RedRock

The wave of mass hysteria has hit here in deepest Lanzarotte!

Firstly, if it were my Club I would have supported ‘our Nige’ after the sale of Scott with the promise of more to come in January’s window. He was a cracking manager with many managerial values and principles akin to my own. Even during the ‘dark days’ last Xmas - bar a little wobble - I resolutely supported him. He became entwined into the soul of the Club in a way no other manager - bar Cotts, Dicks, Cooper - has achieved.  I find it difficult to accept he will manage another Club, he became the ‘beating heart’ of Bristol City in a very short time. 

However, I am not totally dismissive of SLs decision. I’m sure towards the end many of the likely agreed ‘performance indicators’ were blazing red. While 100% supportive of the small squad, team is greater than the sum of its parts approach you really have to be built from men of granite, not glass. Our injuries have destroyed us. The injury list is far worse than the worst of pre-Nige. You also need playing partnerships. There are none - as none are in the team sufficiently long enough to forge partnerships before they get injured. You also need to spend wisely. We haven’t. The Club also need to be united, and Nige’s job is to manage up as well as down, and clearly there have been many issues up the line…probably starting with the Danny Simpson saga. 

So while personally I really, really like Nige as a manager and a person, if I were pumping £20 million plus a year into the Club I can see that an investor might take a different view. The decision to terminate Nige’s contract has also to be seen in the context of the new appointee. Nige has set a very high bar. It will be interesting to see how far above that bar the new man is. I would hope the new man is in place today or tomorrow and frankly, for me, that will be ‘judgement day’.  

Desperately sad though to see Nige go though, and hope for a few months he focuses on his health, rather than football. 
 

Gutted.

1 hour ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

He is so trying to get sacked isn`t he?

I wonder if Wally or Alf have the balls to do it. I don`t think they do.

Oh, I do so hope not. A more perfect fit for them you couldn’t find. Loving it.

27 minutes ago, TV Tom said:

Do you actually know what has gone on other than the few words that NP has said? Far too much guess-work going on in this thread which isn't healthy

I fully get that, I really do. Yes, we’re only hearing one side of the story and it could be - and I wouldn’t put it beyond Nige - that he’s playing a canny ‘game’. It could be there is something else going on in the background with Nige that is causing angst in the Organisation, but the powers that be - possibly for very good reason - don’t want to break their silence. 

However, if the Organisation doesn’t communicate well with its fan base, then it isn’t a complete leap in the dark to think that culture might extend to its employees. So, yes, you draw your own conclusions - but that isn’t based solely on what Nige says. 

The Club could have easily dealt with this matter before it became an issue. They choose not to. Why?

8 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

It shouldn't have to take him making some public barbed comments in order to find someone to speak to should it? It's so amateur from the club.

I find it all absolutely baffling, bordering on the bizarre.

OK I’m just drawing an inference from what Nige has said, but it appears a COO who has been in post for what, 4-6 weeks, couldn’t find the time in that period to have a meaningful chat to the second most important person - after Steve - in his organisation?  Particularly odd given Nige’s recent health issues, contractural situation, the top level staffing upheavals and changing messages from the owner on availability of finance et al.  Then add to that, the Media Department doesn’t have a prepared press release available after the Nige ‘incident’.

If that is all correct, I can only draw one of three conclusions; that our COO/Head of Media are either 1) Incompetent 2) Unclear on their responsibilities or 3) Directed by Steve/legal advisor to ‘blank’ all things Nige. 

I somehow doubt it would be 1 or 2 as I know we’re bad at lots of things off the field, but we can’t be that bad. So it must be 3 for me. 

Little wonder that Nige became exasperated and wouldn’t be surprised if he’s totally disillusioned. It’s truly remarkable for me that he’s keeping himself together and providing clear, sound and positive leadership in such circumstance. 

21 minutes ago, Hup said:

Firstly. It’s a job. Just so happens they kick a ball for a living. You never had a day when we weren’t quite on it? Or it didn’t go your way for whatever reason. Footballers are people. No more. No less. Everyone is built differently. It happens. Which leads me to my second point - you have clearly never kicked a ball at any sort of level to be coming out with backward shouts like comparing it to other jobs. But everyone is entitled to an opinion. To each their own

Only to County level, but not pro, which is why I prefer to leave pro-game preparation to the pros themselves and trust their judgement rather than people on a forum. 

BTW I was merely commenting on the possible reason for poor displays being players getting up at 6:00am, not them just having an ‘off day’.

