Steve Lansdown……..

[Shauntaylor85]

10 minutes ago, Ian M said:

But if a promotion challenge wasn't part of the "sell", why was SL quick to pushback when Twentyman probed him about a new deal for Nigel that he hadn't achieved anything yet. JL too has accused NP of under-achieving. If cost cutting and treading water was the only target then NP is meeting that very nicely and talks would already have begun.

They don’t understand what it takes to be successful on the pitch that is why. Time for change and I’ll keep saying that because seriously baffled with current events. Nige has done a good job, shame it’s not being reciprocated with backing. 

[Ian M]

3 minutes ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

They don’t understand what it takes to be successful on the pitch that is why. Time for change and I’ll keep saying that because seriously baffled with current events. Nige has done a good job, shame it’s not being reciprocated with backing. 

Could this be a situation where our manager is actually more popular with the supporters than with the hierarchy. Quite rare for that to happen, it could be argued that Cotts achieved this too, though his reaction to backing being withheld turned a few against him.

Edit: but can we learn from this history? Unpopular manager with the board, has backing withheld when he feels close to being competitive, reacts badly, gets replaced, new manager gets backed. We have built up a little "nest egg" to support a new appointment in the January window?

[Shauntaylor85]

4 minutes ago, Ian M said:

Could this be a situation where our manager is actually more popular with the supporters than with the hierarchy. Quite rare for that to happen, it could be argued that Cotts achieved this too, though his reaction to backing being withheld turned a few against him.

Edit: but can we learn from this history? Unpopular manager with the board, has backing withheld when he feels close to being competitive, reacts badly, gets replaced, new manager gets backed. We have built up a little "nest egg" to support a new appointment in the January window?

It certainly feels that way. Let’s be honest would you bet on Nige being manager this time next year? I wouldn’t. I do wonder if they feel they’ve backed him this summer with a few signings and they genuinely feel we have a squad capable of being top 6. The SL Luton comment keeps coming up, I understood we were keen on Carlton Morris but naturally didn’t have the cash to splash last summer. Cornick aside I do think Nige has got a lot right signings wise considering the tight budget restraints. 

[fisherrich]

1 hour ago, LondonBristolian said:

I think maybe the major problem with Steve Lansdown is that everyone who stays anywhere a long time eventually stays too long. You get thee sense that he's tired of it, he wants out and that his appetite and enthusiasm for it all has been worn down by the gambles that haven't paid off. For a long time, I was resistant to the idea that a change of ownership would be a definitively good thing, simply because - whilst the Tony Blooms of this world do exist - so do a lot of club owners who are far worse than Lansdown and you can easily end up with someone who does not have the clubs best interests in heart and it can be a disaster.

But, at the moment, there feels like a real inertia around the club. I don't really believe for a second Lansdown wants to bring Lee Johnson back for another tilt because I don't really believe he wants to do anything at all but find the right buyer who will preserve and build on his legacy. That's not easy but I think we need it sooner rather than later as a real drift could set in. 

Agreed, the SL legacy will be off the pitch - not on it, for me anyway.

[Nathandao]

15 hours ago, Red_Alligator said:

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

 

15 hours ago, Red_Alligator said:

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

 

 

15 hours ago, Red_Alligator said:

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

 

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

 

Well, this has rattled some cages!!

All I would say is that the most important (by far) element of the football club to me - is - the football team. That's who I cheer for, cry for and support through thick and thin. 

With that and only that in mind, the team look no closer to reaching the top flight than when SL took over.

Many players, a fair number of managers and many years on from the (single),  very clearly stated personal mission, to get Bristol City into the top flight of English football.I

I can sympathise with anyone who feels a bit let down.

 

 

Say it again for the people at the back!

[Bristol Rob]

28 minutes ago, Ian M said:

Could this be a situation where our manager is actually more popular with the supporters than with the hierarchy. Quite rare for that to happen, it could be argued that Cotts achieved this too, though his reaction to backing being withheld turned a few against him.

Edit: but can we learn from this history? Unpopular manager with the board, has backing withheld when he feels close to being competitive, reacts badly, gets replaced, new manager gets backed. We have built up a little "nest egg" to support a new appointment in the January window?

If that was the case, SL/the board could have removed NP from his role during the period of time we were doing poorly and this forum had a number of PESRSON OUT threads on it.

My take is probably a bit more simplistic, the club want/need to reduce costs, NP did fairly well against a landscape of losing big earners and embedding youth and now we are at a bit of a crossroads where I will speculate that NP would like to spend some money after having his most successful academy graduate sold and the club still echoing caution as AS wasn't likely to show a dramatic reduction in the salary spend.

[Silvio Dante]

3 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Basically & this has only just occurred to me, JL is a combination of Kendall Roy and Roman Roy from Succession (& if anyone hasn’t seen it, boy are you missing out), as Logan once said “you’re not serious people”.

