ChippenhamRed

“Clear air” doesn’t help, that just moves the line. It just becomes a forensic decision in a slightly different way. At the end of the day, we need to decide if the need to get every decision precisely correct at all times matters more than the joy of the fan experience. Essentially it’s about whether we view football as science or art. Personally I would rather accept the possibility of human error if that’s what is necessary to preserve the joy. If we can’t truly celebrate those moments and absolutely lose ourselves in the rush of pure adrenalin, then I don’t see the point of all this any more.

No, I hate it all the time.

Imagine what VAR would have done to our Korey moment. I would rather accept the element of human error to preserve the wonder of those moments.

I don’t care. Accept the element of human error to preserve the wonder of the game and the joy of the moment. This is what happens when the rules matter more than the game.

VAR ruins the great moments.

Their trajectory is a bit like Yeovil’s. Disappointed to see them go down. Their training ground is here in Chippenham - it’s also used for youth football, my son plays there a lot and often interacts with the players. So we have a bit of an affinity with them here.

So you acknowledge that “performances and results have picked up”…and then on the basis of ONE game today you declare those performances to be “a flash in the pan”. And then you cite today’s performance as “what we have to look forward to next season”. So multiple recent games of improvement count for nothing - but one game is enough to complete dismiss any progress and predict how next season will pan out?

Fair.

I agree, he doesn’t have a huge amount of credit in the bank. And he doesn’t have a particularly engaging personality that the fans warm to, which doesn’t help with that. But I do think - on balance - he has now done enough to earn the summer and the benefit of continuity that comes with that.

Of course. We have an issue with a consistency of performance, particularly against lower teams, and he does need to fix that. Though I don’t think we ever give enough credit to the opposition when we talk about performance because it’s always a function of how both teams set up, and not just about what we do. But you’ve got to give credit for the good performances as well as criticise the bad ones and then assess the overall picture. Right now I’d say that’s about par for the squad - and no longer near the level of underperformance that demands a new manager. I think he has done enough to warrant staying for next season. There are benefits to continuity versus yet another change of manager. I just think it gets a bit silly when people start calling for the manager’s head after one draw following a good run of form.

Is this really how pathetically reactionary we are going to be now? One disappointing draw after a decent run of form and a 5-0 win in midweek? I was Manning out when we on an extended poor run. But our form has been much improved over the past few weeks. We are a mid-table squad doing mid-table things. Will we win games we don’t expect to and lose some we expect to win. Our league position is about par for the squad. We can’t constantly keep changing manager without really strong justification. Right now I don’t think that strong justification is there, and Manning needs time - and the summer - to see what he can really do.

That was me! Here it is again. I do think this explains the notoriously unpredictable Championship, to some extent at least.

That much is obvious. But it doesn’t answer my question and does nothing to argue against the point I am making.

Compared to what? He kept us up in his first season in charge. He had us competing at the top end of the division for the first half of 2017/18. We got to the semi finals of the Carobao cup, beating Palace 4-1, United 2-1 and competing with Manchester City right up until the very end of the two leg semi final. The following season we finished 8th having been in the play off hunt for the entire season. Plenty to shout about there - and we did. I know it’s fashionable to slag off Johnson at every opportunity but some of the criticism he gets is just lazy and complete nonsense.

It will be exactly the same as this season’s kit “in homage to our famous 5-0 win against Blackburn in 2024”. It will cost £80 and they will make 15 of them, which will sell out within an hour. 13 will be returned because the collars are faulty. More stock will be supplied in April 2025.