headhunter

Thanks for the positive comments and those of others including @Tafkarmlf & @richwwtk From the critics, these caught my eye ... @View from the Dolman "reactionary, petulant, ill informed waffle" - @billywedlock "worst podcast by a country mile, talk total bollox & misinformation" @Numero Uno "it's a *hit podcast and the contributors need replacing" Nothing stopping any of you coming on to give an alternative view - I'll do a pre-season piece with you as a trio if you like. @Sir Geoff "leaving out Martin, breaking the front 3" - sounds mad in a single sentence but how do you accommodate Scott who can only play in a 3? @David Brent "no listeners" - published data would suggest otherwise. Nothing I can find on the "irreverent" OSIB but comparing us with the "increasingly safe, nigh on official club pod" that is 3 Peaps, this tells me our following is growing: Sample: match review podcasts: the 5 up to Huddersfield at home in December vs. last 5 to this weekend: pre-Christmas 3 Peaps had 18% more downloads, for the more recent period FBC has 14% more downloads, a big swing. It is all about opinions and, as I have said before Ian is a Piers Morgan type who will attract comments like that made by @Robboredin this current thread, "the negative shite". @NcnsBcfc & @Curr Avon provide a suitable antidote as many have commented. Love doing it, maybe I should be looking at finding a sponsor if this growth continues!!!!

He must be feeling quite sour about that decision - doh!!!

We were berated on the FBC Podcast for being obsessed with Mark Ashton - looking at the length of this thread we weren't alone!!!

I agree 100% re England: Lampard or Gerrard, not both. Using the same criteria of my selection, which excluded Martin, what would be your 11? Btw, as someone else commented on this thread, Martin needs a rest but I fully expect him to start our final two games

That's not strictly true. Naming a best 11 for the opening fixture of 22/23 Martin did not feature in any of our preferred line ups as it was purely a case of trying to shape a formation using our best players, assuming we get no one better than what we already have as we cannot afford them and that all our stars remain. Bentley Kalas / Klose / Atkinson New signing / Williams / Scott / James / Pring Semenyo / Weimann The above assumes the one ESSENTIAL new signing at RWB and accommodates Scott in a much stronger midfield [how many times in games have we been overrun in this area?]. Based on form that just leaves space for Weimann & Semenyo. One comment on Martin in this thread concerning Martin's heading ability in defending corners - I might be blind but his headed clearances are not in the same league as Fam used to do when helping out. I agree with all the posters on here re. COD and I will challenge Ian in our next episode that we can get some value out of COD by offering an extension to his contract in order to get a fee for him. Totally flawed argument and a further waste of money - no one came in for him before he signed his latest deal and they are even less likely to now. A TOTAL disappointment over 6 seasons bar less than a handful of champagne moments. I don't see a single word of support for him on here which I must admit I find amusing when on those rare occasions he featured on the pitch I was slated for "having it in for him". Where are all of you COD lovers now?

Mooted as an idea several times on FBC Podcast, a good one at that.

McAllister has been sat in the Lansdown, suited & booted, for the past 2 home games.

Wrong on that score @GrahamC - our review is out now, not that you listen these days. https://foreverbristolcity.podbean.com/e/JD-wonder-strike-gives-city-all-three-points-in-a-gritty-display-at-stoke/

That is so, so true

But I never said it claiming it to be right - just an opinion based on perhaps with hindsight an over inflated guess on NP's salary; somewhat different to Ian's assertion that "Mark Ashton told me" [that City don't pay loan fees]

I wouldn't say it was an assertion but simply an opinion made to trigger debate. If NP starts "poking the bear" [in this instance the Lansdowns'] with truthful, provocative comments it will bite. Cotterill did similar and look how that ended.

We recorded this morning with 100 listening live on the Podbean platform: https://foreverbristolcity.podbean.com/e/peterborough-h-reviewed-are-you-with-the-in-crowd/ [also on Spotify, Google & Apple] Ian, Neil, Mark and DaveP go through the match action as City failed to get max points against bottom of the table Posh who were a man down for the final third of the game. Is it player mentality, coaching or both that are the root cause of the problem or does it go right to the top and the benevolent and benign dictatorship that is life under the Lansdown dynasty - SL is undoubtedly a winner in business but not when it comes to running a football club; others have achieved a lot more with a lot less. Are NP's veiled criticisms of policy and attitude evidence of him trying to orchestrate his own sacking [he's ain't walking away from the £2M balance owed on his contract] and if that happens who would we be happy with to lead us forward into 22/23

Happy birthday Joe .... 73 today. https://foreverbristolcity.podbean.com/e/in-conversation-with-joe-royle/ The best manager we never had!

Not getting the job in 82 which Joe is quite open about [he went to Oldham with zero managerial experience that same year and look what they did over the period 82-94 with arguably less resources than us], but he wasn't specific about the more recent occasion. If you check his employment record since leaving Ipswich in 2006 he's seems to be fairly busy but with nothing substantive. I guess it could have been any of the occasions from Coppell [2010] onwards. Joe is 73 next week and that makes him younger by two years than Roy Hodgson who's still managing at the highest level - many would argue that in 2016 LJ could have done with an experienced head above him and I've no doubt that Joe could have performed that job admirably. If that rejection Joe alluded to was in 2016 I can understand why it never happened - LJs ego and MAs controlling nature.

