SimonL Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Good article and eye opening!! http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTOL-CITY-BLOG-Age-austerity-hitting-home/story-19921424-detail/story.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_Jim Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Interesting that he criticises the board for disappearing into the background and forcing O'Driscoll to be the one public voice of the club. Good article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brady bunch Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Very well written and he makes some very, very good points. AH has had some stick on here, but I think some of this articles of late have been outstanding (particulary liked the one about his relationships with managers past and present). I found that really intresting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i hate rovers Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 one of his better articles,some valid points, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rule The Waves Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 It is a good, but concerning article. The over-riding message to me is that the board are using SOD as a scapegoat. They are the ones who have given him very little to operate with, but they expect him to be the only one to take any degree of flack or responsibility for the situation we are currently in. I know a lot of fans on here are not intelligent enough to be able to see past results and understand the bigger picture, but this gives a lot reasoning and explanation behind where we currently are as a club. The most concerning thing of all for me is the deafening silence coming from the boardroom. I was beginning to think we were getting somewhere in terms of communication with fans with Jon L over the close-season, but since then nothing. Someone at board level needs to come out and speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 The state of the club "is shit". The floor is now open to questions ................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowley Birkin Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 HALLELUJAH ! I've been saying I felt sorry for Sean O'driscoll for months, as he's pushed to face the media and fans with those cowards hiding behind him. I'ts those clowns who should be sacked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin phantom Posted October 11, 2013 Admin Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Very well written article, just backs up what many have said in the past that we are currently a rudderless ship bouncing from mistake to mistake Assume the 4 players in the article are the ones that were meant to be 2/3 of the current playing budget? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glynriley Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 HALLELUJAH ! I've been saying I felt sorry for Sean O'Driscoll for months, as he's pushed to face the media and fans with those cowards hiding behind him. I'ts those clowns who should be sacked! As Keith Burt is DoF, perhaps he should be taking some of the weight off of Seans shoulders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowley Birkin Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 A scout from a northern club told me, City's the only club they ever go to where you have to pay for a cup of tea in hospitality. Just cos Lansdown wasted his money on ridiculous wages in the wrong places, everyone else has to suffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedZoneJim Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Very well written article, just backs up what many have said in the past that we are currently a rudderless ship bouncing from mistake to mistake Assume the 4 players in the article are the ones that were meant to be 2/3 of the current playing budget? Think we could safely add Baldock and Cunningham to that list too although they will still be in contract at the end of this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myol'man Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Wow, Stockhausen writes good article. He must have been sober! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fka dagest Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 I believe almost all our problems stems Lansdown, who thinks a football club is run just like an ordinary business. Any desire for promotion, cups, glory have been happily sacrificed for a balanced profit & loss account. The only time you can imagine any hi-5s in the boardroom is when we begin to operate at a tiny profit. For me that seems to be the reality of the future for Bristol City. The tragedy is that fans want a bit national exposure, a bit of civic pride and a bit of hope for the future. I don't see any of these hopes being fulfilled any time soon. As I said in another thread I wish Lansdown would write off the debt (which he helped create) and move on for someone else to have a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedZoneJim Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 I believe almost all our problems stems Lansdown, who thinks a football club is run just like an ordinary business. Any desire for promotion, cups, glory have been happily sacrificed for a balanced profit & loss account. The only time you can imagine any hi-5s in the boardroom is when we begin to operate at a tiny profit. For me that seems to be the reality of the future for Bristol City. The tragedy is that fans want a bit national exposure, a bit of civic pride and a bit of hope for the future. I don't see any of these hopes being fulfilled any time soon. As I said in another thread I wish Lansdown would write off the debt (which he helped create) and move on for someone else to have a go. My interpretation is the complete opposite. That SL didn't run the club like an ordinary business and was prepared to back his managers to chase the dream and it cost him millions. I don't blame him at all for wanting to see the club try to stand on its own 2 feet for a while. You want someone else to have a go? The only people around that seem to have £50m to waste on a football club are from overseas and I'd rather have a couple of years of scrimping to establish something sustainable and with foundation than become the next Venkys or Tan. Just my opinion though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothy bird Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Another excellent article from as. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Mosquito Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 An interesting read with some great replies on here. To me, it's the 1981-82 season revisited so I've seen and heard it all before. It will not matter what manager we have at BCFC because we don't seem to have reached the bottom of our fall through the league yet. A great shame because we actually signed some entertaining and skillful players under Gary Johnson like Dele Adebola, Lee Trundle, Marvin Elliott, Paul Hartley and Darren Byfield. Not rated by many but rated by me were McIndoe, Sproule and boom boom McCombe. Oh and to have the likes of Basso and Orr back in our defence. Those days are over and it's back to lower league obscurity until we get new owners with genuine ambition - and that isn't likely with the millstone of £40 million+ of club debt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_s Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Kind of feel a little sorry for SOD as he really is the whipping boy. I don't think I've ever known a period in my BCFC history where the board have been so anonymous other than spouting a few sentences of positivity around season ticket renewal time. SOD value is still ok. Wouldn't surprise me if he leaves for another offer. From what I can see there's still a hell of a lot of non playing staff at the gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Maybe now we won't get any more questions on why we aren't spending a million pound on a player etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid in the Riot Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Absolutely spot on article, I believe all of what Stockhausen says there to be true. It feels like O'Driscoll is being hung out to dry... The board should've come out at the start of the season and told supporters the amounts of cash we are cutting and lowered expectations. Instead, the silence is deafening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Reading this explains a lot and in all honesty the board are the ones killing the club, the financial thing is not even something I'm worried about, it's the board finding a scapegoat who they can hide behind. The board will be the undoing of this club, I feel sorry for SOD, he's a good manager and he's been hung out to dry by our shit board. It's the board who need replacing, not SOD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudski Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 It's a great article and puts a few things into perspective... i've cut and pasted it below for people to read, as the BP site can be a nightmare to read online... It can only benefit players to install 'normal' behaviour that will benefit them long term. Most people cook their own meals...so why can't players before they travel? As long as they are given dietry information on what to cook it can only be a good thing and bring them down to earth. All the great Olympians have to do this on their own... and they often train and work twice as hard as footballers with no pay... Bring it on...they should all wash their own kit imho as well. Article.... If Bristol City’s management and playing staff needed a reminder that they are living through an age of austerity, it was provided by last week’s jaunt to Port Vale. Highly paid players such as Neil Kilkenny will soon be a thing of the past as Bristol City cut their cloth accordingly in League One. Hitherto accustomed to having an evening meal on an overnight trip, City’s players were informed the budget would no longer extend to such an extravagance. Instead of leaving at lunchtime on Friday as they would have done in previous seasons, they delayed their departure until 7pm and, upon arrival at a Stoke-on-Trent hotel some three hours later, partook of a modest repast of soup and sandwiches before retiring to their rooms. By denying the travelling party a square meal, the football club made a financial saving of around £500. My point in mentioning this is not to bellyache on behalf of professional footballers who are pampered to an extent the vast majority of we lesser mortals can only dream about, but to make a point regarding the state of the finances at Bristol City these days. Last weekend’s exercise in penny-pinching is symptomatic of what has been going on inside Ashton Gate for much of this year. Having chucked suitcases of hard cash into backing his sporting passion and seen precious little return for his money, majority shareholder Steve Lansdown has announced a fundamental change of direction. Let there be no doubt among City fans as to what the club’s five pillars policy means in actual fact; it represents, among other things, a purge on waste and excess, one that is being pursued with an almost religious zeal. A wage bill that peaked at £18.6 million just two years ago has already been halved and will be further reduced when the likes of Marvin Elliott, Stephen Pearson, Neil Kilkenny and Liam Fontaine are finally out of contract. Staff within Ashton Gate Ltd have also felt the squeeze, around one fifth of their number being made redundant in a radical pruning exercise in 2012. Of course, austerity on such a scale is bound to have an adverse effect upon the product on the pitch. Players having to sacrifice the occasional meal and overnight stay is neither here nor there, I hear you say. But when wider cutbacks force head coach Sean O’Driscoll and director of football Keith Bert to operate within the confines of a financial straightjacket, there are direct consequences for you, the supporters. City fans were given a tantalising glimpse of what might have been when Peterborough United striker Britt Assombalonga destroyed the Robins’ defence in a League One encounter at Ashton Gate earlier this season. Courted by Bert and O’Driscoll at one stage in the summer, the youngster could quite easily have found his way to Ashton Gate on loan. That is, until Posh offered Watford £1 million up front for the forward. At that point, City were out of the running, unable to compete on an equal financial footing with Peterborough, a