Richard Gould

[SecretSam]

9 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Correct, so why do the interview ? serious question.

Errr...to try and head off the speculation?

[Waconda]

Just now, SecretSam said:

Errr...to try and head off the speculation?

That went well.

[Waconda]

8 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

You must be joking. The most negative poster on here, no idea what he wants, zero proposals and zero concept of where we are.The worst type of person around the club. People like him are a disgrace . 

Or someone who disagrees with you.

[Hampshire reds]

I feel nigel and his family and his agent could put a statement out to let people know how he is and if he is returning anytime soon.(i know its a private matter) Best wishes to nigel and his family.Stay safe

[steviestevieneville]

17 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

You must be joking. The most negative poster on here, no idea what he wants, zero proposals and zero concept of where we are.The worst type of person around the club. People like him are a disgrace . 

Exactly . All we get is . Pearson out , sack him blah blah blah. No recognition of where the the club are on & off the field . The slow & steady decline of the last 4 years & mismanagement of our recruitment system. It’s as black & white as Pearson’s fault according to him. He’s not the only one though. 
If people want Pearson out then fine . But give solutions , not just a name . How we get back on track financially &  recruitment wise. 
 

[Top Robin]

28 minutes ago, SecretSam said:

Amusing to read the responses here, and the speculation about the manager's health - see my separate thread, in which my question about Pearson's long-term health results in getting slaughtered.

What's Gould supposed to say? By law, you can't get rid of someone who's legitimately ill without their consent. And there's a lot of uncertainty and unknowns about long COVID (if that's what it is*). So he's hardly going to announce on air that we're binning an employee. 

 

*Source: I've got it

There must be some clause/sub clause in the contract between Nige and BCFC which covers retirement due to ill health. 

I wonder what the financial implications are for each party if this happens.

[Pezo]

11 minutes ago, Hampshire reds said:

I feel nigel and his family and his agent could put a statement out to let people know how he is and if he is returning anytime soon.(i know its a private matter) Best wishes to nigel and his family.Stay safe

He doesn't strike me as the type to put any effort or especially respond to rumours.

[Galley is our king]

20 minutes ago, TomF said:

Another great article from JP summing the situation up:

 

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/nigel-pearson-bristol-city-6179327

Thanks Tom,

I think everyone on here should read this before posting anymore crap, conspiracy theories, or personal agendas.

Thoughtful and well written piece.

 

[GrahamC]

2 hours ago, JonDolman said:

Yep. But when GT said about performances on the pitch he maybe could have used a different example than the Bournemouth game - against the best side in the division. Although it was a shocking performance there are enough other examples against much worse teams he could have used easy answer for Gould to say parachute payments on that one.

All mainly quite pointless though isn't it. One guy trying to ask difficult questions and another who is just trying to say whatever safest thing he can think of.

Some questions a waste of time like asking him about how they can play better on the pitch. That's not his job to find solutions for the current players to play better. The video club interview which surely had all questions planned even asked him questions like that which was odd. 

And GT asking him questions he obviously won't answer like what position we will strengthen and Massengo's contract.

So I think the only thing we can take from the interview which is the main thing people tuned in for is that it sounded like Pearson might not be here in the future. Though he didn't answer that one so that's just a guess.

Oh and I think he said we will be in the transfer market in January which is one positive to come from it because it wasn't obvious that would be the case with people saying we don't have any money.

To be fair to Twentyman he used the Bournemouth game as an example because as he said, it was the last time he had actually seen us play, so was basing it on his observations rather than other people’s.

 I might be too kind but when we get on to our style of play (or lack of it) I’m not sure Gould is the man to be asking, seeing as he doesn’t coach, select or organise the players & as I said previously, he doesn’t want to come across as an excuse maker, so couldn’t say that the current regime (Pearson & him) have been lumbered with awful signings like Palmer & Wells on fortunes in a Covid damaged transfer market.

[johnbytheriver]

20 hours ago, Finley_Smith10 said:

Hopefully GT asks him some decent questions and we get some actual decent answers. I.e future backing, why performances have took a bad turn.

That did'nt work did it!?

