Predictable otib.......

[spudski]

1 hour ago, Sixtyseconds said:

Appreciate.

No.

And here is why.

If you accept that money is of huge part of where the points go.

That still leaves room for those running the show to show what they are made of

Tactics.

Motivation.

Sending the troops out bristling for the fight.

It has to make a difference.

There are bright lights and lights that are err a bit dimmer.  

If none of it mattered Bournemouth and that bright chap Howe wouldnt be up there.

 

1 hour ago, Sixtyseconds said:

@Spud..

 People are getting it but it knocks them sideways.

Used to fight competitively.

When coaches put belief in your soul you can move mountains.

You find areas of that soul you did not know you had.

When they don't … You can go sideways … And worse.

Being Motivated conquers.

Motivated beat man Utd.

Made fans believe.

Lacking it does not.  

As I said in an earlier post...I gave a reason why it didn't work all season.

You can get motivated every game...but you are also playing against an opposition that is also motivated...and more than half in this league are motivated with better quality.

Hence us being a mid table side.

You could also write a list of all the players every other Club in this division has in there squad...who they've brought in and who they've sold.

The majority of other Championship teams fans would be having the same argument, and asking why aren't they top of the league, with such quality....or why they are doing so badly, or about the poor recruitment.

I really can't believe certain fans look at our squad, then compare it to other squads in this league, and honestly believe we should be much higher in the division.

 

[Davefevs]

5 hours ago, spudski said:

More or less...the strategy is flawed because we develop players then look to sell them at profit. If we keep those developed together for seasons, then it could work.

The strategy is flawed in many ways.  Parachute payments are one reason. Selling players or could be seen as developing (a small number of) players that outgrow the development of the rest of a somewhat poorer squad is another.  Development rates are not constant / linear unfortunately.

[NickJ]

3 hours ago, spudski said:

I'm not sure how many times I need to explain this...as so many people can't seem to read posts correctly...and grasp the context.

We have a team of Experienced 'AVERAGE' quality pros and a bunch of younger inexperienced ones.

Pit those average quality pros...against Top Quality Pros in this division.

Now pit those average quality pros with inexperienced players against Top Quality pros.

Put our mainly average experienced pros together with inexperienced, and you are going to get a bang average squad.

As I said in a previous post...our defence imo...is experienced and better than average at this level...with a one off talent in young Kelly.

It's no wonder our goals conceded is 6th best.

The rest of the team has average ability at this level, with some experience mixed with inexperienced lads looking to develop.

Put all those ingredients together and you get a bang average side...that could end up anywhere between the play offs and just above relegation imo.

You can have vast amounts of experience...but if you haven't got the quality to be top 6...then you end up average. Which we are.

Whether you agree with it or not...does that now make sense?

No. It does not.

You don't put a squad out on the pitch, you put out a team of 11 players.

I have already demonstrated that a typical starting line up does not include inexperienced players, in fact they are all mid 20's and very experienced, mainly at this level.

So your opinion that LJ cannot motivate his players because they are inexperienced is factually incorrect.

[spudski]

42 minutes ago, NickJ said:

No. It does not.

You don't put a squad out on the pitch, you put out a team of 11 players.

I have already demonstrated that a typical starting line up does not include inexperienced players, in fact they are all mid 20's and very experienced, mainly at this level.

So your opinion that LJ cannot motivate his players because they are inexperienced is factually incorrect.

OMG ...it's not hyrogliphics ....why are you finding it so hard to understand what I'm saying. I'm not saying that at all.

Read all the words...not just the word experienced.

As for your last sentence...how you've come to that conclusion from what I've posted is totally bonkers. I give up...it's plain English.

[Robbored]

Spudski - you’re wasting your time with NickJ..............

He and BobbobSuperBob are most awkward of all the posters on otib. It’s really not worth the effort trying to convince them that your points are valid. 

Im sure they could both fall out with themselves in an empty room.............

