Bedred31

Think a City flag- possibly this one?- was in the picture of the cover of the official England Italia 90 video. At a time when most England fans carried the union flag and not the flag of St George. I was at Italia 90 and it all got nastier after this. Someone in the government claimed to see something offensive on a union flag and instructed the Italian authorities to confiscate anything dodgy. At the semi in Turin the lad in front of me got nicked for carrying a flag with ‘Proud Preston’ on it. You couldn’t argue with the Carabinari.

Manning’s Conway analysis spot on as far as I’m concerned. He’s got a decision to make and the smart move would be to commit to City. 

Tactical catastrophe for Tuchel. 

I would add that it’s obviously some- meaning a certain type of entitled -England fans that are the problem. For Croatia, the first game, only 20,000 allowed- basically the ESTC hard core. Strange but brilliant - sunny, had to be in hours before kick off, allowed to drink gallons of lager, but bouncing and good natured. Germany- 40,000- was one of the best games I’ve ever attended. Half empty but absolutely rocking- drinking but great atmosphere with the German fans. The wheels only began to fall off in the semis, when the gatecrashing brigade started to emerge.

I was at the final and it was grim. Among the memories to forget, walking/wading up Wembley way and the rubbish- cans, bottles- coming up to my calves and the unbelievable, overpowering cannabis cloud that shrouded our block for almost the entire match. Official report, which concluded that 2000 had got in without tickets, was a farce- it was at least ten times that.

5 hours ago, Southend Blue said:

I didn't start it, nothing to do with me.   I just like to talk about football and there's a name here relevant to both club sides that you can add further input to when the time arises.         It's been mentioned at length but once again to reiterate it seems Mark Ashton isn't quite the devil incarnate some would believe.      Some people don't like him, they hold the name in contempt and can see only evil and while can understand those philosophies it's fair to say he's been part of a new major success with us and an integral part of the resurgence since coming over and over the past 2 years.    I suppose he's been kept on a tighter rein at Portman Road, a whole different collection of people to work with or even to be kept in check.     I read only negative reviews when he came over and was sceptical about what we were letting ourselves in for, but fact remains he's proven a key figure in our ability to make it back or in us becoming a recognised club name once again.

So we're promoted, first time at top level since 2002.    Yes it's taken long enough and we've had to endure some pretty horrendous years and seasons and while the entire time spent away and years of decline can't be easily overlooked or never properly redeemed it's just a relief if not pleasing to know we're going to feature at the highest level once again.     Can we stay there or fall back at the first attempt, it's not so easy to answer but the infrastructure is now in place to really make a go of it but should McKenna leave any time soon and some of our most prized players choose to move on we could just as easily fall back into disrepair.       Back in 2000 we were promoted too albeit by way of the play-offs and then went on to finish 5th in the Premier League (a cup semi-final too for good measure) but can that happen this time around.    Somehow I think not.       All depends how we adjust to being a part of it once again for well over 20 years and keeping hold of the most valuable assets within the club set-up, McKenna included.  

Did it not seem a little odd/ uncomfortable to you and Ipswich fans in general that during yesterdays parade Ashton positioned himself right at the front of the lead bus next to McKenna? (I live in the East and local news has had wall to wall coverage). Is that really the behaviour of a normal CEO? I think the rest of the non- playing bigwigs were in the second bus. Many congrats to Ipswich incidentally- I’m old enough to have watched footy in the 70’s when Ipswich epitomised much of what was good about football.

One point Ashton made which was worth noting was that Ipswich had sold 60,000 replica shirts this season. Given our shops chronic inability to muster even basic stock levels, I’d be amazed if City had sold 6,000. I’d love to know the number? What about a shirt- sales Championship league table as a means of forcing improvement by embarrassment? 

3 hours ago, Mr Hankey said:

Wow……if that is your take from what he has done at Ipswich then thats mental. You seriously think Ipswich fans will be on here saying that we warned them despite back to back promotions to the Prem? 

Lansdown never got pissed off with him by the way, he chose to leave.

I hazard a guess that you are very much in the pro-Lansdown boat.

I don’t entirely buy the Ipswich rags to riches narrative. Ipswich have signed more than 50 players (obviously not including returning loanees) in the 2.5 years Ashton’s been there. Sure, many are cheap transfers, but they all involve contracts, wages and fees to agents. Pretty reminiscent of the uncontrolled, unnecessary incomings he masterminded under LJ, which left us in such poor shape after he left and which has restricted our dealings for these last few years. That’s before he gets his teeth into the premiership pot of gold. He was full of ‘process’ and ‘structure’ on the radio this morning, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ipswich now do a Forest. Ashton is basically the CEO equivalent of Harry Rednap- effective at what he does but what he does cannot exist without high volume transfer turnover. I’m not a disciple of SL but he’s not a commercial idiot. I wish we had a competent CEO but SL’s experience is evidently that it’s preferable to have no CEO than one like Ashton.

5 hours ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

Awoke this morning to the dulcet, Midlands drone of Mark Ashton trying not to crow on the Today programme sports news at 7.25, and my mind drifted back to the very same sports news (or was it the 8.25?) in May 2008, I remember listening to this as I came out of the shower, and it was either the morning after Palace and reaching Wembley, or just before the final, and our very own SL appearing on the BBC's flagship news and current affairs radio programme, my chest slightly puffing out with prowed - we're on the Today programme. Wow. I don't remember Les Kew on the Today programme, I thought to meself.

