Steve Lansdown……..

[Red Exile]

1 minute ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Two to three years were FFP we were somewhat hamstrung. In part due to his decisions and lack of oversight but a £26.5m in Additions ie 2019-20 as well as the wage bill continuing to rise was a bit of a statement tbh.

Wage bill peaked at £35m in 2020-21.

I'm sure you are correct, but that lack of ambition has a far longer pedigree. My in laws support Hull - two stints in the Prem and a cup final.

[Numero Uno]

7 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Two to three years were FFP we were somewhat hamstrung. In part due to his decisions and lack of oversight but a £26.5m in Additions ie 2019-20 as well as the wage bill continuing to rise was a bit of a statement tbh.

Wage bill peaked at £35m in 2020-21.

£35m and let’s be fair we were worse in 2020-21 than we are now. Getting outplayed was the norm. 45 minutes without a shot was not uncommon. It’s borderline criminal how bad we were for that level of spend. We just funded the retirement packages of very mediocre footballers.

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

I'm sure you are correct, but that lack of ambition has a far longer pedigree. My in laws support Hull - two stints in the Prem and a cup final.

Ah fair yes.

There is an argument that he lacks ambition, there is also an argument that he lacks timing. By which I mean Janaury 2008...roll that dice! He did not.

After Coppell walked, we went into slight austerity mode. Timing was poor..also Maynard after a great 2009-10 was crocked- some things never change in that respect!

Obviously FFP aside, now was the time now the decks were cleared somewhat to go again a bit. Why couldn't we have been in for O'Brien on loan e.g. he would he a great addition. Both footballing and morale.

Cannon again okay maybe not at £7m, hard to say but earlier in summer he seemed more accessible.

Host of other examples. Patino loan? So frustrating, we have an okay base build on it a bit!

[Barrs Court Red]

A wise man once said “ground, ground, ground but they forgot about the team”.

Like most visionary philosophers through the ages, society shunned and mocked him for his outlandish view. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

8 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

£35m and let’s be fair we were worse in 2020-21 than we are now. Getting outplayed was the norm. 45 minutes without a shot was not uncommon. It’s borderline criminal how bad we were for that level of spend. We just funded the retirement packages of very mediocre footballers.

By that stage a host of factors and yes we were much worse by early 2021. The ship had entirely run aground, sinking actually.

Loads of injuries, morale on the floor, a bloated squad. As you say barely a shot some halves, we looked in no way a cohesive Championship side because well because we were not.

[Davefevs]

11 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

A wise man once said “ground, ground, ground but they forgot about the team”.

Like most visionary philosophers through the ages, society shunned and mocked him for his outlandish view. 

Ipswich - 1980s.

[Sleepy1968]

3 hours ago, glynriley said:

"And is not an Arab" on it as well, just to please a few on here...

There's nothing inherently wrong with Arabs. The problem with is the source of the money. If it's going to be effective State sponsorship, then it's a hard 'no thanks' from me. If the money comes from anywhere else (but where would that be) then I'd do my due diligence before boycotting matches.

[fisherrich]

You can only assume a deal to sell is in the offering to Lansdown. He’s lost interest in the football on the pitch.

[Sleepy1968]

2 hours ago, lenred said:

A nice big fat NDA may put paid to that! I say in jest but wouldn’t put it past them.  

You wouldn't necessarily need that. Maybe a memo from his reporting line could make disclosure a breach of contract, and keep him gagged.

But if they wanted to try and put the frighteners on him  they may have trouble getting him to agree to an NDA.

[Malvern Red]

So grateful to our owner for not accepting mid table mediocrity when there’s the rough and tumble excitement of a relegation dog fight on offer. 

[tin]

So there you have it, @sh1t_ref_again. The wage budget has been set (or “imposed” as you claimed) by the owners - Lansdown. 

[cidered abroad]

38 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

A wise man once said “ground, ground, ground but they forgot about the team”.

Like most visionary philosophers through the ages, society shunned and mocked him for his outlandish view. 

Matt Busby said that you'll get 70,000 in a rubbish tip to watch a great team. But a lot, lot less to watch a poor team in a great stadium.

[Engvall’s Splinter]

Have always felt a sense of gratitude to the Lansdowns for the facilities we’ve been provided with. The training ground and the matchday experience (not always the football) are top notch. Yet the way Pearson appears to be left solely to field commercial/financial questions whilst the CEO and Chairman hide in the shadows is incredibly disappointing. Lansdown has always had his ‘haters’ but those in a similar camp to me will soon sway if this continues. 
 

I feel for Pearson and fear the next appointment if he walks. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Engvall’s Splinter

[BS15_RED]

 

[Bristol Rob]

Maybe Steve has looked at OTIB and thought....

Hmm, people flying VPN Airways instead of buying season tickets and there are people importing a fake shirt (that everyone hates) and not putting in their cash, I'll do the same.

*Runs away before someone gets on their high-horse and pretends to take offence*

[BigTone]

45 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

Matt Busby said that you'll get 70,000 in a rubbish tip to watch a great team. But a lot, lot less to watch a poor team in a great stadium.

No wonder Rovers are so successful

[George Rs]

Just wondering, apart from his welcome interview, has this Phil Alexander chap said anything even related to the club in the media. 
 

iirc, I felt his first interview was measured and encouraging, however the radio silence since then is concerning at best. Either there is something going on behind the scenes, whatever that may be, or our board just really don’t care about the fans. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by George Rs

[Ian M]

Years ago, in the early days of the internet we had a mailing list called City List where one of the fans went on to become pretty big in F1. Surely he has the contacts from years of being shoulder to shoulder with Team Owners and Sponsors to make something happen?

