Bluebell Banter

Noticed this, well done Chen, clearly you still have what it takes.

http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/inde ... &nid=55832

It terms of statying up, firstly why are all the bristol clubs struggling, is this a local problem with lack of talent/money or just bad luck ?

If WE have no money, surely there wont be any new signings, and that must be that ? So the only way to stay up is to reinstate Thommo and Lee, give the players and supporters the lift they need (the board agree they were wrong ,or move on) and hey presto we win the games we need to ??? -

Should we drop down, I cant see how we will get back up, the competition at that level is nearly as good as ours. Especially with the loss of money and players, this would cause.

My opinion is that the board have created this situation and between now and the end of the season will be a reflection of their commitment to keeping the club at this level.

I can understand money is tight, and income is partly attendance based, but I also cannot see any active promotion by the club. Where are the 'kids go free' tickets ? or the adverts around town ? why are people allowed to come in free at half time ? where is the investment in the facilites and the team ?

If the board are happy for us to go down or cannot financially sustain us at this level then maybe they should be honest and say so. It would be nice to know their aspirations and ambitions for the club. Mind you, having made a fair few away trips around the country, I would be mightily pissed off if their intention is for us to go down.

I guess the board cannot repsond on here but it would be nice to know

Yes, it's strange that the 3 Bristol clubs at Step 3 in the pyramid are in dire straits.

I think it's purely financial as there are quality local players who don't see Yate, Mangos or Clevedon as a natural home for their talents because they won't get adequately compensated for their services.

It's all very well for Jacko et al saying players are overpaid just because they can't afford them. It's utter tosh. £50-£60 per week at this level is severely underpaid.
The players who have to train/ play twice a week in midweek and give up a whole day on Saturday to travel half way across the country deserve more.
So, as Bodgit says, can the current Committee generate the income necessary to compete?
So far it wouldn't seem so. Maybe it would be better if they faced up to their inability to raise sufficient funding and try to come up with solutions to that problem.

As for Thommo and Lee returning this season..........I can't see that happening. The best thing we can do as a club, that's supporters, officials AND players is put all our efforts into surviving this campaign and save the big questions for the end of the season because if we keep chewing over the wrongful dismissal of Thommo we will lose sight of the main job at hand............beating the drop.