Now, of course, I note that Ipswich have their ceo not the owners doing these interviews, unlike Bristol City (maybe we didn't have a ceo in 2008, and Steve said: "Oh, ok: I'll do it this time if I have to, but just this once" ?)

Anyhow, Ashton said that they had decided to "attack the division" this season, and that sounded like Cotts to me summer 2015, trying to sign Andre Gray et al.

Ashton sounded like he'd been enjoying himself, and he didn't say "trust me" once. Hope Sir Steve was still fast asleep in Guernsey and not having his boiled egg with the radio on ....

Yes, I woke up to Swiss Tony on the Today programme- cracking start to a Bank Holiday. He also used phrases like “when we came in 2 1/2 - 3 years ago”- as if he was somehow synonymous with the new American owners. I think it was this kind of grandstanding that ultimately p. off SL , and while the consortium will undoubtedly think they picked the right man now, if and when this goes south- and it will- I predict Ipswich fans will be on here conceding that we did warn them.

11 hours ago, Phileas Fogg said:

The Lansdowns are the common denominator in our under achievement spanning many years

You could also argue that the Lansdowns are the common denominator in covering a £20m deficit season after season, while rebuilding the stadium and the academy and the training complex. Foreign consortiums , as a rule, don’t do that. But not having a proper CEO worries me. Rich boys are going to want to play with their toys. Having maturity and experience to counterbalance amateur tinkering ( Jon) and inexperience (Manning) is crucial. Otherwise we’re basically Clarkson’s Farm. 

One key factor is not having your best players cherrypicked by clubs higher up the food chain. Leicester did this because they had the money to fight off raiders. Ipswich did it because they had no stand out individuals that caught the eye of the bottom tier prem clubs. Our academy produces cracking players who we get to rely on  but who invariably leave after 18 months or so. As SL searches for his magic fluke formula, this club needs to be either more ballsy when Bournemouth call, or more anonymous, or spend every penny of sales money wisely, like Brentford. As the third option is v difficult to do, and our academy will keep churning out good young players, we’re going to have to grow a pair when other clubs come sniffing.

Championship was a tougher league this season. Last year, 45 points = safety and 69 points got you into the playoffs, meaning there was a 4-5 point + swing this year. Have a feeling it could be better still next season, so this close season is going to be v important.

Brilliant memories. And it’s easy for me to be nostalgic. But, to be honest, it’s pretty good today as well. That Portsmouth game was probably the clubs biggest game in 60+ years, but the attendance was about the same (just a bit more) as the the recent Leicester game. During our 4 year stay in the old Div 1 - and I attended virtually every home game- we sometimes got 30+ k attendances - and once 38k-  but the crowd was often 16-17 k. To be honest, pretty much everything about City is better today, although I’d love another shot at the top flight before I snuff it.

16 minutes ago, 22A said:

No, Joe got four.

2 headers, 2 one- on - ones.

Nice bloke- bought a house near us in Congresbury. Bumped into him at Euro 2004 and he claimed it was the happiest time of his career.

Fantastic- and credit to Manning’s substitutions in both games.

He set us up well and we played with spirit and intensity. And, crucially, he made good substitutions at the right time. And according to Sky we had more shots in the first half than in any other match this season. So, credit to Manning.

Pring outstanding so far - so he’ll be off to Bournemouth in the summer.

Defo pen- as the Sky pundit says ‘why would Tommy Conway go down there?’

9 minutes ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

Matty James`s 100th game for us today.

You mean it’s “Leicester legend” Matty  James 100th game for us today.

James, ironically, played 101 times for Leicester. 

Going to stick with Sky because I want to watch the match ( I’m away for Easter), but it’s going to be an ordeal. It’s Leicester and some other side - Ipswich has had more mentions so far than us. After all ‘it’s crunch time at lunchtime for Leicester City’. 

And I’ve never really understood how buying a 40% share = investment. Presumably the purchase money goes primarily to whoever previously owned the 40%. Instead, the idea seems to be that if someone gives you £100m, then ‘you’ automatically become £100m more valuable, whereupon 40% more shares are magically created to represent this increase in value and given to the outfit who gifted the £100m. Which looks suspiciously like a fairly basic form of financial support. This is not an anti- Ipswich rant, as many clubs seem to do it, not least our own SL. If there’s one lesson from this, it’s that money always follows success, and that if SL really wants to realise his investment and get his money out, then starving the squad and driving down towards League 1 may not be the best commercial strategy.

Tinnion’s outstanding at the academy. Like any employee who does a job very well, he invariably gets considered for other, higher roles. But he’s been very bad at the two he’s had over the years. I’m sure that there’s a management consultancy book out there called something like ‘Horses for Courses’ and SL really needs to read it.

Just now, BigTone said:

Are you having a bad reaction to your medication ?

I get that this doesn’t fit the current snowball narrative. And I’m on the record for stating my view that Manning has to go, irrespective of result today and ultimate league position this year. He’s simply the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong time. Otherwise, it’s facts. We’re not losing and may still win. Anyone who comes out with ‘the worst performance I’ve ever seen’ simply hasn’t been paying attention for the last 40 years.

To be fair, it’s 0-0. We’re not losing and  in the game. A horribly poor game, certainly, but I think we’re more likely to get the 3 points than Swansea. 

I’ve crossed the line re Manning- he’s got to go- but that shouldn’t hide the bigger issue, which is investment in the squad. If spending £1-3m per season on players is the model we’re now chained to, then relegation is pretty much certain, and probably sooner rather than later.