Really excited for next season.

[Tipps69]

Got to be said, now that things are sorted regarding what division we are in & things seem to be sorted behind the scenes with Mark Ashton, Lee Johnson & with the appointment of Des Taylor, player recruitment looks to be heading in a really promising direction.

From the noises being made by John Pemberton that if we get our targets we could really be pushing on.

The change that has taken place since Mark Ashton & Lee Johnson joined is quite remarkable & that won't have gone unnoticed from people within the game.

If & I think it's a big IF, we can get Lee Tomlin to join permanently, it will also be a massive coup for the club, it will show other potential signings that we mean business & we are going in the right direction, along with the completion of the stadium.

I believe there will be significant investment in the playing staff this summer so that we are able to keep this momentum going & with that, there is no knowing where we could be heading to.

This time around feels completely different to that of the last time we were in The Championship, where momentum took us forward too quickly & we were nowhere near ready for it, as was shown by our player recruitment policy (if there actually was one in place?).

This time around we seem to already know what / who we want & we are in a far better position to keep moving this club forward.

And this may also help us to convince players already here that they don't have to move elsewhere to find what they want, we can offer it to them here & if we can build a squad around Richard O'Donnell, Adam Matthews, Scott Golbourne, Korey Smith, Marlon Pack, Jonathan Kodjia, Lee Tomlin, Aden Flint & Joe Bryan plus the quality additions that we are hoping for during the summer, there is no reason why we shouldn't be looking towards the top half & maybe even higher depending on just who we bring in.

But we have to send out the right message to those already here because if we were to lose any of those that have been mentioned in the media as possible targets for other clubs (Pack, Bryan, Smith, Flint & Kodjia) we could just end up treading water again.

We have the nucleus of what is a good squad, we have shown that by our performances against Huddersfield, Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton & Forest recently but we need to keep what we want & not allow the perceived "bigger fish" to take our talent & then this will allow us to keep progressing as a club & then there is no knowing just how much potential this club can fulfill.

Bring on the summer & bring on next season, it can't come quick enough!!

[RumRed]

I am too but last summer just shows how we can always manage to f it up.

[Tipps69]

12 minutes ago, RumRed said:

I am too but last summer just shows how we can always manage to f it up.

But as a club we are a million miles away from where we were last summer, the whole infrastructure of the club is geared up to progression & we seemingly have people in place to keep that progression going & that has only been further highlighted by managing to get Des Taylor on board, someone who has followed Eddie Howe around & been a big part of his success!!

There must be a reason why he has moved on from something that has clearly worked very well to become part of what we as a club are trying to achieve, hasn't there?

[Cotham Brow Red]

14 minutes ago, RumRed said:

I am too but last summer just shows how we can always manage to f it up.

Agree it was a joke if we compare it to the Pre Season of the double winning season. The season before. 

This time we got an energetic young manager at the helm (ok sounds familiar). This time there is no agenda or issues behind the scenes. The future bright the future is City. 

[daored]

9 hours ago, Cotham Brow Red said:

Agree it was a joke if we compare it to the Pre Season of the double winning season. The season before. 

This time we got an energetic young manager at the helm (ok sounds familiar). This time there is no agenda or issues behind the scenes. The future bright the future is City. 

The football we've played under Johnson has been a revolution. I think we'll continue to see goals both for end against.

However, the progression into the first team for young players is encouraging and like you say IF we can get our targets in, and I think we should be able to attract players not being a newly promoted club we really could push on

[Always Believesham]

30 minutes ago, daored said:

The football we've played under Johnson has been a revolution. I think we'll continue to see goals both for end against.

However, the progression into the first team for young players is encouraging and like you say IF we can get our targets in, and I think we should be able to attract players not being a newly promoted club we really could push on

How will LJ stop that negatively affecting results? Is it a recruitment thing in defence where the club hold their hands up and say "these defenders are good, but we need better", or will there be an emphasis on being more clinical?

We've gone down the route of solving the results problem by signing attacking players to score more in recent times, but look at the rate we shot up the table when we sured up at the back...

We haven't had too much trouble with letting in late goals, and we have been clinical in games, especially away from home but to make the next step up, we need to win games where we've conceded late (at Brentford and Blackburn). We won't win every game but fighting til the end and keeping teams out in the last 10mins is worth as many points as a 20goal a season striker.

I'm excited for next season, however, for the time being interested to see how we recruit, retain and build on 'the sum of the parts' we have at the moment.

[Garland-sweden]

Yes, looking forward to next season. This season was good for us I Think. We learned and know we know how to step forward. One key is Kodjia, hes gotta stay. If we can get Tomlin and some other good players would be really good. Stadium ready, bigger crowds, good vibes in the Club, exciting. Always Believe. COYR.

