ooRya

12 hours ago, Robbored said:

I know I keep repeating it but Nige is a proper manager. We’re lucky to have him.

Compare his pressers to any of our previous managers within the last 20 odd years and he’s head and shoulders above them all.

He definitely is an impressive guy and manager. A natural born leader of men,

He has an appalling win ratio, but he's good in pressers.

Well that's OK then.

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Of course it could be possible that one of Bents or Max is injured, or just taking no chances with having 3 goalies in the match day preparation “squad””

^^

This

If the PL/EFL announcement had been something like;

AS A MARK OF RESPECT, ALL MATCHES WILL START WITH A MINUTES SILENCE, FOLLOWED BY A RENDITION OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM.

ALL PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS WILL BE ASKED TO WEAR BLACK ARMBANDS.

Would anyone have been offended or upset? I suggest not.

Whereas with the decision that has been made, all they have done is create bad feeling.

Postponed. Non Event.

Wish I could still go to the cinema tomorrow....oh hang on, I can.

Shame I can't go for a pint and a meal afterwards though...oh hang on, I can.

A lovely end to the day after watching City thrash Preston..........oh wait

Absolutely ridiculous decision.

I think that the confidence that is running through the team at the moment, will outweigh any pressure from "expectation".

2 hours ago, Alessandro said:

The past is the past, but I have seen a fair amount of re-writing of history recently on here when it comes to LJ and MA.

With the benefit of hindsight, you can take a step back and say "that was wrong" and "that worked".

The fact is, what, 9,10 of those players in the squad vs. Huddersfield were bought or were coming through/developed during the MA/LJ period.

Yes, I've been critical, MA and LJ/DH left us in a FFP mess, the recruitment process wasn't working, however, firstly you can't deny the impact of covid and secondly we were, during that period, one big player sale fee from being closer to, if not well in, the black, simplistically.

Secondly, yes, in the end, the football style became too pragmatic and tough to watch and Holden compounded that, but let's not forget that there were periods of good football, consistent top half challenges and some unforgettable away and home nights (Man Utd e.g). I've read various comments along the line of "years of awful football under LJ is finally over" etc etc - i'm not sure that's entirely fair. 

Thirdly and finally, let's not forget other ground work put in place, off the top of my head the training ground, the influence in facilities at the stadium and work in the academy etc - Alex Scott and Tommy Conway etc didn't come out of nowhere and that era of MA and LJ etc deserves some credit for some of these foundations too IMO.

Anyway, look, as I say past is the past, LJ and MA needed to go and were right to go in the end and we'll learn from their many mistakes - If you never wanted LJ from the start, well i'm sure you're opinion will never change, but to wipe out that whole period as a dark blot our our recent history best forgotten, is IMO unfair and incorrect.

Great post!

Watford is easy parking, and direct route into Wembley

If I was a supporter of Bristol City as a business, then I would agree with the OP. But I'm not, I'm a supporter of Bristol City as a football club, and I want them to try and win things.

So keep the crown jewels and build around them.

7 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

The ‘excuse’ as you call it is very simple and has been explained by myself and others many,many times.

When a club playing in a higher league expresses an interest in a player with the associated massive increase in salary, it becomes impossible to hold on to said player as they will want to move.

Ultimately, they are professional sportsmen who wish to maximize their income and test themselves at the highest level they can.

It is a simple as that. People need to remember that most of the pro players that turn out on a Saturday are not supporters of that team , they are simply doing their job.

Like I said, this is why a city the size of Bristol doesn't have a top flight team. Too many people accept things too easily.

There was a thread recently, asking why a city the size of Bristol doesn't have a top flight team.

Sadly, this is why.

So many people "prepared" to sell, or resigned to selling Semenyo and/or Scott, when in reality, if we ever are going to have a shot at the prem, we need to be building around players like this.

I know people will come back to this to say "£38 mill loss" "FFP" "Points deduction", but that's right now - what's the excuse for the past decades?

36 minutes ago, Monkeh said:

How did Sheffield United get on, a much bigger club with better pulling power then us?

Are they still in league 1?

1 minute ago, GrahamC said:

How did that work out for Wednesday & Ipswich last year?