Anyhow, have a good evening

54 minutes ago, Countryfile said:

It’s nothing to do with being snowflakes, using your analogy if one firms bakers went out till 2.00am and another firms bakers went to bed at 9pm who do you think would be best prepared for their next shift at 5.00am?
 

Fact is all players would expect to be given a long rest period prior to playing, they would take on the correct food at the correct time to give them the best chance of giving their best physical performance as well as having taken on board whatever tactics the coaches had decided to employ.

It’s simply downs league standard to make the players travel so early, probably eat on the bus and play to the best of their physical capabilities, not snowflake territory, simply a professional attitude to get the best out of them.

Well, I say if you want to be successful in any job in my World you adjust your sleeping regime to fit with the demands of the job - whether that be on a temporary one-off basis or permanent. 

In the context of the 1:00pm kick off, I’m no scientist but someone with set a body rhythm and food/drink consumption cycle that aims for peak physical performance 7 hours after waking, as the case for a ‘normal’ 3:00 pm kick off, might just have an advantage over one that has just 4-5 hours to prepare as would have been the case with the Bournemouth players.

Loads of professional Clubs now travel on the day far greater distances than was involved today and their travel times would more than offset the fact we had an early kick off. 

Anyhow, I’ll leave it to our professional coaching staff to decide. Fair dues to them, having being a fierce critic of The Academy/Youth Player Development back in the day, rivalling that of Ashton Yate, they do now appear to be delivering - early start times, or not. 

Frankly - if they ‘don’t fancy it’ - they should **** off out the Club, the snowflakes. 

Maybe take them to a bakery at 5:00am in the morning to do a hard physical shift and then ask them whether getting up at 6:00 am to kick a football around the pitch for 90 minutes at 1:00 pm is a chore. 

Jesz, I hope Nige doesn’t hear about players ‘not fancying it’.

First dip into this FBC group via You Tube and thoroughly enjoyed it. Professional presentation with good, well-chaired, sensible debate. You need a blend of characters, including people who go off on one, otherwise it becomes bland. 

‘Well done’ to all those involved. Subscribed, and will now become a regular viewer via You Tube.
 

Interesting views being expressed on Nige’s tenure with references to ‘brilliant’, ‘outstanding’, amongst others. 

For me, as one of his more consistent supporters (with a little wobble last Dec/Jan), he’s done very well, but it has not been an exceptional performance. I like him, like his style of management, his focus and media style and how he’s adapted to being a ‘team player’, rather than a bit of a maverick. 

I see merit in retaining his services, greatly so, if we are competing for the play-off places come Xmas.

I can though see why the Lansdown’s have delayed any offer - what if we had lost against Cov - it was a close run thing - and that was followed by defeats against Ipswich and Cardiff, with the squad displaying the same old deficiencies? This forum would be an entirely place… with the Lansdown's no doubt being accused of backing a ‘failing’ manager. 

What I can’t understand is why - as Nige implies - there has been no communication with him regarding the position on his performance targets/ new contract from above. That’s not just unsettling for Nige but the entire off-field coaching/support team. If we aren’t careful, the backroom staff - with job uncertainty - will start looking  elsewhere for jobs and the whole of the last 3 years hard work will start unravelling.  

With the interview, Nige has deliberately forced the Lansdown’s hand. Let’s hope that works - although from past outcomes I fear the worst -  and there is some communication from them to him, and us, about their strategy as this uncertainty breeds discontent. We need to know why the delay and how long a decision will take on the manager’s contract, why none of the Alex money was made available to Nige and why our CEO disappeared so suddenly, how the the new structure works and is deemed an improvement on previous. Could all have quite plausible explanations…..so let’s be having you Steve. 

Just stumbled on FBC-TV on You Tube.

Probably late to the party here, but excellent contributors and discussion on the Pearson’ situation. 

2 minutes ago, Harry said:

I think Nigel’s current health situation is very very relevant to his contract situation. 
 

I think so too. 

While having every sympathy, great respect and really, really liking Nige both as a manager and a person, I’m also one of many in the past to have said we need to toughen up as a Club, on and off the field. 

Credit to Nige, he has done that in the squad. Is Steve doing the same off the field? Is this is part of toughening us up as a Club, part of the strategy of which tightening the purse strings is another element? 

Ummm. 

Only City could win, move up to 8th and still depress their supporters.

