The Lansdowns are a pox on our club

[WessexPest]

Yes, I realise there aren’t exactly a busload of wealthy buyers at hand but the Lansdown family have engineered a slow and steady malaise of our club while making some boneheaded managerial appointments.

Yes, Pearson’s time is up - I don’t know what I expected from him but after two years at the helm it was certainly more than this rancid cheesewater - but why would you trust the morons at the head of our club who couldn’t organise their s*** into the pan to get it right next time? The whole rotten lot needs to go.

Short term there’s no outcome other than League One football. Unacceptable but sadly the reality. 

Edited December 26, 2022 by WessexPest

[Barrs Court Red]

It’s not ALL bad, certainly not enough for that vitriol imo. 

[Dredd]

Sadly, they backed the wrong horse with transfer funds quite substantially and we are paying for it now being hamstrung with no money to spend and players on high wages. 
On paper Pearson was a good appointment and most of the fanbase was very happy with it. What they do next could be a very big decision for the club

[Kid in the Riot]

2 minutes ago, WessexPest said:

Yes, I realise there aren’t exactly a busload of wealthy buyers at hand but the Lansdown family have engineered a slow and steady malaise of our club while making some boneheaded managerial appointments.

Yes, Pearson’s time is up - I don’t know what I expected from him but after two years at the helm it was certainly more than this rancid cheesewater - but why would you trust the morons at the head of our club who couldn’t organise their s*** into the pan to get it right next time? The whole rotten lot needs to go.

Short term there’s no outcome other than League One football. Unacceptable but sadly the reality. 

Zero faith in Steve's next managerial appointment, for obvious reasons. 

I'm astonished people haven't woken up to the fact we're for sale. 

A period of great uncertainty. 

I'm concerned Steve will hold out for unrealistic money. 

With so much financial uncertainty, it's a terrible time to sell unfortunately.

That said, the pound is weak, so a good time for American investors.

[WessexPest]

1 minute ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Zero faith in Steve's next managerial appointment, for obvious reasons. 

I'm astonished people haven't woken up to the fact we're for sale. 

A period of great uncertainty. 

I'm concerned Steve will hold out for unrealistic money. 

With so much financial uncertainty, it's a terrible time to sell unfortunately.

That said, the pound is weak, so a good time for American investors.

Yes, we could end up with unscrupulous buyers - if that meant success no one would care. Of course things could get worse, I’m not blind to that. But better under the current regime? Slim to no chance.

[Kid in the Riot]

3 minutes ago, WessexPest said:

Yes, we could end up with unscrupulous buyers - if that meant success no one would care. Of course things could get worse, I’m not blind to that. But better under the current regime? Slim to no chance.

I am on record and happy to repeat that we will not be promoted under SL. I'd like a quick sale and new opportunity thanks 

I think/hope it's coming in the next 18 months 

[JoeAman08]

3 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Zero faith in Steve's next managerial appointment, for obvious reasons. 

I'm astonished people haven't woken up to the fact we're for sale. 

A period of great uncertainty. 

I'm concerned Steve will hold out for unrealistic money. 

With so much financial uncertainty, it's a terrible time to sell unfortunately.

That said, the pound is weak, so a good time for American investors.

More concerned he’d want to sell Bristol Sport as a whole. His comments about investment basically said he’d sell. Didn’t say sell but said it would need to be a massive sum. Who wants to invest 10-20 millions to part own(non majority) a championship club with no track record of getting to the top flight? Anyway want Bristol City to be Bristol City not part of BS. Idk where a sale leaves us with the stadium either. 

[Lack of Action Man]

We all know that Tinnion will be appointed as manager again once Pearson gets the boot.

Lansdown doesn't change, and hasn't changed in the last 20-25 years.

[AppyDAZE]

3 minutes ago, OddBallJim said:

We all know that Tinnion will be appointed as manager again once Pearson gets the boot.

Lansdown doesn't change, and hasn't changed in the last 20-25 years.

Tinnion will NOT be the next BCFC manager, and I'll take your money now.

 

[Lack of Action Man]

1 minute ago, AppyDAZE said:

Tinnion will NOT be the next BCFC manager, and I'll take your money now.

 

:shrug: Big statement to make, but I lack hope/faith at the moment that we won't just repeat mistakes of old...

[Kid in the Riot]

11 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said:

More concerned he’d want to sell Bristol Sport as a whole. His comments about investment basically said he’d sell. Didn’t say sell but said it would need to be a massive sum. Who wants to invest 10-20 millions to part own(non majority) a championship club with no track record of getting to the top flight? Anyway want Bristol City to be Bristol City not part of BS. Idk where a sale leaves us with the stadium either. 

I think he wants to keep Bears but would be willing to sell City and AG.

5 minutes ago, AppyDAZE said:

Tinnion will NOT be the next BCFC manager, and I'll take your money now.

Yep, he would not accept even if offered. 

[AppyDAZE]

4 minutes ago, OddBallJim said:

:shrug: Big statement to make, but I lack hope/faith at the moment that we won't just repeat mistakes of old...

We all feel your pain, we're Bristol City,  the devil loves to crap on Bristol City.

Thank God it's only football   :laugh:

 

[Lack of Action Man]

Just now, AppyDAZE said:

We all feel your pain, we're Bristol City,  the devil loves to crap on Bristol City.

Thank God it's only football  

 

True. Also the festive pie from the concourse was quite nice today, so all is not totally lost I suppose.

