steve lansdown on ITV west before 18:30pm

[Never to the dark side]

talking about conservation?

[Sir Geoff]

3 minutes ago, Never to the dark side said:

talking about conservation?

Nest Eggs

[Never to the dark side]

if you missed it available on ITV plus 1

[Kid in the Riot]

Only caught the end of a very sunburnt looking Steve.

Said his final legacy is what he's doing in Botswana. Not sure what he means by that other than owning three reserves and making loads of money from tourism? Guess he employs lots of locals.

Said something about Bristol Sport being his other legacy and that in both that and Botwana he employs a load of people to get on and run them.

Usual sort of self-important guff you'd expect from a billionaire basically. 

[just like watching brazil]

Thanks I managed to switch over 

[fisherrich]

32 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Only caught the end of a very sunburnt looking Steve.

Said his final legacy is what he's doing in Botswana. Not sure what he means by that other than owning three reserves and making loads of money from tourism? Guess he employs lots of locals.

Said something about Bristol Sport being his other legacy and that in both that and Botwana he employs a load of people to get on and run them.

Usual sort of self-important guff you'd expect from a billionaire basically. 

I managed to avoid listening to more twaddle thankfully!

[Bazooka Joe]

44 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Only caught the end of a very sunburnt looking Steve.

Said his final legacy is what he's doing in Botswana. Not sure what he means by that other than owning three reserves and making loads of money from tourism? Guess he employs lots of locals.

Said something about Bristol Sport being his other legacy and that in both that and Botwana he employs a load of people to get on and run them.

Usual sort of self-important guff you'd expect from a billionaire basically. 

So connecting the dots between the recent proliferation of Bristol Sport bots on OTIB and his beloved Botswana.

The bots wana influence opinions on here to garner support for the Lansdowns.

[redsquirrel]

14 minutes ago, Bazooka Joe said:

So connecting the dots between the recent proliferation of Bristol Sport bots on OTIB and his beloved Botswana.

The bots wana influence opinions on here to garner support for the Lansdowns.

does this mean our big no9 could be a young giraffe?

[GrahamC]

Rather watch the test card.

[JAWS]

He loves the adulation. Narcissist

[Harry]

32 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Rather watch the test card.

Everyone under the age of 35 is asking “what is the test card”?

[AppyDAZE]

Edited May 30 by AppyDAZE

[downendcity]

45 minutes ago, AppyDAZE said:

[petehinton]

Almost forgot he was still alive & kicking tbh

[RedRock]

Sod it. I’m going to buck the trend.

Well done Steve and the Lansdown family for investing vast amounts of money in your local football club, and abroad, in highly worthwhile environmental/community initiatives.

Two things that I would have invested my fortune in - if I had one.
 

Not perfect, made mistakes, but show me someone who hasn’t. Glad they are associated with my Club. 

[tin]

7 hours ago, RedRock said:

Sod it. I’m going to buck the trend.

Well done Steve and the Lansdown family for investing vast amounts of money in your local football club, and abroad, in highly worthwhile environmental/community initiatives.

Two things that I would have invested my fortune in - if I had one.
 

Not perfect, made mistakes, but show me someone who hasn’t. Glad they are associated with my Club. 

I hope you would’ve had the humility to put your ego to one side and hire experts in their field to run the club, if you owned it for more than two decades. 

[Robbored]

8 hours ago, RedRock said:

Sod it. I’m going to buck the trend.

Well done Steve and the Lansdown family for investing vast amounts of money in your local football club, and abroad, in highly worthwhile environmental/community initiatives.

Two things that I would have invested my fortune in - if I had one.
 

Not perfect, made mistakes, but show me someone who hasn’t. Glad they are associated with my Club. 

Well said - a very well balanced reply RedRock.

I reckon that there are plenty of posters on here that appreciate what SL has done not just for us and Bristol Sport but all the other worthwhile initiatives.

 

[Davefevs]

4 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Well said - a very well balanced reply RedRock.

I reckon that there are plenty of posters on here that appreciate what SL has done not just for us and Bristol Sport but all the other worthwhile initiatives.