[steviestevieneville]

30 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Ryan Lowe. Playing a system that suits our squad. Intensive work on the training ground, creating a positive culture within the players and giving them confidence, allowing players to dribble.

But just my opinion and if you are happy with the  "poor mans Wimbledon" disorganised shambles that has been on offer then season then that is fine.

Correct, so why do the interview ? serious question.

That’s not a explanation you’ve read it off a Source bottle  

what if the players don’t suit Ryan lowes system . Then what. Get another load of players in that creates a even more unbalanced squad, with more wages being paid. 
you have absolutely no idea on what goes on behind the scenes. We’ve had so much upheaval over the last few years. Pearson’s only just managed to get rid of two coaches that were panic appointments.

Do you genuinely think it’s that easy. Pearson has inherited a complete mess . It’s not a game of fifa . You can’t just click your fingers to turn things around . 
we were told it’ll take 3 years. We were told it’ll get worse before it gets better. We’re 4 months into that 3 year rebuild. FOUR MONTHS. 

If you actually listened to the interview  RG said our wage bill is (paraphrasing) 3 times what it should be. That wage bill was created by MA signed off by SL.so you want to pay off a manager, probably another coach. Then pay a new manager & coaches to come in . You obviously haven’t grasped the financial hole we’re in.  Pearson had to let 12-13 players go, anther MA/SL cock up letting all them go with no resale  . Some he may of wanted keep but couldn’t . He’s had no money to spend compared with other managers , plus we have players it’s obvious he’d like get rid of but can’t.

so, instead of just shouting sack the manager. Why not try to understand the bloke is working with both hands tied behind his back . On top of that having long covid that we don’t know how long he’s been suffering with.

Its a long winded way of saying . Get some perspective . 

[supercidered]

36 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Ryan Lowe. Playing a system that suits our squad. Intensive work on the training ground, creating a positive culture within the players and giving them confidence, allowing players to dribble.

But just my opinion and if you are happy with the  "poor mans Wimbledon" disorganised shambles that has been on offer then season then that is fine.

Correct, so why do the interview ? serious question.

Ryan Lowe. Here we go yet again.

Did you or any other RL advocate watch Sheff Weds v Plymouth at the weekend? Christ it was sh!te. I'm not basing RL's credentials on one game by the way. I live near Plymouth so have the misfortune of getting to see them in action. Not to mention the fickle Plymouth fans banging on that this is their season. However, even Plymouth fans have doubted him at times. Plymouth are in the League One mix and that is about it. They don't play great football and I'm not sure where anyone gets that impression from. It also conveniently forgotten that RL hasn't been without his struggles with Plymouth in his time there.

Why would anyone think RL would play a system that suits our squad? Do we not have intensive work carried out the training ground? Is NP not trying to strip out all of the dead wood and creating a positive culture etc, etc?

If a change has to be made i.e. I can only see due to NPs health as being the only reason. Then RL would be a gamble of such magnitude that I just can't see being taken. 

[Keepers Ball]

Just listened to the Richard Gould interview.  

Wasn't really inciteful was it?

Told us what we already know and obvious replies every single time.

And regarding Nigel Pearson illness, I'd have sooner Gould told us the club didn't wish to go into detail as to the nature of the illness but instead banged on about the effects of Covid which doesn't really tell us what the real problem is. It just leaves us assuming or guessing. And the problem is how long is this going to keep Nigel away. The knock on effect can be disastrous for us as a club

Waste of an interview to be honest.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Keepers Ball

[Pezo]

8 minutes ago, Keepers Ball said:

Just listened to the Richard Gould interview.  

Wasn't really inciteful was it?

Told us what we already know and obvious replies every single time.

And regarding Nigel Pearson illness, I'd have sooner Gould told us the club didn't wish to go into detail as to the nature of the illness but instead banged on about the effects of Covid which doesn't really tell us what the real problem is. It just leaves us assuming or guessing. And the problem is how long is this going to keep Nigel away. The knock on effect can be disastrous for us as a club

Waste of an interview to be honest.

Watch his YouTube interview.

 

 

 

 

If you want to waste time, it's exactly the same.

