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The entire Lansdown era, starting with the missed appointment of Moyes right up to current wreckage left by Ashton, has been a huge missed opportunity IMO. Yes, he’s been a safe pair of hands, for which I’m grateful, but it’s long gone stale and BCFC needs new impetus. Every one of his managerial appointments except for GJ have been underwhelming (most of us know Cotterill was Dawe’s man). Even when we were top of the Championship under GJ and before FFP, he kept the purse strings tight. We could've had Ebanks-Blake, ended up with Adebola. Getting involved with Ashton, after SOD had done the donkey work to put the sort of backroom hierarchy in place that we now crave, was his worst mistake. I think SL gets hoodwinked by bullshitters, which makes him a classic fool in the footballing world IMO. The Gate’s a nice ground nowadays, but I preferred the old days of the East End. Maybe it’s too nice; too nice for the opposition, little atmosphere etc. As for the new training ground, it delivers anything but high performance and therein lies the irony. Can anyone share the whole article from The Athletic, please?

Awful dilapidating disease of which there’s currently no cure. It’s becoming more and more common these days, and yet the funding for research is nowhere near the levels for cancer or HIV for example. Poor fella.

We sure could’ve have had him before he went to Everton. He was on a family holiday in Florida, cut it short and was on his way to sign for us only to be told when he landed that Pulis got the job instead. If I recall correctly, that was a SL decision and it led to the other board members (Laycock and Davidson?) resigning. No guarantees he’d have done it here, but the rest as they say is history. Glad to see him succeeding and West Ham’s patience paying off.

And Rob McKenzie, who’s also at Villa in a senior recruitment role. ?

Disagree. SL is a gullible fool in the football world. He’s been hoodwinked by both Johnsons and Ashton. For the first time in my life, we had a proper football structure in place when Cotterill took over and he brought it all together. Sadly, that snake Ashton was lurking in the background undermining the good work the likes of real football people like SOD and Burt had put in. NP is the first footballing person since then the club has employed and he’s bitten off more than he can chew, both with the players at his disposal and the lack of resources. I agree we look like relegation fodder, but that’s on SL for presiding over this shower of shit and allowing the previous regime to ride roughshod.

The progress has been poor because the players we have are poor. It’s as simple as that IMO. The ones who’ve been here for a while have been cruising for at least two years and the youngsters are not good enough for this level yet. The chances are they never will be. It’s not difficult to see.

It’s not as black and white as that though, is it? For example, look at the respective squad numbers each of them had. Look at the impact playing behind closed doors had. Plenty of things to add your equation for balance, and the answer never was Holden IMO.

To be fair, I did think we were hard to play against and then NP got the virus for a second time. Since then, and in his absence, it seems to me like they’ve gone back to their old ways.

No, I don’t. But I genuinely believe not even Guardiola or Bielsa could get any more out of this poor squad. We are a rabble, and have been for two years.

There’s a big difference between a manager and a head coach, two totally different roles. NP makes no secret that he’s a delegator, rather than a hands-on coach. KP and JD are part of the problem. You can’t polish shit, as LJ, DH and NP all show. Nobody, and I mean nobody, would get a different tune out of these players IMO. They’re soft physically and mentally, and have no pride or desire to better themselves. They’re more than happy picking up their wages in their comfortable surroundings. That’s not an opinion formed now, it’s one formed over two years. Can a decent manager turn water into wine as well? That’s what some on here seem to expect, despite SL turning the funding taps off. We are a car crash of a club, and that ain’t NP’s fault IMO.

Because he knows his hands are tied! WTF don’t you understand? The players are soft as shit, and it doesn’t matter who’s in charge for as long as we have these players. That’s on MA but the buck stops with SL.

If ever there was a day to lump on whoever City are playing, today is it. Soft-as-shit Vyner and his ball watching at CB, a weak inexperienced midfield, and a lethargic-looking attack all points to a home win. Hopefully it’s more Peterborough away than Birmingham.

I hope he's back to full health soon and that his perpetually underperforming players put in a shift for him, themselves and the shirt tomorrow. Get well soon, Nige.

Wishful thinking.

A relegation battle loomed before a ball was even kicked in anger for me, because I’m of the opinion a lot of players weren’t up to it and still aren’t. It all boils down to individual expectations and this current crop in the current financial climate has done nothing over the last 18 months and more to suggest 2021/22 will be anything else than a bottom-eight struggle.

Depends what the actual fee was we paid for him; some say nearer £2m, others nearer £8m. But yeah, I agree.

To add to that, that was the last time we had a Director of Football in place (Keith Burt) and any sort of scouting network to call upon. The results were clear and all of the business done early in the summer, before the start of that pre-season. That suggests a lot of planning went into it and there was clear direction. Ashton dismantled that, put in his own men and the results are also equally clear. LJ deserves credit for the signings of Brownhill and Webster, those kept us afloat, but beyond that there’s not one player signed during in that time who’s been bought and sold for a considerable profit (transfer fee and wages included). Therein lies the problem and where we find ourselves now. The project is huge and money needs to be spent to get the right people in recruitment, leading to the right blend of players on the pitch. SL has turned the taps off at the worst time, although I understand why in the current financial climate.

It's more likely that he just isn't the same player he was before his injury. It happens all the time, and he's a shadow of his old self.

Webster, Ayling, Bryan, Eliasson, Kodjia. And I’d argue we’re still one short.

I agree with that, Dave. IMO we look more solid in a back four, rather than a three, and I'd like to know why we've abandoned the solidity with which we started the season. There's not been more than a goal in it for most games this season, and I can accept the defeats to Bournemouth and WBA by more than one goal. But it was concerning to see the manner in which we lost last night. As for Martin, it's clear we don't have back-up for him. At the very least, we were a striker and a winger/wide attacker short when the August window closed.

Absolutely. But it’s also indicative of the players he inherited either not being anywhere near good enough ability-wise, or being past their best. The fact that a RB who was playing L2 football less than three months ago and a CB who was in L1 last season are two of our better, more consistent players shows the shite left behind. By the shite left behind I mean Vyner, Bakinson, COD, Palmer, Semenyo and increasingly Dasilva. Martin, Weimann, Wells, Bentley and Kalas could all be contributing much more than they are. Baker’s done OK but is injured again, leaving Massengo as the only exception of those signed under the previous regime — and let’s not forget Holden wanted to bomb him out in exchange for Birmingham’s Pedersen last January. King and Simpson on one-year deals I have no issue with; both are PL winners who should be able to pass on valuable experience. But their best days are behind them. James is a good signing, look at the way we crumbled last night after he went off for evidence of that. What’s left is largely academy graduates who are learning on the job at this level and with no money to spend, I struggle to see what anyone could do with this squad. All my opinion, both now and last summer.

The players who remain from LJ/MA’s watch outnumber Nige’s players and simply aren’t good enough. End of.

I’m just waiting Vyner’s ball watching at a corner to kick in. Our Achilles heel.

Benarous has got a lot of talent and I didn’t see the harm in giving him a run-out from the bench today as it showed how far away he is from the first XI. Alternatively, he might be ready but was just overwhelmed by it all today. Either way, that’s another academy graduate making their first XI debut (that’s a positive) and I think he’s got a good chance of making it.

I’m glad to see him move on, personally. Not a fan of his slap-dash writing style and his interview technique is abysmal. The difference in the quality of content Piercy produced when Gregor was on paternity leave was chalk and cheese. Good luck to him going forward, he will need it.