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[Esmond Million's Bung]

Whatever happens, happens but I am confident we'll avoid relegation even if its a struggle.

 

SO'D isn't a bad manager, he isn't a spectacular manager either but he got the job done regarding Bournemouth and Donny but it took a few years to get those clubs sorted with his footballing philosophy. Why it doesn't work here, god only knows but then again whatever we do never works anyway.

 

One last point,

 

"I just hope they adhere to these new policies that should've been implemented years ago".

 

Most of those 'new' policies were actually instigated by Millen and improved by DMC and further improved by SOD, as I said on a previous post he hasn't re-invented the wheel at BCFC and present philosophy is a modern version of the 1966 Ramsey's wingless wonders.

 

 

[Fiale]

Burts job is to find the players, SOD says yay or nay.

Mathematics don't come into my question, it's a straight would a relegation be included in your "as much time as needed" quote regarding SOD.

That's not really true.. Burt is in charge of the recruiting of coaches and players.. He has his database set up, the head coach approaches him asking for a type of player or skill set and Burt gives him a short list of players that meet the requirement and are realistic / affordable options...

The manager/head coach has had recruitment taken out of his hand.. Which is as it should be when you have a DoF.

[Nibor]

The only constant over the last four decades at this perpetually unsuccessful football club is the fans. One might conclude that whinging and negativity does little to improve the on the field performance.

[Esmond Million's Bung]

That's not really true.. Burt is in charge of the recruiting of coaches and players.. He has his database set up, the head coach approaches him asking for a type of player or skill set and Burt gives him a short list of players that meet the requirement and are realistic / affordable options...

The manager/head coach has had recruitment taken out of his hand.. Which is as it should be when you have a DoF.

 

But has the final say I am sure.

 

 

[The Kaiser]

[OneManMob]

The only constant over the last four decades at this perpetually unsuccessful football club is the fans. One might conclude that whinging and negativity does little to improve the on the field performance.

 

Seriously?

 

The fans have been patient, DMC was given way too much time by the fans and SOD is finally getting the stick he deserves.

[Fiale]

But has the final say I am sure.

I guess you can say that.. But it's more like a final say when given a menu with a few options to chose from for your meal.

[Alex_BCFC]

Thoughts on Saturday...We just couldn't break them down and if you can't score then you always risk a freak goal against you. Defeat was harsh especially as I didn't think our 'goal' should have been disallowed. I can't understand the tactic of playing Baldock upfront on his own against two big CB's but then again he should have scored in the first half. He scored last week with a similar chance but his ratio hasn't been good enough for me. Obviously Clough has come in for them and told them to be ultra defensive yet they ended up taking all 3 points. Too much passing along the back four by City and we aren't positive enough going forward.

 

On the positive side, the defence looks so much better with Osbourne there and we are only conceding much less (just 3 in last 4 league games) so that at least gives you a chance.

 

On SOD...I'm not going to dwell too much over his performance last season. He has now had some time to clear out the squad and essentially start again. When we played Bradford/Coventry etc we attacked quite a bit and were quite aggressive. This ended up in us conceding plenty of goals and I think SOD has almost done the reverse of that now with him shoring up the defence at the expense of playing attacking football. He still needs to tinker to get the balance right. I do think that 16 games is a reasonable amount of time to try and work out how you will play and get the balance right. Obviously I wouldn't expect everything to be right yet but 2 wins is just not good enough. There are other things that niggle me like the short corners (SOD needs to step in here) and 

 

With tough games coming up, as much as this is a long term thing, SOD needs to deliver another reasonable unbeaten run but with signs that he is getting the balance right. Against Leyton Orient and Preston, I can't see it happening and heavy defeats might see the board have no option but to get rid with a majority of fans losing patience. Is that the answer? Not sure as it doesn't seem to have produced results over the last few seasons. The only manager we stuck with was GJ and he turned it around (quicker I know but we probably weren't in such a mess as now).

 

Overall, I think stick for now but there must be signs pretty soon that things can turn around.

[Nibor]

Seriously?

 

The fans have been patient, DMC was given way too much time by the fans and SOD is finally getting the stick he deserves.

Why does a man doing his best in a job deserve stick? We want him to succeed don't we?

As for patience - really? I can't believe anybody can suggest that with a straight face. Changing a football club throughout takes years not weeks.

Saturday's performance was about 85 minutes of possession against a side that were tough to break down. We had our best attacking midfielder unavailable (Reid) and yes the squad lacks real width. We lost to an unlucky own goal and had a perfectly good goal ruled out.