Mark Ashton was clearly Bob Mortimer’s Train Guy, now it all makes sense.

I’m off for a lie down.

Meanwhile, here’s Steve Lansdown as Logan Roy giving his response to Nige asking for some of the Scott money:

 

 

 

[cheese]

3 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

Wilson didn’t work out as he was a bad trainer and couldn’t get himself fit enough. No good being an attacking full back if you can’t get up and down for 90 mins. 

My Mrs says something similar.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

Steve Lansdown has put millions of pounds into this club over two decades, transforming our stadium in the process and stabilising us in the Championship.

Nigel Pearson has been with us for less than three years, and has repaired damage and built his own squad within financial limits that are the same at many clubs.  However that squad is presently underperforming and we have had a very disappointing start to the season.  I accept that Pearson had being doing a difficult job and has a high level of integrity, but I would expect us to be dong better than we are with the players we’ve got.

I like Pearson, but I genuinely can’t see why he would be more popular than Lansdown.

Edited August 31, 2023 by The Dolman Pragmatist

[frenchred]

1 minute ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Steve Lansdown has put millions of pounds into this club over two decades, transforming our stadium in the process and stabilising us in the Championship.

Nigel Pearson has been with us for less than three years, and has repaired damage and built his own squad within financial limits that are the same at many clubs.  However that squad is presently underperforming and we have had a very disappointing start to the season.  I accept that Pearson had being doing a difficult job and has a high level of integrity, but I would expect us to be dong better than we are with the players we’ve got.

I like Pearson, but I genuinely can’t see why he would be more popular than Lansdown.

Ask yourself why that damage was done initially and who was to blame for it

It's not the football cubs stadium we just rent it

[cidercity1987]

1 minute ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Steve Lansdown has put millions of pounds into this club over two decades, transforming our stadium in the process and stabilising us in the Championship.

Nigel Pearson has been with us for less than three years, and has repaired damage and built his own squad within financial limits that are the same at many clubs.  However that squad is presently underperforming and we have had a very disappointing start to the season.  I accept that Pearson had being doing a difficult job and has a high level of integrity, but I would expect us to be dong better than we are with the players we’ve got.

I like Pearson, but I genuinely can’t see why he would be more popular than Lansdown.

I don't think the squad is underperforming at all.

We have an average goalkeeper, a good defence, a collection of adequate defensive style midfielders without any attacking flair, workmanlike wide players and one fit 33 year old striker.

[Kid in the Riot]

25 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

If that was the case, SL/the board could have removed NP from his role during the period of time we were doing poorly and this forum had a number of PESRSON OUT threads on it.

Oh, they absolutely could have, and were very close to doing so. Twice.

[ChippenhamRed]

17 hours ago, Wedontplayinblue said:

You must be nuts if you don’t want owners like Newcastle or Man City,

No way this club, or any others will see success without money like that. 

It's not "nuts" to not want to see your club funded by sportwashing. I am desperate for this club to succeed, but not at any price.

[Dredd]

The line that came out in the summer was that the players we were buying were to play with Alex Scott. Well he's gone now so where's the replacement. I don't for a second believe that there wasn't a plan between Nige and Tinns for how do we replace Scott.
Have the goalposts been moved?

[ChippenhamRed]

8 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Steve Lansdown has put millions of pounds into this club over two decades, transforming our stadium in the process and stabilising us in the Championship.

Nigel Pearson has been with us for less than three years, and has repaired damage and built his own squad within financial limits that are the same at many clubs.  However that squad is presently underperforming and we have had a very disappointing start to the season.  I accept that Pearson had being doing a difficult job and has a high level of integrity, but I would expect us to be dong better than we are with the players we’ve got.

I like Pearson, but I genuinely can’t see why he would be more popular than Lansdown.

Because most people can see that Pearson has been working with a large number of constraints placed upon him, and has done a job within that context - we have been relatively stable within the Championship, made excellent and increasing use of the academy pathway, and generated much needed income by developing and selling some of those young players. And I don't think most people think the squad is underperforming; it's a limited mid-table squad getting mid-table results.

Lansdown on the other hand is much more of a mixed bag. Of course he has transformed the club off the pitch; the redevelopment of the stadium and the new training ground are undeniable and of course he deserves great credit for that lasting legacy. But the footballing side is much less impressive; a club of this size, in a city of this size, with the amount of money put in over the years...should reasonably be able to expect to at least match the achievements of Bournemouth, Luton, Huddersfield, Brentford and Swansea to name but five. Merely "stabilising us in the Championship" is simply not enough for Bristol City - particularly when Lansdown also oversaw the instable times that preceded it. We are without doubt the biggest club never to have played in the Premier League, and while that remains the case, Steve Lansdown's ownership can never be said to have been a total success.

