From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and NOW
Fri Apr 19, 2013 6:09 pm
Relegated,with the Debt hanging over them.
' £41m - the true cost of Bristol City's failed bid to reach the Premier League '
THERE are 41 million reasons why Bristol City have no option but to adopt an altogether different strategy in the future. Promoted to the Championship in 2007 with a negligible debt in the region of £1 million, the Robins have since run up astonishing losses of £41m in a failed quest to reach the promised land of the Barclays Premier League.
Six years further on and City are right back where they started, in League One, but with a balance sheet that makes shocking reading.
This parlous state of affairs is understandably causing genuine concern among supporters who are today waking up to the reality of relegation and asking themselves 'where did it all go wrong?'
Of course, many will feel angry and want answers, while the more vociferous among them will undoubtedly point the finger of blame. That is human nature and is to be expected.
Although launching any kind of witch-hunt would be fatuous, those charged with running the football club must take collective responsibility for the failings of the last few years.
Certainly, mistakes have been made and, with the benefit of hindsight, these are now plain to see. Pointing the finger of blame may be futile, but mistakes made in the past must be addressed and understood if they are to be avoided in what everyone with Bristol City's best interests at heart hopes will be a brighter future.
In charting the causes of the monumental eight-figure annual losses that have characterised the last three seasons, it is necessary to travel back to the Championship play-off final of May 2008.
Never mind that the Robins lost to Hull on the day, just being at Wembley Stadium was enough to propel expectation levels among a burgeoning fan-base to new heights.
The subsequent need to satisfy those expectations in a results-driven environment ushered in a high-risk strategy which has ultimately proved to be flawed.
Having come so close to guiding the club back to the top flight for the first time since 1980, chairman and majority shareholder Steve Lansdown asked himself what was needed if City were to go one better and realise their Premier League ambitions.
In finding an answer to that particular question, he appeared to lose sight of what had taken the Robins to the brink of back-to-back promotions in the first place. Manager Gary Johnson had successfully forged a team out of ambitious and hungry young players who had, for the most part, launched their careers in lower-league football.
Without breaking the bank, the wily Johnson produced a unit that was far greater than the sum total of its parts. Above all else, it was his team ethic that carried City to automatic promotion from League One in 2007 and a fourth-place finish 12 months later in the first season back in the second tier.
Like many other wealthy football club owners both before and since, Lansdown convinced himself that spending money would help City take that extra step. After all, they were already so close.
Although such a strategy won instant approval from fans who, their expectations having been raised significantly, believed Premier League status was an attainable goal, it served only to highlight deficiencies behind the scenes.
While there was no doubting Johnson's ability to build a team on the cheap and extract the best from young players, his record in the transfer market from 2008 onwards left him open to criticism. A succession of expensive loan signings, many of them from overseas countries, arrived at Ashton Gate as owner and manager sought the additional quality they believed was needed to help City progress.
But it quickly became apparent City's scouting and recruitment apparatus was not all it should be. Without exception, the newcomers contributed mightily to a spiralling wage bill without offering any semblance of value for money.
When Johnson paid the price for successive mid-table finishes and a poor run of results in the early spring of 2010, Lansdown opted to push ahead with his plan to buy promotion, ending Keith Millen's brief tenure as caretaker by recruiting a high-profile manager.
Steve Coppell had form when it came to taking clubs from the Championship to the Premier League, having led Reading to the top flight a few years earlier. His arrival caused expectation levels, tempered by a couple of mid-table finishes, to soar again.
Eager to be seen to meet those expectations, Lansdown sanctioned the signing of four players with Premier League experience. David James, Kalifa Cisse, Nicky Hunt and Damion Stewart ensured a process that had begun with the arrival of Evander Sno, Alvaro Saborio and Peter Styver two years earlier, would continue unabated.
Although the club contended otherwise at the time, it can now be seen that the arrival of former England goalkeeper James cost City their manager. Forced to expend a sizeable percentage of his budget on a player whose best years were clearly behind him and unable to strengthen the team in other key areas, an utterly frustrated Coppell walked out just two games into the 2010-11 campaign believing he had been let down by the board.