 

Whilst being a critic of some of the stuff he has done / does, I do appreciate other things.  You can do both.

If he and Jon are true to their word, and that any investment or new ownership is from people right for City, we should have no fears about them moving on.  Anyone saying “be careful what you wish for” is highlighting their doubt in SL doing the right thing / doing his due diligence.

But as @RedRock says, it’s an investment…therefore it’s not a gift.  Don’t get me wrong, SL knows he’s isn’t getting the lot back if he sells up with us in the Championship.

[Peter1450]

Its his club, his money and he can do just as he pleases with it, the billionaire feels the need to appear on tv to inform us he raised 30k in a bike ride ……..

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, Peter1450 said:

Its his club, his money and he can do just as he pleases with it, the billionaire feels the need to appear on tv to inform us he raised 30k in a bike ride ……..

I thought it was a group of cyclists that raised it?

[Robbored]

9 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Whilst being a critic of some of the stuff he has done / does, I do appreciate other things.  You can do both.

If he and Jon are true to their word, and that any investment or new ownership is from people right for City, we should have no fears about them moving on.  Anyone saying “be careful what you wish for” is highlighting their doubt in SL doing the right thing / doing his due diligence.

But as @RedRock says, it’s an investment…therefore it’s not a gift.  Don’t get me wrong, SL knows he’s isn’t getting the lot back if he sells up with us in the Championship.

To me that means that we could get bought out by some assets stripper only interested in making a few bucks. With SL we know what we’re getting.

[Peter1450]

32 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I thought it was a group of cyclists that raised it?

May have misheard but thought he was involved in the ride, it’s a bit like me winning a lucky dip on the lottery and announcing I’m donating it to the City Foundation.

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Robbored said:

To me that means that we could get bought out by some assets stripper only interested in making a few bucks. With SL we know what we’re getting.

That’s my point…nobody should worry about SL selling to an asset-stripper.  To use that as a defence of SL remaining here is unnecessary imho.

Should the unlikely happen and he sells to an asset-stripper, then I’d think very poorly of SL, but I wonder what his supporters would think.  And I don’t think he’d do that, despite being a critic.

[Davefevs]

57 minutes ago, Peter1450 said:

May have misheard but thought he was involved in the ride, it’s a bit like me winning a lucky dip on the lottery and announcing I’m donating it to the City Foundation.

I thought you were suggesting he said “he” raised it alone?  There were a group of them doing it.

[phantom]

16 hours ago, Never to the dark side said:

talking about conservation?

For anyone that missed it and wanted to see it 

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

SL has done good things for the club, but is in danger of some negatives offsetting the positives (IMO).

In respect of Ashton Vale he was, we were also unlucky. The income boosts on abd off field didn't really come through until 2015, 2016 and beyond. That Ashton Vale saga went on 5 or 6 years.

Obviously the Training Ground, Stadium and off-field good and praiseworthy.

Backing the wrong horse at the wrong time is a real recurring theme, likewise his son and his rise- a role cor which he is inadequate, see also Tinnion.

Bigger push in January 2008 and perhaps we go straight up is one that really does stick out.

Summer 2015 arguably buy definitely January 2018 a combination of reticence and P&S factors.

Summer 2023, not backing NP and his team, not keeping a dedicated CEO...trying to pull us into a tight budget at a key time, making the manager and fans less than happy.

Would argue ti some extent Janaury 2019 another true midfielder and striker could have made a major difference, especially the midfielder.

Korey, Pack, Brownhill, Walsh, Morrell. Of those two relative rookies and one injured on off, on off. Hegeler also quit through injury in November- thought we were one light there and potentially striker too.

Barely communicating this strategy save for a random interview on BBC Guernsey whereby he rambled about a nest egg, £20-25m a year and so on. In fact possibly the last time he has communicated with the fans as such.

Maybe we are saving headroom up for this and next season..anticipating a bit of a weaker division who knows.

I like the fact he seems to invest in conservation.

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Maybe we are saving headroom up for this and next season..anticipating a bit of a weaker division who knows.

