The Championship is the limit for us

[red panda]

6 hours ago, reddogkev said:

My view is, the club don't want the Premier League - otherwise they would have pushed harder for it this season, fought with extra intent, not allowed Hull to pull back a 2 goal lead on 2 occasions, beat Sunderland etc, etc....

 

Just like Liverpool don't want to win the Champions League so they let Roma score twice last night. And they don't even want to enter the competition next season so they threw away a two goal lead over already relegated West Bromley.... 

[Maesknoll Red]

Absolutely no point being in a competition if you don’t want to win it.  All this “Its the taking part that counts” is nonsense, if the owner, Manager, Coaches and Players have no ambition to win the league, we may as well close the doors and walk away.....

[ChippenhamRed]

1 hour ago, Bri Stool City said:

Exactly this, ^^^ other clubs like Bournemouth, Burnley even Stoke, Palace, Huddersfield (didn't we trash them last season) etc set out their stall employ decent managers and go for it; we are forever going around and around and getting no-where; are these clubs really that much better than us or have they just got more drive and ambition.

So much nonsense here.  What does "drive and ambition" actually mean in practical terms? 

Huddersfield were a middling team for years.   For years they were "going around and around getting no-where".  Last season their manager was relatively unknown, and they recruited with a moderate budget.  They didn't "set out their stall employ decent manager and go for it" any more than we have.  They just managed to get the blend right last year to finish 5th and reach the Premier League via the play offs.  The fact that we trashed them last year just shows how the margin between teams in the Championship is very small.  I would argue that Huddersfield last year didn't show any more "drive and ambition" than we did; the difference was that with a similarly limited budget they were more successful in their execution.

[Sweeneys Penalties]

4 hours ago, cheshire_red said:

Stoke are in trouble, their backer is under pressure from family to cut investment and as the club being in the Premiership was an advantage to Bet365 being in the Championship will be much less so.

very true, but they don't owe money hand over fist like Sunderland....a club in a huge financial mess

[Kingswood Robin]

2 hours ago, View from the Dolman said:

Does this apply to every club not achieving promotion? Have Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City deliberately hired duffs too?

Not as often as we have.

All those teams and many others have had their day on the sun, we never seem to get ours. Even when we've got a great chance, we chuck it away. I can fully understand peoples frustrations. We keep hearing why we can't do it and why it's been too difficult. You get fed up with it. I want to hear someone come in and say we need X, Y and Z and that will get us there, or pretty damn close. We're competing with teams that mysteriously haven't found it too difficult and now have TV money we can't match. All the more reason when we do somehow fashion an opportunity, we must grab with both hands. Yes, our budget was smaller than other teams, but was that really a "no stone left unturned" January transfer window? Was it hell. 

I've supported them for many years and invested a lot (emotionally and financially) and seen plenty of ups and downs. However, I can't recall feeling so disappointed at the end of a season, simply because I don't think the club has tried hard enough. I've lost confidence in them. They will have to work pretty damn hard to win it back.

 

[ZiderEyed]

6 hours ago, Rinkadink said:

I think that's nonsense. It's more along the lines of "We want to sell out 27,000 seats every weekend instead of every other".

The soccer and rugby together have that potential, Bristol Sport as a collective stand to gain a lot more and can use the revenue together to make something very special in our city and surrounding areas. It can be done. The real problem is finding the right people with the vision and the talent to execute it. Bris have landed Pat Lam who is the right man for the job and wants to leave a special legacy, City have yet to find that person at present and more will be needed in both camps for the whole thing to succeed. It would be hard to deny both clubs are on the up overall but not without issues, it's how we all deal with them and press on which will be the making. Exciting times ahead, I feel.

You what?

[RumRed]

3 hours ago, ZiderEyed said:

You what?

You seem to getting a few history lessons tonight!  Dodgy nightclubs on one thread and the name of the sport you watch on another, never say you don't learn anything on here! @Rinkadinkwhilst discussing rugby football and association football in the same sentence has used exactly the correct shortened names for each sport.