That bombshell yielded a classic knee-jerk reaction from Lansdown and his fellow directors, who promptly put Millen in charge armed with a three-year contract. An able assistant to a series of previous City managers, Millen had no previous experience as a number one and his appointment represented something of a gamble.
As it was, his chances of making a positive impact were effectively undermined from the very outset. No sooner had he taken charge, than Millen was urged to trim the squad, but told the hugely expensive James had to stay.
Having inherited a raft of new signings made by another manager and unable to move on under-achieving and expensive players on long contracts, he managed to keep City in the Championship, despite having one hand metaphorically tied behind his back in the transfer market. But long-standing imbalances within a bloated squad finally came home to roost during the first ten games of the 2011-12 campaign and Millen was sacked following a 5-0 defeat at Blackpool that sent the Robins to the foot of the table.
Schooled in management in the Scottish Premier League, Derek McInnes was another left-field appointment and he was charged with the task of dealing with many of the same problems that had bedeviled his predecessor.
Although he averted the threat of relegation last season, his attempts to improve things this term were undermined to a large degree by the pressing need to slash an inflated wage bill ahead of the implementation of Financial Fair Play regulations and his subsequent failure to address glaring weaknesses within the squad.
Some of his signings, sanctioned by Lansdown, smacked of panic; certainly, the arrival of Jody Morris and Mark Wilson and the decision to recruit two strikers who clearly did not complement one another in Sam Baldock and Steven Davies seemed strange when the priority should have been to sign a dominant central defender. The upshot was a confidence-riven team that conceded goals for fun and, if relegation was not a nailed on certainty when Sean O'Driscoll replaced McInnes in January, it was already a distinct possibility.
Some commentators have argued that the club's ill-fated pursuit of a new stadium at Ashton Vale proved an expensive distraction, while others contend that Lansdown's decision to step down as chairman, relocate to Guernsey and charge a new-look board of directors with the task of running the club on a day-to-day basis without giving them the clout to determine policy is a hindrance rather than a help.
Be that as it may, such matters are peripheral when compared to the deleterious effects of an expensive and ill-conceived recruitment strategy that has led the club to the brink of financial ruin. Lansdown made money available, but the club simply lacked the wherewithal to spend it wisely.
O'Driscoll's appointment as head coach is proof, if it were needed, that Lansdown is now ready to embrace a different approach. If the financial repercussions of a flawed recruitment policy were to be remedied, they first had to be acknowledged. The realisation that he has seen precious little reward for his considerable investment over a number of years, has led City's multi-millionaire owner to draw the only logical conclusion possible. No longer prepared to throw good money after bad with no guarantee of success, the owner has signalled that City will not, in future, spend beyond their means.
Although relegation suggests otherwise, steps have already been taken to ensure a more secure future for the club. Courted by Barnsley and Blackpool, O'Driscoll was instead drawn to Ashton Gate by the prospect of working with a revamped scouting and recruitment structure and an acknowledgement among directors that youth development represented a more rational and sustainable model for the future.
Any such policy necessarily requires time and, having gone down this particular road, it is now incumbent upon Lansdown to remain true to his principles and adhere to the new way of doing things no matter what happens.
Short-term pain will have to be endured if City are to experience long-term gain and one day return to the Championship in a position to sustain second-tier football on a surer financial footing.
Inevitably, some fans will expect and demand an instant return next season, but patience really will be a virtue in this instance.
Should City find the going more difficult than anticipated in League One next season and the board cave in to pressure from impatient fans and sack O'Driscoll, panic on such a scale will merely guarantee the continuation of a cycle of failure that has become so much a way of life at Ashton Gate in recent times.
Read more: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/41m-true ... z2QvxJE48A
' £41m - the true cost of Bristol City's failed bid to reach the Premier League '
THERE are 41 million reasons why Bristol City have no option but to adopt an altogether different strategy in the future. Promoted to the Championship in 2007 with a negligible debt in the region of £1 million, the Robins have since run up astonishing losses of £41m in a failed quest to reach the promised land of the Barclays Premier League.
Six years further on and City are right back where they started, in League One, but with a balance sheet that makes shocking reading.
This parlous state of affairs is understandably causing genuine concern among supporters who are today waking up to the reality of relegation and asking themselves 'where did it all go wrong?'