club perceived as significantly smaller by a majority of Robins fans. It was a similar story when O’Driscoll made public his requirement for an experienced centre half to replace the injured James O’Connor only last month. Offered 29-year-old Egypt international Jimmy El Abd by Brighton & Hove Albion, he instead took Lewis Dunk, another young player still cutting his teeth in first team football. Commendable as it is and already in operation at many lower league clubs, City’s new financial model is having a direct effect on performance and results. I’m not for one moment suggesting the club return to its previous strategy of spending beyond its means, but it is important those who follow the Robins and care for the club understand what is going on. This is not the Bristol City of the Gary Johnson era; it is not even the Bristol City of Derek McInnes, who was required to start the cost cutting before losing his job in January this year. This is an altogether different Bristol City. And this leads me onto my next point. Bristol City in its current guise has become so closely associated with head coach O’Driscoll that it is easy to fool oneself into believing the policy of financial prudence is his own. This is patently untrue. City’s board of directors, prompted by owner Steve Lansdown, themselves took the quantum leap towards austerity earlier this year. They then hired O’Driscoll to implement their new way of doing things. Owing to an inexplicable reluctance to communicate with supporters on the part of the board, the head coach has unfortunately become a lone voice in explaining a manifesto that was actually drafted by others. Left on his own to front up to the media and explain things in painstaking fashion in his extensive programme notes, the Midlander is beginning to sound like a broken record. At what point will the Ashton Gate board break their self-imposed silence and, if not back the head coach, at least explain to supporters why it is they have elected to pursue a long-term strategy of cost-cutting that could even endanger the club’s League One status? I for one, am certainly not holding my breath. Since his appointment as chairman nearly 18 months ago, Keith Dawe has scarcely made a public utterance, while vice chairman Jon Lansdown has receded into the background after initially being groomed as the board member with responsibility for dealing with the media. New chief executive Doug Harman is eminently qualified to talk about off-pitch matters and has begun doing so via his programme notes. But what of the men who have, until recently, been charged with the task of directing football matters? Of course, frustrated supporters are quite within their rights to question the head coach when results are poor and the one certainty in all of this is that O’Driscoll will, sooner or later, part company with the club. Football is a result-driven industry and the buck inevitably stops with the manager whenever on-field achievements fall beneath expectations. But it does not necessarily follow that he should be left on his own to wage the never ending battle to win hearts and minds and convince supporters of the importance of adhering to a policy laid down by others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glynriley Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Kind of feel a little sorry for SOD as he really is the whipping boy. I don't think I've ever known a period in my BCFC history where the board have been so anonymous other than spouting a few sentences of positivity around season ticket renewal time. SOD value is still ok. Wouldn't surprise me if he leaves for another offer. From what I can see there's still a hell of a lot of non playing staff at the gate. Seriously? I'd be amazed, not only do I think his stock has fallen since he's been here, it would appear he has a job for as long as he wants it. I do feel a bit sorry for him, in as much as his mate Burt seems to have followed the well trodden path of the other directors and put on an invisibility cloak and used SOD as a shit shield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Mosquito Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 I believe almost all our problems stems Lansdown, who thinks a football club is run just like an ordinary business. Any desire for promotion, cups, glory have been happily sacrificed for a balanced profit & loss account. The only time you can imagine any hi-5s in the boardroom is when we begin to operate at a tiny profit. For me that seems to be the reality of the future for Bristol City. The tragedy is that fans want a bit national exposure, a bit of civic pride and a bit of hope for the future. I don't see any of these hopes being fulfilled any time soon. As I said in another thread I wish Lansdown would write off the debt (which he helped create) and move on for someone else to have a go. I remember working in a factory as a technician and there was a minimum viable workforce below which the factory may well have had to shut. The accountants were always pushing to cut staff here and there and product quality always suffered as did the reputation of the firm. Steve Lansdown has this accountant mentality.....so, what if the BCFC product on offer on the pitch becomes so shit that there's hardly any support left....does he shut the club down? What does he think is the minimum crowd level for league games? Is he preparing the club for Div 2/ Conference football? Does he not think it important to win home league games? - the bread and butter for attracting support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnclosureSurge Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 We're all getting our knickers in a twist about what a great article a local journalist has written. And it is a good article, but... About bloody time! And he hasn't said anything not mentioned on here - in fact it could cynically be described as cribbed from more informed opinions across this site and elsewhere. As someone with more access to the club, shouldn't this article have been written before ? I mean nothing personal against him as I do not know him, but surely he is merely doing his job and writing the truth about the club? Most of us know and accept that financial prudence is well underway and I am not sure I learnt anything new here, again. If