The vitriol after the game and on here was astounding to me, people seemed to lose all sense of reason. Perhaps this Bristolian negativity is why this region is a backwater going nowhere.

[Esmond Million's Bung]

Why does a man doing his best in a job deserve stick? We want him to succeed don't we?

As for patience - really? I can't believe anybody can suggest that with a straight face. Changing a football club throughout takes years not weeks.

Saturday's performance was about 85 minutes of possession against a side that were tough to break down. We had our best attacking midfielder unavailable (Reid) and yes the squad lacks real width. We lost to an unlucky own goal and had a perfectly good goal ruled out.

The vitriol after the game and on here was astounding to me, people seemed to lose all sense of reason. Perhaps this Bristolian negativity is why this region is a backwater going nowhere.

 

Sometimes in life your best is not good enough.

 

Anyway with 10 games to go last season you said we would not go down and I believed you.

 

 

[TRL]

Sometimes in life your best is not good enough.

Anyway with 10 games to go last season you said we would not go down and I believed you.

That last sentence can't be right, surely?

[OneManMob]

Saturday's performance was about 85 minutes of possession against a side that were tough to break down.

 

Really? We only had 57% possession. Its hard to break down a side from your own half.

[Nibor]

Sometimes in life your best is not good enough.

That's exactly the sort of utterly useless negativity I mean. Thanks for providing an example to illustrate the point.

I haven't heard or read a single useful, constructive criticism from any of the whingers.

 

Anyway with 10 games to go last season you said we would not go down and I believed you.

Did you? Somehow I doubt it. More likely that you're indulging in a silly little bit of point scoring and "I told you so".

[The Kaiser]

I think he and I are on about the same wage.

If I performed my role as he has done, I can assure you my US employer would have removed me.

It's about as performance.

If the entities I look after lost the company money and were in default etc - could I go into the office with "Come on fellas, I'm trying my best"

It's no different.

[Nibor]

Really? We only had 57% possession. Its hard to break down a side from your own half.

Only 57%? That means that Sheffield had 43%, it's rare to see that big a difference and certainly very rare for that sort of difference to be in favour of the losing side.

It was a classic away gameplan from their point of view, 10 men behind the ball, play on the break. Us playing an expansive game with wingers or three forwards would probably have had them rubbing their hands with glee. As it was the performance was not bad, and we were unlucky.

We did struggle to break them down and need more creativity / cutting edge but the reaction on here and after the game is as usual pathetically out of proportion

[glynriley]

I think he and I are on about the same wage.

If I performed my role as he has done, I can assure you my US employer would have removed me.

It's about as performance.

If the entities I look after lost the company money and were in default etc - could I go into the office with "Come on fellas, I'm trying my best"

It's no different.

 

You make some decent points and certainly liven the place up at times.

 

Not sure why you feel the need to constantly bring your salary into it though.

 

Irrespective of what anyone is paid, ultimately, if they don't do their job, they'll lose it.

[Nibor]

I think he and I are on about the same wage.

If I performed my role as he has done, I can assure you my US employer would have removed me.

It's about as performance.

If the entities I look after lost the company money and were in default etc - could I go into the office with "Come on fellas, I'm trying my best"

It's no different.

It's very different. If you take over a business unit that has years of failure after failure and have to cut the budget by more than 50% nobody would expect growth in the same year. You would have time to implement a strategy and let that take hold. You would not have 10,000 customers criticising your every move - your body language - your accent for example.

And you wouldn't be in an industry where by definition only three out of twenty four companies can be successful every year.

Besides, US employers are known for their short sighted Harvard business model so you're making my point for me really.

[Esmond Million's Bung]

That's exactly the sort of utterly useless negativity I mean. Thanks for providing an example to illustrate the point.

I haven't heard or read a single useful, constructive criticism from any of the whingers.

 

Did you? Somehow I doubt it. More likely that you're indulging in a silly little bit of point scoring and "I told you so".

 

 

 

 Not at all just pointing out that like the rest of us you don't have all the answers, if I was going to try to points score or 'I told you so' it would have been when we were relegated. But trust me you said it the full quote was along the lines of "There are 30 points to play for, we are not down and we are not going down" and then something about being pussies.

 

 

Only 57%? That means that Sheffield had 43%, it's rare to see that big a difference and certainly very rare for that sort of difference to be in favour of the losing side.

It was a classic away gameplan from their point of view, 10 men behind the ball, play on the break. Us playing an expansive game with wingers or three forwards would probably have had them rubbing their hands with glee. As it was the performance was not bad, and we were unlucky.