[Ron W]

We can point to the success stories of Bournemouth and others and they have gone way past us despite having a far smaller catchment area.

But have we done better or worse than you would expect from a team who've spent a good proportion of their existence as a third-tier backwater?

Since 2007 we've spent 13 of the last 15 seasons in the Championship, and we've finished in the top half in six.

Nothing special, but we also won our first league trophy in 60 years in the two seasons we were in League One which says a lot about how little success we have ever had.

When SL leaves City, will we be in a worse or better position than when he found us? You'd have to be very harsh to say a revamped stadium, new training ground and sustained second-tier set-up isn't progress, even if it could be better.

Edited December 26, 2022 by RonWalker

[Kid in the Riot]

1 minute ago, RonWalker said:

We can point to the success stories of Bournemouth and others and they have gone way past us despite having a far smaller catchment area.

But have we done better or worse than you would expect from a team who've spent a good proportion of their existence as a third-tier backwater?

Since 2007 we've spent 13 of the last 15 seasons in the Championship, and we've finished in the top half in six.

Nothing special, but we also won our first league trophy in 60 years in the two seasons we were in League One which says a lot about how little success we have ever had.

When SL leaves City, will we be in a worse or better position than when he found us? You'd have to be very harsh to say a revamped stadium, new training ground and sustained second-tier set-up isn't progress, even if it could be better.

He's left the club in a better place, but in terms of value for money, it's absolutely horrific. And that's the point.

Yes, we have done a lot worse than similar sized clubs. Most painfully Cardiff and Swansea. 

Very easy to stick money into property (the stadium), the FC, a very different proposition. 

[Ron W]

Just now, Kid in the Riot said:

He's left the club in a better place, but in terms of value for money, it's absolutely horrific. And that's the point.

Yeah no one could really argue that.

But is he a "pox" on our club for ploughing millions into BCFC, making us better in the process but wasting tonnes of his own money that he'll never get back? Bit 'arsh.

[Kid in the Riot]

5 minutes ago, RonWalker said:

Yeah no one could really argue that.

But is he a "pox" on our club for ploughing millions into BCFC, making us better in the process but wasting tonnes of his own money that he'll never get back? Bit 'arsh.

We've been over it many times. He's clearly lacked any footballing nouse. I'm just watching Brighton beat Saints on motd. 

Brighton got promoted to L1 the year Lansdown took charge. Swansea were in the basement division. 

[Ron W]

1 minute ago, Kid in the Riot said:

We've been over it many times. He's clearly lacked any footballing nouse. I'm just watching Brighton beat Saints on motd. 

Brighton got promoted to L1 the year Lansdown took charge. Swansea were in the basement division. 

Yeah, bi-weekly on slow weeks, but the thread is the thread. The biggest sadness is that when he did try to seriously entrust someone else with running the club, it was Mark Ashton.

Edited December 27, 2022 by RonWalker

[Ziderarmy]

8 minutes ago, Ron W said:

Yeah, bi-weekly on slow weeks, but the thread is the thread. The biggest sadness is that when he did try to seriously entrust someone else with running the club, it was Mark Ashton.

Whose fault was that? Is Hargreaves the brains in Hargreaves-Lansdown as surely he can’t be as awful running that as he has our football club appointment wise.

You could argue the most successful manager in his ownership was the one he didn’t pick…

[Ron W]

2 minutes ago, Pearsonistheman said:

Whose fault was that? Is Hargreaves the brains in Hargreaves-Lansdown as surely he can’t be as awful running that as he has our football club appointment wise.

You could argue the most successful manager in his ownership was the one he didn’t pick…

He wouldn't be the first successful businessman to burn a chunk of his earnings running a football club without much to show for it. And he wouldn't be the last.

Edited December 27, 2022 by Ron W

[Ziderarmy]

Just now, Ron W said:

He wouldn't be the first successful businessman to burn a chunk of his earnings running a football club without much to show for it. And he won't be the last.

Name some please? Mike Ashley? 

[Harry]

13 minutes ago, Ron W said:

Yeah, bi-weekly on slow weeks, but the thread is the thread. The biggest sadness is that when he did try to seriously entrust someone else with running the club, it was Mark Ashton.

The way Ashton was able to pull the wool over SL’s eyes for so long is testament to SL’s inability to judge a man’s character. 

[Ron W]

Mike Ashley was a terrible owner, but probably did a good job by his financial advisor's reckoning. And probably made a very healthy profit?

Where do you want to start... Randy Lerner, Ellis Short, Mel Morris, there's three for starters. At least SL hasn't turned off the tap the moment he's realised how much is going down the plughole and left us to rot. He's made a significant number of poor investments though.

Edited December 27, 2022 by Ron W

[Greyrobbo]

a) you’re talking absolute rubbish

b) you have a very short memory

[Ivorguy]

In my opinion this is the most important thread we have had in the life of Otib.

More and more fans are coming to the same conclusion about the ownership, and no longer do some of us feel we are voices in the wilderness, who at times have taken terrible personal abuse on Otib for expressing our genuinely held views.

[2015]

Have said on other threads - sacking Pearson doesn't change much. I have zero faith that SL will get in the right man based on his previous record.

Massive problems at this club and it all feels rather stale and the fans can feel it based on the rather stale atmosphere at the club these past 3 or 4 years. SL doesn't have the passion for it as he used to (understandably). It's all very safe and cushty, the place needs a shake up and new owners would probably be worth the risk right now.