[Sixtyseconds]

14 hours ago, spudski said:

 

As I said in an earlier post...I gave a reason why it didn't work all season.

You can get motivated every game...but you are also playing against an opposition that is also motivated...and more than half in this league are motivated with better quality.

Hence us being a mid table side.

You could also write a list of all the players every other Club in this division has in there squad...who they've brought in and who they've sold.

The majority of other Championship teams fans would be having the same argument, and asking why aren't they top of the league, with such quality....or why they are doing so badly, or about the poor recruitment.

I really can't believe certain fans look at our squad, then compare it to other squads in this league, and honestly believe we should be much higher in the division.

 

No Chief.

And you will like being called that.

You have failed to read what I wrote.

And others.

No comparing.

You did that.

No points about expecting higher or lower.

There are no posts about top of the league.

It was about confidence.

It really matters.

 

 

[Cowshed]

10 hours ago, Robbored said:

Spudski - you’re wasting your time with NickJ..............

He and BobbobSuperBob are most awkward of all the posters on otib. It’s really not worth the effort trying to convince them that your points are valid. 

Im sure they could both fall out with themselves in an empty room.............

I think Nicks posts have been very even as have others e.g 189, 199, 210 one of which was asking a very reasonable question of yourself which was not replied to.

On another thread you mention the Preston game being the worst since Cardiff 0-6. You are highlighting that performance as being exceptional. If it was that bad, that significant, do you feel the players would benefit from the single minded approach mentioned in post 199, or having a coach that motivates players with clear direction as mentioned in post 210? 

Are those points not valid?

[BobBobSuperBob]

5 minutes ago, Cowshed said:

I think Nicks posts have been very even as have others e.g 189, 199, 210 one of which was asking a very reasonable question of yourself which was not replied to.

On another thread you mention the Preston game being the worst since Cardiff 0-6. You are highlighting that performance as being exceptional. If it was that bad, that significant, do you feel the players would benefit from the single minded approach mentioned in post 199, or having a coach that motivates players with clear direction as mentioned in post 210? 

Are those points not valid?

I think you lost the troll , about 450 posts back Cowshed

[Robbored]

2 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

I think you lost the troll , about 450 posts back Cowshed

Not quite Bob...........

[Cowshed]

2 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Not quite Bob...........

Could you answer the posts politely directed at yourself?

You appear to be ignoring them. 

 

[The Original OTIB]

Somebody explain Sheffield Utd then. Less budget, mixed bag squad. Difference? A highly motivational manager, a man's man, as you used to be allowed to say ( not overly likeable though, but who would care?).

[Robbored]

20 minutes ago, Cowshed said:

On another thread you mention the Preston game being the worst since Cardiff 0-6. You are highlighting that performance as being exceptional. If it was that bad, that significant, do you feel the players would benefit from the single minded approach mentioned in post 199, or having a coach that motivates players with clear direction as mentioned in post 210? 

Are those points not valid?

I don’t really understand what you’re asking Cowshed.............

[The Original OTIB]

1 hour ago, The Original OTIB said:

Somebody explain Sheffield Utd then. Less budget, mixed bag squad. Difference? A highly motivational manager, a man's man, as you used to be allowed to say ( not overly likeable though, but who would care?).

anyone?

[Cowshed]

1 hour ago, Robbored said:

I don’t really understand what you’re asking Cowshed.............

Read the posts 199 and 210. You might also want to read and reply to post 226 , its another even, respectful, pertinent  post … Throughout this thread there is a constant theme of posts that are not meltdowns.

So do you feel the Bristol City would benefit from a single minded approach as mentioned in post 199, and a coach with motivational qualities as mentioned in post 210? 

Its a simple yes or no. If its a yes its a highly contrasting view to your own in 212. 

[italian dave]

17 hours ago, spudski said:

 

As I said in an earlier post...I gave a reason why it didn't work all season.

You can get motivated every game...but you are also playing against an opposition that is also motivated...and more than half in this league are motivated with better quality.

Hence us being a mid table side.