We did struggle to break them down and need more creativity / cutting edge but the reaction on here and after the game is as usual pathetically out of proportion

 

Tottenham had over 53% and lost 6-0.

 

[TRL]

Only 57%? That means that Sheffield had 43%, it's rare to see that big a difference and certainly very rare for that sort of difference to be in favour of the losing side.

It was a classic away gameplan from their point of view, 10 men behind the ball, play on the break. Us playing an expansive game with wingers or three forwards would probably have had them rubbing their hands with glee. As it was the performance was not bad, and we were unlucky.

We did struggle to break them down and need more creativity / cutting edge but the reaction on here and after the game is as usual pathetically out of proportion

It was a game plan SO'D pointed out before the game. It was his choice to play Elliott to match up their game plan, he said this before the game.

So now knowing that, how has he gone about breaking down that game plan? I think the answer is, he hasn't, he has matched it. No attempt to circumnavigate it.

On the face of it not a good choice for a team with 1 point away from home all season.

[Sleepy1968]

we could have played like we did for a month of sundays and not scored, its not children having a tantrum its grown men bored rigid at the football on offer, i have never been so bored watching a live match in my life, its hard work going down the gate at the moment, people have a right to be angry at what was on offer yesterday.

I have never been (and hope never to be) bored rigid.

[Nibor]

Not at all just pointing out that like the rest of us you don't have all the answers, if I was going to try to points score or 'I told you so' it would have been when we were relegated. But trust me you said it the full quote was along the lines of "There are 30 points to play for, we are not down and we are not going down" and then something about being pussies.

Ah that would have been in response to yet more negativity. It gets boring after a while. Anyway I'm not sure exactly what point it is you're trying to score, or make, but if you've got views on our performances that are more insightful that those expressed by the other negative folk on here I'm all ears.

It was a game plan SO'D pointed out before the game. It was his choice to play Elliott to match up their game plan, he said this before the game.

So now knowing that, how has he gone about breaking down that game plan? I think the answer is, he hasn't, he has matched it. No attempt to circumnavigate it.

On the face of it not a good chouce gor a team with 1 point away from home all season.

Bobby Reid was injured no?

I'd suggest that the performance was enough to win the game and we were unlucky to lose it.

Anyway, I thought you'd banned yourself from games?

[TRL]

Ah that would have been in response to yet more negativity. It gets boring after a while. Anyway I'm not sure exactly what point it is you're trying to score, or make, but if you've got views on our performances that are more insightful that those expressed by the other negative folk on here I'm all ears.

Bobby Reid was injured no?

I'd suggest that the performance was enough to win the game and we were unlucky to lose it.

Anyway, I thought you'd banned yourself from games?

I have banned myself from home games. His choice was gillet or Elliott. He specifically said he chose elliot to match up. Gillet may have offered something different.

The point being he hasn't, by his own admission gone and put a team or tactic out there to get at the opposition, at home you should be trying to boss or direct play, not hand the initiative to the opposition by matching them.

The wonders of listening to the manager give out his tactics on radio before the game bought me to this conclusion.

Edit, when I say boss play I mean pressure further up the pitch, not keep possesion in front of tge opposition without a midfielder who can really pick a pass on the pitch.

[The Right Honourable Les Q]

It's very different. If you take over a business unit that has years of failure after failure and have to cut the budget by more than 50% nobody would expect growth in the same year. You would have time to implement a strategy and let that take hold. You would not have 10,000 customers criticising your every move - your body language - your accent for example.And you wouldn't be in an industry where by definition only three out of twenty four companies can be successful every year.Besides, US employers are known for their short sighted Harvard business model so you're making my point for me really.

SOD has criticised the "customers" here rather a lot of times. Too many for my liking. As he has presided over a less than successful eleven months of slide.Lumped everyone into one, negative, impatient, wildly expectant mass. Effectively, said we are stupid and too full of ourselves.

The "customers" may not often be right, in football, but they can work out a few things from the cold facts: 2 wins in 17. In the relegation zone. To imply that the fans are stupid is stupidity itself. Even if it happens to be true. And these "customers" will be here, if we're lucky, long after sod has shuffled off. Mr Ratner discovered this was not the greatest move, "going forward."

If I was a Lansdown, he'd be getting a verbal warning for this alone.

He wants us to be this and that, patient, polite, keep off the pitch, etc. And he behaves in media interviews, representing the club, Lansdowns club, in the way he did the other week. A case of, do as I say, not as I do. In my experience of life, you tend to fall flat on your face with that approach.