[Supersonic Robin]

2 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

We've been over it many times. He's clearly lacked any footballing nouse. I'm just watching Brighton beat Saints on motd. 

Brighton got promoted to L1 the year Lansdown took charge. Swansea were in the basement division. 

Spot on.

• I go on Twitter to see top half Prem club Brighton celebrating their player winning the World Cup.
• I watch MOTD and see midtable Prem club Brentford beating Man United and Man City.
• I sit through transfer windows praying "I hope Premier League Bournemouth don't steal our best players!".
• I look up the Championship table and think "I wish we were doing as well as Luton".
• I even look at clubs around us in the Championship, and realise that Swansea, Birmingham, and Wigan have all won major domestic cups in the last 20 years.

It's utterly depressing and humiliating.

[FNQ]

3 hours ago, WessexPest said:

Yes, I realise there aren’t exactly a busload of wealthy buyers at hand but the Lansdown family have engineered a slow and steady malaise of our club while making some boneheaded managerial appointments.

Yes, Pearson’s time is up - I don’t know what I expected from him but after two years at the helm it was certainly more than this rancid cheesewater - but why would you trust the morons at the head of our club who couldn’t organise their s*** into the pan to get it right next time? The whole rotten lot needs to go.

Short term there’s no outcome other than League One football. Unacceptable but sadly the reality. 

“Rancid cheesewater”…

[headhunter]

7 hours ago, Ron W said:

He wouldn't be the first successful businessman to burn a chunk of his earnings running a football club without much to show for it. And he wouldn't be the last.

I'm struggling to name another owner who's stumped up overall about £250M and got so little to show for it.

Bournemouth and others took the gamble of going for it big time one season regardless of the FFP implications if they failed. How much have they earned in their time there? Lansdown has lost in the long term by playing safe and when he did splash a bit on the playing side it was entrusted to Ashton.

[Bat Fastard]

Apart from the beautiful stadium, the state of the art training ground, the excellent academy and the fact that we have lasted in the Championship- what have the Lansdowns ever done for us??

[BCFCinNW6]

12 minutes ago, Bat Fastard said:

Apart from the beautiful stadium, the state of the art training ground, the excellent academy and the fact that we have lasted in the Championship- what have the Lansdowns ever done for us??

Year on year failure in the football department. You know, the bit that matters. 

[cidered abroad]

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the SL regime, the current problem is one that would not be resolved if he sold BS or BCFC tomorrow to someone who would be prepared to plough shedloads into the Club.

Our problem now is FFP which is stopping us from bringing in the two or three top Championship quality that we need to save our Championship status.

[ExiledAjax]

8 hours ago, WessexPest said:

Yes, we could end up with unscrupulous buyers - if that meant success no one would care. Of course things could get worse, I’m not blind to that. But better under the current regime? Slim to no chance.

I'd care. 

[red panda]

Good post Captain Hindsight.

Most managerial appointments are huge gambles, and many that look great on paper don't work out. NP could prove one of those, yet many (most?) of us were ecstatic when he joined. Wilder and Hughton were names banded around here with lots of enthusiasm but they both failed in their most recent posts. Many clubs oscillate between experienced managers and up and coming younger ones, and the vast majority of both types of appointment fail.

Please, please, please let's not kid ourselves that there are lots of owners out there making successful managerial appointments and SL is some kind of exception. Two thirds of  current championship managers have been in post for less than seven months. Almost everyone is getting it wrong. That's football. 

[sh1t_ref_again]

5 hours ago, Supersonic Robin said:

Spot on.

• I go on Twitter to see top half Prem club Brighton celebrating their player winning the World Cup.
• I watch MOTD and see midtable Prem club Brentford beating Man United and Man City.
• I sit through transfer windows praying "I hope Premier League Bournemouth don't steal our best players!".
• I look up the Championship table and think "I wish we were doing as well as Luton".
• I even look at clubs around us in the Championship, and realise that Swansea, Birmingham, and Wigan have all won major domestic cups in the last 20 years.

It's utterly depressing and humiliating.

You have picked random sides who you perceive as having  done better, but what about our main rivals of 20 years ago, the gas, swindon Plymouth and Cardiff 

[Barrs Court Red]

22 minutes ago, Bat Fastard said:

Apart from the beautiful stadium, the state of the art training ground, the excellent academy and the fact that we have lasted in the Championship- what have the Lansdowns ever done for us??

That’s certainly true, but it’s all too late.  
 

Stadium - After many false dawns, it gets delivered and I don’t think anyone could argue that it’s not a fantastic venue.  Thing is though, it could have happened when he took over or joined if memory serves me correctly.  But Steve knows best right? 
 

Training Ground - Danny Wilson was crying out for a new facility how many years ago? It seems a decent site, however it’s not really delivering a competitive edge. What’s the facilities like at other clubs, did this just see us remain in near parity? 
 

The Academy - Strange choice as it was already there. Yes it’s been backed well more recently and is delivering.  Certainly one of the highlights

Championship football - True, but the last 3 years especially have been terrible.  

[Barrs Court Red]

8 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the SL regime, the current problem is one that would not be resolved if he sold BS or BCFC tomorrow to someone who would be prepared to plough shedloads into the Club.

Our problem now is FFP which is stopping us from bringing in the two or three top Championship quality that we need to save our Championship status.

I’ve said on here in recent weeks, it’s not just about the money (the fact too much of it has been spent is a major factor for the current mess)

 

It’s also about strategy and direction. The latter is seemingly desperately needed. 

