Ian M

So, if we can just adjust our mindset to match JL's (that having reduced the wage budget by a third, amortisation by three quarters plus operated a transfer profit of around £25m, we have actually under-performed) we can believe that Nige has been a terrible manager and his successor doesn't have to live by that rule.

Then made a big thing about him being well liked but more importantly having integrity, implying others don’t necessarily?

As a recently relegated Prem club they get trampoline payments so literally play by different rules to us.

The decimation the team faced through half the side being required for tomorrow’s 1st team squad will have had an even larger impact.

I believe Ipswich will not be one of the games SL intends to attend.

Brightened your mood. For 98% of us it hasn’t so you cannot claim the definite article.

I’d happily take someone with zero football knowledge if they admitted as much and employed, as CEO, someone who did. It was a flying visit though. The good news is that is highly unlikely, SL felt hugely let down by LJ.

Time for the Dog to go for a walk

I’d definitely try and get Nigel Pearson, he’d be freshly available.

Of course noone from the board is available to talk to the BBC.

Make sure you’re clear when doing so that it’s due to his mis-management of the football club in particular, not the baskeball, to be clear to Mark Kelly.

Mic drop moment from Nige.

Apparently hearing that he has to get results from the Cov and Ipswich games to save his job? And we are led to believe that directive wasn't even delivered first hand?

There's been many comments through this thread that Pearson's "unspecified neurological disorder" (note the Post didn't report it as undiagnosed, NP may know full well what it is but rightly keeping the specific nature to himself) is causing him pain in fulfilling his duties but that he is showing commitment to the cause and ploughing on regardless. Could it be that Nige has brought this to a head because whilst he's happy to do that, at risk of the situation worsening, if the club plan to keep him beyond this season, if they don't he'd rather they pushed him out now and he can convalesce at leisure.

Broadly, amongst the supporters there's a general feeling that off-the-field things are a bit messy at Bristol City but at least generally there's a satisfaction that things on-the-pitch are going ok. Lansdown, in typical fashion, has heard those concerns and said "let me fix that!"

I think we'd only do that initially to win back the fans that are pissed that a fairly popular manager was forced out/allowed to leave. Long term we'd go back to our Austerity model as it's my belief that Steve is done loaning us £10m a year that will eventually have to be converted to equity. Then if we make false promises to those "cheque book managers" to get them in the door only to go back on them, we end up with another irritated manager. Parker, for example, doesn't deal with irritation well.

….and at least a couple are what I’d call “cheque book managers” so would not be able to work for Austerity City.

Reading between the lines of everything, it seems Nigel expected some talk of his contract situation during the recent international break but instead was handed an ultimatum to pick up results against Cov and Ipswich or else! (With a depleted squad very much related to budget restrictions)

I personally have taken the conclusion that Lansdown is tired of spending good money after bad on Bristol City and whilst the strings may initially be loosened with a new appointment, it won't be long term. So as I said above, I don't think I trust anyone to work with no budget more than I trust Nigel.

He's only able to do that because he's the only person at the club saying anything at all.

I cannot profess to have changed my mind either but were we broadly operating under the assumption that we were going through a period of austerity and that when we emerged the other side, there would be a certain relaxing of the budgets to allow us to compete? It turns out that austerity is the permanent approach moving forward and given that, there's an element of "careful what you wish for"? Nige has shown he is capable of maintaining, and maybe even improving upon our position within the Championship despite having his best players sold and offered peanuts to replace them with. Last season we bemoaned our small squad size yet we now operate on -1 vs last term. To get to +1 vs last season we would have needed to not sign Knight and sign 3 players on average L1 wages. And yet we are 1 point outside the play-offs. How many managers have we seen falter at AG before when they've been given money to spend? If there's none to spend I know I'd damn well rather stick with Nige.

Tbf, if Knight had 90 mins in him he'd have started, so the back 5 did a good job somehow keeping it to nil til the point he could come on.

Midday kick off, sorted!

New idea: amend the forum rules so that anyone who posts "who cares?!" on a clearly titled thread gets a one week ban

I'd personally love it if I supported Wolves or Chelsea.