leadman Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 struggle early on, pick up start of december, get into the play offs, go on a poor run last 4 or 5 games, doing just enough to miss out on play offs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screech Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 My hope for next season is that we start to build a club from the bottom, that we dont go the way we usually do and use loads of gaffer tape to fix the big issues, but we have a little down time in the summer and really put in place a proper structure that will reap the benefits for years to come. I hope next season we start to see a different kind of player in the squad, one who uses his brain on the pitch and doesn't rely on he's fit enough to run a marathon but is shit at football, this is my hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecretSam Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 I think we'll struggle. Mid to lower half. It's a far tougher league than many give it credit for and I think we'll need time to adjust. Whilst I don't go along with us being a massive club down there, as a relegated club we probably will find some teams raise their game against us. I think we'll have a mid-table finish next season and hope to at least challenge the play-offs the year after, and if not promoted then hopefully the season after. +1 As for who will leave, an orderly queue please, gentlemen, yes that's you Messrs Skuse, Stead, Adomah, Fontaine, Heaton, Cunningham, Davies, Baldock... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeRed Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 If we could keep Baldock and Stead that partnership would rip league 1 apart. Big if though Stead is out of contract From what I've read we will be subject to the new salary cap in L1 which limits clubs wage bill to 60% of income - which means our wage bill (was it £11M?) will have to be less than half of what it is today. So offering a new contract to Stead will be out of our reach. Effectively the clubs with the highest gates will be able to afford the best squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecretSam Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Next season Heaton Maloney New New Cunningham New Kelly New Anderson Baldock Stead If we can get these new young players in cheaply then hopefully we can keep hold of the the players I want to keep. Meanwhile, back on planet earth, the real Bristol City team lined up for their first season back in League 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Hi guys hope everyone is having a decent wkd despite our plight... I have just been looking at league 1, and if you take out all the teams involved in the play offs and those in relgation zone for now, it does look like a very ordinary league that i believe we would easily be the biggest club in, so my question is what are peoples opinions of what next season might look like, specifically a) who might we keep and who will/should go b) Budgets c) challenges in adapting to that level d) strongest teams e) will tha manager stay I know its early in the day but looking at that league if we kept the vast majority of our squad then surely we should be around the playoffs. Be interested to hear peoples thoughts a) Who should stay and who should go? For me, we shouldn't look to renew ANY of the out of contract players. Of those in contract, we may lose Adomah & Cunningham - can't see any others receiving offers from elsewhere. I'd like to see the likes of Fontaine, Kilkenny, Foster & Pearson asked to find other clubs too. b) Budgets? We have to slash the wage bill drastically to align with the League 1 rules on wage/turnover percentage. Anything we manage to get for the sale of Adomah should get ploughed back into the team, but only if we manage to remove the likes of Fonts & Killa from the squad as well - as they will be 2 of the higher earners remaining. We're going to need to sign a number of players in the summer (as we need to shed a load), so most of these new faces will have to be younger types on low wages (no more than £3k per week max I'd say), so they'll naturally have to come from clubs of a lower stature than ourselves. Lets not do ourselves a disservice - we will be one of the bigger clubs in league (certainly in terms of reputation and fan base if not revenue!) So we should be able to attract the better young players from L1, L2 and BSQ teams. c) Challenges in adapting to that level. I don't think the challenge will necessarily be 'adapting' to that level, more the gelling of a whole new squad of young players. As said above, we MUST see a high turnover of players this summer, therefore it will take a while for the new set of players to play as a unit. d) Strongest teams? Hard to tell at this stage but my thoughts are that the likes of Swindon, Yeovil & Brentford won't sustain such a strong challenge next season. Preston will get better now they've got rid of the useless Westley. Coventry (as long as they can sort out a home!), have been a much improved team in the 2nd half of the season, so I'd expect them to be decent. Whoever doesn't go up from Donny, Bournemouth, Sheff Utd should be decent. MK Dons will have a better season than this year. Crewe (if they can keep hold of Murphy, Clayton, Leitch-Smith etc) might be useful. One of the promoted teams will always do ok, and I'd imagine that should be Gillingham. Plus of course whoever comes down with us will no doubt be a contender. It's certainly not gonna be a walk in the park next year - there are some decent sides down there, many of whom I'd back to beat us in a one-off game right now. As others have said, it's hard to say how we'll compete at the moment because the expectation is that there'll be such a large turnover of players, so it's a huge unknown. e) Will the manager stay? Yes, without a doubt. Don't listen to all the bull on here about him not being happy with this that or the other. He's hinted a number of times in his interviews that he thinks the current squad are limited and he's having to play certain ways to try to get the best out of them. He may have now come out and said to a fan that he thinks we're a lost cause and we're a basket case, but he's hinted at it