Sound of the city

[Gert Mare]

4 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

They probably found out he was a friend of McKenna, so he must be good.

I’m laughing, but, worryingly, it could well be true!!!!

Edited March 19 by Gert Mare

[wayne allisons tongues]

Haven’t been to Ashton Gate since NP was sacked, will not give the club my money anymore. 
 

Live in Manchester and spend my time helping/working for a non league side, the ex pros who watch and play at this level cannot believe we got rid of NP and PA. They all mention how much of a car crash our club is now and how we are now a running joke at how bad we are run. 
 

When NP and PA were there we were held in high regard and according to these ex pros players will not be signing for us in the summer. This is due to the regard we are now seen as a club and they all believe we are heading one way unless we have a big clear out top to bottom.

Edited March 19 by wayne allisons tongues

[fisherrich]

11 minutes ago, wayne allisons tongues said:

Haven’t been to Ashton Gate since NP was sacked, will not give the club my money anymore. 
 

Live in Manchester and spend my time helping/working for a non league side, the ex pros who watch and play at this level cannot believe we got rid of NP and PA. They all mention how much of a car crash our club is now and how we are now a running joke at how bad we are run. 
 

When NP and PA were there we were held in high regard and according to these ex pros players will not be signing for us in the summer. This is due to the regard we are now seen as a club and they all believe we are heading one way unless we have a big clear out top to bottom.

Car crash of a football club. Just look at the mess this club is in. Also stopped going after Nige P sacked. Not going back until Lansdowns are out of our club. Been down AG 50+ years supporting the team. Really pissed off with it TBH.

Edited March 19 by fisherrich

[Mr Popodopolous]

44 minutes ago, fisherrich said:

What makes you so sure the Lansdowns will make the correct appointment. I have zero confidence in them.

I tend to agree but I would say that last time it was like this, Holden out NP in so you just never know..

Of course we ran aground and messed up horribly grim May or Summer 2023 to present really. I'd love to see him and his team reinstated, Tinnion either shunted back to youth or out the door, Jon Lansdown well away from the levers of power, a proper CEO appointed and Rawcliffe and Marshall baxk to more appropriate roles.

If we can't get Fleming back, try for Shakespeare and Walsh as a sweetener.

It won't happen of course but that would be something like my ideal blueprint..

[chinapig]

47 minutes ago, Gert Mare said:

I’m laughing, but, worryingly, it could well be true!!!!

Likewise. I wouldn't entirely rule it out either given the limited capabilities of the people making the decisions.

Allegedly progressive young coaches are fashionable so it wouldn't surprise me if it amounted to little more than looking at the likes of McKenna and Edwards and assuming Manning would be as good as a matter of course.

That's selection bias as it ignores any young coaches who haven't been a success.

Due diligence? What's that?

[Davefevs]

7 minutes ago, chinapig said:

Likewise. I wouldn't entirely rule it out either given the limited capabilities of the people making the decisions.

Allegedly progressive young coaches are fashionable so it wouldn't surprise me if it amounted to little more than looking at the likes of McKenna and Edwards and assuming Manning would be as good as a matter of course.

That's selection bias as it ignores any young coaches who haven't been a success.

Due diligence? What's that?

I sssume you mean Rob Edwards not Joe Edwards?

[chinapig]

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

I sssume you mean Rob Edwards not Joe Edwards?

Yes, quite!

[red panda]

39 minutes ago, fisherrich said:

Car crash of a football club. Just look at the mess this club is in. Also stopped going after Nige P sacked. Not going back until Lansdowns are out of our club. Been down AG 50+ years supporting the team. Really pissed off with it TBH.

Are we in administration or liquidation?  Do players and club staff still receive their wages?  Do we owe a huge amount to HMRC?  Are we paying millions in interest to external lenders?  Have we been relegated to the third tier, fourth tier or out of the league altogether?  Do our owners have an appalling human rights record that we try not to mention?  Are we on our eleventh manager in the last four years?  Are we facing one or more points deductions?  Is our ground unfinished or falling apart?  Do we have an owner who brazenly ignores FFP regulations then blames everyone else when sanctioned?  Did we build a new ground which we never filled and then had to leave?  Do we have Tony Pulis or Joey Barton as manager ?

After initially supporting Manning, I now think he ought to be sacked.  It just didn't work.  Things could certainly be better.  But they could also be a hell of a lot worse!

[Numero Uno]

58 minutes ago, fisherrich said:

What makes you so sure the Lansdowns will make the correct appointment. I have zero confidence in them.

