Ron W

Ah I didn't put the 'now we're safe' caveat the moment we hit 52 points by accident now Dave...

I completely understand people don't want to be patient especially when sitting through some of what we've watched this season but it's just a bit of a non-event - he's not going anywhere, especially now we're safe. Taking a leaf out of WSM Seagull's book, wherever we finish this season doesn't mean all that much, you'd expect a fair amount of movement this summer. A lot can change between now and the start of August, Manning clearly has some pedigree albeit limited and this is slightly pointing out the obvious but the first 10 games of next season, that feels like the right time to judge.

Team in riding luck against parachute payment promotion hopefuls scandal

In the wider context, yes. Being second after 30 games doesn't mean you're good enough to be there after 46 games. That's exactly what we found out when the momentum started to ebb away in the second half of the season.

SkyBet offer the same odds for Aston Villa to win the Premier League. Why not go for a double?

I’ve kept this to myself until now but not long after LM was appointed I spoke with someone who had worked with him indirectly in one of his previous jobs. He didn’t comment on his ability as a manager. That’s clearly got some promise, or he wouldn’t have got Oxford or MK looking good. However, he was pretty negative about Liam’s man management. He called it robotic, long before I read it from anyone here. He didn’t rate the idea of removing emotion from the game, but did concede it was a very ‘new-age’ way management was going. At the time I took it with a pinch of salt, LM came to us having got Oxford into a decent position, and started fairly well here. The biggest concern imo was how different it sounded from Pearson, who quite clearly was still a very popular/influential voice in the dressing room at the time he was sacked. It might still be wrong, but it’s interesting that same warning sign has resonated so strongly with our fans, and is being reflected on the pitch too. Can Manning manage “without emotion”? Clearly, yes. Can he do it here? Much more difficult question to answer.

I might be wrong here but the impression always seemed to be Warburton left because he wouldn't get on board with the footballing operation being remodelled to fit the Benham moneyball style?

I’d love to say yes but the Great British public are still taking some convincing to a weekly City profile. This was the contracted interview for the Southampton game, which the club kindly also put Andrew up for. There’s no guarantee these stories will even get airtime if something big comes along, but fortunately the producer working last night loved Ross’ story and put it in the running order. It’s never a perfect gauge but meeting Ross on Tuesday he seems like one of football’s genuinely good guys and everyone I spoke to at City about him couldn’t speak highly enough of him. So at the very least, we’ve got a good egg in the dressing room.

Without casting any judgement on the rights or wrongs of this viewpoint, what likelihood do you think this has of actually happening?

If we’re going to do well in this league we need a good squad, and if having to pick two of Bell, Mehmeti and Sykes plus three of Knight, TGH, James and Williams is part of that I’m not seeing the problem?

He spent many of his young days on the Williams gantry because his dad was also involved in broadcasting, I believe. Anyone who went up there will give testament that you don’t forget that climb in a hurry and I think instead of trauma it led him to a life of commentary. But certainly BCFC all the way.

Assuming he’s got some more of that in his locker which the last few weeks suggest he does, no-brainer.

Can’t believe he got given that gig. The most biased commentator national TV must’ve had in years. Absolutely brilliant.

Always used to think teams who went up from this league had a horrible CDM. A Shaun Derry type. Not saying we’re going to win the league, but we’ve got that position filled at least. Finally got his legs back and he’s the player we thought we were buying.

Have a lovely time in the Midlands @Davefevs.

We chose to sign O’Dowda from Oxford instead. You may have an inkling whose decision that was.

Yeah exactly this. No it’s not much, but then it’s a 10-second clip on Twitter.

It's true, and tempting, but what does it add? What if we go on another bad run and then the opposite applies? Can we not talk about the pros and cons of City, and Manning, without doing this?

You might want to have a word with them given he was here and at Leicester more than two years. Some of the stuff against LM has been harsh, but generally understandable. It’s not often any manager takes over from someone the fans actually wanted to keep. Season has a long way to go, there will be a lot of judgements along the way but let’s see where we are in May.

Ignore.

Glad the brief but very real concerns I had about opening this thread at work were unfounded.

The word if is doing quite a lot of heavy lifting here.

Fair enough, but would you not say Manning already has a more accomplished CV than all of those at the time of their appointment?

Let's take the top-10 budget comment on face value for a second. We were a top-10 team until we lost our last two games - to Ipswich who have had the best start of a promoted side ever, and Cardiff where we couldn't name a full bench. We play 24th and 23rd in our next two games, take at least four points from them we'd almost certainly be back in the top 10, if not higher. Had NP really got such little credit in the bank that two games either way from being a top-10 team is enough for the chop?

Thanks very much for the feedback guys, I was up pretty late on it last night after work asked me to put something together so it's very much appreciated. I think we can all read between the lines of what's happened over the last few months - I really didn't want it to turn into a boardroom bashing but it's difficult to understand how we get from the start, sacking Nige, to the end game of getting in the play-offs without wider soul searching. Let's hope that happens.