Are we Yeovil in disguise? Jobs for the boys

[tinman85]

Johnson, McAllister, Tinnion, Murray 

Is it any wonder we are facing relegation. Need some experienced top level coaches. Nice stadium but everything else is very Yeovil Town. 

[Norn Iron]

The only team that is Yeovil in disguise is Celtic.

I still haven't had the guts to say this to the masses over here that wear the Celtic shirt because I don't think they'd understand the humour or that Yeovil play in a similar shirt!

[Major Isewater]

45 minutes ago, tinman85 said:

Johnson, McAllister, Tinnion, Murray 

Is it any wonder we are facing relegation. Need some experienced top level coaches. Nice stadium but everything else is very Yeovil Town. 

Yeovil are not in a position whereby they can attract top coaches or players this is why a lot of their staff have connections to the club .

City , IMHO, have the potential to attract nearly any coach they want and a good majority players as well.

If Lansdown really wanted a top top coach he could pay him what he wanted and sell him the club and it's potential.

Sadly ,we all know that SL won't pay .

[View from the Dolman]

53 minutes ago, tinman85 said:

Johnson, McAllister, Tinnion, Murray 

Is it any wonder we are facing relegation. Need some experienced top level coaches. Nice stadium but everything else is very Yeovil Town. 

What does Scott Murray's kit managing skills have to do with coaching standards and relegation?

[MarcusX]

Tinnion and McAllister seem to be doing alright in their respective roles at the moment, so a little unfair.

[BCFChayden]

1 hour ago, tinman85 said:

Johnson, McAllister, Tinnion, Murray 

Is it any wonder we are facing relegation. Need some experienced top level coaches. Nice stadium but everything else is very Yeovil Town. 

I just want my club back, no Johnson no macca. Oh god when will it happen

[pongo88]

1 hour ago, View from the Dolman said:

What does Scott Murray's kit managing skills have to do with coaching standards and relegation?

Everything! Does he know the difference between washing powder designed for front loading or low efficiency top loading machines? Often when you read the fine print on the back of a packet it says"not recommended for front load or high efficiency top load machines". Is he using too much detergent, which paradoxically does not make the clothes cleaner? Is he overloading the machine or leaving the kit in the machine allowing it to go mouldy? All these factors may be affecting City's performance. I can't think of any other reason. 

SCOTMURRYOUT

[oldstandrobin]

4 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

Yeovil are not in a position whereby they can attract top coaches or players this is why a lot of their staff have connections to the club .

City , IMHO, have the potential to attract nearly any coach they want and a good majority players as well.

If Lansdown really wanted a top top coach he could pay him what he wanted and sell him the club and it's potential.

Sadly ,we all know that SL won't pay .

Can pay .....wont pay................will soon be a tv programme made for daytime viewing starring our guest speaker from Bristol's very own Lansdown Club

 

Will be seen in 100+ countries as an example of wasting your time......wasting your money, so no chance of Lansdown being bought out by the Phillipines and South Korea Timeshare Cartel 

[MarkRed!]

4 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

Yeovil are not in a position whereby they can attract top coaches or players this is why a lot of their staff have connections to the club .

City , IMHO, have the potential to attract nearly any coach they want and a good majority players as well.

If Lansdown really wanted a top top coach he could pay him what he wanted and sell him the club and it's potential.

Sadly ,we all know that SL won't pay .

i agree with you Major but I dont think it is the money - I think it is about control. SL and JL wont give up that sense that they are running the club. I have heard all manner of rumours about JL handing former managers the team sheet etc.... the fact is that no serious manager would work under this structure it is just not obvious to those on the outside. Philips I think gave a clue to this in his recent interview. Thus, it all boils down to how the club is managed from the top - answer is not very well at all. 

[robin_unreliant]

3 minutes ago, MarkRed! said:

 I have heard all manner of rumours about JL handing former managers the team sheet etc.... 

Really? That is a new one that I haven't heard before. So JL was obsessed with 3-5-2 when SC was here? He has no idea of who to pick now and uses a Tombola?

Well if that's the case Lee all is forgiven, you carry on mate. On the other hand this may be more bs to add to the rest of the conspiracy theories on here.

I happen to think that SL just won't pay for a top manager because he will want to bring in players on wages that SL won't pay. He wants someone who will agree to go with young, promising punts on low wages. That is a gamble and most established, successful managers will see that as reducing their chance of success so won't be interested.

