hinsleburg

Weird one but could be smart depending on the fee... I've not listened to Mannings presa conference but the narrative on there suggested he was frustrated at a player not signing in time to play tomorrow. Implies another is due unless the terms of this deal were changed last minute to get it done

I think my concern is, this passing style right now isn't leading to loads of chances and opportunities. That's not to say it won't with slightly different personnel and time but not sure it's what we need right now. I guess the other argument is 'if not now then when'. I've been critical of the Twine signing without an option, we aren't going up or down and there's a strong chance we won't sign him end of season so see it as a waste. However, it would then be hypocritical of me to not allow the chance for this new style and approach to develop and embed. We look good in between both boxes but how do we convert that to goals? The answer is probably time coaching, patience and a slight personnel tweak so there isn't a better time for two of those things. I think personally, we've seen enough to give it a chance and get behind it. It's a really tough one, I think what I want to see would lead to more goals the next 6 months, would it lead to more over the next 12, arguably not!

If we are sticking with this formation for me our tactic for me has to be to hit the channels as quickly as we can and win the 2nd ball. In theory McCrorie and Pring will be aerially dominant over most full backs, seems a real waste to not to this and utilise numbers further forward. Means whoever plays in front of Pring/McCrorie (Twine and Sykes when fit?) can attack the 2nd ball and get it to Conway/Wells much quicker and in dangerous areas. It is a great escape route and way to get us up the pitch especially away from home, we won't do it as it's too direct for Manning's style but hopefully we can use it as a way to mix up our play and keep opposition teams guessing. For me, it's also quite exciting when we can get the ball forward quickly and efficiently, people bemoan 'route 1 football' but when done properly with a purpose it gets people off seats and can lead to goals without compromising defensively. Kind of went off on a tangent, I guess the point I was trying to make was I've been impressed with Ross and already adds a different dynamic to our game. Could see him thriving in a back 4!

Finally looks like we might be getting somebody playing closer to Conway!

Apologies, poor wording! More a case of, in my head I'm over thinking that every time he gets dropped or played well we won't end up signing him permanently as much as I want us to. All the noises suggest we definitely will but until he's permanent I can't bring myself to get attached

I don't like the thought of a Loan With an Option as it's always in the back of my mind that it may not happen (see TGH) That's a 'me' problem though and in fairness these deals really help FFP and cash flow as helps spread payments, Spurs have done this really effectively last few years and gives them so much more wriggle room now. Protects us a little against injury and gives us 6 months to embed. These deals are normally sorted so the Contract is arranged as well so in theory no chance of losing to a bigger club if he does well as we just push the button. Seems a really good signing, as others have mentioned if we had done this the day after selling Scott I think we'd have been happy (or as happy as we can be having just sold Scott).

What a signing that is!

I always saw today as a bit of a free hit and wasn't too fussed. After reading this thread I'm desperate now for us to put in a performance and reward those who have had a heck of a day Gutted for those who had to cancel and good luck to those still persevering.

In terms of value for money, Sykes must have been one of our best signings for a long time. Free transfer from League 1, fantastic piece of business and our most consistent player this year in my opinion. Think he's going to be a real miss next few weeks and hope he comes back soon! Be interested to see what happens now, Weimann isn't working out there and needs to be in the middle but Manning is persisting with this Inverted winger stuff. Personally would give Bell a go on the right, if Manning wants to play with one winger wide and one tucking in then let Mehmeti come in and influence the game and have Pring bomb on. We've looked so unbalanced with Weimann coming inside and Tanner not utilising the space there.

