TDarwall

There was talk a few weeks back of a specific target he'd been set to keep his job. Its perfectly reasonable to throw philosophy out of the window until ones achieved that target cos of you get the boot you can't apply your philosophy anyway. However once you've achieved that target it clearly makes more sense to plan for medium term. I'm never a fan of setting such specific targets though as arguably it encourages the wrong behaviours.

An iron & a putter is sufficient....

Irrespective of the manager its hardly surprising that games where we've had a strong bench had yielded better results than those where we've had a bunch of kids sat there to make it look busy. I don't think a bloated squad is helpful but super skinny isn't exactly working for us either as it only works of the core of the 1st team squad have fantastic availability. I think Twine noted @Silvio Dante saying our best bet of signing him was an underwhelming loan! When fit, he's been ok (& results are better with him in the team) but I don't think anyone would be betting the farm on him. Saying that, it's peak City that having got someone who can score a free kick we don't win any within range when he's on the pitch!

I can see the logic: we bought Joe Williams & he gets majorly crocked. We do the same with McCrorie. However, at least with Murphy we know what's wrong with him before we buy him, so we're already prepared & not expecting to see him feature. #smartrecruitment

You can get freak results but in the things even out & you get the results your performances deserve. As things stand we are far better defending than attacking. In the remaining games I'd happily see you trade some points if it leads to us finding a way to be more potent going forward. Not that I think this would happen, but if we achieved "success" (top 6 next season) but were dull as ditch water, would people accept that?

I always thought today would be tricky. After a hammering, most teams put a shift in the following week (unless they're absolute dross at the bottom of the table).

You've only gone & said it!!

Shout - Tears For Fears

I would think Williams will be up there with Nahki as our highest earner so it really depends on what he wants ££ wise & what he can get elsewhere. I'd like to keep him if we can. James being that bit older makes it tricky, but losing pace isn't an issue. For a combo of factors I'd be amazed if we kept both, but think James slightly higher chance.

I think Saturday could be the proverbial punch on the nose. You'd think Sunderland will be desperate to atone for the Blackburn game

Sadly, its the way debate often happens online. Essentially the extremists are the same as each other & are all guilty of what they accuse the other side of (just framing the argument from the opposite perspective). I think everyone wants the best for the club, but for a small but vocal minority, if that can't happen, then being proved right is the next best thing.

Think Watford was a draw. 7 points out of 9 is a good return, but causation/correlation etc! Sometimes a player makes the team work better (making runs, showing for the ball etc) even if they themselves don't appear to have a great game. No idea if that's the case with Twine. You'd like to think we are looking at options as it's entirely plausible that Burnley don't sell or we can't afford him or he gets a better offer.

I don't think you can accuse SL of itchy fingers, he is renowned for giving managers time. For me the real issue is that he can't seem to cope with any degree of conflict, so his relationships with the likes of Cotts & NP were doomed from the start. Once he gets the ick with a manager their days are numbered.

As Twine may not be here for the long run, I'd like to see exactly this given a go.

With 7 games to go, you're not at the top of the table by luck. Scoring in 91st minute is no luckier than scoring in the 91st second. The big worry for Ipswich is if McKenna gets poached.

I don't think there are too many youngsters knocking at the door really. I think LM knows he needs to build/rebuild support from the fans so I'd expect is to go out for the best set of results we can. If we can get a few goals up in games, at that stage we can blood some youth. One thing we need to consider is that Twine may not be here next season so we need to try others in his position or find another system that works. Even if Twine (or a similar player) is here, we can't be overly dependent on 1 player to make things tick.

What it really is, is "I wanted Frank Lampard so now I will literally complain about everything".

Davey Woodward still does the occasional gig I think.

To be honest if someone had told me pre season that a midfield containing Luongo & Morsy would be top of the pile with 7 games to go I'd have laughed.

Mehmeti has been decent for quite a while now, hopefully he can continue his run of decent form. Think some may have written him off too soon.

Seagull - ying Cole - yang

If he said Liam Manning was the right man for the job & should be given time & money would you agree (him being an ex pro)? I'd be surprised if many City fans went home today thinking Max papered over the cracks.

I don't need to listen to Gary Owers (much as I like him), I was there & witnessed it with my own eyes. Max was my MoM, but everyone played well. Their bench was worth > £70m, we were never going to prevent them making chances (today was the 1st time they've failed to score since Nov). We played well today & could/should have had a pen before any of their chances. It was a good game, you couldn't argue against a draw but I don't consider us lucky to have won.

I think that's a bit disingenuous. We were never going to prevent then getting any chances as they're too good for that. However, we made decent chances ourselves & were denied a pen when TC was held back. Max played very well, but it was a good overall performance with no real weak links.

I think we should use Manning in the was an American football team uses a field goal expert. Have him on a retainer, bring him in as Head Coach whenever we play a team in the top 6 (or a Prem team in the cup) but have someone else in charge for games against the rest. The notion of just 1 Head Coach is outdated imo, we could revolutionise the game.