Not a clue what’s going on. It needs sorting quick though and I think Nige’s move yesterday could just bring this festering mess to a head.

May be Steve needs a personal coach, tell him age-wise 70 is the new 50, that his Bristol Sport vision is delivering - the basketball, rugby, football all doing relatively well, the sporting complex is getting there - and he should stick around to enjoy the fruits of his labours. 

If he doesn’t want to stay, cause he’s bored, wants to invest (admirably) in his conservation work, or is just fed up with the hassle … and I get that …. then ‘uncouple’ in a way that doesn’t damage the Club’s or his legacy.

Either way, let’s just have some communication on the current state of affairs before you lose the fan base and people waste energy on negative thinking. 

6 minutes ago, BCFC Rich said:

Good take from the Coventry forum, before our change of formation - 

Talking about us: 

"They are going to have find an extra man deeper in midfield from somewhere so that their wingbacks can get higher. Their 3 in midfield is Matty James sitting a bit deeper than the other 2 and we've got their wingbacks penned back because he can't manage the horizantal line through defensive midfield on his own. If he can't restructure those 3 in the middle he's going to have to sacrifice a striker or a centre back. Would be nice to get a goal before he does"

Given he’s a shoe-in for Nige’s job, it’s probably Mark Robins’ note to SL which he inadvertently posted on the Cov Forum. 

Affordable housing covers a multitude of housing tenures, ranging from part- ownership to pure social housing.

Can remember an edict that the design of developments should be ‘tenure-blind’  but we always used to note that, once built, you could always tell the social housing from the rest by proliferation of satellite dishes.

My recollection was that the Aberfan chant was at a match pre-segregation, so 73/74’ish. 

I can remember at the time, even as an early teen, that it crossed a ‘red line’ by a substantial margin and to this day I still find it abhorrent that people would lower themselves to that level of depravity. Think the Cardiff fans responded by singing something about the Swiss air crash, which had many North Somerset victims.

Dark days indeed. 

My take; we have a couple of world class players in Bellingham and Kane. We have some decent international standard in Rice, Stones, Walker. 

What we need is a few to step up from the remaining six, who are just either average or variable/inconsistent. That’s possible as the likes of Rashford, Pickford have the ability to attain good international level.

If, say, three or four of those others hit peak form in a tournament we have a real chance. 
 

Not getting carried away though, as the ease a very average Italian side cut through our defence/defensive midfield was alarming on occasions.

Watched up until 2-0.

Put simply we were very poor and totally out-classed. Even if we are massively inferior in terms of ability, and we are, we should be able to at least match sides on fitness and fighting qualities. We don’t. Long olde season incoming. 

At least the Bristol Sport rugby and basketball teams won… so not a total blank this weekend. 

That was dire. Fortunately, watched the Bears on the iPad at the same time which relieved the boredom.

Such a  contrast to the free flowing, positive Under 21s game last night. Think we coach all the talent out of our seniors. Diabolical. 

One of the best displays of football I’ve witnessed.

Serbia were no mugs, but we totally dismantled and dispirited them with exhilarating football. 
 

Well done England Under 21s… and to think Scott will be knocking on the door soon too.

Wallop. Have an After Eight.

Tremendous performance.

..and another.

Wow! Some screamers there. 3-1 England.

About 500x more entertaining then the Senior team I’d say for those not bothering to watch. Some real talent.

Ha.

Remember attending many management courses in the day. Prince 2 was a stand out as being a 365 page manual that a nuclear scientist would have difficulty understanding, which, basically could have been the size of a ladybird book describing about 5 key management ‘tools’. 

Not sure whether it was that training or something else but a stand-out for me was the idea that everyone had to turn their toilet rolls around - which I assume is a KAIZEN-type idea. Apparently, this was a mechanism for you to think ‘outside of the box’. Told the trainer that it had taken mankind thousands of years to appreciate that paper facing outwards was the most efficient way of pulling toilet paper and he was talking out of his arse.

Oddly, fresh of being bored stiff with Prince 2 for a week’s training I escaped to Guernsey for a break only to find waiting for the St Peter Port ferry I was talking to the bloke who authored the Prince manual. This was after I had told him how **** the training was!   

6 minutes ago, Son of Fred said:

Quite right-

Just people 

Agree.

Strange isn’t it that Scottish woman presenter (does golf) has been gently re-introduced to our screens after her comment about our Women’s football team being too white. Frightening that even today people still see colour, not talent, as a basis for selection.