NickJ

Applications please to: crayonboy@bcfc.co.uk Strong minded individuals likely to be overwhelmingly popular, with an opinion and half a brain need not apply.

"Chairman" Jon Lansdown: “We all wanted Nigel to achieve our ambition to be promoted but, with our recent results, feel that now is the time to make a change to give the club the best possible chance of success.” What a cretin. Four days previous we were one win away from top 6. The only thing that could placate me would be if Crayon Boy ate humble pie, held out an olive branch, and asked Cotts back. To stand half a chance Crayon Boy would probably have to get down on his hands and knees and apologise for how Cotts was treated a million times, but you never know. And when the "Chairman" eventually sacks Cotts again, he can do the same with Nige. Starting with "trust me on Tinns" for 20 years its been one major **** up after another, apart from the lucky appointment of Gary Johnson (on our door step at the time) and Cotts (when it was Dawe's turn to have a go, apparently).

Well you probably did do the first bit mate

I wont be holding my breath, given that in August one of your 16 contributions was: I'm glad we agree then that Spurs are finished as a top team

However you spin it, one of the richest blokes in the UK has been out performed over the years by Bournemouth, Wigan, Burnley, Brighton, Luton etc etc. Appalling appointments - of managers, chairmen, and other senior personnel- are the reason for that. Micro analysis of one summers player transfers is not really the issue that needs addressing.

Yes, some embarrassing replies. Personally I took my time to jusge him and quickly realised how good he was. Took a lot longer to judge NP, but came to the same conclusion. Quickly realised SOD's man management was useless, obvious Holden wasnt up to it, and took 3 seconds to take the piss out of the appointment of LJ. I wonder what they all think of each other.

The OP on this one was being ironic: Majority against his appointment, majority got it wrong.

"Why bring more players in who are no better than what you’ve already got". "We had a loan physio when I first came here, what’s one of them, what’s that all about? I’ve never heard of one of those!" Quite. Whereas some managers like "more clubs in the bag".

You make very valid points for a change!! Can't see it either.

Couldn't agree more with both of those posts.

I reserved judgment on NP for a long time, until the beginning of this year when I got what he is trying to do and could see that he is doing it, and is an extremely good judge of footballers. I particularly liked his criticism of the ridiculous "buy young players to make them better and sell them at a profit policy", and his observation that he could be sacked but it wouldnt make any difference because the process would remain the same. Nevertheless, all this criticism of Lansdown stalling on giving NP a new contract - for all we know there could be a grand master plan. I'm hoping he's in talks with Cotts.

Thanks and yes agree. Based on that interview, really like him. Especially liked the comment nobody will out work or out fight us. That was evident today. I sometimes despair of modern football and modern footballers, people like him rekindle my love of football and City. And lastly signing players like that, shows what a great judge of character NP is.

Not too bad where I am, just watched some of the Bham WBA highlights

Quite a trek from Bucharest. Nice town though, flew in from Odessa and spent a couple of nights a few years ago, before heading north where it’s like going back in time a 100 years.

Thanks for the heads up NTTDS. Im in East Africa, didn’t occur to me I’d be able to watch City, having carried out some research there’s a bar stool with my name on it at 5pm (2 hours ahead of UK).

Exactly and my point has always been what benefit is a rich owner in Division 2 to a moderately rich owner in Division 2, a lot of people look at the stadium but I’ve said it before and will say it again, around 20 Years ago BCFC had planning permission to build a 12,000 seater stand wrapped around the East End and Williams, at a cost go the club a fraction of what has subsequently been spent, half funded by the Football Trust, and the stadium would have still been owned by the fans. Always struggled to see what there was not to like about that.

I grew up late 60’s, 70’s, until 1984 never saw City in anything other than the top 2 divisions, never division 3.

Way I see it, 2 extreme ownership models. One is owned by the fans, which in my view is how it should be, but slack controls over FPP means that doesn’t work. So all football clubs have migrated to option 2, owned by a rich person or persons. You would think that rich persons are clever people and hence are the best people to run a “business”. But it’s illuminating how often that isn’t the case. With all respect to Steve, you would think that had he really wanted to, and had the ability to, the 20th richest person in the country could have steamrollered us into the Prem. He hasn’t, hence my comment, doesn’t really matter who owns us, it will just be a roll of the dice.

Not that much different to the current ownership then mate, the club and the stadium is no longer owned by the fans who baled the club out all those years ago, apart from investing in bricks and mortar to increase the property value, we haven’t really improved that much on the playing side, so I don’t think we should be too bothered who owns the club

Yes cold windy rainy night, Hull City, one bounce and straight over Jeff Wealands (I think) and history I think Cash was only the 4th goalie ever to score in a league game

With respect, there isn't a subjective definition of vitriol. It means what the English language says it means. I say he is a blagger, that is my opinion, and again I would ask what word you suggest I use which conveys the same message which isn't (in your opinion) vitriolic. It seems to me that the LJ defenders have themselves descended to sledging of posters who have expressed perfectly reasonable non vitriolic criticisms.

As I pointed out to @Leveller a few posts up, there appears to be a misundertanding of the word vitriol. A few people seem to have taken criticism of any kind as vitriol. Your posts are not vitriolic, neither are mine, nor are the vast majority on here, as defined by the word vitriol. Saying he's a crap manager or was a crap player, is not vitriol. To suggest he benefitted at Bristol City from nepotism (player) and mysterious favourtism (manager) is not vitriol. There would need to be an element of gratuitous malice. Words such as blagger, fraud, charatan, inept, incompetent - for those who have tried to say otherwise, they are not malicious and therefore they are not vitriolic. What is obvious from this thread and others I have seen on Sunderland and Hibs (I do, as clearly do many others on this thread, take an unexplainably perverse interest in his career) is that the vast majority of commentators think he is a crap manager for all sorts of reasons, and he is widely ridiculed. I'd say that many on here defending him do so from a sense of perceived unjustice, which is very laudable, but I could list a page or more of examples why he is ridiculed, and I really do not understand how anyone who isn't really taken very seriously can hope to succeeed in management of any type.

Well, let's start with one I have used, blagger. It's my opinion. What word would you suggest that conveys the same message but isn't (in your opinion) vitriolic?

Vitriol would include abusive or malicious language. Words such as blagger, charlatan, inept, incompetent, aren’t vitriolic they are simple assessments and/or opinions.

Saw that inteview, Wilbs was careful what he said but plainly thought LJ was not someone he could take seriously. I've heard, and heard of, other players take the piss also. He's a blagger and doesn't in general command respect as a football manager, because he is is the reincarnation of David Brent. Blamed losing 3 league games at Hibernian to inferior opposition on "fixture congestion", caused by a "European run" which involved beating a team from Andorra and another from a small Swiss town. There are 2 teams in Scotland "bigger" than Hibs, and 2 others more less the same, and yet he managed to lose more games than he won during around 50 games in Scotland, despite being given, by their standards (where have we heard this before), a transfer budget which far exceeded previous managers. Measured by win ratio, his most successful period as a manager was at Sunderland - where with the resources of that club in division three Mike Bassett would have got them promotion. And yet Sunderland sacked him while they were in the play-off positions. Why? It came immediately after a 6-0 defeat, but there was more to it than that. Wherever he goes, he's an unusually divisive figure, but judging by what I've read, mainly disliked and/or ridiculed. How can somebody possibly be a successful manager under those circumstances? If Fleetwood are mad enough to gve him the job, they will probably be relegated, or he will be sacked before that happens. I'd like to say that will then be the end of it, but he will pop up again at somewhere like Newmarket having bamboozled some unfortunate non league chairman, still convinced he's a future England manager in waiting.