One Team

I’ve thought this as well, that if Manning went they would appoint Bell.

Leicester will be desperate to get back on form and ensure they seal their promotion over the next few games. If we play like we have been and Leicester do tap into that previous form it could be an awful score line. Whilst that may be almost be expected, it’s hard to see anything other than a reaction from the fans given the last few months. It would be somewhat ironic if it’s Nige’s old club (and perhaps his attendance on Sky) that seals Manning’s fate.

Awful isn’t it? Apart from being management cringe it’s also said with no credibility, experience or authenticity. Just awful.

Just been listening to an excellent SOTC again this evening. Well done @petehinton I thought you spoke superbly. The language you used, “toxic, divided, deflated, pessimistic” was so spot on and reflected the mood of many, many fans right now. You surfaced all the key issues from Lansdown’s disgraceful decision making and reasons for it to Manning’s incompetence and Tinnion’s meddling. The other two guests were excellent as well and also presented the view that things are truly terrible right now; although I did disagree with the notion of having to stick with Manning. Excellent comment towards the end as well @Davefevs ! I thought Ed Hadwin seemed shocked by the depth of feeling. I really hope Lansdown listened in; according to Hadwin the request has been out there for quite some time for him to be interviewed.

Will definitely check this out if @petehinton was on sounds like a decent episode.

Well “post” it indeed! Totally agree, Piercy is leading the way now.

Every beige kitchens nightmare!

A number of ex players and people in the game have referred to this “family” culture and aligning it to being comfortable, sleepy and accepting of mediocrity. Referring to any place of work as a family is quite often a warning sign. Ironically, Netflix refers to their culture as one of a sports team, not a family. This family culture is part of the problem for me.

Latham seemed certain Manning isn’t going anywhere Fevs .

A really entertaining episode thank you. As respected as a journalist Latham may be his views on Lansdown and Manning were certainly not aligned with mine. Manning may well be “a lovely guy” but that doesn’t make him a competent Championship manager or coach. Whilst he slightly challenged the lack of investment from the Scott sale the lack of any analysis of Lansdown’s failure was a bit jarring. Trying to back Lansdown with a “where would City be without the Lansdowns?” and that we’d be like the Gas was odd. Who knows where we’d be without them, we may well be doing better not necessarily worse. Calling out the “be careful what you wish for” line was also eye rolling; again, it doesn’t mean it will be worse than it is now. The only fact here is we won’t know until it happens. His statement that “Brian Tinnion is the most important person at the club” was rather concerning too! A lack of reviewing a perspective of Lansdown being a huge part of the problem was really surprising; as was Chris Honour broadly going along with Latham’s statements. As a comparison, Piercy did a superb job of giving a balanced assessment on last weeks SOTC. The host (David) did a good job of challenging the alternative perceptions though, well done!

Best thing to do as a mate is stay with them in the pub!

This is pretty accurate over our entire history. Apart from a few blips, mid table of the second tier has been our level. Whenever you speak to other clubs fans it’s generally how we are perceived too; along with a usual “why hasn’t a city the size of Bristol got a Premier League team?”! It’s been who we are for over a hundred years and it’s going to take quite a seismic shift for us to turn into a regular Premier League team. Part of me does like we’re unfashionable, even unlikeable though. Not sure I’d ever want to be a Man City; maybe just a Brighton or Brentford for a bit though!

Indeed, you are quite right. I’ve a signed photo on my office wall of Lansdown and GJ bouncing around in the Williams, Bradley Orr in view, celebrating promotion against Rotherham. He could’ve walked on water at that point in our eyes. Poor management and coaching appointments, “it’s my club” and the Nige debacle later and it’s quite depressing where we are. I said the same about Tinnion recently and it applies to Lansdown: “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”.

If we hadn’t beaten Southampton? Well, assuming we had lost we would’ve lost 5 on the bounce going into the Swansea game; that wouldn’t have been pleasant at all! As others have said also clearly 3 (or 2) points worse off so only 5 points off relegation. Quite likely then he may have already gone. For me though it was the Swansea result that saved him, not the Southampton one. Had he lost that, and then again to WBA it may well have been the end going into this international break.

Great post! This really annoys me as well. I don’t think there is a model you can copy and apply it to us. What is obvious from any successful club is having a close team, connected with the fans, normally gets you there; whatever the style of play or types of players. What I also struggle with is Lansdown’s inability to reflect on what’s worked well in the past: it’s always been the above but also with a strong experienced manager at the helm (GJ, SC and to an emerging extent NP). LJ broadly did OK having access to a war chest, but didn’t have the success of the aforementioned. For me the only realistic way we will see the Premier League is to bring in a leader of that ilk and let them just get on with it.

Having listened to the show again I do wonder (if slightly tongue in cheek) if Piercy’s “fans sack managers” comment, endorsed by Owers, was a rallying cry! A “come on then City fans, if you want him gone say so” statement it you will.

Spot on Ian. As the saying goes, hire great people and then get out of their way!

Whilst I don’t agree it’s good to have differing opinion. Out of interest, how long are you prepared to give him?

I listened to it again earlier, it’s worth another listen for sure.

Absolutely fantastic that!

I tend to agree with you, but if he keeps losing it’s not going to be an easy end of the season. As JP said on SOTC last night, fans sack managers. If the fans are loud and clear enough they won’t be able to just ride this out to the summer.

I agree. In that format with two professional guests it worked superbly. He sounded like a City fan?

I agree mate but really depends how the Leicester game goes. If we win, great, maybe it’s a stay of execution or even a turning point. If we are losing, especially badly, it could be really bad especially with the Nige/Leicester thing. You can, for example, easily see a scenario where there are chants against Manning and for Nige if it’s a heavy defeat.

Fantastic! Certainly plenty to unpack for the panel from what Piercy and Owers said!

@headhunter worth an FBC special this weekend, both in to analyse this and get us through a non-City weekend?!