Senior Reds today, guest Jon Lansdown

[Son of Fred]

1 hour ago, Ghost Rider said:

I mean, its not as bad as mine. Lets just say I'm a relation to an ex City manager, so you can guess what mine is  

Johnson??

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, George Rs said:

Brian Tinnion who’s actual job role is shrouded in mystery. 
 

Director of Football? , Head of Recruitment? , Academy Manager? , most likely a mix of all three and now he’s being called a CEO who’s learning on the job?

 

I don’t believe for one second Brian Tinnion is being groomed to become CEO.  Just think it’s JL not really understanding the roles and responsibilities and the skill sets required, along with not being able to think on his feet to a question posed.

Perhaps JL could start with his own role?

[Lrrr]

1 hour ago, Harry said:

Yes I did notice that but must admit I thought it was said in jest. 

I'd agree, sounds like the sort of off hand comment you can make as a joke after a heavy defeat. But equally wouldn't be surprised if Manning was already on a list our end (even if no contact made) pretty sure a decision had already been made that Nige wasn't going to be getting a new contract bar something like promotion so we'd have already been starting to plan ahead. 

[phantom]

16 minutes ago, aa_bcfc said:

I agree with the poster who said that the problems started when Richard Gould left. 
I also think that some of the comments on this thread about Jon Lansdown are both embarrassing and childish. 

Our problems stated a long time before Richard Gould left, sadly before that point a large number of our fanbase were not as aware or believing about the shambles we were in behind the scenes.

This hasn't all just appeared overnight, it has been growing over time

You are right that some comments are embarrassing and childish, but the more concerning thing is the vast majority are actually 100% accurate

[Natchfever]

20 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I don’t believe for one second Brian Tinnion is being groomed to become CEO.  Just think it’s JL not really understanding the roles and responsibilities and the skill sets required, along with not being able to think on his feet to a question posed.

Perhaps JL could start with his own role?

Possibly keeping senior staff overheads down to make a sale more attractive ?  Dangerous game if so as they could be trying to flog a L1 club plus associated baggage.

[bcfc01]

1 minute ago, Natchfever said:

Possibly keeping senior staff overheads down to make a sale more attractive ?  Dangerous game if so as they could be trying to flog a L1 club plus associated baggage.

Seems to me that JL has been given the opportunity to run the club by SL for the time being so it may well be that a sale has been put on the back burner with investment now being the primary objective.

Just pure speculation on my part.

[Street red]

19 hours ago, tin said:

The levels of nepotism at this club in an operational capacity are the sole reason for the club’s malaise, and that stems from Steve. I’ve said it before and will say it again: we will never achieve anything under the Lansdowns. They don’t learn, think they are beyond reproach and double down on their own failed methods and appointments when the world around them is constantly changing. The fact Jon is heading this up is a joke. He’s a lying, arrogant, deluded c***, pure and simple.

Best post yet

[W-S-M Seagull]

36 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I don’t believe for one second Brian Tinnion is being groomed to become CEO.  Just think it’s JL not really understanding the roles and responsibilities and the skill sets required, along with not being able to think on his feet to a question posed.

Perhaps JL could start with his own role?

This fills me with so much confidence. 

With Jon and his rekindled passion at the helm, we are clearly in safe hands  

[Davefevs]

13 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Seems to me that JL has been given the opportunity to run the club by SL for the time being so it may well be that a sale has been put on the back burner with investment now being the primary objective.

Just pure speculation on my part.

Certainly how it feels.

The story I heard (no idea if any truth to it) was that Jon was making a play to be CEO!!!  Looks like SL has done that in all bar name really, putting a protective shield around him from all angles, GM, TR and Tins.

Was typing as you posted @W-S-M Seagull

Edited December 22, 2023 by Davefevs

[bcfc01]

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Certainly how it feels.

The story I heard (no idea if any truth to it) was that Jon was making a play to be CEO!!!  Looks like SL has done that in all bar name really, putting a protective shield around him from all angles, GM, TR and Tins.

Was typing as you posted @W-S-M Seagull

JL is certainly exceeding the brief of a Chairman.

But with a two man executive board, whats in a name..

 

 

[W-S-M Seagull]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Certainly how it feels.

The story I heard (no idea if any truth to it) was that Jon was making a play to be CEO!!!  Looks like SL has done that in all bar name really, putting a protective shield around him from all angles, GM, TR and Tins.