You could also write a list of all the players every other Club in this division has in there squad...who they've brought in and who they've sold.

The majority of other Championship teams fans would be having the same argument, and asking why aren't they top of the league, with such quality....or why they are doing so badly, or about the poor recruitment.

I really can't believe certain fans look at our squad, then compare it to other squads in this league, and honestly believe we should be much higher in the division.

 

All makes perfect sense to me Spud! Add to this the financials that were on a thread here a few weeks back: despite a big increase, our wage bill remains firmly in the lower half of Chamionship, and even at that low level we lost £23m. 

Some people have expectations that are unrealistic and/or simply a sense of entitlement.

We are mid table, closer to the play offs than the bottom three, quite happy if we remain there for the rest of this season.

I love the way Bournemouth keeps cropping up, as though there are Eddie Howes all over the place just waiting to be picked up. Wierd how neither we, nor 70 odd other clubs have realised how simple it is to go out and get another one like that! I'm afraid that the reality of the pool of Chamionship managers is the likes of Mick McCarthy and Paul Lambert, both frequently touted on here as alternatives to LJ - and look where that's got Ipswich. 

[italian dave]

24 minutes ago, The Original OTIB said:

anyone?

They are exactly where we were this time last year. Did that make LJ a highly motivational manager? They finished one place above us. 

[Cowshed]

1 minute ago, italian dave said:

All makes perfect sense to me Spud! Add to this the financials that were on a thread here a few weeks back: despite a big increase, our wage bill remains firmly in the lower half of Chamionship, and even at that low level we lost £23m. 

Some people have expectations that are unrealistic and/or simply a sense of entitlement.

We are mid table, closer to the play offs than the bottom three, quite happy if we remain there for the rest of this season.

I love the way Bournemouth keeps cropping up, as though there are Eddie Howes all over the place just waiting to be picked up. Wierd how neither we, nor 70 odd other clubs have realised how simple it is to go out and get another one like that! I'm afraid that the reality of the pool of Chamionship managers is the likes of Mick McCarthy and Paul Lambert, both frequently touted on here as alternatives to LJ - and look where that's got Ipswich. 

That is not the consistent point being made about Eddie Howe. A point is made about methodology. Howe and others simplify their football. Howes fundamentals do not change.

Mr Johnson fails to do this. This has little to do with wage bill. It is realistic to expect consistency of approach, in particular when Mr Johnson makes his unequivocal statements about identity, dna and transfer windows.

It could be viewed that with Mr Johnsons restrictions on wage bill, it is even more necessary that Mr Johnsons approach is consistent to prevent wasted resource, or the team will be for ever in a flux of getting our identity back, forty more in, another two and half years of experimentation and three more transfer windows. At some point Mr Johnson has to have his fundamentals in place and the experiments stop.

[The Original OTIB]

1 minute ago, italian dave said:

They are exactly where we were this time last year. Did that make LJ a highly motivational manager? They finished one place above us. 

I would wager that they will improve on that differential this year. I also know what brand of football I'd rather see + Less budget, lower wages, cheaper players (in the main). Getting much, much more out of his squad for me.

[spudski]

7 minutes ago, italian dave said:

All makes perfect sense to me Spud! Add to this the financials that were on a thread here a few weeks back: despite a big increase, our wage bill remains firmly in the lower half of Chamionship, and even at that low level we lost £23m. 

Some people have expectations that are unrealistic and/or simply a sense of entitlement.

We are mid table, closer to the play offs than the bottom three, quite happy if we remain there for the rest of this season.

I love the way Bournemouth keeps cropping up, as though there are Eddie Howes all over the place just waiting to be picked up. Wierd how neither we, nor 70 odd other clubs have realised how simple it is to go out and get another one like that! I'm afraid that the reality of the pool of Chamionship managers is the likes of Mick McCarthy and Paul Lambert, both frequently touted on here as alternatives to LJ - and look where that's got Ipswich. 

Completely agree Dave.

