5 weeks, 7 games after SL told Geoff 20man the following:

[Jack Dawe]

On Radio Bris, 24 Jan.

 

GT. You obviously feel he can turn around the run of defeats

Steve. "I do" 

Me. We have ended the run of defeats, with only 3 since that interview. We have yet to start the run of wins needed.

 

GT. you've just lost a record number of defeats in the club's history

Steve. "Yes........we've been playing well (in many of those games) we haven't seen the game out, we need to sort that out and we need to get some wins under our belt quickly, make no bones about it. So, we are determined that we'll do that.

Me. We have got one win in the seven league games since that day, not the wins (plural) mentioned there. And we have been ahead in three of those games, but only managed to see one "out." This remains unsorted.

 

Steve. "in some ways I'm angry we're not doing better than we are.........we know how to turn it around"

Me. We have won 6 points from 7 games, and a possible 21 points. A small improvement, but not the "turn it around" required. If we "know how" now is the time to be demonstrating it.

 

GT. a lot of people are telling me that unless you change your manager, you'll be relegated

Steve. "Well, that's their opinion. But my opinion is that we will turn this around, we've got plenty of games left to do that, we've got a very good squad of players"

Me. We have had seven of those games, winning one of them. We now do not have "plenty" of games remaining, we have 12. Enough still but the "turn" is yet to be seen.

 

Steve. "We need that little bit of luck to get us through one or two games."

Me. Disputable, this one. We have lost Tammy (and Duric), but Newcastle were without Gayle, and Villa Hogan (and McCormack). Villa missed a penalty. Fulham had played a strong side in the cup shortly before coming here, while we rested. A "bit" of both there.

 

GT. What is the timescale though for improvement?

Steve. "I don't set one"

Me. needing wins "quickly" means what, then?

 

GT. There must come a point if things don't improve, that you'll have to take some form of action

Steve. "I don't feel in that position at the moment, I feel confident we can take this forward from here"

Me. One win in seven, is not moving "forward," or not forward enough. It is an improvement on 8 defeats in a row, though. Seven games ago, we were two points clear of 22nd in 20th place. Now we are level on points with 22nd, having played a game more. That is not "forward" from Jan 24th, that is going backward, and down the table. 

 

Steve. " we need to change our fortunes and turn it around and as I said earlier, I'm not complacent about that"

Me. We've got a "very good squad of players," we've had "a little bit of luck," we have played one more game than Blackburn since Jan 24th, and we've even played 4 of the last 7 away from our "negative" home crowd (that one win coming at home, though), but we haven't got the wins (plural) it was said we "need quickly." We have not managed to "change our fortunes." Instead, our situation has worsened.

The "complacent" word is hard to get away from, with the only words from SL about the team and our plight since being about the "negativity" of the crowd.

 

 

Steve. "I am determined we are going to do that (change our fortunes) and we are going to do that and we are going to do it as we are at the moment"

Steve. "We may have to go down to the wire."

Me. It looks this way, now. Because the "wins" we needed "quickly" and the upturn in fortunes Steve was "determined" to bring about - and the conviction that "we know how" to make this happen - with a squad of "very good players" has yet to materialise. The anticipated "change in fortunes" is absent (we are now lower in the table, because although we have improved a little, Wigan, Blackburn and Burton have improved more) and it will be no surprise if people remain "angry we are not doing better" and struggle not to show it.

 

After all, there is bugger all us mere mortals can do about it, beyond fully supporting the team during games. If only we had that power to do something more ........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cheshire_red]

Excellent summary

[Mike Hunt-Hertz]

11 minutes ago, Jack Dawe said:

On Radio Bris, 24 Jan.

 

GT. You obviously feel he can turn around the run of defeats

Steve. "I do" 

Me. We have ended the run of defeats, with only 3 since that interview. We have yet to start the run of wins needed.

 

GT. you've just lost a record number of defeats in the club's history

Steve. "Yes........we've been playing well (in many of those games) we haven't seen the game out, we need to sort that out and we need to get some wins under our belt quickly, make no bones about it. So, we are determined that we'll do that.

Me. We have got one win in the seven league games since that day, not the wins (plural) mentioned there. And we have been ahead in three of those games, but only managed to see one "out." This remains unsorted.