[ExiledAjax]

9 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

You have picked random sides who you perceive as having  done better, but what about our main rivals of 20 years ago, the gas, swindon Plymouth and Cardiff 

Yeh, and no one ever mentions Oldham, Bolton, Ipswich, or as many other clubs that have suffered reversals of fortunes.

At the end of the day I do think that the Lansdown era should close soon. That family have done wonders for this club, keeping us stable whilst transforming the real estate and infrastructure. But a change is as good as a rest and a refresh is needed. Lansdown is adverse to innovation and new ideas in football. He's become adverse to fan engagement. He's become untrusting.

A new owner doesn't guarantee success in any way shape or form,  and the structure and funding of any investment would be key. 

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, Bat Fastard said:

Apart from the beautiful stadium, the state of the art training ground, the excellent academy and the fact that we have lasted in the Championship- what have the Lansdowns ever done for us??

This beautiful stadium do we as a club have any say on who plays in it? and how much % wise do we get from concerts etc that also hire it? is it free for us to use it and its bars etc do we get that income? gen interested as anyone who is interested in buying us would they not also have to purchase the stadium as well?

[KegCity]

39 minutes ago, Bat Fastard said:

Apart from the beautiful stadium, the state of the art training ground, the excellent academy and the fact that we have lasted in the Championship- what have the Lansdowns ever done for us??

Are these all not the bare minimum you’d expect from competent owners? What’s been delivered on the pitch, where it actually counts? We beat Man United and we won some trophies in a league we should never have dropped down to in the first place. 

We aren’t a tiny little club who should be counting our blessings being in the championship. This attitude from our fan base has to go if we want to do anything successful on the pitch. Bristols a large city and we have a sizeable fan base, with better footballing decisions we could easily be knocking on the door of the top 6 on a regular basis and to have only made one playoff final under Lansdown is an atrocious return on investment.

We’ve got three quarters of a good stadium (as do most clubs our size) and we have a good academy (great), is that enough for some people? We’re in a financial mess directly because of Lansdown and we’ve only once had a sniff of Premier League football because of Lansdown’s decisions. 

Really wish our fan base would stop talking like we’re some minnows who have somehow made it to the championship. We’re a decent sized club, as big as many who have asserted themselves as Premier League clubs in recent years, yet we’re happy to give Lansdown a free ride because he built some new stands and we have a lovely training ground. As if we should actually be having tents for stands and training up the downs because we’re some tiny club. Do we have a god given right to top flight football? No. But we should have come a lot closer than we have under Lansdown given the money he has invested.

Undoubtedly things could be a lot worse but if our only ambition is to tread water in the championship long term that is embarrassing, football is about trying to win trophies. I have no interest supporting a club content to make up the numbers and count themselves lucky that they aren’t worse off.

[exAtyeoMax]

39 minutes ago, red panda said:

Good post Captain Hindsight.

Most managerial appointments are huge gambles, and many that look great on paper don't work out. NP could prove one of those, yet many (most?) of us were ecstatic when he joined. Wilder and Hughton were names banded around here with lots of enthusiasm but they both failed in their most recent posts. Many clubs oscillate between experienced managers and up and coming younger ones, and the vast majority of both types of appointment fail.

Please, please, please let's not kid ourselves that there are lots of owners out there making successful managerial appointments and SL is some kind of exception. Two thirds of  current championship managers have been in post for less than seven months. Almost everyone is getting it wrong. That's football. 

Did they fail because they were fired? Has Nige not failed because he hasn’t been fired? Would Nige have been given such a long time at different club?

[Bedred31]

People who think the Landsdowns are ‘a pox’ need to explain where the £20m + pa to cover our losses is going to come from without them? Vague ‘financial consortiums’ don’t come up with that sort of write off money, fans like SL do. And while I dare say that some is the spending under Junior/ Ashdown was unwise, these were the players ( ie this was the spending ) that allowed us to compete in the top half of the Championship. People on here who complain about ‘deadwood’ and ‘financial mismanagement’ really understand nothing about modern football, the effects of Covid or FFP. SL is a great chairman and when he’s gone- and I dare say he will be soon- we’re going to miss him mightily.

[Tin Soldier]

1 hour ago, Barrs Court Red said:

That’s certainly true, but it’s all too late.  
 

Stadium - After many false dawns, it gets delivered and I don’t think anyone could argue that it’s not a fantastic venue.  Thing is though, it could have happened when he took over or joined if memory serves me correctly.  But Steve knows best right? 
 

Training Ground - Danny Wilson was crying out for a new facility how many years ago? It seems a decent site, however it’s not really delivering a competitive edge. What’s the facilities like at other clubs, did this just see us remain in near parity? 
 

The Academy - Strange choice as it was already there. Yes it’s been backed well more recently and is delivering.  Certainly one of the highlights

Championship football - True, but the last 3 years especially have been terrible.  

Correct, all the tools but no idea how to use them

[LondonBristolian]

9 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

I think he wants to keep Bears but would be willing to sell City and AG.

Yep, he would not accept even if offered. 

Not doubting you as I know you have something of an inside track but, out of interest, what is the value of keeping the Bears but not AG? I would have thought the ground was where the profit was? Or does he think he can maximise value on the redevelopments by selling now?

Edited December 27, 2022 by LondonBristolian

[cidered abroad]

1 hour ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

You have picked random sides who you perceive as having  done better, but what about our main rivals of 20 years ago, the gas, swindon Plymouth and Cardiff 

Football League is nationwide.

