....Thoughts Of An Oldham Fan (Merged)

[CotswoldRed]

tbh, too much emphasis is put on what people in football say.

They're not orators, they're football people. Football punters (us) want a healthy club preferably playing entertaining and winning football. Not a load of ******* feeding us bird feed. We have politicians for that.

Makes me think we deserve what we get, at times. A bloody soap opera.

Do t

Calling a spade a spade would be a start.

[Major Isewater]

[BRISTOL86]

I can't remember seeing us play so consistently poorly in my lifetime. The fact that we've essentially been bottom of whatever league we've played in for 18 months tells it's own story!

[Kid in the Riot]

Well being third from bottom no other fan is going to say what a good side we are, when clearly we are rubbish. Of course with so many changes in players and managers, and we still get the same rubbish, means the hole we are in is dramatic. I thought SC got off to a good start, it started going wrong when he was able to bring players in in Jan, and then started putting players out of position. His signings in January have been rubbish in my view, not one of them has improved the team. If you are in the squad, and being told there will be changes in January, then see the rubbish that was signed, I think you would be wondering what was going on. On top of playing players out of position, the team is chopping and changing every game, and there is no consistency. I thought he had stopped the rot, I think now, he has got to sort himself out very quickly, because our recent performances have been of clear relegation standard. I am not one to say I did not want SC, but I was surprised at his appointment. He was proving us all wrong, but now seems to have got himself in a right mess. He needs to show quickly that he knows what he is doing, as his comments on signing Wade Elliot were terrible ( did not seem to know why he had signed him), and Adam El has been in the Gus Caesar class so far, or for younger fans, Tony Dinning. He was doing fine until January as I say, then he seems to have lost the plot.  

 

Blimey, you've changed your tune. Must have been barely a week ago that you were complaining to me that I wasn't giving SC a chance and telling everyone to "get behind him". Now you're making the exact points I was a fortnight ago! Admittedly El Abd has turned out even worse than I could've imagined.

[Barrs Court Red]

The team assembled by Tinnion was far worse than this one. Difference is Johnson was able to replace it entirely, keeping us up.

[Kid in the Riot]

No you wanted him sacked, very different. I also believe you need to get behind him, but in the last 3 games , since Wolves when I made my comments (and thought we were pretty good 1st half) he has chopped and changed the team every game, and the result has been very disjointed performances. he has changed his approach, and I don't understand it. We are in the more, no doubt, and at games we need to get behind him, but his last games have left me baffled. 

 

Not once have I called for him to be sacked. I am apathetic regarding his position at the club. Sacking him now would obviously be pretty pointless, however if for whatever reason he left the club tomorrow I would not be pining after him.

 

I don't blame SC for our current predicament, not his fault he was given the job. It's going to take him 20 games probably before he knows his best 11, the last manager barely got that time this season - let's hope SC solves the conundrum in the nick of time and saves us.

[Nogbad the Bad]

When we were at the top of the Championship there was still scrutiny over every word GJ said.

I say results speak for themselves and performance is subjective.

Managers, players and Chairmen should stfu unless things are going well.

 

Managers aren't permitted to shut up though, are they.

 

With the media the way it is these days Cotterill's expected to give a 5-7 minute interview before and after every game. That's just to City Player, let alone others to Radio Bristol, The Post etc.

 

Of course not every word, or sentence he says will stand up to the closest scrutiny when there's so much media time to be filled, but as managers go he tries to explain the motives behind team selection, injuries, his thoughts on the performance etc., and does it in a comparatively intertesting and entertaining way.

 

You only have to compare him with his miserable and tedious predecessor to realise things could be much worse and if we have to hear the managers thoughts in such depth, and so often, then I'd say we're fairly lucky to now have a manager who covers all the ground in a personable and engaging way.

 

I've made the point before that we hardly used to hear a word from Alan Dicks from one week to the next and I'm not sure how even his infrequent utterings would have stood up to the minute dissection and criticism that managers receive today. Not very well though, I suspect.

 

Let's just be thankful that in an era when we're inevitably going to hear alot from the manager Cotterill gives us all the information we might want in a straightforward and uncomplicated way, and one that is comparatively easy on the ear. 

[Kid in the Riot]

[Always Believesham]

There are going to be fans of every team that say we are rubbish and fans that say "I can't believe they are where they are" not denying we are pretty shocking at the moment.

