Red-Robbo

Avanti had grey seats last time I was on one. Mind you, I use the trains a lot less now than of yore.

Good spot. That's a GWR carriage, not an Avanti West Coast one.

Re: the above, I've just seen Gerard's been taken ill again and rushed to hospital. The Christmas show at the Fleece is off.

The last one, there for f-ing years. One of the most famous like that is the stunning wordplay of "Whither atrophy?" that used to be graffiti-ed on the wall of the Birds Nest pub in Deptford.

He only spoke to @Robbored

I guess you'll always get a bit of corporate arse-kissing from club employed interviewers, but I agree, it's got much worse. Manning isn't alone in sort of saying nothing in his interviews: to be honest, it's rife in football, and post-match interviews are particularly uninformative - I've long since given up listening to them. Nigel Pearson got me back into the habit of looking for insights from managerial pronouncements. Not only was he unusually frank, he was actually interesting to listen to.

Last time I saw Angelo, he was performing on stage with the Aeroplanes at the Exchange for their Christmas bash last year. He was in great form and looked in great shape. It was Gerard I was concerned about. He's been unwell for some time and can only perform a few times each year. Had to have emergency surgery in April. The Blue Aeroplanes never achieved genuine mass appeal, but for me are one of the most talented and unique bands Bristol has ever produced - and I go back to when they were called the Art Objects! Some of their songs rank with my all-time favourites.

"Go directly to Joey Barton"

And too early to tell. Imagine doing it to Nigel Pearson. 12 points from his first 15 games.

"People voted for the Nazis and like Coldplay, Jez. You can't trust people!" (FWIW I agree with Gray)

I mean there are merits in both new players, but it's like divorcing Susanah Hoffs and marrying Therese Coffey.

I thought the first pist on this topic was going to say... Is a shithole....

Good post. Putting on my managerial hat (a nice 1960s bowler) I'd say that some people can be very good at the technical side of jobs, but to manage men in any context you need a bit of the psychologist about you. You need to manage occasional failures as well as managing successes. You need to be able to lift and encourage. You need to inspire and in particular inspire belief in you as a leader. You need to build a team with high morale, motivation and self belief who'll work for each other. It's my guess that Lee Johnson (to pick but one example) was much better at the technical aspects of coaching than he was at the more HR related morale-building side. It's why when his side faced adversity - a narrow or unexpected defeat, key player injury, unfair sending off - their collective heads dropped. They then went into a slump in form before luck and chance got us a win and the team regained confidence. "Streaky Lee". Pearson however had that ability to inspire. We were often outfought under him, but never for want of trying. I hope Manning will bring that ability to team build with him, because, in my experience, it's something innate and can't be taught.

100% record in the hot seat.

They can't move, move, move any Mountain....

Because we'd pay him more money than Oxford? Danny Wilson's family lived Oop North (forget exactly where) but Wilson rented during the days he was required to be in Bristol.

I've felt old since 2010, when the country got its first prime minister who was younger than me.

Does Mrs Fevs know!

The thing I like about Oxford fans is - they really hate Swindon.

A couple of City fans in my village - who don't do social media and aren't on here - told me the sacking was "ridiculous". A local Gashead said that too! I think Nige enjoyed majority support among the fanbase. Maybe not as high as 97%, but he still had more goodwill from supporters than he had from the Lansdowns. But as you say, it's time to move on. We can do little else.

TBH Seagull, for myself, I'm less worried about the appointment than I am depressed by the waste-of-money and wasted opportunity that the sacking of Nigel Pearson represented. That move was completely without any football justification, but as soon as it became obvious they were hemming and hawing about his contract, you knew you were watching a slo-mo car crash. Pearson will be yet another "what might have been" to add to the owners' collection.

After we sold Scott, he asked the board "Where's the money gone? Where's the money gone?!"

I'll give Manning a fair chance to see if he take the baton from Peatson and keep running with it. What is so irksome is it's a "roll of the dice" that was totally unnecessary.

Both. Liam von Manning

I think they lost every match under him this season. It's a definite no from me.