Email To Lansdown

[Red Rag]

Strange one this. I understand and respect your right to

contact our chairman with your veiws, some may agree and

others may not agree with aspects of the content. But why

do you feel the need to post it on the forum. Surely if

the e-mail is intended to reflect your own opinion, would it not

be right and proper to keep it between you and SL or am

I being old fashioned?

[Tunley Legend]

im sure he will probably sack gary now on the back of your email to him and then ask you for your advice on who the next manager should be seeing as you clearly know more than him.

cant believe how much free time some people have as well

Perhaps the fact that he used all this "free time" (all twenty minutes that it would have taken to write the e-mail) to contact the Chairman shows that he cares about his football club?

I would say that a fan who responds in this way is just as important to the club as the one who just sits back and trusts Gary Johnson to get everything right in the end even when he is getting it wrong.

Neither fan deserves ridicule.

[downendcity]

Steve has sent an open email in reply to be read by all forum members.

I am most grateful to you for taking the time and trouble to email me as you have. I am particularly grateful for drawing my attention to the sorry state of affairs at the club, and in particular concerning the team's on field performance and that of the manager, Gary Johnson.

I must confess to being shocked by what I read, as I had absolutely no idea that things were as bad as you indicated. In view of this, I immediately took steps for further research and so have been reading the forum threads over recent months and have been enlightened by the views and opinion of posters such as Mr Gow, Pogopete and Robbored, who appear to confirm your view on things at Ashton Gate.

This club is professional and well run, and I rely on Gary Jonson to come to me with any problems, and when things are not going to plan. I have to say that he has not come to see me with any problems since we were at Wembley, so I have naturally assumed that every thing was hunky dory and going to plan. His secretary has come to see me on a number of occassions with a blank cheque for me to sign when he wants a new player. I have always signed them willingly because Ive got plenty of money to slosh around and because Gary has never told me that any thing was wrong, and I naturaly assumed he wanted new players because we were doing so well.

I must admit that I haven't had my eyes checked for quite a few years as Ive been getting on fine with the glasses have now ( take care of the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves!). However Mrs Lansdown has pointed out on a number occassions recently that my eyesight is not up to much, especially at the weekend after I had said " you are looking particularly foxy tonight darling". Mrs Lansdown walked into the lounge as I said it, to tell me to tell me that I had been talking to our 27 year old au pair without realising that she was not Mrs L! My poor eyesight must be the reason I have not noticed that there are not so many fans in the crowd at Ashton Gate. Haviong said that, I only tend to look across to the Dolman Stand with about 10 minutes to go, so wouldn't really be able to tell how many attended the game anyway!!

Anyway, in light of your opinion and that of your like minded posters, I convened a Board Meeting and we invited Gary Johnson along to defend himself. As you would expect, he gave us some bullshit, and tried to defend himself by saying that we are consolidating our position in the championship in order that we can continue to build towards promotion. He also tried to say that the championship is a tough league, but I told him that if poorly supported small clubs like Charlton, Norwich and Leeds can thrive at this level, then sure we should expect the same of a big club like Bristol City ( managers think that Chairmen know nothing about football matters - we are not all like Deliah you know!) I told him that we were not happy the way things were going, and he tried to excuse himself by saying that if that was the case then why hadn't I raised the issue with him previously.

For goodness sake, who does the man think he is? I am the chairman, a wealthy man, who owns the club. I built my own business, and does he think I made a fortune by taking a proper interest in how my busines was performing? Of course not. No, I leave it to my highly paid managers to tell me if they are making mistakes, or doing things the wrong way and risking my investement - it's not for me to check on how they are doing and if everything in my businessis Ok I assume it is unless someone tells me to the contrary. Gary has no idea of how to run a busines, but I do. Also, thanks to reading the forum, I now know how to manage a football team, and realise that he Johnson has been doing it all wrong. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that although I thought we had been doing pretty well, I reckon he's pulled the wool over my eyes and that he's just been very lucky.

That was the final straw. It confirmed to me everything you told me, so I have taken the only decision possible. As a result, I am delighted to tell all you true City fans that you have got the change that you have been asking for and that, as of this lunchtime Mark Cooper will be the new manager at Bristol City and I have complete confidence that he is the man to take us out of this division quicker than Gary Johnson would have.

