[oldstandrobin]

Hi Guys

Well half a season has gone since Bristol City entered the hallowed halls of the Championship and what a roller coaster it is.

Bouyed up by winning the League and JPT cup you would think that us supporters could look forward to a season of exciting Football with new signings in the summer and an eye on the upper half of the league

WRONG

We find ourselves fighting relegation, managerless, no signings last Summer and a general view that our board hasnt got what it takes to organise a p*** up in a brewery !! Even with a billionaire holding the purse strings, if you venture onto our forum you will find a house divided, showing just having £££££££'s is no guarantee of success.

A lot of us feel that the move into the Championship costs so much as you are competing against those who have had parachute payments from the Prem and those who are Championship established and when a player who you are seeking is asking £35k a week, a reality check is well needed.

I keep an eye on 'Town' and am saddened to see the position you are in as I hoped this season could have been yours but after our experience, possibly it is for the best and I hope you maintain Lge 1 status this year.

All the best for the second half of the season.

[Westbars Spireite]

Yeah, we might be meeting again next season (hopefully, if it means we stay up - no offence). Though if you could stop up at Rotherham's expense I'd prefer that.

[Nerima Spireite]

oldstandrobin, on 03 February 2016 - 09:30 PM, said:

Hi Guys

Well half a season has gone since Bristol City entered the hallowed halls of the Championship and what a roller coaster it is.

Bouyed up by winning the League and JPT cup you would think that us supporters could look forward to a season of exciting Football with new signings in the summer and an eye on the upper half of the league

WRONG

We find ourselves fighting relegation, managerless, no signings last Summer and a general view that our board hasnt got what it takes to organise a p*** up in a brewery !! Even with a billionaire holding the purse strings, if you venture onto our forum you will find a house divided, showing just having £££££££'s is no guarantee of success.

A lot of us feel that the move into the Championship costs so much as you are competing against those who have had parachute payments from the Prem and those who are Championship established and when a player who you are seeking is asking £35k a week, a reality check is well needed.

I keep an eye on 'Town' and am saddened to see the position you are in as I hoped this season could have been yours but after our experience, possibly it is for the best and I hope you maintain Lge 1 status this year.

All the best for the second half of the season.

Still be nice to get there and experience it for ourselves, even if we were adrift at the bottom!

[eddymelt]

oldstandrobin, on 03 February 2016 - 09:30 PM, said:

Hi Guys

Well half a season has gone since Bristol City entered the hallowed halls of the Championship and what a roller coaster it is.

Bouyed up by winning the League and JPT cup you would think that us supporters could look forward to a season of exciting Football with new signings in the summer and an eye on the upper half of the league

WRONG

We find ourselves fighting relegation, managerless, no signings last Summer and a general view that our board hasnt got what it takes to organise a p*** up in a brewery !! Even with a billionaire holding the purse strings, if you venture onto our forum you will find a house divided, showing just having £££££££'s is no guarantee of success.

A lot of us feel that the move into the Championship costs so much as you are competing against those who have had parachute payments from the Prem and those who are Championship established and when a player who you are seeking is asking £35k a week, a reality check is well needed.

I keep an eye on 'Town' and am saddened to see the position you are in as I hoped this season could have been yours but after our experience, possibly it is for the best and I hope you maintain Lge 1 status this year.

All the best for the second half of the season.

Y'see, that's Sportsmanship for you. Good for you to come on here mate, and keep tabs on us - presumably admiring our style of football last season as many of us did yours.

All the best, and I echo the previous post that I hope you stay up at Rotherham's expense :-)

[spireitewolf]

oldstandrobin said:

1454535018[/url]' post='1182815']
Hi Guys

Well half a season has gone since Bristol City entered the hallowed halls of the Championship and what a roller coaster it is.

Bouyed up by winning the League and JPT cup you would think that us supporters could look forward to a season of exciting Football with new signings in the summer and an eye on the upper half of the league

WRONG

We find ourselves fighting relegation, managerless, no signings last Summer and a general view that our board hasnt got what it takes to organise a p*** up in a brewery !! Even with a billionaire holding the purse strings, if you venture onto our forum you will find a house divided, showing just having £££££££'s is no guarantee of success.

