Dr Balls

My prediction? 1 point - a home draw against Sheff Wed and a loss at QPR. And even that might be optimistic. Fleming has a job on his hands to get the players up for thes fixtures given the circumstances, and it’s not like we have a first team squad that is fighting for starting places. Being able to stand on both legs without being in pain reduces the numbers available to about 12, let alone being able to run, pass or shoot…

Isn’t that similar to how all conspiracy theories work? It becomes self-fulfilling, by going round and round various platforms and outlets in a mad form of feedback loop? The reality is very few people really know what’s happening, and if it involves trying to second guess some of the people involved in any appointment, good luck on that one, because I’m not sure they really know what they are looking for, or how to find it!

FLBC? No thanks. Probably would go as well as the vanity appointment that is currently WRBC. By getting rid of someone doing a good job and replacing with a “name” leading to less of a “new manager bounce” rather than a dead weight thud!

Based on past appointments, my guess would be someone who hasn’t managed at this high a level before, so happy to be a head coach under a Director of Football who is a bit of an unknown in wider footballing circles, relatively young and inexperienced I.e. cheap to employ, plus finally has some previous link to the club, if possible. Based on those criteria, Luke Williams is the obvious choice. But we will see…

I blame the ECB for poaching Richard Gould. The set-up between him, Pearson and Tinnion was a far more equal and stable relationship. And the only one left is Tinman, who suddenly seems to have all of the power, mostly it seems by saying yes to whatever the owners want! As for who we get as Head Coach, it’s more a case of who I wouldn’t want rather than who I would. And given previous appointments by the Lansdowns (excepting Pearson), I would expect someone who hasn’t managed at this level before. SL remains burnt by the Coppell episode, the last time before Pearson he went for an established manager. (And I don’t include Cotterill because he was Dawe’s suggestion/choice.)

This goes to the very point of good management. Speak to those lowest in the organisation as such and find out what they really think. Don’t send them questionnaires that they won’t complete, actually get out there and talk to them, bond with them. In the case of a football club, it would include the players, particularly the young players. Imbue trust in people by getting them to feel part of what’s going on. Include all elements of the business - for City that includes both the men’s and women’s teams. The reality is that from all that we have heard through various routes this is what Nige was really good at doing. Hence why he was so well liked and respected by those working with and for him. But unfortunately for him, he was too good, too honest and ultimately too powerful for an ownership that is remote and not open to criticism. So the answer was “get rid”. And it’s why we are looking for a Head Coach again and not a manager. The owners don’t want anyone having that much power again as that would be a threat to their way of doing things. Which in the case of running a football club is doing it badly!

I think it’s fair to say that Nige has unfinished business at AG. But there would need to be a change of ownership and a clear out of those left (Tinnion etc) before any return could happen. On that basis, the first aim has to be a change of ownership.

Ironically the lyric “Same as it ever was” comes from the Talking Heads track “Once in a Lifetime” - which obviously also refers to how many times City will get promoted to the top flight! I also went to the Watershed on Thursday night to watch “Stop Making Sense” the film of a Talking Heads live show. Stopping making sense also fits perfectly with the owners’ decision on Pearson!

For someone in finance it’s incredibly naive to believe that you can make money out of football outside of the Premier League. Like the old joke goes: “How do you become a millionaire football club owner? Start as a billionaire!”

Gotta keep building SL’s “nest egg” - the one he’s keeping to himself!

£80 million in 3-4 years… Really makes you realise how much money we spaffed away under LJ and Ashton that caused much of the financial problems with their big fee, big wages policy. Leaving Nige to clear up their mess…

Yeah the particularly dim one that they try keep off camera!

And that exactly reflects the values of Nige and his coaching team that have permeated through the club. And then some know-nothing owner decides to sack them. Hopefully this good work might continue even though those behind it have been moved on.

Hopefully we have a good sell-on clause. And Semenyo took his goal well on Saturday. Another reminder of what we had only 12 months ago…

Talk about rubbing our noses in it!

More likely he’s been told not to go on. This is all about control by the owners and letting Tinnion answer questions even slightly candidly is not what they would want right now. Damage limitation supposedly but not coming out and talking to the fans directly might suggest they actually realise how unpopular this decision has been.

Just listened to this and couldn’t help thinking of out-of-touch executives not really having any idea of what is really going on and then not being able to handle it properly when they have someone speak up about problems, without reflecting on the last 24 hours at Ashton Gate. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001rq70 The sacking of Pearson is clearly a case of shooting the messenger rather than appreciating the importance of the message and reacting appropriately!

Thoroughly useless would be far closer to the truth. Wanted a “yes man” got a “yes man” and the results on the pitch spoke for themselves, as Holden was way out of his depth.

