Bottom 3 in 2024 table - Tinnion defend this (sackable)

[Fuber]

On 18/03/2024 at 13:30, LondonBristolian said:

I do agree with this.  And it is worth noting that - up until the beginning of the season - I don’t recall anyone ‘in the know’ on here ever even hinting at problems between Tinnion and Pearson. But suddenly he seems to have become the prime mover behind Tinnion’s sacking and responsible for everything that has gone with the club, whilst it seems that everything positive he has been credited with since he returned to the club is a sham and an illusion.

As with so many things, I suspect there are elements of truth and elements of interpretation.

Certainly I think it fair to say that the current structure, and his role within it,  has some major problems. There is a lack of experience throughout the senior roles at the club and that is really showing. And there also seems to be a major lack of PR savvy and ability to read the room. 

It is very obvious from the panicked hastily arranged interviews and multiple inconsistent explanations that followed Pearson’s sacking that the senior figures at the club did not anticipate the strength of fan reaction that followed Pearson’s sacking. 

However what I find even more revealing was something said during the SotC interview last week - essentially that Tinnion wanted to come on to talk about the youth team but then got told by Radio Bristol that he would need to answer questions about the first team too. The whole idea that the Technical Director of a Championship genuinely believed in the first place that he  might be able to go on the radio and NOT be asked about the first team shows a massive lack of awareness of what the fans and media are want. 

It is also fair to say that Tinnion’s first major recruitment has been a disaster and is not succeeding on the terms either the fans expected or the club set out.

But ultimately any organisation needs to make sure the appointments they make - even at a senior level - have the support they need to succeed. Tinnion has been at the club long enough that the Chair, owner and board should know his strengths and weaknesses. And it seems like nothing has been put in place in the new structure to help him develop or offset his less strong points. 

I suspect that Tinnion actually does have a skillset that is good for the long term future of the club. There has obviously been a degree of strategy and planning around youth development and long term continuity that he should be credited for. But it is also obvious that PR and press interviews are not his strength and the learning from Manning should be that, if he is trusted to recruit a manager again, he needs support at the very least to ensure that the manager he finds meets the expectations he has set out.

But personally I don’t think the above is necessarily a reason to sack a long term employee before at least trying other solutions.

The club urgently need to look at the top end structure and get some additional experience and knowledge in for sure. I do not think that necessarily means Tinnion has to be sacked but it does mean, as with any employee in any structure, the club need to find a way to utilise his strengths, offset his weaknesses and ensure he is not left exposed to become the scapegoat for every decision taken.

The problem is, Gould left in January (https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/gould-to-leave-city/), with Alexander then immediately taking over (https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/phil-alexander-appointed-new-ceo/).

23rd October 22 - Gould announced to be leaving.

9th November 22 - Tinnion becomes Technical Director (with recruitment, so essentially he's DoF, https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/tinnion-appointed-technical-director/)

31st Jan 23 - Alexander officially takes over CEO positions, Gould rejoins the ECB.

The problem is - without remit to lead recruitment - Alexander's influence is completely limited and pointless, which leads to JL and BT usurping boardroom control come September, https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/change-happens-nigel-pearson-reacts-8765340.

This was where NP starred getting prickly (https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12996039/nigel-pearson-sacked-by-bristol-city-results-far-from-only-issue-behind-veteran-bosses-departure).

"Nope," was his curt response when asked if any of Scott's £25m windfall would be spent in August. "It doesn't matter how I feel about it, that's how it is."

As for any 'credit', his purview was Youth. Player. Recruitment.

Tommy Conway - preceeded BT. Sam Bell - Preceeded BT. Lloyd Kelly - Preceded BT. Same with Reid, Bryan, Burns, among others.

Dale Vance contacted via SL for us to land Scott, who was announced by Probert. The only one directly signed and a success was Semenyo - for whom he gets 100% credit.

But that's effectively it. We've seen the likes of Britton, Bakinson, Cundy, Rory Holden, among others come and go signed for the development squad. The likes of Janneh, Low, sold.

So, in effect - it depends on credited by whom.

As a case study we can look closer at Kelly's timeline

If you're looking at it surface level and he was Academy Director while those players came through, then sure. But due to the convoluted manner in which BT has held multiple roles, it also makes it unclear (by design in my opinion) whom did what, and by being head of those processes he's been taking way too much credit. See his comments about Lloyd in 2021 - https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/19634462.he-will-end-back-premier-league/ notable in the fact that Probert had joined Ipswich two weeks beforehand.

Tinnion didn't become Academy Head until a week later https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/tinnion-appointed-academy-director/ but was already taking plaudits. Despite the fact he wasn't even mentioned in nearly any previous media coverage about Kelly (https://theathletic.com/2002246/2020/08/28/lloyd-kelly-bournemouth-defender-bristol-city/)

[MelksRed]

I hope that, when we bring back Korey Smith as head of recruitment, we can ignore all bad perceptions because he scored the winner against Man Utd.....

His (BT) mouth is cashing cheques his ability can't fund. 

[formerly known as ivan]

On 18/03/2024 at 08:16, chalkeyred said:

Didn’t the football world all scratch their heads when Birmingham sacked Eustace.

What must they be thinking of us…..

I posted a clip on her of Paul Merson talking about Pearson’s sacking on soccer Saturday following. They couldn’t believe it. 

Not a direct quote but he basically said Pearson had Scott sold and not given any funds to replace him or rebuild. It was madness.

[formerly known as ivan]

On 18/03/2024 at 08:30, SnozRobin said:

As a minimum, surely this warrants some sort of response/communication from the board/owners.

It’s a disheartening shambles (again).

You’ve had their response, increased season ticket prices!

[Shauntaylor85]

On 18/03/2024 at 08:33, Numero Uno said:

Tinnion doesn't work for the Academy. He is the Technical Director of the football club - the bloke in charge of the football operation, and will be PAID as such, a role he is blatantly underqualified to undertake in my view. If he was demoted to running the Academy again most would probably accept that (although most does exclude me tbh).

This is such a myth! Tinnion is not the one who does well with the academy.