Jacki

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….

I think this is spot on. Tinnion is very good with the academy from what I’ve heard. I understand he can be pretty ruthless, which is hard as a parent especially if your lad has been released, but his knowledge of the players and the way he is with them is generally very positive. If you asked him (for example) who the left backs are in the U13s and what their strengths and weaknesses are, he would know. He knows all the boys by name and chats to them around the place and makes them feel part of it. He seems to be very good at that part of his job. As I’ve said in another thread though, that’s not the main part of his gig anymore. He has to oversee the playing philosophy of the whole club, hire and fire managers and support them while they’re here, manage the recruitment team… it’s impossible (imo) for anyone to do all that and be as involved he still is in the academy. And there is no evidence that he is in any way cut out to have the ‘keys to the kingdom’ to the extent that he has. The last few months have seen everyone with experience of running a successful Championship club get sacked or leave the club one way or another. We’re now back in a situation where people who don’t know the level and how to succeed within it are all powerful at the club. It’s really hard to see it ending well.

Interesting thread, this. Personally, I wish Manning well. As others have said, none of this is his fault and the board have put us in the position where the only sensible course of action is to get behind him and the players. However, I remain completely confused and frustrated at the way Nige was treated and the complete nonsense that was spouted by the board when he went. This is not a top 6 squad or anything close to it. Pearson had an average group of players playing to their strengths and being in and around where you would expect an average group of players to be. Possibly even above where you’d expect them to be, given how the family silver was sold and not replaced. We were never going to go up under him with this group of players, but we weren’t going down either and the spirit and culture at the club seemed to be as strong as it’s been in years. Making the change we did was fraught with risk. The players we have, even if all fully fit, we’re never going to get us finishing above about 10th because they’re just not good enough. By bringing in someone like Manning, who seems determined to tinker with everything, the danger is that the average squad plays below its collective ability and plummets down the league. I have seen lots of posts saying that performances have improved and we are not having more shots on target etc., and I respect those opinions because some of the people talking about that know a lot more about football then me. The bottom line, though, is results and ours are in free fall. To hear the new man taking about ‘sticking together’ this early worries me a lot. We were solid defensively under Pearson this season and we are really not now. I also accept what others are saying about Pearson having been on these runs before. Of course it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. But we knew what we were going to get with his teams and he always got us out of it. My biggest concern with all of this is that we now have nobody on the football side of the club who has any record of success in the Championship. We have Tinnion who, for me, just has way too much on his plate. He’s done a great job with the academy but he’s still involved with that as well as hiring and firing managers, signing players and everything else he’s expected to do. It’s way too much for one person, and his record as first team manager would call his suitability as technical director into question in any case. We then have a board with no footballing CEO, and a ‘Head Coach’ with no history in this league at all. It’s a huge risk, and if the form carries on as it is I would really worry whether we have anyone with the slightest clue of how to fix the problem.

I know a fair bit about the academy and have been around it for a number of years now. I see a lot of the lads coming through and there’s no doubt there are loads of talented boys. We compete well with most of the clubs we come up against, beating the likes of Plymouth, Exeter and Swindon and having cracking games against Swansea and Cardiff. Same applies when we play the likes of Southampton and Villa. It gets more difficult when we come up against the Chelseas and Arsenals of this world but even then the games are usually competitive until their quality and fitness shines through at the end of the games The boys develop at different rates and there are one or two outstanding players in our age group. Those aside they all step up and look excellent at different times, with one or two exceptions although that view is subjective of course Overall (although I fully acknowledge I am biased) I would say the quality of player we have is good, and City is an attractive place to play given the opportunities the young lads are getting these days. They’re not going to get recruitment 100% right but I do think it’s improved in recent years and we’re not missing out on local talent to the likes of Southampton and the midlands teams as much as we were in the recent past. The experience and coaching is generally good… all I would say is that boys are treated like young professionals very early on and it would be nice to see them be allowed to have a bit more fun at times… it’s a huge time commitment it’s all very serious. I guess that’s inevitable but they’re kids at the end of the day and seeing them have a laugh and enjoy it more often wouldn’t do any harm imo.

That was an incredibly frustrating watch. The last 20 minutes were like an attack v defence drill and the attacks were all pretty much identical. Sideways and backwards passing followed, eventually, by a floaty cross with nobody in the box to get on the end of it. It was so easy to defend against it’s not true. As for the winner, I really hope we’re not going back to the Vyner of before last season. His OG v Boro was comically bad and he’s been caught in possession numerous times of late which could have led to more goals. The winner today was really, really bad. I was furious when Nige went and I’ve seen very little since to make me feel any better about the whole situation.