Our Leaders Credentials?

[SimonL]

I remember a few years ago SL mentioning that even if we filled the gate every week we would still not break even!

[marshy]

I remember a few years ago SL mentioning that even if we filled the gate every week we would still not break even!

I can't believe that Mr Lansdown came into football to make a profit or to break even. He has a personal fortune of around £800m and last time I looked was the country's 90th wealthiest person. At least six times wealthier than the Middlesborough chairman but still unable to find that little extra to secure the services of Amougou. Probably, as someone said above, preparing for FFP, what's 'fair' about it by the way, when all the fairy tales of little clubs like Hoffenheim being able to play against and compete with the giants of the game will be a thing of the past.

[Timbo7]

The Board of Directors refuse to communicate with the shareholders (any more than the Law expressly requires them to) so supporters are lucky to get silence.

Having said that I am not sure I want to hear from them until and unless it is to confirm that they have all graduated from Hogwarts and are about to put their new skills to the test for Bristol City.

Having said this, Keith Dawe has been involved with Bristol City for a long time and I understand he is the second largest benefactor after SL - I would therefore suggest that it is unfair to question his commitment whilst continuing to support SL's application for immortality.

I believe a new set of annual accounts are due in the next few weeks which I expect will again reveal an annual loss in excess of £10M and gate receipts of less than £6M - i.e. that if FFP rules are to be applied we will require an average crowd of around 40,000 just to stand still.

On this basis I shall continue to limit my own criticism to our failing to make the most of what we have rather than demanding that we are given more.

Ever since Windass scored at Wembley, the solution to every problem has been a new player - it patently hasn't worked so why should the next signing be any better?

Time has moved on but the best time for supporting this club was between new-year 1993 (92nd) until May 1996 (victory at Wembley) when Terry Cooper was building an improving squad in front of growing support without losing money. It is everything that is wrong with football that we now have to rely on a rich benefactor and it is unsustainable. Two thirds of our supporters excuse the board and owners for everything because they are generous and other third roundly condemn them for not being more generous. The same holds true (albeit in different proportions) at almost every club.

Everton fans complain that their owner is not rich enough - Liverpool, Man U, Man C that their owners are foreign.

of the 72 clubs in the football league, at least 50 will only survive in their current form if/when there is a sea-change in this state of affairs allowing supporters to regain their rightful position in importance/influence/control

[Jordan Tansley]

Sadly we are losing matches and subsequently losing support, which is money, That in itself is a major reason to give as much emphasis to the assistance of the team when making decisions.

The way of the world is being dictated by faceless individuals, probably accountancy trained, while those on the front line suffer the effects of their decisions.

My sister in law had a season ticket along with her salary, it was used for every match, along with two young fans in tow. They used to buy drinks and food, before and after the match. One salary saved, three supporters and their voices, along with other revenue lost, great decision.

I wonder if our club are made as welcome at other grounds, or do they suffer abuse, cold showers, threats from the dugouts, awkward ballboys, poor views?

Well, if she only came because she had a free season ticket and doesn't anymore, I wouldn't call her a supporter....

I'd much rather the club wasn't employing people it doesn't need too. Obviously you've got a veste interest to be critical of the decision to part ways with a family member, but that's life. People lose jobs. People don't lose jobs when they're genuinely needed though.

[Frome Valley]

Well, if she only came because she had a free season ticket and doesn't anymore, I wouldn't call her a supporter....

I'd much rather the club wasn't employing people it doesn't need too. Obviously you've got a veste interest to be critical of the decision to part ways with a family member, but that's life. People lose jobs. People don't lose jobs when they're genuinely needed though.

There are people who have worked for City who have done outstanding jobs in past decades e.g Beryl Fudge and Jayne Maggs.

People like that should be the bedrock of any football club which wants to paint itself as being fan friendly and inclusive. Dedication, loyalty and professionalism are skills any community based sporting club should desire.

[Rich]

Well, if she only came because she had a free season ticket and doesn't anymore, I wouldn't call her a supporter....

