TDarwall

32 minutes ago, petehinton said:

Hopefully he’ll just be a week away then, in that case 

(a week away = misses 8 games) 

Is Naismith still a bit stiff?

City recovery times are like dog years.

3 hours ago, Tinmans Love Child said:

It did happen to us under GJ but we choked and then didn't turn up in the playoff final!

Really disagree. We were ok v Hull, just lost out in a very tight game.

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

 

I’m on SOTC tomorrow evening, I’ve no idea what questions will be thrown at me, or what opportunity I’ll get to expand my reasons.

They should get Manning on to challenge you to a live, on air, "Office" duel; your spreadsheets versus his presentations, 1st one to get blue circle of death loses.

13 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Yep he was expected to somehow make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and was doing a steady, if unspectacular  job of it.

 

Now replaced by a bloke who's undoing all his good work and making a complete pig's ear of it. 

 

Irrespective of anything else, getting 2 porcine ear references into a single post is to be admired.

That's the kicker isn't it, this is entirely self inflicted.

I think there is genius at work; we can't beat teams below in the league, but do better against teams above us. The deeper we plummet our chances of playing someone below us gets less all the time.

Really it's impossible to compare managers across different era's & divisions.  It's probably easier to get us promoted in League 1 than make is competitive in the Championship.

Its clearly deeper than the manager though, in a parallel universe where we gave Gary O'Neil the job, he'd have probably been sacked by now & is trying to rebuild his reputation at a lower league club.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Unfortunately it was a total disaster as we only missed the 1st 10 mins.

In the end I parked in the Long Ashton P&R & walked to the ground. I'm sure you're not meant to do that but I didn't see any signs to the contrary, & going on the queue to get out, it wasn't just us.

On 1 of LJs dismal runs, weren't we 2 up at half time, only to lose 3-2 to a last minute Pilkington screamer???

I am going to be late today & will probably only make the 2nd half (see drunken son for details). What are the parking restrictions in Sainsbury's- if I leave the car there for 2 hours is that likely to get me a ticket?   Normally walk from Bemi Down but looking at any time saving options.

4 minutes ago, Tim Monaghan said:

There are a lot of assumptions here, aren’t there, mixed in with a dollop of complete fantasy. Professional footballers don’t just give up, especially when you’re being watched by 23,000 people. You don’t work your whole entire life to become a footballer and then think, “sod it, I can’t be arsed today.” It’s a load of nonsense. Maybe you can say that about a handful of players over time (e.g., Tomlin), but 99% of professional athletes are winners and are playing for their careers every time they step onto the pitch.

Where were these posts a few weeks back when we beat Southampton and Boro? The team has apparently gone into meltdown when only a few weeks ago, we were flying high. We’ve been in one of the highest positions we’ve been in for years. Would we be having these posts if we’d lost against Southampton and Boro and won against Wednesday and QPR? We've all gone insane with xG here, stats there. Lets just put everything in a great chuff off spreadsheet and play the league that way.  Actually sick of it. We aren't doing that badly!! The last two games, absolute dog mess, but its like everything else that's been good now doesn't exist, and now we've got a made-up internal rift. Personally I’d be worried if players didn’t have their hands on their hips and looked pissed off after losing a game. I was fuming after every game that I lost. But that could mean anything.

2015–16 Champ 18th   2016–17 Champ 17th   2017–18 Champ 11th   2018–19 Champ 8th   2019–20 Champ 12th   2020–21 Champ 19th   2021–22 Champ 17th   2022–23 Champ 14th

Above is our Championship finishes since 2015. We currently sit 4 points (classing +7 goal difference as a point) off of 10th. I know its not where we want to be, although a recent forum poll suggested that the fans would be happy with it.  A 10th place finish would show some good progress heading into the summer, so I'm not sure why everyone is acting like we're on the verge of relegation, it confuses me so much. 

 

I think the issue (with most communication on line) is that the extremists (at both ends) shout louder than the moderates.  You are right, in 2 games we've gone from "best we've played in years" & "top 6 is in our own hands" to "he's lost the dressing room" & "we might go relegated".

The truth is as ever far more dull, top 6 was never in our own hands & the chances of relegation are slimmer than slim shady on the slim fast diet. 

9 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

The GJ sacking I was away from Bristol at the time, got to a few games a season and saw some TV games obviously.

Clearly this NP one is the worst but GJ.

Was it widely seen as positive, run his course? Were there chants at games for his departure or not really?