 

Steve. "in some ways I'm angry we're not doing better than we are.........we know how to turn it around"

Me. We have won 6 points from 7 games, and a possible 21 points. A small improvement, but not the "turn it around" required. If we "know how" now is the time to be demonstrating it.

 

GT. a lot of people are telling me that unless you change your manager, you'll be relegated

Steve. "Well, that's their opinion. But my opinion is that we will turn this around, we've got plenty of games left to do that, we've got a very good squad of players"

Me. We have had seven of those games, winning one of them. We now do not have "plenty" of games remaining, we have 12. Enough still but the "turn" is yet to be seen.

 

Steve. "We need that little bit of luck to get us through one or two games."

Me. Disputable, this one. We have lost Tammy (and Duric), but Newcastle were without Gayle, and Villa Hogan (and McCormack). Villa missed a penalty. Fulham had played a strong side in the cup shortly before coming here, while we rested. A "bit" of both there.

 

GT. What is the timescale though for improvement?

Steve. "I don't set one"

Me. needing wins "quickly" means what, then?

 

GT. There must come a point if things don't improve, that you'll have to take some form of action

Steve. "I don't feel in that position at the moment, I feel confident we can take this forward from here"

Me. One win in seven, is not moving "forward," or not forward enough. It is an improvement on 8 defeats in a row, though. Seven games ago, we were two points clear of 22nd in 20th place. Now we are level on points with 22nd, having played a game more. That is not "forward" from Jan 24th, that is going backward, and down the table. 

 

Steve. " we need to change our fortunes and turn it around and as I said earlier, I'm not complacent about that"

Me. We've got a "very good squad of players," we've had "a little bit of luck," we have played one more game than Blackburn since Jan 24th, and we've even played 4 of the last 7 away from our "negative" home crowd (that one win coming at home, though), but we haven't got the wins (plural) it was said we "need quickly." We have not managed to "change our fortunes." Instead, our situation has worsened.

The "complacent" word is hard to get away from, with the only words from SL about the team and our plight since being about the "negativity" of the crowd.

 

 

Steve. "I am determined we are going to do that (change our fortunes) and we are going to do that and we are going to do it as we are at the moment"

Steve. "We may have to go down to the wire."

Me. It looks this way, now. Because the "wins" we needed "quickly" and the upturn in fortunes Steve was "determined" to bring about - and the conviction that "we know how" to make this happen - with a squad of "very good players" has yet to materialise. The anticipated "change in fortunes" is absent (we are now lower in the table, because although we have improved a little, Wigan, Blackburn and Burton have improved more) and it will be no surprise if people remain "angry we are not doing better" and struggle not to show it.

 

After all, there is bugger all us mere mortals can do about it, beyond fully supporting the team during games. If only we had that power to do something more ........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bloke appears to have lost his marbles.

[Jack Dawe]

4 minutes ago, Mike Hunt-Hertz said:

The bloke appears to have lost his marbles.

He needs a break, probably. 

[Ska Junkie]

What about the 'big breakfast' statement? 'I won't let them go down' wasn't it?  

[GrahamC]

You are also far too generous to point out that the sole win during this time (and so half of our league wins in the last 20 games) was a truly desperate one against a Rotherham side miles adrift at the bottom who have still only picked up one away point all season.

Winning it in truth proved nothing positive, in fact my old man, (much more of a forgiving soul than his eldest son) said that was the game which finally persuaded him that LJ should be sacked.

It can only be delusion on the part of our owner or the closeness of their personal friendship that is keeping someone so utterly inept in their job.

[cityironman]

After saying all that, if (when in my opinion) we get relegated he is going to look a very silly boy. I think that SL & LJ share the same book of contradictions and BS.

[Jack Dawe]

15 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

You are also far too generous to point out that the sole win during this time (and so half of our league wins in the last 20 games) was a truly desperate one against a Rotherham side miles adrift at the bottom who have still only picked up one away point all season.

Winning it in truth proved nothing positive, in fact my old man, (much more of a forgiving soul than his eldest son) said that was the game which finally persuaded him that LJ should be sacked.

It can only be delusion on the part of our owner or the closeness of their personal friendship that is keeping someone so utterly inept in their job.