[oldstandrobin]

14 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

Sounds like they are fiddling and fretting while Rome burns.

Still if Lansdown worries about how much money he loses on the club now, wait till he sees how many people attend matches and buy merchandise, when the club is in L1.

It sounds like the club admin are in deep denial about how deeply in decline the team is. How likely relegation is. 

Things cannot simply drift on because those in charge don't know what to do.

 

Exactly RR. I think for all the promises we have had over the years, a lot of us will probably start watching our local amateur sides with an eye on results featuring City. I for one will be one of those as football to me is entertainment and I have not seen that in a few years now at AG. Will always be a City fan but it's wearing very thin now. I would think the young and the diehards will still turn up ( as I did in the dark days) and attendances will be around the 10k mark or less.

[oldstandrobin]

1 hour ago, steviestevieneville said:

That’s not a explanation you’ve read it off a Source bottle  

what if the players don’t suit Ryan lowes system . Then what. Get another load of players in that creates a even more unbalanced squad, with more wages being paid. 
you have absolutely no idea on what goes on behind the scenes. We’ve had so much upheaval over the last few years. Pearson’s only just managed to get rid of two coaches that were panic appointments.

Do you genuinely think it’s that easy. Pearson has inherited a complete mess . It’s not a game of fifa . You can’t just click your fingers to turn things around . 
we were told it’ll take 3 years. We were told it’ll get worse before it gets better. We’re 4 months into that 3 year rebuild. FOUR MONTHS. 

If you actually listened to the interview  RG said our wage bill is (paraphrasing) 3 times what it should be. That wage bill was created by MA signed off by SL.so you want to pay off a manager, probably another coach. Then pay a new manager & coaches to come in . You obviously haven’t grasped the financial hole we’re in.  Pearson had to let 12-13 players go, anther MA/SL cock up letting all them go with no resale  . Some he may of wanted keep but couldn’t . He’s had no money to spend compared with other managers , plus we have players it’s obvious he’d like get rid of but can’t.

so, instead of just shouting sack the manager. Why not try to understand the bloke is working with both hands tied behind his back . On top of that having long covid that we don’t know how long he’s been suffering with.

Its a long winded way of saying . Get some perspective . 

Spot on Stevie, it all stems from SL's running of Bristol Sport with BCFC being the ugly sister. Forget it was OUR ground, forget we all go there for the football, forget BRC played at the Mem, it's SL's big vision except for one valuable point.....He's clueless on Football.

[Red-Robbo]

1 hour ago, TomF said:

Another great article from JP summing the situation up:

 

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/nigel-pearson-bristol-city-6179327

 

So, according to that piece, Pearson has been feeling ill for most of the season and certainly for the last 8 matches, but no one from the club hierarchy wants to make a "snap decision" about what to do about it.

I think we can remove the word "snap" from that sentence!

No one wants to make a decision. 

[Alessandro]

Quite surprised to the reaction of these interviews. Yes he's not the best orator, but actually for once, that for me is the interview of someone not lying to me.

It's the same in politics, so many people are desperate for definitive answers and solutions for everything, soundbites, they'll listen and suck up a complete lie if it's packaged right. 

I'd much rather that Gould interview than some Mark Ashton style media packaged nonsense statement or something that will later on down the line be used against him if ends up wrong.

In this case, Gould can't give a definitive answer because he doesn't have one yet and as Peircy writes in his article, that is probably fair enough, in a very unique situation. 

[chinapig]

1 hour ago, supercidered said:

Ryan Lowe. Here we go yet again.

Did you or any other RL advocate watch Sheff Weds v Plymouth at the weekend? Christ it was sh!te. I'm not basing RL's credentials on one game by the way. I live near Plymouth so have the misfortune of getting to see them in action. Not to mention the fickle Plymouth fans banging on that this is their season. However, even Plymouth fans have doubted him at times. Plymouth are in the League One mix and that is about it. They don't play great football and I'm not sure where anyone gets that impression from. It also conveniently forgotten that RL hasn't been without his struggles with Plymouth in his time there.

