Cidre Monita

You are right. Ignorant fans.

Assumptions and guesses? Really?! You say we have got a decent squad - 4th game in tomorrow and we have one available specialist centre back (Vyner) who may well be sold next week, one senior striker (Wells), whose best days are behind him, and what I consider to be a league 2 keeper with no serious back up. Academy players in 1st team squad:- * When I say academy players - obviously those promoted to the 1st team squad but on low wages to reflect this. O’Leary/Wiles-Richards Vyner/Pring/Araoye/Knight-Lebel Benarous/Scott (now gone) Conway/Bell

I find it staggering that we have reached the wage limit with a squad of c24 players including 9 academy graduates. We are 3 league games in and already in crisis. God forbid Vyner goes before next Friday with no replacement. Make no mistake this is SL cutting the budget to the bone and seems hellbent on a further tightening of the purse strings. I really do fear for us tomorrow night…,

Agreed. Not sure what Nige sees in him tbh he is a liability and an accident waiting to happen. Why we didn’t go in for Jack Butland on a free I will never know…

You are joking, right? Kudos for the most ridiculous response so far.

Must admit I was looking forward to the Scott sale as it would subsequently highlight what SL’s true intentions are. Now it has all been laid bare - he had no intention of keeping to his part of the bargain after Nigel’s savage cost cutting exercise. As a previous poster said I thought there was a plan put in place post Scott sale which it looks like SL has reneged on. If ever a club needed needed a reboot with new ambitious ownership and investment it is us. Wake up City fans money is SL’s god and to hell with the glory. How much longer are you willing to put up with this?!!

They are in for a shock then.

Very sorry and shocked to hear this, Lisa was always incredibly friendly, professional and passionate. Our deepest condolences to her family and many friends.

Based on past experiments, it loses over 1000/1500 seats, so you get 2k away fans, 1 k home fans. It is a rather bizarre situation. The most "seat-effective" solution in terms of selling, would be to give the whole stand to away fans, but as we saw against Man City, police advice for segregation means that 800 seats are lost, taking the Atyeo to 3600 capacity. So the real capacity at AG for football, with segregation,is the Man City game, 25700. It is not 27000. City is not alone, it seems that many stadiums are built with no provision for away fan positioning and segregation. Hardly a major concern for City in the Championship, as we have enough capcity for home fans with a team mid table. But it does highlight the issue of away fan amangement, and a stadium size caapcity issue if (we must dream) if one day there was sustained success. But the underlying comment remains, away fan mangement (tickets available, position in ground, cup game requirments) and our own singing section stuck in a corner (with/without safe standing) . It is a compex mix of commercial, safety, atmosphere , optimisation of the stadium etc. There is no perfect solution, maybe we have it already within the current stadium set up. No idea without more detail. From a purely traditional sense (and selfish point of view) vocal fans behind the goal again would be a step forward.

26500 is closer to the capacity, it seems to get rounded up. Bristol Bears , no segregation, sold out with 26399 ( https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/record-crowd-set-bristol-bears-3428274 ) , Man City game sold out, with 800 seats not sold in the Atyeo, 25700 , game vs Preston this season, home area sold out, 1357 Preston tickets (out of 4400 in Atyeo) attendance 23330, suggesting agan 26373 would have been capacity.

Not something I would comment on normally but it is an interesting topic as it is multilayered AG capacity 26500, with 1000 for segregation in the Atyeo that becomes 25500 (what is the point of saying it is a 26500 capacity then? That is another story) You have to give 2000 to away fans. Will 1000 City fans go in the Atyeo? If not, then with the new rules on financial control the club has to increase revenues. It is essential. So if City does not need those 1000 seats, and the opposition does, it is income clubs should not be turning away today. It could mean the wages of another player over a season. Would it be better be for City to return home fans to the Atyeo and position away fans in the upper Dolman, or even upper Lansdown. The issue generally is that stadium design rarely has opposition fans' segregation factored in, which in itself is bizarre, but swathes of the black tarp are a testament to that. Returning home fans to the Atyeo would give City fans both areas behind the goal. The new South Stand is poor for support because the fans are in the corner, almost like an away game. They need to be behind a goal. Maybe the Atyeo could be the experiment for safe standing many crave and move the singing section back there. The club could lose matchday non ticket income as facilities are less developed, so it is a balance that needs evaluation. But the issues of away fans and the location of our home fans' singing section keep getting kicked down the road. There is no perfect solution, but a bullet needs biting it seems. Finally, why the clamour to have the Chairman or CEO talking? With very few exceptions, maybe MacAnthony (or Ashton) that does not happen at any clubs, bar once or twice a season. More important is a constant dialogue with supporter groups, fans, and customers (sorry but after being a fan, we are customers too) in all areas of the ground, as requirements are varied. There are some very justified comments and feedback right now. The aforementioned fan locations, safe standing, atmosphere and, based on threads on here, kit quality/design, and the club badge. But for now, an extra 1000 away fans is needed for finances, until the City fan demand takes that away from them. Also, as correctly noted, a huge silent away following is one of the best experiences in football as a home fan. Better when they leave early.