I know this, because Mark is completely confident that he will be taking his Bristol City team back to London Road next season and giving them a right going over - how's that for confidence, just what this club needs right now?!

Yours gratefully,

Steve Lansdown

P.S. How much do you know about the Financial Servcies Industry because im starting to wonder if evrything at Lansdown Hargreaves is as it should be.

[chipdawg]

Regardless of the relative rights and wrongs of the original email (which contains some valid points which you are well within your rights to express), how do you think that Steve Lansdown feels when people are sending what are quite frankly pompous, preachy emails telling him how to do his job and how to run his club? I agree that the fans are the life blood of any football club and that there opinions should always be considered, but Steve Lansdown has taken this club further than any individual since Alan Dicks (who was given 10 years of mediocrity to build a team) and who are any of us to dictate to him? He'll be more than aware of the concerns of the fans and we'd be stupid to think that he doesn't have similar concerns, but the mans done an half decent job so far (even if his manager is starting to fail) so lets leave him to it

In Steve Lansdown we trust

[ruraldean]

Yours gratefully,

Steve Lansdown

P.S. How much do you know about the Financial Servcies Industry because im starting to wonder if evrything at Lansdown Hargreaves is as it should be.

Or even Hargreaves Lansdown. Should have gone to Specsavers.

[Northern Red]

Steve has sent an open email in reply to be read by all forum members.

I am most grateful to you for taking the time and trouble to email me as you have. I am particularly grateful for drawing my attention to the sorry state of affairs at the club, and in particular concerning the team's on field performance and that of the manager, Gary Johnson.

I must confess to being shocked by what I read, as I had absolutely no idea that things were as bad as you indicated. In view of this, I immediately took steps for further research and so have been reading the forum threads over recent months and have been enlightened by the views and opinion of posters such as Mr Gow, Pogopete and Robbored, who appear to confirm your view on things at Ashton Gate.

This club is professional and well run, and I rely on Gary Jonson to come to me with any problems, and when things are not going to plan. I have to say that he has not come to see me with any problems since we were at Wembley, so I have naturally assumed that every thing was hunky dory and going to plan. His secretary has come to see me on a number of occassions with a blank cheque for me to sign when he wants a new player. I have always signed them willingly because Ive got plenty of money to slosh around and because Gary has never told me that any thing was wrong, and I naturaly assumed he wanted new players because we were doing so well.

I must admit that I haven't had my eyes checked for quite a few years as Ive been getting on fine with the glasses have now ( take care of the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves!). However Mrs Lansdown has pointed out on a number occassions recently that my eyesight is not up to much, especially at the weekend after I had said " you are looking particularly foxy tonight darling". Mrs Lansdown walked into the lounge as I said it, to tell me to tell me that I had been talking to our 27 year old au pair without realising that she was not Mrs L! My poor eyesight must be the reason I have not noticed that there are not so many fans in the crowd at Ashton Gate. Haviong said that, I only tend to look across to the Dolman Stand with about 10 minutes to go, so wouldn't really be able to tell how many attended the game anyway!!

Anyway, in light of your opinion and that of your like minded posters, I convened a Board Meeting and we invited Gary Johnson along to defend himself. As you would expect, he gave us some bullshit, and tried to defend himself by saying that we are consolidating our position in the championship in order that we can continue to build towards promotion. He also tried to say that the championship is a tough league, but I told him that if poorly supported small clubs like Charlton, Norwich and Leeds can thrive at this level, then sure we should expect the same of a big club like Bristol City ( managers think that Chairmen know nothing about football matters - we are not all like Deliah you know!) I told him that we were not happy the way things were going, and he tried to excuse himself by saying that if that was the case then why hadn't I raised the issue with him previously.

