You say that, but Appleton has them top of L1, and if he keeps it up, he will have a promotion and league title win - if we wait until the summer to appoint a permanent manager that is. Is that a yardstick that means you have proven yourself, and worthy of a shot at a club in a higher division? Some say yes, me, I'm not so sure., I'd take someone with a good record and experience of the division we are in.
Getting in a new Manager is always a gamble. Danny Cowley and his brother did brilliantly getting Lincoln out of the Conference, then out of L2, and they recently won the EFL Cup, and now Appleton has them chasing automatic promotion to the Championship, all the while playing open attractive football. So when Huddersfield came calling for the Cowleys in 2019 they obviously jumped at the chance to manage in the Championship, but it just didn't work out for them. It's often said that some Managers can't make the step up from L1 and maybe they're right.
IMO we need someone that would attract players to the club - someone that decent players will want to play for. The manager is as much as an attraction to a player as the club profile and the money. If we continue to take a punt at an inexperienced manager, whilst we MAY unearth the next Jose Mourinho or SAF, it's more likely that we won't - and that means that players only have the club profile and the money to make their minds up on when considering whether to take a chance with us in their very short (albeit lucrative) careers. Our club profile isn't great in the footballing world. We have spent most of living memory in the 3rd tier, so it's more likely that we would have to spend more on wages in order to compensate for that. When an established player considers coming to us, he probably won't think of the chance of a glorious promotion with a big club. He will think of being a mediocre career at a mid-table championship club. Some will probably even still think of us as a 3rd tier club punching above our weight (lets hope this one doesn't come true). You can see it in the mindset of other clubs' fans and even some pundits, when they post on their forums about playing against us - things like 'we should be beating teams like Bristol City...' etc. We call it arrogance, but it does give an interesting (if somewhat annoying) insight into the general perception of our club, as seen from outside. The Zach Clough incident, whilst insulting and infuriating, does also serve once again to remind us that within footballing circles we are still seen as an unfashionable club going nowhere. Employing a well-established respected and proven manager would boost our ability to attract better players and that would in turn lead to greater success on the pitch. This would make a statement to the footballing world that SL really means business. Won't happen though.
I know other people disagree, but that's my firm belief about Cotts. Brilliant and proven at L1 level, doing a fantastic job at Shrewsbury, but somehow hasn't been able to cut it at Championship level with ANY club, not just ourselves. The same could be said for Neil Warnock 1 division higher; brilliant at Championship level, but can't handle the Prem. I'd be 'lukewarm' about employing anyone who had never successfully managed a Championship club before - even if they'd got lower teams promoted.
Zach Clough - another one who thought he was a big time Charlie and was way too good for little old Bristol City and I must admit I'd forgotten all about him. So it's strange to see how his career has nosedived since his big money move to Forest over 4 and a bit years ago, and it's they who have only given him 27 appearances ever since. Loans to Bolton and to Rochdale followed, and he's now apparently at Wigan. As I've said many times over, I'm sure we must have a pretty poor reputation in the football world over recent years as a team who are basically controlled by management, and who talk the talk about how ambitious we are, but when the time and opportunities come along, we don't walk the walk.
I was as annoyed about his public rebuke as much as we all were - and I'm also more than a bit smug about where he has ended up. However, behind the 'insult' there is an important reality check about how some players and 'professionals' within the game view us - not highly!!.
This is a big challenge for us unless we can somehow break that thinking of Bristol as a football backwater. Players in the London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Yorkshire and even Newcastle, have a larger range of clubs that would be commutable when it comes to time to move on; whereas, Bristol is quite a way out of the football club loop. That is a big problem in my eyes when it comes to attracting players and even managers.
Quite agree. Which is why London, the Midlands, the north west and the north east are the historic hubs of football. We're not far out on a limb compared to places like Plymouth or Carlisle, but the likes of Cardiff and Swansea have been there, seen it, and done it in recent years (and may do again soon), and in terms of location, they are more remote than we are. Bristol has fairly good transport options (under normal circumstances) with decent rail, road and air links. A player living on the south side of Birmingham would find it just as easy (if not easier) to commute or move to Bristol as to commute to somewhere like Leicester or Derby but you always get the feeling that history and lack of achievement over the years still hamper us. Plus employing the wrong people naturally ! And we have a wonderful city to explore even if house prices are steep. But hey, footballers can afford it !
And in amongst there, is one of the reasons why players choose Brentford. Remember Cardiff and Swansea have a bigger catchment area than us. The amount of times I get asked if you’re Welsh why support Bristol City even though where I grew up, I was 16 miles from Bristol but 32 from Cardiff.
if ashton cant sell the idea of bristol as a highly desirable place to live and persue your career just what the f@@@ is he there for,
Ummmm Bristol was sold to the rugby world. The reason we are still a footballing backwater is the lack of ambition of the owner and his poodles, January 2018 was the time to have done it, we were playing well and our stock was high, we were the darlings of the media and pundits and in the top 3, with a nice little earner from our Carabao cup run and what did we do? we signed Liam Walsh (one for the future, whenever that's going to be) and loaned in fecking Ryan Kent and Lois Diony FFS. Ambition my arse. And that's exactly what the better managers and players see.
'loaned in fecking Ryan Kent and Lois Diony FFS' Diony was crap. However, Kent was an interesting failure - he was awful for us and yet brilliant for Rangers. Is that an indication of the gulf between the English and Scottish leagues, or an attitude problem? I seem to remember Danny Rose being the same - utter 5hite for us yet played for England not that long after leaving us (and no, LJ wasn't anywhere near!!) Some players just can't be @rsed when they pull on the red shirt.
I just call it as I see it, it was a huge missed opportunity and it shows the lack of ambition that has landed us where we find ourselves today and why we will probably end up with yet another Ashton bitch as a manager.
Bristol may of been in the second division for a bit and lost their way, but in fairness they’ve always been a big club. Three clubs around as in Bath Gloucester and Bristol was like Liverpool, Everton and the Manchester clubs. South West and South Wales has always been a rugby hot bed. Outside these areas Rugby was for the rich college boys.
You are correct, however that was before the game became professional, when it became professional gradually the London clubs took over the mantle of Liverpool, Everton, Man u and Man City . And they have never attracted the sort of world stars that they are now, some of the best players in the world + a world renown coach. Players and coaches will join because they can see the ambition.
True but how many rugby players refuse to perform for any manager? You never hear of rugby coaches losing the dressing room. They are a different breed of people.
