Millen Quote

[TRL]

I'm sure the club have in place pretty much all the things you mention Nibor. These guys are not amateurs even though lots of fans think they are.

We shall see if offers come in what replacements are immediately signed. If we are left with bugger all then we can suggest their strategy planning failed miserabley. If any one goes and we get a good quality replacement then strategy is good. We shall wait and see.

I would also go back to my comment about Manager and Directors talking from a different Hymn sheet. I would make a suggestion that anything that comes out of the club should come through Beanhead or someone like him, and checked and double checked before it is posted on the website, the same thing goes for talking to the media, I believe all parties should be better briefed than they currently are.

If the club cannot give out a coherent policy even on the most simple of things like money available for players or not, then there should be no talking about things in public until it is confirmed.

If the club cannot appear as one, what hell chance that all us supporters are going to agree

[Bar BS3]

I really don't see where the confusion is..?

It is clear that we do not have any/much money freely available to spend on new players, however, if good value becomes available, then we have the option of putting a case to SL and he will decide to fund it or not, based on its merits. Likewise, if KM believes that we are in dire risk of relegation or just one player away from a play off push (hypothetically) then again, im sure SL would look at financing a specific signing if it was put before him.

Just as an extreme example - we do not have £3 or 4 million to spend. However, if say Messi or the like came out as specifically having a desire to play for Bristol City, within our wage structure, then i'm pretty damn sure we would find that £3 or 4 million!

I think our current situation is that we have finance to back good value investments, but we do not have money freely available to be splashing out in the transfer market.

[Portland Bill]

I just read this whole thread, then read KM interview/quote.

It must be a very very slow news day if people can make this much over a few words, all he says is that he hopes he doesn't lose any of his better players.

Don't we all ?

[Nogbad the Bad]

I just read this whole thread, then read KM interview/quote.

It must be a very very slow news day if people can make this much over a few words, all he says is that he hopes he doesn't lose any of his better players.

Don't we all ?

You make him sound like a crashing bore who always states the obvious.

Let's hope he's not like that in the dressing room.

[Bar BS3]

I just read this whole thread, then read KM interview/quote.

It must be a very very slow news day if people can make this much over a few words, all he says is that he hopes he doesn't lose any of his better players.

Don't we all ?

Yes Portland Bill, of course that is what we all hope - but you are missing the point that it was another excuse/reason to have a pop at and criticise KM, CS, SL and/or the club in general and some people appear to get great pleasure from doing that on here.

If there is nothing to moan about, then some will take the slightest paraphrase of an interview and try to turn it against one of our own.

Just imagine how positive it could be if some people put the same effort into being supportive of the people that obviously want the best for this club just as much as many of us do!

[Nibor]

I'm sure the club have in place pretty much all the things you mention Nibor. These guys are not amateurs even though lots of fans think they are.

Yes, I am sure they do, which begs the question - why were you saying it was impossible for them to have a plan?

I mean, you seemed to be implying the club were very amateur?

[chinapig]

This does not logically follow in the slightest.

You can most certainly plan for what to do if unexpected bids come in and doing so properly will inform your decisions on how to negotiate them.

Quite. It's called risk management; you know that thing the banks didn't bother with. I would be astonished if there was no risk mitigation plan (if x happens we will do y etc.).

[chinapig]

I really don't see where the confusion is..?

It is clear that we do not have any/much money freely available to spend on new players, however, if good value becomes available, then we have the option of putting a case to SL and he will decide to fund it or not, based on its merits. Likewise, if KM believes that we are in dire risk of relegation or just one player away from a play off push (hypothetically) then again, im sure SL would look at financing a specific signing if it was put before him.

Just as an extreme example - we do not have £3 or 4 million to spend. However, if say Messi or the like came out as specifically having a desire to play for Bristol City, within our wage structure, then i'm pretty damn sure we would find that £3 or 4 million!

I think our current situation is that we have finance to back good value investments, but we do not have money freely available to be splashing out in the transfer market.

The confusion arises from Keith saying his hands are tied and Colin saying they are not. Ducks decidely not in a row.