Not just the South West & South Wales league!

[LondonBristolian]

Personally I think all discussions on the Lansdowns quickly fly to extremes. They aren’t a ‘pox’ on the club and plenty of clubs have far worse owners but we also get a bit stuck on the idea that, if they went, there is absolutely nobody else out there who would not destroy the club.

Truthfully - whether you feel it should have happened quicker or not - Lansdown has got us to a point where we have the foundations of a top flight club - in terms of quality of stadium, training ground and academy - but a combination of bad luck and the wrong decisions at the wrong time have meant he has not delivered top flight football and he has clearly reached a point where he needs the club to wash its own face - which few clubs do, especially whilst succeeding on the pitch - and is at least open to, and perhaps very keen on, selling out entirely.

Of course there are risks with a sale that we end up with a Sisu, a Mike Ashley or whoever it is at Charlton but we could also end up with a new owner who can take the facilities in place and appoint the necessary football people to finally deliver.

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, Bedred31 said:

People who think the Landsdowns are ‘a pox’ need to explain where the £20m + pa to cover our losses is going to come from without them? Vague ‘financial consortiums’ don’t come up with that sort of write off money, fans like SL do. And while I dare say that some is the spending under Junior/ Ashdown was unwise, these were the players ( ie this was the spending ) that allowed us to compete in the top half of the Championship. People on here who complain about ‘deadwood’ and ‘financial mismanagement’ really understand nothing about modern football, the effects of Covid or FFP. SL is a great chairman and when he’s gone- and I dare say he will be soon- we’re going to miss him mightily.

Disagree with this, our losses are not ours but SL`s ALL HIS choices decisions which has got us to where we are today, which by the way is almost exactly the same league position as where we were when they dropped SC after that manager got us to this division; the only mis management is by SL and HIS choices

[Donny T]

1 hour ago, KegCity said:

Are these all not the bare minimum you’d expect from competent owners? What’s been delivered on the pitch, where it actually counts? We beat Man United and we won some trophies in a league we should never have dropped down to in the first place. 

We aren’t a tiny little club who should be counting our blessings being in the championship. This attitude from our fan base has to go if we want to do anything successful on the pitch. Bristols a large city and we have a sizeable fan base, with better footballing decisions we could easily be knocking on the door of the top 6 on a regular basis and to have only made one playoff final under Lansdown is an atrocious return on investment.

We’ve got three quarters of a good stadium (as do most clubs our size) and we have a good academy (great), is that enough for some people? We’re in a financial mess directly because of Lansdown and we’ve only once had a sniff of Premier League football because of Lansdown’s decisions. 

Really wish our fan base would stop talking like we’re some minnows who have somehow made it to the championship. We’re a decent sized club, as big as many who have asserted themselves as Premier League clubs in recent years, yet we’re happy to give Lansdown a free ride because he built some new stands and we have a lovely training ground. As if we should actually be having tents for stands and training up the downs because we’re some tiny club. Do we have a god given right to top flight football? No. But we should have come a lot closer than we have under Lansdown given the money he has invested.

Undoubtedly things could be a lot worse but if our only ambition is to tread water in the championship long term that is embarrassing, football is about trying to win trophies. I have no interest supporting a club content to make up the numbers and count themselves lucky that they aren’t worse off.

You’ve hit the nail on the head right there . The blindness and lack of ambition from some of our fanbase is staggering. Bristol is one of englands biggest cities with a huge catchment area , the potential of this club is massive and shows how badly we’ve been run over the years.

For a club that’s never achieved anything of note in its history to be able to pull in over 20,000 crowds even though it has the most expensive ticket prices in the league is amazing . As a fanbase it’s time we start realising that we deserve more and stop accepting piss poor mediocrity .

[Donny T]

38 minutes ago, Bedred31 said:

People who think the Landsdowns are ‘a pox’ need to explain where the £20m + pa to cover our losses is going to come from without them? Vague ‘financial consortiums’ don’t come up with that sort of write off money, fans like SL do. And while I dare say that some is the spending under Junior/ Ashdown was unwise, these were the players ( ie this was the spending ) that allowed us to compete in the top half of the Championship. People on here who complain about ‘deadwood’ and ‘financial mismanagement’ really understand nothing about modern football, the effects of Covid or FFP. SL is a great chairman and when he’s gone- and I dare say he will be soon- we’re going to miss him mightily.

:laugh: he has to cover those big losses because he runs the club so badly in the first place .

[Bedred31]

7 minutes ago, gl2 said:

Disagree with this, our losses are not ours but SL`s ALL HIS choices decisions which has got us to where we are today, which by the way is almost exactly the same league position as where we were when they dropped SC after that manager got us to this division; the only mis management is by SL and HIS choices

And, like, having no commercial income at all from ticket sales, food, drink etc for over 12 months was irrelevant to all this? 

[The Swan and Cemetery]

There’s a risk in football that we assess success vs what we want to achieve, rather than what we are achieving, but as it’s zero sum, as many must be failing/going down as succeeding/going up. Based on a quick look at the 2015/16 table, we’re joint 3rd longest serving in the Championship. Brentford and Bournemouth were with us that season, so were Derby and Sheffield Wednesday. Personally not convinced we’re failing, but we maybe (8 consecutive seasons in the same league) a bit boring. Pretty sure SL doesn’t wake every morning, look in the mirror and say “yet one more day of perfect decision making ahead Steve” as lots of decisions, particularly with hindsight, haven’t been great, but “pox”, definitely not. 