 

I said last year and have said again this year, the teams in our division aren't much better than us and we are next to useless. Many teams have been in good form or picked up just enough fotunate results to not look like they are in trouble. Hull and Cardiff last year were far and away the best teams in the Championship with the rest scrapping around and any one of 7 or 8 teams would have gone up, each not really deserving it. This year I think it's Wolves and Brentford deserve to go up but most teams are up the top after a good run, a bit of momentum and sheer confidence. That's how football works though, if we'd won the games we've won, consecutively, we'd have won at least 3 times as many games this season from the confidence, momentum and general message a winning run sends out to opposition teams.

 

Oh and we did score against Sheffield United but it was disallowed because the goalkeeper couldn't get to the ball through a crowd of 15 players.

 

Not wanting to harp back to SOD but he did manage to get results against teams that were in form but not a class above, only points but it worked.

 

I'm now seeing how much of a treat it was to witness the League Cup game at Gillingham, never mind every week, if we could play like that once a month there would be no danger!

[Nogbad the Bad]

And modest with it:

 

I don't see a manager displaying confidence as a problem or something to be ridiculed.

 

If a team reflects the manager then we can expect his confidence and positivity to rub off on the players; we have already seen the opposite effect manifest itself with the clouds of negativity and pessimism suffocating the club under his predecessor.

 

O course if someone dislikes Cotterill they may just dismiss this confidence as arrogance, but give me an enthusiastic, confident and optimistic manager any day, far more chance of things coming right.

[Major Isewater]

[Red-Robbo]

And modest with it:

 

Another way of seeing that quote would be "confident in his own abilities".

 

One of the things I disliked about Sean was the way he talked up every opponent we met and always emphasised how tough the task of getting a win in L1 was. You might see that as "managing expectations" but it came across as defeatist and running scared to me.

 

However, I hope we're not going to go down the route of pouncing on past pronouncements of managers and examining everything anyone said in minute detail [not saying you're doing that, Kid].  I'd lost faith in Sean, but I thought the way his pronouncements were picked over to a ludicrous extent here.

 

As has been said, managers have to come up with soundbites to feed the demands of the media and the way they do this varies. The only thing that really matters is what they do on the pitch.

[Major Isewater]

Another way of seeing that quote would be "confident in his own abilities".

One of the things I disliked about Sean was the way he talked up every opponent we met and always emphasised how tough the task of getting a win in L1 was. You might see that as "managing expectations" but it came across as defeatist and running scared to me.

However, I hope we're not going to go down the route of pouncing on past pronouncements of managers and examining everything anyone said in minute detail [not saying you're doing that, Kid]. I'd lost faith in Sean, but I thought the way his pronouncements were picked over to a ludicrous extent here.

As has been said, managers have to come up with soundbites to feed the demands of the media and the way they do this varies. The only thing that really matters is what they do on the pitch.

Could n't we bring back GJ ,just for the interviews ?

It sends me all nostalgic when i hear him on RB.

[Running Man]

I feel we are improving and we will avoid the drop, the run of games in the coming month will hopefully help us pull clear and into mid table.

 

First half performances, MK, Carlisle and Coventry have been poor, but we have come back in all 3, we certainly did enough in all 3 games to win.

 

We were the better side for the majority of the two Watford games, I thought we certainly should have won at Bradford, at Oldham the conditions in a 3 sided ground with a gale blowing, against apparently one of the better footballing sides (who by the way struggled with the conditions as well), showed that we had fight and up were up for it.

 

I work with a Wolves fan who was surprised at our quality and wondered why were are struggling, he by the way thinks the Wolves side he is watching is one of the worst in him memory as well.

 

Of course we aren't a great side, we're at the bottom of the third tier FFS, but there is enough fight and quality to get us out of this mess. Time to get get behind them instead of having these meaningless threads that just slag everyone off.

[samo II]

I don't care what manager says, I care how his team does. No one wins games on the back pages.

This doesn't mean I do not listen or form my own opinions though, and though I always thought SO'D made sense and spoke eloquently, he didn't transmit a sense of confidence in his own team.

But for me simply being more enthusiastic or animated doesn't translate into confidence, and the juxtaposition between recent performances on the pitch and in the press is more jarring than previously. This is not a good thing.

