mozo

There's definitely a risk there. The thing for me is that we might fill our squad with players that will be great in 2028, but until then we won't go anywhere, and those players won't even stay that long. At the moment we have players like Williams, Pring, Dickie, O'Leary and Vyner all in or approaching their prime years, and few a couple of years behind, but we do need to be careful that we don't lose the nous, maturity and character that older players can bring.

I'd imagine rising mortgage repayments won't help.

Yes because we can't jump on the narrative that the events of season have lost a big chunk of the fanbase.

The thing that was a revelation was his forward passing. We forget how crap we used to be at passing the ball forwards, that when Tyreeq started doing it, we were in awe.

Interesting what you say about basketball, because my understanding was that in the NBA 3 point shooting was increasing, which is higher risk. Is that a good thing for the game or a bad thing? From the NBA games I've watched in the last couple of years I didn't notice anything dull about it, but I presume the writer follows the sport a lot closer than I do.

Thats understandable tbf. Not everyone is psychologically fit for that kind of stuff. That's why I didn't become a pro footballer and decided to instead write shit on a football forum... ...that and I was rubbish at football...

On the checkout?

Supporting City is rarely boring and always ridiculous

Yep, totally agree, and I was just elaborating on your point from my own perspective.

And likewise, there are a number of OTIB regulars that I could name that have been pretty busy posters after Manning's less convincing games, and yet have seemed to have lost their log ins during and after the indisputably decent performance v Norwich (and other games previously). Was the same under Nige who had his haters on here. I've been backing Manning simply based on how I've interpreted the football, but I've written here many times that if I turn out to be wrong, I'll come on and say it. I think for some people, it's more important to pick a side and win an argument, than to present a fair assessment.

But that's not a culture war. It'll never work...

Do you have a big tattoo of Nige on your chest? "I'm just a fan Nigel, your biggest fan!"

One thing he said during his time with us that surprised me was alongside lines of: "At Watford, we knew what the owners are like so when the opportunity came we thought, yeah let's have some fun with it while it lasts." I suspect that will come up on the pod.

So we need to be more creative and clinical in the final third, which I guess is why we are strengthening our attack in the summer.

I don't think Nige would fire shots at SL even if he's entitled to. I reckon he'll say things like, "We felt that we'd laid the foundations for success", "Year on year improvement", "Confident that we could have acheived given time", "Chairman/board saw it differently", "Fans and players believed in what we were doing", "Nothing surprises me in football these days."

Coventry 2-2 springs to mind, and dlfew 2-1s either way. I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary. We've won 1-0 seven times this season. Of those, 4 were under Manning, 3 were not.

The thing that stands out to me when we come up against the more technically talented teams is the speed of thought of the players, and the consistency of execution. We've got players like Bell, Mehmet and Sykes that are capable of top quality attacking play (in different ways), but you can't depend on them to execute consistently. In a lot of our games under both Manning and Pearson I've seen a midfield capable of high quality build up play, only for the possession to break down in the final third. So it's not just a case of having a set style, it's also dependent on who's playing, and what version of that player turns up. The general passing style might be consistent, but other variables may change depending on personnel. For example, if ball carrying defenders like Atkinson or Dickie are on the pitch, the passing options in midfield increase, and the sum of the parts is different. Equally, Roberts can be trusted on the ball in defence, whereas Vyner might be better off launching it under pressure. I'm rambling, and I guess trying to make the point that whether you play a possession based style or a mire direct counter attacking style, the effectiveness will always depend on variables, and for that reason, neither Pearson nor Manning have been able to garner consistent performances. When either style works, it looks beautiful. When Nigeball was bad, it descended into long balls and wasted energy. When Manningball is bad, it looks tentative, ponderous and negative. The challenge for the head coach is to pick a style (identity etc), and to make it work with all the limitations that our players have. I genuinely think that quality in the final third has been letting us down for years; ever since Andi Weimann decided he was going to be Andriy Shevchenko for a year.

It's interesting, I'm not sure what my one question would be... Would like to hear some suggestions?

Of course, under Manning we've won 5-0, 4-1, 3-2 (twice) and 3-1, so it's not likely that we'll become a dull 1-0 team next season.

Pearson used to talk about process too. Its obvious what they're saying; do the right stuff, and you'll get the right outcomes. But if the right outcomes don't happen all the time, don't give up on doing the right stuff.

Even if that's the case, I've got no issue with him being in the match day squad for the unlikely event that we get a flurry of injuries and need an extra forward. He's not doing any harm sitting there. It's just disappointing for him that he didn't prove himself during his stay.

Love this post! Can't wait for 2026 now!

He's not good enough passing in crowded areas

And after the Birmingham and Stoke games to be fair. But yes, OTIB is insane.