Colin's words: ...we are prepared to listen and commit to bringing players in before getting anyone out support your argument.

http://www.bcfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10327~2421717,00.html

[Robbored]

I mean, you seemed to be implying the club were very amateur?

I think 'the club' were very amateur in the past and many fans think they still are.

I happen to know from first hand experience of dealing with Doug Harman in the past that the club officials are reasonable are very professional. Since then some senior staff have come and gone and I daresay that standards have not dropped.

[Nibor]

I think 'the club' were very amateur in the past and many fans think they still are.

I happen to know from first hand experience of dealing with Doug Harman in the past that the club officials are reasonable are very professional. Since then some senior staff have come and gone and I daresay that standards have not dropped.

I see, so you had forgotten all that when you suggested the planning was impossible. Fair enough.

[InCider]

I see, so you had forgotten all that when you suggested the planning was impossible. Fair enough.

Our Robbored has a very selective memory.

[Robbored]

I see, so you had forgotten all that when you suggested the planning was impossible. Fair enough.

You caught me red handed there, Nibor. Fair enough.......

[downendcity]

we are not a selling or a buying club by everyhting we are told.

On the one hand we have to sell before we buy, then the next day "Like we have always said if there is a player available that the manager really likes, funds will be made available"

Then we have to lower the playing staff. But keep rebuffing the advances for Maynard. Then they go to sell Fontaine and Millen clearly didn't want him to leave.

So what are we? a selling club, a buying club or as it appears to me at the moment a club that is singing from two hymn sheets, the managers Hymn sheet and the boards Hymn sheet.

It really does get tiring, we are sounbite central, no real news or pointers as to which direction we are heading. And anytime we do get any big news we get a small messages saying blah blah blah, the club will not be commenting further.

So shut up or put up would be my message to the board or Manager, give us fact or give us nothing.

Your post is similar quite a few others at the moment and I think many are intepreting the club's financial situation incorrectly. I might be making just the same mistake, so if I am then feel free to tell me accordingly.

Many posts over the last week or so suggest that Lansdown has closed his cheque book and is not backing the manager and that as a result Milen must sell before he can buy. This also ties in with the apparent discrepancy between what the chairman and manager are saying about bringing in new players.

When he stepped down as Chairman Lansdown said that the club had to operate on a financially sound basis and live within it's means.He also said that he would continue to provide funds in the transfer market, provided a sound case could be made for the purchase. When he says that the club must live within it's means, surely he means that running cost have to be met from income. The single biggest running cost we have is the salary budget, especially with the huge squad we have, so in view of the losses we have racked up over the last couple of years it would be completely sensible that the salary budget has to be reduced.

If the above is the case, then I am pretty sure that Millen would have been made aware of the financial constraints going into the summer. We have offered Maynard a new contract and if he is currently on about £10000 pw and we have offered something liek £25000 pw, then there is £15000 pw extra straight off the budget if we hope to keep him. Presuming that we are close to or at the limit of the budget then Millen must have known that he would have to move players out in order to free up salary budget to fund new players coming in, and guess that he was pretty confident that this could be acheived through the summer. I guess that heaso thought that Maynard would have signed a new contract by now or have signed for a prem team. I am also guessing that he thought we would have a reasonable start to the season so that he would have some time to fine tune the squad as necessary come January.

As it's turned every thing that could go wrong for him, has. The Maynard situation is unresolved, form has been poor so that some key poitions need to be addressed, but none of the deadweight players have been moved out, so he has the worst of all worlds - he needs to bring players in but does no have the salary budget to pay for more salaries. Im guessing that if Hunt went on a free transfer tomorrow that MIllen would get theOk frm the board to pay say £1-2m for the right player if his wages were no more han we had been playing Hunt.

I am sure that Sexstone was being honest when he said that the board ( i.e. Lansdown) would back themanager for the right player, but am also sure that this would be qualified by whether the salary budget would support the signing, andf suspect this is the reason for Millen saying that his hands are tied. It's frustrating for fans when they see other clubs shelling out £m's on new players, but SL is right - we could not continue as we were and have to be financially sound, excpecially with new financial rules coming in.

