Jacki

This is exactly how I see it. Credit where it’s due, in my experience Tinnion is excellent with the academy and his knowledge of the players is extraordinary. I’ve said on here before that if you asked him who the U12 centre back is he’d be able to tell you, and he’d be able to describe the type of player they are and their strengths and weaknesses. He’s very good at that stuff and he’s always very visible up there. There are 2 problems with him as technical director though. The first is that he just has far too much to do…. Overseeing the academy and everything else is way too much for one person. The second is that he just doesn’t have the contacts or knowledge in the game, at this level, to be as influential as he is at this club. He’s in the job because the Lansdowns like, know and trust him, not because he’s the right person for it, and many of his public utterances are just nonsense. As a result of his appointment and Pearson and co’s departure, there is absolutely nobody at the top end of the club with the slightest clue of how to run a successful Championship football club. Which is why I would really worry about our current situation getting worse and leading to relegation either this season or next.

I know, I totally get that and I’m one of the many posters who have absolute respect for the job that Pearson did. I never called for his head when he was here and was (still an) furious with the way he was treated. All I was saying was that there were times during his tenure when results took a dip that, at many clubs, would have led to him being sacked, regardless of context. I wasn’t for one second suggesting that he should have been, just illustrating the point that we tend to give managers time. Given that Manning is a pet project of JL and BT, I think he’ll be given more time than most.

I don't disagree with the logic here but I can't see them sacking Manning even if we lose to Swansea. We tend to support managers through poor runs of form (LJ and Nige both benefitted from that), and there is no way that Tinnion and JL are going to want to admit they've got it so horribly wrong this quickly. IMO anyway - I just can't see it. I think Manning will stay until after the international break, and they'd only get rid if we really did look like we were going down. Which is entirely possible the way things are going at present.

For the first 65 minutes or so that was a really decent display. But the last half hour was desperate stuff. They wanted it more and just absolutely ripped us to shreds at will. We can now add Wes Burns to the long list of players who’ve left us who are better than what we have left. Utterly depressing.

This. Everything about the current situation points to him going. His non committal interviews, total lack of service in this bizarre way Manning is trying to play, and his own drop off in performance all suggest he’s off. Not to mention his body language, which I thought was also poor yesterday. Worst thing is, I don’t think any of us would blame him for going. He won’t fulfil his ambitions at Bristol City just as all the other players we’ve sold on wouldn’t have done. What a time it is to be alive….

There surely must be a break clause in his contract? Surely? If there isn’t that would take incompetence to a whole new level, and the fact that we’re thinking it might be true tells us all we need to know….

Turgid, clueless rubbish. Most worrying thing for me is that we look like nobody knows what they’re supposed to be doing. The shape is all over the place and we look to have a manager completely out of his depth. I try to be balanced but that was garbage.

Here’s another thread that has blown my mind. Do we really think that Tinnion and Lansdown are going to get rid of their new project, who was given a 3.5 year contract 3 months ago, and replace him even temporarily with someone who is that close to Pearson? It’s just not going to happen, in a million years. People really are hysterical at the moment as well. I keep seeing comments like ‘he’s lost the dressing room’ and that the atmosphere is ‘toxic’…. I see no evidence on a match day of a toxic atmosphere whatsoever and I’m really not convinced about the players losing faith yet either. We’ve just had 2 unbelievably poor games. I'm far from convinced by Manning and I’m as fed up with the ‘higher ups’ at this club as anyone but none of them are going anywhere any time soon.

Is anyone saying we would have reached the play offs under NP? I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone say that, but what I have seen is people saying we’d likely be better off under Nige and I make them right.

As ever when we lose a game badly, this forum is a pretty depressing read. People with agendas spouting nonsense, largely on the ‘pro-Manning’ side if I may say. He was brought in to work with what we have and he was brought in to improve this current squad and, a couple of excellent performances aside, he really hasn’t done that in my opinion. The inconsistency gap between our good performances and our poor ones is way more pronounced now than it ever was in the latter days of Nige’s reign. Also, after all his bleating about the program and lack of time ‘on the grass’ for us to turn in a performance like that yesterday is a real worry. The way people revise history and don’t acknowledge the situation Pearson took over when comparing the two really does blow my mind as well. Manning came in to a club with some decent players, crucially who were returning from injury at the time…. There’s no excuse for the ups and downs we’re currently seeing imo and overall I’ve found Manning really underwhelming. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again here. Everything about this club is mid table at the moment, but the lack of nous and proven experience at the top end of the club really worries me and we could so easily end up being in trouble next season or the one after if this stays the same. The most likely way we get out this division will be to get relegated when this happens, not with the promotion that our ‘board’ like to keep talking about when season tickets are up for renewal. It’s so boring to be going through this whole doom cycle again.

Does my head in as well. ‘In the building’ is another one that winds me up. All modern bollocks, just wish people would talk like normal humans.

