Can I make a prediction?

[Alessandro]

We stumble over the line this season - with Holden still at the helm.

”We go again” next season, with all the excuses, injuries, bad luck, Covid, Dean deserves another shot.

Why?

Simply put, I think sacking Holden will expose MA and SL - when they simple cannot appoint someone experienced and decorated, capable of coming in and working within their “structure”.

If Holden goes, expect Simpson and Downing before another underwhelming appointment and the same problems continue, round in circles we go.
 

I just don’t see SL has the gumption to do what needs to be done.

Look Steve, you’ve done some great things, but do the right thing, the best thing you can ever do for City, move the model on.

Once and for all, step back and let the right people do their jobs in the right positions. That starts with Ashton. 
 

Be brave, be bold. 

[robin_unreliant]

Trouble is I think Steve appointing Ashton was supposed to be the move that allowed him to step back and be less hands on. Unfortunately he has picked the wrong man to run it for him. Short term financial success followed by a collapse due to poor recruitment of players and coaches. 

[Superjack]

Not if it's that one.

[Slippin cider]

And let’s not forget that the early bird ST renewals emails will start going out next month! .......form an orderly queue 

[Gilli74]

If they do take that approach and appoint Simpson etc (which knowing them would be expected) I think that will just about do it for me with this club .., 

[RedRaw]

Let’s just remind ourselves what Ashton told us. Time to reconsider not just the personnel but the ‘process’.....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DgCrOHWwPdc&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3t4EidiNOWeFtlr5Puh-PxNl-2m0uXkWGBa0riGjX7-xuWomdMMSiMaT4

[Alessandro]

16 minutes ago, Superjack said:

Not if it's that one.

Yeah, sorry about that 

[Davefevs]

30 minutes ago, robin_unreliant said:

Trouble is I think Steve appointing Ashton was supposed to be the move that allowed him to step back and be less hands on. Unfortunately he has picked the wrong man to run it for him. Short term financial success followed by a collapse due to poor recruitment of players and coaches. 

Two sentences. Spot on.

[Mr Popodopolous]

There's no exact Science to it.

Holden isn't the man to take us forward next season, but I could note- Monk and Pulis at Sheffield Wednesday- 4 wins between them in 21 League games.

Neil Thompson- not managed since Summer 2004- 5 wins in 7 in the League.

173 games in management in total, at the bright lights of York City, Scarborough (the original club, now defunct- RIP) and Boston United.

Sheffield Wednesday btw do not have an especially high calibre squad. Nearly 16 years out the game as a frontline manager and he has a 70% win ratio in the League!? Or 2/3 in all competitions. Intriguing to know what's behind that turnaround??

Birmingham went for Karanka to build on a narrow survival. They gave him license in the market- worse than before.

If we sacked LJ and appointed Neil Thompson fans would be livid I expect.

[tin]

I’ll make a prediction: we will be in League One, if not next season then the season after, unless nothing’s done soon — starting with Ashton.

[AppyDAZE]

44 minutes ago, RedRaw said:

Let’s just remind ourselves what Ashton told us. Time to reconsider not just the personnel but the ‘process’.....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DgCrOHWwPdc&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3t4EidiNOWeFtlr5Puh-PxNl-2m0uXkWGBa0riGjX7-xuWomdMMSiMaT4

That is quite simply the most ridiculous interview I have ever seen in my life.

WHAT a bullshitter!

[AppyDAZE]

"We interviewed four, in detail"

Who the **** were these four that had Holden ending up as the outstanding choice?

Total bullshit.

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, robin_unreliant said:

Trouble is I think Steve appointing Ashton was supposed to be the move that allowed him to step back and be less hands on. Unfortunately he has picked the wrong man to run it for him. Short term financial success followed by a collapse due to poor recruitment of players and coaches. 

I don't know though…I see it as more mixed than poor.

1. Bentley- Had his ropey times but one of our top performers for sure. How much Brentford miss him is another debate.
2. Hunt- Alright, nothing spectacular but solid.
3. Sessegnon- Good competition for Hunt- when fit. Can he also play as RWB- when fit?
4. Kalas- A past top high Championship performer.
5. Mawson- Injury history but higher Championship, lower PL.
6. Baker- Good defender, though not necessarily for the higher line but good when fit- Injured.
7. Moore- Seems to have mistakes in him but Wednesday not bad.
8. DaSilva- Quite good, when fit. Decent ceiling too. Injured for months now.
9. Rowe- Cheap, versatile- pound for pound not bad though certainly not a long term option. Injured anyway.
10. Nagy- Don't think we got the best out of him.
11. Massengo- Still developing, 19 is he- have we developed him the best?
12. Williams- Good player, showed at Wigan last year and featured rather often- Injured virtually his entire time here.
13. Walsh- Was quite looking forward to seeing what he could have done this season- Injured the whole season to date.
14. Lansbury- Time will tell- strikes me as having experience but not too old- unlike Mariappa, Brunt and in some ways Williams last year.
15. Paterson- Seemed to be quite good at start of season, he drifts in and out in terms of influential spells but not a disaster- had a lengthy injury this year too.
16. Weimann- Think we miss him, has quite a few attributes.
17. Martin- Good pivot, not enough goals but we used him badly- check his Derby returns last season and his injury spells there- ie none or very few.
18. Wells- Not at QPR level but a passable goal record ie superior to here.
19. Diedhiou- I'm not a great fan of tbh. However he seems to have spurts of form, notably this season and we saw similar 2 seasons ago in December 2018.