I get the feeling we won't proceed with this, think he was Manning's first choice for a number of weeks but more due to necessity than anything else. Whilst it wasn't an impressive cameo yesterday for me he's got a bit of everything, can run, pick a pass, shoot but also stick a foot in and tackle. Can see him evolving his game and being a long term James replacement but I also wonder if he's got a bit more to offer going forwards and if that'll be a bit of a waste.... One thing I'd love to see us try and yesterday was the game to do it is dropping Knight a little deeper to play in the midfield next to TGH. Means you can have Wells/Weimann/Cornick playing centrally next to Conway and actually give the kid some help. It's clearly been identified as an issue because if you watch us, we never have two wingers playing wide, one is always tucked in as close to Conway as possible. The problem is that leaves loads of space out wide that we then aren't able to exploit! Looks very unbalanced to me at the moment, maybe the answer will be Mcrorie bombing down the wing and filling the space but I'm not convinced that'll rectify everything. Either way, I think TGH is class and think we need to snap him up

I think it'll be a score draw tonight personally. Not sure we've got the bodies to keep this run up with so many games in a short space of time, whilst they look devoid of confidence it'll feel like a must win so I'm expecting a scrappy performance from us but hopefully enough for a point

For the avoidance of any doubt I can confirm there's no relation haha!

It's just so so frustrating and we're genuinely at a point where Senior People at the club are incompetent or don't care! Tinnion has wormed his way into a role he's not qualified for and I'm actually really gutted, after his Managerial spell he worked so hard, seemed to find a really good niche for himself and he'd managed to earn the respect of fans and staff alike. Now it's like he's lost a fight with his ego and wants to put the world to rights again and sadly just isn't capable, he's come across as really dislikeable and egotistical in his tweets and interviews and it's a real shame. If the club wanted to go a different direction to Pearson anybody with an ounce of logic would have said to do it when we A) were safe from relegation and B) couldn't get promoted. We could then embed a new manager and give them time to mould a playing style and sign a few players. Right now it feels like we've got the right manager at the wrong time and by the time he gets his philosophies across the atmosphere with fans (and within the club) will be so toxic they won't be effective. This was never the guy to takeover mid season, clearly got a very defined way of playing which takes time and the right personnel, we have neither of those things right now. Think the results last few weeks have shown just how much Pearson was actually getting out if these players and over performing, we now pass the ball more but aren't as exciting (imo) or effective and conceding goals for fun. I enjoyed watching us this season, we worked hard and we were direct (not hoofball) and competed for every ball until the whistle, that's all gone now. As alluded to, Manning doesn't get a free pass but I don't think this is his fault nor can he be criticised for taking the role as it could be seen as a great opportunity. The blame has to go right to the top! We've got no leadership structure, no embedded philosophy and ultimately no idea. Unless there's changes behind the scenes, we are my very early bet for relegation next year, god I hope Manning is a miracle worker

Didn't want to start a separate thread on this as may have been discussed elsewhere, but why on earth didn't Vyner bring down Idah when he had the chance and take the red card? If that was at the other end you know for a fact Duffy would have had no issue taking the red and saving a point. Awful, awful goal to concede and completely preventable (even before we consider just taking him down)

This is the key thing for me! Like others have done, I've had a search and there's very little he's actually been sent and I wouldn't say any of it constituted abuse. (Unsure if he has his Private Messages Open) His Burns tweet yesterday was odd and very antagonistic given the current circumstances and Complaints about lack of spending and money not being reinvested. The whole communication coming from the club recently has been so out of touch and lacking in genuine empathy and understanding as to what it's like to be a supporter. Yesterday felt like 'I'm right, you're all wrong, it's my ball and I'm going home', they've all created a rod for their own backs and genuinely concerned we've now been set up to fail. (Not intentionally I must add!)

He has always had a howler in him (see Ajax V Tottenham...) and has played for teams who don't face many shots so would never have really got exposed. Can remember a similar thing happening with Valdes at Barcelona, take him out that team and he was a bang average goalkeeper with world class distribution, may get to a point where this happens here. Just seems to be a bit over dramatic with everything that he does and over exaggerate his movements. The second goal yesterday was like he was trying to punch the ball clear as far as possible instead of a two handed parry to the side (or even try and catch the thing!) Will make the occasional worldie but in terms of basic goalkeeping very poor! Compare him to Vicario at Spurs (who cost about 1/3rd of the price I believe) and only one of them looks close to being a world class keeper. (Which at the prices paid they both should be!)