Sod wants the world to be the way he'd prefer it, is comfortable with, and gets grumpy and irritable when it isn't. That's a bit stupid, in an adult.

He has made himself available to fans and answered questions, to be fair and balanced to him (as well as left alone to carry the transition 'can,' be the public voice). But you won't be remembered for this, or it is undone, when you describe the crowd as the team's "biggest hurdle." Whether it is true or not, it is stupid to say it publicly.

All this would be enough to be on a last warning in many normal areas of work, lines of business. And we haven't got to the entertainment on offer yet...

I would like to see him do well and see someone get the time to implement all this stuff that is talked about. But he really doesn't help himself at times

[Esmond Million's Bung]

Ah that would have been in response to yet more negativity. It gets boring after a while. Anyway I'm not sure exactly what point it is you're trying to score, or make, but if you've got views on our performances that are more insightful that those expressed by the other negative folk on here I'm all ears.

 

 

Not trying to points score that's your forte.

 

Only comment on what I have seen, interviews and stats. But that could change at any moment and when it does you will be the first to know.

 

I reached an age recently and given hereditary medical history, well i'm sure you get my drift.

 

Anyway in 2008 I took a BCFC scarf into a local sports bar that has scarves from all over the world and the guy was a very knowledgable football fan (for a frenchman) and he said "Bristol City I know about them, they are doing very well, didn't you beat Norwich away 3-0" and he (sorry JT) removed a Liverpool scarf from a beam and threw it over the bar and replaced it with my BCFC scarf and then stood me beer and we talked football for an hour, I would like to feel that same pride in my club that I felt that day especially being an expat before i'm dressed in my onesie with a BCFC shirt on and a warm pair of socks and incinerated. 

 

I also once stated that had my mrs been a gashead that would have been a deal breaker for me and we've been married for 41 years, i'm sorry Nibor that's the best i've got.

 

To suggest that any BCFC fan has not got anything to whinge about with the club is nonsense and it's simple don't read it and but the fact is very few people who talk about moaners and whingers debate anything they just throw insults about and claim their super fan status or in the case of one particular poster thinks he is some sort of super coach and everybody's else's comments are 'bollox'.

 

 

[Red-Robbo]

Why does a man doing his best in a job deserve stick? We want him to succeed don't we?

As for patience - really? I can't believe anybody can suggest that with a straight face. Changing a football club throughout takes years not weeks.

Saturday's performance was about 85 minutes of possession against a side that were tough to break down. We had our best attacking midfielder unavailable (Reid) and yes the squad lacks real width. We lost to an unlucky own goal and had a perfectly good goal ruled out.

The vitriol after the game and on here was astounding to me, people seemed to lose all sense of reason. Perhaps this Bristolian negativity is why this region is a backwater going nowhere.

 

Well this is football, as he'll have known when he took the job, and he hasn't got years. If he thinks he'll still be at the helm when his shining vision emerges and we're in the Conference South I'd be surprised. He has to keep us up or he's out.

 

Did Sheffield United have any squad unfit, or are we the only team that is apparently stymied by the unavailibility of one player? As for lack of width - you know the Head Coach's thoughts on that. We could also note that other sides found their rickety defence very easy indeed to "break down".

 

I'm unclear if you went to the match or not, because if you were there you'd have witnessed one of the most tedious and tepid city performances ever - with an almost comical lack of bite. A slightly more solid defence is the only real sign of progress you could say had been made, certainly the observer would be having flashbacks to some of the McInnes' era games. Whether you went or not, it'll not have escaped your notice that we're back in the bottom 4 again.

 

In those circs, I find expressions of doubt that the Head Coach knows what he's doing completely unastounding.

 

Perhaps Bristol's a footballing backwater because some people are prepared to put up with mediocrity provided someone says it's all part of a transitional period?

[OneManMob]

Only 57%? That means that Sheffield had 43%, it's rare to see that big a difference and certainly very rare for that sort of difference to be in favour of the losing side.

It was a classic away gameplan from their point of view, 10 men behind the ball, play on the break. Us playing an expansive game with wingers or three forwards would probably have had them rubbing their hands with glee. As it was the performance was not bad, and we were unlucky.

We did struggle to break them down and need more creativity / cutting edge but the reaction on here and after the game is as usual pathetically out of proportion

 

Its been like that all season, teams who are away from home will happily sit back and watch us pass it between the back 4 and rack up the possession because it means **** all in your own half.