A win's a win, now! But, yes, that day only provided more evidence that this group of players are confused, out of sorts, dispirited, producing way below their potential and sorely in need of some competent leadership. So all we need to now, is agree whether this is the fault of the crowd, or the coaching staff.

[AppyDAZE]

Did he really say "we may have to go down to the wire" ?

The blokes gone a bit doolally, I swear he has.

[Jack Dawe]

5 minutes ago, AppyDAZE said:

Did he really say "we may have to go down to the wire" ?

The blokes gone a bit doolally, I swear he has.

Yes, he did. Whilst also sure LJ would "turn it around" and the wins we needed "quickly" were coming and they "knew how" to get them and we had "plenty of games left" (not that he was "complacent" no siree) with a "very good squad of players" so our opinion was not needed.

[AppyDAZE]

Just now, Jack Dawe said:

Yes, he did.

Like in,  I could sack the manager now , but no sod it  let's take it to the wire. The blokes a fool.

[BristolNorthEndRed]

My transcription of Geoff Twentyman and Steve Lansdown on ‘The Sound Of The City’ 23/1/2017

I initially done this for my own reference, but once done, I thought others may find it of interest.

Cheers.

 

Geoff: Steven I really appreciate you coming on the show.

S.Lansdown: That’s fine Geoff nice to be here.

Geoff: How safe is Lee Johnson and his job of head coach.

S.Lansdown: Well Lee is the head coach of Bristol City Football Club, and he has the support, he has my support, he has the support of the board and everybody at the club. So from the point of view how safe his job is, it is as safe as it can be at this point in time.

Geoff: Okay, you obviously feel he can turn around this run of defeats.

S.Lansdown: I do, and I look at what we’ve done in the transfer window, not this window  necessarily, but both windows, we’ve built a squad of players I think that looks good. I think we’ve got some very talented players there, we’ve got some good experience, we’ve got some very young players coming up through as well and everything is working well and Lee has been part of that and I’m looking forward to working with him to take it forward.

Geoff: You just said then “everything is working well”, you’ve just lost a record number of defeats in the clubs history.

S.Lansdown: Yes, and I hate losing football matches Geoff, and I’m not very happy about the situation with the results at the moment. But I was referring to the fact of the work that has been done behind the scenes, and in the football club as a whole, which is something that obviously is not in the front line, but as regards the results on the pitch, yes they are not going as we would like them to, but in many of those games we’ve been playing well, we haven’t seen the game out, we need to sort that out and we need to get some wins under our belt quickly, make no bones about it. So we are determined that we’ll do that, we have to all work together we have to be stronger we have to work very, very hard to make sure that we get those results and push ourselves back up the league.

Geoff: What have you seen in Lee, what do you see in Lee, that gives you the confidence that he is the right man.

S.Lansdown: Well, he’s a young manager, and like young players they will make mistakes along the way, but they learn from those mistakes and Lee is certainly somebody that is never short of looking for advice, and finding out new ideas and being corrected on certain things if he feels he’s got things wrong, so I think he’ll turn it around he’ll sort it out and the job will be a good one in the end of the day. But at this point in time I understand everybody’s frustrations, I’m extremely frustrated myself, in some ways I’m angry we’re not doing better than we are, but that’s football.  We’ve been through it before, we know what the situation is like, we know how to turn it around, and you only do that by hard work and staying together.

Geoff: I’m never quite sure the people who call me, text me and tweet me, are necessarily the maximum opinion, but, a lot of people are telling me that unless you change your manager you’ll be relegated.

S.Lansdown: Well that’s their opinion, and I’ve heard you say it many times “football is a game of opinions”.  But my opinion is that we will turn this around, we’ve got plenty of games left to do that, we’ve got a very good squad of players, I think we need that little bit of luck to get us through one or two games to get us back on track, but I think that will come and we will be alright by the end of the season. That's my view that’s what I’m working towards and that’s what the club is working towards.

Geoff: What is the timescale though for improvement Steven.

 

S.Lansdown: Well, I don’t set one, because I think we got a cup tie this weekend, but let’s look forward to the league program, we’ve got Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday and then we’ve got Rotherham on Saturday I believe, so we’ve got two big games coming up we look at every game to win, and what we need is everybody to get behind the football club and work very hard for that to happen.