Recruitment, as in any business or sports team, is the most important activity. Is Bristol City at the forefront of state-of-the-art recruitment? The answer to that is no. The club were scared to follow Brentford, and more recently Brighton. The idea now, it seems, is to use Luton as the guiding light to our policy. A lot is made of data analytics, but if all you are doing is using the same data any one of us can sign up to and pay for access, how are you going to gain a competitive advantage? What analysis models have we developed, with machine learning to manipulate data at speed and volume? Have we analysed successful players from other clubs to understand why they were recruited? Or what did the data of such players look like when they were below 20 years of age? Have we adapted to new visa regulations? Do we maximise the southwest network of fans and scouts who may have the club at their heart and can provide early tip-offs? Do we have specialist recruiters defined by playing position? (You do not ask for a player from a geographical or league perspective, you ask for an LB/CB/GK etc). Do we have anyone who has worked for or scouted Prem standard players? How many scouts do we actually have? Why do we recruit so few players from Prem academies compared to other clubs(not by paying £8m and £25k a week btw),Roberts a recent exception Do we have anyone inside BCFC who has worked for a club that has outperformed their relative budget by innovative recruitment? Looking from outside we are recruiting better from the puddle we are looking in. Most of that is from having a clearer input as to player requirements. By fast-tracking youth, we are developing and filtering players faster, but those coaches can only work with the players they are given. We are just looking at essentially L1/L2/Ireland and Scotland. But we are doing nothing innovative and groundbreaking or international. Whilst not spending the Scott sale to improve the squad is unfathomable, as a minimum some money needs to be spent on a complete overhaul of the scouting set up, and it is not Tins that needs changing. It is nowhere near the level required, imagine that same set up preparing for a season in the Prem (if ever we got promoted) then it is clearly not fit for purpose when most squads are 20/30% British talent. It would be dramatically inadequate. To return to Brentford and Brighton, both of those success stories started with innovation in recruitment. There was a reason for that.

Another in the long line of Bristol City self-inflicted mess-ups. The owner spent over £100m trying to justify why he thought LJ was a talent. We now have a decent side where you need some magic to define your credentials for promotion, and yet he pulls in the funding. It is a classic BCFC self-imposed cluster duck. We move from promotion hopefuls to also-rans. It is an idiotic decision, in line with a 25-year run of other idiotic decisions. There are times when you need to hold back, and times when you need to hold firm or expand. In these areas, we have been found continually wanting. There is no understanding of timing. So you ask a manager to decimate the wage bill, not spend money, and develop youth, and the one thing he asks is to keep the special talent, so we can get promoted. But no, you cannot spend money and we will sell anyone decent. There is a good reason why BCFC has never threatened the Prem. We expect to now do it by not spending money and selling any decent talent. Oh, and if we sell anyone, we cannot spend the money. This was THE season to keep Alex Scott, at least until Jan. There is a good reason why 52 , maybe 53 other clubs have been to the Prem and BCFC not.