It's no different than any of us hitting our overdraft and credit card limits because we spend more than we earn. The bank will not increase the overdraft so the only option is to reduice spending. You know you have no option but whenever you take that step it will be painful and difficult. You can put it off because want the same foreign holiday as your neighbours but you also know that if you do that then it is only putting off the inevitable and it willprtobably make the problem worse by the time you have no options left. The bank might grant you a bigger mortgage to buy a bigger house but that is not the same as the bank increasing your overdraft, and increasing it month by month so that you can afford the higher mortgage payments that result.

If all of this is right, then funnily enough the best move for us would be to sell Maynard. Not so much for the £5-6m transfer fee, but for the £20-25000 per week Millen would then have to play with when recruiting new players. Maynard is going to go and probbaly sooner rather than later so perhaps it's better to bite the bullet now and resolve a wiider range of problems.

[chinapig]

Your post is similar quite a few others at the moment and I think many are intepreting the club's financial situation incorrectly. I might be making just the same mistake, so if I am then feel free to tell me accordingly.

Many posts over the last week or so suggest that Lansdown has closed his cheque book and is not backing the manager and that as a result Milen must sell before he can buy. This also ties in with the apparent discrepancy between what the chairman and manager are saying about bringing in new players.

When he stepped down as Chairman Lansdown said that the club had to operate on a financially sound basis and live within it's means.He also said that he would continue to provide funds in the transfer market, provided a sound case could be made for the purchase. When he says that the club must live within it's means, surely he means that running cost have to be met from income. The single biggest running cost we have is the salary budget, especially with the huge squad we have, so in view of the losses we have racked up over the last couple of years it would be completely sensible that the salary budget has to be reduced.

If the above is the case, then I am pretty sure that Millen would have been made aware of the financial constraints going into the summer. We have offered Maynard a new contract and if he is currently on about £10000 pw and we have offered something liek £25000 pw, then there is £15000 pw extra straight off the budget if we hope to keep him. Presuming that we are close to or at the limit of the budget then Millen must have known that he would have to move players out in order to free up salary budget to fund new players coming in, and guess that he was pretty confident that this could be acheived through the summer. I guess that heaso thought that Maynard would have signed a new contract by now or have signed for a prem team. I am also guessing that he thought we would have a reasonable start to the season so that he would have some time to fine tune the squad as necessary come January.

As it's turned every thing that could go wrong for him, has. The Maynard situation is unresolved, form has been poor so that some key poitions need to be addressed, but none of the deadweight players have been moved out, so he has the worst of all worlds - he needs to bring players in but does no have the salary budget to pay for more salaries. Im guessing that if Hunt went on a free transfer tomorrow that MIllen would get theOk frm the board to pay say £1-2m for the right player if his wages were no more han we had been playing Hunt.

I am sure that Sexstone was being honest when he said that the board ( i.e. Lansdown) would back themanager for the right player, but am also sure that this would be qualified by whether the salary budget would support the signing, andf suspect this is the reason for Millen saying that hishands are tied. It's frustrating for fans when they see other clubs shelling out £m's on new players, but SL is right - we could not continue as we were and have to be financially sound, excpecially with new finacial rules coming in.

It's no different than any of us hitting our overdraft and credit card limits because we spend more than we earn. The bank will not increase the overdraft so the only option is to reduice spending. You know you have no option but whenever you take that step it will be painful and difficult. You can put it off because want the same foreign holiday as your neighbours but you also know that if you do that then it is only putting off the inevitable and it willprtobably make the problem worse by the time you have no options left. The bank might grant you a bigger mortgage to buy a bigger house but that is not the same as the bank increasing your overdraft, and increasing it month by month so that you can afford the higher mortgage payments that result.

If all of this is right, then funnily enough the best move for us would be to sell Maynard. Not so much for the £5-6m transfer fee, but for the £20-25000 per week Millen would then have to play with when recruiting new players. Maynard is going to go and probbaly sooner rather than later so perhaps it's better to bite the bullet now and resolve a wiider range of problems.