you don't you still think we should be better than Peterboro. But, on the other hand, at least he is writing this and hopefully it will make more people believe what is happening (esp, as he correctly and somewhat bravely, points out, no-one in the club is doing this - it being left to the Head Coach) However, I would imagine we didn't sign El-Abd because at the time of the loan signing it looked like he'd be away with Egypt - bit pointless signing someone on loan who is going to be in North Africa for ten days - not because he was offered and we chose the cheaper "penny-pinching" option (is that really a good way to describe what we are doing, or just lazy use of a thesarus?) I don't mind saying that this is a good article but let's not pretend he's suddenly thinked it all up himself, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedZoneJim Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 It's a great article and puts a few things into perspective... i've cut and pasted it below for people to read, as the BP site can be a nightmare to read online... It can only benefit players to install 'normal' behaviour that will benefit them long term. Most people cook their own meals...so why can't players before they travel? As long as they are given dietry information on what to cook it can only be a good thing and bring them down to earth. All the great Olympians have to do this on their own... and they often train and work twice as hard as footballers with no pay... Bring it on...they should all wash their own kit imho as well. I appreciate the sentiment Spudski but no-one would ever sign for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Mosquito Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Seriously? I'd be amazed, not only do I think his stock has fallen since he's been here, it would appear he has a job for as long as he wants it. I do feel a bit sorry for him, in as much as his mate Burt seems to have followed the well trodden path of the other directors and put on an invisibility cloak and used SOD as a shit shield. ...I like that, SOD is being used as a shit shield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnclosureSurge Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Good article and eye opening!! http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTOL-CITY-BLOG-Age-austerity-hitting-home/story-19921424-detail/story.html People! What has stopped our eyes being open before now?!! It's on the pitch in front of us!! And in the league table!! WAKE UP BRISTOL!! I need some sleep, conversely, so please keep the noise down replying to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fka dagest Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 My interpretation is the complete opposite. That SL didn't run the club like an ordinary business and was prepared to back his managers to chase the dream and it cost him millions. I don't blame him at all for wanting to see the club try to stand on its own 2 feet for a while. You want someone else to have a go? The only people around that seem to have £50m to waste on a football club are from overseas and I'd rather have a couple of years of scrimping to establish something sustainable and with foundation than become the next Venkys or Tan. Just my opinion though. I'm not so sure we're as far apart as you think. I certainly agree that Lansdown did splash the cash in pursuit of the dream. Although he cost the club millions as he could call in the debt whenever he feels like it. What I'm getting at is the here and now. The old ambition is gone; the sole ambition now is financial. You see the problem I have is that a football club isn't an ordinary business is it? I can't believe many rich business people invest to make a profit for any club. They invest either because they love football and that's how they want to spend their free cash or they've got another motive. I think if Lansdown is treating Bristol City as any ordinary business, then in reality, we've not got a lot to look forward to. The bottom line is I want a rich geeezer chucking his cash at us without necessarily wanting it back. And no, I don't know any, but other clubs seem to find them easily enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowley Birkin Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 While we're on it, here's another quality performance from the board an ex player told me allegedly happened at the Council House civic reception on our promotion to the Championship. Evidently all the players were called up and given commemorative plates (or something), this is in front of wives girlfriends etc, then when they'd all been awarded, the announcer said, right now the rest of the team, obviously thinking the coaches and back room staff. "Step forward Colin Sexton and the board!" Evidently at least a couple of staff turned and walked out at this public humiliation, and left families seething at the snub. To the credit of the players, a few of them offered them their plates, as they felt embarrassed for them. Shocking. To me this sums the board up, they want to be seen when the good times roll, but at times like this are nowhere to be seen, leaving Sean O'driscoll to take the flak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid in the Riot Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Seriously? I'd be amazed, not only do I think his stock has fallen since he's been here, it would appear he has a job for as long as he wants it. I do feel a bit sorry for him, in as much as his mate Burt seems to have followed the well trodden path of the other directors and put on an invisibility cloak and used SOD as a shit shield. What makes you think he's got the job for as long as he wants it?? Rubbish, if we don't win soon he's gone. We all thought McInnes stock had fallen but he got a pretty big job in Scotland at Aberdeen who draw in similar crowds as us. SOD would have no problem getting a job at L1 level and may even still interest some in the C'Ship. To other clubs, he'd just be another managerial failure at Bristol City along with Coppell and McInnes...we'd still be the only real blot on his record. As for Burt, ultimately most people think recruitment over the summer was spot on so that's why he isn't taking much flack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.