Bar a few disenchanted and impatient fans who are just as culpable as the Owner and Board imo as it was their bleating that gave the hierarchy the green light to fire him, they did get an appointment right. A manager who the majority were able to live with despite an uninspiring style because he explained what he was doing and what the craic was to the fans. The problem was it was uncomfortable for the ego’s for the peasants to have such an understanding.

They couldn’t have a situation where fans understood so Nige had to go. Power and control had been transferred and that was never acceptable to them. Let’s be fair, had they given it to Curtis for the rest of the season and told Nige to go home on full pay and make a full recovery with a view to negotiating a contract at the end of the season the extra “ten points” that Sid spoke of would probably have been banked THIS SEASON………oh, they would also have saved a shit load of cash too!! Not to mention we could have been in the market for players who would be creased up laughing if their agent said Liam is on the phone.

[W-S-M Seagull]

42 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I tend to agree but I would say that last time it was like this, Holden out NP in so you just never know..

Of course we ran aground and messed up horribly grim May or Summer 2023 to present really. I'd love to see him and his team reinstated, Tinnion either shunted back to youth or out the door, Jon Lansdown well away from the levers of power, a proper CEO appointed and Rawcliffe and Marshall baxk to more appropriate roles.

If we can't get Fleming back, try for Shakespeare and Walsh as a sweetener.

It won't happen of course but that would be something like my ideal blueprint..

In a perfect world you'd get Pearson to come back in and give him carte blanche to bring in whoever was needed to work below and above him. 

If you asked Nigel Pearson to appoint us a Technical Director then I'd have the greatest belief that he would make a fantastic appointment. 

It doesn't even need to be Pearson, but someone who has the ability to do that. 

The board need to recognise that when it comes to footballing matters, they are clueless. We won't ever progress whilst we have that lack of football experience.

Some pride needs to be swallowed and allow experienced people to sort this bloody mess out. 

I'm quite confident to say that with how this club is being run, if changes are not made from top to bottom, we will be relegated. We've seen it so many times at other clubs. 

 

Edited March 19 by W-S-M Seagull

[Numero Uno]

18 minutes ago, red panda said:

Are we in administration or liquidation?  Do players and club staff still receive their wages?  Do we owe a huge amount to HMRC?  Are we paying millions in interest to external lenders?  Have we been relegated to the third tier, fourth tier or out of the league altogether?  Do our owners have an appalling human rights record that we try not to mention?  Are we on our eleventh manager in the last four years?  Are we facing one or more points deductions?  Is our ground unfinished or falling apart?  Do we have an owner who brazenly ignores FFP regulations then blames everyone else when sanctioned?  Did we build a new ground which we never filled and then had to leave?  Do we have Tony Pulis or Joey Barton as manager ?

After initially supporting Manning, I now think he ought to be sacked.  It just didn't work.  Things could certainly be better.  But they could also be a hell of a lot worse!

We aren't on the same side of the debate but what you say above makes complete sense tbh. However, the frustration comes when a manager is sacked and the Board, having every opportunity to coherently explain themselves end up making a complete horlicks of it and in many statements are resorting to downright untruths that, as I've said previously, take five minutes to disprove on the internet (e.g. McKenna's record which was an incredibly stupid thing to say without being 100% sure of the facts). Some untruths aren't so easy to prove but now seem to be surfacing via in the know local journalists like James Piercy. Fans are not daft and information is very easy to acquire in this day and age (especially with all the loose lips at the HPC), for example this forum knew about Twine's injury DAYS before the club informed us.

We also have a situation where a member of the hierarchy appears to be "feeding" propaganda to someone they perceive to be an influential voice of the fans, someone who has no filter and cannot keep their mouth shut. We also had the bizarre situation on here where "this red" and "that red" were signing up as new members trying to push an agenda and haven't been seen since Boxing Day with a minor amount of detective work showing in some cases that their origination comes from a certain sporting empire in the region.

It's the behaviours (yes, I use that term deliberately) around their decision making that causes some to perhaps go over the top and say things like the "club is a car crash". You explained eloquently enough that in real terms it isn't really that but the decision makers (I am not talking Steve now) only have themselves to blame and have demonstrated an uncomfortable amount of unprofessionalism and lack of qualifications to be in post (imo of course).

