Has Lansdown lost the desire for change?

[The Hustler]

Deep down I think Lansdown knows he should relieve Lee Johnson of his duties. He is not stupid, and after all, his past record indicates he is not afraid to sack the manager when things have become untenable.

Maybe, just maybe, in this instance however, he has now thought to himself, I can’t go through this again. I can’t face having to go down the process of firing and then recruiting another manager for whom I will likely get slaughtered in 12 months time whatever. Why bother putting MYSELF through it?

Perhaps Lansdown is taking the easy option this time. Perhaps, he just doesn’t care as much anymore? He has [bought] his legacy with the stadium and also in the stand named after him – that won’t be taken away no matter.

Ultimately, whilst it might annoy him if City do go down, it doesn’t change a great deal for HIM personally. He still has his enormous wealth and his house in Guernsey away from the spotlight in Bristol. He knows that fans will still blindly support the club if we go down – time is a great healer after all?

Has Lansdown lost the desire for change? Has he now lost the stomach for a ‘fight’ and is instead opting for the much easier ‘flight’?

[BobBobSuperBob]

Interesting view to consider 

Personally I think it's more to do with the fact that he has so strongly and openly backed LJ and his 'abilities'

Sacking LJ would also be a massive ( public )admission of error on his part 

Unfortunately it would appear he's going for the 'double or quits approach' !!!!

[Natchfever]

23 minutes ago, The Hustler said:

Deep down I think Lansdown knows he should relieve Lee Johnson of his duties. He is not stupid, and after all, his past record indicates he is not afraid to sack the manager when things have become untenable.

Maybe, just maybe, in this instance however, he has now thought to himself, I can’t go through this again. I can’t face having to go down the process of firing and then recruiting another manager for whom I will likely get slaughtered in 12 months time whatever. Why bother putting MYSELF through it?

Perhaps Lansdown is taking the easy option this time. Perhaps, he just doesn’t care as much anymore? He has [bought] his legacy with the stadium and also in the stand named after him – that won’t be taken away no matter.

Ultimately, whilst it might annoy him if City do go down, it doesn’t change a great deal for HIM personally. He still has his enormous wealth and his house in Guernsey away from the spotlight in Bristol. He knows that fans will still blindly support the club if we go down – time is a great healer after all?

Has Lansdown lost the desire for change? Has he now lost the stomach for a ‘fight’ and is instead opting for the much easier ‘flight’?

He has staff to manage the club so doesn't need the stomach to do anything. That's why I was a little surprised he made his statement etc yesterday.

[JHAGa]

I think he's probably fed up of sacking a manager on an annual basis, which I've been saying for a long time. Sacking a manager so regularly has not worked at all.

 

LJ is his man, he helped him get into management and they are both friends. LJ isn't a bad manager either, it's just the pressure has got to him. I admire SL for sticking to his principles and wanting to keep faith in the manager. Personally I wish he had done the same with SC, but I'm certainly not enraged that he's sticking with LJ.

[Major Isewater]

37 minutes ago, The Hustler said:

Deep down I think Lansdown knows he should relieve Lee Johnson of his duties. He is not stupid, and after all, his past record indicates he is not afraid to sack the manager when things have become untenable.

Maybe, just maybe, in this instance however, he has now thought to himself, I can’t go through this again. I can’t face having to go down the process of firing and then recruiting another manager for whom I will likely get slaughtered in 12 months time whatever. Why bother putting MYSELF through it?

Perhaps Lansdown is taking the easy option this time. Perhaps, he just doesn’t care as much anymore? He has [bought] his legacy with the stadium and also in the stand named after him – that won’t be taken away no matter.

Ultimately, whilst it might annoy him if City do go down, it doesn’t change a great deal for HIM personally. He still has his enormous wealth and his house in Guernsey away from the spotlight in Bristol. He knows that fans will still blindly support the club if we go down – time is a great healer after all?

Has Lansdown lost the desire for change? Has he now lost the stomach for a ‘fight’ and is instead opting for the much easier ‘flight’?

Lansdown is the guardian of our club but I thought Mark Ashton was supposed to be the guy running it ? 

He should let the bloke do his job.

[phantom]

46 minutes ago, JHAGa said:

I think he's probably fed up of sacking a manager on an annual basis, which I've been saying for a long time. Sacking a manager so regularly has not worked at all.

 

LJ is his man, he helped him get into management and they are both friends. LJ isn't a bad manager either, it's just the pressure has got to him. I admire SL for sticking to his principles and wanting to keep faith in the manager. Personally I wish he had done the same with SC, but I'm certainly not enraged that he's sticking with LJ.

Sadly if SL didn't have such a rubbish record of constantly employing a poor standard of managers he wouldn't be in this position

[Sir Colby-Tit]

1 hour ago, The Hustler said:

Deep down I think Lansdown knows he should relieve Lee Johnson of his duties. He is not stupid, and after all, his past record indicates he is not afraid to sack the manager when things have become untenable.