Geoff: How ‘hands on’ are you at the moment, on a daily basis and after matches.

S.Lansdown: I’m not ‘hands on’ at all, on a Saturday I’ll often go and have a word with Lee before the game, but more often after the game and we’ll have a few words, and discuss what went right, what went wrong, and the positives that came out of the game and obviously the negatives in recent times, and I’ll normally have a conversation with him either on a Sunday evening or on a Monday evening when he’s had time to digest the game and gone through it.  But it’s only really to help, him, because I know you’ve been in management yourself, it’s a lonely position, you need somebody to bounce ideas off and I’m one of those people.

Geoff: Lee Tomlin, is there anything untoward going on between Lee Johnson and Lee Tomlin in terms of falling out and not being selected as a consequence.

S.Lansdown: Not that I’m aware of, I think it’s just down to the fact that if we are all honest Lee Tomlin’s form has gone off the boil and in order to try and turn the fortunes of the team around, Lee has left him out of the team on a couple of occasions. So I think it’s up to Lee Tomlin to buckle down and win his place back.

Geoff: Okay, part of the manifesto when you appointed Mark Ashton and Lee, was, there was going to be this pathway to the first team for home grown talent. In light of your recent signings, have you kind of closed the door on that.

S.Lansdown: Not at all, we still have the likes of Joe Bryan and Bobby Reid very much involved in the first team action, Zak Vyner is very much on the fringe of the first team as well now, as well as the likes of some of the younger players coming through like Lloyd Kelly and George Dowling, so the opportunity is there, not everybody is going to make it into the first team. What we will try and do is get people out into the football league to play other games on a loan basis, gain the experience to come back and play for us in the future. So there is definitely a pathway there, one that is very clear now which I am very pleased about. There is still work to do with all of our infrastructure, but the improvements we’ve made in the academy with that pathway and the improvements we made in our recruitment structure, I think are first class and are moving us in the right direction.

Geoff: Are some supporters too expectant, lack patience.

S.Lansdown: They are, but that’s the right of a supporter to be that way.  Let’s face it, I’m not going to hide from the fact that we were sort of in the top six September, October, and here we are just outside the relegation zone on a losing streak. So it’s not a great place to be, it’s not a great time to be at the club, but that’s what challenge is all about. We can all roll over and feel sorry for ourselves, but nobody else is going to do that we’ve got to sort ourselves out and get it right.

Geoff: The games next week, two home matches, Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham, are they more significant than they would be otherwise in light of the current situation.

S.Lansdown: Well of course they are because we need results and the longer this losing streak goes on, the harder it will become, so we need to get points on the board, we’ve been on twenty seven points for an awful long time now, we need to get off of that, get into the thirties and move up towards the forties fairly quickly.

Geoff: Yes, I was more alluding to the fact of Lee and his position.

S.Lansdown: No not at all. I mean, we’re focused on actually getting the results and Lee and all of the management team are part of that.

Geoff: Relegation can’t be an option for you though Steven can it.

S.Lansdown: I’m not complacent Geoff, I’m not going to try and to say we can’t get relegated, I don’t think we will be relegated. I think the effort that goes into it and everything else, we’ll sort it out at the end of the day, we may have to go down to the wire, but we’ll keep fighting all the way and I just ask the supporters to do the same with us.

Geoff: So you think it might go to the wire, what is the plan from here, the window is still open for a short period of time, what’s the plan.

S.Lansdown: Well we’ve brought four players already in, in this window, I think everybody would be pleased with those acquisitions. Whether we need anybody else, we’ll see, I don’t think we’ll be chasing anybody in particular. But if the opportunity comes along to give us the ability to bring somebody in that adds to what we’ve got, adds value to it, then we’ll do that.  We’re always in the market and always looking and we’ll never turn an opportunity away. I can’t remember how many we brought in in the summer, I know we did thirty odd transfers in total, or deals in total. But we’ve got four in this window and I think that’s good business so far.

Geoff: Okay, I realise you’ve got the poker face on now and you are prepared to sit tight, but there must come a point if things don’t improve, that you’ll have to take some form of action.

S.Lansdown: Well, business is business and we look at all those situations when they arise, I don’t feel in that position at the moment, I feel confident we can take this forward from here, we need to change our fortunes and turn it around and as I said earlier I’m not complacent about that but I’m determined that we are going to do that and we are going to do it as we are at the moment.

