"He's taken us as far as he can"

[Kid in the Riot]

or is that "he's taken us as far as he wants to take us"? 

It's difficult to know with the Lansdowns, and it's probably time to recognise them as a collective. Whether it's in terms of day to day decision-making or a horrible worst case scenario, it's not just Steve that is, or would, make decisions involving the football club, it is also Maggie and Jon. Some may consider it inappropriate to speculate in this way, but should the worst happen to Steve, I believe Maggie would inherit his shares. And so forth. Therefore, it is important to recognise that Bristol City FC, RFC, WFC and Flyers are owned by "The Lansdowns".

Steve owns 99% shares in Bristol City FC, yet I still see people banging on about there being "a board". The board is Steve, Maggie and Jon, because guess what? They own 99% of the club. Brian Tinnion, Lee Johnson,  Mark Ashton, Nigel Pearson,  Richard Gould - employees, nothing more. Their say, pretty much subservient with their level of power at the club. 

Over the past 20 years The Lansdowns have presided over the football club and been key to all decision making, including the appointment of managers. When I say "key", I mean appointing every single one of the football managers and agreeing to every single signing made by the football club, without exception. Ah, bar one Steve Cotterill, who was only appointed following an extremely persuasive case put forward by recruitment specialist Keith Dawe. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure very persuasive cases were put forward, by someone, of why we should sign Gustav Engvall and Sammy Szmodics, however the buck stops with the man, and his family, that sanctioned these signings.  And sanctioned the people that were put in place to make these signings. 

Recuitment has been an unmitigated disaster over the past three years, and ultimate responsibility must be laid at the door of the family signing off this wastage. 

As we head back towards L1 for a potential third relegation under The Lansdowns, the question has to be asked:

Have they taken us as far as they can, or indeed, as far as they want to take us? 

From where I am, it's a resounding yes. And I'd go further and say they would be quite happy with us being a big fish back in L1.

Derby County are about to be sold for £50m. It got me thinking. The Lansdowns picked up the club and ground for comparative peanuts. Mel Morris still owns Pride Park so that is not part of the deal. 

If The Lansdowns were to sell Bristol Sport  including the ground, I would hazard a guess that it wouldn't be too far off the £150m+ they have invested. Further to that, I would speculate that once the sporting village is complete they would break even AT WORST on their investment.

This isn't supposed to be a hatchet job, just an honest appraisal of The Lansdowns running of our football club.

From where I'm standing, I hope what I read today in The Athletic, and what I already knew to be fair, is true and help or potentially a full takeover is on the way. 

[Davefevs]

I was reading that article, waiting for it to mention City and then read a load of nonsense….but it was spot on.  Matt Slater is a good writer, but I wondered whether he had some conversations with Gregor or James too.

Not sure Derby won’t be sold without Pride Park, but the company structure makes Pula look like a kids jigsaw puzzle!

I do wonder in hindsight whether LJ was SL’s last hurrah?  I often joked it was his Trading Places equivalent with Eddie Murphy being played by LJ!  Was that SL’s final go at showing the fans / football world he knew football?  I dunno, but I sense the flame is going out.

I don’t go down the line of “be careful what you wish for”….I don’t think SL would sell to a bunch of sharks.

Interesting times ahead.  Need to stay in the Champ though.

[pillred]

I think it would be fair to say that apart from our success in league one the league cup run and a couple of ok seasons in the Championship it would be right to say that city under SL has not been the success we or he would have hoped for, personally I wouldn't mind somebody else having a go but that is a bit of a risk but who knows it could be for the best.

Edited November 18, 2021 by pillred
punctuation

[zippycar]

 

I also wonder that if Mr Hargreaves had been a football man, would we be where we are today?

There are always at least two in every partnership and anyone at Hargreaves Lansdown will tell you who was the boss and the driver and who knew that there was no upside to owning a football club.
 

[zippycar]

40 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

 Never at his day job would he employ the rabble he has at football . You hire the very best .

As I alluded to above, he wasn't the man hiring and firing at HL

Read into that what you want 

[RedM]

I think Steve and family will stay as long as what they are doing makes them happy. They are getting older and you do look at life differently. You have different priorities with your time, which is just as precious as money believe it or not. Right now how happy is the club making them? 

[Major Isewater]

33 minutes ago, RedM said:

I think Steve and family will stay as long as what they are doing makes them happy. They are getting older and you do look at life differently. You have different priorities with your time, which is just as precious as money believe it or not. Right now how happy is the club making them? 

As much as we moan about paying high prices to follow the club we haven’t ,or ever will ,pour in the millions that the Lansdowns have. It must be very frustrating for them. 
SL has seemingly tried every type of set up, he finally gets a top experienced bloke in and we are still struggling. 
We are a bit unlucky but ultimately the responsibility for failure to go up or produce attractive winning football lies at his feet. 

I hate to say it but I am sure the Bears give him more pleasure than the football club.

 

[daored]

24 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

As much as we moan about paying high prices to follow the club we haven’t ,or ever will ,pour in the millions that the Lansdowns have. It must be very frustrating for them. 
SL has seemingly tried every type of set up, he finally gets a top experienced bloke in and we are still struggling. 
We are a bit unlucky but ultimately the responsibility for failure to go up or produce attractive winning football lies at his feet. 