[steviestevieneville]

2 hours ago, Ian M said:

....and one of the poster's criticisms of Pearson is that he has "signed a lot of players who are no better than he had before"

Where's the consideration for that being achieved whilst reducing the wage bill by circa £8m a year and knocking £10m a year off amortisation costs. That's before you even recognise he's over £25m in credit at player trading. From what he inherited to where we are today, we are potentially £79m+ better off over a three year FFP accounting period compared to carrying on as normal 3 years ago.

Pearson was sold a project that he would have it tough getting the club back on a sound financial footing but once he had we could make a proper go at getting promoted. He's done that, had his star player sold for £25m+ and yet this has had no effect on budgets set in March, even though it dwarfs any other income stream on which budgets are able to be set. He's definitely been done dirty.

I believe the nest egg is either SL planning a sale of the club ASAP or expecting to relieve Pearson of his duties and beginning the long process of shaping our squad in the new chosen one's favoured image. 

I do wonder if a takeover is fairly close & this is the reason he’s reluctant to spend more money. As another poster wrote. 
If it’s the case that he’s keeping his powder dry until NP goes , then that just highlights how inept he is football wise. If the club has a playing philosophy , then it shouldn’t matter who the manager is because you're signing players to that philosophy . But we all know he really hasn’t a clue about the game. He’s proved it numerous times. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by steviestevieneville

[steviestevieneville]

19 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Steve Lansdown has put millions of pounds into this club over two decades, transforming our stadium in the process and stabilising us in the Championship.

Nigel Pearson has been with us for less than three years, and has repaired damage and built his own squad within financial limits that are the same at many clubs.  However that squad is presently underperforming and we have had a very disappointing start to the season.  I accept that Pearson had being doing a difficult job and has a high level of integrity, but I would expect us to be dong better than we are with the players we’ve got.

I like Pearson, but I genuinely can’t see why he would be more popular than Lansdown.

We’re still being affected by the damage as you put it. Who created that damage ? Yes, Lansdown did. Now he’s expecting a silk purse from a sows ear . He’s made these mistakes time & time again 

[Fammyfan]

5 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Steve Lansdown has put millions of pounds into this club over two decades, transforming our stadium in the process and stabilising us in the Championship.

Nigel Pearson has been with us for less than three years, and has repaired damage and built his own squad within financial limits that are the same at many clubs.  However that squad is presently underperforming and we have had a very disappointing start to the season.  I accept that Pearson had being doing a difficult job and has a high level of integrity, but I would expect us to be dong better than we are with the players we’ve got.

I like Pearson, but I genuinely can’t see why he would be more popular than Lansdown.

I’ll be forever grateful to Lansdown for the progress we’ve made off the pitch.

However, the decision not to back Pearson at this time is incredibly disappointing.

Pearson has done incredibly well to filter out the overpaid and under achieving players we had when he came in, at a time where we were being dominated every single game.

Most of the signings we have made since have been cost effective and successful despite being largely forced to utilise the free agent market.

He beds in our academy graduates and we now have a handful of academy graduates that look promising and are being complemented by the system implemented.

Going into the season, we as fans are hopeful of a promotion push and rightly so.

We then sell our best academy graduate, the creativity of our midfield for a club record fee. Simultaneously, AW has been suffering with injuries.

We’re evidently lacking creativity in midfield now and despite having funds in place, our owner is opting to not bring in a replacement, to not back the manager when there is evident progress and to be content to continue with that glaring void in the squad.

I agree we shouldn’t splash the cash but we should at least be looking for a replacement of some sort. 

I appreciate what SL has done but this is an awful, awful decision.

[Silvio Dante]

4 minutes ago, Dredd said:

The line that came out in the summer was that the players we were buying were to play with Alex Scott. Well he's gone now so where's the replacement. I don't for a second believe that there wasn't a plan between Nige and Tinns for how do we replace Scott.
Have the goalposts been moved?

Yes.

And that is the reason for the malcontent both with Nige and the fans. We all accepted Alex being sold - we didnt like it but we understood it. Statements were given by the club (via Nige/Tins) that we expected to keep Scott or that we had a plan should he be sold. Clearly, that plan was not to sign nobody as far as the manager was concerned - and nor as far as the fans.

I like to think I’m generally optimistic about the club. But there is a definite feeling that we’ve not been told the truth to (note - I don’t expect full disclosure but not total bullshit) and it appears the same holds for Nige.

I’d reiterate that he’s done everything asked of him, and although this may be his last job (he’s got wider interests than football), if he left his stock would be undiminished if not enhanced.

