Merrick's Marvels

Knight further forward? Look where he presses from - look where he robbed the mighty Barry Bannan! Play him any further forward and he'd have been in the away end! Nor me. But have we been recruiting for this? In that system, do we have "2 for every position" which isva phrase Jonboy and Tinnion have used repeatedly recently in their desperate justifications for the dismissal of Nigel Pearson?

Thanks. I guess it's only a meaningful comparison if you compare his stats when playing the same position as well but, even then, he'll have played a lot more at LCB in a 3 for Luton than here, more as a LCB in a 2 here etc which will skew the figures. All I know is we're better with him playing than without but, whichever position that is, he doesn't really fit - Atkinson must play LCB in a back 4, we don't play a back 3, I'd never pick him and James together for the reasons above (ditto with Williams) and Harry's a brave man if he wants to play 4-2-2-2 for an entire season (it worked well for LJ once (home to WBA?) for about.... 30 minutes).

One carthorse is one too many, never mind two. I like them both incidentally! But this would be the opposite of "front foot football". How about all our centre mids are mobile, capable of getting in the opposition's faces, pushing high up the pitch to win the ball? (As well as having nous and technique, obviously). Roll on the summer.

That would be my perception too, although I'm no expert on Luton's style. But if accurate, he was playing a different game to the one we attempt. I'm sure someone could produce visuals or graphs showing his passing range for Luton in season 21-22. I bet that would look nothing like the same thing for his time here. Which is why the fact he was their player of the season is a red herring, for me. In Scott's absence he's an absolute must-pick though

Yes but also, was he required to force passes out of defence into statuesque midfielders or be some kind of deep lying playmaker because no-one else in the team could make a pass that actually hurts the opposition.

Instead of who?

How was he asked to play at Luton? Bet it wasn't the way we're trying to use him.

Who'd be an U23 centre back at the moment? Vyner, Atkinson and Dickie are going nowhere, so no pathway there. Which is why I found it interesting that Araoye played at LWB - maybe seeing if he has another string to his bow? The lad has obvious potential. Midfield will be revamped in the summer - cheerio King, probably Williams and James and potentially Weimann. In will come lower league players with 100 games under their belt, room for improvement and in their early 20s (Tinnion's own description). No obvious pathway there for the U23s. Perhaps OTC will get another chance now Pearson has gone. No-one else, I'd imagine. Wells won't be getting another contract and Conway or Bell might be sold if they continue to do well. So there might be opportunities up front. If so, Palmer-Holden has something about him. Time will tell. But the rest of the young forwards are miles off yet, despite Tinnion's self-serving efforts to hype up Yeboah. You can put stuff up on social media all you like, or blather on to whoever you bump into at FGR of a night. But we've all seen with our own eyes that the lad is way off at the moment, albeit with an excellent attitude. Perhaps our teknical director should put a sock in it, cut the hype, let the young ones develop at their own pace?

Not sure many of that team have a long term future here. Tinnion's conveyor belt is self-mythologising bull. But we knew that anyway.

Through better coaching. Different style of coaching - more hands-on, detailed, tactical, "modern". And less time off for the players. That's their theory anyway. Please check the facts. The majority of his signings were failures. And I'd be interested to see evidence that Tinnion was any sort of coach. That was Millen surely?

20 years of failure!

"For us as senior lads we have a bit of a role to play because some of the younger boys haven't really experienced managerial change yet, so, it's about keeping them, y'know, kind of not sprinting around too much, trying to impress too much, just relax and basically trying to play their game". Wise words from Matty James today. So relax Tommy. For that's all it surely was - a young, determined boy desperate to impress the new manager. What a load of sh!te this thread truly is, peak OTIB sh!te. The End. But while we're here, how brilliant that Nigel Pearson brought such wise, experienced voices to our club. Voices that are absolutely essential if our club are determined to put such an emphasis on youth players - there MUST be older heads around, willing and able (not often the case) to guide the "younger boys" over the inevitable bumps in the road. "Why's Andy King playing? Why? Why? I've got a bairn centre half who's never played a league game in his life who should be playing instead of him. Howay, man" F *** off you back stabbing failure. Did you build the HPC with your own bare hands Brian? Did you pay for it? Did you coach any of the players who've made it through the academy to the first team? So what have you done Brian? You're just the face. You talk the talk, while someone else has to actually walk the walk. People like Andy King and Matty James. You're Guernsey's sock puppet. Congratulations.