Of course this is just a theory and could be wrong while yours might be right, however unlikely it seems.

[MarkRed!]

3 minutes ago, robin_unreliant said:

Really? That is a new one that I haven't heard before. So JL was obsessed with 3-5-2 when SC was here? He has no idea of who to pick now and uses a Tombola?

Well if that's the case Lee all is forgiven, you carry on mate. On the other hand this may be more bs to add to the rest of the conspiracy theories on here.

I happen to think that SL just won't pay for a top manager because he will want to bring in players on wages that SL won't pay. He wants someone who will agree to go with young, promising punts on low wages. That is a gamble and most established, successful managers will see that as reducing their chance of success so won't be interested.

Of course this is just a theory and could be wrong while yours might be right, however unlikely it seems.

Dont disagree with you.

From what I can make out - SC was able to rule without interference whilst in League One (we were in a position of shit and he held the power). He got results and a double winning season followed. Bert was the Director of Football and he and Cotteril got on and had previously worked together successfully. Be under no illusion SC ruled the roost. The end of that season is ultimately when the clash occurred, and it initially resulted in Pelling losing his job when key deals  done by SC and Bert were scuppered by the board. I am led to believe that Macquire and Gray had been done by SC before he went on holiday. Those deals collapsed when we tried to renage the terms given to the players.  Thereafter, SC behaved like a bear who had seen Goldilocks steel his porridge. He was unbearable in interviews and it was clear from September of that season that all was not well. This was equally reflected in the lack of transfers. SC did not believe in buying up and coming players (perhaps like Odowda) he wanted players who were ready and those cost £. We did not get any of them. Nathan Baker was arguably a big signing as I am led to believe we paid a sizeable loan fee and good wages for him.

However, as results and morale inside the club nosedived, SL tried to reimpose the structure he wanted... and SC was having none of it. Ashton came in and a further clash occurred over transfers and control ...Bert was sacked... SC's was then confined to essentially having a go at the club through the media and his selections. The results and initial fan pressure following the Preston home game, gave the board the cover to get rid of SC. The formation issue is a red herring as we continue to play 352 at times. All in all, what a way to fck up the momentum of a double winning season.....  

I tend not to pay much attention to rumours myself but there is a constant theme about interference from those above in the cases of Tinnion, Millen, McInnes, and SOD.  There is no smoke without fire. And sometimes those rumours are true - we all knew Pembo had gone long before it was announced....The difference is that LJ is quite happy to work with the structure sought by SL. This is why he has not been sacked. They like him and sentiment is ruling the roost here as they know that the type of manager who might take us forward would not work in this way. It would be interesting to hear what made Coppell (a proven manager) walk so quickly, once he formally joined the club.... I am sure that it will all boil down to what he saw from those above him. 

Who really knows what SL wants - PL in two years was the last BS I heard.... we were also not gonna sell Kodjia  springs to mind as well.... at the end of the day I am not sure he knows what he wants ....

[marmite]

6 minutes ago, MarkRed! said:

Dont disagree with you.

From what I can make out - SC was able to rule without interference whilst in League One (we were in a position of shit and he held the power). He got results and a double winning season followed. Bert was the Director of Football and he and Cotteril got on and had previously worked together successfully. Be under no illusion SC ruled the roost. The end of that season is ultimately when the clash occurred, and it initially resulted in Pelling losing his job when key deals  done by SC and Bert were scuppered by the board. I am led to believe that Macquire and Gray had been done by SC before he went on holiday. Those deals collapsed when we tried to renage the terms given to the players.  Thereafter, SC behaved like a bear who had seen Goldilocks steel his porridge. He was unbearable in interviews and it was clear from September of that season that all was not well. This was equally reflected in the lack of transfers. SC did not believe in buying up and coming players (perhaps like Odowda) he wanted players who were ready and those cost £. We did not get any of them. Nathan Baker was arguably a big signing as I am led to believe we paid a sizeable loan fee and good wages for him.

However, as results and morale inside the club nosedived, SL tried to reimpose the structure he wanted... and SC was having none of it. Ashton came in and a further clash occurred over transfers and control ...Bert was sacked... SC's was then confined to essentially having a go at the club through the media and his selections. The results and initial fan pressure following the Preston home game, gave the board the cover to get rid of SC. The formation issue is a red herring as we continue to play 352 at times. All in all, what a way to fck up the momentum of a double winning season.....  