Guernsey I.e. planet out-of-touch! As for where JL should go? As far away as possible from any footballing matters to with BCFC.

Rowett would be a poor man’s version of Pearson. He certainly wouldn’t be the worst on any list being suggested, and might have been fine as a replacement for Holden, but anyone following Nige has huge shoes to fill and I don’t see anyone mentioned so far that makes we in anyway optimistic about who we will end up with, especially given the Lansdown anti-Midas touch when it comes to appointing managers and coaches.

The whole issue of the “Sporting Quarter” and the housing development being held up by ETM wanting SL to pay £1 million for a roof for their yard is clearly another frustration. My understanding was that the building of the “Sporting Quarter” was at least in part dependent financially on the building of the houses at Longmoor. Is the land at Longmoor and for the new arena etc part of the deal on offer to new owners as well? I guess it also doesn’t help SL that the property market is at its lowest ebb for a while as well!

Bristol Sport and the complex web of overlapping companies is a major headache for any potential new owner. The obvious sellable package is the Men’s football team, the Women’s football team, Ashton Gate Stadium and the HPC. That would be fairly attractive at a reasonable asking price. However, throw in a professional rugby club that is in the top tier but makes no money, in a sport that is financially up against it and seen 3 top tier teams go bust in the past 12 months, and plays at the same stadium, which as part of its Premiership Rugby contract has to have first dibs on the stadium in terms of when to play, and a relatively successful basketball team that plays at a further education college to a maximum of just 500 spectators and you can see the size of the problem, even before you have try to unravel all of the other joint ticketing, promotions etc. The model of a “sporting club” might well work at Barcelona and even in Germany, where this has developed organically out of local sports clubs, but that’s also because they are majority owned by their supporters not a single billionaire, who pulled these different sporting teams, which had little or nothing to do with each other, into one sprawling overarching entity.

In the past, it has been said that we have held on with managers far too long, when it’s clear that it isn’t working. If you just look at the results in the last few games, you could say we are on a bad run. However we have only lost 1-0 to the top 2 teams, who are currently running away with the division, plus we have a major injury crisis, and a wafer thin squad, now completely dependent on youngsters to fill the subs bench. The difference to previous sackings is that it would seem to have happened because the manager wanted the autonomy to run the football side of the business as he thought best, within the financial limitations set by the owners, but that the owners could not accept that and wanted to have more say in the running of the football side. Owners whose lack of understanding about the game has been evident on so many previous occasions versus an extremely experienced professional manager. We are still only 5 points off the playoffs and 9 points above the relegation zone, just over a quarter of the way through the season, so there was no need to panic and ditch the manager, so it’s a political decision rather than even a good business one. That this could easily backfire badly on the owners should be clear to everyone. Make the wrong appointment now (e.g. Birmingham appointing Rooney to replace Eustace immediately comes to mind) and things could go downhill very quickly, and we could see the same cycle that we saw in the early 2010s that resulted in relegation. I was optimistic that we could make some progress this season, even after the sale of Scott and no reinvestment, while Nige was in charge, but now even a mid-table finish would seem a good outcome from this completely unnecessary mess.

I have little confidence that any head coach we get will be an upgrade on NP. And given the current squad situation, our league position is likely to get worse rather than better in the short term at least, especially as I see little sign of their being a “new manager bounce” given the way that the players seem to feel about what has happened. This could get ugly for the owners, especially as even staying in this league isn’t guaranteed if you appoint the wrong person to lead the football side. That’s the bit that they have never seemed to understand. And as for the rumours of the board suggesting free agents to the manager, while selling the best player in the summer and then not allowing any of that same money to be used for new players, I think that would frustrate anybody. A relegation battle would anger fans, plus reduce the price any new owner is willing to pay, while relegation itself would completely undermine any plans the Lansdowns might have for selling up. Meddling from “above” by people who have no real understanding of how things actually work at the frontline rarely goes well in any occupation or profession. And it’s nearly always resented. Football is no different and only a “yes man” like Johnson would accept that. Which is why I wouldn’t put it past Jon Lansdown sounding him out for a return. Now that really would lead to a mutiny amongst the fan base!

Jeepers that subs bench is basically all u21s. No wonder we are struggling against other teams in this division, especially considering how teams now use their subs. (Football is going the way of rugby in that regard with South Africa being the acknowledged masters of bringing on half a new team in the second half, who are at least as good as those they replaced and fresh.) After sales of approximately £30 million in the past year, how did we end up in this situation? Yes there has been FFP, but the lack of investment and the number of injuries are already meaning that this going to be another long and difficult season. That the owner no longer seems interested is being reflected in what we are seeing on the pitch.