‘Steve Lansdown walks a very fine line’

It wouldn’t be too controversial to say that football is big business. However, stating that the money that has poured into the game since the creation of the Premier League has had a negative effect on the average fans who follow their local team, might be slightly more controversial. But it is a fact.

Football teams, and of course Bristol City, cannot escape from the “business” of football. Clubs are faced with big choices on how they want to govern themselves and often take huge risks to have some of what is on offer for those teams who achieve the highest heights. On the other hand one only has to look at the likes of Portsmouth or Bolton to see what can happen when those decisions don’t come off.

In light of this, Steve Lansdown has had to walk a very fine line. Some years ago, just after relegation to League One, Lansdown restructured the management of the club towards a more sustainable business model to secure the club’s future.

No longer would we be signing experienced or older players, often with large salaries, working their way down through the leagues, like David James and others. But we’d invest in younger, up-and-coming players, often under the age of twenty-five, working their way up. And so it was, and here we are.

Fast forward a few years and we now have a young and very talented squad, including Korey Smith, Aden Flint and others, who are certainly on their way up. Last year’s achievement showed just how good our current squad is, but this season they are struggling with stepping up a division.

So this brings me to Bristol City’s current transfer policy. It is surely prudent for City to follow, at least loosely, the formula which has got us to where we are now. Our wage bill is three times smaller than when we were last in this league and we have a squad that shows a lot more promise. For this Lansdown and co must be applauded.

If, however, we do stick to this formula, the club risks the likelihood that experienced players, such as Elliot Bennett, will follow the money and continue to choose so-called “bigger” clubs over us. We need some more experience, and, sadly this could mean breaking the club’s recent transfer policy and paying wages that might upset the current club’s structure.

As I have stated before, I believe in this current squad and think we will most likely stay up without any further recruits, but that could mean a nail-biting last few weeks of a season. I would much prefer to be celebrating mid-table mediocrity, rather than the terrible tension that accompanies any relegation battle.

So we’re at something of a crossroads, and fingers crossed Cotterill and Lansdown will make the right calls. If you’re lucky enough to be one of the 5,300 making their way up to West Brom this weekend, enjoy what will no doubt be a great day out.