For goodness sake, who does the man think he is? I am the chairman, a wealthy man, who owns the club. I built my own business, and does he think I made a fortune by taking a proper interest in how my busines was performing? Of course not. No, I leave it to my highly paid managers to tell me if they are making mistakes, or doing things the wrong way and risking my investement - it's not for me to check on how they are doing and if everything in my businessis Ok I assume it is unless someone tells me to the contrary. Gary has no idea of how to run a busines, but I do. Also, thanks to reading the forum, I now know how to manage a football team, and realise that he Johnson has been doing it all wrong. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that although I thought we had been doing pretty well, I reckon he's pulled the wool over my eyes and that he's just been very lucky.

That was the final straw. It confirmed to me everything you told me, so I have taken the only decision possible. As a result, I am delighted to tell all you true City fans that you have got the change that you have been asking for and that, as of this lunchtime Mark Cooper will be the new manager at Bristol City and I have complete confidence that he is the man to take us out of this division quicker than Gary Johnson would have.

I know this, because Mark is completely confident that he will be taking his Bristol City team back to London Road next season and giving them a right going over - how's that for confidence, just what this club needs right now?!

Yours gratefully,

Steve Lansdown

P.S. How much do you know about the Financial Servcies Industry because im starting to wonder if evrything at Lansdown Hargreaves is as it should be.

Brilliant. :clapping:

[Spike]

I'm starting to think the real reason we are not a Premier League club is our own "fans" who turn on anyone at the club the second they do not get what they want.

Our so called fans who demand perfection against clubs that have the resources that we could only dream of and then turn on whoever is in charge, players who are in bad form etc the second they are unhappy with how things are going are the reason that the club has such a "bad atmosphere".

I as much as any other Bristol City fan become frustrated in these cases but even if GJ were to leave who the hell would we replace him with seeing as almost all of the good managers who are able to work with limited resources compared to other clubs are taken.

Maybe it's time so many fans stopped thinking they are Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho in disguise and start realising we have a great club with a fantastic chairman and a manager who has had to put up with the abuse his son has received and the abuse he himself has had to endure. GJ gave this club hope again rather than having us fester in League 1 and made us "believe" and now because it's not smooth sailing people are demanding he be sacked?

I don't see us ever reaching the Premier League unless we back our club fully whether you agree with what is going on or not and even if we get there I wouldn't see us staying up as we'd jump on the back of whatever manager got us there the second it looked hard to stay there.

[iWilco]

If getting rid of GJ is the answer, who would you replace him with, who is going to suddenly turn things around, make players play etc, I dont think we would attract anyone who would do the job, if come the end of the season and we've had to fight a relegation battle then look for a new manager and make a fresh start then.

With regard to the email you will get a standard reply for the club (hopefully) saying they appreciate your thoughts etc, but that will be all.

At least we all feel passionate about our club, and hopefully SL will see that.

We would prob end up with Ian Holloway

[Bangkok Red]

We are the only club in the West Country offering Championship football,

What about Plymouth?

[Pete1975Legend]

In response, I just sent the following to our MANAGER

Dear Mr Johnson,

Firstly can I congratulate you on keeping us consolidated in the Championship for the past 2 seasons and hopefully this our third season. On Tuesday night we all felt very gutted and a lot of the fans responded in what I can only call an absolute shocking show of support to you and the team. Yes, the booing and disgraceful language directed at you and the players was uncalled for, but I do understand why these fans may have reacted like this.

I therefore am writing to you to say that the majority of fans of which I am one are fully behind you as our manager and the players that pull on the red and white shirt every week. The job you and the players have done in the last 5 years is absolutely fantastic and had we not done so well in our first season in the championship the fans would be more level headed. Unfortunately for you and the players they do not see this and act angrily when they see a situation like last Tuesday. If only these people just had a moment to think then I am sure they would agree that what you and the players have achieved is magnificent from when you took over.

As a city fan I was still calling for our players to keep their heads up, at the end of the day it was 3 points that were lost, not the end of the world. I am sure that you as the manager and players will be working very hard to put this right and I have every confidence that you will as a group.

My final thought is for your son Lee, who has been singled by a number of fans and once again I find this very frustrating, Lee for me is one of our better players at keeping possession of the ball and I hope that his career with us is not finished due to this minority.

For our players and you as the management team I would like you to pass on my thanks for your hard work and passion in getting it right for our club, So keep those heads up and I know that come the next game everyone is trying 110% once more.