I hate to say it but I am sure the Bears give him more pleasure than the football club.

 

Sorry @Major Isewateryour top comment really irks me and the same when the Lansdowns come out with it. Input into the club is relative to income, and whilst none of us (I suspect) could put the amount of money the Lansdowns have into BCFC there will be many who’ve  put in a higher % of their wealth / income

[Major Isewater]

2 minutes ago, daored said:

many who’ve  put in a higher % of their wealth / income

I don’t know the percentages but I suspect even those will be higher for SL than us.

Ultimately the buck stops with SL and his guardianship of the club has left the supporters frustrated by his lack of footballing nous and success whilst other clubs have show us how it’s done. 
 

[Unan]

Are we a potentially good investment? The infrastructure is there, good catchment area, one of the most desirable cities in the UK, and have no competition. I’d like to think so.

[Port Said Red]

20 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

I don’t know the percentages but I suspect even those will be higher for SL than us.

Ultimately the buck stops with SL and his guardianship of the club has left the supporters frustrated by his lack of footballing nous and success whilst other clubs have show us how it’s done. 

And how many have shown how it's not done? More I would guess.

The magic formula is elusive, it's not just a case of putting good people in the right place as many clubs have failed with people who on paper should have brought them success, people who have had it before and often go on to have it again elsewhere. 

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by Port Said Red

[Lrrr]

Think it’s only fair to judge when financial clout in terms of spending on fees returns to the championship. The impact of FFP is well known and that we can exactly go out and spend £5m - £10m without income. Steve’a priority at this time is a financially stable championship club to get through this period. 
 

And on Szmodics, in hindsight, not a bad championship signing, however seems not one our head coach wanted at the time. 

[Red Army 75]

I started a thread about a month ago about new investment. SL and JL have both said about seeking investment. JL won’t be taking over from his dad IMO. Me personally am looking forward to a new era . People say on here be careful what you wish for but times change people get old people lose interest. It’s inevitable Bristol City will change ownership. I expect SL to invest in the playing side in January to hopefully keep are Championship status. As we are a much more attractive proposition in the Championship than League 1. Always be grateful to SL for the finances he has spent trying to get us to the promise land. 

[Hampshire reds]

The lansdown family have been fantastic for Bristol City Football Club. a great stadium a fantastic training facility. For this thank you. my only concern with steve he stays to loyal to his managers. 

[daored]

41 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

I don’t know the percentages but I suspect even those will be higher for SL than us.

Ultimately the buck stops with SL and his guardianship of the club has left the supporters frustrated by his lack of footballing nous and success whilst other clubs have show us how it’s done. 
 

Agreed the last comment is the key to his stewardship.

In defence to the Lansdown family , the championship is an unfair league financially. The parachute payments have to be reviewed 

[Mendip City]

43 minutes ago, Marcus Aurelius said:

Are we a potentially good investment? The infrastructure is there, good catchment area, one of the most desirable cities in the UK, and have no competition. I’d like to think so.

Hard to tell as we’re now tangled up with the rest of Bristol Sport. Unless the stadium and training ground are included then it’s hard to see what there is to invest in. 

[CyderInACan]

5 hours ago, billywedlock said:

I don’t even like AG . It is an average Championship ground

What pisses me off is when the likes of Mark Kelly describe the facilities as world class. Maybe if you’re going to a conference or are in hospitality, but I don’t call the concourse bars or the toilet facilities world class by a long chalk. Having to queue for the entirety of half time to get a pint is far from world class. 

 

[CyderInACan]

7 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

From where I'm standing, I hope what I read today in The Athletic, and what I already knew to be fair, is true and help or potentially a full takeover is on the way. 

What was that?

[bpexile]

7 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

or is that "he's taken us as far as he wants to take us"? 

It's difficult to know with the Lansdowns, and it's probably time to recognise them as a collective. Whether it's in terms of day to day decision-making or a horrible worst case scenario, it's not just Steve that is, or would, make decisions involving the football club, it is also Maggie and Jon. Some may consider it inappropriate to speculate in this way, but should the worst happen to Steve, I believe Maggie would inherit his shares. And so forth. Therefore, it is important to recognise that Bristol City FC, RFC, WFC and Flyers are owned by "The Lansdowns".

Steve owns 99% shares in Bristol City FC, yet I still see people banging on about there being "a board". The board is Steve, Maggie and Jon, because guess what? They own 99% of the club. Brian Tinnion, Lee Johnson,  Mark Ashton, Nigel Pearson,  Richard Gould - employees, nothing more. Their say, pretty much subservient with their level of power at the club. 

Over the past 20 years The Lansdowns have presided over the football club and been key to all decision making, including the appointment of managers. When I say "key", I mean appointing every single one of the football managers and agreeing to every single signing made by the football club, without exception. Ah, bar one Steve Cotterill, who was only appointed following an extremely persuasive case put forward by recruitment specialist Keith Dawe. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure very persuasive cases were put forward, by someone, of why we should sign Gustav Engvall and Sammy Szmodics, however the buck stops with the man, and his family, that sanctioned these signings.  And sanctioned the people that were put in place to make these signings. 