[Red-Robbo]

I don't care what manager says, I care how his team does. No one wins games on the back pages.

This doesn't mean I do not listen or form my own opinions though, and though I always thought SO'D made sense and spoke eloquently, he didn't transmit a sense of confidence in his own team.

But for me simply being more enthusiastic or animated doesn't translate into confidence, and the juxtaposition between recent performances on the pitch and in the press is more jarring than previously. This is not a good thing.

 

I dunno what anyone expects him to say though Samo: "We're fuucked! Prepare for League 2 guys."

 

It's sort of his job to sound enthusiastic and confident.

[samo II]

I dunno what anyone expects him to say though Samo: "We're fuucked! Prepare for League 2 guys."

It's sort of his job to sound enthusiastic and confident.

I understand this.

He's clearly not got an easy job on his hands, but my issue is with people still laying into his style, while (although his focus on the opposition was annoying) SO'D at least seemed somewhat more pragmatic in his assessments of our performances.

[Rowley Birkin]

Bristol City football club is very much like an out of control ocean going liner.

These thing's take miles to turn around, and SOD was given the unenviable task of trying to turn it club around, which he was slowly but surely was doing.

Look at the GD of -3 where most of the teams around were minus 10' and 20's.

He was getting goals from JET and the team were still playing for him, maybe badly, but were picking up points, and I like many of us shook our heads in disbelief when the board sacked him.

 

Alex Ferguson was only pouring scorn on boards like ours the other week, when Moysie was under pressure, where the buck stops with those who appointed them in the first place.

By sacking them you were only admiiting you were wrong, so the boards judgement is flawed in the first place.

 

I'm passed caring now, as the last thing the club needed was another major upheaval by bringing in a new man, but they did and we are where we are now, in turmoil, and destined for relegation barring a miracle.

 

After over 40 years supporting the club, I don't see the point of following it anymore as it's become an embarrassment, just a millionaire's folly, for him his mates and family, who treat us mere fans with complete and utter contempt.

[PolskRed]

I feel we are improving and we will avoid the drop, the run of games in the coming month will hopefully help us pull clear and into mid table.

 

First half performances, MK, Carlisle and Coventry have been poor, but we have come back in all 3, we certainly did enough in all 3 games to win.

 

We were the better side for the majority of the two Watford games, I thought we certainly should have won at Bradford, at Oldham the conditions in a 3 sided ground with a gale blowing, against apparently one of the better footballing sides (who by the way struggled with the conditions as well), showed that we had fight and up were up for it.

 

I work with a Wolves fan who was surprised at our quality and wondered why were are struggling, he by the way thinks the Wolves side he is watching is one of the worst in him memory as well.

 

Of course we aren't a great side, we're at the bottom of the third tier FFS, but there is enough fight and quality to get us out of this mess. Time to get get behind them instead of having these meaningless threads that just slag everyone off.

 

Couldn't agree more, this is the best post I have read in a very long time. 

 

Think it might be closer than mid-table (hope you are correct) but on the whole I completely agree.  

[Red-Robbo]

 

 

Alex Ferguson was only pouring scorn on boards like ours the other week, when Moysie was under pressure, where the buck stops with those who appointed them in the first place.

By sacking them you were only admiiting you were wrong, so the boards judgement is flawed in the first place.

 

 

 

Well I disagree with the vast majority of your post, but picking up as a general point - not specific to this club - would Ferguson suggest you never sack anyone or change your mind about a decision? 

 

There are things that can't be predicted, abilities that wane, experiments that go wrong and of course, you can get a manager who can cope with one sort of situation, but not another.  The right man, wrong time syndrome. Sometimes persisting with something that is going off the rails is the mistake.

[dezgimed]

Bristol City football club is very much like an out of control ocean going liner.

These thing's take miles to turn around, and SOD was given the unenviable task of trying to turn it club around, which he was slowly but surely was doing.

Look at the GD of -3 where most of the teams around were minus 10' and 20's.

He was getting goals from JET and the team were still playing for him, maybe badly, but were picking up points, and I like many of us shook our heads in disbelief when the board sacked him.

 

 

Our GD is still decent.

Picking up points like Carlisle at home and Oldham away recently then?

[Son of Fred]

Were down as it stands, sack SC clueless chancer that he is and employ someone who has a brain and can shake this useless club to its foundations.. Embarrassed!