The rules of association football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time, specifically rugby football. The first written "reference to the inflated ball used in the game" was in the mid-14th century: "Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe".^[8] The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word "soccer" was "split off in 1863".^[9] According to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford "-er" abbreviation of the word "association".^[10]

[Phileas Fogg]

17 hours ago, reddogkev said:

My view is, the club don't want the Premier League - otherwise they would have pushed harder for it this season, fought with extra intent, not allowed Hull to pull back a 2 goal lead on 2 occasions, beat Sunderland etc, etc. 

Nonsense, are you really saying the players didn't try to win the game? Of course they did. 

17 hours ago, reddogkev said:

Like most have you said many other times, it is doubtful everything will align for us again like it did this season.  We should have nailed the top 6, and as a team good enough to get to the semi finals of the League Cup, we could have won the play-offs.  I would say we should have sewn up 2nd place - but with Fulham's astonishing form I reckon they would have caught us anyway.

Why wouldn't they? I'm sure every single season people say 'the Championship will never be this weak again!' and then repeat it every season. It's impossible to tell who's going to do surprisingly well or badly.

17 hours ago, reddogkev said:

Next season is going to be far more difficult, WBA, Southampton and possibly even Stoke (if they are the relegated teams) could all be expected to dominate at the top - there won't be a Sunderland situation again.

Not necessarily.

17 hours ago, reddogkev said:

You have to expect Villa and Boro will push big again in the Summer.  And as it pains me to say it, I don't see LJ as having the ruthless temperament or ability to manage a team to win promotion.

These teams that have been down here for a while have to be careful with FFP. I predict us to spend a reasonable amount again, especially if some of our assets leave. My worry is our ability to recruit the correct replacements.

17 hours ago, reddogkev said:

So, we are a Championship team, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Ok.

17 hours ago, reddogkev said:

For me the question is, as fans, can we just accept and enjoy this?  I love this league and the fact it still offers so much fine entertainment.  Take away the disappointment of the Hull result, and you have to acknowledge that as one of the greatest games ever seen at the Gate for sheer crazy excitement.

Over to you all for your thoughts, and be as argumentative as you like, makes for interesting reading ...

 

My thoughts are that this is a typical Reddogkev thread. Clickbaity title, controversial opinion designed to create debate. Very effective.

There's no way the club are aiming to stay here, otherwise we'd resign ourselves to making a loss for eternity. The only real way for us to be profitable (without the caveat of big player sales every summer) is to be a Premier League club. If what you are saying is true, Lansdown would just walk away because he'd have achieved his goal. No, obviously we want to be a Prem club.

January was an issue for us, we were severely limited by wages it sounds like. No way could we get the likes of Mitrovic, Grabban, Afobe etc here with our wage budget. We took a risk with Diony and it went wrong, very disappointing but it happens.

 

[ZiderEyed]

6 hours ago, RumRed said:

You seem to getting a few history lessons tonight!  Dodgy nightclubs on one thread and the name of the sport you watch on another, never say you don't learn anything on here! @Rinkadinkwhilst discussing rugby football and association football in the same sentence has used exactly the correct shortened names for each sport.

The rules of association football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time, specifically rugby football. The first written "reference to the inflated ball used in the game" was in the mid-14th century: "Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe".^[8] The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word "soccer" was "split off in 1863".^[9] According to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford "-er" abbreviation of the word "association".^[10]

Who needs formal education when you've got OTIB eh??

[Chappers]

Usual nonsense and conspiracy theories. It's a common phenomenon in football, a cup run distracting from League. Add into the mix a small squad, with limitations, it always was unlikely that the early high standards could be maintained. January transfers were not great, but we are trying to act responsibly financially so options were limited. In theory we got a big bucks striker and a replacement for O'Dowda, reality was two duff signings.

[Mr Popodopolous]

16 hours ago, ScottishRed said:

I think part of the problem here is that money was spent in January - two loans that no doubt had a fee attached plus a %, or maybe all of their wages.

We also spent some cash on a permanent signing - rumoured to be around £1m, plus wages of course.

Now if you look at those three transactions money was spent / committed in January and I assume that fell in line with budgets / FFP etc.