[shamussy]

Yup. Fully agree and ST for the first time in years next season for me. Couple of worries...

1. Tomlin. He's been great and a pleasure to watch. I also think he's helped kodjia a great deal with his confidence and clever play. I'd be so happy if we could get him.

2. Midfield still need a bit more creativity and threat on goal. Freeman has flattered to deceive whilst Reid needs to show more consistency.

3. Defence looks better now in main due to solid formation but a strong centre half to complement and help flint would be needed.

So... excited about prospects if we can sign a few. I'm more confident than usual with the current set up behind the scenes! 

[One BCFC]

Very optimistic going into the summer.

What impresses me the most about LJ is that he is brave, every players place is up for grabs and will play youth if he must unlike his predecessor. Then you have Mark Ashton who does like to talk the talk but i must say him and the club delivered crucially in January.

Mad to say this but i have actually enjoyed this season finally we have played some good stuff at times and have struggled mainly but finally we have grown into the division and have beat some of the big boys.

In November I felt that the club was going back to its old ways, now we are heading forward again and if we get the right players in this Summer who knows what can happen, look at Brighton!

Future is bright 

[Robbored]

I think that the reason we've seen things improve behind the scenes is that SL could see that unless the structure of the club changed then the same mistakes were always to likely to be made. Same people in senior positions - same mistakes.

In comes Mr Charisma, and via him Cotterill was sacked and LJ recruited. 

Not long after Keith Burt leaves and in comes Des Taylor along with his impressive reputation as a top scout.

Three very crucial changes within AG and, some would say, long overdue. 

So.....simply on those grounds this summer and then next season are well worth looking forward to.

[Son of Fred]

1 hour ago, daored said:

The football we've played under Johnson has been a revolution. I think we'll continue to see goals both for end against.

However, the progression into the first team for young players is encouraging and like you say IF we can get our targets in, and I think we should be able to attract players not being a newly promoted club we really could push on

We need to sign Tomlin and Matthews or we're back to that drawing board.also will need a quality centre mid and proven c-half.money,will of course potentially be a stumbling block(ffp and wage structure)so should be interesting!!

[Br1stolCityBoy]

I'm feeling a lot more cautious than most. I understand we have a bigger stadium etc. But the club couldn't attract players last season, so therefore unless we pay the wages then we wouldn't have a chance in keeping players like Tomlin etc, alone attract quality players. Hope I'm wrong though. 

[kiwicolin]

We can't wait for next season .

[Super]

Let's see what players are brought into the club in the summer.

[Tipps69]

1 hour ago, Br1stolCityBoy said:

I'm feeling a lot more cautious than most. I understand we have a bigger stadium etc. But the club couldn't attract players last season, so therefore unless we pay the wages then we wouldn't have a chance in keeping players like Tomlin etc, alone attract quality players. Hope I'm wrong though. 

But I think the club have got things in order now behind the scenes & there won't be the same mistakes made as last summer.

Things have been realised from that & I would expect that we have already made contact with potential targets, their representatives & their clubs, so we will already be in a position to know if we have a chance of signing players off of our 'A' list.

[Sniper]

2 hours ago, Br1stolCityBoy said:

I'm feeling a lot more cautious than most. I understand we have a bigger stadium etc. But the club couldn't attract players last season, so therefore unless we pay the wages then we wouldn't have a chance in keeping players like Tomlin etc, alone attract quality players. Hope I'm wrong though. 

There has to be a point in time where we as a club need to make our minds up where we want to be, and where we want to get to. I know we have to live with in our means but it's plain to see that without quality on the pitch that trapdoor back to L1 is wide open.

I'd like to think we (well SL) will pull out all the stops to sign Tomlin as apart from the football side of things, he also brings that buzz with him that can give the other players confidence as well. Let's just hope he's want's to sign, and even if someone offers him more money, the enjoyment side of things, and being such a huge hit with the fans in such a short space of time, is more important to him than the money!

After yesterday it just shows what a good team we are, and the one touch football along with the atmosphere and the quality goals were a joy to watch. To have that vision and the skill to pull that goal out of nowhere was sublime by Tomlin, sheer class by the lad.

JK has been a gem of a find and the amount of misses he's had, my god he could have had 30 plus with a bit more composure. O'Donnell has also been a very shrewd signing as well.

Upwards and onwards

[Br1stolCityBoy]

On 1 May 2016 at 12:48, Tipps69 said:

But I think the club have got things in order now behind the scenes & there won't be the same mistakes made as last summer.

Things have been realised from that & I would expect that we have already made contact with potential targets, their representatives & their clubs, so we will already be in a position to know if we have a chance of signing players off of our 'A' list.

Well let's hope so, but the type of players we need will also be approached by bigger and more stabilised clubs than us. As I said, unless Mr Lansdown get his wallet out.