Presumably big spending Rotherham must have blown them out of the water?

There will always be an exception to the rule, but you and everyone else know that those 3 clubs will be promoted sooner rather than later, due to their "buying" power.

8 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

No, it’s really that simple.

Bournemouth aren’t a “big” club, even in L1, but they did it by cheating FFP, we didn’t.

Tell me, why are Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich and Derby favourites to get promoted from League 1 this year? Is it because they have developed a squad and youth system over the years, gradually building to a point where they can challenge the "big boys", or is it because they are the big boys, with the spending power to match?

4 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

If we sell a player for £2m & then spend the same £2m on five or six players to win the league, that’s not “buying the league”.

What we did is just simply smart business.

 

Not quite that simple though is it.

As a "big" club in league 1, we were able to offer the salary/terms etc to attract those players.

39 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Horseshit.

Our signings under Cotterill were all paid for by selling Sam Baldock.

You can call it horseshit if you like, but the fact is that Bristol City is a "big club" in league 1, with the ability/pull/finances to out-muscle other teams in that league. Ultimately we "bought" our way out of that league, in the same way that Man City etc are able to "buy" the prem title.

6 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

Then you didn’t look very far . I and others were calling out the crazy random spending years ago . Nothing to do with hindsight it was blatantly obvious it was flawed in concept and application . We were shot down in flames by others , like you I guess , who were going giddy with excitement at the numbers being spent . The majority did not scratch the surface . Our escalating wage bill was discussed many many times , but again , was shot down in flames . So you are quite wrong about hindsight . It was staring us in the face it was just too many did not care or want to understand . The basics were being ignored , the reason why we got promoted from L1 ignored , the squad building process from other promotions ignored . 

Not sure about this bit.

IMO we bought ourselves out of league 1

23 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Don’t think so.

Pretty sure there was a fair bit of bemusement at the whole Palmer/Szmodics/Paterson nonsense, replacing Pack with Nagy & bulk signings of the likes of Marley Watkins & Adelakun.

Obviously there are always the “why aren’t we signing more players?” crowd, but I don’t think the ratio was anything like you implied & plenty weren’t convinced it was a matter of when we got promoted.

Gullible me then I guess.

I was a strong supporter of LJ, and for a long period thought that he would lead us to the Prem.

Booze & Glory - West Ham

18 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Sorry, no, not hindsight from me one iota.  I was on the case 4 or so seasons ago….and others were too, some not right back then. I kept asking what are we gonna do when we no longer have any players to sell or the transfer market gravy train stops (I was thinking more a tv deal collapse than covid per se). What are we gonna do when we’ve sweated the Ashton Gate asset, but wages and other costs keep climbing?  You don’t think my dislike of our CEO’s running of City was a recent thing do you?

My first spreadsheets on each club started from the accounts published for each club relating to 16/17, after someone asked me whether we could get to the PL with the “sustainable model”.  Our spending relative to our income was out of control, so yes, I did say (many times) “hang on a minute….”

 

 

OK fair enough.

But I would suggest that you would have been in the tiniest of minorities at that time.

The vibe I was getting in that period was, it was a question of "when" not "if" City achieved promotion.

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

The problem is measuring improvement.  Some posters “winked” themselves into a frenzy over year on year league position improvement, but failed to see the bigger picture of financial doom through paying over the odds in fees and wages.  That’s not a dig at LJ, it’s just a more rounded view that looking at league position alone.  And look where it ended…a downward spiral, with no investment.  That needed a huge turnaround.

 

Isn't hindsight wonderful.

To be honest, I can't remember anybody saying "hang on a minute, I think we are spending too much money"

It's frustrating really for me.

I believe that our "1st team" can easily reach top 6, but squad depth could let us down

Definitely top half this year, and with a fair run and luck with injuries etc, who knows................................

8 hours ago, billywedlock said:

So you disregard all of the factors created by LJ and Ashton and a 39 m loss and the dross of a squad that 39 m they delivered . Give me strength .. City fans are really on another planet . 

No-one is ignoring that, it's a glaring problem for whoever is in charge.

But I still say that I have seen nothing from Pearson to suggest he is the right man for the job.