It is inevitable that a player will be sold if you put a price on their transfer. Making that number high, just makes it easier to explain to the fans. The continued elephant in the room is that we are still paying for the failed excesses and ineptitude of previous spending and misguidance. (The whole club was implicit in the self-imposed cluster F) We had no choice but to sell Semenyo, for FFP reasons, due to the previous issues. Now? Well if there was one time you need to invest in your talent retention, it is today. After 4 years of woe, ranging from abject failure to survival, and finally through some shoots of recovery, we find ourselves with a coherent squad, fit, with pace, some skill, and with a few players who clearly have a higher ceiling than mid-table in the Championship. But, and it is huge but, if you have desires to get to the Prem, in the vast majority of cases, you need a sprinkling of players who are above the normal level. it is why the parachute payment clubs can prevail because they can afford to pay (say Mitovic when he was on £100k/week) or loan ( McAtee and Tella ). So a day or two before our season starts, our star player is subject to a transfer bid. Few believe he is injured, with reason. That looks like a smokescreen. So, let us assume on Sunday, we no longer have Scott. The club have £25m in the bank, and we can stem our losses, and make the club less financially onerous. We already know we will not be signing other players, and that the money has already been spent. That is the harsh reality for a club that has a turnover that does not come close to covering the running costs or wage bills. It is harsh too. Because a squad with Scott in, well you could dream of a promotion push, without him, well you fall into the pack again, with another 10 teams. That does not mean you cannot make the top 6, far from it, but anyone who thinks you can remove a £25m improving talent like Scott and have the same season in the Championship is being superficial. He is £25m for a reason. Those players make the difference. We hear all the time of fine margins. Well, where do they come from? Players like Scott. This was a time to show some ambition. Scott should not be going anywhere until earliest January. Then you can decide if the club have a chance to compete for promotion. Yes, the player has a view, but you are also allowed to make decisions for the club's benefit. 3 months will change nothing on his ultimate career path for a (soon-to-be) 20-year-old. Some will point to the money, and suggest it enables the club to evolve and progress. That can be true. But unlike Brighton and Brentford, we have not planned or signed the replacements. Semenyo sold, no replacement either at the club or incoming. The same is true with Scott. At those 2 clubs, that does not happen. It is a substantial difference. Maybe we can use some of the transfer fees from Scott, not for players, but to hire people from the recruitment team at Brighton or Brentford. Of course, the price of failure is that you are vulnerable to losing better players, that is how it works in football. But sometimes you need to look at the interests of the club. Alex Scott is going to be a multi-millionaire because of BCFC, this summer, or next summer. To continue to lose the best BCFC talent to Bournemouth(it seems) should make everyone who has made the big decisions at BCFC ashamed. Bournemouth. It is the ultimate public demonstration of gross incompetence and mismanagement. It is humiliating. It is also another in a long line of stupid decisions made by the club. Yes sell him, but absolutely not now. You cannot talk of promotion and keep repeating the same cycle. We would be rubbish at poker (Kenny Rodgers if you must). Sorry, but it is hard to be sanguine about losing our best player a day before we start a new season. Good luck to Alex, the best youngster we have had in 40 years, maybe more, with wonderful attitude, skill and application. It has been magical watching him develop and grow. We move on though with BCFC it has always seemed like a three-legged race, with the two runners tied left leg to left leg and pointing in opposite directions.

Sorry to ruin your thread and misplaced theories, but the kit deal had absolutely nothing to do with the current CEO. You will need to blame someone else.

Surely a change to a club badge/crest should be voted by the supporters? It is an integral element of club identity and history. This link details our kit colours, and badge history. How we have toyed with a coat of arms, various robin designs on a football, with or without the suspension bridge. http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Bristol_City/Bristol_City.htm

How many years did Crystal Palace use O'Neils ? Any serious CEO, faced with a change of kit supplier, would have gone through a tender process to determine the most appropriate supplier. Alexander arrived well after the decision was taken. You are talking total nonsense without any foundation or fact. You have no theory, it is not aligned with reality and is pure fiction. The Chairman decided on the supplier. Ask him.

Absolute nonsense and false. The Chairman made the decision well before the CEO arrived. Any regular business would have gone through a tender process.

He did not meet or had the desire to meet, our new standards. A good move for him, to a very notable club. He now has to deliver or his talent will be wasted. Great to see BCFC is no longer the cosy club.

Did you see him play in the Championship last season? I know many who have seen Twine last season and they do not agree with your view he is better than Scott. In fact, far from it. A game of views of course, but your statement anyone will acknowledge Twine is currently a better footballer is incorrect. It might be your view, which is fine. But it is not a fact.

What do you base your evaulation of Twine on?

Why on earth would you put in the public domain information that may damage potential recruitment? Whoever is feeding you this information will be known at the club, and will put them under severe pressure. Everyone likes gossip, some fun, but if true, this is damaging not helpful and just stupid.

And some called Nige a dinosaur. Keep up everyone, positional flexibility (ask Pep ), and also add physical power, stamina, and pace (the basics today- Kompany explained this at our last match of the season), are the current direction. Back to Total Football. Heck, even Ted Lasso worked that out. Of course, losing a player with the attributes and ability of Scott can completely change how we can or will play and the impact of any incoming players. Such is his importance and ability to make a difference in the overall footballing result of a Championship side. A player such as Scott, at Championship level, can be the difference between success and being an also-ran. The most ambitious transfer (or not) City can make is to keep Scott for 12 more months. City need him . He can leave next summer if we are not promoted. Risk and rewards on both sides. Solid signings so far in the context of our budget and general club direction. Interesting summer.