Why would anyone think RL would play a system that suits our squad? Do we not have intensive work carried out the training ground? Is NP not trying to strip out all of the dead wood and creating a positive culture etc, etc?

If a change has to be made i.e. I can only see due to NPs health as being the only reason. Then RL would be a gamble of such magnitude that I just can't see being taken. 

You may be right and I don't see Lowe as the solution but in response to the highlighted point above I am with Piercy in asking why are we playing hoofball when it doesn't suit our squad?

[Phileas Fogg]

6 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

Quite surprised to the reaction of these interviews. Yes he's not the best orator, but actually for once, that for me is the interview of someone not lying to me.

It's the same in politics, so many people are desperate for definitive answers and solutions for everything, soundbites, they'll listen and suck up a complete lie if it's packaged right. 

I'd much rather that Gould interview than some Mark Ashton style media packaged nonsense statement or something that will later on down the line be used against him if ends up wrong.

In this case, Gould can't give a definitive answer because he doesn't have one yet and as Peircy writes in his article, that is probably fair enough, in a very unique situation. 

Good points. I think it’s clear that he’s a man of integrity, but for me could probably get a bit more familiar with the footballing side of the club so as not to sound a bit uninformed.

I would be lying if I said I was impressed though. 

[stortfordred]

1 hour ago, Galley is our king said:

Thanks Tom,

I think everyone on here should read this before posting anymore crap, conspiracy theories, or personal agendas.

Thoughtful and well written piece.

 

With a clickbait headline starter 'Pearson leaves City....'

[Alessandro]

20 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Good points. I think it’s clear that he’s a man of integrity, but for me could probably get a bit more familiar with the footballing side of the club so as not to sound a bit uninformed.

I would be lying if I said I was impressed though. 

That's fair enough, I wouldn't say I was impressed. But i'm just realistic about what he can say at the moment.

It's not going well on the pitch, you can't sugar coat that and he didn't, he was honest and generally fair in his assessment IMO - he suggested Jan may see some investment = good.

It's a complex situation off the pitch with NP - he didn't make any promises, which is absolutely fair enough as the club need to give him some time. There was no speculation and he doesn't IMO need to discuss plan a or plan b or even plan c for the fan's sake. They will rightly and respectfully be doing it in house. 

[BrizzleRed]

2 hours ago, Pezo said:

Hmmm we will have to agree to disagree, I think that interview was organised because fans are looking for answers and were asking the SL, JL and RG to answer questions through social media, RG realised he had to fill the chasm of non information flying around so rather than directly respond on social media and set that expectation he went on GT.

If that was the reason, I thought RG was surprisingly lacklustre.  It felt like a PR own goal to me and did nothing to allay fans’ concerns.  

If we didn’t know otherwise, it felt far more like RG had been dragged in reluctantly and was doing hs best polititian impression of giving very little away with his answers, rather than having requested the interview to clear up uncertainty.

That interview left me with the conclusion that we’re in far deeper shit than I’d realised  before and judging by comments on here, I’m certainly not alone in that.  

If the club were trying to reassure fans with this interview, I fear they’ve failed dismally. RG seemed extremely uncomfortable and I saw no reason to think the club have this situation in hand.

Extremely worrying times!

[mozo]

2 hours ago, SecretSam said:

Amusing to read the responses here, and the speculation about the manager's health - see my separate thread, in which my question about Pearson's long-term health results in getting slaughtered.

What's Gould supposed to say? By law, you can't get rid of someone who's legitimately ill without their consent. And there's a lot of uncertainty and unknowns about long COVID (if that's what it is*). So he's hardly going to announce on air that we're binning an employee. 

 

*Source: I've got it

It's not what he said, it's how he said it. 

He kept avoiding giving straight answers. Why not emphatically say that Nige wishes he was back with the team? Why not emphatically confirm that we're desperate for Nige to be our long term manager? Why not emphatically confirm that we are in contract negotiations with Massengo?

If the whole point of the interview is to give reassurance to fans you have to be specific and assertive, not vague and evasive.

It's really in keeping with the bumbling public relations output that Bristol City operate. Always trying to stage manage but always doing so in a clumsy way.

