TheJudge07

Manning has shown that he is not an intelligent coach and he has been unable to work with the players effectively. But what did people expect - he has managed Milton Keynes and Oxford. He has hardly pulled up any trees and is still a rookie. His coaching experience is good but in clubs which have more stable foundations. His in-game management has generally been poor and the lack of creativity is a concern. I dont think he has made a single player any better and if I were him, I would have taken some of U18s out and given them a run. They can be no worse than what we have seen. What has happened to the players in the U21's - they have fallen off a cliff. Instead of seeing what the players had done under Pearson he has tried to implement a completely new style on players who simply cannot play this way. They are not technically good enough. He has also tried to do it mid-season which was crazy. To have persisted with that approach is the most surprising aspect, when it clearly does not work and it is actually alienating the fan base. A good coach would revert to a system he knows the players are more comfortable with and then re-evaluate it in the summer. He should stick with 433 as that was the most effective formation and system for this group of players. I am not sure that he will be sacked. If he was there man "4 months ago", I dont think they will throw in the towel yet. Remember some idiot gave him a 3.5 year contract. I reckon he will be given the summer to sort it out. The Autumn of 2024 will be the defining period for Manning. If we are in relegation trouble at XMAS he will be sacked. To be honest, I hope he is successful. No one surely wants to see the team lose. The board will need to back him in the summer to the tune of 6 or 7 players if he has any chance of being successful. A new manager would only inherit the same problems.....

Manning is currently not the right fit for the group of players we have unless he is prepared to change his style or the board are going to give him some serious money in the summer to get the players. His record is relegation form, albeit he has had some good individual results too. The statistics would show that we have generally regressed since he took over. There has certainly been no managerial bounce leading to better outcomes, as suggested by the Board. I am also concerned that our attacking play has not really improved at all. Sure, Twine would have helped that, but we are always going to have injuries and a good manager has different plans in place. The injury situation has not improved and this really needs to be looked at. We have so many players with serious injuries. I suspect the board will ultimately back Manning and then he is going to be under severe pressure if performances do not improve by the Autumn. It seems like we are starting again really and there will either be short term pain leading to improvement or pain leading to a relegation battle next season. Personally, I always felt it was difficult to change the style of a team mid-season unless you have the players to do it and we do not.

And Pep has the luxury of managing at Barcelona, Bayern and Man City. He has technically superb players. AND in his first season he couldnt get City going and had to change it with £££££. He aint done it with a low ranked team like us. Vincent Kompany did at Burnley and they were miles the best team in the Championship but this was because they had the players to do it at that level. Take it in to the PL and they are one of the worst. Manning clearly does not have the versatility to play different ways and he certainly does not have the players to play it with us. From an attacking perspective we are worse under him than Pearson.

I don't really understand why we are applauding a defeat because the players put in a shift?? That is the minimum requirement every game we play. This is a 4th successive defeat and a record since Nigel left that has us 23rd - its relegation form. It is not acceptable. 7 wins in 25 and 10 defeats is nowhere near good enough. This is a results business and sadly he is not getting results. The Board dug out Nigel publicly for this. This is much worse. He can only play one way and he is completely out of his depth. That is not surprising given this is his first stint in the Championship. That is the sad reality and we have seen it all before with this owner and the people in charge. They have no idea as to what is required to get to the top. The players he has cannot play tippy tappy football and he needs results fast. I genuinely dont think he can get a tune out of them and those results he has attained appear to be one offs. The team are not able to play that penetrating pass that opens up teams and this passing around the back and side to side is pointless. They dont retain the ball with purpose and probe defences, simply because we dont have that level of player. We dont really control the game through possession and that is the flaw of Manning and the modern coaches. They are trying to copy Guardiola, forgetting he has had 1 billion to do it. Personally, I think this is going to get worse before it gets better and if we dont win against Swansea, I am not sure where the next points are coming from. We still need 10 points to be safe and I think we are sleep walking our way to relegation. There is always one team that drops like a stone and it could be us..... I would be minded to terminate this disastrous appointment. Michael Duff was a bit unlucky at Swansea - he might fit us quite well given his style of play.

Manning needs time and thank goodness for those 2 wins, or it would have been incredibly toxic, more so than now. I did not agree with the sacking of Pearson or the reasoning. But we have to move on, he aint coming back and a manager of that experience would never take the City job again because they are surrounded by incompetence. A double winning manager was sacked on a whim when he also was not sufficiently backed. Same old issue and it stems from the owner and those who he is seeking advice from. The club cant sack Manning unless Lansdown and Tinnion are also prepared to fall on their sword, which I doubt. They will give him time. Steve Lansdown is trying to sell up, but he cant, their are not any buyers and the club is very difficult to value anyway. Manning will probably have at least until the Autumn to get his team together. We have to accept that to change the style of play mid-season is dangerous and to sack a manager without really any fan pressure on him, was equally stupid. This has all combined to put Manning in a difficult position and under pressure. We are probably where I thought we would be under Pearson anyway. I dont buy the soundbites that this is a top 6 or even a top 10 team. The same thing was said under Johnson but it was an illusion. The squad under Pearson definitely had potential, which is why I think his poor performances were also tolerated. He was building something and the rug was pulled out from under him. The style of play now only serves to frustrate given what publicly we have been told by the hierarchy. It is also hard to play tippy tappy football with players who cant do it. We tried it under Pearson and they could not do it. Pearson knew it, so he made us hard to beat, had the players together as one and played pragmatic football. Sometimes it wasnt pretty and it kept us safe. Lets not also forget this team is made up of League 1 and League 2 players with a mix of Academy lads. It needed quality and it hasnt had it in the last two windows. Simple. Pearson was hamstrung by FFP and by the indulgent spending by Ashton and Johnson all sanctioned by Lansdown. I am at a loss as to why they did not back Manning in January. He must surely see these players cant play his way. Thus, he needs to show he is a good coach and change it, quickly. If the lad Murphy is as shit hot as he is supposed to be, then he should be fast tracked into the team now. I can see no value in keeping with James or Williams. They are too slow in moving the ball and in the press. Manning needs a performance at Ipswich and he should stop tinkering with these stupid formations. They dont work. Go 442 and be pragmatic. We need 10 points and that is the only priority. What then happens in the summer ... goodness only knows.

