours ago, ashton_fan said:

We weren't over the FFP limit at the time or we'd at least have been threatened with a penalty, your 'simple' figure is meaningless - I don't think our turnover has ever covered wages while we've been in the Championship we've always relied on SL to cover our losses.

We were if it wasn't for the inflated Webster fees - literally the only reason, we're currently only under it now thanks to NP and Gould.

If LJ/MA had kept wages around the 16/17 margin of £20-21m mark, we would have had a wages to turnover ratio of circa 80% and would have been partially sustainable.

Only reason why it never happened under early LJ and the Cotts era was due to the stadium revamp capping turnover up to £12-14m, which we were allowed allowances for.

If you apply a wage cap of £23m, i e. Up to a 10% increase, between 17-19 would have been sustainable.

Not bloating that to £33mpa - which even the likes of Tomlin and Szmodics etc contribute towards as irrespective of breaking even on the transfer fees we still had to pay their wages.

The sheer turnover of playing staff was stupidity. Irrespective of it being LJ or MAs responsibility. LJ doesn't help himself when he himself coined the clubs in bag tagline.

It was an idiotic strategy that if not for SL would have had us in utter financial peril. Ergo it was never sustainable.

2 hours ago, ashton_fan said:

I'm sure the wage levels of the players signed was nothing to do with LJ, Ashton would have negotiated wage levels. Also the players we signed would have been identified by the recruitment team. Although there were more losers than winners some of the winners were extremely big ones. LJ had his faults but can't be blamed for everything, the main reason we're in a financial mess is because of COVID before that we were well within the FFP levels.

No we were not. As fees received were never guaranteed.

On a simple turnover versus playing wages comparison, we were over.

4 minutes ago, Dolman_Stand said:

We only spent 45m because it had been generated on player sales which LJ would argue was down to players improving under his coaching methods.This circle of argument in both direction will never be squared off

The spending wasn't the problem - the wage spending exacerbated by the bloated squad was, still is, and remains the issue.

Fact of the matter is we're in the hole now entirely due to LJs clubs in bags approach, for every good deal - Brownhill, Webster; there is countless others that didn't work, Engvall, Djuric, Adelakun, Szmodics, Eisa, Hegeler, Marinovic, Rodri, Kent, Giefer, Palmer among others.

20 hours ago, Pezo said:

Could someone argue that LJ has had our highest finish in the last 15 years so even if it was nepotism it was relatively successful?

Only at the backing of £45m in transfer fees and 110% increase in wages.

By comparison. Cotts only spent £3m the one window he had.

And the former only worked thanks to fees we received for Kodjia, among others.

On 06/01/2023 at 20:22, italian dave said:

And 7th a month before his departure. 

I'd readily accept that these things are all relative for Bristol City! But for 2-3 years we were talked about nationally as candidates for promotion/play offs and not as candidates for relegation. For us, that was a place we hadn't been in for decades and haven't been since.

Look, I'm not trying to argue that he was some kind of coaching genius! Just that he did a decent enough job here, gave us some good times, doesn't deserve the abuse that he still gets from some, and just maybe wasn't the principal reason behind all the financial/recruitment decisions that were taken at the time. 

That's where this started! And I'd still maintain that the reason for his sacking was. what was happening on the pitch/league position and not the state of our finances - which, at the time incidentally, were massively impacted by covid anyway.

Just as a bit of an aside - I sometimes wonder whether Brentford (who had a similar, but more focused and more successful strategy to us) got promoted just in time, and we timed it just about as badly as we could have done in the context of covid.

Anybody could see the wage spending was becoming comical.

If LJ didn't, then that's on him.

He had dverything he could need at his disposal, he was just a very poor manager. No squad building ability, no singular style of play, no man management, no common sense.

He's a decent coach. But that was it. Should never have been our manager.

If we had someone like McCarthy or Pearson in charge over that same period (16-19), we would have at least a couple play off finishes. They'd have streamlined the squad, told Ashton to bugger off, and had a backbone, and at least have a set tactic.

10 hours ago, Carey 6 said:

Kitson certainly didn't like him.

Watched a couple of Undr the Cosh interviews with Clarke Carlisle & Wilbs - they absolutely loved him. 

By all accounts, my cousin is a Reading fan (poor bastard).

In his own words, "Dave Kitson is a c**k".

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

In terms of the financial impact, and your scenario the fee would be £13m and go into this season’s accounts / P&L.  Staged payments make no difference as the rules currently stand.  If Bournemouth stay up (and assuming terms are pay up as soon as PL season over), we’d bank another £1m into this season’s accounts.