But Keith said his hands were tied in that he could not bring anyone in until he moved players out. Colin said otherwise. They cannot both be right on that. Beyond that it is a given that anybody signed would have to fit our wage structure, though Keith is now only after loans he says.

[downendcity]

But Keith said his hands were tied in that he could not bring anyone in until he moved players out. Colin said otherwise. They cannot both be right on that. Beyond that it is a given that anybody signed would have to fit our wage structure, though Keith is now only after loans he says.

Take your point there China. I don't know the answer to but perhaps Sexstone had to relax the constraints given the poor start, difficulty getting deadweight off the salary budget and growing pressure from fans and Millen making his frustration public. On the other hand, perhaps the board had been reluctant to back the manager while there was any possibility that Millen's future might be short lived? I suspect that both manager and chairman are under a bit of pressure just now, and perhaps their relationship is showing the strain.

As for the rest of my post, while you and others understand the implications of salasry budget control, I do think that many still believe that our transfer activity is governed by the need to generate money from sales to fund purchases, which I am pretty sure is not the case.

[TRL]

Your post is similar quite a few others at the moment and I think many are intepreting the club's financial situation incorrectly. I might be making just the same mistake, so if I am then feel free to tell me accordingly.

Many posts over the last week or so suggest that Lansdown has closed his cheque book and is not backing the manager and that as a result Milen must sell before he can buy. This also ties in with the apparent discrepancy between what the chairman and manager are saying about bringing in new players.

When he stepped down as Chairman Lansdown said that the club had to operate on a financially sound basis and live within it's means.He also said that he would continue to provide funds in the transfer market, provided a sound case could be made for the purchase. When he says that the club must live within it's means, surely he means that running cost have to be met from income. The single biggest running cost we have is the salary budget, especially with the huge squad we have, so in view of the losses we have racked up over the last couple of years it would be completely sensible that the salary budget has to be reduced.

If the above is the case, then I am pretty sure that Millen would have been made aware of the financial constraints going into the summer. We have offered Maynard a new contract and if he is currently on about £10000 pw and we have offered something liek £25000 pw, then there is £15000 pw extra straight off the budget if we hope to keep him. Presuming that we are close to or at the limit of the budget then Millen must have known that he would have to move players out in order to free up salary budget to fund new players coming in, and guess that he was pretty confident that this could be acheived through the summer. I guess that heaso thought that Maynard would have signed a new contract by now or have signed for a prem team. I am also guessing that he thought we would have a reasonable start to the season so that he would have some time to fine tune the squad as necessary come January.

As it's turned every thing that could go wrong for him, has. The Maynard situation is unresolved, form has been poor so that some key poitions need to be addressed, but none of the deadweight players have been moved out, so he has the worst of all worlds - he needs to bring players in but does no have the salary budget to pay for more salaries. Im guessing that if Hunt went on a free transfer tomorrow that MIllen would get theOk frm the board to pay say £1-2m for the right player if his wages were no more han we had been playing Hunt.

I am sure that Sexstone was being honest when he said that the board ( i.e. Lansdown) would back themanager for the right player, but am also sure that this would be qualified by whether the salary budget would support the signing, andf suspect this is the reason for Millen saying that hishands are tied. It's frustrating for fans when they see other clubs shelling out £m's on new players, but SL is right - we could not continue as we were and have to be financially sound, excpecially with new finacial rules coming in.

It's no different than any of us hitting our overdraft and credit card limits because we spend more than we earn. The bank will not increase the overdraft so the only option is to reduice spending. You know you have no option but whenever you take that step it will be painful and difficult. You can put it off because want the same foreign holiday as your neighbours but you also know that if you do that then it is only putting off the inevitable and it willprtobably make the problem worse by the time you have no options left. The bank might grant you a bigger mortgage to buy a bigger house but that is not the same as the bank increasing your overdraft, and increasing it month by month so that you can afford the higher mortgage payments that result.

If all of this is right, then funnily enough the best move for us would be to sell Maynard. Not so much for the £5-6m transfer fee, but for the £20-25000 per week Millen would then have to play with when recruiting new players. Maynard is going to go and probbaly sooner rather than later so perhaps it's better to bite the bullet now and resolve a wiider range of problems.

