Red-Robbo

Love playing with these things. Mean nothing but a bit of fun. I have Leicester and Ipswich up automatic. Us 15th and Stoke, Wednesday and Rotherham down.

I think it's the guy who is the CFO who is fulfilling most of the roles that a CEO would do, but again, without experience in that field and it's a penny-wise-pound-foolish move to try to get two executives for the price of one.

Nige did indeed inherit a freefall nightmare of the sort that Manning hasn't. Manning inherited a mid-table side and they'll probably stay thus, unless the last two games are signposting the way the rest of the season goes! Nige's overall City win rate is 32%, which isn't that much different. Neither Nige or Liam have been allowed to spend much. In all these "Manning is crap" threads I remain of the opinion that he hasn't been given long enough for us to ascertain that for sure. That doesn't stop me saying all day long that his appointment was unnecessary and may have halted any momentum NP was building with us.

Nail head meet hammer! Spot on. Most DOF's are managers with bags of experience who have enjoyed some success in the past but are perhaps not willing to undertake the rigours of being a head coach. DOFs tend not to be a bloke who had one shot and overseeing a squad in L1 and made an utter hash of it. That tends to suggest his words of wisdom to young Manning may not be so wise.

Forced by the expectations of the crowd, perhaps? How does one celebrate a victory in front of the most vociferous corner of the ground? Wave your arms about a bit then clap the crowd? Seem him do both those. There's not always a handy ball boy to swing around! To be honest, fist pumps on victory, like clapping the supporters etc is all part of the theatre of it and if it seems forced it's probably because it is. Although I know professional players are glad that people pay to come to see them, let's face it most of them would be quite happy to f- off down the tunnel ASAP to relax post-match were it not for this rather contrived but now considered mandatory parade around the pitch. Pretty sure most of those goal scorers grabbing (or even worse, kissing) their club's badge must feel a similar sense of empty gesture when they do it.

If you remember Brian's disastrous reign as manager, I felt one of his major failings was being too loyal to his old mates he'd played with and too unwilling to try new people, new ideas out. Ironic then that his over-promotion to have some sort of shadowy dominance above the chief coach's head then is the result of the Lansdown family also adopting a jobs-for-the-boys approach.

Well, what makes it worse in Tinnion's case is he isn't officially DOF. He's just a sort of eminence grise who we've gleaned is fulfilling that role. A bit like a consigliere in a Mafia family! To make matters worse, we haven't got a defined CEO either. I'm sure if I looked hard enough though I'd find some other ex-players not to mention failed managers (most managers fail somewhere) acting as DOF. In fact, aren't the 15ers appointing their retiring 36-year-old defender as just such? (OK, I know, you said 'successful clubs')

Yes. Many owners have their relatives on the board, sometimes as chairmen. Ex-players often return to clubs in all sorts of roles. Minor admin and stewarding roles are often filled by relatives of those already employed by the club. Not suggesting it's a great model, but it's widespread.

Exactly right. And possibly correct as a statement. Gary Johnson may have lost it at Torquay, but at the Gate and in his prime he showed that an average ability squad, with a little luck and careful shepherding, can make the play-off final. The tragedy of us currently is not that Liam Manning is learning his trade at our expense and we are paying for his mistakes and misfires: it's that the entire situation was just so avoidable. It was an unnecessary throw of the dice. A gamble that right now looks very foolish.

TBH it's like that at the vast majority of league clubs. That said, it becomes a big problem when you get the wrong person doing the wrong job. For example, when you have a largely absent chairman, who, although a fan of the club, isn't very good at decision making and allows personality likes and dislikes to cloud his judgement. Especially if he has only one nodding dog as a fellow director. Or, if you appointed a bloke who was an abject failure as a manager - albeit he enjoyed some success afterwards as a youth coach - as an unofficial "director of football" and chief recruitment advisor.

Well, except they aren't. And never were.