I don’t think for one second - and I don’t think anybody does - that Nige expected the full £25m and then to go and sign players at £5m plus. He’s been vocal about not disproportionately impacting the wage bill and it’d have been contrary to how he’s operated. To give him practically nothing though having lost his best player is beyond the pale.

I’m definitely at a point where I think SL needs to sell up (I know he’s been “trying”) - but if he’s waiting to give the next manager cash, he then needs to bite the bullet and sack Nige now. Wrong decision if so, but the toxicity of this situation - caused by what appears to be the chairman’s dishonesty - is untenable.

[Sir Geoff]

29 minutes ago, Dredd said:

The line that came out in the summer was that the players we were buying were to play with Alex Scott. Well he's gone now so where's the replacement. I don't for a second believe that there wasn't a plan between Nige and Tinns for how do we replace Scott.
Have the goalposts been moved?

Tinns said there was a plan if Scott stays and a plan if he goes.

I guess the second part of that was 'do nothing.'

[GrahamC]

3 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

Tinns said there was a plan if Scott stays and a plan if he goes.

I guess the second part of that was 'do nothing.'

Nope, apparently it actually was borrow someone from West Brom for £700k who can also fill in if needed at right back.

Not sure that was exactly how it was portrayed when all the talk pre season was of trying to push to get in to the playoffs..

[Wade Wilson]

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

Meanwhile, here’s Steve Lansdown as Logan Roy giving his response to Nige asking for some of the Scott money:

 

 

 

“Steve, we’ve just made £25m from Scott. Can I have, at least, half of that to reinvest in the squad and adequately replace him?”

 

Lansdown: 

 

[Kid in the Riot]

8 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Nope, apparently it actually was borrow someone from West Brom for £700k who can also fill in if needed at right back.

Not sure that was exactly how it was portrayed when all the talk pre season was of trying to push to get in to the playoffs..

And sign Adam Murphy...?

[marmite]

55 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Steve Lansdown has put millions of pounds into this club over two decades, transforming our stadium in the process and stabilising us in the Championship.

Nigel Pearson has been with us for less than three years, and has repaired damage and built his own squad within financial limits that are the same at many clubs.  However that squad is presently underperforming and we have had a very disappointing start to the season.  I accept that Pearson had being doing a difficult job and has a high level of integrity, but I would expect us to be dong better than we are with the players we’ve got.

I like Pearson, but I genuinely can’t see why he would be more popular than Lansdown.

I think you may have inadvertently stumbled across the reason for the current situation when you stated that Lansdown had established us in the Championship.  

Is that perhaps as far as he's willing to back us?  Is the Premierships costs perhaps a step too far for him?

[GrahamC]

1 minute ago, Kid in the Riot said:

And sign Adam Murphy...?

Guess so, but an 18 year old with a checkered injury history wasn’t really for this season, was it?

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 minutes ago, marmite said:

I think you may have inadvertently stumbled across the reason for the current situation when you stated that Lansdown had established us in the Championship.  

Is that perhaps as far as he's willing to back us?  Is the Premierships costs perhaps a step too far for him?

More revenue more cost?

If run sensibly it need not be, see Brentford albeit a small sample size. Brighton less clear cut. Burnley room.Otoh see countless other examples where owner contribution kicks in big.

[marmite]

1 minute ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

More revenue more cost?

If run sensibly it need not be, see Brentford albeit a small sample size. Brighton less clear cut. Burnley room.Otoh see countless other examples where owner contribution kicks in big.

If we want to go up and stay up the costs are enormous . Yes the rewards are large too but someone has to dig deep.

100 million won't go far when you factor in huge transfer fees and obscene wages. We haven't got 2 or 3 Scotts to sell to help finance us.

If we're carrying 30 mil dept in the Championship,  God help us in the Prem.

[Rob k]

13 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

And sign Adam Murphy...?

Gone back to Ireland hasn’t he?

[Kid in the Riot]

5 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Guess so, but an 18 year old with a checkered injury history wasn’t really for this season, was it?

Probably not, though Nige has shown with Yeboah that age is just a number, and Murphy has at least played mens football.

I agree the whole Thomason/Gardner-Hickman/Murphy plan is hardly inspiring.

In fact, isn't Gardner-Hickman more cover for McCrorie? 

[Mr Popodopolous]

5 minutes ago, marmite said:

If we want to go up and stay up the costs are enormous . Yes the rewards are large too but someone has to dig deep.

100 million won't go far when you factor in huge transfer fees and obscene wages. We haven't got 2 or 3 Scotts to sell to help finance us.

If we're carrying 30 mil dept in the Championship,  God help us in the Prem.

Debt is only a problem so long as the lender in this case mostly SL, wants it repaid.

The cash losses are the key, could we run on a cash break even basis in the PL without owner input. Again Brentford are an example albeit we only have Year 1.