I honestly do not believe that is the case…the headroom is more a result of SL’s desire to fund less each season.

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I honestly do not believe that is the case…the headroom is more a result of SL’s desire to fund less each season.

That is a shame if so, wrong horse wrong time now turning into less investment full stop..although the new rule with 70% if it ever fully comes through at our level will be a gamechanger for a lot of clubs relying on lots of investment to keep the lights on/their current expenditure levels.

[Davefevs]

13 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

That is a shame if so, wrong horse wrong time now turning into less investment full stop..although the new rule with 70% if it ever fully comes through at our level will be a gamechanger for a lot of clubs relying on lots of investment to keep the lights on/their current expenditure levels.

In truth, I’m not against it…we should run more sustainably…where is our next £10m sale (let alone £20m) coming from.  The whole “operation” needs to be leaner.

[Mr Popodopolous]

7 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

In truth, I’m not against it…we should run more sustainably…where is our next £10m sale (let alone £20m) coming from.  The whole “operation” needs to be leaner.

We could be one of the better placed to take advantage of the 70% rule, I think a lot of clubs have loads to do. One of the top non Parachute income clubs for revenue and if (when?) they cut that gap between Parachute Payments and Solidarity Payments...

As for us specifically, I think we are moving towards the relatively speaking more sustainable Championship clubs albeit that is a low bar.

Edited May 31 by Mr Popodopolous

[Sir Geoff]

2 hours ago, Robbored said:

To me that means that we could get bought out by some assets stripper only interested in making a few bucks. With SL we know what we’re getting.

Yes an owner who let's his son run it like a nursery.

[Robbored]

16 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

Yes an owner who let's his son run it like a nursery.

That’s not the case Geoff. Jon Lansdown is the eyes and ears of his father and nothing significant at the club is decided without the approval of the man at the top of the pyramid.

Remember that Junior has been involved at AG for many years and has a a full grasp the football industry and he’s not the dimwit that some make out him to be - sure his wishy washy explanation over Nige’s sacking pissed off lots of fans   as did the promotion of BT to Director of football ( no doubt approved by his dad ) but that aside his intentions are to improve the fortunes of Bristol City.

[Davefevs]

14 minutes ago, Robbored said:

That’s not the case Geoff. Jon Lansdown is the eyes and ears of his father and nothing significant at the club is decided without the approval of the man at the top of the pyramid.

Remember that Junior has been involved at AG for many years and has a a full grasp the football industry and he’s not the dimwit that some make out him to be - sure his wishy washy explanation over Nige’s sacking pissed off lots of fans   as did the promotion of BT to Director of football ( no doubt approved by his dad ) but that aside his intentions are to improve the fortunes of Bristol City.

What were his eyes and ears doing when Mark Ashton was here?

I think you give him more credit than he deserves.

Intentions are nothing without being able to execute them.

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

We could be one of the better placed to take advantage of the 70% rule, I think a lot of clubs have loads to do. One of the top non Parachute income clubs for revenue and if (when?) they cut that gap between Parachute Payments and Solidarity Payments...

As for us specifically, I think we are moving towards the relatively speaking more sustainable Championship clubs albeit that is a low bar.

I’m not so sure we are any better or worse placed than many.  Without knowing professional players wage totals, it’s very hard to know.

[Eddie Hitler]

8 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

What were his eyes and ears doing when Mark Ashton was here?

I think you give him more credit than he deserves.

Intentions are nothing without being able to execute them.

 

Ashton's primary talent is being able to flatter the egos of more senior staff.

[Mr Popodopolous]

12 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I’m not so sure we are any better or worse placed than many.  Without knowing professional players wage totals, it’s very hard to know.

I am basing it on the fact, it's simplistic on my part sure, that we have one of the highest incomes outside of Parachute clubs.

Metric I'm using is the Bristol City FC plus amortisation plus agents fees vs the Bristol City Holdings income. Cardiff as per their Accounts supposedly had just £14-14.5m in Player Wages 2022-23 so they could have some headroom under the new system.