That is of course under the existing FFP rules….might be different from next season.  There is stuff being mooted that you’d release the transfer profit into you income as and when you receive it, so in your scenario we might want to stagger it.

Hope that makes sense?

How desperate can a club be?  Talk about throwing him in at the deep end without any time to get to know his teammates, system etc…that would put me off in the first place, ie do I want to go to a club that’s as ill-prepared as this?

How many players put in a transfer request these days?

City, Agent and Player should (maybe they have, maybe they haven’t) and discussed the kind of fee that’s in the right ball-park.  If they have all been mature about it and Agent speaks to Bournemouth and they try it in, we’ll that’s gonna be turned out, and a waste of everyone’s time.

 

Does make sense and was the reason for the my suggestion. Thought it may have already been changed to such and missed it. Make more sense now I think about with regards to Kelly's fee and the impact on our FFP outlook when that's outside frame of reference for the calculation.

Was not, however, aware of the first point under current rules.

1 minute ago, Big C said:

Bournemouth bought Lloyd Kelly for 13 million. Do we value Semenyo more or less than that?

Depends how we take into account the impact of Covid on championship players values in the context of the exposure championship clubs suffered in the same period, while considering strikers tend to be worth more.

If I was in City's position, I'd look at spread fees which would be more of a help longer term with FFP. So something akin to £8m up front plus £5m across the next 32 months, with further £1m if Bournemouth avoid relegation from EPL otherwise appearance based clauses, and a standard 10-20% sell-on-profit.

1 hour ago, IAmNick said:

I agree with your post in general, but I'm not sure about this. Lee should have been well aware of the squad dynamics, personalities, and the effect of adding more people to a stable (or unstable) group. As well as considering how they'd train or how he'd address and utilise them as the group gets larger and larger.

For someone apparently so well read/experienced it'd be surprising if he really accepted any player into the group, even if they were good. When I've managed teams in the past at times I've actively protected a smaller group from being disrupted with additions, even by someone as or more skilled than some individual members due to the affect it'd have on them as a team.

Not sure I agree with this Nick.

I think LJs view was very much "I know how to setup to counter X team", he even coined the clubs in bag terminology. Then considering how his reign ended, I've also not known another manager having so many rumours of dressing room unrest during their time in charge.

I actually think LJ distances himself too much from the squad - especially how he wouldn't even explain decisions to players per the Fielding interview.

Eventually - that's what got him sacked.

7 minutes ago, SecretSam said:

Flint and Pack were signed by SOD, for absolute buttons. They were established players by the time Cotts took over.

Joe and Bobby both had first team experience. And Bobby had done very little.

Rose tinted specs. 

Correct - I should have amended that all were established under Cotts, not signed by him. Error on my part.

Both Freeman and Ayling were signed by Cotts, and sold by LJ for Peanuts or let go for free, and improved once correctly utilised by other clubs at our level - at the time.

3 hours ago, Rob k said:

Fairly sure the owners 29 year old son is in charge of recruiting players at Hibs!! God knows what credentials he has for that role, when will clubs (ours included) start to look at this area as where they are failing rather than the manager all the time. 
easy to slag LJ off here but he had to sell every single one of his best players off. 

That's the remit of every manager at this level - parachute payments aside.

Most of his best players that he sold, he didn't even sign.

Flint, Pack, Kodjia, Bryan, and Reid all had come through or were signed under Cotts.

He gets credit for improving them - as I said he's a decent coach. But his weakness is squad building and man-management. Which are vital in this league.

Only of the players signed under his reign sold at a profit I believe we're Brownhill who he knew from Barnsley, and Webster.

2 hours ago, ProfitInMyPocket said:

He's looking for a Knockaert type player and I see similarities between him and Khadra, could see him playing off two strikers or as one of two behind a striker for sure. We'd have to invest in more wide players and change the whole formation if he wanted to play him as a winger.

Ripped us to pieces at our place for Blackburn I seem to remember, absolutely rapid and not afraid to dribble past someone, something we really lack.

Wasn't he subbed off first half for Dolan?

Then the latter ripped us apart. May be miss-remembering.

14 hours ago, Shuffle said:

Agent trying to protect his client and gravy train. 

It's an odd one.

Agent fees mostly come from bonuses rather than retainer, so its oddly the opposite. Just strange as it's not something you usually see.

Is it possible that Nige just wants to see the project through, and after a turbulent time with Covid last season, maybe the agent - who may have a good rapport with Nige, just wants to him to succeed?

Alternatively, Nige was debating retirement after this job iirc, so maybe simply wants to keepretainer fee on his books.