Was typing as you posted @W-S-M Seagull

I don't want to speculate on SL, but hes clearly taken a back seat as he's got older. 

I know we all mock Jon a lot. But being serious for a second (but it is quite difficult to be serious when talking about Jon!) It must be quite difficult to be the son of a billionaire. OK he's not had the struggles most of us have had so I'm not sure difficult is the right word. Difficult for him I mean. Always living in his fathers shadow and also having to prove himself to his father? 

Are we at a point where SL is now clearly thinking about succession? And Jon is trying to maybe prove that he should be a part of those succession plans? That he is capable of running the club in the longer term? 

[marmite]

12 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Seems to me that JL has been given the opportunity to run the club by SL for the time being so it may well be that a sale has been put on the back burner with investment now being the primary objective.

Just pure speculation on my part.

Maybe not speculation?  Steve has noticeably moved back from the front line and put Jon, who until recently was just his eyes on the board, firmly in place as the leader.  Remember Jon seemed destined to drift away overseas until a change of direction from Steve.  Jon appears to have been told its his club now and to take the reins. Problem is he appears to have no idea about recruitment or delegation so has used his mates to help him out. In Gould and Pearson we had football men in the right places and slow progress was being made. Now it may be Jon saying to Steve  "get me something new for Christmas dad  because I've broken the football club you gave me last year".

[Natchfever]

24 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Seems to me that JL has been given the opportunity to run the club by SL for the time being so it may well be that a sale has been put on the back burner with investment now being the primary objective.

Just pure speculation on my part.

I did think that myself and said as much before but hes running a pretty big business surrounded by ill qualified staff who seem to be covering mutiple roles which normally would point to reducing the bottom line.

I failed of course to apply the IFW factor.

Indulged **** wit.

[pongo88]

18 hours ago, ralphindevon said:

Yeah, I’ve never been to a senior reds lunch, though sadly I do qulaify, but I remember when Steve L used to do a Q&A at an away ground every year it was very much something that he didn’t want reporting and I think banned all media attending.

I'm not sure if this is similar but I don’t recall any other of their meetings getting a comprehensive report. Perhaps regulars can shed more light 

I used to go to Senior Reds lunches and have heard Steve Lansdown answer questions. He didn’t  want anything reported because what he said was his honest option and some of the things were confidential and / or a bit controversial. That was in the days when he was interested in the club. That was a bit different to the recent Hen & Chicken and Senior Reds events where the answers were just waffle 

17 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Tricky relationship at first, but then good.

I'm bored of saying it but Nige is really unwell and couldn't properly carry out his duties. I hate the City board as everyone will know, but I do have sympathy with them on this point. Nige probably had to go. 

Na, I'm talking unpopular with general staff.

If JL had taken the easy option and said we’ve got to replace Nige because he’s unwell and can’t do the job it would have been accepted by the supporters. Maybe not happy, but excepted. Instead there were a host of convoluted reasons given which just didn’t stack up. 

[fisherrich]

13 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Many people work at Bristol City/Sport based on who they know, rather than ability. It's certainly not the best person for the job model that Brighton follow. 

If Phil was unpopular, it's probably because he tried to transition us more towards that Brighton model and people didn't like that because they know they are not the best people for the job. 

Bristol Sport is riddled with vermin. Awful business to be involved with.

[fisherrich]

10 hours ago, Countryfile said:

Richard Scudamore has attended some board meetings, presumably in an advisory capacity.

Amazingly with his background in running the premier league and having worked in newspapers he seems to not wield much influence.

Word on the grapevine was they didn’t like what they heard.

[sh1t_ref_again]

3 minutes ago, fisherrich said:

Bristol Sport is riddled with vermin. Awful business to be involved with.

So who do you know and have an involvement within Bristol Sport to know this

[fisherrich]

8 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

So who do you know and have an involvement within Bristol Sport to know this

Let’s just say I have a family member who worked there.

[sh1t_ref_again]

Just now, fisherrich said:

Let’s just say I have a family member who worked there.

OK then with your ITK knowledge, so why are they vermin as you claim, or perhaps your family member ex employee is bitter, but then again anyone can make unsubstantiated comments on an anonymous forum

[exAtyeoMax]

1 hour ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I don't want to speculate on SL, but hes clearly taken a back seat as he's got older. 