Recuitment has been an unmitigated disaster over the past three years, and ultimate responsibility must be laid at the door of the family signing off this wastage. 

As we head back towards L1 for a potential third relegation under The Lansdowns, the question has to be asked:

Have they taken us as far as they can, or indeed, as far as they want to take us? 

From where I am, it's a resounding yes. And I'd go further and say they would be quite happy with us being a big fish back in L1.

Derby County are about to be sold for £50m. It got me thinking. The Lansdowns picked up the club and ground for comparative peanuts. Mel Morris still owns Pride Park so that is not part of the deal. 

If The Lansdowns were to sell Bristol Sport  including the ground, I would hazard a guess that it wouldn't be too far off the £150m+ they have invested. Further to that, I would speculate that once the sporting village is complete they would break even AT WORST on their investment.

This isn't supposed to be a hatchet job, just an honest appraisal of The Lansdowns running of our football club.

From where I'm standing, I hope what I read today in The Athletic, and what I already knew to be fair, is true and help or potentially a full takeover is on the way. 

What did you read Kid 

[exAtyeoMax]

6 hours ago, billywedlock said:

Steve L must be the most unsuccessful billionaire owner of a football club. His heart is there but the application has been dreadful . Why did it take so long to have a training complex or a ground redevelopment? Why did he not invest in a tier 1 academy outside of ffp. Worst though is employment of poor people . Never at his day job would he employ the rabble he has at football . You hire the very best . He hired LJ . And spent all his money trying to justify it . Add in his awful appointment of Ashton. I know my business world and I know many serious players . But how he could not see through Ashton makes you wonder how in hell he ever became a billionaire . It was obvious .

I like Steve and Maggie , but they have made terrible decisions . They needed a proper football advisor yet did it all themselves . Crazy. 
 

I don’t even like AG . It is an average Championship ground . Where is a Prem stadium ?

for the money spent the return has been pitiful . 
 

if it were my millions I would have hired the very best . Steve chose not to . 

Why do you think that was?
I’ve often thought it was a kind of class thing…Hire well spoken nice people, who don’t rock the boat, when I would think many top people are ruthless and tough. That’s probably why he didn’t like Cotts, he was too rough around the edges and straight talking. SL doesn’t like Warnock, possibly because he’d be straight talking and direct (not rude) but is relatively successful in his remit. 

[AppyDAZE]

22 minutes ago, CyderInACan said:

What was that?

Yes, I was thinking the same too. It might help.

[exAtyeoMax]

22 minutes ago, CyderInACan said:

What was that?

https://theathletic.com/2956329/2021/11/17/the-championship-is-for-sale/

[Super]

4 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

https://theathletic.com/2956329/2021/11/17/the-championship-is-for-sale/

Can someone post what it actually said? Fed up with the having to subscribe to everything!

[Jerseybean]

As we face Blackburn next it’s opportune to consider what happened there. The following comparison, between Mr Walker and Mr Lansdown, illustrates that they had certain things in common, such as investing huge sums into their respective clubs and living in the Channel Islands, there are, however, also differences beyond the fact that one was a millionaire and the other is a billionaire. The significant difference is what their remarkable contributions have achieved. I’m not, for one moment, belittling SL’s astonishing generosity, merely highlighting a fundamental difference. 

Jack Walker

Jack Walker (19 May 1929 – 17 August 2000) was a British industrialist and businessman, who lived in Jersey. Walker built his fortune in the steel industry, amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. He then went on to become the owner and benefactor of Blackburn Rovers Football Club, winning a Premiership title under his guidance.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/aug/19/guardianobituaries.football

Steve Lansdown

Stephen Philip Lansdown CBE is an English-born Guernsey billionaire. He co-founded, with Peter Hargreaves, the British financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, founder of Bristol Sport and majority shareholder of Bristol Rugby, Bristol Flyers, and Bristol City Football Club. His reported net worth is circa £2.6 billion.

https://www.forbes.com/profile/stephen-lansdown/?sh=b738e9b50b06

[exAtyeoMax]

2 minutes ago, Super said:

Can someone post what it actually said? Fed up with the having to subscribe to everything!

I don’t have a subscription so can only read the first section

[Hampshire reds]

Am i wrong in thinking city is close to a take over or further investment.

[NcnsBcfc]

@Kid in the Riot Some interesting points, but like others have asked, what article are you referring to in the Athletic?

I think it's a classic case with the Lansdowns of a businessman, who probably doesn't know that much about football trusting the wrong people to invest on his behalf. That article that showed we had recieved the most in player sales in the EFL (£75M+), but rather than invest in 15 quality players, we bought 60 mediocre ones in an attempt to generate future income. In the process, we have sold the family silver (I know some of the players wanted to leave), and have invested in something akin to a dodgy timeshare investment.

Unlike other owners in the Champ, Lansdown can't bring himself to push the moral boundaries of FFP. Probably more down to his personal ethics, than a business decision.

If you look at the clubs that haven't had parachute payments, and got up to the PL, then there's probably only a few that haven't gambled financially. I just can't see us doing that.

The whole Bristol Sport set up is probably more of a hindrance than benefit to City. The infrastructure of the club means that to spin it out on it's own, would make the whole concept unsustainable. Rugby/basketball, wouldn't really work on their own.