Listen here: https://foreverbristolcity.podbean.com/e/in-conversation-with-joe-royle/ [also on Spotify, Google, Apple] Joe Royle was at City for barely two and a half years [11/77-7/80] but rarely has a player had a greater impact on their debut than he did by grabbing all 4 goals in a 4-1 win at home to Middlesborough. It wasn’t until I did some research prior to interview that I realised what a coup it was for Alan Dicks to sign Joe who was still very much in his prime at age 28. Making his debut for Everton at age 16, he was an ever present at just 21 in the team that won the League in 1969/70 and by then he’d over 120 appearances and averaging a goal every other game! He moved to Man City for a period before joining us but by then his goalscoring prowess had been blunted somewhat and he only managed 18 in 101 appearances – who remembers in addition to the 4 on his debut a hattrick vs. Coventry on Boxing Day 1978 and a last minute winner vs Liverpool a couple of weeks prior to that? Joe talks fondly of his time at City which ended when finances dictated a move to Norwich after relegation from the top flight. He talks about being interviewed for the manager’s job here in 82 which went to Terry Cooper and our loss at that time proved to be Oldham’s gain as he took them to the top flight for what was a 3 year stay in 1991 as well as a losing League Cup Final appearance [1990]. He returned to manage his boyhood club Everton in 1994 and there achieved FA Cup Final success in 1995 which remains their last trophy success. Joe was manager of Man City from 1998-2001 and with successive promotions took them from League 1 to the Premier League and back down to the Championship and predictable sacking. Four years at Ipswich came at a time when the Tractor Boys had major financial problems but twice he took them to the Championship playoffs only to suffer semi-final heartbreak on both occasions to West Ham. Most recently he has been a director at Wigan Athletic.

Thanks for the positive comments so far! Asked him who was one player he tried to sign but who elected to stay where he was before going on to a stellar career for club and country - Gerry Gow + Mr.X in midfield and we'd have done at least a decade in the top flight.

I was privileged to recently have the company of Alan Dicks as he shared with me his memories of managing City in this special episode of our Forever Bristol City podcast: https://foreverbristolcity.podbean.com/e/in-conversation-with-former-city-manager-alan-dicks/ [also on Google, Spotify & Apple] If you are over 60 you’ll be able to recall most of what former manager Alan Dicks has to say in this fascinating insight into his time at Ashton Gate. If you are younger then it offers the chance to hear tales from a man who took City to the top flight 46 years ago. When he became manager at City in October 1967 he was only 33 – that’s younger than LJ was and he’d not even had a no.1 role! In this interview you’ll hear Alan recount stories involving Jimmy Hill, Tommy Docherty, & Bryan Robson to name just a few. Also how Norman Hunter was never going to stay, Gary Collier leaving on freedom of contract and how, when his time at City came to an end, he wasn’t actually fired but instead rejected the chance to move upstairs and be finance director!

Here, here!!

Excellent post which largely concurs with the sentiments we express on FBC Podcast

https://foreverbristolcity.podbean.com/e/this-season-can-t-disappear-down-the-drain-soon-enough/ If you're sick of hearing Ian, Mark & DaveP spout their usual drivel then this latest episode offers a different viewpoint with the erudite views of FBC debutant Nigel Whittle. Nothing positive to come out of last night's game whatsoever with two more shabby goals conceded and Williams just lasting 15 minutes after coming on before the break.

Live at 10 tonight when you can hear us spout our usual *hit win, lose or draw! Here's the link: https://www.podbean.com/lsw/voj3TKjf6G?lsid=DM1xATlOukR

Ian - your opinion, fair enough but people took the same view of Piers Morgan - love him or loathe him! Ian is an opinionated old sod and his delivery and manner can come across as rude and self righteous - I take it all with a pinch of salt.

Sorry to have lost you as a listener I don't get the Ian worship comment - it's his opinion same as my slagging off COD or Weimann and in this week's episode I held my hand up, not for the first time, to say I was wrong about our leading scorer and what do I know anyway! I had a DM on Twitter the other day and this comment, "I especially like the way you will confront issues that other podcasts won't for fear of upsetting the club", just goes to prove that we have others who take an alternative view. I don't know how many downloads OSIB get as they are not in the public domain but based on data published on Podbean our last 4 post match pods on aggregate are 7% higher than 3 Peaps [2-2] whereas 4 months ago we were lagging 40+% behind most of the time. To all, I say apologies for the sound which I strive to make consistently listenable.

Was offered the tickets for Man Utd. a while back and thought it was on the Sunday! Had it been then would have taken both games in. Great to see Ronaldo score that hat trick in the twilight of his career but attending as a neutral [any game] just doesn't do it for me. Also, sorry for the sound [again] - was recording on Zoom from a hotel room with a weak wi-fi. Why the lavish praise from Pearson for Martin but muted in comparison on Cundy? I think we're right about Zak being on the so-called naughty step. Finally, re. Weimann - I held my hands up again to apologize for my past criticism in this latest episode.

LISTEN HERE: https://foreverbristolcity.podbean.com/e/at-last-a-win-on-the-road/ A much needed 3 points, an end to the dreadful away run and a clean sheet to boot. Ian & Mark go through the game with DaveP who was at Old Trafford yesterday to see a Renaldo hat-trick. Big question for Nige is does he recall Kalas for the trip to Oakwell on Tuesday? Credit to Weimann who looks on course to secure a 20 goal season for the first time in his career. Another match saving display from Bentley; I feared the worst as local hero Bradley Dack stepped up for his pen. Shout out for JD who’s arguably our most improved player of late and on Cundy, maybe Ian has been right all along?