O'Dowda hasn't kicked on granted, Palmer I don't think we've found a suitable role for- or maybe he just doesn't fit, then we have younger players who will gain from the experience.

It's not been top class but I don't see it as a disaster either. Fairly middling on it- unsure we got the best out of varied players no longer at the club either but that doesn't make them poor players.

Diedhiou- Using him just doesn't seem to give us the chance to play with fluidity IMO. Much of the time anyway.

[Davefevs]

18 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I don't know though…I see it as more mixed than poor.

1. Bentley- Had his ropey times but one of our top performers for sure. How much Brentford miss him is another debate.
2. Hunt- Alright, nothing spectacular but solid.
3. Sessegnon- Good competition for Hunt- when fit. Can he also play as RWB- when fit?
4. Kalas- A past top high Championship performer.
5. Mawson- Injury history but higher Championship, lower PL.
6. Baker- Good defender, though not necessarily for the higher line but good when fit- Injured.
7. Moore- Seems to have mistakes in him but Wednesday not bad.
8. DaSilva- Quite good, when fit. Decent ceiling too. Injured for months now.
9. Rowe- Cheap, versatile- pound for pound not bad though certainly not a long term option. Injured anyway.
10. Nagy- Don't think we got the best out of him.
11. Massengo- Still developing, 19 is he- have we developed him the best?
12. Williams- Good player, showed at Wigan last year and featured rather often- Injured virtually his entire time here.
13. Walsh- Was quite looking forward to seeing what he could have done this season- Injured the whole season to date.
14. Lansbury- Time will tell- strikes me as having experience but not too old- unlike Mariappa, Brunt and in some ways Williams last year.
15. Paterson- Seemed to be quite good at start of season, he drifts in and out in terms of influential spells but not a disaster- had a lengthy injury this year too.
16. Weimann- Think we miss him, has quite a few attributes.
17. Martin- Good pivot, not enough goals but we used him badly- check his Derby returns last season and his injury spells there- ie none or very few.
18. Wells- Not at QPR level but a passable goal record ie superior to here.
19. Diedhiou- I'm not a great fan of tbh. However he seems to have spurts of form, notably this season and we saw similar 2 seasons ago in December 2018.

O'Dowda hasn't kicked on granted, Palmer I don't think we've found a suitable role for- or maybe he just doesn't fit, then we have younger players who will gain from the experience.

It's not been top class but I don't see it as a disaster either. Fairly middling on it- unsure we got the best out of varied players no longer at the club either but that doesn't make them poor players.

Diedhiou- Using him just doesn't seem to give us the chance to play with fluidity IMO. Much of the time anyway.

Now reflect on the performance level of this against the supposed “world class recruitment team set up” we are happy to tell the world....it falls well short doesn’t it.

[Mr Popodopolous]

7 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Now reflect on the performance level of this against the supposed “world class recruitment team set up” we are happy to tell the world....it falls well short doesn’t it.

Only our hierarchy believe it's world class- if they even truly believe it.

However do I think our recruitment is and has been capable of delivering a team/squad with more consistent and cohesive play than we've seen, notably since the start of 2019/20? I do yeah. That's not entirely the fault of managers either, a lot of blame to go around. Henriksen in a 2- another poor example. Could Magnússon have been capable in a back 3? At times I expect so. Martin why did we play him into the ground?

[Sheltons Army]

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Now reflect on the performance level of this against the supposed “world class recruitment team set up” we are happy to tell the world....it falls well short doesn’t it.

Or the

‘We always plan 2 or 3 windows ahead ‘

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, Sheltons Army said:

Or the

‘We always plan 2 or 3 windows ahead ‘

That’s been proved to be complete horseshit hasn’t it.

[BLRed]

My prediction. Change won’t be made To management or CEO, relegation will occur. Players OOC won’t be renewed to relieve the budget for the drop down, other assets like bentley will be sold to generate funds and further reduce wage bill.
wells sold as won’t want to drop down plus IMO isn’t worth money spent on him so recoup where possible.

greater reliance will be put on youth coming through to rebuild the squad. O’Leary to replace bentley.

may purchase the top players of league one and reset.

the club have made an utter mess of the progress they had made through recruitment So need to reset and go again.

personally SL would prefer to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond and not have to pay out fees and wages that are on demand in the championship and higher.