Would any interested party also have to buy the whole Sports village plans? Once again a massive potential investment, that might not be in their future plans.

For me, what is the point spending £60m+ on a ground upgrade, training facilities; and then a Sports Village in the future, when the main attraction on the pitch gets relegated?

Tough decisions in Jan i think. Relegation would set us back a number of years, and knock tens of millions off any purchase price. But this team at the moment is only going in one direction, and has been for a number of years.

24 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

https://theathletic.com/2956329/2021/11/17/the-championship-is-for-sale/

Thank you , but as you say probably needs a cut and paste by someone with a subscription. 

Edited November 18, 2021 by NcnsBcfc

[Peter1450]

 

 

From where I am, it's a resounding yes. And I'd go further and say they would be quite happy with us being a big fish back in 

This will go against the majority on here but being the “ big fish” in L1 was far more enjoyable than anything that’s been offered for several years.

[tin]

The entire Lansdown era, starting with the missed appointment of Moyes right up to current wreckage left by Ashton, has been a huge missed opportunity IMO. Yes, he’s been a safe pair of hands, for which I’m grateful, but it’s long gone stale and BCFC needs new impetus.  

Every one of his managerial appointments except for GJ have been underwhelming (most of us know Cotterill was Dawe’s man). Even when we were top of the Championship under GJ and before FFP, he kept the purse strings tight. We could've had Ebanks-Blake, ended up with Adebola. 

Getting involved with Ashton, after SOD had done the donkey work to put the sort of backroom hierarchy in place that we now crave, was his worst mistake. I think SL gets hoodwinked by bullshitters, which makes him a classic fool in the footballing world IMO.

The Gate’s a nice ground nowadays, but I preferred the old days of the East End. Maybe it’s too nice; too nice for the opposition, little atmosphere etc. As for the new training ground, it delivers anything but high performance and therein lies the irony.

Can anyone share the whole article from The Athletic, please? 

Edited November 18, 2021 by tin

[Robbored]

7 hours ago, billywedlock said:

i don’t even like AG . It is an average Championship ground . Where is a Prem stadium ?

Do you remember AG before the upgrade?     

AG has been redeveloped to its maximum potential given the location in BS3. There’s no other ground space available to expand it further. That’s why SL wanted to relocate but the ‘village green’ legislation put a stop to that.
AG is now as good as gets.

[WarksRobin]

1 minute ago, Robbored said:

Do you remember AG before the upgrade?     

AG has been redeveloped to its maximum potential given the location in BS3. There’s no other ground space available to expand it further. That’s why SL wanted to relocate but the ‘village green’ legislation put a stop to that.
AG is now as good as gets.

I understand what you are saying, but with enough time and money we could have the best stadium in the world in BS3. These are the limiting factors for any built infrastructure.

If we reached the Premier League, were swimming in cash and were selling out every match, every effort would be made to extend the stadium further.

[glynriley]

9 minutes ago, tin said:

Every one of his managerial appointments except for GJ have been underwhelming

The appointment of Holden, nice bloke that he was, pretty much finished me where it comes to SL's ownership.

For all the talk of getting to the Prem when LJ was sacked, it showed me 1 of 2  things.

All the talk is just that, talk. Or he has clearly not learnt from the internal appointments of Tinnion and Millen. I can't think of a worse appointment for a club with "Premier League ambitions" than a man taking on his first role.

 

 

[cidered abroad]

2 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

I don’t know the percentages but I suspect even those will be higher for SL than us.

Ultimately the buck stops with SL and his guardianship of the club has left the supporters frustrated by his lack of footballing nous and success whilst other clubs have show us how it’s done. 
 

SL reputedly has £1.5 billion and he has invested approx £150 million in City.

That is on tenth of one per cent of his wealth.

When I bought £70 of shares in BCFC 1982, that was 99% of my available cash.

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by cidered abroad

[underhanded]

Anyone able to ctrl+c and ctrl+v...

A lot of us don't know what you guys are referring to! 

[WarksRobin]

1 hour ago, daored said:

Agreed the last comment is the key to his stewardship.

In defence to the Lansdown family , the championship is an unfair league financially. The parachute payments have to be reviewed 

SL has been clear for a long time that he wants the club to be financially sustainable. Unfortunately, I don't think that is compatible with the challenges at Championship level. The revenue from TV and matchdays just isn't enough to cover the costs of a Championship level squad. I believe we already pay >100% of revenue on wages. The only way to become sustainable would be to have parachute payments, which would mean getting promoted so we are caught in a difficult position. I do wonder whether SL would take a risk if we weren't bound by FFP rules, to try to get us that promotion so that we become sustainable at this level and hopefully the next level up.

[Waconda]

8 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I was reading that article, waiting for it to mention City and then read a load of nonsense….but it was spot on.  Matt Slater is a good writer, but I wondered whether he had some conversations with Gregor or James too.

Not sure Derby won’t be sold without Pride Park, but the company structure makes Pula look like a kids jigsaw puzzle!

I do wonder in hindsight whether LJ was SL’s last hurrah?  I often joked it was his Trading Places equivalent with Eddie Murphy being played by LJ!  Was that SL’s final go at showing the fans / football world he knew football?  I dunno, but I sense the flame is going out.