I tend not to pay much attention to rumours myself but there is a constant theme about interference from those above in the cases of Tinnion, Millen, McInnes, and SOD.  There is no smoke without fire. And sometimes those rumours are true - we all knew Pembo had gone long before it was announced....The difference is that LJ is quite happy to work with the structure sought by SL. This is why he has not been sacked. They like him and sentiment is ruling the roost here as they know that the type of manager who might take us forward would not work in this way. It would be interesting to hear what made Coppell (a proven manager) walk so quickly, once he formally joined the club.... I am sure that it will all boil down to what he saw from those above him. 

Who really knows what SL wants - PL in two years was the last BS I heard.... we were also not gonna sell Kodjia  springs to mind as well.... at the end of the day I am not sure he knows what he wants ....

Great post and knowledge, if its all true.

[MarkRed!]

5 minutes ago, marmite said:

Great post and knowledge, if its all true.

I would love to speak to Coppell about it as I am not sure he left with a compromise agreement...Cotteril cannot talk because of his settlement agreement but I certainly believe what I have been told by various people in the know. These people are agents, youth team coaches at the club, ex players girlfriend....It is just like Eastenders down at the gate. 

[BS4 on Tour...]

6 hours ago, Norn Iron said:

The only team that is Yeovil in disguise is Celtic.

I still haven't had the guts to say this to the masses over here that wear the Celtic shirt because I don't think they'd understand the humour or that Yeovil play in a similar shirt!

"Masses.." intentional pun? Quality if so...!

[marmite]

6 minutes ago, MarkRed! said:

I would love to speak to Coppell about it as I am not sure he left with a compromise agreement...Cotteril cannot talk because of his settlement agreement but I certainly believe what I have been told by various people in the know. These people are agents, youth team coaches at the club, ex players girlfriend....It is just like Eastenders down at the gate. 

Its about as exciting as EastEnders! We will never know the full facts about Coppell and Cotteril until they publish their memoires, but one things for sure, this club has consistency with screwing things up just when there is a chink of hope.

[Norn Iron]

21 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

"Masses.." intentional pun? Quality if so...!

And so that I'm not accused of any religious agenda.....I still haven't had the guts to say to those who wear the Rangers shirts in the Services on the M2.....Are you Portsmouth in disguise? 

Thanks BS4, the first post pun was unintentional but the second was!

 

[Beatnik]

I was at Huish spark last weekend, as my grandson plays a part in their community youth scheme. Yeovil are in a position financially, where they take the staff their meagre income allows , they are in the classic lower league struggle and good luck to them.

City, are in a completely different position, money is not as much of an issue, yet SL still insists on employing underachieving coaching staff.

I honestly think we have some very competent players, a fine stadium, great support, a few quid in the bank, and a useless management.

[EnderMB]

1 hour ago, MarkRed! said:

Dont disagree with you.

From what I can make out - SC was able to rule without interference whilst in League One (we were in a position of shit and he held the power). He got results and a double winning season followed. Bert was the Director of Football and he and Cotteril got on and had previously worked together successfully. Be under no illusion SC ruled the roost. The end of that season is ultimately when the clash occurred, and it initially resulted in Pelling losing his job when key deals  done by SC and Bert were scuppered by the board. I am led to believe that Macquire and Gray had been done by SC before he went on holiday. Those deals collapsed when we tried to renage the terms given to the players.  Thereafter, SC behaved like a bear who had seen Goldilocks steel his porridge. He was unbearable in interviews and it was clear from September of that season that all was not well. This was equally reflected in the lack of transfers. SC did not believe in buying up and coming players (perhaps like Odowda) he wanted players who were ready and those cost £. We did not get any of them. Nathan Baker was arguably a big signing as I am led to believe we paid a sizeable loan fee and good wages for him.

However, as results and morale inside the club nosedived, SL tried to reimpose the structure he wanted... and SC was having none of it. Ashton came in and a further clash occurred over transfers and control ...Bert was sacked... SC's was then confined to essentially having a go at the club through the media and his selections. The results and initial fan pressure following the Preston home game, gave the board the cover to get rid of SC. The formation issue is a red herring as we continue to play 352 at times. All in all, what a way to fck up the momentum of a double winning season.....  

I tend not to pay much attention to rumours myself but there is a constant theme about interference from those above in the cases of Tinnion, Millen, McInnes, and SOD.  There is no smoke without fire. And sometimes those rumours are true - we all knew Pembo had gone long before it was announced....The difference is that LJ is quite happy to work with the structure sought by SL. This is why he has not been sacked. They like him and sentiment is ruling the roost here as they know that the type of manager who might take us forward would not work in this way. It would be interesting to hear what made Coppell (a proven manager) walk so quickly, once he formally joined the club.... I am sure that it will all boil down to what he saw from those above him. 

