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.

I think having watched the majority of league games we are no better than we were under Pearson. In fact, the stats say we are worse. There has been no managerial bounce. I am surprised that tippy tappy football between the defenders and midfield is getting so many plaudits. The end product is the key and we do not appear to be creating more chances than we were under Pearson. TBH, I never bought the rubbish stated by the board about Pearson. They should have said it how it was instead of creating a narrative that this is the best City Squad and it should be pushing for promotion. That was never true and those words have put Manning under pressure. Its hard to do a reset midseason. Its even harder to change the playing style. Its damn near impossible to do it when you do not have the players to do it. Sadly, we do not. We were well short under Pearson and remain so. It is a failure of recruitment but this was hamstrung by FFP. We needed a target man/physical presence up front (in the mould of Wilbraham), a bully in midfield and someone to link the play. I dont think we have any of those types of players on our roster. Twine possibly is the link up player but he is injured. I also dont like the formation. I have never thought we have the players to play it and it relies heavily on the quality of the wing backs, which we do not have. Id love to see the stats on our attacking play? Have those improved under Manning? I am not sure they have. The current form table has us 3rd from bottom. Unless we get in 2 or 3 players today, I can see us getting closer to the relegation places than the top 10. It is sadly, another season of disappointment.

A work in progress is a curious position for us all to accept really given the comments made by the board. Personally, I think we are well short 4 or 5 players, in the attacking parts of the pitch. We were short there under Pearson as well. And sadly, I see us falling down the league, but it seems as long as we are able to play it back and forth across the defence and midfield people are happy. If your judging Manning on results, then this is all that matters. Frankly, the stats say we are in a worse position than when he was hired... there has been no "bounce" for this top 6 side..... With respect, this is not a top 6 or top 10 side. P17 W5 D7 L5 F19 A18 +1 W/R 29.41

I saw the game and thought there was lots of pretty passing but there was zero penetration. I dont like the formation at all and it doesnt suit the players we have. We desperately need 2 up front. Bell playing as a wing back, is not for me. Very few balls made it into the box. We did not really play through them and there keeper has not really had a lot to do. We scored from direct play on both occasions. Second half we were battered and defended extremely well. Tanner, Dickie and Vyner were immense. Wells also put in a shift. We probably scored against the run of play and should really have won the game. The second goal from them was a clear error from Max and I am afraid he is not good enough for No 1 when it counts. He has no real presence in the goal and I think he should have done better with the cross for the first goal. They even had a chance at the death which Simms failed to connect with. To be honest, I dont see a great deal of difference with the team fielded by Pearson at all. Anyone can play tippy tap stuff. The question is whether we are hurting teams with it. Sadly, we are not. If this style is to be successful we really need an overhaul of the attacking players and midfield. BUT Pearson was after that too. In fact, Manning's PPG is now inferior. 3 points from 15 is a poor return from a side the board say is top 6. There has been no managerial bounce. There is nothing to suggest that Pearson's team were underachieving at the time. In fact, they are about where he was. We have zero chance of getting into the playoffs and we may not even reach the points achieved from last season. The next few games are tricky and I dont personally see many points perhaps until QPR visit at home. Sadly, I think we have gone backwards and ripped up a perfectly good project that was slowly starting to bear fruit.

Excited by the prospect of Manning and there is clear potential there given his background and coaching experience. However, what a terrible few weeks it has been. The Club's communication has been deplorable and the reasons for Nigel's departure could have been delivered in a different and more professional way. I have watched most of the games this season and there is no way any sensible person could conclude we are a top 6 side. Whilst Pearson's record may have been questioned, this did not really properly consider the conditions he was under. What concerns me about all this is that we were progressing and the change did not need to happen now. Manning is untested at this level, there not his players and personally I think he is short at least 4/5 players. He also wants to play a different way. Looks like he plays a 343 type formation as well which I dont think works with our current squad. He may well have the midas touch and I will be there at QPR giving full support. However, our board's history and track record of recruiting managers at this level has been deplorable, often ending in relegation. The next 6 months will therefore be extremely interesting and I have to say, I am nervous about it and where we might end up. Good luck to Liam and I hope he is successful.

Liam Manning is a promising and up and coming coach but I dont think he is the answer. I felt we always needed a manager who could build a squad of getting to the PL and who had done it. Experience is everything. We had that guy and derailed him just when he looked like he was getting somewhere. I still feel this is the DNA of the Manager we need now. I dont believe rookie managers are the answer at all. At least, our record of giving rookies a go is hardly breeding of any confidence. Manning is untested at this level and although he did a decent job at Milton Keynes in his first season, this was off the back of what Russell Martin had built. His second season he was sacked and they got relegated. Oxford, for sure, he has started well and they are riding high in League One. But, the step up to the Championship is different gravy. He should finish the job IMO. McKenna has done it at Ipswich but he was been heavily backed and he has the squad. However, even he didnt win anything. If we are going to go for a young head coach then the no 1 candidate is Schumacher, but he is not even in the conversation. We currently do not have the squad or the same quality of players, contrary to what the board are spouting. If the board go down this route it is a hell of a risk. It didnt work out for Johnson, Holden (who were also promising coaches according to them) and they knew the club and had experience in the division. Lansdown publicly backed Holden after I think the Watford debacle and that he "would get their help to be successful". Within 48 hours he was sacked. This is who is running the club. Sadly, I think this is all going to end up in tears in the usual BCFC way. The best outcome is for the Lansdowns to sell the club and move on. We need an American investment firm or some dosh from the middle east. Dismantle Bristol Sport and focus on what should have been the priority - the football club. We are further away from the PL than we were a week ago.