BigAl&Toby

And mine. If only to moan about you know who…. Thing is: Was it down due to money? How many members are there who pay? What does it cost to run? £5 though is nothing. Cost of a Haze on match day. Or a pie. And less than one of those Mexican wrap things Toby wanted after having had a lunch at The Cottage on Saturday. **** me dad. They’re £7. I’m not that hungry…. ?

Highlight of the game. Need more of this sort of thing from more of them!

I’d agree. I’m not his biggest fan but he wasn’t half bad today. If he did that every game and was consistent I might start to like him ? Still thinking though that Lansdown likes anything more than he likes BCFC mind! ?

If that’s what I said that’s not what I meant. Mr L hedged his bets with Ashton Vale. If he got consent for a stadium then that would have been ok. He’d then have redeveloped Ashton Gate. The real value though was in getting resi consent on Ashton Vale. That’s what he really wanted. Never mind a consent to develop a sporting and entertainment complex. The value in that land was always resi. And guess what? He’s got it. Hook, line and sinker. He tried “his best” to make us proud. But guess what? He’s got his cash cow in BS3 and he’s milking her teats. He’s also got his resi consent on Ashton Vale. Who says he can’t have his cake and eat it? But we’re ok. And eternally grateful. Aren’t we?

Sorry. Couldn’t respond earlier. Bargain Hunt was on. No evidence that I’m sharing with you. How about good old common sense? Ever asked yourself why if he’s as successful as he clearly is in other aspects of his life he’s made such a mess of this part? Or perhaps he hasn’t. Perhaps his plan is coming together quite nicely. And which bit aren’t you clear about? The structure of Pula and BCFC? The fact that Steve is the beneficial owner? The fact that he’s put his money in and secured with a debenture? You keep living your dream. If you like what you’re seeing week in week out then carry on. Meanwhile Steve, Maggie and Jon will appreciate your support. Keep the faith.

Far more eloquent, balanced and reasoned than anything I’ve ever said about the Clan. I take no pleasure from having said it before or repeating myself now but the Lansdowns have only ever had one motivation for investing in Bristol Sport. Nothing to do with making us proud - who’s feeling proud today? Nothing to do with the club that we’ve all supported all our lives. Nothing to do with sport whatsoever. All the lot of them have ever wanted is to make more money. At the club’s and our expense. Where once we had a real interest in our club, and our club had assets, we now have no interest. The club has no tangible assets. And it’s saddled with debt that is nicely secured by the man who provided it. Nice. Many will talk about FFP. Or Covid. Or a nice new stadium. Or a superb training venue. Yet we are where we are. We win at home and dance around to Madness as if we’ve won the ******* Champions League. Then it’s back to earth with a bump. I wish that men with money kept their money and kept well away from football - whether that’s the old Great Mills Western League or the EFL. It never ends well and sadly spoils the memories. We’ll win nothing under Lansdown. Why? Because he doesn’t want it like you and me. He’s comfortable in the knowledge that his investment is secure and that he won’t be losing. Every day that goes by Project Ashton Vale makes certain of that…..

The blind still lead the blind…. Lansdown never wanted to relocate to Ashton Vale. Twas a smokescreen to get what he really wanted. His cake and the crumbs after he’d devoured it…. Ashton Vale was only ever wanted for it’s true development potential. Houses. Not a sports stadium. And bugger me he got them both. The cash cow keeps mooing as Steve’s hands are massaging it’s teats. Meanwhile we’ve got a footballing feast to look forward to on Saturday…….

All great points - ta! I’m a cynical bugger at times. Not always! My view for what it’s worth is if my mortgage lender had terms that they knew I couldn’t meet then I’d be worried! That’s the sort of thing that Martin Lewis or those black leathered motorbike riding buffoons would have a field day over. Fixed and floating charges are great things. Gives the lender ultimate control in so many sets of circumstances and breaches of covenant. Now I’m not suggesting that Steve had such a covenant built in to his for one moment, but it wouldn’t surprise me. And of course as the ultimate beneficiary of the charge he’d also have the power to appoint. Not for one moment I’d guess he’d do that…… I suspect that the great and the good of the Merchant Venturers and the professionals within the Bristol legal and accountancy communities will have made sure that Good Old Steve won’t be losing his shirt anytime soon! ?

Oh yes! What do you fancy? Wooden seats from The Williams? An old turnstile with BDR on the castings? Our favourite though? Umbro home and away shirts from the only glory times I fear I’ll see in my lifetime!

