Time For A Director Of Football?

[Barrs Court Red]

Give the supposed struggle we have had in signing players for some time now, do we need this sort of setup?

I'm not convinced it works, just look at Liverpool!

[Tins]

We aren't signing players because of money I think, so bringing in a DOF would mean we have none left to spend on players.

[rambo6:19]

We aren't signing players for following reasons:

1. Cannot pay high enough wages.

2. Each season in the championship we have finished lower and lower, so we look like a club going backwards.

3. Even thou I love Ashton Gate and have some great memories there, we play in a rundown stadium and we are know where near getting a new stadium.

[Robbored]

We aren't signing players for following reasons:

1. Cannot pay high enough wages.

2. Each season in the championship we have finished lower and lower, so we look like a club going backwards.

3. Even thou I love Ashton Gate and have some great memories there, we play in a rundown stadium and we are know where near getting a new stadium.

Point 1 - If you pay peanuts you get monkeys. The club could afford better wages but won't pay them

Point 2 - See point 1

Point 3 - Not that relevant to most players. Money is what they all want.

[Nibor]

Point 1 - If you pay peanuts you get monkeys. The club could afford better wages but won't pay them

Point 2 - See point 1

Point 3 - Not that relevant to most players. Money is what they all want.

How can the club afford more wages when trying to reduce an eight figure loss? Maybe I'm missing something.

[Robbored]

How can the club afford more wages when trying to reduce an eight figure loss? Maybe I'm missing something.

If City refuse to compete financially with rival clubs then the club won't progress through lack of quality in the playing squad. City have struggled to survive in the Championship for the last two seasons for that very reason. We went out a potentially lucrative cup competition last night largely because City couldn't defend corners and long throws. Where is that right sided centre half we so desperately need?

City have a motivated and charismatic manager who players admire and want to play for but we lose out on so many potential signings because the club refuse to pay up.

Our clubs owner has very deep pockets.

[Nibor]

If City refuse to compete financially with rival clubs then the club won't progress through lack of quality in the playing squad. City have struggled to survive in the Championship for the last two seasons for that very reason. We went out a potentially lucrative cup competition last night largely because City couldn't defend corners and long throws. Where is that right sided centre half we so desperately need?

City have a motivated and charismatic manager who players admire and want to play for but we lose out on so many potential signings because the club refuse to pay up.

Our clubs owner has very deep pockets.

You're assuming money is the reason, that's not necessarily the case. There has been fairly consistent rumour for example that Baldock favours staying in London. There are many factors that affect who you can sign. Can you say for certain who we've missed out on due to wages? No, you can't.

There's a vast difference between "the club can afford" and Steve Lansdown having "very deep pockets". He is not the club, the club cannot afford the wages it has paid for the last 10 seasons, this is patently obvious since we've made a giant loss each year that has increased at an exponential rate.

We should not be competing with the reckless spending of other clubs, we should be trying to get reasonable value for money. Continuing to shit piles of money down the wage bill is not sustainable and it will not fit with the new regulations coming in. Other clubs will have to do the same.

Football is about competing on the field not with a cheque book. There are as many examples of clubs being successful when run sustainably as there are those doing it through wild spending. Advocating dangerous spending is an absolute nonsense.

[LondonBristolian]

I'm still waiting for this proof that we can't sign players. I was under the impression the transfer window hadn't actually closed yet.

[Robbored]

Football is about competing on the field not with a cheque book. There are as many examples of clubs being successful when run sustainably as there are those doing it through wild spending. Advocating dangerous spending is an absolute nonsense.

I did say that on another thread that fiscal prudence is essential but has to be balanced with the clubs progression. Why is it that we seem to lose out so many potential signings? It won't be simply because they don't want to move. Richard Keogh went to Derby despite his girlfriend being a Bristolian because he was offered a better deal and who can blame him? Like I say we have a charismatic and ambitious young manager who many players admire and yet so many go elsewhere. It has to about getting the best deal for themselves.

Its about balance and we all know that in the past City have been reckless with the wage bill but now it seems to have gone to the other extreme.

[LondonBristolian]

I did say that on another thread that fiscal prudence is essential but has to be balanced with the clubs progression. Why is it that we seem to lose out so many potential signings? It won't be simply because they don't want to move. Richard Keogh went to Derby despite his girlfriend being a Bristolian because he was offered a better deal and who can blame him? Like I say we have a charismatic and ambitious young manager who many players admire and yet so many go elsewhere. It has to about getting the best deal for themselves.

Its about balance and we all know that in the past City have been reckless with the wage bill but now it seems to have gone to the other extreme.

Keogh went to Derby because Derby were prepared to pay more than he was worth to Coventry to get him and we didn't. We had no bid accepted and he had no choice to make.