3 hours ago, Lrrr said:

Famara was actually pretty poor to play more direct into given his size, struggled to bring balls down and link consistently, he was also poor got working as a pair of forwards usually doing his own thing rather than being able to work as a unit, the amount of times I remember seeing Weimann angry that he hadn’t pressed properly. As for the defensive set pieces I think it says more about the rest of the squad if no one was able to do it, given when I’ve looked at other teams and seen ones with a player whose around 5’9 and does it excellently.

Agreed, square peg round hole. Didn't suite the system.

But that was also down to the manager not really having a system in the first place. Not sure you can blame the player for that.

Fammy was never a pressing forward, and he was very inconsistent when the ball was played into him, agreed.

However, there's a reason Wells' is having to play that role and not TC in the current setup. Conway is a poacher, his actual link up play, in my opinion, isn't as good as Fammy, in my opinion. He can get bullied and disappear too easily from games - there's a reason he went through a spell 7-8 games in when he started getting hooked as he became a bystander.

He is, however, as per my previous point, young and inexperienced, which isn't a problem as long as he's able to adapt and learn.

As for the bit in bold, sure - but what what was said teams squad composition like? We, as a comparison, are horrific in that metric with regards to aerial duels overall - and that comes down to recruitment, which as has been discussed, is where Pearson's hands are tied to just free agents and academy graduates.

Not disbuting that Conway is arguably the better player. But as a squad, I know who on paper would be more useful in our situation.

8 minutes ago, Rob k said:

I’ve seen nothing from Williams to suggest he’s anything more than an average L1 player, I’ve been very disappointed.

That group of players are now about to get their 3rd manager the sack - when does the realisation set in that even though they are highly paid they just ain’t good enough or got the right attitude that NP alludes too 

Agreed. Althought I'd temper that and say, I dedinateky think with regards to Williams, injuries have likely had an impact, same with DaSilva.

Ashton appointing Rolls was one of the most damaging actions the former undertook imo.

No coincidence that Hamstring injuries are appearing at Ipswich.

6 hours ago, Lrrr said:

Conway in 22/23 - 239 mins per league goal

Diedhiou 17/18 - 180 mins per league goal

Diedhiou 18/19 - 245 mins per league goal

Diedhiou 19/20 - 241 mins per league goal

Diedhiou 20/21 - 261 mins per league goal 

I don't think Famara added that much in his all round gameplay either, so one season where Famara has a better mins per league goal record. I don't think you can say Famara would walk into this team ahead of Conway given Conway has relatively little exposure to the league and will still be getting better.

In pure goalscoring terms, sure.

And as much as I can't believe I'm saying this, Fammy was a weapon when it came to defending his own box.

The latter was also great for us in enabling us to mix play. He was stronger than Tommy and better aerially, which meant you could more easily play it into him from deep, and not as slow as Martin, so you could still play it into the channel.

For the above reasons, for me, with our current imbalance with regards to height, and weakness to set pieces, I'd have Fammy back in pretty sharpish. Enabling the likes of Bell to go out on loan.

42 minutes ago, Mendip City said:

Exactly and he was going to work with the coaches he inherited…. Until he didn’t like them and got his own in. He already has his people here…. Or will he sack one of Euell or Fleming to bring in the latest “his man”? 

We still have less coaches in the current team than what LJ had at any point. Former had two assistants. No reason not to have more than 2 coaches.

26 minutes ago, Harry said:

Correct. My mistake. They were sold summer 20 window, pre-Pearson. 
Even so, the point still stands. This squad is better than the one Johnson left. 

It ain't. For me, anyway.

Should NP be doing better, yep.

However, comparing squads - I'd be shocked anyone can look at them and say our squad now is stronger.

Johnson had numerous experienced professionals and way more depth, too much even. Now we have none, and NP has bled more academy players in the past 12 months than LJ did in 36. At the time Lee was sacked, he'd won once in 11.

Yes, the likes of Scott, Conway, are likely better than Paterson and others. But they are not, nor should they be expected - to be as consistent, as we saw Boxing Day.

The likes of Maenpaa, Diedhiou, Benkovic, even Pedro Pereira - walk into this team. Over the likes of Bentley, Conway, Vyner, Tanner, etc.

They were also then on double the likes of Atkinson's current wages now.

Ultimately, the only point that matters is the lack of available investment in the playing squad, and no matter how its framed, that rests squarely with the Lansdowns ownership of the club.

2 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

Wagner has left Young Boys.  I'm not sure if that's a bit of sports news or just gossip. 

His record has been atrocious his last few clubs.