To be fair to LM, he has been thrown under the bus by JL and BT. No one really thought we were a top 6 or top 10 side, did they? Yet, those comments from JL and BT have put him under pressure. Of course he will be judged against Pearson because JL and BT told us that Pearson was not performing with one of the best squads we have had. Complete balls, and we know it. Pearson is gone and that is frustrating only because the board have ripped up for me what was a team in progress and they did it simply because they did not like him. We also took out all that experience and knowledge from our structure, which we have never had. We are basically starting again with a rookie, except the board havent said that. In fact, the lack of communication is deafening. LM has not improved us but he plays a completely different brand of football and we dont have the players who can play it, simple. He has shown glimpses but needs serious reinforcements in midfield and upfront. However, so did Pearson. Add to this what was a shocking January transfer window. No problem in getting in players for the future BUT they also had to strengthen for the now. They did not. It could get very very toxic if we do not see improved performances in the next 4 games. We are now closer to the bottom than the top. Those wins over Boro and Southampton were essential. I think we have to accept that the season is over and now it is about getting to 55 points as quickly as possible. LM needs to use this period to decide who is up to it and who is not and prepare for next season. There is no way he is going to be sacked but he is going to be under huge pressure in the Autumn if he has not been able to turn the tide.

LM needed those 2 wins to relieve the pressure on him and to be fair those were tough games where I thought we would do well to get a couple of points. His record prior to that was not looking good. Credit though, he changed it. We really need to keep the momentum going by beating QPR. I think supporters should go easy on calls for a play off charge. To do that we need to win a string of games and go on a long unbeaten run. We have not consistently done that for a long time. If it happens, great but I wouldn't expect it. We are now virtually safe which is important. What I hope though is that LM has now found the formation from which to build from and which to work on in training. This seems to be a 4231 and at times 442. Personally, I feel we have played well with 4 at the back and we should cease any attempts to go back to a back 5. It just doesn't work for us. I think LM should now focus on the players he wants to keep and really begin the process for next season. If he wants to keep any of the OOC players, then now should really be the time to look at them. Opportunities should also be given to blood the youngsters we want to keep. It takes time to embed a new style but the green shoots are certainly there and I feel the benefits will really come when LM has had a full pre-season.

The sooner we get to 55 points the better. Its been said already but you need to adapt your tactics to the players you have and coach them. You also have to accept when something isnt working. Manning seems devoid of these qualities and our form is relegation level. 433 or 4132 i think are better formations for us. We are far better with a back 4. The problem has long been in creating chances and scoring which has not been addressed in the transfer window. Manning has not improved our attacking play.

Sadly we are bang in trouble and the 11 has not been sufficiently reinforced in January. This formation doesnt work and it seems LM can only play one way. Hard to see where our next point comes from.... QPR at home becomes a massive game. Apart from tippy tappy football we have regressed as proven by the results. This is all fully on the board. Grass is not always greener....

completely different level of football. Lets see how he does. i just dont think our approach is right.

The fundamental dynamics of the team are wrong. We do not have enough players in our attacking play who either create, assist or score goals. That has not really been addressed. Twine might be one of those for sure. This lad, i am not sure.

Good luck to the lad, but our strategy is all over the place. The kid looks like a winger .... which is fine except we havent been playing with them. He also hasnt broken through in Belgium so the question is why? i dont care what he has done at Youth Level. Seb Palmer Holden has scored loads of goals but is on loan and not near the first team. we have signed 5 players. 1 is injured, 2 are coming next season, 1 is a work in progress and this chap is unproven. we really need to improve the first 11 now and sadly we havent done it .... again!!!

Does this mean then we are passing and pressing more under Manning. Our attacking play is actually worse but our defence is better in terms of denying opposition chances.

I dont really understand the point "weve done okay under LM"..... We haven't. He has 5 wins from 17 games. We have 3 points from 15. We are 3rd bottom of the form table. The PPG is relegation form. This is when the board say, the previous manager was underperforming with a team that should be challenging. I am all for giving LM time but this is equally dependent on him having the right tools to do the job and if he doesnt then he has to adapt. From what I can see, he only plays one way. The biggest irony being that during our last game we scored 2 goals from direct football. The next 5 games are critical for LM for the rest of the season and beyond.

Not sure about this signing tbh. Is he actually better than James or Williams. Looking at the Derby site, they were saying early January he was overrated. In fact, I quote, "...doesnt control the game from deep, not a very good tackler, not really a box to box midfielder and doesnt score that many"..... Looking at his record, cannot see what he is going to add. Maybe someone can access his individual stats. We really need players now and they need to improve what we have. Sorry, underwhelming for me.