Beginning Of The End For Lansdown ?

God forbid, but HIS decision to employ LJ, could well bring his own resignation at Ashton Gate.
This morning we will be fed another set of false dawns with a smug Junior looking on.
Most managers will get a decent honeymoon period, Junior will get till September if we're in the Championship, he won't see out April if he starts badly.

What is Lansdown thinking ?
Employing a man with Junior's 'baggage' is either genius or an extremely poor managerial decision.

Time will tell but I fear the latter.

 

What people forget is that it his money and he can do what he wants with it. He is all powerful. As supporters we have a choice take it or leave it. What we don't know is what is SLs long game and whether it is all part of an exit strategy. For those who have been managers you always want to surround yourself with people who share your views. In this respect SL is no different than us.

 

He was 100% right to sack Cotterell and I'm struggling to think of anyone who wouldve taken over who is better or the same as Lj.

 

As I've said in a different thread, is this appointment such a surprise? This is Bristol City, it's what we do!
When we had the bidding for the 2018-2022 world cup going on and SL being involved with the Ashton Vale saga, I thought mmmm City are really serious about progress..............WRONG
We have and seems always will go for the cheapest option and hope for the best that we will land the next Alex Ferguson, it's like trying to win the lottery, with a £2 line!

Of course there is no guarantee with any manager coming in that we will progress, especially when they are not allowed the freedom to manage their way..

I wonder if SL needs to employ an established figure in the game that will cut off SL's ties with the football side of things total and let that person recruit the required manager/coach to take on team affairs......Because as it is, the suits have not got a clue..

Having said all that, most, including myself will back the new coach and with fingers crossed, at the very least he keeps us in the championship!
I wonder if SL has the bottle, that if we lose the next 5 games, he will do anything about it or just let us drop to League 1?

 

As I've also said previously, it feels like Lansdown treats the football club as a past time or a toy rather than moving heaven and earth like other owners have done to achieve and maintain top flight football.

As you've said, and aside from the manager position, there are no guarantees in football period.

How many decades of false dawns and paying overinflated prices on average players did it take Manchester City to reach their current heights ? But we're not Manchester City. and right now I'm struggling to see us ever emulating a Swansea City let alone a Stoke City.

The current ownership is fatally flawed and delusional and it will never deliver anything better than what we have now.

Sell up and get out Lansdown and take your minions with you.

 

There is an old saying: 'be careful what you ask for.......' etc

I, like everyone else have been frustrated and angry about the way our club seems to be being run, not just for all this season, but on and off since GJ left/was sacked.
There is a cancer at this club that nobody so far (since Alan Dicks) has been able to cure - although GJ came close and the blame for that has to rest with the board and its decisions. For example, I have made no secret of my opinion that investing in the new stadium was the wrong thing to do. I said on an old post that it is like building a shiny new multi-million pound office, when you haven't even got your business established. It's not as if we had out-grown the old Ashton Gate - we only sold out about 2 or 3 games a season (if that). We should have invested in the TEAM first and got to a stage where we NEEDED the extra capacity - but that's just my opinion. Yes, I am angry and upset.

That having been said, it's SLs money and its understandable that he would want to have a control over where/how it's spent. He is the OWNER - not a generous donor. Frustrating as some of the decisions have been, I can't see that we would be any better off without him, and to be honest look at all the years BEFORE SL - we didn't actually take the league by storm did we?

If SL packs up and leaves us, with the elephant (sorry - stadium) still unfinished, we would be in a worse state - without someone bailing out our debts.

Lee Johnson is our man, for better or for worse - not my preferred choice I must add (far from it, even), but he needs to be backed by the fans and given a chance, rather than dismissed before a ball is kicked by people who didn't rate him as a player or are angry with his dad for perceived nepotism, or both. SAF has been mentioned - people seem to forget that when he took over Man United, the first season they almost got relegated and many of their fans wanted him sacked, so if SAF had come to us at that point in his career I suspect the references from the Man U fans would have been pretty dismal.

Sadly, I think there will be some of us who will WANT Lee to fail, just to give them the opportunity to hurl some more abuse at the lad.

I'm going to see what Lee does - before I criticise his appointment.

 

I agree that there is a huge cancer at the club and things have never recovered since our brief but mismanaged flirt with the old 1st Division.