[Maesknoll Red]

What about Plymouth?

South Coast? Or South West at best, not West Country.

[bcfcbs20]

South Coast? Or South West at best, not West Country.

yep there more cornish then west country

[tompo]

South Coast? Or South West at best, not West Country.

But they are in the West Country TV region - according to Digtal UK.co. UK.

http://www.digitaluk...ch/west_country

[Guest]

What gives you the right to speak for all fans? What makes you think that you know more about football than the professionals? What has the fact that you come from Bristol got to do with anything?

The arrogance of this is astonishing. You don't do your cause, such as it is, any favours. If I was Lansdown I'd dismiss you as a lone nutter.

He is far from alone and not a nutter; just loves OUR CLUB as we all do; shame some that dont agree with his sentiments have to resort to abuse

[Bangkok Red]

South Coast? Or South West at best, not West Country.

Plymuff are very often referred to as west country....even our dear old website uses the term.

http://www.bcfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10327~48269,00.html

[Guest DanC]

This email is wasted on this forum, People simply don't get how shite we currently are.

[Riaz]

This email is wasted on this forum, People simply don't get how shite we currently are.

are we that shyte?? style of football aside? top half

I would say its the not so clever people, that think things are that bad.

do we need a new manager? I think so. Are we a mess? no

Does Steve Lansdown need a supporter to tell him what to do? no

[CiderHider]

Response from Steve Lansdown

Dear Mr Hicksey,

Firstly I must thank you for bringing my to my attention, the sorry state of affairs that we are now in as a club. I did'nt realise how bad things were, until I read your email.

Please also accept me apologies, for delay in replying to your email. You'll be pleased to hear I have been busy negiotiating a severnace package with our now former manager Gary Johnson.

Thank you for you assitance - be rest assured, without your assistance, our club would surely be on a downward spiral - and I, myself, a successful businessman, would have been none the wiser.

If you have any further concerns, that you feel I may have missed, please do not hesitate to contact me

Kind Regards

Mr Steven Lansdown Esq

:rofl2br:Quality

[Guest DanC]

are we that shyte?? style of football aside? top half

I would say its the not so clever people, that think things are that bad.

do we need a new manager? I think so. Are we a mess? no

Does Steve Lansdown need a supporter to tell him what to do? no

I think we are, I think we are too predictable, At home away teams tend to sit back and let us attack them because they know were useless at scoring and will hit us on the counter where they know we are shaky in defence, Even more so if they have some pacey players. Away from home we tend to sit back and play for the draw, Playing for a draw is always a dangerous thing to do.

Over the past season and a half Johnson seems to have changed his footballing philosophy. Previously it was believed he would have us going into every game looking for the win and going at teams whilst trying to play good football. Now it seems he is all about keeping it tight and is not worried about the performance just the result.

At the start of the season we picked up a few lucky 1 nil wins, If it wasn't for them lucky wins we would be in serious trouble. There hasn't been too many games this season where I have left feeling we should have won that/deserved to win that. It has been more of we were lucky there to get anything from that game.

The not so clever people look at the table and see us in 10th or whatever it is and think everything is great, The clever people look beyond that and see we could be much higher up in the league.

[1tib]

Copy of the email I sent. First time ever I have felt that moved to write -

Mr S Lansdown

Chairman, Bristol City Football Club.

Dear Steve, It is very unusual that I find myself compelled to write you this email, however I also believe it is time I made my concerns known to you as Chairman of our Football Club.

First and foremost, I would like to state that I like Gary Johnson. I have spoken with him on several occasions at away fixtures, mainly when in our promotion season from League One and he comes across as a very pleasant and likeable guy. I also know that you and he have built a strong friendship over the past few years. However it is with regret that I state that I believe that the time has come that he is removed from his position as Manager of Bristol City.

Currently going down to Ashton Gate to watch us play is becoming more of a chore than something people enjoy. Not only are we not winning but we are not entertaining, we are playing extremely negative football and we are, frankly in near on each game I can recall for a while, second best on the pitch.As a football man yourself, I would like to think that you do not need any advice on assessing how we are playing. The games we have drawn recently, if we are brutally honest, on another day we would have lost by two or three goals.

