Tim S

After tonight's result, City are mathematically safe from relegation (Not that it was ever in doubt!).

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Pearce lets down SOTC tonight!!!!  Reckon he’s been kidnapped!

He was enjoying the hospitality in Cosmo and lost track of time.... 

2 minutes ago, Curr Avon said:

Tim will be announcing this Saturday's winning lottery numbers shortly.

No chance! Keeping that info to myself!

One change from the weekend. Andi Weimann drops to the bench. Cam Pring comes in.

8 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Don’t get me started!

Would’ve paid for a contract upgrade of a senior player, or a few Academy players…or whatever, e.g. the sound system.

An unnecessary cost imho, as well as lost revenue for scarf sales.

I’m sure plenty will disagree.

Absolutely! Its a great gesture from the club - and if it was paid for by a sponsor or out of someones own personal pocket - then fair enough. But as far as Im aware - the scarfs were at a cost to the club. If Im wrong, then I stand corrected. But money to do something like that could surely be better spent elsewhere and wouldnt have been missed if it didnt happen. 

Just to clarify a few things.... the issues with the sound are nothing to do with Downsy. I know he has worked hard at trying to find a fix for it and while some issues can be sorted by just changing certain levels on a mixer - there is only so much that can be done from the people in the PA booth and Downsy with the mic. The guy talks into microphones for a living - has a great voice and I know WHAT he says might not be to everyone's liking... but he should still come across loud and clear. He doesnt. And thats not down to him.

When they installed the new PA system for the updated Ashton Gate, I was still there as DJ and announcer and put across some thoughts and suggestions that might help make the system sound how it should as I have over 20 years of experience working in this field. For whatever reason, my opinions and ideas didnt seem to end up in the final set up. Im not saying what I suggested would have been any better than how it currently sounds, as the people who installed the system were behind the Wembley PA system among many others - so they should have been able to get it right regardless. 
But I have a feeling they were working within a budget that was non-negotiable - so the stadium got the system the budget allowed.

I find it funny how the club will throw money at some things that aren't necessarily needed (for example - putting a scarf on every seat in the stadium for a cup match - which probably would have cost as much as upgrading the PA system to sounding how it should) - and yet tighten the purse-strings on things that are actually quite important! 

I guess thats just the crazy world of business!

Back in 2012 Steve Lansdown gave me an exclusive interview when I produced and presented the Bristol City podcast along with Dave Lloyd...

I've just given it another listen and its quite interesting to hear what he said back then with the vision of the club comparing it to where we are now. This was when the Ashton Vale stadium was still in the works, the training ground was still a portacabin in a windy field, the robin wasn't the badge, the academy was pretty much non-existent and Bristol Rugby were still playing at The Mem.....

Its a really good listen which im very proud of - and interesting to compare what his vision for the club 11 years ago were vs where the club is now.... in fact when you listen to it and see how much things have changed in 11 years - its pretty amazing!

Have a listen and see what you think! 

On 19/01/2023 at 06:25, RedM said:

Normally local police don't want fans at an away ground until at least 1.30, or an hour and a half before ko. When have actually gone to the services near Preston before when the ground is only 15 minutes away as we have been too early! To be fair this possibly coincided with the driver having to take their legal break.

Preston staff, stewards and police are among the friendliest Ive experienced and no matter what time we arrive they will be welcoming. And even if we get there and the turnstiles arent open yet - a little walk around Deepdale is really good if you have never done it before. 

3 hours ago, View from the Dolman said:

Maybe switched to a double decker coach? I know that's happened for some games.

Yes extra seats are available because of coach upgrades.

On 19/01/2023 at 06:52, gl2 said:

Coach 1 is supposed to be good

Yours truly is driving coach 1 this saturday - so hell yes its good! 

6 hours ago, spudski said:

LJ is definitely marmite and a conundrum. 

My gut instinct with him, is he is a very good coach, but over complicates things and goes beyond the limits of his playing staff at hand.