I would agree, but to me it's not a position of strength. Chilwell and Shaw, both ok, neither world class and both have injury and reliability issues. Really impressed with Tyrick Mitchell at Palace, if he can stay fit and have a good season he would be my first choice and I'd happily go with Lewis as back up/versatility option especially as Trippier can also play there!

He'd be my 1st/2nd choice CB personally in a 2 or a 3 I'm still not sold on Vyner, I think he made massive improvements last year however I don't think he's as good as Naismith, Dickie or indeed Atkinson. (pre-injury as wary don't know how he's going to come back). If we are going with a back 4 I'd have Dickie and Naismith as first choice as think they'd compliment each other really well. I also don't think Naismith is as defensively bad as gets made out on here sometimes, think that Sunderland game has left a real lasting memory! Dickie last 6 weeks (after being out the team a bit...) seems to have found some confidence, form and is continuing to look a really shrewd bit of business. Good Championship player at a very good price with room to develop still.

I think what didn't help the ref was how close to the box it was as just created more uncertainty and doubt. It kind of felt real time in the ground it had to be either a penalty or red card... A couple of yards further back I think he would have given a yellow but the extra pressure of crowd, players and also probably not being 100% sure himself if inside or outside would have added to the severity in his mind.

Because he's not a politician? He's come out and used the promotion statement as justification to sack Pearson. So for him to start back tracking is deplorable and shows further that Pearson was sacked for 'non-footballing' reasons. Think Manning is on a bit of a hiding to nothing here and sadly unless he does brilliant (which I hope) will carry the can for BT/JL

I mean we are literally paying him less than we were so can't see any negative to the new contract... I really rate Wells, isn't the poacher I thought we had signed and has a much better all round game. I don't think it's coincidence all our other attackers look more dangerous when he plays.

I get what you mean, it seems like he's got everything to be a top player. Physically very good, technically very good and reads the game really well. Might be one of those we need to persevere with and give him consistent starts in the same position. I hope we then see him dominating in games and really standing out. Hope as sign him permanently as lots of room to grow

To be fair, they probably lasted longer than they would have if they had just sat on their own area and defended. Plus they nearly scored a few times pressing Chelsea high and catching them out. I'm all for it, make the pitch as small as possible to try and negate the player advantage and if they still had Van De Ven on who's the quickest CB I've ever seen they might just have held on. One of the most mental games I've ever watched, Spurs blew them away first 20 minutes and then just imploded, was really bizarre!

Really not sure how I feel about this if we are being honest. Seems very bizarre to be bringing somebody in mid-season who needs to change the whole teams playing style to fit what they want to do. Could be an absolute disaster for everybody if it goes horribly wrong and sadly for Manning he will always he compared to LJ/Holden. (Not saying that's fair, but it will happen). Ultimately, he's also completely unproven at this level, everybody needs to start somewhere and maybe this is the one that we get right, but recent history isn't on his side. However, he does have a much better reputation in the game than those mentioned above. He has been bought in as a 'Coach' with a very clear remit and whilst I feel very uncomfortable with what happened with NP, there is a different structure there now and Manning seems to fit in better with it. As others have mentioned, I'd love to know what the expectation is on him this season and what he will be given to do it. Don't care what the club says, this squad is three players light of being a top 8 squad and believe NP had us slightly above where the squad sits in my opinion pre-injuries.

I actually thought he had a decent game Saturday against two very powerful CB's. When the ball was played into feet he held it up well and won fouls (when the ref had his eyes open) or laid off for teammates. Definitely tired near the end but still produced that bit of magic on the edge of the area which Bell should have scored from after! I do think he needs somebody playing closer to him but not sure what the answer is with our current players. The obvious right now is Weimann playing as a '10' like a couple of seasons ago but then you need to lose one from James, Knight and TGH in the middle of midfield... By all accounts Manning likes playing 3 at the back which could be the Conway answer (but then limits Sykes and no Tanner who was excellent defensively Saturday...) Vyner Dickie Naismith Sykes Pring James Knight TGH Weimann Conway