Geoff: Alright. Steve always a pleasure, I really appreciate you coming on the ‘Sound Of The City’, I know there are many, many  City fans listening right now who likewise appreciate that.

S.Lansdown: Okay Geoff, thank you very much.

 

[Davefevs]

@Jack Dawe you're just typical of a small number on here.  You have an agenda.....

 

 

 

 

...for pointing out the bleedin' obvious, that we are deeply in the shit, but our owner cannot see it. 

 

At some point SL is going to have to admit defeat with LJ.  I've got a feeling that he's decided to be stubborn about it.  He's in danger of tarnishing his own reputation.

[CotswoldRed]

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

@Jack Dawe you're just typical of a small number on here.  You have an agenda.....

 

 

 

 

...for pointing out the bleedin' obvious, that we are deeply in the shit, but our owner cannot see it. 

 

At some point SL is going to have to admit defeat with LJ.  I've got a feeling that he's decided to be stubborn about it.  He's in danger of tarnishing his own reputation.

Its already tarnished. 

[Kid in the Riot]

It was all bullshit when he said it on 24 January, and it is still bullshit today.

[Fiale]

 

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

@Jack Dawe you're just typical of a small number on here.  You have an agenda.....

 

 

 

 

...for pointing out the bleedin' obvious, that we are deeply in the shit, but our owner cannot see it. 

 

At some point SL is going to have to admit defeat with LJ.  I've got a feeling that he's decided to be stubborn about it.  He's in danger of tarnishing his own reputation.

 

That's the main thing for me - people have wanted LJ out for a while, as time has gone on the rumblings and dis-satisfaction have gotten louder and more widespread. We were all waiting for the Board/SL to do the right thing, and waiting, and waiting, and still they refused to do anything - the fans were patient, we were supporting the team, and we were if anything too polite and almost going out our way to not vent our feelings at AG... but we were ignored and forced to start vocalising our feelings at AG, and then they have the audacity to criticise fans for it.... after forcing our hand, when we had been really patient waiting for them to do their job...

[FNQ]

3 hours ago, Jack Dawe said:

On Radio Bris, 24 Jan.

 

GT. You obviously feel he can turn around the run of defeats

Steve. "I do" 

Me. We have ended the run of defeats, with only 3 since that interview. We have yet to start the run of wins needed.

 

GT. you've just lost a record number of defeats in the club's history

Steve. "Yes........we've been playing well (in many of those games) we haven't seen the game out, we need to sort that out and we need to get some wins under our belt quickly, make no bones about it. So, we are determined that we'll do that.

Me. We have got one win in the seven league games since that day, not the wins (plural) mentioned there. And we have been ahead in three of those games, but only managed to see one "out." This remains unsorted.

 

Steve. "in some ways I'm angry we're not doing better than we are.........we know how to turn it around"

Me. We have won 6 points from 7 games, and a possible 21 points. A small improvement, but not the "turn it around" required. If we "know how" now is the time to be demonstrating it.

 

GT. a lot of people are telling me that unless you change your manager, you'll be relegated

Steve. "Well, that's their opinion. But my opinion is that we will turn this around, we've got plenty of games left to do that, we've got a very good squad of players"

Me. We have had seven of those games, winning one of them. We now do not have "plenty" of games remaining, we have 12. Enough still but the "turn" is yet to be seen.

 

Steve. "We need that little bit of luck to get us through one or two games."

Me. Disputable, this one. We have lost Tammy (and Duric), but Newcastle were without Gayle, and Villa Hogan (and McCormack). Villa missed a penalty. Fulham had played a strong side in the cup shortly before coming here, while we rested. A "bit" of both there.

 

GT. What is the timescale though for improvement?

Steve. "I don't set one"

Me. needing wins "quickly" means what, then?

 

GT. There must come a point if things don't improve, that you'll have to take some form of action

Steve. "I don't feel in that position at the moment, I feel confident we can take this forward from here"

Me. One win in seven, is not moving "forward," or not forward enough. It is an improvement on 8 defeats in a row, though. Seven games ago, we were two points clear of 22nd in 20th place. Now we are level on points with 22nd, having played a game more. That is not "forward" from Jan 24th, that is going backward, and down the table. 