He finds a level...gets them playing well for a while after finding their strengths...then he pushes too much on their actual ability. 

It then gets confused...a never ending circle of trying to find a better formula.

I feel if he stopped tinkering at a certain point it would eventually work for him...but he can't help himself.

 

 

Pretty much spot on. Lee is a very good coach, forward thinking and not afraid to think outside the box.

However for me, what let him down at City was his inability or reluctance to strip things back to basics when it was needed. I think its great that a coach looks for new ways to motivate players or trying new methods of training or tactics. But sometimes - you just need to keep things simple. The right pegs in the right holes.... where as Lee would rather try to reinvent the peg or the hole as apposed to just keeping it simple. 

Lee is a very modern coach. But I think he needs a strong number 2 who is a bit old school to help balance things. When he finds the right balance in his coaching team and at the right club - I truly believe it will click into place and he will be successful.

1 hour ago, ohhhshauntaylor said:

Today he was once again useless. 
He displayed his clear lack of any football knowledge when announcing substitutions (he literally has a team sheet, and players in front of him with there names/numbers on their back)

 

Also at HT he made a pathetic attempted gag when announcing an engagement (which weirdly followed two announcements of fans who had passed- where his tone was almost comical and… “on a brighter note” type theme) to suggest he is available to be DJ @ the wedding. 
 

I don’t think he has any impact on results etc- but he hardly does anything to improve the atmosphere. 
 

 

Regarding the subs announcement - that was the fourth official's fault from what I could see. Looked like City subs were due to go up first but when the board went up it was for the West Brom sub. But one of the sub numbers was the same as the City one so it seemed as if the City sub was happening. Its actually a mistake I made on more than one occasion when I was on the mic. I thought Downsy handled the mix up well.

And as someone else mentioned above - it seems strange to be calling out the stadium announcer when there are so many more things that could be moaned about right now. 

I was driving coach 1 yesterday 

Hope everyone enjoyed the chocolates my daughter brought round on the way back - apart from the sleepers! Have a great Christmas all x 

A CEO of a football club should largely be someone who is seen but not heard.... Richard Gould is very much someone like that. Just gets on with the job and runs the club as he should whether things are going well or not on the pitch. For the most part, the CEO should go about their business in the background and just get on with working to improve the club, working with the manager and the board to try and ensure everything comes together. I guess a bit like a conductor of an orchestra. You also have to remember that a football club is a completely different business to most - so any role within the structure of the business is probably slightly different to the norm. 

Mark Ashton on the other hand was someone who loved the attention and the limelight and was happy to take the plaudits, whether he deserved them or not, when things were going well. But when things got tough, was nowhere to be seen. And this behaviour has been repeated at Ipswich. High fiving fans a few months ago as if they had won the league.... but now there is a bit of unrest, he has crawled back under his rock. Mark Ashton, for all his faults (of which there are many!) has one thing going for him... he is a master blagger. He is one of those people who bullshits their way through life, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake but still somehow comes out smelling of roses and lands on his feet no matter what. For that, I have to applaud him - because it takes some special kind of arrogance and belief to do what he does and somehow seem like he is doing a good job to those who employ him. He was on £500k a year at City. Someone signed off on that wage.... just think about that. 

Just now, joe jordans teeth said:

What do you suggest 

RIP Nigel Pearson, sport journalist & commentator. 

Slightly insensitive title but yes, very sad to hear that Nigel Pearson - the sports commentator and journalist has passed away.

Lovely man and great behind the mic on talkSPORT.

RIP. 

12 hours ago, TomF said:

I’m sure @Tim S has seen him recently 

Eh? Firstly I have no idea who or what HMHB is.

Secondly - Patrick is still around although dont think he works the doors anymore. I meet up with him every year for an Odyssey/The Works reunion. 

I know half of Bristol got barred by him - but the man is a living legend and you knew where you stood with him. He even kicked me out of the club one night - and I was the DJ!!! 

Coles went off because before the game he was suffering Flu, and it got worse through the first half