[CosmosUK]

Actually a decent feedback from this topic, although the usual nonsense still prevails. At the end of the day, I dont care how long Mr Red Robin or anyone else has been going to watch city, because we all know you will all still renew your season tickets each year despite your complaints. Do you seriously think that the board is going to deviate from the 5 pillars or any other strategy because a few has beens complain about it and are still stuck in decades gone by in terms of their understanding of the game of football. Either use your energy for something positive, or failing that actualy provide a resonable alternative and hold good debates instead of blindly posting pure garbage after every defeat. Your not a super fan because youve been going for years, soemone who has been going 1 season but lends support thick and thin is more of a fan than youll ever be.

 

 

PS when addressing you I am talking about the generic, Ive been a ST holder for 30 years and ive had enough etc etc

[Aizoon]

Actually a decent feedback from this topic, although the usual nonsense still prevails. At the end of the day, I dont care how long Mr Red Robin or anyone else has been going to watch city, because we all know you will all still renew your season tickets each year despite your complaints. Do you seriously think that the board is going to deviate from the 5 pillars or any other strategy because a few has beens complain about it and are still stuck in decades gone by in terms of their understanding of the game of football. Either use your energy for something positive, or failing that actualy provide a resonable alternative and hold good debates instead of blindly posting pure garbage after every defeat. Your not a super fan because youve been going for years, soemone who has been going 1 season but lends support thick and thin is more of a fan than youll ever be.

 

 

PS when addressing you I am talking about the generic, Ive been a ST holder for 30 years and ive had enough etc etc

 

Given the current advance ticket prices and the Saturday/Tuesday home game cycle, why on Earth should anyone renew their season ticket?

[longyears]

Interesting thread even allowing for the arrogance of the OP who seems to think he can write the forum rules.

A forum is by definition a place for all views and opinions. So if you wish to read / use it get used to that reality. I rarely post but have been reading the forum since its inception and I have learnt a bit.

There are the generally respected posters who mostly talk sense but most of them think they can lecture everybody else on why they are wrong / abusive / lacking in football knowledge et al.

There are the eternal optimists who think that having the lowest win figure in our division and being in the relegation zone is just a small blip.

There are the eternal pessimists who think that we are already relegated.

There are the posters who mostly put things on the forum when they have had too much to drink.

There are the posters who change every thread into something completely off topic usually about Rovers.

There are the posters who are none of the above but who will therefore get attacked by all of the above.

This is a forum and last I heard all are welcome - we all know it would be better if none of us attacked other posters but most of us do ( myself included ) because we resent having our opinions questioned ( and lets be honest we all do ).

Abuse is a matter of degree - I have been told off today for using the term happy clappers and calling our head coach a clown. May be right but to me that pales into insignificance when a national paper can call the England manager the wally with a brolly.

I have never needed to use asterisks in my very limited postings and those that do .............?

I repeat - this is a forum - get used to it and if you don't like it or the posters on it then do the other thing. I find it a very enjoyable and useful site to visit for a little while most days !

[WolfOfWestStreet]

Interesting thread even allowing for the arrogance of the OP who seems to think he can write the forum rules.

A forum is by definition a place for all views and opinions. So if you wish to read / use it get used to that reality. I rarely post but have been reading the forum since its inception and I have learnt a bit.

There are the generally respected posters who mostly talk sense but most of them think they can lecture everybody else on why they are wrong / abusive / lacking in football knowledge et al.

There are the eternal optimists who think that having the lowest win figure in our division and being in the relegation zone is just a small blip.

There are the eternal pessimists who think that we are already relegated.

There are the posters who mostly put things on the forum when they have had too much to drink.

There are the posters who change every thread into something completely off topic usually about Rovers.

There are the posters who are none of the above but who will therefore get attacked by all of the above.

This is a forum and last I heard all are welcome - we all know it would be better if none of us attacked other posters but most of us do ( myself included ) because we resent having our opinions questioned ( and lets be honest we all do ).

Abuse is a matter of degree - I have been told off today for using the term happy clappers and calling our head coach a clown. May be right but to me that pales into insignificance when a national paper can call the England manager the wally with a brolly.

I have never needed to use asterisks in my very limited postings and those that do .............?

I repeat - this is a forum - get used to it and if you don't like it or the posters on it then do the other thing. I find it a very enjoyable and useful site to visit for a little while most days !

I'm definitely in the post when drunk category.

I don't see how you can watch this standard of football sober and enjoy your day out.