[Sheltons Army]

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

That’s been proved to be complete horseshit hasn’t it.

Hasn’t it ever 

[Taylor10]

1 hour ago, Alessandro said:

We stumble over the line this season - with Holden still at the helm.

”We go again” next season, with all the excuses, injuries, bad luck, Covid, Dean deserves another shot.

Why?

Simply put, I think sacking Holden will expose MA and SL - when they simple cannot appoint someone experienced and decorated, capable of coming in and working within their “structure”.

If Holden goes, expect Simpson and Downing before another underwhelming appointment and the same problems continue, round in circles we go.
 

I just don’t see SL has the gumption to do what needs to be done.

Look Steve, you’ve done some great things, but do the right thing, the best thing you can ever do for City, move the model on.

Once and for all, step back and let the right people do their jobs in the right positions. That starts with Ashton. 
 

Be brave, be bold. 

Nail on head.

[RedM]

I don’t think he will go but will be given more time. Why? Because historically that’s what we do, give our Managers at least a year or more. The only manager I can remember going was Coppell and he quit. Other than that Steve has left managers in relatively long term.

[Bristol Oil Services]

6 minutes ago, RedM said:

I don’t think he will go but will be given more time. Why? Because historically that’s what we do, give our Managers at least a year or more. The only manager I can remember going was Coppell and he quit. Other than that Steve has left managers in relatively long term.

SO'D started in the January (2013) and was gone before he opened "1" on his Advent calendar 

[Guest]

He who pays, says.... we like it or lump it. We are disposible and matter not "This is The Way" the SL Way.

Nothing will change anytime soon as the plan does not involve us getting anywhere near the Prem far to risky and expensive, high risk and possible high losses. With hardly any assets to sell player wise and undoubted many exp departures our youth and loan policy will need to find some gems but avoid those dodgey leg muscles.

So predict we may just avoid relegation, but thats far from certain and Dean will be given another go next season but with a much more decimated squad mainly of young inexp youth or loaneees that no-one else wants and are cheap. So should be fun till xmas then we will fall from midtable to bottom 3.

P.S Much prefer if Dean and Ashton are gone tomorrow and we get an exp manager in but thats just a distant hope

[sludge]

1 hour ago, Sheltons Army said:

Or the

‘We always plan 2 or 3 windows ahead ‘

Think he meant a to say hours instead of windows 

[Dr Balls]

1 hour ago, BOSRed said:

My prediction. Change won’t be made To management or CEO, relegation will occur. Players OOC won’t be renewed to relieve the budget for the drop down, other assets like bentley will be sold to generate funds and further reduce wage bill.
wells sold as won’t want to drop down plus IMO isn’t worth money spent on him so recoup where possible.

greater reliance will be put on youth coming through to rebuild the squad. O’Leary to replace bentley.

may purchase the top players of league one and reset.

the club have made an utter mess of the progress they had made through recruitment So need to reset and go again.

personally SL would prefer to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond and not have to pay out fees and wages that are on demand in the championship and higher.

I don’t think that SL prefers being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. However if we play well and are successful in League 1, in terms of income the club can make somewhere between 50-75% of what they make in terms of attendances, food etc at a lower level, somewhat less in terms of TV income, but with considerably less outlay both in terms of player wages and transfer fees. And for SL in terms of football, the money issues may be more important than taking a significant risk trying to get us to the Premier League.

[Ska Junkie]

31 minutes ago, Dr Balls said:

I don’t think that SL prefers being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. However if we play well and are successful in League 1, in terms of income the club can make somewhere between 50-75% of what they make in terms of attendances, food etc at a lower level, somewhat less in terms of TV income, but with considerably less outlay both in terms of player wages and transfer fees. And for SL in terms of football, the money issues may be more important than taking a significant risk trying to get us to the Premier League.

Now, that IS depressing.

I'm not saying you're wrong BTW Dr B.

[Mendip City]

1 hour ago, Dr Balls said:

I don’t think that SL prefers being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. However if we play well and are successful in League 1, in terms of income the club can make somewhere between 50-75% of what they make in terms of attendances, food etc at a lower level, somewhat less in terms of TV income, but with considerably less outlay both in terms of player wages and transfer fees. And for SL in terms of football, the money issues may be more important than taking a significant risk trying to get us to the Premier League.

I think there there’a some truth in this.  SL might actually be turning out to be our own Mike Ashley. Doing just enough to keep us standing still, appointing managers who seem almost designed to antagonise the fan base.....