Fuber

If we're being serious about players who, in our personal opinion, may be let go - I'd probably go: King, James, Williams, Weimann, Cornick. Wouldn't shock me if we get interest in one of Vyner or Dickie either which we need to be ready for. The first four are out of contract with all the latter four (of the expiring) are on decent wages. Added to which I think we need a mobile pivot to suit Mannings system. I'd loan in a midfielder to compete with TGH, Williams, Knight in Jan short term, offset with the Scott funds. Iroegbunam (short term, not getting in at Villa) would be the dream but very unlikely. If we can shift Cornick in January, wouldn't mind us going for someone like Poku or Mason-Clark at P'boro. Both of these are very optimistic, but would be good if we could build some momentum, or the (sketchy) Twine rumour.

He's being hampered by the fact he's stood almost man to man, Tanner needs to overlap more. The threat of it would force a cover and eliminate the 1v2 doubling up. Meanwhile TGH needs to get closer to Anis when latter cuts in. No option when he cut inside to another 2v1 towards the latter end of that half. Small issues are accumulating to a very mediocre performance. Sloppy passes, too casual.

Disagree with that. Has made about 4 of 10 attempted passes.

That's the biggest issue for me - and not one of the smaller earners either. Between his general lack of availability I'd delay a new deals until bearer end of season. If he gets offered more, so be it, we can recruit another midfielder.

Hey Alexa - set a reminder to give BCFC31 pelters on OTIB if we lose because he tempted fate. On a serious note - under Eustace they looked one of the best coached teams I've seen at AG this season while being defensively solid. Amazing what can happen with one braindead decision.

Depends how you judge it. If you base it off risk - it remains a very questionable decision by any metric. Fair play if it works, but it very well may not have as is the nature of the business if they get it right or wrong. As others have said - it's hard to outright say X, Y, or Z until we're further into the season. Sunderland we clung on for large periods - was essentially a repeat to the performance under NP vs Coventry. I'd also make the point that our football last season after WBA was also as enjoyable as what we've seen the last 3-4 games. Our issue has always been longer term consistency. This is still, essentially, a 'new manager bounce/honeymoon' period - let's see what happens in Jan and what recruitment we carry out (if any) and see where we are once Mannings had 10-15 matches under his belt. Spot on.

And Appointing Millen. And Tinnion. And Holden. And Alexander (just railroad him within 5 months). And Pilling. And LJ. And not backing Pearson. And the Hummel Debacle. And the O'Neills situation (late kit launch). And the poor continuous communication across the last 12 years - the last two months not withstanding nor making up for it in the slightest. Why is Ashton the only egregious mistake? They're all egregious as they keep being made.

Would rather they split the Atyeo and made the home end safe standing. Or make E34/33 safe standing and move S82 over to create more of an atmosphere.

Find me a Championship keeper without limitations. They get patched pretty quickly (see Kaminski at Blackburn). Shocked nobody has gone in for the Rotherham keeper Johansson yet.

Is it an agenda? Or just a way to vent frustration? As you say - it's the majority view. So do you look at every posters previous posts? Just odd picking out Jim and making out he has an 'Agenda' as if he's hes just some sort of troll in some sort of an attempt to degrade his opinion. Otherwise why bother?

Harsh. He was very isolated today as we sat back and compact so much. Thought he did well considering.

That basically aligns with my thinking to be honest - in a a much more blunt manner granted. But it gets the jist of it. Not sure what the point of snooping his account is, like the above. You can support a club, but be critical of the ownership and management. Sorry if it's not all daisies and rainbows.

Pring, yes. Multiple times. Can't recall Tanner getting beat. Mostly James being skipped on handover, yes, but not 1v1.

Would rather we didn't bother to be honest. I like Andi and he's been a great servant. But squad balance shows we need less runners and more players with greater technical ability for Manning's system to work.

Not to speak for Seagull. But for me? - Eustace. On the assumption we're most definately not able to get Nige back. And kick out Tinns while we're add it if he was in fact an advocate of getting NP sacked, same for Jon. Did well at Brum under strict financial conditions until the Bellingham windfall and Brady takeover and were the best coached team Ive seen at AG this season, and played a (more similar to NP) structured counter system that was not possession based. Actually has Experience playing and managing at this level. Manning was a boneheaded appointment with regards to playstyle and timing. Do I want him sacked? - No. But in my view it'd be better for the club at this stage, as he doesnt seem to be at all flexible to the needs of the squad, who struggle in possession and technically.

Add in LJs Tombola. I hated Ashton's mannerisms, but with him poaching Probert he evidently actually had an eye for staff. The more time that passes and the better Ipswich do, the more I consider in contect that the buck starts to stop more with the ownership and LJ. Still an ego-centric tit mind.

I ****ing hope not.

What do you mean our academy progression was only due to an appointment not by Lansdown(s)? Say it aint so! (Appointed under Keith Dawe to Development Phase Coach, and promoted to Academy manager in 2016). Thats surely an exception and all of SLs appointments have been stunning successes in his own periods of holding chairmanship(s) of the club. (Silence) .... ...Right? ... Right?... Guys?

Disagree. Some of the analysts are the same, sure, as they were employed by us directly. But MA had his own network via which most of his transfers were made, using consultant and scouts to filter options that were then liaised to MA and LJ. Gillespie was nowhere near qualified to head up recruitment like he did when NP first came in, but he was tasked with it under Gould to help keep costs down. MA had his own network of both scouts, consultant, and agents. That stopped when he was out on gardening leave his final season. It's also how he was able to immediately get signings on board when he got through the door at Ipswich.

What this misses also is the impact of Gould. The feedback and intervening between NP and the board, after the removal of action, highlights the stark difference to this summer and role he played. It seems Alexander was backing NP and was sacked for his troubles. I'd arguably disagree with the bold section, but this is a forum and I understand your view and respect it. It's the off the pitch element is what game myself and others theoretically keep NP in plenty of credit. Our culture when he first arrived was the worst I've near seen at any club or ourselves previously. Similar for recruitment - as when MA, the latter took the entire recruitment team with him, which meant no scouting network at the time. It was the reason why on paper signing such as King, James, and Simpson made more sense in that context. Also, I could be wrong here, but which 6 home games did we only score 4 goals? - unless we're picking the worst results for us scoring across the this season. But Coventry and Ipswich we were very light on the ground at that stage with King, Pring, and Dickie as back three. With Robert subbed off first half. It's a results business, three points across those two was expected with the latters form. Stoke agreed was poor. As for Preston, we were the only people they battered physically, they got off to a flying start. The key thing that had fans on Nige side, for me, is he made us very very difficult to beat, even with a massively depleted squad and no depth.

No CEO means buck stops with the owner. When the Chairman, which in this case is family and therefore a nepotistic appointment, even more so.

Part of me wonders if Conway was rushed back too soon with Wells injured.

You mean aside from the fact that the whole reason we played counter attacking football under NP is because he knew we didn't have players who could play the full 90 with the ball at their feet without concentration problems. We had the second best defence in the league on a conceded per 90 basis before Manning. Nothing 'Good' about the games. Just tippy happy across the back, too slow and too ponderous. We get pressed, panic, and concede. Parallels to SO'D.

He's not helping himself by forcing the transition now - that's squarely on Manning. The big risk for him is if he loses confidence of the players. He should have stuck with the old system for the time being until he got players in January and made small adjustments. It's just basic poor management. Either way, I don't think the majority of fans will blame Manning directly, vitriol will be saved for the board. As without them this whole mess doesn't happen.