I'd much rather the club wasn't employing people it doesn't need too. Obviously you've got a veste interest to be critical of the decision to part ways with a family member, but that's life. People lose jobs. People don't lose jobs when they're genuinely needed though.

You have no idea what you are talking about, the ticket was part of her employment package, that ticket is now no longer affordable. What you are saying is that if somebody can no longer afford to attend matches then they are no longer a supporter, which is ridiculous. Two youngsters used to attend also and its highly likely that they won't in the near future, resulting in lost future fans. Im not mentioning this because of any vested interest im just highlighting that some decisions taken might not always result in a saving that is intended. The ticket was used by a family member who could not afford to attend but supports BCFC. Using you're theory about jobs that are really needed, we could sack the manager and carry out team selection via the forum, would that make it ok?

[Mr Mosquito]

Time has moved on but the best time for supporting this club was between new-year 1993 (92nd) until May 1996 (victory at Wembley) when Terry Cooper was building an improving squad in front of growing support without losing money. It is everything that is wrong with football that we now have to rely on a rich benefactor and it is unsustainable. Two thirds of our supporters excuse the board and owners for everything because they are generous and other third roundly condemn them for not being more generous. The same holds true (albeit in different proportions) at almost every club.

I thought I was in a time warp or another dimension for a moment. Don't you mean: "Time has moved on but the best time for supporting this club was between new-year 1982/83 (92nd) until May 1986 (victory at Wembley) when Terry Cooper was building an improving squad in front of growing support without losing money."

.....great post Sir - apart from confusing me with your decade dates, I really though I'd lost the plot for a moment but it was your mistake not mine - pheeew I'm spared the looney bin.

[glynriley]

As much as it pains me to say it - and at risk of heaps of verbals - maybe it is time,if so many are fed up, to vote with our feet.

One match - when we are safe - anyone with a concern or grievance about the FACT that decent people are being laid of to support the fancy-dan lifestyles of crap footballers - doesn't go.

Organise a boycott.

There it's been said.

If AG had 3,000 people in for a home game,the people "up-top" would be shaken to their core.

Too many silly decisions - Stewart for example cost the club tens of thousands of pounds a month.

People lost their jobs - food and drink prices go up,and as for the shirts.....Grrrr.

The club assume the faithful turn up every week.

Don't. Just for one game.

Trouble is,the club treats fans,like the Govt and the europhiles treat Englishmen......

Like Mugs.

You crack on mate , and best of luck with it.

[Mr Mosquito]

As much as it pains me to say it - and at risk of heaps of verbals - maybe it is time,if so many are fed up, to vote with our feet.

One match - when we are safe - anyone with a concern or grievance about the FACT that decent people are being laid of to support the fancy-dan lifestyles of crap footballers - doesn't go.

Organise a boycott.

There it's been said.

If AG had 3,000 people in for a home game,the people "up-top" would be shaken to their core.

Too many silly decisions - Stewart for example cost the club tens of thousands of pounds a month.

People lost their jobs - food and drink prices go up,and as for the shirts.....Grrrr.

The club assume the faithful turn up every week.

Don't. Just for one game.

Trouble is,the club treats fans,like the Govt and the europhiles treat Englishmen......

Like Mugs.

Excellent post, "fancy-dan lifestyles of crap footballers"....very eloquently put. On the other point I've emboldened - all our EU loving traitor politicians should be prosecuted. We used to have the death penalty (hanging) for traitors until the top EU loving traitor - Tony Blair - abolished it.

[sodburyred]

As much as it pains me to say it - and at risk of heaps of verbals - maybe it is time,if so many are fed up, to vote with our feet.

One match - when we are safe - anyone with a concern or grievance about the FACT that decent people are being laid of to support the fancy-dan lifestyles of crap footballers - doesn't go.

Organise a boycott.

There it's been said.

If AG had 3,000 people in for a home game,the people "up-top" would be shaken to their core.

Too many silly decisions - Stewart for example cost the club tens of thousands of pounds a month.

People lost their jobs - food and drink prices go up,and as for the shirts.....Grrrr.

The club assume the faithful turn up every week.

Don't. Just for one game.