Who really knows what SL wants - PL in two years was the last BS I heard.... we were also not gonna sell Kodjia  springs to mind as well.... at the end of the day I am not sure he knows what he wants ....

I couldn't agree more with what was said.

I also find it very telling that Steve Cotterill was brought in as manager, when every other person that failed at the helm was hired as a head coach. Every time we've had a head coach at the helm, the "Three Pillars" have made their way into press conferences and onto the club website as the strategy the club uses going forward, and after watching Cotterill overhaul the side in League 1 it's plain to see that Cotterill bucked the trend and was successful for it.

[Xiled]

6 hours ago, View from the Dolman said:

What does Scott Murray's kit managing skills have to do with coaching standards and relegation?

Scott Murray remains a hero from his playing days.  Genuine rapport with the fans, it would be sad day for me if he ever left the club. 

[Robbored]

We're not Yeovil in disguise. We're still under the spell of Gary Johnson based on the game against Burton and the first half last night.

Dull, dreary,uninspired with very little entertainment value......

[grove park city]

7 hours ago, tinman85 said:

Johnson, McAllister, Tinnion, Murray 

Is it any wonder we are facing relegation. Need some experienced top level coaches. Nice stadium but everything else is very Yeovil Town. 

Yeovil Town achieved a tremendous feat winning the play-off final in 2013 going into The Championship for a town with a population of 46,000 that's some going. Record transfer fee received £75,000 for Mark Shail to BCFC they forked out a top price of £25,000 to Hereford for a certain Michael McIndoe.

They actually own Huish Park and survive on average gates of just under 4,000.

Bristol City have won 1 league title in 60 years and pissed millions away trying to stay in said Champoinship.

[robin_unreliant]

1 hour ago, EnderMB said:

I couldn't agree more with what was said.

I also find it very telling that Steve Cotterill was brought in as manager, when every other person that failed at the helm was hired as a head coach. Every time we've had a head coach at the helm, the "Three Pillars" have made their way into press conferences and onto the club website as the strategy the club uses going forward, and after watching Cotterill overhaul the side in League 1 it's plain to see that Cotterill bucked the trend and was successful for it.

I wish the Lansdowns would just run the club like a proper business. Appoint a high quality, proven manager. Set him a total budget for wages + transfers. Let HIM decide the best way to spend it - a small number of expensive players or larger number of cheaper ones. None of this going cap in hand to SL whenever they want a signing. Here's your budget son - that's it.

If they fail sack em. If they succeed and increase the club's income/profit they get a share of it in bonus.

Just do what any other sensible business does and let the decisions be made by someone with a top track record who has the right incentive to achieve what the club wants.

It just feels like SL wants to decide how to spend the money because previous managers have wasted so much of it. But maybe that is just his own fault for going shopping for them at Aldi instead of Waitrose.

[B-Rizzle]

Bit harsh to include Tins and Murray in that. Every club employs people with links to it. Important to have these characters at a club. Tins doesn't work with the first team and Murray is only kit man.

As for JM. Yes, very much does look like jobs for the boys. How does he qualify for that role? He might turn out to be good but we have too much youth everywhere!

[Spoons]

9 hours ago, tinman85 said:

Johnson, McAllister, Tinnion, Murray 

Is it any wonder we are facing relegation. Need some experienced top level coaches. Nice stadium but everything else is very Yeovil Town. 

Why do you bother? You are so negative about everything bcfc. 

You clearly say thinks to get cheap likes mate. 

 Just don't bother watching city anymore mate it clearly irritates you that much! 

Most of us want change regarding LJ but most of us have half a brain and realise that he ain't going anywhere , so you either stick or twist. You clearly need to twist and do one, as you are spouting utter tripe day after day with crap threads and cheap thick comments. I would hazard a guess that otib is the closest you get to ashton gate. 

 

[GoodridgeandGoater]

3 hours ago, MarkRed! said:

Dont disagree with you.