 

Steve. " we need to change our fortunes and turn it around and as I said earlier, I'm not complacent about that"

Me. We've got a "very good squad of players," we've had "a little bit of luck," we have played one more game than Blackburn since Jan 24th, and we've even played 4 of the last 7 away from our "negative" home crowd (that one win coming at home, though), but we haven't got the wins (plural) it was said we "need quickly." We have not managed to "change our fortunes." Instead, our situation has worsened.

The "complacent" word is hard to get away from, with the only words from SL about the team and our plight since being about the "negativity" of the crowd.

 

 

Steve. "I am determined we are going to do that (change our fortunes) and we are going to do that and we are going to do it as we are at the moment"

Steve. "We may have to go down to the wire."

Me. It looks this way, now. Because the "wins" we needed "quickly" and the upturn in fortunes Steve was "determined" to bring about - and the conviction that "we know how" to make this happen - with a squad of "very good players" has yet to materialise. The anticipated "change in fortunes" is absent (we are now lower in the table, because although we have improved a little, Wigan, Blackburn and Burton have improved more) and it will be no surprise if people remain "angry we are not doing better" and struggle not to show it.

 

After all, there is bugger all us mere mortals can do about it, beyond fully supporting the team during games. If only we had that power to do something more ........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the face of it what you've written makes a lot of sense... But of the last 7 games how many points hand on heart would you have expected us to achieve before they were played? I was optimistically thinking 7 points..

SW - 1pt

Roth - 3pts

Derby - 0pts

Leeds - 0pts

Fulham - 3pts

Newcastle - 0pts

A Villa - 0 pts

[Davefevs]

4 minutes ago, Fiale said:

 

 

That's the main thing for me - people have wanted LJ out for a while, as time has gone on the rumblings and dis-satisfaction have gotten louder and more widespread. We were all waiting for the Board/SL to do the right thing, and waiting, and waiting, and still they refused to do anything - the fans were patient, we were supporting the team, and we were if anything too polite and almost going out our way to not vent our feelings at AG... but we were ignored and forced to start vocalising our feelings at AG, and then they have the audacity to criticise fans for it.... after forcing our hand, when we had been really patient waiting for them to do their job...

I'm not one to boo the players or shout "your getting sacked in the morning", but SL is naively taking my "silence" as a vote of confidence.

He needs to open his eyes, not his ears.  I'm sure he could read a plummeting market....well, Steve, look at the table and trajectory.

 

(Yes, I know it's you're, I was trying to be ironic)

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, FNQ said:

On the face of it what you've written makes a lot of sense... But of the last 7 games how many points hand on heart would you have expected us to achieve before they were played? I was optimistically thinking 7 points..

SW - 1pt

Roth - 3pts

Derby - 0pts

Leeds - 0pts

Fulham - 3pts

Newcastle - 0pts

A Villa - 0 pts

I get what you're saying, I would probably have said 5 points, maybe 6 points....but that guess / prediction was based on how we've been doing, not what I thought we were capable of achieving if we played decently (not even our best).

For me it's the inconsistency of the head-coach.  I now actually think he's just making it up game by game.  The pressure has got to him.

How many of us thought he'd pick the same starting eleven last night following a tough away game, travel, and another tough game?  Not me.  All the science shit he gave us at the start of the season, led me to believe everything was meticulously prepared, their was a plan.  Like AC Milan he could predict when a player was about to go off the boil, and rest him etc.  But last night it was more like, I've been criticised for tinkering, the boys gave me everything on Saturday, so I better pick the same eleven.  Surely his head was telling him, Wilbs (despite an excellent first 45) would bomb in the second half.  Smith, O'Neil, Vyner, Reid must all have been considered for 'rotation'.  He lacks the conviction to make logical decisions imho.  Maybe that's pressure.  Would any of us been surprised if Taylor had started instead of Wilbs?

i said pre-Newcastle - how many of the players he can trust will be made scapegoats over the next couple of games if things don't go well.

I don't mind some of the elevens he picks, but I find myself saying in my head "yeah, I'm happy enough with that, not what I'd have picked, but it's ok", when it should relatively easy to pick the same 10 of the 11 as the boss.

He's been found out.  Good and proper.

