fgrsimon

5 hours ago, Super said:

Our lack of goals is proving to be a real issue now. 16 goals in 16 games is really poor. We have zero creativity in midfield.

Especially considering 4 (well 3 first half) of those came against Plymouth reserves largely thanks to a bizarre decision by their manager to rotate 7 of their squad. I think the powers that be were thinking on TC to get 20 goals this season for their claim of top 6 to be in any way realistic because the rest of the front line will struggle to get into double figures individually, in the league.

Well 3 Championship clubs have made an unnecessary manager change this season and so far it's not working out too well for Birmingham or Huddersfield! Let's see how it's looking in a few months time... 

On 24/10/2023 at 09:58, Red-Robbo said:

 

The Blue Aeroplanes is the band he's most associated with.

I met him a few times in the 80s in the St Werbergh's house party scene.  You'd always have several "Aeroplanes" and other Bristol musicians hanging out at every gathering.

Nice bloke - and an awesome guitarist.

Only just read this in the Obits in Mojo magazine. Very sad and quite a shock as I had no idea he was ill.

Saw him live with Blue Aeroplanes and Massive Attack many times and he performed at the 5th birthday party for the little record label me and my mates ran.

He's all over 'Swagger' and 'Beatsongs' for the Blue Aeroplanes and 'Mezzanine' for Massive Attack, 3 genuinely brilliant albums.

35 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Who the **** is Mark Kelly? What position does he play?

Keyboard player with Marillion.

Bournemouth have proved that attendances are of little importance in the PL.

It would be nice though at some point to integrate the Atyeo neatly into the rest of the ground. It just looks a bit 'untidy' but I've probably got OCD!

Theoretically if SL did own all of the neighbouring houses could he leave them in situ and rebuild the stand? i.e. are the regulations absolute or does it  only come into play if the houseowners object?  

35 minutes ago, luke_bristol said:

Maybe we should let a random season ticket holder pick the team every week. 

That has sort of already been done. Ebbsfleet when they were owned by MyFC.com. The supporters so say were going to have some say in selection. Can't remember if it actually happened but the whole experiment didn't end well.

1 hour ago, Phil White said:

USA - Crayola 

Biro - Hungary

If Carlsberg did Flounces 

This one is 3 years and about 50000 words long.

19 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

The fact that wages are about 1/3 of turnover for AGL and it still runs at a loss- granted depreciation and amortisation plus no separate cash..Well the obvious question of tax offsetting even a small amount but really from a cost control perspective that kind of company shouldn't be making a loss surely. IMO.

Could the loss be because these are 2021-2022 accounts and so were partly affected by Covid?

4 hours ago, !james said:

Feels like we need to pin a topic explaining who owns what within Bristol Sport! 

Hey presto! (courtesy of DaveFevs / Eiled Ajax)

@ExiledAjax created this…he might have an update.

17 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Ah yeah part of ground closed for repairs, possibly a bit restricted by FFP but less than us. Would have to compare the full year accounts for both when out however. He isnt terrible, suppose it is a tough job for a rookie- just not sure how he is a markedly superior or would be a superior choice vs NP.

No I quite agree, I haven't seen anyone mentioned seriously that would be a superior choice vs NP but that sadly is no longer a choice we have. Unless after a vigorous search someone comes to the conclusion that NP is in fact the outstanding option and a good human! 

It's just that of the front runners for me JE is the most exciting choice

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

@ExiledAjax created this…he might have an update.

Yes that's the fella thanks. It's a bit of reassurance anyway.

17 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Birmingham wage bill wise etc and relegation, not like the squad was really anything other than midtable to lower midtable. 

Inept Governance of which Birmingham had plenty can drag even a reasonable side down and being really well run can elevate some sides. I don't see how a wage bill of £25-30m most likely is relegation worthy.

I was just going by what the bookies thought.

Were they in much of a better state than Reading at the time? Thought they had some sort of embargo and definitely half ground was closed.

Anyway it's probablt irrelevant until there is any official announcement that JE is the new man.

26 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

The financial accounts are out there for all to see.

The intra-group transactions do make it hard to get a true picture though.  Having said that at a really basic level, Ashton Gate Ltd (the stadium) basically makes a bit of money to cover off some of the interest on the loans from SL and the depreciation of the stadium.  But it still makes a loss.  There might be good reason why it’s made to run at a loss.  I’m not an accountant though.

 

You posted a very useful flow diagram thingy of the Bristol Sport hierarchy a while ago. Have you still got it? Can't remember whether AG Ltd is under BCFC1982 or whether both were under another holding company? 

Either way I'm pretty sure the football club still owns/controls the stadium.

38 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Did he?....33% win ratio and only has 63 championship matches to his name?

They were odds-on favourites for relegation when he took over last summer.