I have no problem with people disagreeing with me...it's when they simply can't understand or grasp what's being said. Or they try to nit pick and take sentences out of a paragraph and manipulate them.

I find it strange that certain fans think that another coach could come in, and with different coaching and better man management could drastically make this squad much better over a whole season.

We as fans need to look at the bigger picture...the overall picture...look at other Clubs all doing pretty much the same as us.

We aren't perfect...far from it. We make mistakes...as does every club...some far worse than us.

But at least we are trying to build...do the right things, make the club sustainable, which will be tweaked here and there as they find certain things don't work. It's an ongoing process.

After how poorly we've been run over the years...it's nice to us trying to do the right thing for a change.

I remember watching the beginning of last season, and the Cup run....and in the back of my head thinking, this isn't sustainable over a whole season. And when a Coach told me of all the problems they were having with hamstring injuries throughout the Club, it reinforced my initial fears.

Unfortunately...that way of playing has set a bench mark...and it's what people are now expecting.

It's simply not sustainable over a whole season.

Hence LJ tweaking it...we don't play the same way anymore. He's realised it...and imo, he's still trying to find a way that will work over a season with the tools at his disposal.

It's a journey...the ups and downs...We've only been up a few seasons, and the way some of our fans talk, it's madness to think we should be top 6.

Just my opinion...but it makes sense to me :laugh:

 

 

[Trueredsupporter]

39 minutes ago, italian dave said:

All makes perfect sense to me Spud! Add to this the financials that were on a thread here a few weeks back: despite a big increase, our wage bill remains firmly in the lower half of Chamionship, and even at that low level we lost £23m. 

Some people have expectations that are unrealistic and/or simply a sense of entitlement.

We are mid table, closer to the play offs than the bottom three, quite happy if we remain there for the rest of this season.

I love the way Bournemouth keeps cropping up, as though there are Eddie Howes all over the place just waiting to be picked up. Wierd how neither we, nor 70 odd other clubs have realised how simple it is to go out and get another one like that! I

Rubbish about Bournemouth what people are getting at is that how Howe goes about his football and its been the same since they were in the first. LJ its new style new team and repeat. 

[NickJ]

15 hours ago, spudski said:

OMG ...it's not hyrogliphics ....why are you finding it so hard to understand what I'm saying. I'm not saying that at all.

Read all the words...not just the word experienced.

As for your last sentence...how you've come to that conclusion from what I've posted is totally bonkers. I give up...it's plain English.

"Experienced" was a central part of the point you were attempting to make.

That we do not have an experienced squad hence why a better man manager would make no difference.

I just focused on that key point and demonstrated that, when you look at the players in the squad who generally start games, it is factually incorrect to say we are inexperienced.

I'm not sure why you have such a problem with facts.

As for plain English, IMO your posts at first glance appear to be well reasoned and thought out, but when read carefully - and no offence intended this is just an observation - they contain many contradictory comments from one post to another, sometimes even within the same post, and factually incorrect statements.

[Bristol Oil Services]

40 minutes ago, italian dave said:

All makes perfect sense to me Spud! Add to this the financials that were on a thread here a few weeks back: despite a big increase, our wage bill remains firmly in the lower half of Chamionship, and even at that low level we lost £23m. 

Some people have expectations that are unrealistic and/or simply a sense of entitlement.

We are mid table, closer to the play offs than the bottom three, quite happy if we remain there for the rest of this season.

I love the way Bournemouth keeps cropping up, as though there are Eddie Howes all over the place just waiting to be picked up. Wierd how neither we, nor 70 odd other clubs have realised how simple it is to go out and get another one like that! I'm afraid that the reality of the pool of Chamionship managers is the likes of Mick McCarthy and Paul Lambert, both frequently touted on here as alternatives to LJ - and look where that's got Ipswich. 

Like the owner, SL, for one?

You are aware, I take it (I have been toiling away at this now for weeks) that Steve said in May that he wants to see us "get in the top six and vie for promotion at the end of the season."

