Leveller

3 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

I think maybe we all just need to have the humility to acknowledge that managerial appointments are ALWAYS something of a gamble - particularly for an average club like ours - and none of us really know how it’s going to work out.

Look at our track record on this forum:

- McInnes and SOD broadly popular choices at the time, but both failed.

- Cotterill broadly not wanted, but did really well.

- LJ broadly not wanted, but did OK.

- Holden unanimously not wanted - we got one right!

- Pearson overwhelming a positive appointment, very disappointing so far.

In fact, given the ultimate failure of so many different types of managers at City at this level - journeymen (Cotterill), young and modern (LJ), deep thinker (SOD), novice (Holden), proven (Pearson - so far)…it’s difficult not to conclude that there is a much more fundamental issue at our club. What makes us think yet another new manager is going to be the answer? I think the issue runs deeper even than Lansdown. Is it a long-standing culture of failure? A city so starved of sporting success it simply has no idea how to achieve it? I just don’t know any more.

Sorry, this post has become a stream of consciousness. But I really am left wondering what on earth is wrong with our club. I don’t have the answer. But I suspect it isn’t the manager. Either way, it’s depressing. And I wish I’d been born in Manchester.

Your first point is spot on. And most of the people blaming Lansdown would probably have agreed with the unsuccessful appointments and disagreed with the successful ones. If I had two billion quid, I’d probably be no good at choosing football managers either. Let’s hope Mr Gould is better at it.

18 hours ago, GlastonburyRed said:

I think there has been near universal agreement that the tweet was misjudged. It’s the disproportionate response on here that raises questions of a double standard and a pile on motivated by something other than the tweet’s content. 

Completely disagree. Almost everybody has been discussing his tweet in a balanced manner, while a few have added that they don’t rate his presenting. Nothing else to see. 

I must admit that over the last fifty years I don’t recall feeling that Bristol City was generally a bigger club than Cardiff or Swansea. Similar, and all with fluctuating fortunes, I would have said, though I don’t have stats to prove it!

38 minutes ago, Fjmcity said:

In terms of overall equality that we all (right?) strive for, no it probably isn't appropriate - however to use it as a stick to beat the feminism cause (or equality cause lets say) is wrong. Mis steps in the strive for equality does not give old fashioned values regarding woman the right to continue

I didn’t see it as a stick to beat the equality cause - quite the opposite. Seems more like a complaint about hypocrisy, ie the attitudes that straight men have been rightly condemned for, now seem fair game from women and gay men. We should all be judged by the same criteria, surely, in the name of equality?

Australia smashed by a bloke born in Taunton. Perfect.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10140003/Chelsea-loanee-Ethan-Ampadu-sent-inch-perfect-tackle-loan-spell-Venezia.html

This has been much debated on Twitter and in the press but I haven't seen it mentioned here, so perhaps people haven't seen it?

A few people have defended the ref, but not many. I'm old school and see it as a perfect tackle, even if Ribery was tripped (not hurt) by the follow through.

What do others think? is a tackle illegal now if there is any contact with the tackled player?

On 26/10/2021 at 17:28, BrightCiderLife said:

I’m not sure getting into the etymology is of any assistance. The word he used brings to mind a very particular atrocity which is of no comparison to a footballer not being on form. It is that comparison which is offensive (if you need me to spell it out, millions of deaths are not the same as a few misplaced passes). It is not to do with any specific religions, races or creeds, but straight forward decency.

I don’t see many on here calling for him to be sacked as a result, people are simply saying what he said was crass and he should apologise for the (unintentional, perhaps) offence he has caused.
 

You and others might call it woke, or cancel culture but it’s really just about thinking before you speak and not saying things that any right minded people would say are wrong and inappropriate. His and the club’s failure to apologise is by this point worse than him ranting without thinking. A quick tweet clarifying he didn’t mean it on Saturday evening would have dealt with it, now it looks like he/they think the comparison between their player’s loss of form and the systematic murder and torture of millions is a fair one. They are wrong to think so and are rightly criticised for it. 

I'd have to disagree there. The point is that the word holocaust has only very recently been appropriated solely to the Nazi concentration camps, and those of us from an older generation (I'm 65) are used to using it in a wider context. The etymology is actually from Greek (via Latin) meaning "wholly burnt" and if you'd asked me ten years ago for an example of a holocaust I would have mentioned "nuclear holocaust" (as some have) in reference to Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the firebombing of Dresden - all Allied actions. The Nazi death camps have been discussed for 75 years or more, but I'm sure "The Holocaust" in reference to them is relatively recent. Language changes, but holocaust remains a valid word to use to describe a firestorm.

Now I'm not suggesting that Joey Barton had all this in his mind (or anything much at all) when speaking, but I doubt he was consciously referencing Nazi atrocities. It is possible he was familiar with the wider and more correct usage.

1 minute ago, steviestevieneville said:

I notice you still haven’t answered my question . Is it possibly because you haven’t got a clue what you’re on about ? 

There’s admittedly no point in sacking Pearson - he may as well be given time to see what he can do. However, it’s difficult to see why he’s still getting the hero treatment when he has made almost no progress in improving performances after the best part of a year.

Oddly, Dean Holden still gets virtually zero understanding, despite having been dealt almost the same hand and doing no worse.

7 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said:

What sitters have Weimman, Wells and Martin had today?

 

Have you actually been watching the game?

We've created nothing of note and didn't manage a shot in the first half.

