Eddie Hitler

I know this isn't strict forum etiquette here but it is possible to hold a nuanced view of somebody rather than opting for the usual binary hate / love opposition. I think that Tinnion has done good work at the Academy and is therefore not automatically some useless Machiavellian schemer who wants sacking because of "what he done to our Nige" and that we should be mounting a hate campaign to see him ousted. This is a normal bloke with a job and a mortgage who was being cheered as the best thing since sliced bread not so long ago after an earlier spot on SOTC discussing the Academy and how it worked with NP, and is now apparently the devil incarnate who is trying to destroy our club from within. Maybe he is neither. On another thread I pointed out the source of a term that Joey Barton had used and then I had one poster trying to start a huge row with me as he was delighted, in his mind, to have found a Barton-supporter with whom he could have a row. That I actually can't stand the lying violent criminal clearly hadn't entered his mind, I had posted something that was not entirely and unequivocally critical of Barton and therefore I must be a fan of his. It's schoolroom stuff.

I don't know, I heard a radio comedy one time where a running joke was that the Scots character was an active supporter of Dundee, and hated Dundee United. Or vice versa, I genuinely forget. How many English people would know anything about either club and be able to differentiate between them? I think one of them plays in orange but that's my knowledge exhausted.

Out of reps, but a big hat tip to your detailed knowledge of how the Academy works. What I would say is that whilst an organisation becomes good from having talented individuals it requires good management in order to empower and encourage those individuals to shine. The Academy has done well under Tinnion's management and that Academy stars individually credit particular individuals with most contributing to their development that doesn't take away that he has been in overall charge and so empowering and encouraging those individual successes to happen. That doesn't make him the best thing since sliced bread but it is to his credit. I also don't mind that he has a ruthless edge to him. Danny Wilson was an all round nice man and his team reacted by spending their evenings out on the piss and then failing to win through the play-offs.

Tinnion is doing a good job at the Academy IMHO. I can see why he receives some criticism but calling for his sacking is a wild overreaction. The results since NP left do however make a mockery of the stated reason for sacking NP and appointing Manning: that NP wasn't getting enough out of the players and that bringing in Manning would mean a much better final league position. This aim has blatantly failed. What is the Board's response? Is it "Oh well." perchance?

I'm giving up now

Those Man City and Man Utd cup games we had are exciting by anyone's standards. What have Mansfield fans had to cheer about? (Cue @Kid in the Riot telling me that they won the European Cup last year!)

That's rather sneaky of them! They used to be famous for not being promoted.

Yes, I worked in London with an older woman who was very into her football. She could never remember whether I supported Bristol City or Rovers because she knew nothing about either team, from shirt colours down. I was surprised by this but as we are way out west and have had little national impact then maybe I should not have been. She was always very nice about it and didn't ever have a go, but genuinely could not differentiate between the two Bristol clubs.

Surely the dull teams are those who are rarely promoted or have any cup runs. Teams like Mansfield, Rotherham, Chester City / Chester.

Or, like Plymouth, sell 20% and then, after assessing the new investor for a couple of years, sell the remaining shares if satisfied that the club is in good hands. Though that said Simon Hallet seems to have hit the financial reality of funding a second division club as compared to a third division one.

Or back in the 1950s and before, when computers weren't setting the fixtures and football was a cheap weekend entertainment for working people such that some would hold a season ticket for both City and Rovers so as to be confident of having a game to watch every Saturday.

Was this the young lads or our midfield?

My opinion is that it's Steve Lansdown stubborn streak which has served him so well in business which keeps raising its head. Lee Johnson should have gone far before he did but Steve wouldn't do this primarily IMHO because there was a load of fans demanding he be given the push and SL thought it showed strength of charcater to refuse to bow to that pressure, when in actual fact it showed that he was reacting adversely to that pressure by not sacking LJ despite his turning in a terrible overall record with massive resources at his disposal, resources that NP and SC would have turned into promotion if given the chance. Acting illogically - either by bowing to pressure or refusing to bow to pressue - is not a good trait. Nor is sayng "it's my club". I still like the ownership but they need to up their game. And by that I don't mean just spend more money.

I like our current ownership but they need a wise old head directing football matters as the owners are no better at this than I would be. Neil Warnock or Roy Hodgson maybe. Not some bullshitting suit like last time but we need somebody.

On the upside we are absolutely playing Swansea off the park when it comes to the number of fouls committed

And Neil Warnock coming here. As one door closes, another door opens.* For decades he has been saying that there are two teams he would like to manage but hasn't: us and Sheffield Wednesday. Well here's his chance to halve that wishlist. * As Alexei Sayle said: "As one door closes another door opens, I had a Vauxhall Astra like that once."

Just bumping this generous offer back to the top.

Yes, unbelievably prescient. Makes H G Wells look like Mystic Meg.

Could "are so small" become the new "only connect"? And could Kieran McKenna be the latter day E M Forster?

Whilst he lost confidence towards the end of his time here and was shunted off to Blackpool, Junior Bent on his day could absolutely terrify opposition defenders. I seem to remember that he had some phenomenal sprint time. Maybe I just saw him in his best games, or people mainly remember his loss of form towards the end, but he rarely merits a mention here. Coaching up at Preston's academy these days. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_Bent

So now we go get in an experienced manager who will demand his own team and his own way of doing things. Obviously not Nigel, that would be too embarrassing for the owners, but someone of similar experience. Or we get in another "yes man" who will involve us in an annual relegation battle during their tenure before departing for Sunderland. Maybe it is time to ditch the wishful thinking and trying to copy the clubs who have passed by us on their way to the Premiership and start doing what actually works. If you have to have an inexperienced coach in then they need an experienced DoF to guide them, or you just get in a very experienced manager. Every managerial appointment this century has been a hopeful gamble with IMO two exceptions: Gary Johnson and Nigel Pearson. And of the hopeful gambles only Cotts was actually successful.

Yes, that is also my view. Saved my typing it out. I am hugely grateful for what the Lansdown family has done for the club, and this view is strongly coloured by the knowledge that if I had their resources and owned the club then I would very much have done the same, mistakes and all. From betting the house on Gary Johnson, to sticking with Lee Johnson despite the critics. Maybe not appointing Mark Ashton, or if having done so then quickly sacking him, but apart from that I have broadly agreed with the way that they run the club. Oh, and of course Bristol Sport is a daft concept which should have been quietly put of its misery years ago. But we all know that. This is why, if I win £100m+ on the Eurmillions, I will not be buying City as my reign would be very smillar to their reign. And also why I think it should be somebody else's turn, and the Lansdowns will leave with my thanks for what they have achieved.

Maybe you should take up John's offer of help as that's presumably not how you want to be spending your Saturday evenings. @Never to the dark side

I could be being harsh but I thought him similar to Nicholas Anelka, "le sulk", who could be the tsar player all season when it suited him but usually it didn't. In contrast I noted that Carlos Tevez gave his best in every game I saw him play. He wasn't a loyal player and was motivated by money but he always put in a shift and earned his money, which Pogba and Anelka very much didn't.

What your nan didn't tell you is that the correct procedure is to scrunch up each sheet and then flatten it before using it. That way it works similarly to soft toilet paper. Here to help, several decades after the event. My college also had it in the bogs, I don't know whether it was the general ethos of traditionalism or whether because they saved money as people tended to use their departments' toilets instead.