So the real issue with January is not that we did not spend money - it is what we spent it on.

Two duds whose recent track record, i.e. the first half of this season, should have had all kinds of alarm bells ringing.

And a CM who was apparently 'ready' ,according to our HC, but clearly is nowhere near.

I think the January 'debate' is around these facts not budgets / FFP / contracts.

I have no idea how much the two loans have cost but add that sum to the amount we paid 'up front' to Everton and you probably have a pot of money that would have funded one £40k per week player for 5 months.

I have no idea who was available, who would come, here, who we spoke to - I don't  work for the club, but what I do know is that in January our stock was high in many respects and I would be surprised if we were not attractive to this hypothetical player as a short term plan.

As for FFP lots of clubs have driven a horse and carriage through that, QPR, as we all know, have been found guilty for example, what punishment have they had? Will they and others like them ever be penalised?

I suspect that a high percentage of clubs that get promoted to the PL having never been there previously and therefore no cash benefits from it, 'bend' the commercial rules significantly. Ultimately, it is almost impossible to get promoted without doing so

Rules have changed. Rules were not entirely the same and penalties available were not the same.

On paper, penalties will be a lot tougher- question of the will to enforce.

[reddogkev]

22 hours ago, Babbacome Dave said:

I fully agree that it's also my belief that SL is more than happy with the football club holding their own in the championship. I have said for a long time now he is and has put more resources in the rugby club. Let's be honest although I am not an egg chaser myself but the West Country is probably more know for rugby rather than football.  For example, Exeter, Bath and Gloucester. Also let's look at the financial situation as Bristol Sport. Premiership rugby will bring in significant amounts especially with local derbies. Currently the football club bring in 20,000+ at home games, if we would be a premiership team we could only bring in 27,000 anyway. Would those extra 6000 bring in sufficient funds to pay premiership wages? I think not!

I have supported BCFC for more than 55 years as you can imagine I have seen the good times and the bad. My problem is that at the moment we have been so close to progress never been seen by us before but at the same time we seem to be either afraid or don't want to take that final step.

Many years ago my old man was a gashead, those were the days when the gas were always top of the third division all season but always failed promotion. His answer to this was, it's better to be top of a division rather than bottom of the next division. Perhaps SL has the same thoughts.

Also agree with your comments, I believe SL is perfectly content for City to be competitive in the Championship - as part of his growing Bristol Sport Empire.

I guess it comes down to the question - is the Championship enough to sustain excitement for our fan base and generate income?  The answer is yes, this league is without question suitable for SL's and the board's idea of Bristol City and it's position within the Bristol landscape.

We have seen all the examples of other similar sized Championship clubs within the past decade pushing the boat out to earn promotion to the next level.  I don't feel City will ever push for this with the same commitment.  Despite all on here who cite FFP as something iron-clad, that holds City back - the truth is a billionaire owner of a club can offset against this in a myriad of methods if the goal is to achieve promotion.

For the record, I don't begrudge the Championship - I love it!  Sure beats the crap out of League One!

[reddogkev]

6 hours ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Nonsense, are you really saying the players didn't try to win the game? Of course they did. 

Why wouldn't they? I'm sure every single season people say 'the Championship will never be this weak again!' and then repeat it every season. It's impossible to tell who's going to do surprisingly well or badly.

Not necessarily.

These teams that have been down here for a while have to be careful with FFP. I predict us to spend a reasonable amount again, especially if some of our assets leave. My worry is our ability to recruit the correct replacements.

Ok.

My thoughts are that this is a typical Reddogkev thread. Clickbaity title, controversial opinion designed to create debate. Very effective.

There's no way the club are aiming to stay here, otherwise we'd resign ourselves to making a loss for eternity. The only real way for us to be profitable (without the caveat of big player sales every summer) is to be a Premier League club. If what you are saying is true, Lansdown would just walk away because he'd have achieved his goal. No, obviously we want to be a Prem club.

January was an issue for us, we were severely limited by wages it sounds like. No way could we get the likes of Mitrovic, Grabban, Afobe etc here with our wage budget. We took a risk with Diony and it went wrong, very disappointing but it happens.