The whole Lansdown/Bristol Sport/refurbed AG thing is about getting its teams to the top and for us that means the PL, and SL made plain his expectations over the summer for this season, and as of today there is some distance between that expectation and the reality of where we are now.

So, this "entitlement" and the expectations you speak of do not come out of thin air, it starts at the very top. SL has always brought high expectations with him, ever more so since the developments of the last few years, and also from the public pronouncements made by the club's top brass.

SL is not involved with Bristol City to bob around 14th in the second tier, having splashed £100m plus on us. He has higher hopes than that. And so the team and coach are judged against these raised hopes and expectations.

Furthermore, SL isn't getting any younger; I'd imagine he would like to be around for the Glorious Day everything comes right, unlike poor Harry Dolman. Although Steve has more patience and different time-scales than most, he has made it clear that he wants to see signs of progress.

How hard is all this to grasp? It's almost as though some are deliberately, willfully, ignoring that the high expectations start with the man at the top. Why would they want to do this?

[italian dave]

23 minutes ago, Cowshed said:

That is not the consistent point being made about Eddie Howe. A point is made about methodology. Howe and others simplify their football. Howes fundamentals do not change.

Mr Johnson fails to do this. This has little to do with wage bill. It is realistic to expect consistency of approach, in particular when Mr Johnson makes his unequivocal statements about identity, dna and transfer windows.

It could be viewed that with Mr Johnsons restrictions on wage bill, it is even more necessary that Mr Johnsons approach is consistent to prevent wasted resource, or the team will be for ever in a flux of getting our identity back, forty more in, another two and half years of experimentation and three more transfer windows. At some point Mr Johnson has to have his fundamentals in place and the experiments stop.

Well it is the point, in the sense that Mr Howe (since we seem to be getting very formal!) has found success with his approach. There are others who've simplified their football and been less successful. And Mr (Tinkerman) Ranieri didn't do too badly with a different approach.

I get what you're saying, and I don't fundamentally disagree. I think Mr Johnson's methodology isn't dissimilar to that of Mr Guardiola. That's the football he'd like to play, that's his identity if you like. I'm not sure whether you'd call that simple, but it's certainly been successful - for Mr Guardiola at least. But I think LJ has realised that requires a level of ability that's really hard to sustain at this level (league, wages etc) and has had to adapt. As Spudski says, he's trying to figure how to make it work consistently with what he's got. He can't, unlike Mr Guardiola, go out and buy players who can consistently make a first touch pass that lands exactly where the receiving player wants it. 

So, I guess it's about adapting those fundamentals in the light of reality I don't think he's ever going to deliver the outcomes of Messrs Howe, Guardiola, Ranieri but for me he's not failed either. I think it's the sense of entitlement, that City somehow have a right to success, that annoys me. He's no Howe etc, sometimes it's frustrating, sometimes awful (Preston), sometimes good, but in the scheme of things we're pretty close to being an established second tier side, something we haven't achieved for 40 odd years.

[glynriley]

24 minutes ago, italian dave said:

All makes perfect sense to me Spud! Add to this the financials that were on a thread here a few weeks back: despite a big increase, our wage bill remains firmly in the lower half of Chamionship, and even at that low level we lost £23m.  

Some people have expectations that are unrealistic and/or simply a sense of entitlement.

We are mid table, closer to the play offs than the bottom three, quite happy if we remain there for the rest of this season. 

I love the way Bournemouth keeps cropping up, as though there are Eddie Howes all over the place just waiting to be picked up. Wierd how neither we, nor 70 odd other clubs have realised how simple it is to go out and get another one like that! I'm afraid that the reality of the pool of Chamionship managers is the likes of Mick McCarthy and Paul Lambert, both frequently touted on here as alternatives to LJ - and look where that's got Ipswich.  

No idea why people keep saying this. Nobody is calling for us to be top of the league, just find a level of consistency. Results and team selections. LJ shows no signs of learning from prolonged losing spells.