Sounds like trying to damn the bloke for doing something that's perfectly ordinary for people to do when they've enjoyed something successful. I'm sure I've seen Pearson do the odd restrained fist pump when we pulled off an unlikely win. I did one when my horse won at Wincanton last weekend. I'm actually a bit sorry for Manning because people are so hacked off with the last two games we're seeing criticism of stuff like his accent, hairline and now one of his chosen means of celebrating a goal (he also raises his arms to celebrate sometimes - like we all do).

I accepted long ago that we'll finish our ninth successive Championship season with yet another mediocre mid- to lower-table finish. Most of our players are average to slightly below-average second tier performers. We now have a manager unused to this division and on a steep learning curve (hopefully!) The loss of Atkinson and Naismith is more critical than many realise, plus Twine getting crocked scuppered many of Manning's post-January plans no doubt. What makes me roll my eyes a bit is that after the Southampton game the tone on this board was that Liam was the Second Coming, whereas after two shite results he's apparently stealing a living. City have a long history of recording disappointing losses to sides you'd hitherto think we were "entitled" to take three points off of, and of course, it's always now, in the final third of the season, that clubs in danger of relegation are at their most dangerous. They are fighting for their lives. Their players are fighting to keep their Championship-level wages. None of this meant the Lansdowns made a very wise decision when replacing Pearson with Liam Manning and, of course, they have form for snatching defeat from the jaws of possible victory. The club's not very well run. That's been an ongoing issue and even predates them. I'm sort of focused on what happens over the summer and next season, and maybe enjoying the odd good game among the bleurgh ones. I guess what my post says is this is yet another season I've already written off. I just hope LM is intelligent enough to learn from his mistakes - which are manifold - and start to put out a team that can achieve the sort of game plan he talks about. As others have said, he needs more flexibility, to be more reactive to what he's seeing in front of him, and - I guess - to inspire more.

I love how he'd stop a ball dead - often resting his foot on it - then take a few seconds to decide what he was going to do, before effortlessly jinking past any oncoming defenders. He had such an entertaining style. I don't think I've ever seen a player quite like him.

Those slo-mo canters up to the ball are a nightmare for keepers. The vast majority commit themselves one way or another before the penalty taker has reached the ball. Surprised we don't see more of them.

Angular New Wave art-punk from the late 70s from one of my favourite bands.

Your post summed up pretty much everything I wanted to say. Gulls fans knew this chancer was running them into the ground. I'm afraid GJ has significantly tarnished his legacy as well by staying on, earning reputedly the biggest managerial salary in National South but grinding out terrible results. I mean, how can a team of full-time professionals (with half decent training facilities as well) manage to lose 0-4 at home to part-time St Albans City? There are said to be some wealthy fans looking to potentially buy the club, without its debts, but the points deduction leaves it 18th and without a win since January 20th and managerless, relegation to the Southern League is entirely possible, which would mean the end of the club as a full-time outfit. Yeovil, by contrast, are quids in bounce back to Tier 5 on their first attempt.

Great album....

Rare wit

Cut the guy some slack. Can any of us imagine how tough our school days would've been with the name I. Gay?

I know what you're aluding to and it's an urban myth - both in terms of the band name (which is meaningless) and in terms of the "average amount" - which as a liquid would be measured in mililitres, not cubic centimetres.

Positives? It was so crap that I left before the rain got really heavy.

Nor did that comment.

I've only been there to ski, but the Val 'dArly just a bit further on from Megeve is pretty and full of small family run cafes and restaurants. We stayed in Notre-Dame de Bellecombe, which was really nice - and had views of Mont Blanc without the international glitterati gliding past and pushing up prices. Annecy as @Gazred says is well worth a visit. Pop over the border to spend a day in Geneva. It was a beautiful place, though the coldest I've ever been on holiday - and I've been to Iceland. If you're in the south, visit Grenoble and take its cable cars (which run all year round) up to its hilltop fortress.

How I see it too. Not a "super keeper" but is a competent Championship shot-stopped that I'm happy to have in place next season. The question is whether Bajic is good enough to step in if called upon. We've been lucky with Max staying uninjured, but it's a position that gets lots of heavy impacts. Goalies, like everyone else, can lose form too.