plenty of times in his interviews. He knows that what we currently have is not good enough and he knew when he came in that he had a massive job on to save us. He will be relishing offloading a load of these players and bringing in a new crop of his own selections. He won't be going anywhere - particularly as he's just convinced the board to appoint his mate as Chief Scout - so between SOD, O'Kelly and Burt they'll be looking forward to re-shaping this club the way they see fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin101 Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Stead is out of contract From what I've read we will be subject to the new salary cap in L1 which limits clubs wage bill to 60% of income - which means our wage bill (was it £11M?) will have to be less than half of what it is today. So offering a new contract to Stead will be out of our reach. Effectively the clubs with the highest gates will be able to afford the best squad. Not sure why Stead wouldn't sign a reduced contract. Don't think he'd get any offers from championship sides, and he says he enjoys Bristol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothy bird Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 If doncaster can do as well as they have after relegation why shouldn't we be at least top 6? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Wurzel I Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 If doncaster can do as well as they have after relegation why shouldn't we be at least top 6? Because we are not Doncaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothy bird Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 No were not. We get bigger crowds. And I'm sure that doncaster were in a bigger mess than us with a team full of loanees. Saunders as manager. And club transfer policy decided by a agent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcfctim Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Stead is out of contract From what I've read we will be subject to the new salary cap in L1 which limits clubs wage bill to 60% of income - which means our wage bill (was it £11M?) will have to be less than half of what it is today. So offering a new contract to Stead will be out of our reach. Effectively the clubs with the highest gates will be able to afford the best squad. Agreed. Thankfully, we will have one of the highest gates in league 1, behind only Coventry and Sheff Utd if they stay down. Nevertheless, out of Stead, Baldock and Davies i can only see us keeping a maximum of one (i'd pick Baldock if i had to choose) and there's a strong chance we'll lose all of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin101 Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 No were not. We get bigger crowds. And I'm sure that doncaster were in a bigger mess than us with a team full of loanees. Saunders as manager. And club transfer policy decided by a agent! Coventry were certainly in a worse position, and footballing-wise they would have been just outside the play-offs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeRed Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Not sure why Stead wouldn't sign a reduced contract. Don't think he'd get any offers from championship sides, and he says he enjoys Bristol. We'll have to wait & see what he does. He turned down blackpool just before he joined us because he couldn't agree terms (B'pool had (still have?) a wage cap of £10K pw) so it's safe to assume he is on more tham £10K, In L1 we'll be paying around £3K max to meet the 60% of turnover compulsory L1 salary cap in force next season. I think some lower Champ clubs will pick him up - Maybe donny ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 If doncaster can do as well as they have after relegation why shouldn't we be at least top 6? True enough. Donny lost 10 players out of contract who had played more than 15 games the previous season. They also had to sell a further 3 - Friend, O'Connor & Stock. So they essentially lost 13 players who'd played at least 15 times. To replace this loss, they brought in 10 Free Transfers and signed 2 others. Difference might be that 7 of those signings came from teams in the Championship (and 9 of them were over 27 years old). I can't see us picking up many (if any) from the league above and our rebuild will be based on cheaper and younger talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REDOXO Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 The current team will struggle! luckily many of them have already spoken to their agents and as such we will lose Fontaine, Elliot, Baldrick, Stead, Nyatanga, Pearson, Davies, AA among others who are A/ Out of contract B/ Think they are better than League 1 This will give us the chance to play some of the youngsters and sign a leader on the field!! And hopefully be back up within the 9 years it took last time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheddarReds Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 I'm expecting a mid table finish. Look at Leeds and now Shef Utd who have/ are taking longer than expected to get out. We need a clearence. Preferably keep Cunningham, Moloney, Baldock, Kelly, Heaton, Anderson and Stead. Realistically we'll lose most of them. Hopefully get something for those we throw out, 2M for Adomah should set us up for a good L1 budget. I'd give SOD less than we gave Del, unless we get a lot for players. Del spent a lot and some of what he brought in is poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheddarReds Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 On Stead, I wouldn't be suprised if he heads to Huddersfield. Lower champ club, started out there, I think it'd fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 A playoff final win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glynriley Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 I'm expecting a mid table finish. Look at Leeds and now Shef Utd who have/ are taking longer than expected to get out. We need a clearence. Preferably keep Cunningham, Moloney, Baldock, Kelly, Heaton, Anderson and Stead. Realistically we'll lose most of them. Hopefully get something for those we throw out, 2M for Adomah should set us up for a good L1 budget. I'd give SOD less than we gave Del, unless we get a lot for players. Del spent a lot and some of what he brought in is poor. Yet 5 of the 7 you mention were Del's signings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Fred Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 I think this is a reasonable prediction of how next season may pan out. will go along with that.will be a big clear-out at seasons end so will take time for the new faces and shape of the team to settle..mid table will be about it-thats of course assuming that SOD will still be here?