Redland

Not bizarre at all. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to wonder why Ashton has been able to succeed at Ipswich when he was unable to achieve similar success here. To use your example, if we released a player or sacked an employee who then went on to achieve great things I think it would be unrealistic not to recognise this.

Yes, I appreciate that Ashton spent a lot of money but presumably the players he signed were wanted by whoever was the manager at the time.

I am sure that I am not the only one who has been waiting for newly promoted lpswich’s bubble to burst but following yet another win yesterday they appear to be relentlessly marching on to automatic promotion to the Premier League. Under their new US owners I believe Ashton was headhunted and has been given relatively free rein to run the club and the appointment of McKenna as manager has proved to be inspired. In contrast I think there is little doubt that the managerial appointments at City of Keith Millen, Lee Johnson and Dean Holden were driven by Steve Lansdown and Ashton had the unenviable job of presenting these underwhelming decisions to the fans and media. When he made comments along the lines of the “outstanding candidate“ being appointed what was he supposed to say? He could hardly say “well, it was Steve’s decision, so you better ask him.“ Similarly I am sure that it was SL’s decision to persist with LJ for over four and a half years including a remarkable period that saw the club “achieve” a new record for the number of successive league defeats. The fact that we no longer even have a CEO provides further indication where the footballing decisions are made at our club. As the season progresses I can’t help but feel envious of Ipswich and wonder if the previous criticism of Mark Ashton on this forum is justified. I certainly think it is reasonable to ask why he has been so successful at Ipswich and not here. Incidentally a good mate of mine is an Ipswich fan and whilst they have a more successful history than us they are not a “fashionable’ club and I always think of them as a similar club to City. There is still a long way to go but I wish them all the best for the rest of the season.

Under Nigel Pearson after many difficult years I was genuinely enjoying going to watch City again. The team and fans seemed united. The players were committed and fighting for the cause and I felt we were moving forward. For the first season in years I was not worried about relegation and felt that with a couple of quality additions we could be aiming for the top six. I was genuinely shocked when Pearson was sacked and I am sad to say that after 60 years a lot of my enthusiasm for the club drained out of me. Pearson was one of the few managers we have had who has a proven track record including promotion from the Championship. The board then choose to throw it all away and have appointed an inexperienced manager with no Championship experience and already the consequences are plain to see. For me the tragic thing is that this situation was unnecessary and entirely self-inflicted. Sorry if this is going over some old ground but felt it only fair to let LM have the benefit of his “new manager bounce” before commenting.

Jon Lansdown got rid of Pearson because he said the squad wasn’t performing to its potential under his management. Should be top six etc. For me the most frustrating thing is that we will never know what would have been achieved if Pearson had been supported by the Lansdowns.

Just showing my age.

Will it include the Football League Review ?

I’m preparing to be underwhelmed. I remember when LJ eventually left and SL said it was time for a fresh face. We were told we had a short list of high-quality candidates etc, etc and after several weeks and a thorough and exhaustive interview process we appointed …….. Dean Holden.

No. it will not be a woman.

Unfortunately it’s just what I expect as a city fan. If you are on a bad run it seems there is no better team to play than Bristol City.

I read that Leicester City had gone 17 consecutive home games without keeping a clean sheet until they played us last Saturday. Stoke haven’t had an away win this season so ……..

It’s 13 years since Steve Coppell parted company with the club after just one game as manager and we still haven’t been told why he left. I’m not holding my breath waiting for an explanation from the club as to why PA has departed.

?

Can one more person please like my post on page 3? I have always wanted a green box around one of my posts. Cheers.

Yep. I can remember the fans singing “should have built a team and not a stand“.

SL has kept the club afloat financially for years. He has put his hand in his pocket time and time again. He has given us a modern Premier League quality stadium and the new high-performance centre is first class and will help to attract quality players. On the downside after 20 years we are still in the championship mainly due to a shocking record in terms of managerial appointments. This was really brought home to me after LJ left and SL said it was time for a fresh approach. Ashton told us about the dozens of quality applicants who had applied and we appointed ………… drum roll ………….Dean Holden! That was the point I began to lose faith. Perhaps it is time for change and we know that Steve is seeking outside investment. However, I believe that Steve has always had the best interests of Bristol City at heart and he is no doubt as disappointed as the rest of us that we have not managed to reach the Premier League. Personally, I think we have been fortunate to have had the support that SL has given us and I find the personal abuse he receives from certain posters on this forum unbelievable.

Takes me back. Fred Ford was the manager when as a youngster I first started supporting City in 1967. I used to cut out the old black-and-white photographs from the Evening Post, stick them in my scrapbook and then hang around the players/directors entrance after the match to get autographs.

Probably won’t be popular for saying it but with the signings of players like George Fiend, Jack Hunt and Harvey Vale and with the likes of Scott Sinclair already onboard I think that unfortunately Rovers could do well this season. The team certainly looks a lot stronger than this time last year.

Well for a start the last home game against Preston.

Sorry, double post

Unfortunately he hasn’t got his facts right. He refers to us scoring lots of last-minute goals whereas the late goal at Millwall was an exception. The reality is that we concede many late goals and regularly drop points from a winning position. This is hardly indicative of the resilience that he talks about.

I remember that when our planning application for the new stadium at Ashton Vale planning went before Bristol City Council the chairman of Brighton kindly came up to the meeting in Bristol and spoke in favour of the application. He explained how the development of the AMEX had benefited both football club and Brighton as a whole Although planning permission was granted the development was subsequently prevented by the Village Green farce. I believe the law has now been changed to prevent this situation happening again in that an application for a Village Green cannot be made after a planning application has been submitted.

Great to get a last minute winner when in recent seasons we have always been on the receiving end of so many late goals. As they say, what goes around comes around.

Since it has now been reported that Scott will be out injured for a couple of months it seems we wouldn’t have had him for the early part of the season even if he had stayed.

You are joking!