The Constant Rabbit

12 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

That was the worst atmosphere at Ashton Gate that I've ever known.

 

I'm not over reacting when I say it was on par with the 6 nil loss to Cardiff. It was genuinely that bad. 

 

 

Watched a stream - every time it cut to the crowd all I could see were yawns, frowns and looks of utter boredom.

A season of this and ticket sales next year won't be great.

In all honestly we'd probably sell more if we went down.

At least we'd win a few more in L1

The game, even with 3 goals, hitting the woodwork etc was a horrible watch.

TBH he comes across as a very shy sort of guy.

He doesn't look comfortable at all.

He's right though - the goals were the fault of our players.

BUT - and there is the BUT - I'm pretty sure the goal wasn't 'the result of something we worked on in training' - it was a lucky bounce back from the keeper!

Then to double down with culture..

I dunno - he seems to struggle with the extra scrutiny this job brings.

Too early to judge for me - and I loved Nige - another 4 or 5 games to see if there is a "trend".

Still much closer to the top 6 than bottom 3 - but I would not want to lose the next 3.

Without a couple of new players in Jan, we could be in bother if we keep dropping points from good positions in games.

https://sports-10.com/southampton-v-bristol-city/

4 hours ago, Mike Stone said:

Upton Park

What a brilliant old ground that was.

 

For home fans..

Anyone who went there on the Tuesday night 5-0 defeat won't share your joy.

Probably the only time I genuinely feared for my life at a football match.

And I went to some pretty infamous games in my day.

3 hours ago, Leabrook said:

Summary:

 

- Conway decided to stay which speaks volumes about him as a person

Did I miss something about Tommy having a bid or two come in for him?

2 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

 

Well done lads, correct country  

Tomas Kalas as player manager. 

That would be sooooooooooo Lansdownish.

"It was always the plan to bring Tomas back. he's such a good human, with experience at the highest level"

I'm genuinely beginning to wonder wether SL has the onset of dementia.

Mood swings, erratic decisions, lashing out at criticism, contradicting himself.

Wouldn't surprise me at all if in 12 months he was out of the public eye altogether.

This isn't a dig - dementia is a terrible, terrible incurable illness, which I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy - but he is showing all the early clinical indicators (as much as you can see from afar)

2p

12 hours ago, luke_bristol said:

A physio at the club, tweeted then deleted. Maybe he should concentrate on his job rather than celebrate NP being sacked?

What a braindead thing to do.

If there is any justice in Football, a bigger club would swoop in and offer NP a new and better position at a bigger and better club.

Leaving the Lansdowns to sort out that mess would be poetry in motion.

NP deserves better than this treatment, he really does.

On 14/10/2023 at 01:38, CodeRed said:

He owns a house in Bermuda and spends a lot of time there - the house has a golf course in front and the ocean behind so understandable! - but I don't think he's running any business's there. It's a holiday home essentially,  I've heard (on here) Phil Alexander found it frustrating that JL was over there so much.

Which in itself speaks volumes. He does have a business - property sub-division.

I worked there, and it is a minimum requirement that you reside there 20 years before you can get citizenship / permanent residence - and you need that to own property there.

Unless you are stinking rich of course, then that rule disappears.

My immediate neighbours, around the headland (I lived in a small road with 4 houses on it - my family, another Brit - who was also a City fan!! and 2 Bermudian Families) - were PM Berlusconi, Michael Jackson and David Bowie.

Their houses has armed security, including a speedboat which routinely would carry big burly blokes with bulging muscles and bigger guns alongside my kayak and tell me I had no right to be in that 'part of the sea'.

All hardly lived there of course (and certainly not now!!) - and it was quite common to see the Douglas / Zeta-Jones family walking around (Kirk was married to a Bermudian lady).

That's the world Jon Lansdown lives in.

That Jon Lansdown openly deals in real estate sub-division, shows  the amount of $$$$ he is spending in Bermuda.

I can't see any world in which he gives that up to run BCFC and deal with all the crap that would come his way.

0% chance he stays involved when Papa Steve sells up. 

Solid if inconsistent.

Solid enough for a signing or two in January at the minimum.

We can't hope that the squad won't pick up more injuries, so hopefully this start will be enough to loosen the purse strings.

Top ten finish would be fantastic after all the injuries and the late Scott transfer.

Plus another 2 years for NP.

Couple of thoughts:

NP looks very physically well, and mentally relaxed

He has outlined his vision of City moving forward, and gives every impression that he wants to be a continuing part of this evolution.

It would be criminal - madness - to not extent NP for another year / 18 months

Do it now, and let him continue his work, without the worry that he won't be here to see the final outcome.

@Davefevs

NP mentioned specifically that 'age wasn't a barrier' to any player who has 'the right qualities' and specifically mentioned players in their thirties. he also mentioned the squad was 'threadbare'.

Did you get the impression NP has a free agent / OOC player of that age, who he would like to bring in, but is waiting for financial approval from SL, and this was his way of applying some subtle pressure to get this done?

It certainly seemed like a mild 'shot across the bows' to me.

Thoughts?

1 minute ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

It's just a temporary measure whilst Lisa Knights gains some CEO experience at the Flyers and then she'll be appointed our CEO

Well, she certainly has 'hands-on' experience with 'senior staff' in her resume........

15 hours ago, Gert Mare said:

Yeah, Pirate Gas has done some further research and has come up with this…..