[Monkeh]

38 minutes ago, red panda said:

Are we in administration or liquidation?  Do players and club staff still receive their wages?  Do we owe a huge amount to HMRC?  Are we paying millions in interest to external lenders?  Have we been relegated to the third tier, fourth tier or out of the league altogether?  Do our owners have an appalling human rights record that we try not to mention?  Are we on our eleventh manager in the last four years?  Are we facing one or more points deductions?  Is our ground unfinished or falling apart?  Do we have an owner who brazenly ignores FFP regulations then blames everyone else when sanctioned?  Did we build a new ground which we never filled and then had to leave?  Do we have Tony Pulis or Joey Barton as manager ?

After initially supporting Manning, I now think he ought to be sacked.  It just didn't work.  Things could certainly be better.  But they could also be a hell of a lot worse!

We are still in a mess, it's just a different kind to those you mentioned,

[1960maaan]

33 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I tend to agree but I would say that last time it was like this, Holden out NP in so you just never know..

Of course we ran aground and messed up horribly grim May or Summer 2023 to present really. I'd love to see him and his team reinstated, Tinnion either shunted back to youth or out the door, Jon Lansdown well away from the levers of power, a proper CEO appointed and Rawcliffe and Marshall baxk to more appropriate roles.

If we can't get Fleming back, try for Shakespeare and Walsh as a sweetener.

It won't happen of course but that would be something like my ideal blueprint..

That's all we really have to hold onto , sadly .

I don't agree with all the "has no ambition " posts , I think it's more that being a dictatorship that doesn't seem to like to take advice you can never have a balanced view. Jon has ideas , but massively limited it football as is Dad . Plus they just haven't learnt from experience.

Then all of a sudden...
Steve L steps away , we appoint an experienced Manager , we appoint a real CEO and everything starts to look like a real Club going in the right direction. 

Pearson may have been outspoken , but if he's treated fairly and honestly he wouldn't have felt the need to drop things into the Pressers.  So we lose a Manager and 2 CEO's , TBF one wasn't down to the Club. 

In 5 months we have gone from the best set up for years, to being a mess with no obvious leadership worthy of the name.

I hope your thinking is right , Steve may just see the difference in direction 6 months ago , to now . 

Nige isn't coming back , ever.
Looking from either side it just wont work and that means any of his staff or friends would be doubtful.  I hope they go down a similar route though , get an experienced man in . Get the support HE wants . Get a real experienced CEO. in ASAP . Get a real Chairman in , call it an advisor , call it anything but take the keys away from Jon. Even if it has to be in way that doesn't bruise his ego. 

They have heard/seen/felt the feedback from the sacking or the kits or the badges , they know they have done a great job in pissing off the fans .  So maybe , just maybe they will make the right appointment again. They do stumble onto the right man every now and again. Even if they tend to balls it up after a short while. 

 

 

[BCFCGav]

So Ian Gay’s source revealed ‘Manning has 8 games to save his job’. I’ve been racking my brains on what that means. Surely if the board or ownership are putting you on your last warning - you’re done regardless. It’s just a matter of waiting for the result(s) that seal your fate. Unless these last 8 games are SO good in results and/or performance that he buys himself back some wriggle room? 
 

What a bloody shambles. Fingers crossed we end the season well and can finally see some realignment within the club and fanbase. Or better still, City release a statement that the Lansdown’s have agreed to a sale.

[fisherrich]

1 hour ago, red panda said:

Are we in administration or liquidation?  Do players and club staff still receive their wages?  Do we owe a huge amount to HMRC?  Are we paying millions in interest to external lenders?  Have we been relegated to the third tier, fourth tier or out of the league altogether?  Do our owners have an appalling human rights record that we try not to mention?  Are we on our eleventh manager in the last four years?  Are we facing one or more points deductions?  Is our ground unfinished or falling apart?  Do we have an owner who brazenly ignores FFP regulations then blames everyone else when sanctioned?  Did we build a new ground which we never filled and then had to leave?  Do we have Tony Pulis or Joey Barton as manager ?

After initially supporting Manning, I now think he ought to be sacked.  It just didn't work.  Things could certainly be better.  But they could also be a hell of a lot worse!

Different debate. Still a car crash IMO.

[Numero Uno]

It would appear that many would like to go back to something nearer Nige as our next manager. The obvious question is what experienced manager will work under our set-up? If they are experienced guess who they will almost certainly know and sound out first?!!

Unfortunately, if we get rid of Manning I see nothing but a similar type of manager coming in........only "this one we've got cock on lads, he's much better, cross my heart and hope to die, trust us on this one innit". Knowing our Board we'll go from Liam Manning straight to someone who learned from John Beck.