Of course, many will feel angry and want answers, while the more vociferous among them will undoubtedly point the finger of blame. That is human nature and is to be expected.
Although launching any kind of witch-hunt would be fatuous, those charged with running the football club must take collective responsibility for the failings of the last few years.
Certainly, mistakes have been made and, with the benefit of hindsight, these are now plain to see. Pointing the finger of blame may be futile, but mistakes made in the past must be addressed and understood if they are to be avoided in what everyone with Bristol City's best interests at heart hopes will be a brighter future.
In charting the causes of the monumental eight-figure annual losses that have characterised the last three seasons, it is necessary to travel back to the Championship play-off final of May 2008.
Never mind that the Robins lost to Hull on the day, just being at Wembley Stadium was enough to propel expectation levels among a burgeoning fan-base to new heights.
The subsequent need to satisfy those expectations in a results-driven environment ushered in a high-risk strategy which has ultimately proved to be flawed.
Having come so close to guiding the club back to the top flight for the first time since 1980, chairman and majority shareholder Steve Lansdown asked himself what was needed if City were to go one better and realise their Premier League ambitions.
In finding an answer to that particular question, he appeared to lose sight of what had taken the Robins to the brink of back-to-back promotions in the first place. Manager Gary Johnson had successfully forged a team out of ambitious and hungry young players who had, for the most part, launched their careers in lower-league football.
Without breaking the bank, the wily Johnson produced a unit that was far greater than the sum total of its parts. Above all else, it was his team ethic that carried City to automatic promotion from League One in 2007 and a fourth-place finish 12 months later in the first season back in the second tier.
Like many other wealthy football club owners both before and since, Lansdown convinced himself that spending money would help City take that extra step. After all, they were already so close.
Although such a strategy won instant approval from fans who, their expectations having been raised significantly, believed Premier League status was an attainable goal, it served only to highlight deficiencies behind the scenes.
While there was no doubting Johnson's ability to build a team on the cheap and extract the best from young players, his record in the transfer market from 2008 onwards left him open to criticism. A succession of expensive loan signings, many of them from overseas countries, arrived at Ashton Gate as owner and manager sought the additional quality they believed was needed to help City progress.
But it quickly became apparent City's scouting and recruitment apparatus was not all it should be. Without exception, the newcomers contributed mightily to a spiralling wage bill without offering any semblance of value for money.
When Johnson paid the price for successive mid-table finishes and a poor run of results in the early spring of 2010, Lansdown opted to push ahead with his plan to buy promotion, ending Keith Millen's brief tenure as caretaker by recruiting a high-profile manager.
Steve Coppell had form when it came to taking clubs from the Championship to the Premier League, having led Reading to the top flight a few years earlier. His arrival caused expectation levels, tempered by a couple of mid-table finishes, to soar again.
Eager to be seen to meet those expectations, Lansdown sanctioned the signing of four players with Premier League experience. David James, Kalifa Cisse, Nicky Hunt and Damion Stewart ensured a process that had begun with the arrival of Evander Sno, Alvaro Saborio and Peter Styver two years earlier, would continue unabated.
Although the club contended otherwise at the time, it can now be seen that the arrival of former England goalkeeper James cost City their manager. Forced to expend a sizeable percentage of his budget on a player whose best years were clearly behind him and unable to strengthen the team in other key areas, an utterly frustrated Coppell walked out just two games into the 2010-11 campaign believing he had been let down by the board.
That bombshell yielded a classic knee-jerk reaction from Lansdown and his fellow directors, who promptly put Millen in charge armed with a three-year contract. An able assistant to a series of previous City managers, Millen had no previous experience as a number one and his appointment represented something of a gamble.
As it was, his chances of making a positive impact were effectively undermined from the very outset. No sooner had he taken charge, than Millen was urged to trim the squad, but told the hugely expensive James had to stay.
Having inherited a raft of new signings made by another manager and unable to move on under-achieving and expensive players on long contracts, he managed to keep City in the Championship, despite having one hand metaphorically tied behind his back in the transfer market. But long-standing imbalances within a bloated squad finally came home to roost during the first ten games of the 2011-12 campaign and Millen was sacked following a 5-0 defeat at Blackpool that sent the Robins to the foot of the table.
