charisma_cider Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Not even sure if that's a real word... ... but whether it's a real word or not, was just flicking through the "seeing is believing" picture book of the play off season and it got me thinking. There was no outstanding quality in that squad, no players who have gone on to set any other club alight, but the unity within Bristol City Football Club was so strong. The fans, the management, the players, the board all seemed to be one collective whole during that season, it made me realise how much that contrasts with how I and a lot of people feel about the club right now. The atmsophere is as flat as I can remember it at Bristol City. Not just in the ground on matchdays, in general. Nobody has any real optimism, or genuine belief that the club is going anywhere but backwards, and people are feeling that money invested in the club is essentially money pi$ed down the drain, in a time when no-one can afford to do so. There seems to be no character in the current squad. Their confidence seems to constantly hang by a thread, with the slightest knockback causing heads to drop and the floodgates to open. On a day when we hit the ground running, we're as good as anyone else in the league, as proved at Leicester, but those days come too few and far between. There are a lot of genuine nice blokes working for City, and Keith Millen's up there with the nicest, but where is the cut throat winning mentality? Where is the fight? There is no personality in this club right now. I don't feel you need to chuck a lot of money in building a decent squad for this league. Look at Southampton and Brighton, and last year Norwich and Swansea. and the year previously Blackpool, and us in the playoff final season. Those teams were built around a group of players who played good football, together as a unit. There was togetherness. They played like winners, with a never say die attitude. There was character. In the good years of Gary Johnson, he was the face of our success, and the 'Always Believe' mentality, and speaking to Blackpool and Norwich fans, they felt the same about their management team. They attribute a hell of a lot of credit to the attitudes and inspirations of their managers in bringing the club success. And I would be very shocked if Di Canio doesn't prove to do the same at Swindon. At the moment I just feel that this Millen era is just an extension of the bad chapters of Gary Johnson's reign, just as Tinnion was an unnecessary extension of the Wilson era. Both successors were part of the structure that had failed in the first place. Bristol City needs a new face, a new direction, someone to breathe new life into this club, to reinspire the fans and reinspire the players, bring the togetherness back to Ashton Gate. I wanted to believe that the man for the job was Keith Millen, but I just can't see it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjbcfc Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Great post, and I agree there's .... No soul at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1975Legend Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Agree GJ had this club together. No matter what fans say and whether it was right or wrong to let GJ go we were still united when he left. That togetherness just started to get wider and wider and now the club doesn't feel like it did under those GJ years good & bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Exile Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Very good OP....a quick search on youtube for the bouncing around at Newcastle will lift the spirits - and remind us that the togetherness was there less than 2 years ago. The answer is new leadership and new drive. It's not rocket science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnozRobin Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Spot on. Thank got we are not a 'United' as we'd be done under the trade descriptions act. The apathy is increasing by the game and people with City in their blood are losing the will to care. Obvious issues that have needed to be addressed for too long (no leader, no creativity, no left back cover) have ground people down. There is zero fight on the pitch and very little off it at the moment. Sad times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingbat Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Excellent OP - this should be agenda item #1 at the next board meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exAtyeoMax Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 totally agree! It's such a shame that togetherness has disappeared. Something has to give now, especially as we go into the international break. I still believe, even though a fellow fan told me last year, that was 'soo last season' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grove park city Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Well thought out and a very interesting read sums up so much and points out root causes of apathy and feelings among supporters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phileas Fogg Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Totally agree - such a shame. I feel this club needs a complete overhaul before that same togetherness can come back - from top to bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinapig Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Togetherness of this kind is a fairly rare commodity these days, largely because players, being so disproportionately highly paid, are so cut off from the reality of the lives of the fans who contribute to their privileged lifestyles. It's true that Gary Johnson created such an atmosphere, largely I think because he had a bunch of players with no great ability but who were happy for a while to put themselves on the line to achieve more than they probably thought they could. It is ironic that part of the reason for Johnson's downfall was excessive loyalty to those players long after they had decided they had arrived and could now settle into their comfort zone, their previous attitude dissipating after the play off season. It was they who effectively decided Johnson should go (it is usually players who get managers sacked after all) and they show precious little sign of wanting to put themselves out for Millen either. He should watch his back. Johnson brought the fans into the fold for 3 seasons or so for a remarkable spell of unity (and a lot of fun along the way) but having lost the players he lost the fans also. Too many of those same players are still around and still in their comfort zone, knowing they can do very nicely out of mediocrity and minimum effort and will be expected to take no responsibility. They are unlikely to be in fear of the manager I suspect and have learned that the club will tolerate their low standards. The last good relationship with the fans left with Bradley Orr imo, the remaining players being totally indifferent as far as I can tell. It is also clear there is little unity off the field, as evidenced by the contradictory statements coming from Sexton and Millen. While Keith is Steve's place man he looks more and more like the fall guy chosen to take the flak for a policy of managed decline as no experienced quality manager would be prepared to do. I get the impression he is beginning to see that and that he has been sold a pup, hence his public disagreements with Sexton. All in all a pretty depressing picture and it is hard to see how it will change any time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinapig Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Totally agree - such a shame. I feel this club needs a complete overhaul before that same togetherness can come back - from top to bottom. Unfortunately this is a "jobs for the boys club"; it seems being a former player and/or a nice chap are the key recruitment criteria. Which makes an overhaul unlikely imo. The line between continuity and stagnation has long since been crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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