I don’t go down the line of “be careful what you wish for”….I don’t think SL would sell to a bunch of sharks.

Interesting times ahead.  Need to stay in the Champ though.

In many ways it does feel like we are in a "holding pattern" waiting for something like a sale/outside investment.

 

 

[TonyTonyTony]

5 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

SL reputedly has £1.5 billion and he has invested approx £150 million in City.

That is on tenth of one per cent of his wealth.

When I bought £70 of shares in BCFC 1982, that was 99% of my available cash.

 

Its very easy to spend other people's money.....

 

[CyderInACan]

3 minutes ago, WarksRobin said:

to try to get us that promotion

The only promotion I can see us getting is from League One back to the Championship in about five years, the way we’re going!

[tin]

3 minutes ago, glynriley said:

The appointment of Holden, nice bloke that he was, pretty much finished me where it comes to SL's ownership.

For all the talk of getting to the Prem when LJ was sacked, it showed me 1 of 2  things.

All the talk is just that, talk. Or he has clearly not learnt from the internal appointments of Tinnion and Millen. I can't think of a worse appointment for a club with "Premier League ambitions" than a man taking on his first role.

Couldn't agree more. SL's whole footballing ideology comes from a trip to the Nou Camp, because not only did he learn about how they usually promote head coaches from within, it opened his eyes to everything else under the FCB umbrella (basketball, futsal, handball etc) and so Bristol Sport was born. 

[GrahamC]

7 hours ago, zippycar said:

 

I also wonder that if Mr Hargreaves had been a football man, would we be where we are today?

There are always at least two in every partnership and anyone at Hargreaves Lansdown will tell you who was the boss and the driver and who knew that there was no upside to owning a football club.
 

People often trot this line out without any evidence of course as if SL was some backroom boy there.

He understands finance brilliantly, he really didn’t make the fortune he has simply by being Hargreaves’ puppet.

He just doesn’t understand football though or make the right calls often enough to put us in the hands of those who do.

[Robbored]

17 minutes ago, WarksRobin said:

I understand what you are saying, but with enough time and money we could have the best stadium in the world in BS3. These are the limiting factors for any built infrastructure.

If we reached the Premier League, were swimming in cash and were selling out every match, every effort would be made to extend the stadium further.

You seem to be contradicting yourself there WR.

[Robbored]

6 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

People often trot this line out without any evidence of course as if SL was some backroom boy there.

He understands finance brilliantly, he really didn’t make the fortune he has simply by being Hargreaves’ puppet.

He just doesn’t understand football though or make the right calls often enough to put us in the hands of those who do.

Yep - and that’s where much of the criticism aimed at him comes from. He was conned by smarmy Ashton as many of us were when he was first appointed.

I have a far more positive feeling now that RG is the CEO.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Robbored

[Waconda]

3 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Yep - and that’s where much of the criticism aimed at him comes from. He was conned by smarmy Ashton as many of us were when he was first appointed.

I have a far more positive feeling now that RG is the CEO.

It would be interesting to find out who was the driving force behind choosing Holden as Head Coach.

[Major Isewater]

8 minutes ago, Robbored said:

He was conned by smarmy Ashton as many of us were when he was first appointed.

Some listened to the Oxford and Watford fans who were more than delighted to see the back of him and the  toxic atmosphere he bought to their clubs.

Ashton did some good for the club but more good for Mark Ashton .

 

[Robbored]

1 minute ago, VT05763 said:

It would be interesting to find out who was the driving force behind choosing Holden as Head Coach.

SL trusted Ashton and invisible Jon to recruit a new manager and after weeks of inertia they eventually came up with Holden - that went well………..

They recommended him to SL and he gave the nod.

[Bat Fastard]

I think that much of the comment on this thread is rather disrespectful of SL and his family.  In the years he has been in business it is clear that he is a gifted businessman and he has now been in football long enough to have picked up a considerable amount of knowledge and wisdom.  We should take stock and look at the state of our beloved club since he took over the reigns.  The infrastructure will be with us for many decades into the future and can provide a sensational platform for all elements of Bristol Sport to progress.

If these has been a fault - it may just be a degree of bad luck.  Expensive stars being signed and then suffering long-term injuries after a very small number of games.  The injury crisis that sunk Dean Holden. COVID - that impacted all clubs but together with FFP has made it difficult to simply buy our way out of current difficulties.  Unfortunate recruitment - maybe.  These kind of difficulties can affect any business and luck has a part to play.  Looking back, I think we have made sensational progress and the academy looks likely to save a fortune in the transfer market in years to come. Maybe we are further progressed than many think and providing we can avoid the drop this year, the future looks quite promising and maybe also sustainable.  I feel very comfortable with someone like SL in charge because he is building for the City of Bristol as well as Bristol City.  I think Steve is a visionary leader and we are very lucky to have him.  Those who wish for change, should be very wary of what they wish for - it may be that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence and that we should fertilise our grass by supporting the club and the Lansdowns to the utmost.  The future is bright although there are some squalls to get past in the near future.