I also appreciate things run their course and Coppell did seem a go for it now candidate..

...Sadly he went for it early, the exit door!

It did feel he'd ran out of gas. I liked him immensely & we could so easily have beaten Hull in the final.  Sadly the more players he was allowed to buy, the worse we became. I think his brother was the full extent of the scouting team! Our purchases from Solvakia & Costa Rica were somewhat disappointing but the latter had locks to rival Russell Martin!

None of it mattered as we appointed Steve Coppell & the rest is history.....

6 minutes ago, Harry said:

 

 

So I assume going to Weston wouldn’t have had a mental impact on him, but going to Bath does? 

Have you seen the traffic in Bath ???? 0

8 hours ago, Red Shadow said:

Coming Up - Paul McCartney

Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

1 minute ago, spudski said:

If we get trounced by Cardiff using ' next season's players' so to speak, then surely that's something he will have learned. Trying to beat Cardiff using players that won't be here means nothing. I'd rather lose and learn, than win and learn nothing that we don't already know. 

Personally, don't disagree with a word of that. However I don't think the timing or the opposition this weekend lend themselves to experimentation.

2 games ago some said it was the best we'd played in years.  Now he's lost/confused/bored the dressing room.  A big loss to Cardiff isn't going to help him.

It is pretty clear they fell out with Nige. I really like Nige but it's not uncommon for him to fall out with his employer. Lansdown struggles with "spikey" types. It was an accident waiting to happen really (but we're fortunate Nige got us in much better shape before it did).

11 minutes ago, spudski said:

 

We have nothing to play for...what will Manning learn from playing players that he has no intention of using next season. 

I don't disagree in principle but I'm not sure Manning explaining to the fans that getting trounced by Cardiff was ok as it gives him a clearer idea of what we need for next season is going to play out very well.

Hopefully we can have a half decent run of results, & then he can experiment for a few games if he chooses but in a less febrile atmosphere.

1 hour ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

City fan?

Could swear I saw him in the East End back in the 90s.

Now I think of it, you might have  point.

8 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

I can think of very few criticisms worse than that , they were bloody awful .

Though there is always this ....

 

One of the 1st bands I saw live. Gotta love Davey & the boys.

2 hours ago, FNQ said:

Blimey Dave, you’re a patient bloke. How long is your evaluation process going to last? Liam’s been here for half a season now with pretty much a full squad, surely you’re close to being on the home stretch?

But for many people it's an ongoing process & not black or white. If we finish the season terribly the majority will want him gone. If we then win the 1st 5 games of next season, many will want him tied to a longer contract. But if we then lost 5 on the spin he'll be "streaky Liam".

When results aren't great it's hard to imagine things turning round.  In Jordan's 1st full season he got us to the semi final of the cup, but we were rubbish in the league (it improved at the end when we bought Super Bob). I defy anyone thay watched us a lot that season to honestly say that it felt like we were on the cusp of something great... cos it really didn't & if you take the line "the cup doesn't count" Jordan could have been sacked as he'd taken us backwards (we got in the PO's with a late charge the season before).

I doubt if anyone is really convinced by Manning at this juncture but for me we are still at the wait & see stage.

Just now, italian dave said:

How dare you come on here with your sense of perspective and proportion?

Fear not, it will soon get lost in a sea of hyperbole & bias.

Just now, MelksRed said:

That's jinxed it 

If it makes you feel any better I was convinced Coppell would lead us to promotion.

The serious point is, after the Coppell debacle I tried to avoid any pre conceptions about future managers. Nothing is guaranteed, sometimes a sensible appointment fails & then a strange one works.

2 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Cup games are one off games. They have no relevance to the bread and butter of the league. 

Maidstone are not Championship promotion contenders because they've beaten Ipswich. 

 

 

No one is suggesting Maidstone are better than Ipswich. You said Piercey wasn't being impartial- there is zero evidence of that. He is just saying something you don't agree with, however it's a perfectly valid view that people are entitled to agree or disagree with. 

Just now, W-S-M Seagull said:

I like Piercy but to include the cup games shows he's not being impartial. 

No it doesn't, it just shows he doesn't agree with your view. Some allow the cup games, some don't, there is no right / wrong answer. 

No reason at all for Piercey to be impartial, he's a good journo, not afraid to ask tough questions.

We are no more getting relegated now than we were getting in the POs before QPR. There's too big a points buffer & far too many teams that have been average to poor all season would need to hit stellar form whilst we capitulate.