As you previously pointed out the Al Elmam Real Estate Company website ( www.elmamrealestate.com/ ) was last updated a decade ago and had little evidence of any activity anyway and the Foodco. Website also doesn't reveal much as it seems the small Al Firya Kuwaiti Restaurant has permanently closed (link on website doesn't work anyway) and the other two links to the restaurant franchise chains of Buffalo's Cafe and Quiznos that Mr Al-Saeed owns the franchisee rights to are also broken and unaccessable. I'm still wondering and fascinated to know how they made their fortune and what other business interests they are involved in that enabled them to buy into a League One football club? 
 

 “Stick a pony in me pocket……”

 

I’m beginning to think that the ‘G’ in their much loved acronym is for ‘Gift’ not ‘Gas’. Up the Gift!  

Apparently he is involved in contracts with the US govt / contractors for 'security apparatus' for middle eastern countries. Very small time.

This from a mate who works for Australian govt.

2 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

TCR.

There is a lot to unpack in the above post so I won't try too hard but a couple of quick things.

1) Is there any kind of ACV type protection for Ashton Gate do we know?

2) The Council, who btw have IMO done us few favours down the years in a range of ways (I could be wrong)...Would a blatant change of use not require further applications, permission etc.

3) This floating and fixed charge to Pula that first appeared in the accounts a few years back...could this form  layer of protection for us or would it go with  takeover?

Thanks in advance. A worrying post though about property development on AG.

It's worth thinking about Mr P.

Lansdown has said repeatedly that it's his club etc etc

What gets you the best return as a buyer?

A rugby team with limited appeal

A struggling loss-making champ club

A tiny basketball club 

Limited revenue from the facilities on non-matchdays, plus not stellar returns ON matchday

OR - a property developer, that can see the hard yards have been done, and will pay much much more for the very desirable location.

There's a hell of a lot of building room left both on AG and AV - and that equals money.

And a lot of leasehold offices for ongoing management

Why does anyone think the Lansdown family will lose out financially to protect a football club, when he can make much more selling the land. It's also simpler to complete the deal.

I'm not saying that this will happen - but they are on their way out, and developers have been looking. 

Lansdowns business ethics are on full display in Africa if anyone cares to dive in to the mucky morass - inc deals with international fugitives wanted on multiple counts of gun-running, and accusations of much worse.

Don't rule anything out at all as far as Lansdown and money are concerned.

The Lansdowns are leaving the building(s). 100%. Zero doubt. This was always the plan.

With PP granted, plus all the housing / office / apartment possibilities the obvious buyer would be a large international property developer.

Everything sold, lock stock and two stinking barrels - strap yourselves in boys and girls, this will get very messy.

You can get a heck of a lot of expensive apartments with wonderful views on the AG footprint.

The new owner will be under zero obligation to keep the land for sporting facilities. Zero.

I don't rate him at Champ level, and still don't.

It seems like the defenders in front of him are less confident too - when bents was dropped, the defence seemed to 'trust' Max more on crosses etc.

It's seems that trust is slowly eroding.

We certainly need players in other positions first - but it's hard to imagine a genuine promotion attempt with Max as No 1

His best (and possibly only) shot at 'redemption' and make it back into English Football is a successful stint in USA or Australia or similar.

He wasn't the worst manager of all time at any of his clubs, but the way he conducted himself shortened the patience of the fans.

A stint in a place with less 'fanaticism' probably takes a bit of the annoyance from his BS away.

He needs to change or his managerial career is done.

Or, he goes into more advanced  Property development and quits football altogether.

Mind you, he could do worse than become a TV pundit - at least he'd be entertaining.

2 minutes ago, Olé said:

Hey Mihai I may be in Romania in the Autumn due to work. I have been to Bucharest, Cluj and Iaci before a few times

Lucky bugger - Romania is a beautiful place, especially the coast.

Spent a few very happy holidays there.

15 mil seems low - but nobody knows the full offer.

15 mil - no

But 15 mil plus 5 mil for 50 games played at Bournemouth and 30% sell-on (full sale price to new club) makes it a whole new beast.

If Scott is sold in 2025 to a another club for 50 mil then its 20 mil (clause triggered + original price) plus 30% of 50 mil - another 15.

In 18 months we get a windfall of 20 mil from the games played and add-ons clauses

All of a sudden we have got 35 mil for AS - and Bournemouth are only out the 15 + 5 with the new club paying them 50 mil, they would get 35 mil after the sell-on clause.

We get 35 mil in total

Bournemouth get Scott for 18 months for a profit 15 mil (35 mil balance minus original fee + games played clause)

New club get AS for 50 mil

It's a bit short-sighted to go 15 mil - nah, without knowing the full offer.

Everyone wins in this scenario, us, Bournemouth and Alex.

2p

Do they show replays for international viewers?

2am starts get tiring if you have to work.

What was the point of them pretending to be hurt?

To get 3 points?

To get the guy sacked?

To get the 'clicks' and 'likes' and tweets of sympathy?

Replace the ref with an AI.  Call in a reaper drone, job done, play on. (that makes no sense if you haven't kept up with the news recently!) 

Firstly thanks to @shahanshahan and @phantom for the running updates on this thread.

Living abroad, it's been great to keep upto date with the Ladies wonderful season.

Hopefully with crowds of 5000+ and hopefully more, then investment will be made in the team to keep it up, evolve and belong.

Surely it's only a matter of time before the WSL is screened on Sky / Fox etc - every game, every week.

The attendances are pretty compelling for the broadcasters to recognise the obvious demand to watch these matches.

It will be a struggle obviously - but with 4 or 5 inspired signings, maybe, just maybe, the ladies can stay up.