[Waconda]

1 minute ago, Robbored said:

SL trusted Ashton and invisible Jon to recruit a new manager and after weeks of inertia they eventually came up with Holden - that went well………..

They recommended him to SL and he gave the nod.

Who told you that ?

[Waconda]

2 minutes ago, Bat Fastard said:

I think that much of the comment on this thread is rather disrespectful of SL and his family.  In the years he has been in business it is clear that he is a gifted businessman and he has now been in football long enough to have picked up a considerable amount of knowledge and wisdom.  We should take stock and look at the state of our beloved club since he took over the reigns.  The infrastructure will be with us for many decades into the future and can provide a sensational platform for all elements of Bristol Sport to progress.

If these has been a fault - it may just be a degree of bad luck.  Expensive stars being signed and then suffering long-term injuries after a very small number of games.  The injury crisis that sunk Dean Holden. COVID - that impacted all clubs but together with FFP has made it difficult to simply buy our way out of current difficulties.  Unfortunate recruitment - maybe.  These kind of difficulties can affect any business and luck has a part to play.  Looking back, I think we have made sensational progress and the academy looks likely to save a fortune in the transfer market in years to come. Maybe we are further progressed than many think and providing we can avoid the drop this year, the future looks quite promising and maybe also sustainable.  I feel very comfortable with someone like SL in charge because he is building for the City of Bristol as well as Bristol City.  I think Steve is a visionary leader and we are very lucky to have him.  Those who wish for change, should be very wary of what they wish for - it may be that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence and that we should fertilise our grass by supporting the club and the Lansdowns to the utmost.  The future is bright although there are some squalls to get past in the near future.

[Oizys]

50 minutes ago, Peter1450 said:

From where I am, it's a resounding yes. And I'd go further and say they would be quite happy with us being a big fish back in 

This will go against the majority on here but being the “ big fish” in L1 was far more enjoyable than anything that’s been offered for several years.

I know exactly where you're coming from.  I've always said I get as much pleasure out of us beating MK Dons, Scunthorpe, Walsall etc as I do beating Huddersfield, Reading, Barnsley etc.  A win is a win is a win.  We go crazy when we score and are delighted when we win - no matter the opposition.  Being a big fish in league one just gives us more of those moments.  After the struggles of the past few seasons it would be nice to be able to enjoy going down to the ground again.

Whilst I would rather we had those moments at this level of course, I understand the mindset here for sure.

[nebristolred]

46 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Do you remember AG before the upgrade?     

AG has been redeveloped to its maximum potential given the location in BS3. There’s no other ground space available to expand it further. That’s why SL wanted to relocate but the ‘village green’ legislation put a stop to that.
AG is now as good as gets.

If we had the Premier League riches I would disagree. Those houses behind the Atyeo could theoretically be bought up, it's happened for ground redevelopments before, and those flats behind the Dolman can't have many more decades left. Not that I could imagine it ever happening mind you.

Not to disagree with KITR as he's a good poster, but these sorts of threads always pop up when we're not doing so well, it's just the nature of football fans being a little bit fickle, and we're all guilty of it. That said I'm not even remotely informed and have far less information to make an opinion on these things, so it does make you listen when certain people have their heads turned. It's hard to criticise for the appointment of Pearson as most of us were behind that too, but the likes of Holden, and being 'fooled' for want of a better term by Ashton, these things don't look particularly great.

Another way of looking at it, is that the Championship has come on so much in the past decade or 2. We have had huge infrastructure improvements, but instead of it getting us where we want/expect to be, the possible truth is that most other clubs have been doing similar things and in reality it's only actually been enough for us to keep up, and no more. Perhaps we're over-expectant in that respect. I can't imagine we'd be where we are now if we still had the GJ-era infrastructure in place.

Annoyingly my Athletic subscription expired last week so if someone could paste the full article that would be great.

Edited November 18, 2021 by nebristolred

[semblar]

39 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

SL reputedly has £1.5 billion and he has invested approx £150 million in City.

That is on tenth of one per cent of his wealth.

When I bought £70 of shares in BCFC 1982, that was 99% of my available cash.

 

Sorry, but they use "short form billions" these days - so it is 10% of his wealth, not 0.1%. Also you are comparing his wealth to your available cash - I very much doubt he had £150 million in loose change down the back of his very expensive sofa. There were several sales of H-L shares reported at the time if I recall

[chinapig]

42 minutes ago, WarksRobin said:

SL has been clear for a long time that he wants the club to be financially sustainable.

Which doesn't square with giving Ashton free rein and allowing him to massively increase our costs.

Saying one thing and doing the opposite doesn't create the impression of a man with a plan.

[CodeRed]

22 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Who told you that ?

He read it on the OS

[Son of Fred]

48 minutes ago, TonyTonyTony said:

Its very easy to spend other people's money.....

 

I know - ask my wife.

[B1ackbird]

2 hours ago, exAtyeoMax said:

Why do you think that was?
I’ve often thought it was a kind of class thing…Hire well spoken nice people, who don’t rock the boat, when I would think many top people are ruthless and tough. That’s probably why he didn’t like Cotts, he was too rough around the edges and straight talking. SL doesn’t like Warnock, possibly because he’d be straight talking and direct (not rude) but is relatively successful in his remit. 