I know we all mock Jon a lot. But being serious for a second (but it is quite difficult to be serious when talking about Jon!) It must be quite difficult to be the son of a billionaire. OK he's not had the struggles most of us have had so I'm not sure difficult is the right word. Difficult for him I mean. Always living in his fathers shadow and also having to prove himself to his father? 

Are we at a point where SL is now clearly thinking about succession? And Jon is trying to maybe prove that he should be a part of those succession plans? That he is capable of running the club in the longer term? 

Why not go and forge your own path? He’d have a decent sun to invest in something else completely, but like his Bermuda project. Perhaps he’s been coerced into staying at city ?

[phantom]

2 hours ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

OK then with your ITK knowledge, so why are they vermin as you claim, or perhaps your family member ex employee is bitter, but then again anyone can make unsubstantiated comments on an anonymous forum

It's pretty well known that the working environment and atmosphere is pretty stale, certain people in senior positions don't have the respect of their teams due to their style of management 

[fisherrich]

5 hours ago, phantom said:

Our problems stated a long time before Richard Gould left, sadly before that point a large number of our fanbase were not as aware or believing about the shambles we were in behind the scenes.

This hasn't all just appeared overnight, it has been growing over time

You are right that some comments are embarrassing and childish, but the more concerning thing is the vast majority are actually 100% accurate

Thank you. Posters on here defending the owners etc probably unaware of what was happening “behind the scenes”. This has been a car crash of a football club for a number of years.

It is a business that if it had a PLC and was accountable, would be changed years ago. Fact.

Edited December 22, 2023 by fisherrich

[sh1t_ref_again]

35 minutes ago, fisherrich said:

Thank you. Posters on here defending the owners etc probably unaware of what was happening “behind the scenes”. This has been a car crash of a football club for a number of years.

It is a business that if it had a PLC and was accountable, would be changed years ago. Fact.

You did not say the owners, you called the staff who work for Bristol Sport "vermin" which seemed uncalled for 

[the1stknowle]

On 21/12/2023 at 16:33, Galley is our king said:

As above, said a few very noncommittal words and then went into a Q and A.

The Hen and chicken it was not!

First question about the accounts and when would they be published?

Answer.... they are being bought into line and published with the other members of the group, no idea when that would be.

Second question. Could you please explain why Phil Alexander left the football club? 

Answer..... We felt things weren't going as well as we expected, nothing particular and Brian Tinnion was growing into the role.

Third question. Do you feel that you should listen to the opinions of experienced supporters when making big decisions like changing managers? (Some clapping).

Answer.... we can't consult on everything but everything we do is in the best interests of the club.

Forth question. Now Liam Manning is here, what do you consider to be a successful season?

Answer.... well there are an awful lot of points still to play for so we are looking for progression.

When pressed he said TOP 10!!!!!

Fifth question. Do you understand the disappointment that the fan base currently feel about the current board of directors.

Answer.... well you can't please everyone and I'd like to think many do support us.

There were other important questions about lighting in the stadium during evening games, music too loud and giving the opposition an advantage by then having the Atyeo stand. Sorry if I missed any others, please add!!!

Don't think he enjoyed this at all so it was ended although there were others wanting to ask further questions.

My second question would have been.... If you consider 10th to be a successful season why did you sack a manager when we were eleventh?

Worked well as everyone was too old to work for Bristol Sport.......

I don’t think Jon has been a good chairman up until this point and one of my main complaints, other than how he got the job, is the abysmal lack of communication over last few years. 
 

But like what he says or not, you can’t deny that he is finally making an effort to communicate with the fans more regularly. Vital, especially when we don’t have a CEO who can do that club-level communication. 
 

Appreciate it is not a popular opinion, but I’m encouraged by the recent efforts. Far from perfect. Far from not awkward. But he’s at least putting himself out there more which is a major change. 

[The Constant Rabbit]

Shame about Nige's health.

 

Mind you there was precedent to keep him on.

 

I mean Lisa Knights spent an awful amount of time on her knees at work, and she's still got a job....  

 

[38MC]

11 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Good post.

Although I very much doubt Nige sees it this way at the moment, I agree with you that him being relieved of his duties is a blessing for his overall health. 

I wouldn’t ever wish to comment upon someone’s health or fitness for their role unless I was 100% certain; and as I ain’t doctor or patient, I wouldn’t comment. 

[fgrsimon]

10 hours ago, pongo88 said:

If JL had taken the easy option and said we’ve got to replace Nige because he’s unwell and can’t do the job it would have been accepted by the supporters. Maybe not happy, but excepted. Instead there were a host of convoluted reasons given which just didn’t stack up. 