It's feast or famine with results, and flip flopping with personnel and tactics that's the problem.

 

[Cowshed]

29 minutes ago, spudski said:

Completely agree Dave.

I have no problem with people disagreeing with me...it's when they simply can't understand or grasp what's being said. Or they try to nit pick and take sentences out of a paragraph and manipulate them.

I find it strange that certain fans think that another coach could come in, and with different coaching and better man management could drastically make this squad much better over a whole season.

We as fans need to look at the bigger picture...the overall picture...look at other Clubs all doing pretty much the same as us.

We aren't perfect...far from it. We make mistakes...as does every club...some far worse than us.

But at least we are trying to build...do the right things, make the club sustainable, which will be tweaked here and there as they find certain things don't work. It's an ongoing process.

After how poorly we've been run over the years...it's nice to us trying to do the right thing for a change.

I remember watching the beginning of last season, and the Cup run....and in the back of my head thinking, this isn't sustainable over a whole season. And when a Coach told me of all the problems they were having with hamstring injuries throughout the Club, it reinforced my initial fears.

Unfortunately...that way of playing has set a bench mark...and it's what people are now expecting.

It's simply not sustainable over a whole season.

Hence LJ tweaking it...we don't play the same way anymore. He's realised it...and imo, he's still trying to find a way that will work over a season with the tools at his disposal.

It's a journey...the ups and downs...We've only been up a few seasons, and the way some of our fans talk, it's madness to think we should be top 6.

Just my opinion...but it makes sense to me

 

 

Sorry, not having that. You are consistently contradicting your own posts. Your point was Mr Johnson did not intend to like that season long. It was never a long term intent. It was not sustainable as it was not planned and not recruited for as Mr Johnsons hand was forced due to injury i.e. Famara. When Famara returned the approach was changed.

People agreed with you..

Unfortunately...that way of playing has set a bench mark...and it's what people are now expecting … Some maybe, but actually many are referring again and gain to consistency of approach. That is a different thing.

 

[NickJ]

5 minutes ago, Moments of Pleasure said:

Like the owner, SL, for one?

You are aware, I take it (I have been toiling away at this now for weeks) that Steve said in May that he wants to see us "get in the top six and vie for promotion at the end of the season."

The whole Lansdown/Bristol Sport/refurbed AG thing is about getting its teams to the top and for us that means the PL, and SL made plain his expectations over the summer for this season, and as of today there is some distance between that expectation and the reality of where we are now.

So, this "entitlement" and the expectations you speak of do not come out of thin air, it starts at the very top. SL has always brought high expectations with him, ever more so since the developments of the last few years, and also from the public pronouncements made by the club's top brass.

SL is not involved with Bristol City to bob around 14th in the second tier, having splashed £100m plus on us. He has higher hopes than that. And so the team and coach are judged against these raised hopes and expectations.

Furthermore, SL isn't getting any younger; I'd imagine he would like to be around for the Glorious Day everything comes right, unlike poor Harry Dolman. Although Steve has more patience and different time-scales than most, he has made it clear that he wants to see signs of progress.

How hard is all this to grasp? It's almost as though some are deliberately, willfully, ignoring that the high expectations start with the man at the top. Why would they want to do this?

Exactly.

And in order to achieve Steve's aims, he would have to provide (a) the funds which he thought made this feasible, and (b) a manager capable of executing the plan with those funds.

Ipso facto, on the assumption that Steve feels that he has delivered in terms of funds, if we are not challenging to get in the top 6, there must by definition be a failure of management.

[italian dave]

12 minutes ago, Trueredsupporte said:

Rubbish about Bournemouth what people are getting at is that how Howe goes about his football and its been the same since they were in the first. LJ its new style new team and repeat. 

So, given that Howe isn't going to come here, who do you suggest will bring that level of success? And we aren't 70 other clubs after him (or her!)? And why will he come to us?