I think SL doesn't like Warnock due to the cheats and liars, accusation after the phantom goal v palace..

[handsofclay]

Here is the article from The Athletic:

If there is one club that is forever called "Sleeping Giants" it is Bristol City. Peter Goldthorne of The Athletic examines the legitimacy of this claim:

I have reached the conclusion that it is grossly unfair to label Bristol City as "Sleeping Giants" for even those of gargantuan stature that are asleep do at times awake and then rightly adopt the mantle of giants. In Bristol City's case they remain constantly asleep. Medical opinion is unanimous in cases of giants being asleep for 41 years plus that they are not actually sleeping at all but are either deceased or in a comatose state from which they are unlikely to arise. Thus I feel Bristol City should be called "Comatose Giants" as if prodded, unlike those that are dead, they do exhibit signs of life (unless it's approaching the 90th minute or beyond in a game).

The Athletic believes that although comatose so not strictly dead that owner Steve Lansdown should try and return the club back to the shop in Bolton from whence he bought it and try to convince the shop owner that it is indeed a dead club and not one that is just resting or pining for the (Fred) Fords. We believe that it should then be put back on the shelf with a price tag of £150,000,000 the high asking price due to the fact that the club comes replete with a modern 27,000 seater stadium that hosts the Bristol Bears rugby club as well as having lighting  that considerably pisses off Tilly Vacher in Clifton.

 

[Major Isewater]

20 minutes ago, Son of Fred said:

I know - ask my wife.

You shouldn’t be spending all her money .

[Waconda]

32 minutes ago, CodeRed said:

He read it on the OS

OK that's that sorted then.

[archie andrews]

59 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Who told you that ?

A bloke down the pub..... 

[jj77]

4 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

I don’t know the percentages but I suspect even those will be higher for SL than us.

Ultimately the buck stops with SL and his guardianship of the club has left the supporters frustrated by his lack of footballing nous and success whilst other clubs have show us how it’s done. 
 

It's not relative though, is it?

If you've got £1 billion and you spend £300 million on the club, you've still got assets ie Players, Ground and can recoup some if not more back.

If you've got £100 and spend £30 on City then you've just wasted £30.

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, VT05763 said:

In many ways it does feel like we are in a "holding pattern" waiting for something like a sale/outside investment.

 

 

I guess you could even add in - stripping cost out of the club is a way to make it more attractive / give scope for new owners to develop the squad how they want?

[LondonBristolian]

5 hours ago, RedM said:

I think Steve and family will stay as long as what they are doing makes them happy. They are getting older and you do look at life differently. You have different priorities with your time, which is just as precious as money believe it or not. Right now how happy is the club making them? 

I think this is a very underrated point. Bottom line is Lansdown's never invested in the club to make money so what he wants out of it must be something else. My guess is local kudos from developing sport in Bristol plus the enjoyment of doing something "fun" with the money he has made.

If he gets as much criticism as kudos and the club isn't much fun to run at the moment, I'm sure there's a point where he would step away.

Going back to @Kid in the Riot's opening post, I think he is right that the appetite is no longer there to take us further. I think from our point of view, it puts us in an interesting situation. There is no doubt that other owners - such as Tony Bloom or Matthew Benham - have achieved more than Lansdown has with clubs that started at similar or worse points. However there are also the examples of new owners running clubs into the ground. A sale would end the sense of stagnation and treading water around the club but there are two directions we could go from there.

It reminds me of when we sacked Lee Johnson. Essentially we gave up a guarantee of mildly underachieving in the top half of the table. That might get us somewhere worse or might get us somewhere better and it is uncertain where the cards will ultimately fall. 

[Waconda]

Just now, Davefevs said:

I guess you could even add in - stripping cost out of the club is a way to make it more attractive / give scope for new owners to develop the squad how they want?

Precisely.

[DolmanGaz]

4 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

I don’t know the percentages but I suspect even those will be higher for SL than us.

Ultimately the buck stops with SL and his guardianship of the club has left the supporters frustrated by his lack of footballing nous and success whilst other clubs have show us how it’s done. 
 

But surely if SL sold Bristol Sport he'd most likely make back most, if not all of, his investment?

[sh1t_ref_again]

37 minutes ago, handsofclay said:

Here is the article from The Athletic:

If there is one club that is forever called "Sleeping Giants" it is Bristol City. Peter Goldthorne of The Athletic examines the legitimacy of this claim:

I have reached the conclusion that it is grossly unfair to label Bristol City as "Sleeping Giants" for even those of gargantuan stature that are asleep do at times awake and then rightly adopt the mantle of giants. In Bristol City's case they remain constantly asleep. Medical opinion is unanimous in cases of giants being asleep for 41 years plus that they are not actually sleeping at all but are either deceased or in a comatose state from which they are unlikely to arise. Thus I feel Bristol City should be called "Comatose Giants" as if prodded, unlike those that are dead, they do exhibit signs of life (unless it's approaching the 90th minute or beyond in a game).

