Red Exile

50 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Purchased, took me about 30 seconds.

Could not have been easier, some things do change for the better..

Yep - very simple. I have a rail seat - whatever and wherever that is! - I'll have to fight it out with the boys to decide who goes! It's not going to make member sales.

4 minutes ago, the1stknowle said:

 

Maybe, but I think your analogy is wrong anyway as it assumes the actors are doing the same thing, just worse. What Im saying is half way through a show is obviously never the ideal time to start a new show and that could be a bit jarring for the audience. But maybe the new show, once all the actors get into character, will be a lot better. Thing is, we will never know how good the play gets if everyone starts screaming at the actors or walks out before they have had a chance to get to the good bits.

And, anyway, tortured analogy aside, we all know football supporting isn't solely about the entertainment (see Nigel Pearson reign) or even the results (see Nigel Pearson reign). What makes it enjoyable is a lot more complicated than that (see Nigel Pearson reign). 

I'll leave it there as literally no one on either side of discussion here is likely to change mind. 

Fair play - it was a rather tortured analogy! I don't have a beef with Liam Manning. He's been handed the job and needs time to do his stuff, or fail to do his stuff, whichever.

I get cheesed off with the perpetually half-finished, 'jam tomorrow', nature of the Lansdown era. But it's all laughably predictable and I was cheesed off and on here saying as much in exactly the same terms a decade ago!

3 minutes ago, the1stknowle said:

'instantly improve results' is your narrative. If you take the chairman's explanation at face value, Manning was brought in because we wanted a new shiny way of playing football that was more likely to get us into the premier league. Fine. Agree with that or not, you have to accept that that will take a bit of time. Fans might want to hold the chairman to this 'guaranteed play off' nonsense but it would be nice if they let Manning get on with job with a bit of courtesy benefit of doubt. If not, we risk a self-fulfilling prophecy (which I suspect is, regardless of what people say, subconsciously sort of what a lot of people want. People instinctively like to be right even when they say 'I'd love to be proved wrong').

But even if top 6 was what Manning agreed and believes is achievable this season, its unrealistic to expect him to come in, change NOTHING and, to quote you 'instantly improve results'. To do that, something has to change and that is where he has to be allowed a bit of time.

What you're doing, I feel, is the equivalent of your neighbour telling you he wants a better house that will sell for more money. He starts painting, slaps on the undercoat, knocks down the back wall to start an extension. And you walk past three weeks later and shout 'mate, that looks shite. There's a massive hole in your house and its all different colours. I thought you wanted to make it better?' 

Personally I don't disagree that a change in tactics/strategy will require time. But I would question the timing.

I think a better analogy in what is - after all - an entertainment business - is selling tickets to a show and midway through the performance letting half the cast leave and replacing them with a bunch who don't know their lines....

...all the while saying 'bear with us, don't know what you're moaning about, it'll obviously take them time'. Anyone in the audience would rightly think 'are they in their right minds?' 

Such a shame he wasn't given the tools to finish the job. What were the club thinking?! Great having him. Up there with the all time best City bosses for his capacity to connect to the fans.

And assuming that someone in his team occasionally dips into OTIB - wishing you the very best of health Nige.

1 hour ago, noize said:

I believe the only way to get City into the Prem would be to bring in a well known, experienced manager with a decent backroom team that could attract decent players, with some investment

Well said - and exactly what I believed were were doing when we appointed Pearson, Rennie, Fleming, Euell

Pity the Lansdowns threw all that away for what's - on paper - a League One set up.

23 minutes ago, NSFF said:

So as I’ve rarely posted it makes my opinion worth less than others ? 
my provenance is home and away for 30 odd years just as I’ve no desire to type my thoughts about the price of hotdogs and where to park on Saturday means I’m contrarian ? 
Id love to be able to put on here what I’ve been told over the years by previous players, just one question  why’s tinnion never had another job in football ? 
 

 

I mean that phrase has no provenance - Manning hasn’t asked for 3 transfer windows. It is a fact that you’ve barely posted on here previously. To be fair to OTIB I don’t see much discussion of hotdogs. New posters have no less right to be heard but it seems reasonable to think that people pay more attention to those who have been in the community and regularly contributed for years. 

5 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Perhaps not too surprised to learn that from this Tinnion doesn’t even appear to know how to work a phone.

The sooner he leaves the better.

Same goes for the owner - 'trust me on Tinnion' has echoed down the ages.

3 minutes ago, Harry said:

Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t believe Manning has actually said anything about 3 windows or such like. 
It’s a phrase which has only been bandied around on here. It’s never been said or even alluded to by Manning 

Correct. In the context of this thread it's a phrase used by a contrarian poster who has rarely posted...has no provenance whatsoever.

21 minutes ago, KingHillRed said:

I think Manning said it himself in the interview - perhaps we are over-loading the players with too much information at once.

This is a very fair observation bearing in mind that they were playing a different way for 3 months before LM.

We can all see what he is trying to implement here he just needs time (and players that can do it) - one thing he's guaranteed here is time.

I'm behind him and if he can get it right sooner rather than later the fickleness of football will bring majority of fans back around.

BTW...fascinating to see what the club's media team strategy is. Try to flood OTIB - a respected and slightly feared forum for dissenting views - with new accounts expressing views supportive of the status quo. Get people arguing with these new posters and deflect the criticism. 