[italian dave]

19 minutes ago, glynriley said:

No idea why people keep saying this. Nobody is calling for us to be top of the league, just find a level of consistency. Results and team selections. LJ shows no signs of learning from prolonged losing spells.

It's feast or famine with results, and flip flopping with personnel and tactics that's the problem.

 

Sorry, but I don't think that's what people want. Would they be happy with consistently poor? Or consistently mediocre? I don't think so. Surely LJ not learning from prolonged losing spells is consistent?

What they mean is consistently good. And as for personnel; just look at the threads today - criticism for making changes interspersed with criticism for playing Pack every week. 

[Cowshed]

41 minutes ago, italian dave said:

Well it is the point, in the sense that Mr Howe (since we seem to be getting very formal!) has found success with his approach. There are others who've simplified their football and been less successful. And Mr (Tinkerman) Ranieri didn't do too badly with a different approach.

I get what you're saying, and I don't fundamentally disagree. I think Mr Johnson's methodology isn't dissimilar to that of Mr Guardiola. That's the football he'd like to play, that's his identity if you like. I'm not sure whether you'd call that simple, but it's certainly been successful - for Mr Guardiola at least. But I think LJ has realised that requires a level of ability that's really hard to sustain at this level (league, wages etc) and has had to adapt. As Spudski says, he's trying to figure how to make it work consistently with what he's got. He can't, unlike Mr Guardiola, go out and buy players who can consistently make a first touch pass that lands exactly where the receiving player wants it. 

So, I guess it's about adapting those fundamentals in the light of reality I don't think he's ever going to deliver the outcomes of Messrs Howe, Guardiola, Ranieri but for me he's not failed either. I think it's the sense of entitlement, that City somehow have a right to success, that annoys me. He's no Howe etc, sometimes it's frustrating, sometimes awful (Preston), sometimes good, but in the scheme of things we're pretty close to being an established second tie

r side, something we haven't achieved for 40 odd years.

I don't do insults, and Mr is used out of respect. 

I think Mr Johnson's methodology is nothing like to that of Pep Guardiola … It cannot be. It can never be till Mr Johnsons change stops. The methodology depends on the football having defining principles. It is simplistic. The game has five elements. These elements are governed by over riding principle, then sub principle and sub principles which enable the team to better, and better than anybody else meet the challenges faced. Five elements … Mr Johnson … He cannot have those five elements and over riding principle if he keeps changing them.  

Pep Guardiola also uses elements of tactical periodisation. Training in periods for a game of four elements - Chunking. This helps deeper learning because the training is not episodic. The less change in the football approach the more time is spent on that deep learning, creating more fluency .. A point made earlier this approach helps to feed confidence - The players know what they are and do because they do it so often.  Lee Johnson? It cannot be done, because there is no core system of play. 

Howe put his defining principles into place when the club was division one. Its managing the ball through the first third, quick penetration in the second, its defensive actions … Division one. That is a similar approach to the above.

Neither approach is Mr Johnson.  The organisation and meticulous attention to the model of play is not dependant on multi millionaire footballers, its built on the single minded belief of the Head Coach in his football. 

Regarding sense of entitlement .. I have nowhere said we have a right to success. I feel that the club can be better equipped to progress by adopting core playing fundamentals alongside its transfer strategy and use of academy. 

[Bristol Oil Services]

2 hours ago, italian dave said:

, but in the scheme of things we're pretty close to being an established second tier side, something we haven't achieved for 40 odd years.

This isn't the bloody target! it's not the objective! !

Steve Lansdown did not say in May: "let's see if we can finish 11th again" ! He has not spent £50m on the ground to get comfortably nestled in the middle of the second tier of English football with it's £100m TV deal, when there is a £3 billion TV  cash bonanza one great season away, in the division above!

I have reminded you what he did say, but you seem to have missed this! 

Would you like to be reminded one more time?

 

 

 

 

(BTW, agree with you on the impossibility, the lottery, of picking a game-changer head coach or manager. But, some clubs do manage this)