Steve Watts

To be honest, whoever bases their vote on what team an MP supports should have their right to vote removed....this is exactly how we ended up with Brexit! Strictly speaking everyone targets a top of the league finish. In an ideal world you set your team up to try and win every game you go into.... unless you're a manager who just sets your team up to not lose.....

He's annoying because he takes after his old man....

I just hope the club haven't shot themselves in the foot leaving it so late. Getting so late in the day does a massive disservice to what he's offered this season. If not for Rob Dickie he'd have had my shout as player of the year. To have played so well and then had either Manning or Tinnion (can't remember which) saying they've got to be playing for a contract was hugely disrespectful considering their performances (Williams and Jamo). He's the breaker in midfield and the fly in the ointment of this clubs soft underbelly. He's this squads Marlon Pack - right down to being both the best passer of the ball in the club whilst also being the worst passer of the ball at the club! He absolutely has to be offered a new deal. I just hope he takes it.

He is. He's the illegitimate lovechild of Andy Cole and Carlton Palmer. The extra 6 games are therapy after an afternoon watching Manningball.... He's a quality player and should be in the England team. Unfortunately Southgate seemed to like his comfortable pairs of slippers so I would expect him to be used sparingly... As an aside, the penalty incident was embarrassing last night, but fair play to Palmer for shrugging it of and calmly slotting it away.

(The remainder of the post edited out just to avoid long quote boxes) Yeah, I guess my definition is that of utilising the clubs academy to bring through first team players. I concede that we've had a good few years of productivity from the Academy and maybe we're in slight downward trend at the moment. I think Silvio has addressed the examples you make quite well, and as such I think it meets the criteria of not wanting to bring through academy prospects. I accept that he has signed and/or played youth, but none that were given a real chance from the academy. EFL trophy games are as much (or more) about resting the first teamers than giving academy kids a game. I just can't see SPH in particular making it here. Tommy may well (probably will) leave in the summer, but I still can't see him being given a chance over Nakhi or Sammy. And Manning has shown that a chance won't come alongside them. It's obviously been discussed to hell and back about JKL not being given a chance in a dead rubber (for us) and instead shifting a number of players into weaker positions. For my money, JKL has always looked like a player who could shine in the limited exposure he's had. Was excellent at Forest for example, and I don't recall him looking like a fish out of water any other time either. Looking at it (without the benefit of seeing them in training day in day out), but going with a depleted bench (several times) and going with a makeshift defence instead of playing a dedicated centre half who's been with the first team for most of the season (Saturday), does look like a lack of intent by Manning to utilise the tools at his disposal. I just certainly don't have any faith that another Tommy or Sam Bell for example will emerge under Manning. And if he's going to continue to buy youth rather than nurture it, then the Academy becomes a very expensive piece of window dressing.

Seb has no prospects in a Liam Manning led Bristol city and would be better off going elsewhere. As would any young striker. You would have to be of an exceptional standard as a young striker to break into a Championship first team that only plays with one striker. Even moreso for a head coach who has never blooded youth in his career. The trouble with that argument is that it's been demonstrated that results aren't massively more important than performances to fans. Indeed the latter feeds the former. We set up and play like we did against Blackburn, against Southampton, against Watford then we get both performances and results. It's perplexing that he doesn't see that. I don't think that's the case personally. If he felt like that then he'd have played the same style and system as he did on Wednesday. Instead he pulled another Southampton/QPR trick which almost gifted another team fighting for their Championship lives a golden opportunity to pick up some much needed points.

To be fair I was thinking £30 might not be enough to get you through 90 minutes of Manningball!

You really are a strange little troll, aren't you? I just don't get the point....

So it's taken you all this time to say that you either weren't at the match or don't understand the game? At least you've confirmed that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Hmmmm... You're offering ten grand to not watch Manning-ball next year....? I might have to take you up on that offer!!!

Just leaving this here......

I honestly don't think last night told us anything we didn't already know. As we showed against Watford and some team beginning with S that I heard we may have bested, when we play the system that the squad was built to do we look good. Many of us have been saying this for bloody ages and last night just reaffirmed that. Yes, it helped that Blackburn were terrible, but we attacked at pace and with purpose and was not a typical "Manningball" style yesterday and the substitutions, as utterly predictable as they were, paid off handsomely. The big question now, is can we do it all again on Saturday. That will be key to us building some momentum, especially given that for once we're the bogey team. We need to pretty much carry on where we left off, rather than the last false dawn after beating the southerners and then reverting back to type a few days later against QPR. Very pleased with last night however and was nice to enjoy the match for a change. Long may it continue.

Of course they are a thing! They represent the stars that were shining when Jesus rehatched from a chocolate egg that had been laid by a big bunny...