[Greedo]

2 minutes ago, Ian M said:

Years ago, in the early days of the internet we had a mailing list called City List where one of the fans went on to become pretty big in F1. Surely he has the contacts from years of being shoulder to shoulder with Team Owners and Sponsors to make something happen?

Ross Braun and Jensen Button takeover incoming 

[Mr Popodopolous]

8 minutes ago, George Rs said:

Just wondering, apart from his welcome interview, has this Phil Alexander chap said anything even related to the club in the media. 
 

iirc, I felt his first interview was measured and encouraging, however the radio silence since then is concerning at best. Either there is something going on behind the scenes, whatever that may be, or our board just really don’t care about the fans. 

He spoke about Scott in June and then...since then.

May have been on Sound Of the City or similar once as well. I'm quite unimpressed with him to date, Gould was much better. Thusfar.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[Bristol Rob]

7 minutes ago, George Rs said:

Just wondering, apart from his welcome interview, has this Phil Alexander chap said anything even related to the club in the media. 
 

iirc, I felt his first interview was measured and encouraging, however the radio silence since then is concerning at best. Either there is something going on behind the scenes, whatever that may be, or our board just really don’t care about the fans. 

I think what is more shocking is that neither our Head of Communications or our Director of Communications (we have both!) have ever actually communicated. 

You would expect one or the other - or even both of them - to have communicated with their customers to possibly detail the strategy that is causing a lot of frustration amongst Forum users. Maybe they could start with a 'what Phil has been doing since he got here' message. 

[Glen hump]

8 minutes ago, Greedo said:

Ross Braun and Jensen Button takeover incoming 

Lando 

[Bristol Rob]

13 minutes ago, Greedo said:

Ross Braun and Jensen Button takeover incoming 

The Netflix spin-off, "Sell To Survive" is gonna be a must see.

[Barrs Court Red]

It began with the buying of the football club. Promises of top flight football were given to the City fans, immortal, wisest and fairest of all sports fans. Salvation and new facilities were handed to the Rugby club, great oafs and craftsmen of sickening initiation rituals. And money and job titles were gifted to the executives and hangers on, who above all else desire power. For within these gifts was bound the strength and the will to govern each club. But they were all of them deceived, for another organisation was made. Deep in the land of Guernsey, in the Fires of poor decisions and little self awareness, the Dark Lord Lansdown forged a master organisation, and into this he poured his ego, his tax avoidance and his will to dominate all clubs.

Bristol Sport to rule them all.

 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

It began with the buying of the football club. Promises of top flight football were given to the City fans, immortal, wisest and fairest of all sports fans. Salvation and new facilities were handed to the Rugby club, great oafs and craftsmen of sickening initiation rituals. And money and job titles were gifted to the executives and hangers on, who above all else desire power. For within these gifts was bound the strength and the will to govern each club. But they were all of them deceived, for another organisation was made. Deep in the land of Guernsey, in the Fires of poor decisions and little self awareness, the Dark Lord Lansdown forged a master organisation, and into this he poured his ego, his tax avoidance and his will to dominate all clubs.

Bristol Sport to rule them all.

 

built for his future not ours

36 minutes ago, BS15_RED said:

 

well spotted remembered

[richwwtk]

48 minutes ago, Ian M said:

Years ago, in the early days of the internet we had a mailing list called City List where one of the fans went on to become pretty big in F1. Surely he has the contacts from years of being shoulder to shoulder with Team Owners and Sponsors to make something happen?

I think he's moved on beyond F1 now. Still see him post on here occasionally

[Bristol Rob]

5 minutes ago, richwwtk said:

I think he's moved on beyond F1 now. Still see him post on here occasionally

Paul still posts now and again.

[Sleepy1968]

51 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

Hmm, people flying VPN Airways instead of buying season tickets and there are people importing a fake shirt (that everyone hates) and not putting in their cash, I'll do the same.

The irony is not lost on me, but to provide a counter-argument: -

Fake shirts: maybe that's partly down to the official ones being of variable quality, their low availabily, and being vastly overpriced (ok, it's the going rate, but it'somly a bloody shirt). Personally I'd rather let my £5 retail voucher gather dust than support the current retail offerings, and look to someone like OTIB merch if I was desperate for something city related.

Streaming games: I imagine quite a few of us back the club with STs and fly VPN Airways for away games only/home games we can't make.

I would never pay the walk up prices, so I can't really complain when some people want to use RTV for home they could get to, however I draw the line at illegal streaming of your own teams game.

[fisherrich]

49 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

I think what is more shocking is that neither our Head of Communications or our Director of Communications (we have both!) have ever actually communicated. 

You would expect one or the other - or even both of them - to have communicated with their customers to possibly detail the strategy that is causing a lot of frustration amongst Forum users. Maybe they could start with a 'what Phil has been doing since he got here' message. 

Picking his nose!

[Bristol Rob]

2 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

The irony is not lost on me, but to provide a counter-argument: -

Fake shirts: maybe that's partly down to the official ones being of variable quality, their low availabily, and being vastly overpriced (ok, it's the going rate, but it'somly a bloody shirt). Personally I'd rather let my £5 retail voucher gather dust than support the current retail offerings, and look to someone like OTIB merch if I was desperate for something city related.

Streaming games: I imagine quite a few of us back the club with STs and fly VPN Airways for away games only/home games we can't make.

I would never pay the walk up prices, so I can't really complain when some people want to use RTV for home they could get to, however I draw the line at illegal streaming of your own teams game.

There will be a fair few who have season tickets and fly VPN for games they can't make, but equally there is probably a similar number which find streams and pay nothing.

As for the pay on the day, unless you're a member, on a mates rate code or able to take advantage of the generosity of a fellow supporter, there must be limited desire to be that customer. It would be like paying full price at DFS or Domino's.