A word of advice - focus on creating something positive worth communicating and find some communicators. Address the core of the criticisms - don't waste your time trying disrupt the critique. Many of us on here have been following the club 20/30/40/50/60 years. Football fans aren't so fickle. 

13 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Me too.

We weren’t interested in Eustace, we wanted this type & the other 2 possibles were similar to him.

If anyone said no to us my guess is it was the Portsmouth manager.

...therein lies the absurdity off the whole situation. We again appoint a rookie at this level - a coach, not an experienced manager - to lead a side to success in one of the toughest leagues in the world...where sides with parachute payments field world class Prem level players with regularity, where more or less every match is intensely competitive and where the matches come up to twice a week, with few breaks...leaving little time to coach new systems. Without wanting to revisit the LJ debates (no need - the verdict is in - he's doing an indifferent job at Fleetwood) what on earth has possessed the Lansdowns to again ask a rookie to learn in this environment? (Don't bother to reply - I know why)

Graham - you've made reference to QPR - there the approach has been to find a young proven manager, albeit in another country/countries. We are constantly fishing in the wrong pond. We've ditched Pearson's Prem experienced set-up and I fear we have replaced it with League One.

And to those arguing for giving Manning time - it won't be up to us! LJ was failing for months, arguably (by me) from the moment our season fell apart after the Man City game. He was given all the time needed to run the ship onto the rocks, and all the treasure with it. There will be so much loss of Lansdown face if Manning doesn't succeed - he'll get plenty of time.

Good luck to him but I rather despair!

Don't underestimate the value of leadership. Look at the players whose form is slumping - Tanner, Bell, Conway, Vyner - all players talked up by NP.  When someone of his stature tells you and the world that you've got something you believe them, and in yourself. When Liam Manning walks into the dressing room for the first time you almost certainly think - who is this?

Look at the players we need to get us out of this current rut, the players with experience, what you want to see as a new manager is respect, what we heard from Naismith and Wells in their first half commentary last night was borderline disbelief.

We supporters need is belief. That interview takes us back - as others have said - to the SOD era.

I've nothing against Manning, know almost nothing about him like everyone else, but the impression given by that interview isn't one of leadership. I'm not sure where it is found at Ashton Gate at the moment.

7 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

I wish people would stop stating proveably incorrect statements as fact,

I fear we are already back in LJ territory - the land where a it will 'all come good', where 'doubters will be proved wrong' - a world in which 'belief' trumps evidence - in which managers with no real track record are going to miraculously acquire one managing Bristol City.

Showed promise in the second half. First set of subs made an impact. So credit due. But what was that first half about? Sad thing is that we are now in a reset, this season is over, unless we get dragged into a relegation scrap. Didn't need to be this way.

As for Manning being under pressure, he's going no where, all the time in the world, he's the Lansdown's boy, he could have a record breaking losing streak like the last one and he'll be as safe as houses. Just hoping he doesn't turn out to be quite such a dud.

This is much better. Cornick and TGH have made a big difference. As unconvinced by Mehmeti as I am by Bell.

This is awful! Playing like strangers. Looking weak. If we have a tactic I don't see it.

I'm sure there'll be those to tell us later how all of this is very promising - but it looks remarkably like 'hit and hope' long balls to me - with a touch of headless chickens.

How is this an upgrade on what Pearson was building?

Looks like a shapeless mess to me...and obviously also looks that way to Naismith and Wells!

Well that had mid table mediocrity written all over it. Felt we had momentum under Pearson. It's fizzled out...the story of the Lansdown years.

Ah well. Past caring. Hoping we supporters might create a great day out in the cup...feels as though that's all this season has left to offer.

The HT talk worked!

4 minutes ago, M.D said:

Missed the first half, now listening to the second half on the radio.

Owers said were the better side but on here it seems dreadful, which is it?

It's Owers trying to be positive! We completely dominated the first 20 mins. Missed a hatful of chances. They scored on the break. We went into our shells.

3 minutes ago, Ghost Rider said:

We will win this game. How anyone can say we didn’t play some decent football there is delusional. We just can’t finish a meal. We’re playing attacking possession based football, unfortunately we haven’t got the quality and that’s NOT Mannings fault. 
 

Net one and the whole thing changes. 
 

COYRS

I take no pleasure in observing that if we don't have the players to play a system the manager is taking a big risk in playing it! If Manning wants to make an impression this HT is a good time to start. Have to say I'm unimpressed thus far. But of course early days.

This is where Manning is right up against it. We're watching from a distance. For all our early dominance City look punchless - some of the younger players we were told were the club's future look at best suddenly out of form, at worst not fit to play at this level - we look weak. All these were things Pearson looked to have sorted. If I can watch on with a degree of indifference it's because I feel I didn't vote for this - what I'm seeing is no reset but a regression to same-old, same-old.

Manning has his work cut out if this is what's going to be served up for the next few months.

Conway there! What was he thinking? Where's the coaching in that? Looking out of his depth at this level - which is incredible given how he was playing last season. Bell likewise.

Just now, Fordy62 said:

You should all try not caring. It makes losing a whole lot less stressful. 

A perfect summary of my own new approach...it's paying dividends.

I've noticed that the amount I care has no impact anyway!