Trouble is,the club treats fans,like the Govt and the europhiles treat Englishmen......

Like Mugs.

Sorry but what are you on about. The club has clearly learnt from the Stewart situation hence the lack of signings on big money. City has one of if not the cheapest season tickets in the championship. They've started the new ticket buying scheme which seems cheap if baught early.

Football has changed, the only thing that will happen if fans stop going or if we stop paying the excessive wages is we'll get relagated.

Also its funny how threads like this pop up when we keep loosing. didn't see anyone moaning about the ball boys (wtf) when we were playing palace and cardif?

[Sargent Pepper]

There seems to be too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Not long ago we had clear leadership. Lansdown & Sexton with Doug Harman (i think) in charge of the stadium, all of which were approachable and happily to engage in fans forum etc which seemed to be regular. People would moan about them and perhaps this shows we should be careful what we wish for.

Now we have Keith Dawe as Chair (although it seems he just has a new Car parking space as we haven't heard from him). I think someone has to be chairman and its been kind of a ghost position since SL left. Under him we have CEO Guy Price who we hear just as much from. Then we have this Mark Ashton fella and Kevin Smith and his team. From the outside it seems like there are at least 4 highly paid executives doing the job of two (and wasnt SL unpaid?) I disagree with who ever said Kevin Smith is a poor communicator, he is the only one who seems to answer queries (on twitter at least). I think our advertising has improved (although possibly not reaching enough people not already on the data base), but with record losses in recent years I question whether the benefits these people have brought are equal to their extra substantial wages on the non football side of the business? An explinanation of what they do would be a start!

I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight reorganisation of this side of the business quite soon anyway, hopefully it will mean a bit of clarity to this part of the club.

[Rich]

Sorry but what are you on about. The club has clearly learnt from the Stewart situation hence the lack of signings on big money. City has one of if not the cheapest season tickets in the championship. They've started the new ticket buying scheme which seems cheap if baught early.

Football has changed, the only thing that will happen if fans stop going or if we stop paying the excessive wages is we'll get relagated.

Also its funny how threads like this pop up when we keep loosing. didn't see anyone moaning about the ball boys (wtf) when we were playing palace and cardif?

Im not moaning about ball boys, im trying to question whether decisions taken from above have a negative effect on our players,. If for example, those ball boys, have become less interested as the season has progressed then it is possible that the decision to change them has had a negative effect, i dont no whether that is the case. What i want is before every decision is taken that it is run past the manager of the team to see whether it might have a negative effect. It seems at present that we are not taking full advantage of being the home team. If fans are unhappy then its possible that they could vent their frustrations at the ground, giving an advantage to the opposition. I am certainly not in favour of a boycott, that is not what this topic is about.

[Frome Valley]

There seems to be too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Not long ago we had clear leadership. Lansdown & Sexton with Doug Harman (i think) in charge of the stadium, all of which were approachable and happily to engage in fans forum etc which seemed to be regular. People would moan about them and perhaps this shows we should be careful what we wish for.

Now we have Keith Dawe as Chair (although it seems he just has a new Car parking space as we haven't heard from him). I think someone has to be chairman and its been kind of a ghost position since SL left. Under him we have CEO Guy Price who we hear just as much from. Then we have this Mark Ashton fella and Kevin Smith and his team. From the outside it seems like there are at least 4 highly paid executives doing the job of two (and wasnt SL unpaid?) I disagree with who ever said Kevin Smith is a poor communicator, he is the only one who seems to answer queries (on twitter at least). I think our advertising has improved (although possibly not reaching enough people not already on the data base), but with record losses in recent years I question whether the benefits these people have brought are equal to their extra substantial wages on the non football side of the business? An explinanation of what they do would be a start!

I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight reorganisation of this side of the business quite soon anyway, hopefully it will mean a bit of clarity to this part of the club.

As a means of communication Kevin Smith on twitter is hardly broad. Guy Price came onto the board promising to raise the clubs profile. Two new salaries and the clubs profile is as low as ever. Advertising has improved? Will disagree, BCFC are annonymous. Communicating with support away from social media would help to increase the clubs exposure.