Birmingham, Reading and Rotherham were comfortably the bookies favourites to go down pre-season, Brum and Reading were both a shambles off the field. I remember this well because, about this time last year, all 3 were above us in the league! It's never easy here

So in that context yes he did well, look where Reading are now.

If it's him I suppose it's at least logical in a weird circular way - Manager sacked against fans wishes replaced by manager sacked against fans wishes

6 minutes ago, Jose said:

 

Based on what? 12 games this season? 

They were favourites to go down 2022-2023 and a shambles off the field with stands closed due to safety issues, transfer embargo, owners who wanted out etc, so he did well to keep them up pretty comfortably.

On 29/10/2023 at 20:48, 42104RED said:

No thanks on Ainsworth:

 

That's an out take from 'The Day Today' surely? Like the 'releasing a pig into the office environment' sketch

Actually Ainsworth is a good bloke but should have stayed at Wycombe where he did a brilliant job. I loved the fighting spirit they showed in that one season in the Championship. We deserved to go down more than they did that year.

The Gas could do worse than him but don't tell them.

Been following City since 1983 and I was thinking today that this is the first time I've actually been pissed off at a sacking in all that time. Obviously gutted when JJ left first time around but that was his choice to leave for a ahem 'bigger' club (Hearts). So gutted in fact I can still remember exactly where I was when I read it (on the Northern Line between Finchley Central and East Finchley as it happens). All the others had reached a natural end, even Steve Cotteril, I was very sad when he was sacked but it was the right decision.

I suppose I was a bit disappointed that John Pemberton wasn't kept on instead of LJ taking over and I'm still convinced that without the points we got when Pemberton was caretaker, we would have been relegated.

The ones I was most glad to see the back of were Jimmy Lumsden, Pulis and LJ. I remember the Pulis side being totally lacking in goals but Tony Thorpe was perpetually on the bench! Lumsden got rid of Bob Taylor...

5 hours ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

so how many football clubs in the Championship make a profit?

I would guess none. It's a financial black hole.

Maybe Plymouth or Rotherham at a stretch. Plymouth were way down the playing budget list even in L1 last season. Rotherham yo-yo L1-L2 fairly happily without breaking the bank.

3 hours ago, bcfc01 said:

Like Luke Williams maybe.

Youngish, very good reputation in the game and broke all sorts of records at Nott County.

Not my choice (I don't really have one atm) but I think he fits the bill for the Lansdowns.

If he's an option, how about Dave Challinor at Stockport who's achieved pretty much the same but has a bit more experience? Never failed as a manager (win percent 53.6)and if he could get young Louie Barry on-loan from Villa again all the better. Also he's got one qualification that no other prospective manager would have - a First Class degree in Physiotherapy, given the injury problems we perpetually have that could be very useful!

I was reading about Southend this evening; due to extreme off field issues they have been operating with a squad of 15 this season, 4 on the bench on Saturday (including a 37 year old goalkeeper). No U21 team/players as far as I know. The National League schedule is very intense early in the season, they've played 18 League games so far plus FA Cup games, they've overcome a 10 point deduction and are now 14th.

I suggest someone at Ashton Gate looks at how they are handling fitness and injuries. Yes it's a much lower level of football but they are full-time players too. Would be interesting to know if they are doing anything specific to try to limit injuries and maintain fitness while still being competetive. If they had our squad they'de be starting games with 6 players!!

1 hour ago, italian dave said:

I know this has been a big day, but standards have to be maintained.

There’s no excuse for this thread having hit the depths of page 2. 

Yes even in our darkest moments they can still find some way of cheering us up. Now no chance of a new ground in my lifetime and the new owners can't afford to rebuild the Mem themselves. Oh dear.

This video hasn't aged well (warning - contains some disturbing scenes for Bristol City supporters)

"It's absolutely vital and important for this club to have a new modern stadium. It's a big project and we are moving in the right direction" followed by some shots of some railway sidings.

Yes it could happen.

The bottom 3 look well off the pace and already adrift but one of them can and will press the 'W' button.  With such a depleted squad and no manager, we could quite easily lose the next 3 and we'd be right in it.

I'm just wondering if we might see a few back from injury in the next couple of weeks. The only logic I can find for sacking NP is that somehow the powers that be think that NP (in conjunction with Dave Rennie) is responsible for the injury crisis but I'm clutching at straws.  

It has become a truly dreadful program over the years. When it started under Danny Baker and Danny Kelly it was unmissable, groundbreaking and often very funny but overall was for the fans by fans.

The Savage/Sutton schtick is just painful and it's just hour upon hour of *Man Utd/Arsenal/Liverpool fans moaning and demanding the manager be sacked.

* insert whichever 'big' club is currently struggling to match their supporters entitled expectations.