[Duncandrew]

7 hours ago, Supersonic Robin said:

Spot on.

• I go on Twitter to see top half Prem club Brighton celebrating their player winning the World Cup.
• I watch MOTD and see midtable Prem club Brentford beating Man United and Man City.
• I sit through transfer windows praying "I hope Premier League Bournemouth don't steal our best players!".
• I look up the Championship table and think "I wish we were doing as well as Luton".
• I even look at clubs around us in the Championship, and realise that Swansea, Birmingham, and Wigan have all won major domestic cups in the last 20 years.

It's utterly depressing and humiliating.

Well , the reality is very painful when we see it listed like this! Well said, but god does it hurt.

 

[daored]

1 hour ago, cidered abroad said:

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the SL regime, the current problem is one that would not be resolved if he sold BS or BCFC tomorrow to someone who would be prepared to plough shedloads into the Club.

Our problem now is FFP which is stopping us from bringing in the two or three top Championship quality that we need to save our Championship status.

FFP is a problem that we have to work around, but for me the question is who is responsible for putting us in this position, who approved the high wages / expenditure 

[Merrick's Marvels]

2 hours ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

You have picked random sides who you perceive as having  done better, but what about our main rivals of 20 years ago, the gas, swindon Plymouth and Cardiff 

Some of us don't judge ourselves against the gas, Swindon and Plymouth, mate. We need to set the bar higher than that!

Some just wonder why a club from the 8th biggest city in the country, with so many obvious advantages over about 75% of other professional clubs, continues to be such an under achieving mess - year after year after year.

One of the reasons for that is because some people are just happy we're doing better than the gas, Swindon and Plymouth, btw! 

That sort of mediocre mindset is one of a multitude of problems Pearson has to contend with here. It may even be the thing that defeats him - that not enough people want it, really want success down to their bones, want it so much it hurts.

Perhaps Bristol City - from whoever the owner is at the top, through whoever works for the club on and off the pitch, to whoever supports it from the stands - doesn't want success so much that it hurts? Perhaps we're all happy to just be doing ok, so long as it's better than the gas and Swindon and Plymouth? Perhaps it's something in the water or it's the Bristol DNA - success is nice but we can take it or leave at the end of the day?

What else can explain over 100 years of mediocrity, given all that we'vegot going for us? 

Imo Pearson isn't just trying to fix a leaky back 4, wobbly keepers, a non existent midfield, players eyeing more money and new contracts elsewhere, players offered less money to stay, an FFP blackhole - the death star that's sucking us backwards towards League 1. That's not all he's got on his plate. That's not all he's trying to fix.

Whether he realises it or not, he's also trying to fix Bristol and Bristolians. He's wrestling with a question of attitude, of mentality. And it might be the one thing that beats him, like it's beaten so many before.

Pray God, it doesn't. 

"Somerset, and the livin is easy, wurzels sleepin cos the cider is dry" as George Gershwin so accurately wrote. 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Merrick's Marvels

[ZiderMeUp]

1 hour ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

You have picked random sides who you perceive as having  done better, but what about our main rivals of 20 years ago, the gas, swindon Plymouth and Cardiff 

Swindon and Cardiff both been in the prem. Cardiff twice.  Although swindon before lansdowns time

[Fordy62]

Man vilified for spending his own money. Yeh, sure… he spent it unwisely. He mixed business with pleasure, but at the end of the day it’s his money. Imagine if it were ours, then we’d have real grounds to moan. 

[Phantom]

2 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

Man vilified for spending his own money. Yeh, sure… he spent it unwisely. He mixed business with pleasure, but at the end of the day it’s his money. Imagine if it were ours, then we’d have real grounds to moan. 

I'd argue that we do invest, we all spend money on tickets, merchandise etc

At the end of the day it's all compative depending on the number of zeros in your bank account 

[Ron W]

42 minutes ago, Winterstoke toad said:

You’ve hit the nail on the head right there . The blindness and lack of ambition from some of our fanbase is staggering. Bristol is one of englands biggest cities with a huge catchment area , the potential of this club is massive and shows how badly we’ve been run over the years.

For a club that’s never achieved anything of note in its history to be able to pull in over 20,000 crowds even though it has the most expensive ticket prices in the league is amazing . As a fanbase it’s time we start realising that we deserve more and stop accepting piss poor mediocrity .

Why does it have to be totally black and white? There's far too much nuance in 20 years of ownership. Lansdown can both have not led us to success without being chased out of town.

Completely agree with most of what @KegCity wrote too, but it then wades into the binary debate. He's not been terrible, and his footballing judgement has often been poor. He's wasted a lot of (his own, not our) money. We could have had better owners, we could've had worse.

Edited December 27, 2022 by Ron W

[Bat Fastard]

47 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

Personally I think all discussions on the Lansdowns quickly fly to extremes. They aren’t a ‘pox’ on the club and plenty of clubs have far worse owners but we also get a bit stuck on the idea that, if they went, there is absolutely nobody else out there who would not destroy the club.

Truthfully - whether you feel it should have happened quicker or not - Lansdown has got us to a point where we have the foundations of a top flight club - in terms of quality of stadium, training ground and academy - but a combination of bad luck and the wrong decisions at the wrong time have meant he has not delivered top flight football and he has clearly reached a point where he needs the club to wash its own face - which few clubs do, especially whilst succeeding on the pitch - and is at least open to, and perhaps very keen on, selling out entirely.