Maybe, just maybe, in this instance however, he has now thought to himself, I can’t go through this again. I can’t face having to go down the process of firing and then recruiting another manager for whom I will likely get slaughtered in 12 months time whatever. Why bother putting MYSELF through it?

Perhaps Lansdown is taking the easy option this time. Perhaps, he just doesn’t care as much anymore? He has [bought] his legacy with the stadium and also in the stand named after him – that won’t be taken away no matter.

Ultimately, whilst it might annoy him if City do go down, it doesn’t change a great deal for HIM personally. He still has his enormous wealth and his house in Guernsey away from the spotlight in Bristol. He knows that fans will still blindly support the club if we go down – time is a great healer after all?

Has Lansdown lost the desire for change? Has he now lost the stomach for a ‘fight’ and is instead opting for the much easier ‘flight’?

I think if this was the case it would have been Mark Ashton talking to the press yesterday . 

IMO the problem is that SL won't step back 

[Robbored]

1 minute ago, Sir Colby-Tit said:

I think if this was the case it would have been Mark Ashton talking to the press yesterday . 

IMO the problem is that SL won't step back 

 

1 minute ago, Sir Colby-Tit said:

 

Step back from what?  

SL has employed Ashton to run the club on a day to day basis while he lives in Guernsey but no major decisions are made without his approval.

He owns the club and what he's says goes.

[Linkedarm wall]

Don't forget we've changed the structure now. Ashton is a 'football' man, the club was keen to stress this when Ashton took over, so he has an input and rubber stamps the signings.

So it's supposed to be his show and not LJ's. This was done deliberately so we had a long term policy of recruitment and if things started to go wrong i.e on the coaching/results front, we could get rid of the coach and or coaches perhaps more easily than a 'manager' and say to the new coach, this is what you got, 'coach' them into a team. Of course the coach whoever that maybe will have his own idea on players which may fit the criteria (dare i say DNA!) but its Ashton who does the financials and confirms the deal on behalf the clubs policy.

This of course may put some managers/coaches off in coming here, but it was done rightly or wrongly so we didn't have 'managers' coming in with there own philosophies year on year.

So as I see it,  too much input form LJ on signings, too much interference from SL and not enough strong leadership from Mark Ashton, as the Chief Exec.

[Cornacix the Druid]

SL to LJ - "Lee, it's your decision, if you decide to resign it may look better on your CV than being sacked. You can say that the club is bigger than my ego and I understand that at this time, it would be better for someone with greater experience to keep the club up and take it forward. Maybe we could then come to some sort of agreement with a severance package"

"However, I cannot let this continue. if you decide to fight for your place here, I will give you a limited number of games in which I expect you to turn this around. If you do, I will gladly back you all the way. If you don't, I will replace you"

"Now, I've got a date with the media and I'll have to shoot off. But think hard on what I said"

Or words to that effect?

Note - I would love for LJ to prove everyone wrong, turn things around and lead the club forward.

[Sir Colby-Tit]

15 minutes ago, Robbored said:

 

Step back from what?  

SL has employed Ashton to run the club on a day to day basis while he lives in Guernsey but no major decisions are made without his approval.

He owns the club and what he's says goes.

Do you believe employing LJ was MA's idea? 

[Robbored]

9 minutes ago, Sir Colby-Tit said:

Do you believe employing LJ was MA's idea? 

Of course it wasn't.

LJ is SLs golden boy and he instructed MA to recruit him. Such major decisions like deciding and appointing a manager is above Ashton's pay grade. His role is of a gofer.

[BobBobSuperBob]

3 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Of course it wasn't.

LJ is SLs golden boy and he instructed MA to recruit him. Such major decisions like deciding and appointing a manager is above Ashton's pay grade. His role is of a gofer.

Misread that and thought you were suggesting MA spends his days at Bristol & Clifton  !!!

Think 'gofer' is a bit harsh , like any employee he has to tow the party line at times but a bit more than a ' Gofer '. !!

( Do suspect he sees himself as a DoF though !!)

[Sir Colby-Tit]

13 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Of course it wasn't.

LJ is SLs golden boy and he instructed MA to recruit him. Such major decisions like deciding and appointing a manager is above Ashton's pay grade. His role is of a gofer.

Which is my point. SL needs to take a step back and let more suitable employees make the decisions. 

 

[Robbored]

8 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Misread that and thought you were suggesting MA spends his days at Bristol & Clifton  !!!

Think 'gofer' is a bit harsh , like any employee he has to tow the party line at times but a bit more than a ' Gofer '. !!

( Do suspect he sees himself as a DoF though !!)

All major decisions are made by SL including employing Ashton to run the club in his absence. Day to day decisions are made by him.

He spoke at Senior Reds a few months back and said that he's the COE and everyone at the club reports to him. Iin that case I asked him who his boss is and he thought about it said "I suppose it's Steve Lansdown"

So..... SL says to Ashton go out and recruit LJ so that's what he does. A gofer in other words.........

