Baldyman

If we stay up , it’ll thanks to the form under Pearson and nothing to do with Manning .

There was uncertainty over Pearsons future and a lot of talk about friction between Nige and the board in fairness . HOWEVER , replacing Nige with a rookie based on bugger all was insane ! We have tanked under Manning and I just don’t see any way we’d have performed so badly under Pearson !

Whilst that stat is a positive point , it’s very possible , and arguably likely that we’ll go into the final 7 games on the back of 7 straight defeats and a squad so thin and decimated by injury that we could have only six subs on the bench . Whilst it IS in our hands , we won’t be in great shape approaching them . Lose on Sunday and I fear we could be staring into the abyss !

Looks like we’ll only have six subs on Sunday then !!!

You look at the bottom 3 in the Prem and it really does make you question the point of it all . We spend a fortune watching City but as always with the Championship , the next step up is simply a season of humiliation for those who make it ! It really shouldn’t have been allowed to get this way ! Honestly feel like this Sheff Utd result tonight will have as much bearing on whether I renew my ST or not as City’s “ performances” will !

No team has given us a real hiding all season . ( from a scoreline perspective) Can’t even recall us conceding 3 goals in a game if I’m honest . I fear that may change with interest tomorrow night Our defence has been our strength all season but Vyner seems less focused as each game passes and Dickie and MCrorie seem to be getting more hacked off with life with every game . Not sure we’ll continue with our resilience at the back to keep scorelines respectable too much longer .

We really are in the brown stuff . People will look at those fixtures and say “ we’ll be far better against the better sides “! BUT whilst we’ve done well this season against attacking sides , this time we’re going into it with our confidence shot and the realisation that a relegation spot could be ours if we don’t win more than one of those four games !

Lose against Ipswich and by the time we play Swansea that gap could be 1 or 2 points or even non existent!!!

To lighten the mood a little , I was pondering which game shows City’s staff would actually be well suited to . Here’s my thoughts : Pointless- Liam Manning (self explanatory) Fifteen to One - Zak Vyner ( His value drop off in £millions since Manning took over) The Weakest Link - Take your pick Whose line is it anyway - Best not to speculate . Blankety Blank - Jon Lansdown obviously . Deal or no Deal - Tommy Conway The X Factor - Nope , not 1 of them ! The Million pound drop - Steve Lansdown ( the amount he could actually sell the club for measured daily under Manning ) any others ?

Manning should be called Buzz Lightyear .. “ Falling with style “ !!!! All because Junior didn’t like the nasty man being mean to him

Just to be clear . Are we back to the stripes for the rest of the season now with the heritage shirt being a one off ? Is it a prototype for next seasons kit ? It’s difficult to be certain after the mid season disappearance of our Arsenal kit !

Still getting my head around the fact that Leroy Roseniors’ Son ,Liam is 40 !!!!

They were but realised that commemorating the last penalty we were given was far more significant !!!

This from the Oxford forum back in December. We were warned !!!! “I've got to be honest. Having Manning as a manager was like having a robot in charge. Bloody boring and while his football was excellent at times it soon turned into a snore fest of passing sideways and backwards at snails pace.””

Five substitutions yet again ! I really do think Manning is just throwing as much s@@t at the wall as possible in the hope that some sticks !!!!

MCcrorie was clearly hacked off with the performance of his team mates during the game and looked oddly angry for a player who has only just come into the side . Was also visibly annoyed with being subbed . His level of frustration yesterday just struck me as odd and with the whole team seeming totally distracted you wonder if something has blown up behind the scenes ? Pure conjecture I know but yesterday was an inexplicably odd performance from almost the entire squad .

Manning really lost the plot today in my opinion . If Twine wasn’t fit then Leave him at home watching telly ffs ! Manning brought Cornick on for Bell when it should have been Sykes or Mdube! After about 5 mins on the left wing he then swapped him and Annis around underlining the fact that a genuine right winger should have come on on the first place . With the latter subs coming on , Cornick should have been brought back off but Manning was too scared to do it !

I think that last night we saw the best of Manning ball and the best of Nige ball all in one performance. Manning’s passing and movement added to Nige’s counterattacking and as if by magic we looked like we could beat anyone last night . Well done Liam for bringing the two styles together so superbly last night !

Was awesome last night and didn’t put a foot wrong . Would be no surprise to see him hold onto his place against QPR to give Cam a breather even if fit .

For me , everything good about Manning’s style of football combined with everything good about Pearsons was on display tonight ! It was a hybrid performance . I think that Manning’s style has massively improved the technical ability of the players . Our passing is so much sharper now . Add into the mix , excellent counter attacking football that we haven’t seen much of since Nige left and you have a squad that have clearly learned masses from BOTH of this seasons coaches and tonight put it all together .

Just not enough players around anymore called Burt , Hugh , Derek , Brian or Les

Saw an interesting interview with Neil Warnock this week .Said that the best team he’d ever seen was the Man City side of approx 2 years or so ago when David Silva was there . Said that so many young Managers think they’re Pep , playing possession football and getting nowhere ! said that only the very best teams in their Divisions can play that way and that all the others HAVE to play a system that fits their personnel to have any chance at all . Our squad was assembled as a counter attacking side NOT a possession side . Change the style over time Manning , not overnight !!!

There is a huge “ however” here ! Namely that we’ve averaged just 2.3 shots on target per game since Boxing Day and have scored from 23% of those shots . We aren’t picking up six points against Boro and Southampton with those stats so the games against QPR and Sheff Weds will be crucial .

I really don’t think we can afford to be too blasé about our likelihood to go down even with one relegation spot all but decided already . Plymouth will go above us if they win their game in hand and Blackburn and Birmingham will be within one win of us if they win theirs . Add in the fact that we’ve got Southampton and Boro coming up , the game against QPR could become a must win ! If we don’t , we’ll be well and truly in it so any “ we’re safe” arrogance is a very dangerous thing .

Lost what little faith I had in Manning . We are destined to drop like a stone down the table . Manning had us playing his desired possession football ( not brilliantly) and clearly coached the side to play that way since day 1. I can only presume he did so with the understanding that a capable no.9 would be joining in January to be the missing piece of the jigsaw . We didn’t sign said no.9 and now Manning simply doesn’t know what to do . He knew we’d never score against Leeds with just TC up top so reverted to two up top last night even though we hadn’t played that way since Pearson left . That didn’t work either so went back to 1 up top with Knight not knowing whether he was supposed to support TC or drop back into midfield again . Now Manning has a huge issue as he clearly knows we’re not good enough to play with just a lone striker but it’s the only way they’ve been coached since he got here . Change the style and risk looking like a t@@t in the eyes of the players or stick with what doesn’t work and risk looking like a t@@t in the eyes of the players . He’s in a bit of a pickle !!!