A lot of us feel that the move into the Championship costs so much as you are competing against those who have had parachute payments from the Prem and those who are Championship established and when a player who you are seeking is asking £35k a week, a reality check is well needed.

I keep an eye on 'Town' and am saddened to see the position you are in as I hoped this season could have been yours but after our experience, possibly it is for the best and I hope you maintain Lge 1 status this year.

All the best for the second half of the season.

Thanks for good wishes BUT we never played in second tier of football league since I been a supporter 60 + years , while all clubs around us have experienced 2nd tier .Your chairman probably taking advice from ours lol

[Bonnyman]

oldstandrobin, on 03 February 2016 - 09:30 PM, said:

Hi Guys

Well half a season has gone since Bristol City entered the hallowed halls of the Championship and what a roller coaster it is.

Bouyed up by winning the League and JPT cup you would think that us supporters could look forward to a season of exciting Football with new signings in the summer and an eye on the upper half of the league

WRONG

We find ourselves fighting relegation, managerless, no signings last Summer and a general view that our board hasnt got what it takes to organise a p*** up in a brewery !! Even with a billionaire holding the purse strings, if you venture onto our forum you will find a house divided, showing just having £££££££'s is no guarantee of success.

A lot of us feel that the move into the Championship costs so much as you are competing against those who have had parachute payments from the Prem and those who are Championship established and when a player who you are seeking is asking £35k a week, a reality check is well needed.

I keep an eye on 'Town' and am saddened to see the position you are in as I hoped this season could have been yours but after our experience, possibly it is for the best and I hope you maintain Lge 1 status this year.

All the best for the second half of the season.

don't worry pal we will never see it,our club is set up to target the johnstones paint pot trophy.

[BlueRover52]

oldstandrobin, on 03 February 2016 - 09:30 PM, said:

Hi Guys

Well half a season has gone since Bristol City entered the hallowed halls of the Championship and what a roller coaster it is.

Bouyed up by winning the League and JPT cup you would think that us supporters could look forward to a season of exciting Football with new signings in the summer and an eye on the upper half of the league

WRONG

We find ourselves fighting relegation, managerless, no signings last Summer and a general view that our board hasnt got what it takes to organise a p*** up in a brewery !! Even with a billionaire holding the purse strings, if you venture onto our forum you will find a house divided, showing just having £££££££'s is no guarantee of success.

A lot of us feel that the move into the Championship costs so much as you are competing against those who have had parachute payments from the Prem and those who are Championship established and when a player who you are seeking is asking £35k a week, a reality check is well needed.

I keep an eye on 'Town' and am saddened to see the position you are in as I hoped this season could have been yours but after our experience, possibly it is for the best and I hope you maintain Lge 1 status this year.

All the best for the second half of the season.

:rolleyes:It's still tough where we are matey.Same scenario as you mirrored in Div 1.

[DIFH]

Nerima Spireite, on 04 February 2016 - 02:19 AM, said:

Still be nice to get there and experience it for ourselves, even if we were adrift at the bottom!

Really at what expense? Increased debt !!! we have a 10k capacity stadium we haven't a chance my friend.

[brianclose]

Dave In Footie Heaven, on 04 February 2016 - 11:06 AM, said:

Really at what expense? Increased debt !!! we have a 10k capacity stadium we haven't a chance my friend.

Could always do what Yeovil did and not increase the budget - look how well that's worked out!

[h again]

brianclose, on 04 February 2016 - 11:09 AM, said:

Could always do what Yeovil did and not increase the budget - look how well that's worked out!

And that's the problem. We could get into the Championship, but there's only one strategy if we do - stay within the smallest budget in that league and enjoy the ride for one season, or two at most. If we went further into debt to sustain our position we'd never come back from that.
Unfortunately, as many clubs have found, it's not just a matter of staying in budget, getting relegated, and coming back to League 1. Once the downward spiral starts anywhere it's very difficult to pull out of for some reason - morale drops, players get out, the manager gets sacked and the process repeats until relegation from the league becomes a horrible possibility.
I've never been one of the doom-sayers on here, but this whole thread introduces a note of harsh reality into all our dreams for the club. We ain't Championship size, and that's that for the moment.
If DA can drum up another 3000 fans every week and write off the debt we might be in with a chance in the future. I think he's given up on the first, which means the second is never on, if it ever was.

