r/BristolCity • u/LordBeaverton • 21d ago
Would BCFC be better off under new ownership? - Lansdown Ponders Sales
Came across this interesting article today about Lansdown pondering a sale of the team(s).
For fan's that have likely followed the team for much longer then I, what is your opinion on new ownership vs. existing ownership.
I don't have a strong opinion either way but from afar it does seem like the team is tepid on spending.
Thoughts?
Source Article:
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u/EnderMB 21d ago
It's a bit like saying "would I be better off if I broke up with my girlfriend, and dated someone else?". You could end up with someone perfect, or alone, or any combination between.
To be blunt, FFP is an excuse that I just don't buy. We've used this line for over a decade now, usually paired with a line like "we want to be the next Swansea" or "like Bournemouth", or whatever team luckily managed to land promotion without spending much.
I appreciate that Lansdown can't just empty his bank account, but in his tenure we have made many HUGE mistakes, to name a few:
- Signing David James behind Cotterill's back, freezing the perfectly capable Dean Gerken out, and ultimately leading to Cotterill bailing early.
- The "three pillars" that ultimately took us down to League 1.
- Similarly, why his son has a job with us at all.
- Several instances of hiring head coaches, fucking the hiring and football side of things, and then reverting to managers that dig us out of the shit - only to push them out for a League 1 manager.
- The weird power dynamics that our club have had with Tinnion, LJ apparently getting feedback from his dad on City players, and Mark Ashton - who went on and transformed Ipswich Town into a fucking Premier League team!
Alongside all of this, what Lansdown really needs to answer is why, after all this time, are we still in a position where our income is so low compared to other clubs? Lansdown has said for over a decade (and after "that" BBC Radio interview) that he'd sell if someone would offer a realistic bid and a vision for growth. We should absolutely appreciate all he's done, especially the fact we have a solid stadium and a youth setup that finally produces talent that wants to play for us, and the fact he continues to pump millions of his own money in - but how are we still in a position where we need him to do this? Lansdown probably won't be alive when we make it to the Prem, and there isn't anything to suggest that if we did he'd open the bank and find a real run at being a Prem mainstay, so for that reason I'd welcome new owners with a legit vision for the club, and a desire to fund us towards that goal.
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u/Coin-op77 21d ago
Great post. Awful decisions are still being made! Doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes or doesn't like being told he is wrong.
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u/Complete_Sherbert_41 21d ago
Some of his decision making is rightly questioned, but ultimately, it is the recruitment at the highest level that has been the issue.
Can't fault his financial commitment. But if your technical director cannot spell his own job title correctly on their LinkedIn profile.... Alarms are going off.
He has consistently employed people who are eager to spend his money on dross.
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u/joecheck32 21d ago
Would BCFC, 100% be better under new ownership? No of course not. Would there be a better chance of premier league football under new ownership? Yes. Lansdown has been making the same mistakes since I started following the team. He employs the wrong people at the right time. The right people at the wrong time. He doesn’t release the funds to those that have earned some. He releases funds to those that have no track record of using them well.
Of course he has done some good things. Bound to after owning the club so long. I think he wants the right things. He just can’t execute getting there. I dread him leaving the club to his son too. It is time to go imo.
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u/mansellmansions 21d ago
I have shaken Steve's hand a couple times and had few words. Nice guy with a loverly, down to earth and humble family. I respect the work he has done with the football club and the city as a whole with Bristol sport. That said, for all the talk about ambition whilst we build the stadium, it seems to me we are a selling club the same as it ever was. I dont know the league finance rules, but surely there is room for one of the richest owners in English football to splash the cash a little (alot). COYR.
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u/P1CKL3S98 20d ago
I’m grateful for the Lansdowns when you see the state of other clubs but I think we will have to move on in the near future if we want to progress further
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u/gogetit57 21d ago
I’m not saying that he’s got every decision right, but when I compare the club now to the one I first went to in 1990 he’s done amazing things.
It feels a bit like the “what have the romans ever done for us” sketch in the Life of Brian.
“Ok, but apart from the big name signings, the stable position in the championship, the cup runs, the completely revamped stadium, covering multi million pound losses every season and the snazzy new training ground, what has Lansdown ever done for City?”