Players are often 70-80% of the total wage bill, I know Bristol City FC Limited covers more than 70%. A differential I find interesting is looking at Birmingham say, there is very little gap between PLC and Club, Stoke is harder still to unpick.

Our typical income though even pre redistribution should be £35-40m, probably closer to the latter which will often be top 10 at worst and maybe 5th-7th at best in the Championship. Can all change of course.

Edited May 31 by Mr Popodopolous

[Numero Uno]

22 minutes ago, Robbored said:

That’s not the case Geoff. Jon Lansdown is the eyes and ears of his father and nothing significant at the club is decided without the approval of the man at the top of the pyramid.

Remember that Junior has been involved at AG for many years and has a a full grasp the football industry and he’s not the dimwit that some make out him to be - sure his wishy washy explanation over Nige’s sacking pissed off lots of fans   as did the promotion of BT to Director of football ( no doubt approved by his dad ) but that aside his intentions are to improve the fortunes of Bristol City.

Good intentions are fine but need to be backed up with good performance. If and when Jon shows that people will be inclined to revise their opinion of his role at the club. I bet Hargreaves Lansdown don’t select loss making, non-performing funds for their Client portfolios on the basis that the Fund Manager has good intentions.

[Sir Geoff]

16 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I am basing it on the fact, it's simplistic on my part sure, that we have one of the highest incomes outside of Parachute clubs.

Metric I'm using is the Bristol City FC plus amortisation plus agents fees vs the Bristol City Holdings income. Cardiff as per their Accounts supposedly had just £14-14.5m in Player Wages 2022-23 so they could have some headroom under the new system.

Players are often 70-80% of the total wage bill, I know Bristol City FC Limited covers more than 70%. A differential I find interesting is looking at Birmingham say, there is very little gap between PLC and Club, Stoke is harder still to unpick.

Our typical income though even pre redistribution should be £35-40m, probably closer to the latter which will often be top 10 at worst and maybe 5th-7th at best in the Championship. Can all change of course.

The 70% rule wont be introduced overnight though. It will be phased in over several years 90%,80%. Are we therefore preparing for something that a. may not happen and b. may not be in force for the next 3/4 years, therefore hamstringing (sorry for the pun) ourselves for the next couple of seasons on something that may not happen anyway.

[Mr Popodopolous]

4 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

The 70% rule wont be introduced overnight though. It will be phased in over several years 90%,80%. Are we therefore preparing for something that a. may not happen and b. may not be in force for the next 3/4 years, therefore hamstringing (sorry for the pun) ourselves for the next couple of seasons on something that may not happen anyway.

Agree, this is a concern of mine too. This rule aside, I think our optimal football wage bill should be around £25m.

Parry seems to want 70% in ASAP or has done, but yeah currently stuck between systems. The PL are bringing it in 2025-26, 2024-25 will have elements of it..their limit is 85% whereas those in UEFA will need to be 70% by then by 2025-26.

Truth is nobody knows in full.

[Davefevs]

44 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Agree, this is a concern of mine too. This rule aside, I think our optimal football wage bill should be around £25m.

Parry seems to want 70% in ASAP or has done, but yeah currently stuck between systems. The PL are bringing it in 2025-26, 2024-25 will have elements of it..their limit is 85% whereas those in UEFA will need to be 70% by then by 2025-26.

Truth is nobody knows in full.

Do you mean BCFC Ltd wage bill, or professional players wage.  The UEFA CFLR only talks about pros and manager wage, not football club wage bill.

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Do you mean BCFC Ltd wage bill, or professional players wage.  The UEFA CFLR only talks about pros and manager wage, not football club wage bill.

Wonder what % of the BCFC Limited m that would be then, 75-80% maybe? Thats including all remuneration of course, ie bonuses, tax, NI etc.

If so we would have power to add. 70% of our likely income range before we get onto redistribution, or transfer profits would be probably £25-28m. Players and management wages, managerial payoffs, agents fees, amortisation and impairment. Not a bad starting point..then it is down to SL as it sounds like the Rugby isn't spending up to what they can Salary Cap wise.