 

I'm going to copy some of what I've just said above, I believe SL is content for City to be competitive in the Championship - as part of his growing Bristol Sport Empire.  I can't see any reason why Lansdown would walk away from the club if we remain at Championship level, as the football club is a crucial component of Bristol Sport.

Here's a side question - is the Rugby now his main ambition?  Nothing wrong with that, but certainly food for thought.

I look at the Championship and ask whether it is enough to sustain excitement and generate income?  The answer is yes, this league is without question suitable for SL's and the board's idea of Bristol City and it's position within the Bristol landscape.

Several similar-sized Championship clubs within the past have pushed to earn promotion to the next level.  I don't see the evidence that City will push for this with the same commitment.  Despite the feeling of FFP as something iron-clad, holding City back - I'm sure that a billionaire owner of a club can offset against this in a myriad of methods if the goal is to achieve promotion.

Like I've said, I don't begrudge the Championship - It is a fantastic league.

[Mr Popodopolous]

I made a similar thread back in September I think it was- maybe between the International break and the win at Reading.

I consider my view back then overly pessimistic- I think we can push forward, providing we keep the core of this squad together, LJ develops some more tactical nous and flexibility and yes, when the opportunity is right we take a bit of a chance- not go nuts, but let's say Grabban or Mitrovic on loan in January. Wouldn't have crippled us and could have helped us kick on- maybe would have given us that second wind to be where Middlesbrough are let's say- plus without Mitrovic it's doubtful that Fulham would be right in the battle for 2nd, or maybe no Grabban would have checked Villa's momentum a bit.

[ChippenhamRed]

52 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

I'm going to copy some of what I've just said above, I believe SL is content for City to be competitive in the Championship - as part of his growing Bristol Sport Empire.  I can't see any reason why Lansdown would walk away from the club if we remain at Championship level, as the football club is a crucial component of Bristol Sport.

Here's a side question - is the Rugby now his main ambition?  Nothing wrong with that, but certainly food for thought.

I look at the Championship and ask whether it is enough to sustain excitement and generate income?  The answer is yes, this league is without question suitable for SL's and the board's idea of Bristol City and it's position within the Bristol landscape.

Several similar-sized Championship clubs within the past have pushed to earn promotion to the next level.  I don't see the evidence that City will push for this with the same commitment.  Despite the feeling of FFP as something iron-clad, holding City back - I'm sure that a billionaire owner of a club can offset against this in a myriad of methods if the goal is to achieve promotion.

Like I've said, I don't begrudge the Championship - It is a fantastic league.

No he is not content with City being competitive in the Championship, he has said time and again it's the ambition to get the club into the Premier League - why on earth would he not want that?

And no, rugby is not now the main ambition, there is absolutely no reason why it would be given how any Premier League promotion would completely dwarf any money to be made from egg chasing.

Financial Fair Play is Financial Fair Play irrespective of how much money your owner has.  We have to live within it, it makes it harder for us than for some other clubs, limits the calibre of signing we can make - but doesn't mean we can't get there eventually.  If a new stadium, new training facilities, continuous improvement in league position over 5 seasons and continued investment in the playing staff within our budget limitations isn't evidence of commitment and ambition, I don't know what is.

[HanwellRed]

On 25/04/2018 at 12:07, ChippenhamRed said:

It is utterly absurd to suggest that a club would spend £45 million on a stadium redevelopment, invest in the training facilities, and continue to spend sizeable sums of money on players and then suggest they "don't want" to be in the world's most watched football league with all the riches that go with it.  Not wanting it, and not wanting to do it your way, are not the same thing.  The club want sustainable growth.  The broad progress seen both on and off the pitch over the last five years proves they are doing something right.  I'm as frustrated with anyone with the decline in the second half of the season, but to draw the conclusion that the club "don't want promotion" is just a childish and petulant reaction to Lansdown not being willing to throw endless amounts of money at it.

THIS. 100 times THIS.

Well said ChippenhamRed, you are spot on.