From what I can make out - SC was able to rule without interference whilst in League One (we were in a position of shit and he held the power). He got results and a double winning season followed. Bert was the Director of Football and he and Cotteril got on and had previously worked together successfully. Be under no illusion SC ruled the roost. The end of that season is ultimately when the clash occurred, and it initially resulted in Pelling losing his job when key deals  done by SC and Bert were scuppered by the board. I am led to believe that Macquire and Gray had been done by SC before he went on holiday. Those deals collapsed when we tried to renage the terms given to the players.  Thereafter, SC behaved like a bear who had seen Goldilocks steel his porridge. He was unbearable in interviews and it was clear from September of that season that all was not well. This was equally reflected in the lack of transfers. SC did not believe in buying up and coming players (perhaps like Odowda) he wanted players who were ready and those cost £. We did not get any of them. Nathan Baker was arguably a big signing as I am led to believe we paid a sizeable loan fee and good wages for him.

However, as results and morale inside the club nosedived, SL tried to reimpose the structure he wanted... and SC was having none of it. Ashton came in and a further clash occurred over transfers and control ...Bert was sacked... SC's was then confined to essentially having a go at the club through the media and his selections. The results and initial fan pressure following the Preston home game, gave the board the cover to get rid of SC. The formation issue is a red herring as we continue to play 352 at times. All in all, what a way to fck up the momentum of a double winning season.....  

I tend not to pay much attention to rumours myself but there is a constant theme about interference from those above in the cases of Tinnion, Millen, McInnes, and SOD.  There is no smoke without fire. And sometimes those rumours are true - we all knew Pembo had gone long before it was announced....The difference is that LJ is quite happy to work with the structure sought by SL. This is why he has not been sacked. They like him and sentiment is ruling the roost here as they know that the type of manager who might take us forward would not work in this way. It would be interesting to hear what made Coppell (a proven manager) walk so quickly, once he formally joined the club.... I am sure that it will all boil down to what he saw from those above him. 

Who really knows what SL wants - PL in two years was the last BS I heard.... we were also not gonna sell Kodjia  springs to mind as well.... at the end of the day I am not sure he knows what he wants ....

Great post. Remember SC saying re gray something like - 'we could've got him if we'd paid him what he'd been asking'. While at the time seemed like a way of face-saving because he'd chosen to go to Burnley, can also be read as a veiled criticism of the Board. Not so veiled later in the season came the 'I'm doing the best I can with this group of players'. SL after SC had gone later came out and said that SC had screwed things up by shopping in the wrong market. Implication being if he'd done it the way I wanted all would've been fine. 

I think SL wants to be the man to lead City to the Prem. But he doesn't really know what he's prepared to do to get there, and how to actually go about it. Off the back of the playoff season he backed GJ financially, continuing with Coppel, Mullen and Del Mc, at least in terms of wages as he thought that was the way to do it. But then suddenly we had a big bloated overpaid squad and he (and a lot of the fans) thought we were being taken for a ride. Then we get all the 5 pillars / financial sustainability rhetoric, which arguably is a sensible cover against a maniac manager handing out long contracts to sub-standard players (remember Pulis?). But when the Board saw that tack leading to S O'D crashing us down to Div 4, Lansdowns accepted giving SC more control, ultimately leading to the situation you describe where they fell out, with SL wanting to wrest back some control. 

Now we're in the situation that the 'project' is taking us to L1 because SL has a pliant coach who he trusts and doesn't feel will take him for a ride. But now that LJ's record on the pitch is basically indefensible it starts to look like the structure / the project / five pillars or whatever is a cover for shabby nepotism because Lansdowns don't want to give up control.  Pemberton dismissal / McCallister promotion only adds to that impression. Hard to not see us ending up in L1 and in a mess very soon because Lansdowns won't appoint a proven Championship manager who wouldn't accept working within the structure/culture that gives the ruling family a lot of control. 

[irishreds]

I'm surprised Johnson has brought in Darren Way, another young outstanding coach according to Gary Johnson. Oh wait, Yeovil have won 1 league game league this year, the trite motivational quotes Darren has put up in the dressing room and corridors at Yeovil aren't working. 

The Bristol Sport project is proving disastrous for both football and rugby, BS have taken the right action with Bristol rugby and appointed Pat Lam (probably the reason Madigan has signed) and it's time to appoint a proven football manager. Johnson Out

[Aipearcey]

Can't wait to see basso back as goalkeeper coach next season

[MarkRed!]

57 minutes ago, GoodridgeandGoater said:

Great post. Remember SC saying re gray something like - 'we could've got him if we'd paid him what he'd been asking'. While at the time seemed like a way of face-saving because he'd chosen to go to Burnley, can also be read as a veiled criticism of the Board. Not so veiled later in the season came the 'I'm doing the best I can with this group of players'. SL after SC had gone later came out and said that SC had screwed things up by shopping in the wrong market. Implication being if he'd done it the way I wanted all would've been fine. 