I’m beginning to fear that a Promotion Ale isn’t something we’ll be having a tipple from in my lifetime. At least not an ale that celebrates promotion to the top tier…….. Then again times have changed. Courages have gone. I long remember walking to work across Castle Green in the morning and the smell of the brewery. What is it now? Real estate. And across the way in BS3 there are parallels. What was once the home of BCFC is now the same. Real estate and a cash cow for the developer. Forget any meaningful football being produced. Go there now to have a pizza. Or a frothy coffee. Or buy stuff - in the club shop you can even get basketball merchandise now. Or how about a conference? Or see some crooners on a world tour? But football? Sadly you’ll be hard pressed to see much of that. What a desperately sad state of affairs. The most passion I’ve seen recently was when we managed a win at home. **** me. I thought we’d won the Champions League. One Step Beyond anyone?

I think The Constant Rabbit has explained the detail behind a possible buyer now, and given the reasons for it. Whatever Lansdown’s reasons for investing so heavily in BCFC they haven’t worked in a footballing sense. I believe that in that footballing sense we are worse off now than when he became involved. Some will say we’re in a similar position now to what we were then. For me it’s the disappointment that comes from lost opportunity. We’ve had some great moments in recent years but they were only fleeting. Then was the time to develop and progress. What did we do? Stagnate and sell off those players who’d got us there. You know as well as I do why Lansdown has set up multi layered companies and moved assets and income streams between them. Nothing unusual or illegal about that I’m sure but it does mean that where once BCFC was simply a football club it’s now simply a small part of a much larger entity. Many on here have questioned my feelings towards Lansdown but I fear that league performance and where we generally are today are the results of the seeds that Lansdown has sown. Ask yourself this. How can anyone who has been so successful in other parts of his life get things so badly wrong? Unless of course he hasn’t. Whatever he’s done or not done he’s made sure he’s always had the security in place to come out ok. Security in the form of a charge over valuable assets or in the form of an extremely valuable resi building consent. And how futile it now seems. Buying shares to keep the Cock Robin tweeting. And who put paid to that and is now holding those shares? Steve. If something doesn’t happen soon the Cock Robbin won’t just be dead. He’ll be well and truly buried.

Nope. Sad. This is only going one way. And it’s been going that way for years. Many years…..

I’ll tell ee who. The ****** with the bow and arrow. The shit show continues. I know who I’d like to see pack his bags……

Update. Never mind the Flying Fox. Or if the players give a flying ****. Here’s a collage made by an artist I’m Frome. Was fink of e?

Who remembers this beauty. Moored opposite the Mardyke in the early 70s. I do. Just. Long before it was moved and the name passed to a freehold site not far from the hallowed turf that Steve owns. **** me. How I long for those innocent days. Long hot summers. Raleigh Choppers. Walls Icecream from the corner shop that came wrapped in cardboard. The Flying Fox. Wouldn’t surprise me if she’s now had a refit, been renamed Maggie L and is used as a gin palace off a tax haven island close to France. And it might even be that the Rear Admiral also owns the freehold site next to Pattersons too….. Thing is it is apt. I suspect many of the squad won’t be giving a flying **** this morning. They’ll probably be just waking up. In a plush flat in Portishead. They’ll be pulling on their tracksuit pants and sliding their oh so precious feet into their sliders. They’ll probably then have a latte from their ever so expensive coffee machine that sits on their granite work top. Then those perfectly pedicured tools of their trade will carry them effortlessly across to their Juliet balcony where they’ll lovingly gaze down at their black Range Rover or AMG and plan their day. Do they give a flying ****? Somehow I doubt it.

I reckon Steve will do what Steve does. Try and keep us all happy. Tainton Stand anyone. After Mark and Trevor? There Steve. Skin saved. You can reward me on the other side. ?

Thing is why would the owner agree to that? That’s the last thing he’ll want. External audits only happen if business owners want them or financiers insist on them. In this case they amount to the same thing. And as we know external auditors can be “influenced”. I doubt there’s an audit firm on the planet - let alone in Bristol (Merchant Venturers anyone) who’d want to expose the Lansdown Shower of Shit. Sadly.

Bollocks back! Who’s the ****** who appointed him. Or Holden. Or Johnson. Or Ashton. Or anyone else? How many years and the ****** still keeps making “mistakes” and has absolutely no ******* clue about how to run a football club. Then again perhaps that’s always been the plan……..

It’s not Pearson that’s the problem. It’s the shower if shit he’s inherited. We need a magician along the lines of Paul Daniels or the Great Soprendo to turn this lot into anything close to resembling a coherent footballing team. I worry about Pearson’s mental health. His demeanour when interviewed and the way in which he responds to questions seems, at times, to becoming increasingly bizarre - even contrary. I fear another Coppell situation here. And why would that be? Maybe, and just maybe, he feels he was mislead. Maybe the lure of the stadium and the High Performance Centre aren’t as important to a footballing man as they seem to be to others. Maybe “the youngsters” aren’t as talented as he was led to believe. Maybe he thinks Capn Dan us the best of a bad bunch (or bench) and is as exasperated as many are when they hear his booming voice, his waving hands and the inevitable hoof down the middle. Or perhaps that’s all bollocks. Maybe he’s just had one £6 pint of Haze too many….. Who knows. I wish him well. Who can replace him? No one can. Who would want to? Its the turds that need replacing, not the polisher.