Schooled in management in the Scottish Premier League, Derek McInnes was another left-field appointment and he was charged with the task of dealing with many of the same problems that had bedeviled his predecessor.
Although he averted the threat of relegation last season, his attempts to improve things this term were undermined to a large degree by the pressing need to slash an inflated wage bill ahead of the implementation of Financial Fair Play regulations and his subsequent failure to address glaring weaknesses within the squad.
Some of his signings, sanctioned by Lansdown, smacked of panic; certainly, the arrival of Jody Morris and Mark Wilson and the decision to recruit two strikers who clearly did not complement one another in Sam Baldock and Steven Davies seemed strange when the priority should have been to sign a dominant central defender. The upshot was a confidence-riven team that conceded goals for fun and, if relegation was not a nailed on certainty when Sean O'Driscoll replaced McInnes in January, it was already a distinct possibility.
Some commentators have argued that the club's ill-fated pursuit of a new stadium at Ashton Vale proved an expensive distraction, while others contend that Lansdown's decision to step down as chairman, relocate to Guernsey and charge a new-look board of directors with the task of running the club on a day-to-day basis without giving them the clout to determine policy is a hindrance rather than a help.
Be that as it may, such matters are peripheral when compared to the deleterious effects of an expensive and ill-conceived recruitment strategy that has led the club to the brink of financial ruin. Lansdown made money available, but the club simply lacked the wherewithal to spend it wisely.
O'Driscoll's appointment as head coach is proof, if it were needed, that Lansdown is now ready to embrace a different approach. If the financial repercussions of a flawed recruitment policy were to be remedied, they first had to be acknowledged. The realisation that he has seen precious little reward for his considerable investment over a number of years, has led City's multi-millionaire owner to draw the only logical conclusion possible. No longer prepared to throw good money after bad with no guarantee of success, the owner has signalled that City will not, in future, spend beyond their means.
Although relegation suggests otherwise, steps have already been taken to ensure a more secure future for the club. Courted by Barnsley and Blackpool, O'Driscoll was instead drawn to Ashton Gate by the prospect of working with a revamped scouting and recruitment structure and an acknowledgement among directors that youth development represented a more rational and sustainable model for the future.
Any such policy necessarily requires time and, having gone down this particular road, it is now incumbent upon Lansdown to remain true to his principles and adhere to the new way of doing things no matter what happens.
Short-term pain will have to be endured if City are to experience long-term gain and one day return to the Championship in a position to sustain second-tier football on a surer financial footing.
Inevitably, some fans will expect and demand an instant return next season, but patience really will be a virtue in this instance.
Should City find the going more difficult than anticipated in League One next season and the board cave in to pressure from impatient fans and sack O'Driscoll, panic on such a scale will merely guarantee the continuation of a cycle of failure that has become so much a way of life at Ashton Gate in recent times.
Read more: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/41m-true ... z2QvxJE48A
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:07 pm
nice one annis. widely reported that mcinnes almost halved wage.bill in time in charge and 12 out of contract in summer. i cant believe the money some of them w#nkers were earning. i expect us to be back in championship in two years.
remember lansdown sanctioned all the shit we appointed as managers and crap we bought as players in that 41m debt . he also got david james on board when coppell never wanted him, so many city fans blame him for where we are now. relegation may be a chance for us to start again under a very good manager who will tell lansdown a thing or too.
congrats on becoming champions you bluebirds you. and in the words of vera lynn
"we'll meet again dont know where , dont know when......... but i know we'll meet again some sunny day"
WTMS ctid.
remember lansdown sanctioned all the shit we appointed as managers and crap we bought as players in that 41m debt . he also got david james on board when coppell never wanted him, so many city fans blame him for where we are now. relegation may be a chance for us to start again under a very good manager who will tell lansdown a thing or too.
congrats on becoming champions you bluebirds you. and in the words of vera lynn
"we'll meet again dont know where , dont know when......... but i know we'll meet again some sunny day"
WTMS ctid.