I understand what you are saying, what I am trying to say, and probably not clearly so I apologise.

I really do not care what is being said by directors or manager. It is all just white noise. I want both manager and directors giving us the same story, what I can see is different stories from each camp.

Now if things have changed since the end of last season because the sale of players has not worked out then fair enough. What I don't expect is a disorganised shambles of opposing soundbites coming from different areas of the club. At the very least appear professional by giving no news, or by giving joint interviews as to not get yourself in these type of situations. It reflects so poorly, It's as if manager and directors don't communicate. It really is 2nd rate.

Is it really surprising we haven't got our targets if the messages coming from manager and directors are very different. I hope for our sake players we're are supposed to be signing don't pick up such mixed signals.

At the end of the day it is just very poor publicity, maybe they should get some professional pr advise and think a little before delivering such spiel.

Like I said before if those inside the club give out such differing opinions what chance for the supporters.

This is not a go at Millen, Sexton, Lansdown et al. This is a go at the club as a whole. Some one needs to get hold of the situation

[downendcity]

I understand what you are saying, what I am trying to say, and probably not clearly so I apologise.

I really do not care what is being said by directors or manager. It is all just white noise. I want both manager and directors giving us the same story, what I can see is different stories from each camp.

Now if things have changed since the end of last season because the sale of players has not worked out then fair enough. What I don't expect is a disorganised shambles of opposing soundbites coming from different areas of the club. At the very least appear professional by giving no news, or by giving joint interviews as to not get yourself in these type of situations. It reflects so poorly, It's as if manager and directors don't communicate. It really is 2nd rate.

Is it really surprising we haven't got our targets if the messages coming from manager and directors are very different. I hope for our sake players we're are supposed to be signing don't pick up such mixed signals.

At the end of the day it is just very poor publicity, maybe they should get some professional pr advise and think a little before delivering such spiel.

Like I said before if those inside the club give out such differing opinions what chance for the supporters.

This is not a go at Millen, Sexton, Lansdown et al. This is a go at the club as a whole. Some one needs to get hold of the situation

I agree with this 100%.

For some time now I have the feeling that the whole club is disjointed. Ok the Coppell situation was no help at all, but while we all knew Lansdown's value to the club , until he stood down as Chairman I don't think any of us appreciated just how much he was the man who pulled everything together. Perhaps it is the combination of new manager and new chairman, but for the last few months it does seem that nothing seems to be going according to plan - assuming that there is a plan.

[Portland Bill]

Yes Portland Bill, of course that is what we all hope - but you are missing the point that it was another excuse/reason to have a pop at and criticise KM, CS, SL and/or the club in general and some people appear to get great pleasure from doing that on here.

If there is nothing to moan about, then some will take the slightest paraphrase of an interview and try to turn it against one of our own.

Just imagine how positive it could be if some people put the same effort into being

supportive of the people that obviously want the best for this club just as much as many of us do!

I did realise what you say.

That's why I said what I said.

There are some on here who will look back at there posts in a few months time and realise just how pathetic they are.

Every word KM says is scrutinised to the extreme.

Hes being treated as if he's a fn mass murderer it's pathetic.

Some posters haven't learnt from last season, where there predictions came back and bit them on the arse!

[Portland Bill]

You make him sound like a crashing bore who always states the obvious.

Let's hope he's not like that in the dressing room.

Most people do state the obvious,others just make sarcastic comments.

[bucksred]

We must have some of our dead wood on significant wedge. Those that aint good enough for the league aint gonna drop their wages much are they. The journymen likewise.

Cant beleive we cant shift some of the shit, or are they really exacltly that Shit??

[Slave to the rhythm]

But Keith said his hands were tied in that he could not bring anyone in until he moved players out. Colin said otherwise. They cannot both be right on that. Beyond that it is a given that anybody signed would have to fit our wage structure, though Keith is now only after loans he says.

If we are prepared to pay Maynard £25k per week, then what the hell IS our wage structure? I hope to God that figure re Maynard's wage is wrong, because it's totally unjustifiable.