Of course there are risks with a sale that we end up with a Sisu, a Mike Ashley or whoever it is at Charlton but we could also end up with a new owner who can take the facilities in place and appoint the necessary football people to finally deliver.

Every change of ownership is a huge gamble - the devil you know for the devil you don't know.  We will not have a choice in any of this because it will be between SL and the new people. We just have to hope that we end up better off.  You are right about elements like timing and the various events that have troubled the past few years but it is not beyond the realms of possibility that SL will invest in the squad again when the circumstances and FFP permit.

[Donny T]

1 minute ago, Ron W said:

Why does it have to be totally black and white? There's far too much nuance in 20 years of ownership. Lansdown can both have not led us to success without being chased out of town.

Completely agree with most of what @KegCity said is saying, but it then wades into the binary debate. He's not been terrible, and his footballing judgement has often been poor. He's wasted a lot of (his own, not our) money. We could have had better owners, we could've had worse.

I understand your point but given his recourses he’s been extremely poor . Yes we have a nice stadium which is good for non match day revenue but what really matters is the football and we’ve underachieved massively during his ownership.

[Aberdeen Pete's Dad]

5 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Some don't judge us against the gas, Swindon and Plymouth. 

Some just wonder why a club from the 8th biggest city in the country, with so many obvious advantages over about 75% of other professional clubs, continues to be such an under achieving mess - year after year after year.

And one of the reasons is people just being happy that we're doing better than the gas, Swindon and Plymouth.

That sort of mediocre mindset is one of a multitude of problems Pearson has to contend with here. It may even be the thing that defeats him - that not enough people want it, really want it down to their bones. Perhaps Bristol City - from the owners at the top, through the people who work for the club on and off the pitch, to the people who support it from the stands - doesn't want success so badly it hurts? Perhaps we're all happy to just be doing ok, so long as it's better than the gas and Swindon and Plymouth? Perhaps it's something in the water or it's the Bristol DNA - success is nice but we can take it or leave at the end of the day?

What else can explain over 100 years of mediocrity, given all that we'vegot going for us? 

Imo Pearson isn't just trying to fix a leaky back 4, wobbly keepers, a non existent midfield, players eyeing more money and new contracts elsewhere, players offered less money to stay, an FFP blackhole - a death star sucking us back into League 1. That's not all he's got on his plate. That's not all he's trying to fix.

Whether he realises it or not, he's also trying to fix Bristol and Bristolians. It's a question of attitude, mentality. And it might be the one thing that beats him, like it's beaten so many before.

Pray God, it doesn't. 

I agree with what you say. Managers, players, owners, directors and coaches all come and go. The only consistent is the fans. Many want to see a winning team above all and so are happier in League 1. They certainly would not like in the Premiership ! Many have an inbuilt pessimism, negativity and anxiety. I remember someone saying years ago that if we ever won the Premier League ( old First Division) we would have fans whose reaction would be that we will never win the European Cup !

  Every manager that we have ever had has had a core element who want him out - Dicks out, Johnson x 2 out, Holden out, Houghton out, SOD out, Pauli’s out, Mullen out now Pearson out . We have heard it so many times.

 Experts on here  have definitively asserted at one time or another that Ayling, Freeman, Reid, Bryan, Kelly and Brownhill are not good enough for us but have gone on to the Premier League. Wright and Diediou not good enough for us but good enough for the World Cup. Magnússon . These same experts are not even prepared to consider the possibility that they might be part of the problem.

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

11 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Zero faith in Steve's next managerial appointment, for obvious reasons. 

I'm astonished people haven't woken up to the fact we're for sale. 

A period of great uncertainty. 

I'm concerned Steve will hold out for unrealistic money. 

With so much financial uncertainty, it's a terrible time to sell unfortunately.

That said, the pound is weak, so a good time for American investors.

It is not a good time to buy when we are a) Battling relegation and b) New owners will inherit the current financial position.

In the sense that if we have say £1m (ha!) to spend in January under the current ownership under FFP, we would have exactly the same under a new ownership. The EFL regs and our current FFP position see to that.

[KegCity]

5 minutes ago, Ron W said:

Why does it have to be totally black and white? There's far too much nuance in 20 years of ownership. Lansdown can both have not led us to success without being chased out of town.

Completely agree with most of what @KegCity wrote too, but it then wades into the binary debate. He's not been terrible, and his footballing judgement has often been poor. He's wasted a lot of (his own, not our) money. We could have had better owners, we could've had worse.

I don’t think it’s binary. He’s done some things very well, although I personally think that not letting the stadium fall apart and investing in the training ground and academy are the minimum you’d expect from a competent owner. Nevertheless, credit where it’s due. 

We could have had worse. Don’t deny that, we could’ve gone bust or been sold to someone dodgy. I think we could’ve had a lot better though, and I think that if almost anyone else had invested the money that SL has we would be in a better position than we are now. 
 

I just think that we have gone round in circles for a long time now, and at some point you have to look past the managers and look at who’s running the club and the decisions they’ve made. I wouldn’t hound Lansdown out of town but if rumoured American investment is coming then I would be all for it. We need fresh ideas and a bigger emphasis on getting results and actually chasing trophies/top 6. Things feel very stale.

[Major Isewater]

Uncle Steve is a lovely bloke who wants a lovely football club , playing lovely football in a lovely stadium by lovely footballers and cheered on by lovely supporters. 
Sadly this is a cutthroat sport and there are nasty clubs who spoil our party time and time again with their nasty streetwise attitudes and rough supporters who out sing our lovely lads. 
 

