ChippenhamRed

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.

But we didn’t win them. So the expectation that we would drop too many points for the playoffs proved correct. How do you not get that? As for “missing the point”…how many times are you going to get facepalmed before you start to realise that maybe the communication problems are all yours and not everyone else’s?

Such a stupid post. Yes, the play offs were mathematically in our own hands at that point. That’s objectively true. But most people didn’t think we would gain enough of the points available in order to secure a play off spot - and they were proven right. We didn’t. Coming on here and saying “if we’d won all these other games that we didn’t, we’d have been in the play offs, so look how right I was” isn’t the clever point you think it is.

Yes, it’s poorly worded but the thread was titled “Manning out?” so I think it’s pretty obvious what it means.

Nope. Not a vocal minority. A very clear large majority. But it’s fair enough to call for patience. Poll from early March:

Presumably by “bedwetters” you are referring to the large majority of fans who wanted him gone? And by “a couple of poor performances/defeats” I assume you mean an extended run between Christmas and March with few wins and even fewer convincing performances? It was an entirely reasonable position to hold at the time. No one is impressed with I-told-you-so smugness.

I don’t think it will tell you that much. It’s still a late season fixture with nothing to play for against a nothing team, and it’s also the Easter holidays. August will be a much better barometer.

Six or we riot

I actually think the remaining games are quite important in some ways. This little run has given us a fresh perspective on Manning. If he can maintain this form until the end of the season, the whole club will go into next season in a more optimistic mood without the distraction of fan unrest and the question mark over Manning’s future. That can also aid summer recruitment. It will also buy him a little time if we don’t hit the ground running in August. Let’s hope we can keep this up.

It’s a midweek end of season fixture with nothing to play for against unremarkable opposition. It has a lot more to do with that than it does the fan’s opinions of Manning. There’s nothing embarrassing about it - most Championship clubs would see a drop off in attendance under the same circumstances. I wanted Manning gone but let’s give the guy some credit where it’s due.

Absolutely. If Blackburn go down on goal difference, it could be crucial.

Surely you don’t think that should have any bearing on the referee’s decision?! This isn’t under 8s.

My theory is that there is very little between most teams in the Championship, and so games very easily go one way or the other without much rhyme or reason - and that the outcome has more to do with how effective each team’s tactical approach is against that particular opposition, than who on paper is the “better” team. I think our tendency to do better against “better” teams is a demonstration of that. In a division like the Premier League where the difference in quality is more obvious and polar, it tends to be more predictable and the tactical approach is less likely to affect the ultimate outcome of the game. If that makes sense!

“As good as up” in third place with an inferior goal difference?!

Mad decision. At the top of his game. Like making Pep redundant.

Fair enough but how do they access cash?