[Fiale]

Blackburn, Wigan and Burton all picking up more points than us 

 

[FNQ]

7 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I get what you're saying, I would probably have said 5 points, maybe 6 points....but that guess / prediction was based on how we've been doing, not what I thought we were capable of achieving if we played decently (not even our best).

For me it's the inconsistency of the head-coach.  I now actually think he's just making it up game by game.  The pressure has got to him.

How many of us thought he'd pick the same starting eleven last night following a tough away game, travel, and another tough game?  Not me.  All the science shit he gave us at the start of the season, led me to believe everything was meticulously prepared, their was a plan.  Like AC Milan he could predict when a player was about to go off the boil, and rest him etc.  But last night it was more like, I've been criticised for tinkering, the boys gave me everything on Saturday, so I better pick the same eleven.  Surely his head was telling him, Wilbs (despite an excellent first 45) would bomb in the second half.  Smith, O'Neil, Vyner, Reid must all have been considered for 'rotation'.  He lacks the conviction to make logical decisions imho.  Maybe that's pressure.  Would any of us been surprised if Taylor had started instead of Wilbs?

i said pre-Newcastle - how many of the players he can trust will be made scapegoats over the next couple of games if things don't go well.

I don't mind some of the elevens he picks, but I find myself saying in my head "yeah, I'm happy enough with that, not what I'd have picked, but it's ok", when it should relatively easy to pick the same 10 of the 11 as the boss.

He's been found out.  Good and proper.

Again, as per the OP your response above is well constructed and makes a lot of sense... No way was I expecting Wilbs to be able to front up again against Villa.... although I do seem to recall quite some support for the same team being selected in the matchday thread before KO at Villa Park...

But, for all that went wrong in the second half against Villa, if you go back to the Newcastle game, I think LJ showed some credentials and had a lot of balls to pick the side that he did going into an away game at Newcastle where it was all potentially on the line for him... That team was certainly up for it on the day....

Don't get me wrong, I posted yesterday on the immediate and I believe season saving success that Blackburn have achieved since appointing Tony Mowbary just two games ago... And although it saddens me I feel that a change of manager is now our best chance of survival.... Also, as mentioned somewhere either above or in another thread, even if we were to survive this season under LJ, I think that there will always be too much feeling / doubting / untrust even absolute hatred amongst a growing number of supporters for LJ ever to be truly accepted here... So the sooner the inevitable happens the better..

[havanatopia]

7 hours ago, Jack Dawe said:

Yes, he did. Whilst also sure LJ would "turn it around" and the wins we needed "quickly" were coming and they "knew how" to get them and we had "plenty of games left" (not that he was "complacent" no siree) with a "very good squad of players" so our opinion was not needed.

'Knew How'... We are yet to witness the sprinkling of magic which is fast becoming a need for a miracle.

[publandlord]

5 hours ago, FNQ said:

although I do seem to recall quite some support for the same team being selected in the matchday thread before KO at Villa Park...

To me that was because a few of the LJ supporters who love to tell us were all disloyal and want us to lose and have an agenda etc. etc. made a reappearance on the Villa thread after the good point at Newcastle. Funny they all (apart from one) disappeared from the same thread after half time.

I thought Newcastle was a good point, but staying up there till the Monday and watching things on the local media, Wilbs was offside for the first, and the second was a gift from Newcastle. Blackburn and Wolves both won at Newcastle. Benitez worked out what was going wrong and steadied the ship for them after 30 minutes and Newcastle came out fighting in the second half, but Newcastle also kept misplacing passes and there must have been 6 or 7 sideways passes to the linesman going out of play before they got their first and they were getting more and more frustrated. Unfortunately we didn't go for it at that point and left with one point not 3 (although we werent hanging on at the end, but werent pressing either), but still a good performance - City sides in the past would have won that game 3-1 or 4-1

 

[Dullmoan Tone]

There's a really interesting paragraph in the transcript that I hadn't spotted before:

S.L: I’m not ‘hands on’ at all, on a Saturday I’ll often go and have a word with Lee before the game, but more often after the game and we’ll have a few words, and discuss what went right, what went wrong, and the positives that came out of the game and obviously the negatives in recent times, and I’ll normally have a conversation with him either on a Sunday evening or on a Monday evening when he’s had time to digest the game and gone through it.  But it’s only really to help, him, because I know you’ve been in management yourself, it’s a lonely position, you need somebody to bounce ideas off and I’m one of those people.

