Steve Lansdown……..

[Abraham Romanovich]

I'm surprised at this anti SL feeling, whilst we can all agree that mistakes have been made who would be a better option.

American investors ? I see the Glazers are well liked in Manchester , Saudi blood money ? or some dodgy property speculator.?

No one buys a football club for altruistic reasons they want a return on their capital or at least not costing them money.

 

 

[exAtyeoMax]

26 minutes ago, Abraham Romanovich said:

I'm surprised at this anti SL feeling, whilst we can all agree that mistakes have been made who would be a better option.

American investors ? I see the Glazers are well liked in Manchester , Saudi blood money ? or some dodgy property speculator.?

No one buys a football club for altruistic reasons they want a return on their capital or at least not costing them money.

 

 

Thing is, he will want to retire at some point, I’m sure, so he will want to sell up anyway.

[FNQ]

8 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

Thing is, he will want to retire at some point, I’m sure, so he will want to sell up anyway.

I don’t think that he’s desperate for a sale.. for example he’s younger than Roy Hodgson and our ol mate Neil Warnock who both have really stressful jobs compared to his lot. I don’t get the impression that he’s spending too much of his personal energy on us at the moment and I reckon Steve’s mantra of ‘build it and they will come’ still holds..

[exAtyeoMax]

16 minutes ago, FNQ said:

I don’t think that he’s desperate for a sale.. for example he’s younger than Roy Hodgson and our ol mate Neil Warnock who both have really stressful jobs compared to his lot. I don’t get the impression that he’s spending too much of his personal energy on us at the moment and I reckon Steve’s mantra of ‘build it and they will come’ still holds..

Maybe but with his interests lying in Guernsey, I expect he'll want to be more involved in his golfing venture. 

He's a different kettle of fish to Warnock though…

[Crimson Crayola]

14 hours ago, BrizzleRed said:

This is the point though.  Of course we can look at the squad and realise we’re short.  That’s why I think there’s a serious lack of belief or real optimism within the fanbase, especially ones of a mature age.  

I haven’t especially enjoyed going to the Gate for some time, but keep renewing each year anyway, out of loyalty to the club.  I’m certainly not doing that in the expectation we’ll be going up, and would actually be totally shocked if we did.  

There are plenty on here who go on about Steve saying this and Steve saying that though, so they are obviously believing that whatever he says, he must mean it and be ‘telling it as it is’.  He just needs to say he ultimately wants promotion and there will be plenty who will take him as his word.  I’m personally well past taking any notice of that sort of guff now.

It just feels a bit sad and slightly depressing when your lifelong club appear to have zero ambition to progress.  I suspect that lack of  aspiration and drive also contributes to the flat matchday atmosphere people constantly bang on about on here!

I agree with you, in that I look forward to outside investment or the day when Steve sells to someone a little more football savvy, but I think its unfair to suggest he doesn't want city in the prem or has zero ambition. We all know he threw money at the club previously and I feel its a case of sticking to FFP and a lot of that 'once bitten...' mindset.

Sadly we are in a better position now, yet he is showing little willingness to flex (hence his comittment to stick to a transfer budget mapped out in march, which was based on us keeping Alex).

To say he has no ambition is to over simplify things, but his stubborness and complete lack of desire to engage with the fanbase (through Jon, the CEO or himself) will lead fans to assume he has none.

[Calculus]

15 minutes ago, Just8 said:

I agree with you, in that I look forward to outside investment or the day when Steve sells to someone a little more football savvy, but I think its unfair to suggest he doesn't want city in the prem or has zero ambition. We all know he threw money at the club previously and I feel its a case of sticking to FFP and a lot of that 'once bitten...' mindset.

Sadly we are in a better position now, yet he is showing little willingness to flex (hence his comittment to stick to a transfer budget mapped out in march, which was based on us keeping Alex).

To say he has no ambition is to over simplify things, but his stubborness and complete lack of desire to engage with the fanbase (through Jon, the CEO or himself) will lead fans to assume he has none.

I'm sure he's a very decent guy, wants the best for the club and still has ambition - just that he's 71 now and trying to tidy up his affairs before he himself is promoted to the division above. Maybe Jon isn't willing to take it all on, or maybe he's not as business-savvy as his dad. Either way Steve needs to plan ahead. After all he's done for City and the city we could just trust him...

[Ronnie]

Has improved BCFC everywhere except on the pitch, he is not a football man.

[BrizzleRed]

2 hours ago, exAtyeoMax said:

Yes it has made me sad.

I wonder if SL still believes it himself, deep down. #AlwaysBelieve.

I doubt if he does to be honest.  

I suspect he’s decided after years of trying, that he’s reached his limit with City.  It looks like he’s now viewing the collective package of Bristol Sport as his legacy and City are just a part of that, rather than the main focus of his attention.

He certainly doesn’t look keen on giving the financial backing to us any more, so likely decided he can get far more bang for his bucks in the other areas of BS.

[Leveller]

26 minutes ago, Calculus said:

I'm sure he's a very decent guy, wants the best for the club and still has ambition - just that he's 71 now and trying to tidy up his affairs before he himself is promoted to the division above. Maybe Jon isn't willing to take it all on, or maybe he's not as business-savvy as his dad. Either way Steve needs to plan ahead. After all he's done for City and the city we could just trust him...