Who is to blame?

Yes, the team carry the can for some of the performances but I would highlight that the performance of our team has been this poor for near on a season and a half now. The 'blame' lies squarely at the door of Gary Johnson, he picks the team, he picks the tactics, he takes the plaudits when we do well, therefore he is responsible when we are not successful.

I am sure you were as embarrassed as I was by the result against Cardiff City at home. Bad defeats happen, they happen to every football club. With the sole exception of Bristol Rovers, that is the most difficult loss to take in terms of the opponents. Had we lost 0-6 to Cardiff but looked reasonable through this season and last, then I wouldn't be writing this but much more worrying is that a result like that was coming for some time. For example when we lost to WBA, they could have scored 6 or more. They took their best players off at 0-4!

The following game, we drew with Middlesbrough, but if we are honest that could have been 0-3 or 0-4 with better finishing. We were bereft of ideas, we were negative, we played against 10 men and were still playing as if we were trying not to concede.

The whole mood of the football club needs lifting and it is crying out for a change.

At times like this, the Club needs leadership. As Chairman of our Football Club you are the man who can make this change and get the club back to heading where we all want it to be heading.

Gary Johnson brought us success in League One, like everyone else, I will always be grateful for that season as well as the following chase to the Play off final. Those are the days for which we all strive.However at the moment, the club is heading in the other direction. The mood is all wrong, the team selections are poor, the tactics are not suited to success and we are awful to watch.

Off the pitch, the strides yourself and the Board have taken to put us on the map have been fantastic. We all look forward to playing in a new stadium, however I have a genuine fear that we could be again watching League One football if we do not make the necessary change.

Watching us play again in front of 5,000 fans away from home in some desolate part of the country in League One does not give much excitement. Our club is better than that. We are the only club in the West Country offering Championship football, we cannot allow a new generation of fans to grow up attracted to the big Premier League clubs. That will happen if we allow ourselves to slide back to the pitfalls of League One.

I could go into the varying reasons for us not playing well. The fact he plays Nicky Maynard on his own for large parts of the time marked by about three defenders, the fact we got rid of our one out-and-out left winger and now are left filling a void by playing right midfielders there, the fact we leave large parts of the wing totally free for opponents to attack us, the fact we seem to have totally abandoned our passing game in favour of kick and hope etc.

However you go to the games, you can see what we are like, you can see the mood at the club etc. It needs a change.

As fans of this club we were here before Gary Johnson and we will be here after him. My grandfather was going down to Ashton Gate fifty years ago, my father after him and I have been going since the 1980s.

You and I are from Bristol, Gary Johnson is not. He isn't a fan and he never will be. He is a professional employee of the club, that is how it should be and he has performed a task we needed, to get us into the division in which we belong. However now, I believe he has reached his 'glass ceiling' and we need someone else to push us further. I have never boo-ed our team and I never will, but you yourself will see he is losing the fans with the atmosphere and feel at the place very negative.

It is based on the above that I would ask you and the Board to give serious consideration to making a change of the Manager of Bristol City.

Kind Regards

Name + address etc

What about Plymouth

[Riaz]

I think we are, I think we are too predictable, At home away teams tend to sit back and let us attack them because they know were useless at scoring and will hit us on the counter where they know we are shaky in defence, Even more so if they have some pacey players. Away from home we tend to sit back and play for the draw, Playing for a draw is always a dangerous thing to do.

Over the past season and a half Johnson seems to have changed his footballing philosophy. Previously it was believed he would have us going into every game looking for the win and going at teams whilst trying to play good football. Now it seems he is all about keeping it tight and is not worried about the performance just the result.

At the start of the season we picked up a few lucky 1 nil wins, If it wasn't for them lucky wins we would be in serious trouble. There hasn't been too many games this season where I have left feeling we should have won that/deserved to win that. It has been more of we were lucky there to get anything from that game.

The not so clever people look at the table and see us in 10th or whatever it is and think everything is great, The clever people look beyond that and see we could be much higher up in the league.