[Mr Popodopolous]

10 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

We've been over it many times. He's clearly lacked any footballing nouse. I'm just watching Brighton beat Saints on motd. 

Brighton got promoted to L1 the year Lansdown took charge. Swansea were in the basement division. 

They put the infrastructure in place quicker.

Bloom had a new ground rolled out by 2011 which saw their turnover increase by 2.5-3 times overnight as it coincided wirh promotion to the Championship- that constitutes a major step forward, significant momentum.

Think their average attendance just surged as well from Withdean to Amex coinciding with promotion.

Otoh had we rolled the dice in January 2008 we certainly could have done it then.

Cardiff spent big AND has the new ground in play by 2009 I think? More revenue. Swansea had a unique philosophy but also a new ground by 2005.

You make your posts but without a great deal of context.

We could get s new owner tomorrow, he would still have to demonstrate to the League how we would remain within FFP within the next 2 years as one of the Owners and Directors Test questions. EFL have the power to use such measures as they deem necessary to keep regulations upheld.

[kmpowell]

10 hours ago, Pearsonistheman said:

Is Hargreaves the brains in Hargreaves-Lansdown as surely he can’t be as awful running that as he has our football club appointment wise.

My 2p FWIW, from my personal thoughts into this very point...

A long time ago at the very start of my career, I had the absolute pleasure of working for HL from 2000-2008 (120 people in 2000, to post-float and over 600 people working for them in 2008), in a position where I had pretty much daily contact with PH and SL. Both of them are incredible when it comes to business, but they were/are very different drivers/personalities which IMO complimented each other, and the pair of them together were a force because they could challenge each other without fear or retribution. They also built a senior team of people at HL (many of who are still there today) who pretty much drove the company with them, that team were also varied and had equally driving/challenging personalities. That IMO was the key to HL's success, not PH or SL individually, but it was them together then as an expanding team. One thing that always surprises me is the way the two personalities (SL and PH) were/are portrayed and seen. I think you would be amazed to know that PH can be very compassionate and reasoned. Sure PH has a lot of northern noise and can be quite brash, but when it came to business he could be very measured and I indirectly learnt a lot from him. Over the years at BCFC I have witnessed both the strengths & weaknesses I also witnessed from SL at HL, for which I won't go into detail because this isn't a post that is designed to be 'personal' and I have a LOT of respect for the man and what he has done for this club.

So, the problem as I see it is there was/is nobody at BCFC who is in a position to challenge/help Steve in the same way PH (and the extended team) did at HL, and therefore SL has to make VERY hard decisions on his own and do what he thinks/wants, which sadly means some poor judgments have been made made over the years which IMO could have been avoided if there had been another voice in the room. But, for all the haters, there is no way on god's earth SL sets out for us to continue to be in this position, IMO it will however take help to get us to the next level. And by 'help' I don't mean his son, or family, or any 'yes man' like that parasite Ashton, but people like PH who would sit in a room and tell him exactly what they think, without penalty. Will that happen? I'm not sure it will, but I stay positive because if he did share and unburden some of the 'questions', we could be up there as one of the powerhouses of football.

Steve, if you are reading this (I know you sometimes do dip into this forum, because many years ago you gave me that subtle bollocking, which I rightly deserved!), my 2p from somebody who saw the incredible things you did at HL... continue trying to steer this ship on your own (with Jon) and IMO you are going to destroy your legacy and all the amazing things you have done for this club for which there is so so much!

I totally disagree with all the viritrol and 'pox' comments, this is just people's frustrations and by the very nature of Football it will happen, but sadly I also have no doubt this will all turn VERY toxic if we are relegated.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by kmpowell

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 hours ago, headhunter said:

Bournemouth and others took the gamble of going for it big time one season regardless of the FFP implications if they failed. How much have they earned in their time there? Lansdown has lost in the long term by playing safe and when he did splash a bit on the playing side it was entrusted to Ashton.

The worst that could have happened to Bournemouth was a transfer embargo in December 2015 to remain in place until such time as they were compliant again had they stayed down.

Points deduction for it did not exist then, neither did Future Financial Information, EFL 2 year Business Plans post fail, could go on. Was simply a fine if promoted and an embargo if not. By which time some players probably would have been sold and they would comply again.

Certainly was never the case that if you lost over £15m in FFP in the prior 3 years you have to show the League your next 2 years of FFP projections. My suspicion is that this kicked in for us in summer 2021.

I do sort of agree with your point though for 2008 may have been a good time. We could have banked both PL cash and Parachute money with a bigger roll of the dice that January. FFP didn't even exist then in any form. Stoke rolled the dice a bit.

Edited December 27, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[bs3]

11 hours ago, AppyDAZE said:

Tinnion will NOT be the next BCFC manager, and I'll take your money now.

 

Not beyond the realms of possibilitie.

Pearson leaves , Tinnion steps in as caretaker, a couple of decent results ( the players say they want the caretaker as permanent manager, players all say the same guff) and then before we know it he’s be given a two year deal.

[Son of Fred]

11 hours ago, OddBallJim said:

We all know that Tinnion will be appointed as manager again once Pearson gets the boot.

Lansdown doesn't change, and hasn't changed in the last 20-25 years.

Tinnion has more sense than to accept such an offer..

[Trueredsupporter]

With City fighting against relegation, losing 146 million in ten years still losing a lot of money and not owning the ground who buys a struggling club losing money to be tenants??