[Nibor]

I did say that on another thread that fiscal prudence is essential but has to be balanced with the clubs progression. Why is it that we seem to lose out so many potential signings? It won't be simply because they don't want to move. Richard Keogh went to Derby despite his girlfriend being a Bristolian because he was offered a better deal and who can blame him? Like I say we have a charismatic and ambitious young manager who many players admire and yet so many go elsewhere. It has to about getting the best deal for themselves.

Its about balance and we all know that in the past City have been reckless with the wage bill but now it seems to have gone to the other extreme.

Keogh went to Derby because they agreed a £700k transfer fee with Coventry. We didn't agree to pay that much for him, and I'd seriously question the judgement of anybody who thought he was worth that amount.

You can't on the one hand berate the club for refusing to pay higher wages (with no evidence) and on the other say "but I also want fiscal prudence". We lost over £10m the last two seasons, we have to reduce spending. It's not one extreme to the other at all, it's one massive extreme to a slightly reduced extreme. We'll still lose something like £6-8m in 2012/2013.

[Robbored]

Keogh went to Derby because Derby were prepared to pay more than he was worth to Coventry to get him and we didn't. We had no bid accepted and he had no choice to make.

And yet City needed and still need a right sided centre half.

Derby paid 700k for Keogh which imo is about right for a good, experienced, and yet still relatively young Championship defender. Why couldn't City at least match that?

Like I said before, if you will only pay peanuts..............

[lifelong]

We are what we are a bottom 6 championship team with a budget that reflects the poor crowds we get.

This is the future as far as i see it get used to it.

[Threshersleftboot]

We aren't signing players for following reasons:

1. Cannot pay high enough wages.

2. Each season in the championship we have finished lower and lower, so we look like a club going backwards.

3. Even thou I love Ashton Gate and have some great memories there, we play in a rundown stadium and we are know where near getting a new stadium.

Iv'e got severe reservations about our managers ability to sell our club to potential signings.Iv'e lost count of the times that i have heard players say they have gone to a club because of the managers enthusiasm and vision for the future you have got to get these players to want to come here thinking it will be beneficial for their career.

[bobby]

We are what we are a bottom 6 championship team with a budget that reflects the poor crowds we get.

This is the future as far as i see it get used to it.

Yet, if the football and the results improve we get better crowds. The crowds have reduced in last few years because the results have been sporadic and the football has by and large been tedious, with little or no flair.

[Carey 6]

And yet City needed and still need a right sided centre half.

Derby paid 700k for Keogh which imo is about right for a good, experienced, and yet still relatively young Championship defender. Why couldn't City at least match that?

Like I said before, if you will only pay peanuts..............

BBC Derby reported that the fee paid for Keogh exceeded the amount they got for Shackell, which was 1mill i think, crazy money for Keogh

[lifelong]

Yet, if the football and the results improve we get better crowds. The crowds have reduced in last few years because the results have been sporadic and the football has by and large been tedious, with little or no flair.

Flair costs money, something we dont have much of, we are in the business of grinding out results through commitment and work rate, the only way we are going to get any real flair into the team in the near future is by buying lower league prospects or by developing it ourselves.

[Tins]

Was Keogh really that expensive?

Southampton was willing to pay 1 million for Fonts, and Keogh is better in my opinion.

Keogh is a good championship player who has won awards wherever he has gone.

[Pezo]

Keogh went to Derby because they agreed a £700k transfer fee with Coventry. We didn't agree to pay that much for him, and I'd seriously question the judgement of anybody who thought he was worth that amount.

You can't on the one hand berate the club for refusing to pay higher wages (with no evidence) and on the other say "but I also want fiscal prudence". We lost over £10m the last two seasons, we have to reduce spending. It's not one extreme to the other at all, it's one massive extreme to a slightly reduced extreme. We'll still lose something like £6-8m in 2012/2013.

This is the most important thing that everyone has to understand.

While I understand what Robbo is saying no one ever gets a free ride and at some stage our ticket prices must rise to meet debt payments so saying our chairman has deep pockets is like saying the government have deep pockets because they can tax everyone.

I am really surprised by the cost of our match day and season ticket prices this season, for a business that now seemingly can’t afford to pay the going rate for wages, made a loss of over 10m in the last 2 years and will likely make a loss this year it seems crazy that they haven’t upped ticket prices to bring in more money to pay for the wants of the fans. The board have two options 1) reduce costs, this leads to a lower quality of football and pissing people off that expect better 2) increase income, pisses off people that can’t afford to go but allows us to attract better football. My personal opinion is that they should do a little of both but it seems all they ever do is cut costs.