[RaspberryRed]

23 minutes ago, Robbored said:

All major decisions are made by SL including employing Ashton to run the club in his absence. Day to day decisions are made by him.

He spoke at Senior Reds a few months back and said that he's the COE and everyone at the club reports to him. Iin that case I asked him who his boss is and he thought about it said "I suppose it's Steve Lansdown"

So..... SL says to Ashton go out and recruit LJ so that's what he does. A gofer in other words.........

Or employee if you don't want to come across as a pompus, snob? 

['Orns]

6 minutes ago, RaspberryRed said:

Or employee if you don't want to come across as a pompus, snob? 

[Robbored]

When I was working and my boss told me to carry out some task  I go and do it.........a gofer in other words....

[ashton_fan]

There's no stand-out candidate to replace Johnson, we could go out of the frying pan and into the fire. If he goes I reckon Pembo will get an extended run of games, with the assistance of McAllister.

[WestonRobin]

1 hour ago, ashton_fan said:

There's no stand-out candidate to replace Johnson, we could go out of the frying pan and into the fire. If he goes I reckon Pembo will get an extended run of games, with the assistance of McAllister.

It could well be this.

We will never know but here is a theory...when they were trying to replace Cotts they could have found it difficult to get many, or indeed not anyone but Johnson, to 'buy-in' to their business model.

So potentially knowing they wouldn't receive many quality applicants they have decided to progress with the current incumbent...you know, one who does support the business plan.

I sense that Steve isn't the type to just throw his plan out of the window...he will stick to it now he has invested so much.

[fgrsimon]

Think he's clinging the hope that history repeats itself after the Gary Johnson losing run and the Barnsley losing run.

It's a horrible gamble

[Superjack]

5 hours ago, JHAGa said:

I think he's probably fed up of sacking a manager on an annual basis, which I've been saying for a long time. Sacking a manager so regularly has not worked at all.

 

LJ is his man, he helped him get into management and they are both friends. LJ isn't a bad manager either, it's just the pressure has got to him. I admire SL for sticking to his principles and wanting to keep faith in the manager. Personally I wish he had done the same with SC, but I'm certainly not enraged that he's sticking with LJ.

It's a shame he didn't get fed up of sacking a manager on an annual basis twelve months ago.

The punchline to his ineptitude of managerial appointments is that when he finally decides to 'stick', he sticks with the most pathetic one of all.

[EnclosureSurge]

5 hours ago, The Hustler said:

Has he now lost the stomach for a ‘fight’?

Stupid question.

[Inactive user]

2 hours ago, ashton_fan said:

There's no stand-out candidate to replace Johnson, we could go out of the frying pan and into the fire. If he goes I reckon Pembo will get an extended run of games, with the assistance of McAllister.

Agreed. IF LJ leaves (and I don't believe he will) I don't think we'll appoint a perm until the summer.

[ashton_fan]

4 minutes ago, Rednwhiterob said:

Agreed. IF LJ leaves (and I don't believe he will) I don't think we'll appoint a perm until the summer.

We might go with a foreign coach next time with all our contacts in europe, seems to have worked for other Championship clubs and would fit in with our system better than an English manager who would want to control everything and bring in his own staff.

[Natchfever]

2 hours ago, WestonRobin said:

It could well be this.

We will never know but here is a theory...when they were trying to replace Cotts they could have found it difficult to get many, or indeed not anyone but Johnson, to 'buy-in' to their business model.

So potentially knowing they wouldn't receive many quality applicants they have decided to progress with the current incumbent...you know, one who does support the business plan.

I sense that Steve isn't the type to just throw his plan out of the window...he will stick to it now he has invested so much.

If that is the case, then we were being lied to, as I distinctly recall Mr Ashton referring to the surprising quality of applicants for the position.

[22A]

I am concerned that SL will consider the finance he has  ploughed into Bristol Sport and what it's achieved.

City - promoted to where they think they belong and struggling.

Rugby -  promoted to where they think they belong and struggling.

My fear is he will react like so many of us on here would and simply walk away. Then where do those in the Bristol Sport grouping gain financial backing?

[Frenchay Red]

10 minutes ago, Loon plage said:

If that is the case, then we were being lied to, as I distinctly recall Mr Ashton referring to the surprising quality of applicants for the position.

Perhaps he meant they were surprisingly poor.

[exAtyeoMax]

4 hours ago, Sir Colby-Tit said:

Which is my point. SL needs to take a step back and let more suitable employees make the decisions. 

 

Surely MA, as the football man, should have given him sound advice…whoops

[WestonRobin]

20 minutes ago, Loon plage said:

If that is the case, then we were being lied to, as I distinctly recall Mr Ashton referring to the surprising quality of applicants for the position.

Not all surprises are good.

Many of the fans we're asking for Moyes and Pearson...the statement could easily have meant these two guys haven't applied and you'd be surprised at who has!