I agree. You can justly criticise his achievements, but I don't see why people try to malign his motives. He's about as close to a well-meaning owner as you can get. He didn't need to increase his fortune through sport and while he would no doubt have welcomed the acclaim of a more successful club, his business achievements and recognition mean that he really didn't need personal glory from it.

I think he genuinely wanted to "give something back" to his home city - he could easily have invested in a more promising club otherwise. It hasn't entirely worked out, but without him (or another wealthy owner) we'd probably still have facilities from Harry Dolman's era.

[BrizzleRed]

44 minutes ago, Just8 said:

I agree with you, in that I look forward to outside investment or the day when Steve sells to someone a little more football savvy, but I think its unfair to suggest he doesn't want city in the prem or has zero ambition. We all know he threw money at the club previously and I feel its a case of sticking to FFP and a lot of that 'once bitten...' mindset.

Sadly we are in a better position now, yet he is showing little willingness to flex (hence his comittment to stick to a transfer budget mapped out in march, which was based on us keeping Alex).

To say he has no ambition is to over simplify things, but his stubborness and complete lack of desire to engage with the fanbase (through Jon, the CEO or himself) will lead fans to assume he has none.

Fair enough, but just a couple of points I’ll pick up on about SL’s ambition.  Cast your mind back to our Championship Play-off season under GJ.  We were going great at the top of the table and we could see the promised land becoming a real possibility.  We then hit some injuries and our form started dropping off in the run-in and we found ourselves battling with Stoke for the last auto spot.

This was our big chance to go for it.  Now Stoke strengthened significantly, while we did nothing and we all know the eventual outcome.  Did that look like SL REALLY wanted it?

Then we have the SC period and we had some great momentum and a great side when  we came up as Champions from League 1.  Does it really looked like he viewed that as an opportunity to ride that crest of a wave and make a push for the next level?  It certainly didn’t look like it to me!

Now onto your point that he has splashed the cash at times, where I completely agree, though maybe not for the same reasons.  The most obvious case is under LJ’s tenure and I’ve got a theory on that one.  Although LJ gets a massive amount of stick and I’m not a fan of his, I suspect this splashing of cash was down to MA.

As I said, just a theory, but SL has constantly talked about his aim to make us sustainable.  What if a certain snake oil salesman came in and told him something along the lines of ‘if you want to make your club sustainable, I’m your man! I’ve got an extensive scouting network and can pick you up some real gems, which you can sell on for mega-money.  It’ll take a significant investment to start with, but as a money man, you’ll appreciate you have to speculate to accumulate’.

Purely conjecture, but it would certainly explain why he suddenly released the purse strings and it did work for a while, which may explain why he continued to chuck money around like there was no tomorrow.  This then began to go horribly wrong and SL suddenly finds himself with his pants around his ankles and seeing a shiny suit on its toes, heading in the direction of East Anglia!

I don’t think that spending spree signalled any real ambition to reach the Prem and was just a vain attempt to attain the sustainabilty he’d always wanted. Another of the many examples of bad footballing decisions made by SL.

I honestly believe he’s done things for the right reasons for the club, but unfortunately he clearly makes infinitely better decisions as a financier than he does as a football club owner!

[Numero Uno]

14 hours ago, BrizzleRed said:

Maybe I’m overestimating the SL fanbase on here then Dave.  I’m well aware there are plenty who’ll question him, but there also seem to be a fair number who’ll spout the ‘look at everything he’s done for us’, ‘we wouldn’t have a club without SL’ and ‘be careful what you wish for’ line, when anyone mentions any desire for new ownership.

For the record, I’m firmly in the same camp as you and think we’ve gone totally stale under his ownership.  Imho, if he doesn’t sell up soon, I fear we’ll begin a steady slide backwards, especially if he’s decided he no longer wants to fund the club.  

As we all know, the Championship can be brutal if you take your eye off the ball, or get complacent.  SL has never been dynamic, so I’d love to see an injection of ambition and energy at the top, to help lift this club out of its self-imposed stagnation.   Oh for some belief that this club is genuinely striving for some success, rather than just pretending.

The first sentence of your last paragraph…….that’s what people need to be wary of, especially if we had a lesser Manager than Nige running the playing side.

[Son of Fred]

1 hour ago, BrizzleRed said:

This then began to go horribly wrong and SL suddenly finds himself with his pants around his ankles

Steve Pantsdown

[BrizzleRed]

19 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

The first sentence of your last paragraph…….that’s what people need to be wary of, especially if we had a lesser Manager than Nige running the playing side.

Exactly, which is why I’m getting concerned at the lack of credit and backing being offered to NP from above, considering the job he’s done.  The silence is deafening and I pray we aren’t heading for another of his awful footballing decisions.

FWIW, I don’t see see the club’s existance being in any danger under SL’s ownership and the same certainly can’t be assumed under new ownership.  

That said, it feels like we’ve totally stagnated now and honestly can’t see any upward momentum likely under SL, as it looks like he’s completely lost interest in this ‘project’ now.

[BrizzleRed]

30 minutes ago, Son of Fred said:

Steve Pantsdown

About the only thing the Sags have got right

[1960maaan]

I don't know whether to suggest this for Steve or the many on here that know they could do better 

Should actually be a good read IMO.

Edited September 14, 2023 by 1960maaan