From a contractual / employment / legal basis I suspect there are many reasons why they couldn't say that, even if it were even partly true. For one NP would have to agree to it and if he didn't, it could have got very messy.

Until NP writes his memoirs we will probably never know the complete story. In fact probably never will as I'm sure there will NDAs in place on both sides.

Having been through redundancy recently, it's far more complicated if medical reasons are involved. I should say though, in my case I was more than happy with it as I was planning to quit by the end if the year and the process was very simple.

[petehinton]

19 hours ago, Ghost Rider said:

Agreeing with this, JL didn't do himself any favours with the way he handled everything, to be honest. When you drop a quote like "we've got a top 6 side," you're asking for trouble, especially when you make a decision you know will go down poorly with the majority of supporters, immediately putting pressure on an already mourning fanbase.

The way I see it, the Lansdowns employed NP. They stuck with him through his battle with COVID and long COVID, during which he was out for some time (as they should). They persevered through an 18-game streak with only 3 wins, a shocking record. But they stood by him when it could have been easy to pull the trigger, especially after the boos rang out following the WBA match, with over half of the supporters wanting him gone (as per the OTIB poll after the game). So why didn't they sack him then? What baffles me the most is that he was actually on his best run of form, so why the sudden sacking?

My theory is, aside from his average record from the previous seasons, it must boil down to one or a number of factors. The club was dragging its heels when it came to a new contract, irritating NP, who started throwing hand grenades. There was only going to be one winner there. Combined with the fact that he was clearly struggling with his health, spending less and less time at the HPC, and his contract nearing the end, it pushed a decision.

Ultimately, the way they did it wasn't great and could have been handled better. Although the reasons I think they may have sacked him couldn't be explicitly stated for obvious reasons. The timing was odd, so I believe something else must have happened, but again, we will never know.

On another entirely different point, I'm not sure if anyone else noticed (and try to find it, @Davefevs @Harry @Kid in the Riot @Mr Popodopolous) — you guys are pretty switched on when it comes to these sorts of things), but did you notice in one of Liam's interviews when he joined? He said something like, when talking about the 5-1 defeat to Oxford against us, "after the game, I spoke to my agent and said, 'well, I won't be joining Bristol City after that,'" almost as if there had been contact from the club previously. That game was at the end of August. I think we'd already sounded him out that summer.

 

It was a question I put to Tinnion at the forum, which for some reason generated a load of laughter which summed that night up tbh (maybe off subject). 
 

He didn’t really answer it tbh (other than say we were lucky to win the CC game, which is a bit odd). But I know for a fact Tinns went to watch Oxford at least twice after the games we played against them. Probably put as scouting games, but really in hindsight were likely to be to have eyes on how his teams play. 

[italian dave]

On 22/12/2023 at 03:21, W-S-M Seagull said:

You can't sack someone because of their health. 

Of course they've dressed it up as he was under performing etc but if it was a consideration in their decision, then thats ******* wrong on some many levels. Especially from a club that likes to promote how much good they do. 

Nige seems to be well enough to go for walks on the beach. 

Actually, you can sack someone because of their health.

It’s usually quite a lengthy process, which would be why coming up with other reasons might be the preferred route - and in the unusual circumstances of football management they’re always likely to be there.

But it’s quite possible and it happens that people lose their jobs because of their health, 

[italian dave]

23 hours ago, Sir Geoff said:

This exactly. A decent compassionate employer would have seen he was struggling during early October and suggested that he think about his health and take 3 months or so off to try and sort it out. He had a perfectly competent backroom team who could still have reported back to him and he would have been available to make any bigger than normal decisions. Curtis and Jason would have been more than ok in the dugout on matchdays.

How sacking him and employing a rookie Championship manager is better I have no idea.

We none of us, I suspect, know exactly what went on.

But didn’t he already have a ‘leave of absence’ to recover from Covid? Which would suggest that a) there was more to it this time and b) maybe part of that was it being a second time - that’s a lot in footballing terms.

And do we know that something like that wasn’t offered? It was suggested at the time that the final straw was NP going public with his frustration at not getting a new contract offer.

It’s not inconceivable that the club would have been amenable to him having a break, but just didn’t want to commit on a future contract until the outcome of that break was known. That wouldn’t be an unreasonable position to take.