[Northern Red]

14 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

It would appear that many would like to go back to something nearer Nige as our next manager. The obvious question is what experienced manager will work under our set-up? If they are experienced guess who they will almost certainly know and sound out first?!!

Unfortunately, if we get rid of Manning I see nothing but a similar type of manager coming in........only "this one we've got cock on lads, he's much better, cross my heart and hope to die, trust us on this one innit". Knowing our Board we'll go from Liam Manning straight to someone who learned from John Beck.

Well he did say he used to hide in the laundry bins at Cambridge and listen to the teamtalks...

Edited March 19 by Northern Red

[Gert Mare]

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

It would appear that many would like to go back to something nearer Nige as our next manager. The obvious question is what experienced manager will work under our set-up? If they are experienced guess who they will almost certainly know and sound out first?!!

Unfortunately, if we get rid of Manning I see nothing but a similar type of manager coming in........only "this one we've got cock on lads, he's much better, cross my heart and hope to die, trust us on this one innit". Knowing our Board we'll go from Liam Manning straight to someone who learned from John Beck.

Almost no experienced manager will work under our set up.

Amazed that Nige accepted the challenge to be fair.

Most managers / head coaches know that their futures are judged by results and they won’t be up for putting their necks on the line by utilising Academy players. They’ll expect financial backing. Nige was a pleasant exception.

Hughton, Coppell, Cotts etc didn’t fancy dipping into the academy.

Nige threw a lot of academy players in and guess what? He was sacked because results weren’t good enough! 

Edited March 19 by Gert Mare

[W-S-M Seagull]

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

The obvious question is what experienced manager will work under our set-up? If they are experienced guess who they will almost certainly know and sound out first?!!

Ian Gay questioned why we haven't yet appointed a head of medical on the latest pod and I think what you have said here answers that question. Nigel and Dave Rennie are held in high regard in the football industry at this level. 

Any head of medical that is worth their salt is gonna know Dave Rennie. People talk. That's why in my opinion the position hasn't yet been filled. 

People will know how Nigel and his staff were treated so they are likely to be put off joining us, unless you're a charlatan like Liam Manning of course. 

Edited March 19 by W-S-M Seagull

[W-S-M Seagull]

7 minutes ago, Gert Mare said:

Almost no experienced manager will work under our set up.

Amazed that Nige accepted the challenge to be fair.

Most managers / head coaches know that their futures are judged by results and they won’t be up for putting their necks on the line by utilising Academy players. They’ll expect financial backing. Nige was a pleasant exception.

Hughton, Coppell, Cotts etc didn’t fancy dipping into the academy.

Nige threw a lot of academy players in and guess what? He was sacked because results weren’t good enough! 

I've been saying for a long time that they don't realise how good they had it with Pearson. They will struggle to find another manager who was is so willing to blood academy players because most managers simply care about their records. 

Pearson was a very rare exception in that he cared about the club more than he cared about his own record. 

The club blindly thought that because Manning once coached in an academy he'd be perfect for the role. What they didn't consider was the fact that Manning would not want to risk his record by blooding academy players.

We're already seeing him setting us up to not lose to protect his job so it's incredibly unlikely we'll ever see him blood academy players for the same reason. 

[Davefevs]

22 minutes ago, Gert Mare said:

Hughton, Coppell, Cotts etc didn’t fancy dipping into the academy.

Obviously not to the extent of Nige, but Cotts / Burt went into 14/15 recruitment with the expectation of Reid, Bryan and Burns being a key part of it.  Bryan starred.

[Gert Mare]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Obviously not to the extent of Nige, but Cotts / Burt went into 14/15 recruitment with the expectation of Reid, Bryan and Burns being a key part of it.  Bryan starred. Dave. 

Yes Dave, in League One, but he had clear aspirations for proven players at Championship level and wanted business done early in the close season so he had time to work with those players in pre-season.

Remember those last minute £9 Million failed bids for Dwight Gayle and Andre Gray?

That was all a bit bizarre?

[Gert Mare]

24 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I've been saying for a long time that they don't realise how good they had it with Pearson. They will struggle to find another manager who was is so willing to blood academy players because most managers simply care about their records. 

Pearson was a very rare exception in that he cared about the club more than he cared about his own record. 

The club blindly thought that because Manning once coached in an academy he'd be perfect for the role. What they didn't consider was the fact that Manning would not want to risk his record by blooding academy players.