Hugill alone had enough good chances for 4 or 5 in just the first half.

No point in criticising strikers until the lot behind them can create chances.

1 hour ago, mozo said:

Bruce at Cardiff next perhaps?

Bruce has said he'll probably retire. But also "never say never". Boro when Warnock goes?

I was a bit surprised to see “Brooks 7” warming up on the pitch. Then I realised there are about twenty of them!

OK, it’s only a minor curiosity.

However, I’ve just watched the recent ITV documentary on one of my heroes Jimmy Greaves.

Showing his league debut for Chelsea in 1957, footage of the players running out revealed one Alan Dicks a couple of places in front of him - they were in the same starting lineup.

Its a funny old game.

1 minute ago, The Original OTIB said:

Calling it on the game, been poor. 

Nowhere near as bad as Kane though.

22 hours ago, Rocking Red Cyril said:

Found article interesting about them flashing up on electronic signs it seems facts of our eco crisis .

 

Are there footnotes anywhere to explain this sentence?

1 hour ago, REDOXO said:

Arsenal 76. It hasn’t even got a mention. 
 

WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY! And repeat!

Oh yes it has! I agree though - the first game after promotion to the First Division after decades away, and the fixture seemed to be a cruel one, with the danger of a thumping. Then to win it, and to be there!

5 minutes ago, downendcity said:

Ffp limits the amount of losses an owner can underwrite, in effect how much he/she can directly invest in the playing side of things. 

However there is no such restriction on investment in infrastructure. The old AG produced ticket sales on match days, but relatively little other revenue. I think I'm right in saying that we were the only championship club without any corporate boxes. 

The new AG generates greater match day income but also on other days because of the corporate facilities now available. All the revenue generated by the stadium can be used on the playing side. 

Similarly SL can invest in the academy, which he has. Developing our own players not only saves on transfer fees  and wages if we produce championship able players, but if those players are good enough and want to play at a higher level, e.g Lloyd Kelly, then it generates larger profits on sale, which can be reinvested on the playing side. 

I am sure the investment in the stadium will enhance the asset value but in this case I am pretty sure there was wider motivation around the benefit to the club in terms of longer term financial sustainability. 

I totally agree - I was just fending off the anti Lansdown jibes in advance. SL’s strategy benefits the club; we just need better recruitment and management to use the FFP budget more effectively.

5 minutes ago, bris red said:

Shocking really. Half of the clubs in the Championship including ourselves have better training facilities than Newcastle, that says it all really. Apart from the obvious of buying in new players i think the new owners first job should be getting their facilities up to date.

It would be interesting to see how BCFC compared with that list, considering the stadium and training ground costs. That’s one area where the Lansdown regime has really performed. And yes, I understand the argument that SL is just increasing the value of his investment at the expense of overspending on the squad.

5 hours ago, TheReds said:

Mixed football? I hope you don't mean at a top level, as they just wouldn't be able to compete at that level.

Logically though it could work, if each team was obliged to have a set number of men and women.

Looks like the pitch has been singed! I wonder if that can be fixed in time.

I find it fascinating that there is in depth analysis of the accounts on OTIB, while there seems to be very little actual analysis in the Derby forum.

On 05/10/2021 at 18:00, Robin101 said:

 

Yeah they seem to have a solid following in Brazil. As far as I know the Corinthian club in Brazil is actually named after the English club though!

Socrates himself made an appearance for Corinthian Causals. And the non league team toured Brazil in 2015, playing the Brazilian Corinthians side in front of 30,00 people!

Quite an interesting story: https://footballwhispers.com/blog/favela-parties-food-drives-facebook-superstars-inside-story-corinthian-casuals-brazil/

I’m sure there was a TV documentary about that.

Am I the only person who didn’t know the CSF still existed?  Are they all pensioners now are are there young ones?

13 hours ago, Wanderingred said:

You can’t be serious surely? We all know about China’s human rights issues regarding freedom of speech and the Uighur people and I’m certainly not brushing it under the carpet but Shariah Law is utterly barbaric. This is a country where raped women are public ally stoned to death for adultery, homosexuals and petty thieves have body parts amputated and religious police patrol the streets, forcing people into mosques during prayer time and dishing out corporal punishment to any violators of their laws. 

I’d put all gulf countries far ahead of China in terms of human rights abuses. Here, the majority of people are at least able to live a relatively normal life. In Saudi, shariah law dictates every aspect of their life and stepping out of line has brutal repercussions.

Well for a start, I imagine that numerically the Uighur abuses outweigh any abuses of people in Saudi Arabia. Then we have the joys of the Cultural Revolution, the annexation of Tibet, the crushing of Hong Kong. It all depends how far back you go and how much you value the switch from real communism to the weird state controlled capitalism they have moved to. It’s a vastly bigger place of course, so you can argue numerically or otherwise.

6 hours ago, BetterRedThanBlue said:

Whilst I'm happy for their fans getting rid of Ashley who feels like he ripped the soul out of the club I'm always on the fence with capital from Saudi Arabia with their human rights issues.

Lots of comments along these lines, but there seem to be few objections to Abramovich or Chinese owners. I doubt the Saudis are anywhere near as bad as the Chinese on human rights issues.

22 minutes ago, Super said:

What makes you think they will be up there challenging?

Well eventually, the level of funds that have available could and should project them on the same sort of improvement that Man City went through - if they are fully committed.