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Bristol City
at 15:13 4 May 2021

Its true all things considered I see us as a team that could go between league 1 and championship with a stint in the prem every so often.....The last bit hasn't happened but has for many and the problem with us is we have stagnated for long periods in 90s and 2000s whereas clubs like Hull, Swansea, Bournemouth, Brentford etc all surpassed including yourselves. I suppose its a bitter reality. Some big clubs in league one this season and actually its good seeing different teams giving it a go.....would be boring otherwise right.

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Bristol City
at 15:11 4 May 2021

Really good point regarding COVID and no fans attending. Not sure what impact there has been and whether it was dealt with well enough. Some fans blame our owner for giving DH the deal, he has been obsessed with young managerial talent and sees them as projects.

Regarding injuries , I'm sure I read somewhere that Rolls oversaw a bad injury spell at West Ham but couldn't find any material supporting that. We have a desso pitch so could be that, alot were soft tissue injuries but what many of your fans dont acknowledge is that many were reoccuring and lengthy. Still we can theorise all day. You are right in saying he isn't the sole reason but he's not the only man in the building.

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Bristol City
at 14:20 4 May 2021

Self entitlement is rife in football and I could also ask what makes Ipswich entitled to championship football. Being a big club doesn't get you promoted but money and nouse does. I have also seen lots of moaning from your fans despite being just outside the top 6 for most of the season, but I am sure their are valid reasons and you are welcoming the change.

I think personally this whole Rolls and Ashton saga is difficult one. He seems to be getting credit for things that were in place before he joined such as the stadium redevelopment and youth set up. He has however commanded some very decent fees and actually as someone said on the thread already he could be a better fit at Ipswich. I get you need the positivity right now as do we as we are a sinking ship and lucky to not be down and out. Hope it all works well, all the top dogs at BC cant praise him enough so time will tell.

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Brizzle fan in peace
at 22:32 14 Apr 2021

Absolutely but the only club who does that is Brentford. We did for a couple seasons but the last two we have played awful football with no identity. Not saying its Ashtons fault but at one point we went like 3 games without a corner and 3 shots on target in 5 games. In league one Peterborough always had a good model and play really good stuff at times and finally look like they get autos.

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Brizzle fan in peace
at 21:45 14 Apr 2021

Well Lee Johnson, Nigel Pearson and our owners speak very highly of him so their opinions should count for something. He has the contacts and whether you like him or not if he gets structure to the club then great.

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Brizzle fan in peace
at 21:28 14 Apr 2021

No offence taken. My intent was not to be negative about him just to explain why fans were against him as I didnt see that point made too well on here. As I said he has improved us somewhat and with the right structure could do even better.

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Brizzle fan in peace
at 21:23 14 Apr 2021

The stadium redevelopment had started before he was here.

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Brizzle fan in peace
at 21:21 14 Apr 2021

Great appointment i think and for all the good our owner does he does not appoint experienced manages. He inherited an absolute ****show and I think he is the man to bring discipline to these players. He has a decent CV and if he brings in his own staff we are hoping as much as you guys with Cook, that he gets the best out of the team that makes us perform consistently to a decent standard. I believe short term was favourable to both NP and the club as NP was suffering with long covid and the club didn't want to commit to someone who could not be the right fit. That's how I see it anyway but rumours are he is due to sign this week permanently.

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Brizzle fan in peace
at 21:15 14 Apr 2021

Ouch well as I said no evidence to suggest its the medical team, some have alluded to our pitch or even our training sessions. Its buzzare because we had players out on loan and we recalled them to cover the injuries and within a few days they are injured as well.

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Brizzle fan in peace
at 21:01 14 Apr 2021

Hi all,

After the recent departure of MA to you guys and reading some of the posts on your forum, I thought I would sign up and give you my opinion on Mark Ashton and his time with us.

Firstly as you may have read he is very unpopular with much of the fan base and some fans have been crying for him to leave all season. Such disdain was said by previous clubs Watford and Oxford and when he first joined us.

The reasons for such dislike amongst City fans especially this season Is because some blame him for our horrendous injury crisis. We have had the most in the championship and our situation has been so bad that we were forced to bring in second string and youth players. Now the reason he gets the blame is because he controls the medical section and hired the staff. One of which was previously at West Ham when they had an injury crisis and then moved to Arsenal about 5 years ago. Now there's not really any evidence to suggest any incompetence but we have had an issue with Hamstrings throughout our team and reoccurring ones at that. Two of our central midfielders have made one or two appearances before getting injured again. There have been several reoccurring injuries relating to soft tissue Injuries and we have had over 10 first teasers out all season and the players agents publicly questioned how the club dealt with the players. Nigel Pearson has also said he has never known situation like it and an inquiry will be made.

The other reasons for dislike are that people perceive him as a 'suit' who throws around corporate slang too often. He appears more when things are going well and seems to contradict himself alot when discussing transfer policy and contracts. I feel sorry for the guy though and dont think he deserves all the abuse he is getting.

He gets given in my opinion false plaudits for the Stadium which was with our owners money and was always going to be redeveloped after our move down the road was cancelled due to a bunch of dog walkers.

Did he single handedly improve our standing...somewhat you could argue but he's not the only man in the building. Lee Johnson was very innovative but after a while things go stale and we have became a really soft touch with half the team showing no desire and fight whilst being low on confidence. Its been a tough season and we have been lucky not to be in the bottom three and as I saw last night Cook also alluded to a soft touch culture at your club, so we know the feeling.

Time will tell but overall our standing has improved and no doubt he has contributed to it and he commanded some great fees for some of our players but our club needs a complete overhaul and we are looking forward to a fresh start.

You could still get promoted this season but if not there's always next season. Strange to think when I stated watching football you got promoted to the prem and finished 5th! Good luck for the rest of the season.

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