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Red Hat Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 On Stead, I wouldn't be suprised if he heads to Huddersfield. Lower champ club, started out there, I think it'd fit They'll probably be down with us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citybs3 Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 as others have said its almost impossible to predict until we know the makeup of the squad. reaching play offs would be a great season imo, but can't see it happening. if we manage to move on many of the contracted players, which is probably needed in order to comply with ffp, we could be looking at an almost whole new squad which will need time to gel. our gates should be top 6 but without corporate facilities we should on paper make top 10. what with all the other changes that are happening mid table is probably more realistic. personally ill be happy to go watch city if we achieve this whilst developing youngsters and showing some pride on the pitch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manon Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 I think we need to be realistic and respect league one for the tough battle ground that it is... ...we'll be fifteen points clear at xmas and wrap up the title by march. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Why ? I can see this close season being much the same as others with the old retainers getting new contracts and losing those that we really need to keep. SOD rates Elliott, Skuse and Fontaine, and Carey may well stick around in some capacity out of sentiment from the club if nothing else. If he offers contracts/extensions to those then that will be the final nail for me, I won't be wasting any more money on funding that lot. I really hope SOD can understand that those 4 mentioned have struggled at the bottom of this league for 4 years now and realise they must leave for the club to move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizoon Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Don't relegated teams get a concession on the salary cap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor10 Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 My only real expectation is we have a proper clear out. I could handle having an indifferent season re-building if things are done the right way. I think any other expectations are impossible to say at the moment as we don't know what is going to happen. I appreciate it will be difficult to get rid of everyone but we seriously have to have a major over haul. Not just 4 or 5, I seriously hope, and expect to see at least 10 players go out the door this summer. At the very least. In turn this may well lead to a difficult or at times frustrating season, but it's nothing we would not have experienced before. If it will be better for the club in the long run then we have to accept it. I will still be hopeful of a top 6 finish though. I think anyone who thinks we will take the league by storm may be in for a bit of a shock. It's a tough league no question, but with SoD knowing the league well, my small hope is that it is not as strong a league as it once was. I remember the days when we locked horns with the likes of Forest, Cardiff, QPR, Sheff W, Brighton etc in that league and it was very tough. It won't be a walk in the park whatever happens, but depending on who comes down with us and if we can get our house in order quickly like Donny have then who knows. We really do just have to wait and see though. It's impossible to say. I do think the main expectation of the majority will be to get rid of all the dross though. Anymore will be a bonus, and of course we want to bounce back quickly but it will be pointless if we are not ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fool's Gold Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Hard to say at this point as we don't know what the squad will look like come August. Immediate promotion back in my opinion doesn't seem likely, however Doncaster went down with a much worse squad than us and with a few additions they're almost certain for promotion back to the championship after merely one season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazinpeace Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 I think you don't have to do it immediately but not sure Don't relegated teams get a concession on the salary cap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunnyfunt Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 I'll have to wait and see who's in charge, who we ship out and who we bring in before I can see what to expect next season. Baldock should do well in league 1 so I'd like us to keep him. Cunningham, Kelly, Anderson and Maloney also. Davies and Albert will be sold I feel and hopefully we can pinch some decent, young, hungry players that have experience in this league already with the money raised. Hopefully the dross (Skuse, Fontaine, Pearson, Killkenny, Elliott, M Wilson, Foster) etc can be scrapped off the wage bill, although I'd be surprised if there will be any takers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerox6060 Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Crucial we keep Baldock if he stays fit he's a 25 goal man at League one level, otherwise too early to say need to know the clubs thoughts on budgets and intentions and SOD's player list. Though my gut feel is it will take a year to adjust though as pointed out Donny have done remarkable well and I don't think the Division is that strong quality wise just awkward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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