I think SL wants to be the man to lead City to the Prem. But he doesn't really know what he's prepared to do to get there, and how to actually go about it. Off the back of the playoff season he backed GJ financially, continuing with Coppel, Mullen and Del Mc, at least in terms of wages as he thought that was the way to do it. But then suddenly we had a big bloated overpaid squad and he (and a lot of the fans) thought we were being taken for a ride. Then we get all the 5 pillars / financial sustainability rhetoric, which arguably is a sensible cover against a maniac manager handing out long contracts to sub-standard players (remember Pulis?). But when the Board saw that tack leading to S O'D crashing us down to Div 4, Lansdowns accepted giving SC more control, ultimately leading to the situation you describe where they fell out, with SL wanting to wrest back some control. 

Now we're in the situation that the 'project' is taking us to L1 because SL has a pliant coach who he trusts and doesn't feel will take him for a ride. But now that LJ's record on the pitch is basically indefensible it starts to look like the structure / the project / five pillars or whatever is a cover for shabby nepotism because Lansdowns don't want to give up control.  Pemberton dismissal / McCallister promotion only adds to that impression. Hard to not see us ending up in L1 and in a mess very soon because Lansdowns won't appoint a proven Championship manager who wouldn't accept working within the structure/culture that gives the ruling family a lot of control. 

Spot on.  Great post. 

[EnderMB]

20 hours ago, robin_unreliant said:

I wish the Lansdowns would just run the club like a proper business. Appoint a high quality, proven manager. Set him a total budget for wages + transfers. Let HIM decide the best way to spend it - a small number of expensive players or larger number of cheaper ones. None of this going cap in hand to SL whenever they want a signing. Here's your budget son - that's it.

If they fail sack em. If they succeed and increase the club's income/profit they get a share of it in bonus.

Just do what any other sensible business does and let the decisions be made by someone with a top track record who has the right incentive to achieve what the club wants.

It just feels like SL wants to decide how to spend the money because previous managers have wasted so much of it. But maybe that is just his own fault for going shopping for them at Aldi instead of Waitrose.

In some ways, he is. It's accepted in business that you will hire a CEO with a proven track record as a CEO, rather than someone with knowledge of football. If we're looking at past qualifications, Mark Ashton should be a solid choice, given his experience at Oxford, West Brom, and Watford.

You're right, though. It feels like Mark Ashton and, by proxy, the board are running the club, and the head coach is purely there to coach the first-team players. Without a DoF or a Technical Director, this feels like a terrible way to run a club, especially when you hire an unproven coach in LJ.

[BCFC_Dan]

23 hours ago, MarkRed! said:

Who really knows what SL wants - PL in two years was the last BS I heard.... we were also not gonna sell Kodjia  springs to mind as well.... at the end of the day I am not sure he knows what he wants ....

I'd say that SL wants a successful club and to reach the top division.

However I'd say he wants equally as much, if not more, to discover and nurture the next bright young management talent who will achieve the above without needing to spend masses on experienced players.

He turns to experienced managers when we're really in trouble, and by that I mean the relegation zone of league one. The rest of the time he desperately wants some unknown, ideally one that he already knows and likes, to come in and do a brilliant job. The only exception to this is Coppell, which went disastrously and may have put him off for a long time. That may be because of the relationship between himself and Coppell, or it may just have been bad luck on Lansdown's part. We don't know.

The problems with his approach seem to be that he doesn't put a good enough structure in place for these novice managers to develop and succeed and that he can't seem to see the qualities that are needed for them to succeed. Nor does he get rid of them quickly enough when they're failing.

If he won't employ a proven manager at Championship level then he needs to put a structure in place whereby a novice can learn his trade with someone else to intervene if there are problems. And it needs to be a formal arrangement, not just the manager ringing his Dad every evening.

He also needs to be honest about what he's doing. If he wants to make it a rule that we employ inexperienced managers unless we're at the bottom of league one and that we're going to keep trying until one succeeds then he should say so. If there are tight budgetary constraints then he should say so. He should stop talking about the Premier League and saying things like "I won't let the club be relegated" when his chosen strategy makes that a clear possibility. I don't think we'd be having half the problems we do at the moment if there had been some decent expectation management in place.