I never said things were great, I said things were not that bad. I acutally agree with most of what you said.

But we could be in much worse situation. Yes, I would like us to go at teams, Yes, I think the manager's gone past his sell by date.

But if the manager left tomorrow, do you not agree, that the club is in a brilliant position for a potential new manager??

[downendcity]

Or even Hargreaves Lansdown. Should have gone to Specsavers.

Doh!

[Guest DanC]

I never said things were great, I said things were not that bad. I acutally agree with most of what you said.

But we could be in much worse situation. Yes, I would like us to go at teams, Yes, I think the manager's gone past his sell by date.

But if the manager left tomorrow, do you not agree, that the club is in a brilliant position for a potential new manager??

I think there is a lot of ill feeling around AG currently, IMO something needs to change to get rid of all this negativity as it transmits on to the pitch.

Over the past couple of seasons Johnson has installed it in us all that we should aim for the sky, Now that we are failing to even take flight he needs to understand it was him that was banging on about a top two finish so by his own previous expectations we are failing, We are much closer to relegation than we are to the top two that we was meant to be aiming for.

People on here often go on about how are we supposed to compete with teh bigger clubs in this league, Well we are in terms of wages, I can't remember where I read it but we are high up on that list in this division. We must be pushing on for about 10 million now, Levels like that are not sustainable, If we were relegated next season with them levels of wages and considering the new stadium would be well under way we would be in serious trouble.

I think Johnson should be kept here until we are clear of relegation, After that let him go and bring someone else in so they have the remaining games to familiarise themselves with teh squad and then come pre season they will know who they want to keep and who they want to go and also see where we need to improve. I would rather we did that over the rest of teh season rather than in pre season. It could also bring some optimism to AG ahead of the new season which could see us shift more season tickets.

[Daniro]

Steve has sent an open email in reply to be read by all forum members.

I am most grateful to you for taking the time and trouble to email me as you have. I am particularly grateful for drawing my attention to the sorry state of affairs at the club, and in particular concerning the team's on field performance and that of the manager, Gary Johnson.

I must confess to being shocked by what I read, as I had absolutely no idea that things were as bad as you indicated. In view of this, I immediately took steps for further research and so have been reading the forum threads over recent months and have been enlightened by the views and opinion of posters such as Mr Gow, Pogopete and Robbored, who appear to confirm your view on things at Ashton Gate.

This club is professional and well run, and I rely on Gary Jonson to come to me with any problems, and when things are not going to plan. I have to say that he has not come to see me with any problems since we were at Wembley, so I have naturally assumed that every thing was hunky dory and going to plan. His secretary has come to see me on a number of occassions with a blank cheque for me to sign when he wants a new player. I have always signed them willingly because Ive got plenty of money to slosh around and because Gary has never told me that any thing was wrong, and I naturaly assumed he wanted new players because we were doing so well.

I must admit that I haven't had my eyes checked for quite a few years as Ive been getting on fine with the glasses have now ( take care of the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves!). However Mrs Lansdown has pointed out on a number occassions recently that my eyesight is not up to much, especially at the weekend after I had said " you are looking particularly foxy tonight darling". Mrs Lansdown walked into the lounge as I said it, to tell me to tell me that I had been talking to our 27 year old au pair without realising that she was not Mrs L! My poor eyesight must be the reason I have not noticed that there are not so many fans in the crowd at Ashton Gate. Haviong said that, I only tend to look across to the Dolman Stand with about 10 minutes to go, so wouldn't really be able to tell how many attended the game anyway!!

Anyway, in light of your opinion and that of your like minded posters, I convened a Board Meeting and we invited Gary Johnson along to defend himself. As you would expect, he gave us some bullshit, and tried to defend himself by saying that we are consolidating our position in the championship in order that we can continue to build towards promotion. He also tried to say that the championship is a tough league, but I told him that if poorly supported small clubs like Charlton, Norwich and Leeds can thrive at this level, then sure we should expect the same of a big club like Bristol City ( managers think that Chairmen know nothing about football matters - we are not all like Deliah you know!) I told him that we were not happy the way things were going, and he tried to excuse himself by saying that if that was the case then why hadn't I raised the issue with him previously.