We're already seeing him setting us up to not lose to protect his job so it's incredibly unlikely we'll ever see him blood academy players for the same reason. 

I realised it when Nige took the job. I was pinching myself at the time because I couldn’t believe what a coup it was!

When he accepted blooding youngsters too I felt he deserved a new contract and given some money as a reward. Instead he got the sack and I tore my hair out in frustration as to the stupidity of the decision.

That was me done with the Lansdown’s and I’m watching from afar until they’re gone.

[Natchfever]

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I sssume you mean Rob Edwards not Joe Edwards?

Good lad Joe mind.

[beaverface]

4 hours ago, wayne allisons tongues said:

Haven’t been to Ashton Gate since NP was sacked, will not give the club my money anymore. 
 

Live in Manchester and spend my time helping/working for a non league side, the ex pros who watch and play at this level cannot believe we got rid of NP and PA. They all mention how much of a car crash our club is now and how we are now a running joke at how bad we are run. 
 

When NP and PA were there we were held in high regard and according to these ex pros players will not be signing for us in the summer. This is due to the regard we are now seen as a club and they all believe we are heading one way unless we have a big clear out top to bottom.

It bloody annoyed the hell out of me listening to the West Brom commentary, and no matter how biased that Andy Johnson was (dirty gashead b*****d) - there was elements of truth to what he was saying. We aren't very good, and the perception of how we're being run isn't very good either. I hope the board members listened to that, because we're turning into a laughing stock, with ex-gas taking the piss.

[1960maaan]

4 minutes ago, beaverface said:

It bloody annoyed the hell out of me listening to the West Brom commentary, and no matter how biased that Andy Johnson was (dirty gashead b*****d) - there was elements of truth to what he was saying. We aren't very good, and the perception of how we're being run isn't very good either. I hope the board members listened to that, because we're turning into a laughing stock, with ex-gas taking the piss.

I don't agree that we are not very good, we are playing poorly to say the least , but at least some of that is down to how they are being told to play.

Remember , it was only a few games ago that a couple of opposition Managers said we were the best pressing side in the division. That may have been a slight exaggeration , but that press has all but stopped in the last couple of games . That's not the players , that''s the Coach. 

[Shauntaylor85]

Wouldn’t it be great if our owner could go on the show. Tell us what he thinks, haven’t heard at all from SL all season.  

[BS3 Ark at Ee]

Does anyone think that Manning is actually feeling the pressure? He says he’s not on social media but Tinnion is so surely Brian knows how we’re all feeling? 

[red panda]

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

I've been saying for a long time that they don't realise how good they had it with Pearson. They will struggle to find another manager who was is so willing to blood academy players because most managers simply care about their records. 

Pearson was a very rare exception in that he cared about the club more than he cared about his own record. 

The club blindly thought that because Manning once coached in an academy he'd be perfect for the role. What they didn't consider was the fact that Manning would not want to risk his record by blooding academy players.

We're already seeing him setting us up to not lose to protect his job so it's incredibly unlikely we'll ever see him blood academy players for the same reason. 

I won't labour the point, but I think the quality of academy players coming through at the time also made it easier for Pearson to include them.

Tedious football plus poor results should be Manning's downfall, not so much his attitude to academy players.  Setting us up not to lose can be a good starting point, and early on I'm not sure Manning got enough credit for some of this.  It's been really noticeable how many times match reports would say that our opponents weren't their usual free-flowing selves, struggled to find their normal rhythm, weren't firing on all cylinders, etc.  It can't have been a coincidence that so many teams seemed to have an off day when playing us.  But Manning's abject failure to build from this foundation and improve things at the other end of the pitch means that I agree he has to go!

[Jerseybean]

Just listened to the programme from last night. 

Several key points stood out for me….

1) How to turn things around - winning games seemed the solution, as nobody in the studio suggested the Club would dispense with LM any time soon. Given our recent performances, low confidence (which was also discussed) and the increasingly toxic atmosphere it’s hard to see us winning many of our remaining eight games.

2) Lack of leadership - an old chestnut and as pointed out on the programme and above NP filled that role very well.

3) Owners lack of ambition - another old chestnut, references were made to significant investment in infrastructure much less said about investment in quality/proven players.

4) Communication - JP was pretty straightforward and forthright when discussing the framing (untruths) of NPs sacking and in many ways there was an agreement that the mess we are in all stems from that decision and the way it was handled. 
 

A good listen even if if the content was very concerning.