[reddogkev]

2 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

No he is not content with City being competitive in the Championship, he has said time and again it's the ambition to get the club into the Premier League - why on earth would he not want that?

And no, rugby is not now the main ambition, there is absolutely no reason why it would be given how any Premier League promotion would completely dwarf any money to be made from egg chasing.

Financial Fair Play is Financial Fair Play irrespective of how much money your owner has.  We have to live within it, it makes it harder for us than for some other clubs, limits the calibre of signing we can make - but doesn't mean we can't get there eventually.  If a new stadium, new training facilities, continuous improvement in league position over 5 seasons and continued investment in the playing staff within our budget limitations isn't evidence of commitment and ambition, I don't know what is.

Has he really said that time and time again?  I don't recall Stephen Lansdown clearly saying this with regard to City.

I've heard him quoted many times about Bristol Rugby being in the Premier division, and staying there, but I don't have the recollection of such a statement being made with City. He has talked about a sustainable club, a club that can look after itself after his investment has finished, and a club competing in the Championship with the right recruitment strategy.

December / January would have been a fantastic time for him and the board to release something really positive, saying that we will fight or push hard for the Premier League this season as we have given ourselves a superb platform.  This sort of stirring speech was not delivered (unless I missed it, in which case, allow me to eat my hat).

It seems that since 2007/8 and the play off final, the club has not tried to really gun for the Premier League.  I feel that being competitive in the Championship is the club's ambition.  And, if a successful season gives rise to a Huddersfield surprise promotion for us, then I'm sure Stephen and the board will be pleasantly surprised.

I guess this question will be answered by the summer transfer activity.  We will see what the ambition is for next season.  Remember that Lee has already hinted that a hard summer lies ahead in the market...

[Mr Popodopolous]

@reddogkev

Considering the new, tightened up FFP rules- how do you propose working around them?

[reddogkev]

20 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

@reddogkev

Considering the new, tightened up FFP rules- how do you propose working around them?

Sorry, don't know enough about the new set of FFP rules coming in to write with confidence, but I will predict right now that some Championship teams will find the loop holes required to almost guarantee promotion.

My simple answer is, employ the right people at the right time - this goes for management and players.  And then the bit that doesn't cost a penny - keep on pushing with the confidence and belief.  Make sure this is injected into the coaches and players' mind sets and they are pushed to want nothing else but success.  Find players who are hungry for success and keep on motivating them to deliver. 

Citing January as the most recent example - the right people were not recruited.  I was worried at the time that Walsh and Diony were poor choices for that window.  Kent, I was sure would be a success, alas a terrible shame he has proven a flop for us. 

[LondonBristolian]

I don't believe the Championship will always be the limit but it is easy to forget that we aren't even an established Championship team yet. We've only been up three years this time around and are yet to start a season - next season might be the same - without lingering fears that it could end in relegation.

It's a painful process and takes time - and if we get up earlier then brilliant- but the key thing is to gradually grow the club. People talk about how Burnley are doing now but between 1980 and 2000 they spent one season in the second tier of English football and the rest of it in the third and fourth. They then spent 9 years as a second tier club, 1 year in the Premier League, 4 more years using that money to rebuild then one season up, one season down and now look like establishing themselves as a top flight team.

Similarly, Stoke have spent 10 years - possibly coming to an end admittedly - as a top flight team but this followed six years in the second tier.

Admittedly Swansea went up after three years but they are an exception.

The first half of the season was brilliant and I want us to challenge again next season but I think it is a bit premature to write off our top flight ambitions because we've not done it in three years...

[Mr Popodopolous]

8 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

Sorry, don't know enough about the new set of FFP rules coming in to write with confidence, but I will predict right now that some Championship teams will find the loop holes required to almost guarantee promotion.

My simple answer is, employ the right people at the right time - this goes for management and players.  And then the bit that doesn't cost a penny - keep on pushing with the confidence and belief.  Make sure this is injected into the coaches and players' mind sets and they are pushed to want nothing else but success.  Find players who are hungry for success and keep on motivating them to deliver. 