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:11 pm
whenthemoonshines wrote:nice one annis. widely reported that mcinnes almost halved wage.bill in time in charge and 12 out of contract in summer. i cant believe the money some of them w#nkers were earning. i expect us to be back in championship in two years.
remember lansdown sanctioned all the shit we appointed as managers and crap we bought as players in that 41m debt . he also got david james on board when coppell never wanted him, so many city fans blame him for where we are now. relegation may be a chance for us to start again under a very good manager who will tell lansdown a thing or too.
congrats on becoming champions you bluebirds you. and in the words of vera lynn
"we'll meet again dont know where , dont know when......... but i know we'll meet again some sunny day"
WTMS ctid.
I honestly feel for you, as to me you were our rivals for years and you in my opinion we were always similar clubs, you will be back, stronger than ever.
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:14 pm
Interesting,,,but how much was BCFC banking on that forlorn investment had England hosted the next World Cup?
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:18 pm
must agree with forever blue with this one as Brizzle city have been our real rivals since the 70's but disagree with brizzle coming back into the championship within 2 years wherethemoonshines
think it will be a real hard slog for you lot next season
think it will be a real hard slog for you lot next season
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:57 pm
Us Cardiff supporters have given various people involved at our club a hard time over the last few years for the way they have run the club, but this shows how hard it is to gain the success that all clubs crave. It is quite possible that Bristol could go out of business with debts like that in Division 1. I hope they find a way out, as they are a good club with a large fan base of real football fans.
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Sat Apr 20, 2013 5:56 am
Wow......... that article was a real eye opener.
It just goes to show that money doesn't buy success. Malky had funds at his disposal but by god he used it wisely.
It just goes to show that money doesn't buy success. Malky had funds at his disposal but by god he used it wisely.
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:16 am
I read the other day that Cardiff City are making history by having the biggest debt any promoted club coming up to the premier league in its history, seems like £41million chasing the dream pales into insignificance compared to £83 million (or £105million as stated in some places)
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:39 am
Gowerjack wrote:I read the other day that Cardiff City are making history by having the biggest debt any promoted club coming up to the premier league in its history, seems like £41million chasing the dream pales into insignificance compared to £83 million (or £105million as stated in some places)
Lets just call it £200 million......who gives a toss, the Blues are going up as f*cking Champions.
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:46 am
TheHangedMan wrote:Gowerjack wrote:I read the other day that Cardiff City are making history by having the biggest debt any promoted club coming up to the premier league in its history, seems like £41million chasing the dream pales into insignificance compared to £83 million (or £105million as stated in some places)
Lets just call it £200 million......who gives a toss, the Blues are going up as f*cking Champions.
That's the spirit go for it
.. that attitude has never harmed other successful teams such as QPR and Portsmouth 
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:53 am
I appreciate your concern for our club but Tuesday was a magical night which I have waited, prayed and dreamed of for 33 years.
Today is going to be another historic day with us being crowned as Champions, and nothing is going to piss on my parade.
Today is going to be another historic day with us being crowned as Champions, and nothing is going to piss on my parade.
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:55 am
TheHangedMan wrote:I appreciate your concern for our club but Tuesday was a magical night which I have waited, prayed and dreamed of for 33 years.
Today is going to be another historic day with us being crowned as Champions, and nothing is going to piss on my parade.
excuse me but that is not the standard response to all things jack
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:59 am
Gowerjack wrote:TheHangedMan wrote:I appreciate your concern for our club but Tuesday was a magical night which I have waited, prayed and dreamed of for 33 years.
Today is going to be another historic day with us being crowned as Champions, and nothing is going to piss on my parade.
excuse me but that is not the standard response to all things jack
You are quite correct, but I'm in a good mood so I took pity on you.
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Sat Apr 20, 2013 8:04 am
TheHangedMan wrote:Gowerjack wrote:TheHangedMan wrote:I appreciate your concern for our club but Tuesday was a magical night which I have waited, prayed and dreamed of for 33 years.
Today is going to be another historic day with us being crowned as Champions, and nothing is going to piss on my parade.
excuse me but that is not the standard response to all things jack
You are quite correct, but I'm in a good mood so I took pity on you.
Since im always in a good mood you are forgiven
and good luck to your team today
Re: From a Debt of £1mill to £41mill chasing the Dream and N
Sat Apr 20, 2013 8:06 am
Cheers fella.