[needdm]

h again, on 04 February 2016 - 01:22 PM, said:

And that's the problem. We could get into the Championship, but there's only one strategy if we do - stay within the smallest budget in that league and enjoy the ride for one season, or two at most. If we went further into debt to sustain our position we'd never come back from that.
Unfortunately, as many clubs have found, it's not just a matter of staying in budget, getting relegated, and coming back to League 1. Once the downward spiral starts anywhere it's very difficult to pull out of for some reason - morale drops, players get out, the manager gets sacked and the process repeats until relegation from the league becomes a horrible possibility.
I've never been one of the doom-sayers on here, but this whole thread introduces a note of harsh reality into all our dreams for the club. We ain't Championship size, and that's that for the moment.
If DA can drum up another 3000 fans every week and write off the debt we might be in with a chance in the future. I think he's given up on the first, which means the second is never on, if it ever was.

I agree completely with you. Whilst it would be nice to get to the championship, the truth is we are not big enough to be able to able to survive unless someone was prepared to put millions of pounds into the club, and not expected to get it back,as has happened with Bournemouth. You just have to look at the average attendances in the championship and only Rotherham have an average lower than our ground capacity. Ticket prices would also invariably have to go up, for example it costs £32 to go in the Kop at Leeds this weekend to see Forest.
Then as others have pointed out a lot of the smaller clubs, free fall after having a season in the championship, you only have to look at Yeovil who could still go out of the league this year, two years after a year in the championship, and having supported York City in the 70's when I lived there, I well remember the two years in the championship that we had, followed by immediate relegation from league 1, and then the following season a finished at the bottom of the second. Fortunately them there was no automatic relegation. The problem is that when you start to fall the better players leave, it becomes more difficult to recruit new players, and generally you have given good contracts to people you shouldn't have, who nobody wants and become a drain on the club. You can argue we have done this in league 1, but it is much worse the higher you go up the leagues. Leeds united is a clear example, as their problems stem from given bad players silly contracts when they were in the top 4 of the premiership.

[oldstandrobin]

h again, on 04 February 2016 - 01:22 PM, said:

And that's the problem. We could get into the Championship, but there's only one strategy if we do - stay within the smallest budget in that league and enjoy the ride for one season, or two at most. If we went further into debt to sustain our position we'd never come back from that.
Unfortunately, as many clubs have found, it's not just a matter of staying in budget, getting relegated, and coming back to League 1. Once the downward spiral starts anywhere it's very difficult to pull out of for some reason - morale drops, players get out, the manager gets sacked and the process repeats until relegation from the league becomes a horrible possibility.
I've never been one of the doom-sayers on here, but this whole thread introduces a note of harsh reality into all our dreams for the club. We ain't Championship size, and that's that for the moment.
If DA can drum up another 3000 fans every week and write off the debt we might be in with a chance in the future. I think he's given up on the first, which means the second is never on, if it ever was.

Sadly for most clubs its a game of Russian Roulette ! Our club for instance comes under an umbrella called Bristol Sport which covers BCFC, Bristol Rugby,Basketball and god knows what else !!Our majority shareholder Steve Lansdown pumps the money in and god knows where it goes !! Sadly the general opinion is that the new stadium has come first and all else, second. Anyway look on the bright side, you stay up, we come down, you have the luxury of a 27,000 seater to visit next season, bring friends, relatives, hitch hikers as we will have a bl***y hell of a problem filling it !!!

[Norton Blue]

h again, on 04 February 2016 - 01:22 PM, said:

If DA can drum up another 3000 fans every week and write off the debt we might be in with a chance in the future. I think he's given up on the first, which means the second is never on, if it ever was.