[The Happy Farmer]

Well said red rock

[slartibartfast]

On 30/05/2024 at 18:24, Kid in the Riot said:

Only caught the end of a very sunburnt looking Steve.

Said his final legacy is what he's doing in Botswana.

Perhaps, Jon boy is in line for a few new brothers & sisters !

[Robbored]

9 hours ago, Davefevs said:

What were his eyes and ears doing when Mark Ashton was here?

I think you give him more credit than he deserves.

Intentions are nothing without being able to execute them.

Mark Ashton was an expert at pulling the wool over peoples eyes and he bluffed his way through his time at City, including conning SL and his son - the guy was a top fraud using his charisma to paint a positive image of himself - a bluffer of the highest order.

 

[Major Isewater]

Lansdown has credit in the bank for developing Ashton Gate but he shouldn’t have given up on building an ‘Ashton Vale’  somewhere else as I don’t think the present stadium is big enough to compete successfully with the Prem clubs . 
He can also take huge credit for the training centre. 
On the football side I think he is a long way from having the Midas touch and somehow manages to get it wrong more times than getting it right. 
I don’t believe that he is driven enough to sprinkle gold dust on real promotion campaign to the Prem in the meantime we are a well established second tier club. He is an accountant at heart and whilst that should mean that we don’t go chest up as a club it also means that he is inclined to play it safe rather than going ‘balls out ‘ for the top. 
The competition is cutthroat and Uncle Steve plays as the humble support act. Who really believes that we are serious about promotion and will do what’s necessary to achieve the goal? 
 

[RedRaw]

10 hours ago, Robbored said:

Mark Ashton was an expert at pulling the wool over peoples eyes and he bluffed his way through his time at City, including conning SL and his son - the guy was a top fraud using his charisma to paint a positive image of himself - a bluffer of the highest order.

 

Ipswich are pretty happy with him

[Robbored]

29 minutes ago, RedRaw said:

Ipswich are pretty happy with him

They’ll suss him out eventually but not for a while yet. Currently he has plenty of credit in the eyes of the Tractor Boys fans.

[RedRaw]

He is what he is.

when he first went to Ipswich and was spending millions on about 20 new players, my first thought was ‘here we go again’ and that it will all go belly up. Difference is, Ipswich knew what they had to do to go up, got their man and gave him the resources to do it….it worked for them.

 

[Lorenzos Only Goal]

22 hours ago, Davefevs said:

What were his eyes and ears doing when Mark Ashton was here?

I think you give him more credit than he deserves.

Intentions are nothing without being able to execute them.

Spot on! 

[Lorenzos Only Goal]

2 hours ago, RedRaw said:

Ipswich are pretty happy with him

Every dog has his day, Ashtons gambles paid off.

[chinapig]

2 hours ago, RedRaw said:

He is what he is.

when he first went to Ipswich and was spending millions on about 20 new players, my first thought was ‘here we go again’ and that it will all go belly up. Difference is, Ipswich knew what they had to do to go up, got their man and gave him the resources to do it….it worked for them.

 

His first season there was a failure. Typically he was front and centre when it came to signings, too many of which failed.

Since then he has been more in the background, possibly at the behest of the owners. He's a perfectly good administrator just don't give him control over all day to day football activities as we did.

[redsquirrel]

48 minutes ago, chinapig said:

His first season there was a failure. Typically he was front and centre when it came to signings, too many of which failed.

Since then he has been more in the background, possibly at the behest of the owners. He's a perfectly good administrator just don't give him control over all day to day football activities as we did.

add to that he would have learned a lot about what not to do whilst messing this club up

[Bobbie]

On 31/05/2024 at 00:01, RedRock said:

Sod it. I’m going to buck the trend.

Well done Steve and the Lansdown family for investing vast amounts of money in your local football club, and abroad, in highly worthwhile environmental/community initiatives.

Two things that I would have invested my fortune in - if I had one.
 

Not perfect, made mistakes, but show me someone who hasn’t. Glad they are associated with my Club. 

Well said