The Athletic believes that although comatose so not strictly dead that owner Steve Lansdown should try and return the club back to the shop in Bolton from whence he bought it and try to convince the shop owner that it is indeed a dead club and not one that is just resting or pining for the (Fred) Fords. We believe that it should then be put back on the shelf with a price tag of £150,000,000 the high asking price due to the fact that the club comes replete with a modern 27,000 seater stadium that hosts the Bristol Bears rugby club as well as having lighting  that considerably pisses off Tilly Vacher in Clifton.

 

Glad I did not subscribe, what a crock of sh1t

[Coxy27]

1 hour ago, cidered abroad said:

SL reputedly has £1.5 billion and he has invested approx £150 million in City.

That is on tenth of one per cent of his wealth.

When I bought £70 of shares in BCFC 1982, that was 99% of my available cash.

 

£150 million is not one tenth of one percent of £1.5 billion...

It's 10%.

Also 'available cash' is a loose and essentially meaningless term - Steve won't have £150m of available cash, far far from it.

The comparison is irrelevant.

[Super]

46 minutes ago, handsofclay said:

Here is the article from The Athletic:

If there is one club that is forever called "Sleeping Giants" it is Bristol City. Peter Goldthorne of The Athletic examines the legitimacy of this claim:

I have reached the conclusion that it is grossly unfair to label Bristol City as "Sleeping Giants" for even those of gargantuan stature that are asleep do at times awake and then rightly adopt the mantle of giants. In Bristol City's case they remain constantly asleep. Medical opinion is unanimous in cases of giants being asleep for 41 years plus that they are not actually sleeping at all but are either deceased or in a comatose state from which they are unlikely to arise. Thus I feel Bristol City should be called "Comatose Giants" as if prodded, unlike those that are dead, they do exhibit signs of life (unless it's approaching the 90th minute or beyond in a game).

The Athletic believes that although comatose so not strictly dead that owner Steve Lansdown should try and return the club back to the shop in Bolton from whence he bought it and try to convince the shop owner that it is indeed a dead club and not one that is just resting or pining for the (Fred) Fords. We believe that it should then be put back on the shelf with a price tag of £150,000,000 the high asking price due to the fact that the club comes replete with a modern 27,000 seater stadium that hosts the Bristol Bears rugby club as well as having lighting  that considerably pisses off Tilly Vacher in Clifton.

 

Thank you although i def won't be subscribing to it with articles like that.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Lrrr said:

And on Szmodics, in hindsight, not a bad championship signing, however seems not one our head coach wanted at the time. 

He's a good championship player but wasn't it a case that we already had Pato in that position, signed Szmodics as backup and then went ahead and got Palmer pushing Szmodics down to 3rd choice

[Red-Robbo]

The entire corporate governance of the club is wrong: Two directors, one not in the UK for much of the year, combined with an owner who has taken a hands-off policy recently and is based off shore. It all leaves City as a bit of a rudderless ship. I don't know if Richard Gould can shoulder giving the club direction alone. In his work at Surrey CC he was in charge of the wealthiest county club in the UK - a slightly different challenge than he has here.

I'm grateful to Steve for his investment over the years. It has moved us forward: AG was a ground that was an embarrassment in the second tier; We now seem more like a "natural Championship side" than we did when he arrived.

But our current poor form - for the entire bloody year! - is horrendous, and the "Nigel away until we know not when, Curtis Fleming in charge because we can't think what else to do" thing, just underlines how, still, decisions are not taken by Bristol Sport, the club is ambushed by events. We have the foresight of Mr M'Goo. "Medium-term strategy? Contingency planning? What is that!?"

If this new investment means a farewell to the Lansdowns, I'm cool with that. If it means, a co-owner who might shake things up a bit and not allow the drift we've seen, I'd be cool with that as well.

But something's gotta give. 

[Harry]

1 hour ago, handsofclay said:

Here is the article from The Athletic:

If there is one club that is forever called "Sleeping Giants" it is Bristol City. Peter Goldthorne of The Athletic examines the legitimacy of this claim:

I have reached the conclusion that it is grossly unfair to label Bristol City as "Sleeping Giants" for even those of gargantuan stature that are asleep do at times awake and then rightly adopt the mantle of giants. In Bristol City's case they remain constantly asleep. Medical opinion is unanimous in cases of giants being asleep for 41 years plus that they are not actually sleeping at all but are either deceased or in a comatose state from which they are unlikely to arise. Thus I feel Bristol City should be called "Comatose Giants" as if prodded, unlike those that are dead, they do exhibit signs of life (unless it's approaching the 90th minute or beyond in a game).

The Athletic believes that although comatose so not strictly dead that owner Steve Lansdown should try and return the club back to the shop in Bolton from whence he bought it and try to convince the shop owner that it is indeed a dead club and not one that is just resting or pining for the (Fred) Fords. We believe that it should then be put back on the shelf with a price tag of £150,000,000 the high asking price due to the fact that the club comes replete with a modern 27,000 seater stadium that hosts the Bristol Bears rugby club as well as having lighting  that considerably pisses off Tilly Vacher in Clifton.

 

 

39 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

Glad I did not subscribe, what a crock of sh1t

 

29 minutes ago, Super said:

Thank you although i def won't be subscribing to it with articles like that.

That’s not the article that KITR is referring to. 
It’s just a lengthy article about ownership in the championship, nothing specific about any investment in BCFC. 
I’ll see if I can paste it.