It's the board that are 'choosing the managers,so why faith in them getting it right?...they have persistently re-offended in attempting to do it on the cheap since the shocker of sacking GJ with mumblings of 'a manager to take us to the next level'-then giving that job to Keith Millen..enough said..don't blame the managers,they are offered the job so don't blame them for taking it.City manager on a 3year deal and a nice golden tarra when it goes wrong?..ok then,when do I start??...

[Major Isewater]

We don 't need them.

We know who and what we are and we will follow the City through thin and thinner.

This time next year Rodney ...

[Cider red]

Bristol City football club is very much like an out of control ocean going liner.

These thing's take miles to turn around, and SOD was given the unenviable task of trying to turn it club around, which he was slowly but surely was doing.

Look at the GD of -3 where most of the teams around were minus 10' and 20's.

He was getting goals from JET and the team were still playing for him, maybe badly, but were picking up points, and I like many of us shook our heads in disbelief when the board sacked him.

 

Alex Ferguson was only pouring scorn on boards like ours the other week, when Moysie was under pressure, where the buck stops with those who appointed them in the first place.

By sacking them you were only admiiting you were wrong, so the boards judgement is flawed in the first place.

 

I'm passed caring now, as the last thing the club needed was another major upheaval by bringing in a new man, but they did and we are where we are now, in turmoil, and destined for relegation barring a miracle.

 

After over 40 years supporting the club, I don't see the point of following it anymore as it's become an embarrassment, just a millionaire's folly, for him his mates and family, who treat us mere fans with complete and utter contempt.

 

Someone posted a good article about british footballs conception of how 'time' will make things come good. It pointed out that infact if things are bad more time for a manager will no doubt make it worse. In Europe they expect 3 years maximum for most managers, just because the same man saying the same things only works (on the whole, fergie is an exception) for a limited amount of time. Pep Gaurdiola argues this too. If you look at Odriscolls record it was appaulling, any other manager would have been sacked much before, but his 'intelligent rhetoric' won a lot over ( me included). If you listen back to him he was starting to sound like a broken record, a man devoid of confidence, which was clearly spilling over into the team, a win over Carlisle and crawley should have been our turning point, but they were both false dawns. Whilst I have questioned some of Cotteril's decisions (Osborne wingback!) he has got us almost a third of wins in our league games, much higher rate that his predecessor. Yes Jet's goals may have dried up, but this was happening towards the end of Odriscolls reign anyway. We have started picking up wins, but I fear we were left far too deep in the mire and mid table form unfortunately will still get us relegated.

[Nogbad the Bad]

[Major Isewater]

I think you missed the point.

He's obliged to talk, and he's obliged to talk at some length. Modern day media demands it.

With that in mind I find him informative and easy to listen to and he doesn't speak any more nonsense than others in a similar position who have microphones shoved under their noses with such regularity.

Then of course there was SO'D - wondrous enlightenment bestowed on us from a superior footballing intelligence, or perhaps, in reality, mostly just utter bunkum?

I appreciate he's obliged to talk but not to talk bollocks.

Sorry Noggers but you can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.

The guy obviously thinks he's a comic genius and a master tactician quite clearly he aint either .

I agree with you that SOD was to comedy what Jeremy Clarkson is to classical ballet but at least it was "honest" and coherent.i don't like this cheeky chappy persona it's awkward and embarassing to listen to.GJ had it in bucket loads but it seemed natural which it does n 't with SC..

I no longer listen to his interviews i prefer the text.

God help him though we really need it to work out for him.

CTID

[Nogbad the Bad]

I appreciate he's obliged to talk but not to talk bollocks.

Sorry Noggers but you can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.

CTID

 

To me this sums up SO'D very well, as, to a lessert extent, does your first line. You've just missed out the word 'depressing' before bollocks!

 

Oh well, each to their own ATB.

[NOTR]

All I'll say is I wouldn't like to be in the trenches with some of the posters on OTIB.

[Major Isewater]

All I'll say is I wouldn't like to be in the trenches with some of the posters on OTIB.

I'd prefer to be in the trenches with 90% of my fellow posters than 90% of the wasters who have pulled on a City shirt in the last 5 years .

[NOTR]

We,re doomed I tell ee,doooomed.