Citing January as the most recent example - the right people were not recruited.  I was worried at the time that Walsh and Diony were poor choices for that window.  Kent, I was sure would be a success, alas a terrible shame he has proven a flop for us. 

On FFP, time will tell.

I'll put that aside though- like I said before, a bit too cautious in January. I agree with a decent chunk of what you wrote. Players who are hungry for success, confidence belief etc agree on all that.

I actually do think though, we're in not a bad place- provided we lose nobody important this summer:

• Fielding
• Pisano (May need upgrading tbh)
• Flint
• Baker
• Wright
• Magnússon
• Kelly
• Brownhill
• Smith
• Pack
• Walsh
• Hegeler
• O'Dowda
• Paterson
• Eliasson
• Bryan
• Reid
• Diedhiou
• Djuric
• Taylor

Plus of course the return of Moore, Vyner and Morrell to challenge for places- whether they return or go out on loan again, particularly Moore and Morrell we will see. Bakinson too maybe.

To me, that's not a bad base to build on, to move the squad upwards. It has versatility, a decent age profile. The loanees we have in will go, as will fringe players such as Golbourne, O'Neil and Garita

[ZiderEyed]

5 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

On FFP, time will tell.

I'll put that aside though- like I said before, a bit too cautious in January. I agree with a decent chunk of what you wrote. Players who are hungry for success, confidence belief etc agree on all that.

I actually do think though, we're in not a bad place- provided we lose nobody important this summer:

• Fielding
• Pisano (May need upgrading tbh)
• Flint
• Baker
• Wright
• Magnússon
• Kelly
• Brownhill
• Smith
• Pack
• Walsh
• Hegeler
• O'Dowda
• Paterson
• Eliasson
• Bryan
• Reid
• Diedhiou
• Djuric
• Taylor

Plus of course the return of Moore, Vyner and Morrell to challenge for places- whether they return or go out on loan again, particularly Moore and Morrell we will see. Bakinson too maybe.

To me, that's not a bad base to build on, to move the squad upwards. It has versatility, a decent age profile. The loanees we have in will go, as will fringe players such as Golbourne, O'Neil and Garita

It's not so much the squad personnel that is worrying in my view, more whether or not LJ is talented enough to get the best out of them. There is doubtless immense talent in our squad is we saw in the first half of the season, but if the same turgid shite gets served up at the beginning of new season then we really ought to start worrying.

Also Garita should be given a lifetime contract, not moved on...

[Mr Popodopolous]

4 minutes ago, ZiderEyed said:

It's not so much the squad personnel that is worrying in my view, more whether or not LJ is talented enough to get the best out of them. There is doubtless immense talent in our squad is we saw in the first half of the season, but if the same turgid shite gets served up at the beginning of new season then we really ought to start worrying.

Also Garita should be given a lifetime contract, not moved on...

Agreed on Garita!

As for the main point, yeah a good range of talent, versatility and the like. Starting to wonder about LJ too- my main concern with him is tactically and perhaps even more worryingly, ability to develop players. Not saying all by any stretch, but Magnússon could have been developed better to name one, Hegeler despite not being a regular is certainly technically sound and could do well- but we have never played him in a position we can flourish in.Taylor got assists- 4 or 5 of them in his first few months here, have we used him to his best? More importantly, have they progressed under LJ?

[ZiderEyed]

Just now, Mr Popodopolous said:

Agreed on Garita!

As for the main point, yeah a good range of talent, versatility and the like. Starting to wonder about LJ too- my main concern with him is tactically and perhaps even more worryingly, ability to develop players. Not saying all by any stretch, but Magnússon could have been developed better to name one, Hegeler despite not being a regular is certainly technically sound and could do well- but we have never played him in a position we can flourish in.Taylor got assists- 4 or 5 of them in his first few months here, have we used him to his best? More importantly, have they progressed under LJ?

Bang on. Putting aside the frankly genius BR switch to striker, I wonder if his coaching has actually been that much of an effect on players, or if players like O'Dowda who've improved are just getting more accustomed to Championship full backs. Hegeler has never been given a fair crack of the whip, never been played in a midfield 3, chucked in at the deep end at CB and did terribly, consigned to the ressies since then. It's a shame in particular for him because he's clearly a talented footballer technically, that much has been obvious. Again, Taylor has probably suffered from the success of BR and FD. 