Remember the Diedhiou statements from Ashton, and the radio silence appointing Holden, then the misinformation about Holden's coaches, then Jon L goes missing during the Holden sacking, then Lansdown does a radio appearance and patronises the supporters trust and casually drops a bombshell that we're looking for investment in the club and since then no further detail. Now another clunky attempt at reassuring fans and we come away wondering why Gould was so unsure about everything he said.

[Red Skin]

Strange for RG to come on when he didn't really have anything to say.    Unfortunately for him the timing of the NP announcement left him a bit exposed.   Can't really expect him to answer footballing questions IMHO.

The fact NP has had two doses of Covid - the first of which I understood to be very serious - and is still unwell shouldn't be underestimated in terms of his appetite to resume such a demanding role.   He has been very open that for him there is more to life than football, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he decided he did not want to come back.   He'd get my respect if he did. 

[Pezo]

29 minutes ago, BrizzleRed said:

If that was the reason, I thought RG was surprisingly lacklustre.  It felt like a PR own goal to me and did nothing to allay fans’ concerns.  

If we didn’t know otherwise, it felt far more like RG had been dragged in reluctantly and was doing hs best polititian impression of giving very little away with his answers, rather than having requested the interview to clear up uncertainty.

That interview left me with the conclusion that we’re in far deeper shit than I’d realised  before and judging by comments on here, I’m certainly not alone in that.  

If the club were trying to reassure fans with this interview, I fear they’ve failed dismally. RG seemed extremely uncomfortable and I saw no reason to think the club have this situation in hand.

Extremely worrying times!

Then it has served it's purpose because we are ******.

I don't think he was trying to reassure fans - he was trying to say nothing while at the same time fill the void of rumour and misinformation that is currently going around and lay out some bare truths.

[Red-Robbo]

8 minutes ago, Pezo said:

Then it has served it's purpose because we are ******.

I don't think he was trying to reassure fans - he was trying to say nothing while at the same time fill the void of rumour and misinformation that is currently going around and lay out some bare truths.

 

The basic truths being: the team is in turmoil, the manager is ill and we don't know when he's coming back and we have no plan other than to expose a recently appointed assistant by putting him in sole charge of the situation.  

[Davefevs]

7 hours ago, CiderJar said:

The point is Richard Gould is fulfilling his role as CEO whereas Mark Ashton was trying to be a DoF. Ashton was doing it wrong Gould is doing it right. If he choses to appoint a DoF then that is different, but as CEO he is there to lead the admin side of the operation, not the football.

Great post

 

 

5 hours ago, Pezo said:

Just listened to the first 5 mins states he wants NP back. GT - "And he wants to come back", RG - "I'm sure that's the case".

Not sure where the ambiguity is in that other than he can't speak for Nige, he doesn't know Nige's thought's he just knows what he thinks Nige's thought's are.

the bit that struck me is he said long COVID so I assume that's what it is - he also said "who knows with long COVID"

He is obviously not going to paint himself into a corner and look stupid by saying Nige will be back next week when he doesn't know if it's tomorrow, next week, 3 months or if NP is going to come to the conclusion that his health means he can't do the job.

Anyone watching the Morning Show on Apple….Nige is played by Jennifer Aniston.

[BrizzleRed]

12 minutes ago, Pezo said:

Then it has served it's purpose because we are ******.

I don't think he was trying to reassure fans - he was trying to say nothing while at the same time fill the void of rumour and misinformation that is currently going around and lay out some bare truths.

….. well, if as you say, the purpose of the interview was just to clear up some of the rumours and give the club’s confirmation that we really are fooked, then I’d have to agree ….. he was far more successful on that score!!!

[mozo]

4 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

The basic truths being: the team is in turmoil, the manager is ill and we don't know when he's coming back and we have no plan other than to expose a recently appointed assistant by putting him in sole charge of the situation.  

Don't worry because our physio has loads of experience and will pick the team and Cisse does loads of jobs, so will cover the physiotherapy, and Scotty is a club legend so will do the 1st team training, and Kadji has just signed a deal so he'll head up recruitment...