It's Lansdowns money and largely it's his choices as what we do and don't do, and how far our ambitions are allowed to go.

But the cancer would be curable with some sensible decisions being made and seeing the wood for the trees and that's what collectively as a club we don't ever appear capable of doing, and for the vast majority of fans I suspect this is the biggest crime of all.

There is also a saying that goes if you're not going to walk the walk then don't talk the talk.

 

'I'm going to see what Lee does - before I criticise his appointment'

Of course you can criticise the appointment.
FFS, forget who he is, think about the 'process' we've gone through and his record.

It's the easy/cheap option.
If we'd been beat at Charlton the current muted reaction would have instead have been by now, positively evil.
I just pray we win Saturday, because lose then and at MK and hell will break out.

It's a terrible decision, not based on logic or common sense.
Lansdown, and therefore our club, is flying by the seat of his/our pants.

 

Our only hope is;
Look at Leicester, where were they 8 years or so ago? Lineker helping to bail them out. League one, relegated by Holloway.
Brought in a half decent manager and Bingo, premiership, then a proven manager (although I imagine not everyone's choice) and double Bingo..
It happens!!

 

Bristol City could have nowhere to play? Mr Lansdown owns the stadium.

BCFC will have no debts from the redevelopment.

BCFC could still have debts from BCFC over spending on players sanctioned by Mr Lansdown. That debt is in the region of twenty million pounds, and structured across the BCFC - Bristol City holdings - Bristol Sport - Pula framework. A framework owned by Mr Lansdown in full or overwhelmingly as majority share holder.

Fans should be informed what the long term is for the FC as tenants of Mr Lansdowns companies.

 

At least someone is in a positive frame of mind. LJ is a gamble for sure but we're trying something different to change the mediocrity of the club. He may turn out to be the next Eddie Howe? He may fail. But we're going to try something new.

Get behind the team, the manager and the club. Fill up those half empty glasses fellas before you all descend into an irrecoverable tailspin.......

 

Have said many many times SL has to take the flack if it goes petong.

I hope the fans don't take it on LJ,we would all jump at the chance if we were offered the chance to manage our club.
He has forsaken a wembley appearance,Possibility of Barnsley getting promoted,full respect to him.

We have a guy that wants it badly,wants to prove himself here,let's give him our full support.

Anger should be taken out at the feet of the owner and board,who have feed us fans false promises.

 

sadly I cannot be there, living as I do near Marseille, but I would dearly like to be a fly on the wall at the away-day meeting with Lansdown which has been arranged for whenever…
Questions I would like to ask:
An explanation for Cotterill's sacking - i.e. show some backbone and tell us the real story
Mark Ashton - is it because of his name ?
Lee Johnson - same question
The past season and a half we have had an old style football manager running things, which has bought us 2 trophies and turned the club around. You have sacked him and returned the club to the dark days of coaches, pillars, and administration pillocks who talk with authority and say absolutely nothing because they have no real idea what they are doing. Have you decided to run the team from the boardroom, and when will you be making your debut ?
Do you have a serious ambition for this club or is it just a way of massaging your ego, in which case you will find it hard to boast with impunity when we are getting 5000 in our lovely 27k stadium in Lg2

If anyone goes to this (provided of course that it hasn't already happened), please could you relay the details on here (or get SL to organise an away-day in southern France )

 

Sorry Brightred but I thought you would know by now that SL and organise cannot be used in the same sentence, it's bad karma. Deary deary me.

 

Oh give it a rest Rickster, we are currently getting 15000 in the Championship, we didn't even get down to 5000 when we were at the foot of league 2 back in the dark days of the early 80's. Keep it real

 

We aren't a big fish in a small pond in the championship. Therefore we need a long and structured approach to progress. It will take time but we'll get there.

In addition to that we have to take risks and try different strategies as clearly the last one wasn't working

 

I would also like to add, why Lansdown, when you gave LJ the job, did you decide on a possibly very expensive (does anyone expect him to be here until the end of his contract ?) 3.5 year deal ?

 

Lansdown is having a Q&A session in Nottingham before the Forest game (27 Feb) at the Meadow Lane Sports Bar - that's an opportunity for anyone to ask him a question

http://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/article/lansdowns-qa-in-nottingham-2931447.aspx