Anything is possible. Look at Wigan. Averaging around the same, if not less than CFC in the 90's. They went to the Prem, and now bought our captain. Yes they are back in L1 but i'd love their journey, not bad starting out on little over 3000 fans.

[Nerima Spireite]

Dave In Footie Heaven, on 04 February 2016 - 11:06 AM, said:

Really at what expense? Increased debt !!! we have a 10k capacity stadium we haven't a chance my friend.

Okay - some clubs that have fairly recently been in the championship (historically about our size) -

Donnie
Barnsley (and Prem)
Scunny
Bury
Colchester
Peterborough
Stockport
Crewe
Tranmere
Brentford
Yeovil
Port Vale
Rotherham
Gillingham

And there's plenty more I'm too brain dead to remember.
Yes, some of 'em had sugar daddies (yes, we don't)
Yes, some of 'em have had torrid times since but many have recovered.
Call me a "devil-may-care" but I'd rather have great ups and resultant downs than plain (read: turgid) sailing in life. Give me a go in the Championship and I'd gladly face time in non-league if it may come - another different kind of challenge that is far better than just trying to tread water all our lives,

[Wooden Spoon]

for me it wouldn't really be about a season in the championship as such. We all know we couldn't really compete at that level so would expect to finish bottom of the league.


It's would, for me at least, be about enjoying the season that got us the promotion to the second tier, and clever about it, sign players while in the championship that can make another attempt at promotion the following season. The year in the middle would just be about new grounds and seeing us play some big clubs

[brianclose]

Norton Blue, on 04 February 2016 - 04:49 PM, said:

Anything is possible. Look at Wigan. Averaging around the same, if not less than CFC in the 90's. They went to the Prem, and now bought our captain. Yes they are back in L1 but i'd love their journey, not bad starting out on little over 3000 fans.

They also have a ground that holds 25,000 and had a Chairman that wasn't bothered about writing off millions (unlike ours).

This post has been edited by brianclose: 04 February 2016 - 05:10 PM

[boot]

Norton Blue, on 04 February 2016 - 04:49 PM, said:

Anything is possible. Look at Wigan. Averaging around the same, if not less than CFC in the 90's. They went to the Prem, and now bought our captain. Yes they are back in L1 but i'd love their journey, not bad starting out on little over 3000 fans.

Wigan bought their success - Dave Whelan pumped millions in that he will never see again and his money is still behind them. They are unlikely to buy their way to the Premiership again - that journey has now become even more expensive but the Russian billionaire route (Bournemouth) does make it possible.

[60s 70s Spireite]

Norton Blue, on 04 February 2016 - 04:49 PM, said:

Anything is possible. Look at Wigan. Averaging around the same, if not less than CFC in the 90's. They went to the Prem, and now bought our captain. Yes they are back in L1 but i'd love their journey, not bad starting out on little over 3000 fans.

And an exceptionally wealthy chairman who, by his admission, has thrown over £100M at the club. The only way the journey can go all the way to the Premier League is cash- by the bucket load.

But one of Burton, Walsall and Gillingham may again show us that the Championship can be achieved on a League One budget.

[brianclose]

60s 70s Spireite, on 04 February 2016 - 05:09 PM, said:

And an exceptionally wealthy chairman who, by his admission, has thrown over £100M at the club. The only way the journey can go all the way to the Premier League is cash- by the bucket load.

But one of Burton, Walsall and Gillingham may again show us that the Championship can be achieved on a League One budget.

I would have thought one of those three are bound to go up this season, even if Wigan make a late surge for the other spot.

[Nerima Spireite]

a kick in the balls, on 04 February 2016 - 05:07 PM, said:

for me it wouldn't really be about a season in the championship as such. We all know we couldn't really compete at that level so would expect to finish bottom of the league.


It's would, for me at least, be about enjoying the season that got us the promotion to the second tier, and clever about it, sign players while in the championship that can make another attempt at promotion the following season. The year in the middle would just be about new grounds and seeing us play some big clubs

Exactly. Who'd want to be a club expecting success every season anyway? Just make you miserable when you inevitably can't achieve it...like the Prem big guns and the Sheff clubs!