Not trying to bang on about it because we've had so many threads about it recently but it worries me having a group of talented youngsters trying to break though with him at the helm. Firstly, is LJ the man to develop them? And secondly, is he actually going to give them a chance? He should've played Kelly more recently, he's refused to drop a massively underperforming Paterson for Eliasson, he's loaned out Vyner despite us not having ample cover at RB, and has seemingly refused to give Engvall anything like a stretch in the first team to prove himself - a luxury Diony and Woodrow were both afforded.

[ChippenhamRed]

1 hour ago, reddogkev said:

Has he really said that time and time again?  I don't recall Stephen Lansdown clearly saying this with regard to City.

I've heard him quoted many times about Bristol Rugby being in the Premier division, and staying there, but I don't have the recollection of such a statement being made with City. He has talked about a sustainable club, a club that can look after itself after his investment has finished, and a club competing in the Championship with the right recruitment strategy.

December / January would have been a fantastic time for him and the board to release something really positive, saying that we will fight or push hard for the Premier League this season as we have given ourselves a superb platform.  This sort of stirring speech was not delivered (unless I missed it, in which case, allow me to eat my hat).

It seems that since 2007/8 and the play off final, the club has not tried to really gun for the Premier League.  I feel that being competitive in the Championship is the club's ambition.  And, if a successful season gives rise to a Huddersfield surprise promotion for us, then I'm sure Stephen and the board will be pleasantly surprised.

I guess this question will be answered by the summer transfer activity.  We will see what the ambition is for next season.  Remember that Lee has already hinted that a hard summer lies ahead in the market...

Yes, he has absolutely said numerous times that the aim is to get the club into the Premier League.

You accuse the club of “not trying” to get into the Premier League. If they’re currently “not trying”, what would “trying” look like? As far as I can see the only thing that could mean in practice would be to spend yet more money - which is something we’re not permitted to do if we’re serious about sustainability and staying within FFP regulations.

Not trying and not succeeding are not the same thing.

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 hours ago, ZiderEyed said:

Bang on. Putting aside the frankly genius BR switch to striker, I wonder if his coaching has actually been that much of an effect on players, or if players like O'Dowda who've improved are just getting more accustomed to Championship full backs. Hegeler has never been given a fair crack of the whip, never been played in a midfield 3, chucked in at the deep end at CB and did terribly, consigned to the ressies since then. It's a shame in particular for him because he's clearly a talented footballer technically, that much has been obvious. Again, Taylor has probably suffered from the success of BR and FD. 

Not trying to bang on about it because we've had so many threads about it recently but it worries me having a group of talented youngsters trying to break though with him at the helm. Firstly, is LJ the man to develop them? And secondly, is he actually going to give them a chance? He should've played Kelly more recently, he's refused to drop a massively underperforming Paterson for Eliasson, he's loaned out Vyner despite us not having ample cover at RB, and has seemingly refused to give Engvall anything like a stretch in the first team to prove himself - a luxury Diony and Woodrow were both afforded.

Would agree with that- with 3 other points slightly different.

Not only did he persist with a massively underperforming Paterson, he played him in a position- out wide- where he is of questionable merit. Wrong on both counts, he was.

Taylor, Reid, Diedhiou...could that have been an interesting front 3? Maybe, though we'd need to sacrifice the idea of wingers- anyway probably not a great blueprint, but they would all bring something different to the table for sure as a 3, and if you had a 3 man midfield or even a 3-4-3 then it would be interesting at least IMO.

Hegeler? Definitely agree- though I think he could play as a centre back as part of a 2 in very limited circs (Against Burton at home for example- speed up ball circulation, catch out of position that little bit quicker- anything to get that little edge). Or more generally, perhaps as part of a back 3 definitely. For me, his best position is between the midfield and defence screening, short passing, or maybe as part of a midfield 3 and even potentially as part of a back 3.