For goodness sake, who does the man think he is? I am the chairman, a wealthy man, who owns the club. I built my own business, and does he think I made a fortune by taking a proper interest in how my busines was performing? Of course not. No, I leave it to my highly paid managers to tell me if they are making mistakes, or doing things the wrong way and risking my investement - it's not for me to check on how they are doing and if everything in my businessis Ok I assume it is unless someone tells me to the contrary. Gary has no idea of how to run a busines, but I do. Also, thanks to reading the forum, I now know how to manage a football team, and realise that he Johnson has been doing it all wrong. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that although I thought we had been doing pretty well, I reckon he's pulled the wool over my eyes and that he's just been very lucky.

That was the final straw. It confirmed to me everything you told me, so I have taken the only decision possible. As a result, I am delighted to tell all you true City fans that you have got the change that you have been asking for and that, as of this lunchtime Mark Cooper will be the new manager at Bristol City and I have complete confidence that he is the man to take us out of this division quicker than Gary Johnson would have.

I know this, because Mark is completely confident that he will be taking his Bristol City team back to London Road next season and giving them a right going over - how's that for confidence, just what this club needs right now?!

Yours gratefully,

Steve Lansdown

P.S. How much do you know about the Financial Servcies Industry because im starting to wonder if evrything at Lansdown Hargreaves is as it should be.

very funny! brilliant post, chap.

[Alex_BCFC]

The not so clever people look at the table and see us in 10th or whatever it is and think everything is great, The clever people look beyond that and see we could be much higher up in the league.

So basically anyone who thinks GJ will turn it around is stupid?

[Guest DanC]

So basically anyone who thinks GJ will turn it around is stupid?

No more like they need a trip to spec savers as this hasn't happened over night.

[Alex_BCFC]

No more like they need a trip to spec savers as this hasn't happened over night.

Or they have seen him turn it around before and they are willing to give him a chance to do it again seeing as he has taken this club from League 1 strugglers to soild mid-table in 4 years. I wouldn't begin to say things are going well but one bad season doesn't neccesarily mean he should be gone. As I've said on other threads before I feel he should be given to the end of the season to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[BCFCfan]

I have penned my own to Steve Lansdown:

Dear Mr. Lansdown,

Since Gary Johnson took over he has rescued us from relegation, got us promoted, taken us to a play-off final (which was our highest finish in the league for about 28 years) and hardly ever seen us drop into the bottom half of the Championship. However, on the back of a few bad results I now feel this is the time to go a bit mental and write to you telling you how bad it all is.

We are in the utterly disgraceful position of 10th which means minnows such as Newcastle, West Brom, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Leicester and Middlesbrough are ahead of us in the league. Being 5 points off the play-offs with a game in hand is an unmitigated disaster and so I have decided that rather than cheer on the team, back a manager, give belief to the players and help create a firm bond and feel-good factor; I'll moan and strike fear into the lives of everyone. I firmly believe that sacking good managers is the way to go because we have all seen the disasters that have happened under long-term managers such as Sir Alex. Moreover, a manager who fears his job and players who fear making any mistake will clearly be a great idea.

I can't see any reason at all why a club with far lower average attendances than a lot of club's in this division and an old clapped out stadium can't win every single game playing like Holland or Brazil. Oh, and it'll probably rain tomorrow.

Regards

AJ

Bingo bango bongo. Well said that man.

[Martyn Hocking]

Hicksey - you make an eloquent case but I disagree with most of it and have to question why this is the first time you felt moved to write such a letter. Are you seriously saying that you felt happier when Pulis was manager, or Tinion, or Lumsden, to name just three of the men who have done a lot worse than GJ.

Gary is clearly becoming a victim of his own success on here.

[Tunley Legend]

Hicksey - you make an eloquent case but I disagree with most of it and have to question why this is the first time you felt moved to write such a letter. Are you seriously saying that you felt happier when Pulis was manager, or Tinion, or Lumsden, to name just three of the men who have done a lot worse than GJ.

Gary is clearly becoming a victim of his own success on here.

I think he is becoming a victim of his own caution, not his own success.