He’s talked about this a lot hasn’t he? We’ve had a couple of cup replays but other than that the schedule is just what it always is in the Championship. It is a lot of football but it’s the same for everyone and the same as it’s been for as long as I can recall Moaning about it is counterproductive and just seems very strange to me.

What a pointless thread this is. Are we going to get threads like this after every game this season, on both sides of the debate? It’s ‘I told you so’ nonsense and it’s pathetic. My own view is unchanged. The way the change to bring in Manning was made was disingenuous nonsense, communication was dreadful and the board got rid of a guy who was doing a good job in difficult circumstances. It pissed me off at the time and still does. Manning has come in and, because I’m a Bristol City fan and I love the club, I really want him to be successful. None of what happened before is his fault. I’m not convinced by the style of play he’s trying to instil as I’m not sure we have the players for it, but the first half yesterday and Forest away would suggest that some progress is being made. After the Leeds and Millwall games, it was really hard to see it that way. As I’ve said before, we’re a mid table squad though and you will get these extremes of performance. I just don’t believe we’re any better off than we would have been if the change hadn’t been made. I’d say that’s a pretty balanced view and there are many other posters on here that feel similarly. The overriding thing for me was that I was absolutely delighted that we won the game yesterday and I hope that Manning proves to be a great appointment because we all win if that’s the case. COYR.

Great win that, especially with 120 minutes in the legs just a few days ago. Credit where it’s due. Up the City

I’ve read this thread with interest and this is where I am. I try to be positive and constructive but that was absolutely dreadful last night. We let Leeds play, every time we got the ball we gave it away and there was no pace of purpose to anything we did. That wasn’t the first time that’s happened under Manning… Millwall at home springs to mind and there have been others. I just don’t buy the fact that performances have improved. I listened to some of the Tinnion interview last night and he was very bullish about what we’re doing and what we’re bringing in. It was interesting to hear him talking about Conway’s contract as well. But, ultimately, I came away from listening to that thinking that we will be going for some of the better players in League One and some mid table Championship players and won’t be any further forward next year. It’s what we do. For me, we are a mid table club to our core. We have mid table players and that’s what we’ll be bringing in in the summer. If any of our players show form that is head and shoulders above that, we’ll sell them on and replace them with someone less talented like we always do. And, if it goes a bit wrong and with the lack of successful Championship experience at the top of the club, there is a danger that we will end up in a relegation battle at some point in the next season or two. There is no sign of meaningful progression whatsoever and I am so bored of it.

I haven’t read this thread in detail so forgive me if I’m repeating what others have said. For me, O’Leary is the perfect illustration of where we are as a club. He’s a mid table Championship player in a mid table Championship side. He’s inconsistent like many of our players and has made a number of howlers this season that have cost us dear. In other games he’s been very good. The other thing I would say about him is that his decision making can be very ‘off’ at times. He’s an excellent number two and a mid table level number one at this level. Final thing I’d say is that not signing someone to compete with O’Leary is a mistake and I’ve been saying that all season. Anyone but the very best in sport in sport who has nobody pushing them for their spot will be too comfortable and I think there’s a real danger of that here.

Aren’t the filth playing at Liverpool today……? I’m sure they were booking hotels not long ago

I heard a rumour he’s been told he can leave. Not sure how true that is but it was a pretty reliable source so I have no reason to doubt it.

Me too…

Stood up all the way but the 9.15 from Temple Meads is on the way and should be at Paddington by 12. Been a joke of a journey but reading this I’m just grateful we’re looking like getting to the game. COYR

9am train cancelled again. Privatising the railways was an act of genius

I had the card from the Royal Mail yesterday so they have attempted to deliver them. Hope yours have come now mate.

Is anyone else still waiting for tickets to be posted out for Sunday? Mine still haven’t arrived

I think the HPC is the least of our problems to be honest. I’ve been lucky enough to go to many over the last few years (Wolves, Southampton, Reading, Swansea, Cardiff to name a few) and HPC compares well to pretty much any of them, Southampton maybe aside. I’ve also been to Spurs and Chelsea and they’re light years better, but surely that’s what we’d expect. If we were to make the Premier League, HPC would be absolutely fine at that level and like I say would be the least of our worries. Going back to the original question around the Lansdowns, in the last 18 months or so I’ve become increasingly frustrated with them. Their ‘we know best’ attitude and their inability to work with anyone who questions them continues to be a real problem and I’ve said numerous times on other threads that they have binned off anyone who actually knows how to run a successful championship football club. They have surrounded themselves with people they know and trust, and while that in itself isn’t an issue, they have also got rid of anyone who questions the status quo and the way we’ve always done things. My worry, therefore, is that we will be in this cycle of mediocrity until they sell up and move on. It’s hard to improve if you’re that resistant to change. Anyhow, merry Christmas all - see you on the other side!

Completely agree with all of this. Who is Sean G? This sounds like the most ridiculous thing of all….