It makes you wonder what a chairman who probably has no coaching qualification / professional playing experience can offer? If the owner of my company reviewed every piece of work each week, I think I would describe him as hands on? 

[Major Isewater]

Steve Lansdown ' We have a squad of very good players '

Well Mr Lansdown with this squad of very good players we're going down , If it's not the players then I wonder who it could be who's responsible for the mess we're in ? 

Answers on a postcard or 

dial 0841 000000

tap 1 for LEE JOHNSON or

tap 2 for LEE JOHNSON . 

 

[Major Isewater]

6 minutes ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

There's a really interesting paragraph in the transcript that I hadn't spotted before:

S.L: I’m not ‘hands on’ at all, on a Saturday I’ll often go and have a word with Lee before the game, but more often after the game and we’ll have a few words, and discuss what went right, what went wrong, and the positives that came out of the game and obviously the negatives in recent times, and I’ll normally have a conversation with him either on a Sunday evening or on a Monday evening when he’s had time to digest the game and gone through it.  But it’s only really to help, him, because I know you’ve been in management yourself, it’s a lonely position, you need somebody to bounce ideas off and I’m one of those people.

It makes you wonder what a chairman who probably has no coaching qualification / professional playing experience can offer? If the owner of my company reviewed every piece of work each week, I think I would describe him as hands on? 

It's only natural that SL has an interest in what's going on as the owner of our club .

 

[glynriley]

1 hour ago, Major Isewater said:

Steve Lansdown ' We have a squad of very good players '

Well Mr Lansdown with this squad of very good players we're going down , If it's not the players then I wonder who it could be who's responsible for the mess we're in ? 

Answers on a postcard or 

dial 0841 000000

tap 1 for LEE JOHNSON or

tap 2 for LEE JOHNSON . 

 

That phone number doesn't work...?

[reddoh]

8 minutes ago, glynriley said:

That phone number doesn't work...?

but it probably has just cost you a grand. 

[Jack Dawe]

9 hours ago, FNQ said:

On the face of it what you've written makes a lot of sense... But of the last 7 games how many points hand on heart would you have expected us to achieve before they were played? I was optimistically thinking 7 points..

SW - 1pt

Roth - 3pts

Derby - 0pts

Leeds - 0pts

Fulham - 3pts

Newcastle - 0pts

A Villa - 0 pts

Very few. This is the point, isn't it? Our expectations have sunk so low, what can we expect from that list of fixtures. The bar is set so low now, across the club. Excuses continue to be made for ongoing failure. The mindset is poor, defeatist. Or perhaps our expectations are wrong, that a grim struggle against relegation every year is about right?

From those four away games - Derby, Leeds, Newcastle, Villa - I anticipated zero points, and at least two hammerings, and a serious blow to our GD. But we far exceeded my expectations with two draws. And no 0:4s like last season.

Unfortunately, in the situation facing us that is not enough and we have sunk further in to trouble. So we go "down to the wire."

Football's version of Russian Roulette.

[Kid in the Riot]

2 hours ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

There's a really interesting paragraph in the transcript that I hadn't spotted before:

S.L: I’m not ‘hands on’ at all, on a Saturday I’ll often go and have a word with Lee before the game, but more often after the game and we’ll have a few words, and discuss what went right, what went wrong, and the positives that came out of the game and obviously the negatives in recent times, and I’ll normally have a conversation with him either on a Sunday evening or on a Monday evening when he’s had time to digest the game and gone through it.  But it’s only really to help, him, because I know you’ve been in management yourself, it’s a lonely position, you need somebody to bounce ideas off and I’m one of those people.

It makes you wonder what a chairman who probably has no coaching qualification / professional playing experience can offer? If the owner of my company reviewed every piece of work each week, I think I would describe him as hands on? 

Spotted it too. "I'm not 'hands on' at all" but speaks to the head coach before and after nearly every single game? That's quite hands on I would say. And like you suggest, our problems on the pitch are unsurprising if we have a novice manager bouncing ideas off an owner with no football coaching / management experience whatsoever.