He’ll make a profit. A massive profit. He’s not a philanthropic messiah doing it out of the goodness of his heart. Think like Steve. Big picture. Think wider than our football club. That’s peanuts. Think freehold values. Think Ashton Vale. The promised land that Steve was going to take us to. Or so he said. Perhaps his conversation with the planners went like this. I’ve just bought Ashton Vale. That’s great to hear Mr Lansdown. What are your plans for it? I’m going to make Bristol Proud. I’m going to build an all singing all dancing stadium there. Interesting. All singing all dancing you say. What about the football club? **** that. I’m not interested in them. Ah. We see. Anyway we’ve had lots of objections. We’re afraid we wouldn’t be able to grant planning permission for that. Oh well. That’s what I thought. How about houses? How many acres have I got. How many houses per acre? We’re sorry Mr Lansdown. We can’t advise you about that. Your advisors and consultants will have a view. Oh don’t worry. I’ve been in close consultation with them. We know the answer to that. Thank you for your time. You’ve been very helpful. Yes. Very helpful indeed…….

I’ve met Lansdown several times. I know others who have too. On the occasions I met him his reasons for becoming involved in BCFC were evident - and it was nothing to do with football or our club. Reminded me then of previous involvement with other men who’d been successful in business and who thought those skills were transferable into a football environment. They too found that they weren’t. Permed hair. Fat cigars. Mercedes Benz. They stuck around for a bit and stuffed notes into boots and bought drinks in the bar but when a better offer presented itself they and “their” players moved on…… The fact of the matter is that, to my mind and based on first hand conversations I’ve had with Lansdown and his like, he and others like him have little if any knowledge, or real interest, in footballing matters. The skills they have or don’t have that’s made them (money) successful in other aspects of their lives don’t work, or are compromised, when it comes to football. Lansdown said he’d make us proud. Winning against 10 men and losing again. Who feels proud tonight?

Simples. He’s the ****** ultimately responsible for this ******* mess. Never mind ultimate beneficial owner. I couldn’t care less how much money he’s “invested” or written off. He’s the ****** at the top of the tree. He’s the ****** who allowed Ashton to make an absolute ******* mess of our club. He’s the ****** who failed to invest at the right time when we had momentum. He’s the ****** who was at the helm with his hand on the tiller when other ******* buffoons were appointed - remember club legend Tinnion standing in the dug out at Swansea? He’s the ****** who now owns the ******* lot. The lot. Ashton Gate. What was once a club asset is now his. And all that can be seen around it. And we laugh at the Rovers not owning their ground…… He’s the ****** who promised to make us proud. Who’s feeling proud tonight? Not me. Time to open thine eyes. As long as Lansdown stays were going nowhere. Abso*******lutely nowhere. We’re his plaything. We’re ******* doomed.

Maybe, just maybe, he’s starting to feel as though he was told a pack of lies when interviewed. Wouldn’t be the first time would it…….

See I have met the man. Several times. I don’t hate him. I hate what football has become. And Stevie is a part of that. A big part. Attract and develop? I don’t see any evidence of that. Results over time certainly don’t seem to support we’re attracting anyone. And as for developing…. Those that have been developed are then sold. To cover losses on many others who we brought in but proved to be useless. Or perhaps to provide someone with a dividend? And to suggest that the club needs to increase revenue opportunities is a nonsense. The club doesn’t get that revenue does it? Surely it filters back to the man squeezing those teats. But again here’s the question. How can someone who’s been so successful elsewhere in his professional life get it so wrong when it comes to BCFC? As I said if all those individuals with funds invested in HL portfolios had suffered such inept performances over the years and were told to accept it and enjoy their glossy brochures would they put up with it? I know i wouldn’t. You might take a different view though…. ?

Two things. We aren’t keeping up. We’re going backwards. Have been for a long time. Does Lansdown run his other business interests like he plays with the football club? Do his HL clients accept week on week poor portfolio performance? Won’t get his investment back? Then what’s his motivation for doing it? He’ll have an exit plan - long before he put his hand in his pocket. The clue is in the word freehold. The ground. Ashton Vale - ever wondered if he really wanted to develop a new stadium there? Or did he ride his Trojan nag over the rough land to get what he really wanted - a nice, lucrative resi consent? One things for certain. If his fund managers were as inept as Ashton and the rest of the shower of shit we’ve become used to over the years the regulators would be crawling all over the shiny office in Canons Marsh. Meanwhile us footy fans have to be grateful……