It's common knowledge. Your feigned ignorance fools no-one. After we lost a Third Division play-off final to Brighton 20 years ago, he went to the owner and grassed on Danny Wilson. As a reward for being teacher's pet, he was given Wilson's job. He's continued to tell the owner what he wants to hear ever since, including that Pearson wasn't training the players properly and he wasn't fit for work. Tonight, Brighton are playing in Europe, beating Ajax in Amsterdam as we speak, while we prepare to play Queens Park Rangers for the millionth time. You are defending 20 years of failure. Do you feel prowed?

Last sentence key for me. And whether the Coach is able to say "I don't like any of 'em" when presented with a final 3 that's been chosen by someone else, a non-football person at that, just some computer nerd who's crunched the numbers. I also hope the Coach is allowed to say "Forget the bloody data, just get me Scott Twine" (or whoever, insert player's name of your choice).

"History is written by the victors". Anyway, enough of looking backwards. It's onwards and upwards.

**** me.

He said: " I note that fb over 90% of comments approve of LM. Which begs the question what the **** is wrong with this place?" You said: "Probably because it represents about 1% of the Bristol City fan base, I rarely find thoughts and feelings on here are related to fans outside this forum." Not dismissive. OK. And if 1% is generous you must have a figure in mind. 1% of what? And it'll be arbitrary because nobody knows, so you're plucking figures from thin air. Nor could I care less if you think my opinion of MOST football fans is a little offensive. Football is just another version of bread and circuses, just another version of opium for the masses. Distracting the easily distracted and the easily pleased from the things that really matter. So, yes, imo MOST football fans are thick. Win, they're happy. Lose, they're not. Which is why we gather here, no? That's rhetorical, so I'll leave you to your afternoon. Perhaps you'd like to attempt the survey I suggested - which you've conveniently ignored. Funny that.

Wow! You think most football fans are like the posters on here? Most. Concentrate on every word, especially "most". Wow! See, it's easy, isn't it? Wow!

Out of interest, what arbitrary figure do you put on "the Bristol City fan base"? And fwiw, the reason you rarely find thoughts and feelings on here are related to fans outside is because the vast majority of football fans - everywhere- are not the brightest, not the most intellectually inquisitive. They're mostly simple, easily pleased folk. Ask a good sized sample of people sat around you at the next home game about xG, FFP or whether they'd ever heard of Liam Manning. I'm willing to bet you'll be met with ignorance or apathy. Unlike here. So I know which camp I'd rather be in. Let's hear it for OTIB, I say, rather than dismissing it as irrelevant.

That's the clue, isn't it. For instance, none of these c.u.n.t.s. know who Geoff Merrick is so don't have the wherewithal to invent a suitable username. Instead they have to use Red this and Red that, Unclethis and Unclec.u.n.t.that. After the game on Saturday, leaving the Grandstand, we bumped into the man himself. Blew him a kiss. Made my day. What a man. Captain, my Captain!

Well said mate. Up the City, not that any of them are interested. C.U.N.T.S. all.

People saying they're not excited, underwhelmed etc etc are not anti Manning. They're anti the bullsh1t Lansdown Junior has come out with, they're taking the piss out of the cowardly crap our Short Trousers primary school chairman has come out with to justify the sacking of a bloke I bet he didn't dismiss face to face. (If he did, good luck Bolloms with dry cleaning his underpants)

I think this is where lots of posters on here are. Despite the efforts of some Guernsey apologists to divide and "conquer". As if.

Tell us more about Jordan. Not heard this before. Wilson is common knowledge. Pearson it's bleedin obvious.

We ALL support Manning, mate. Why wouldn't we? We want to win on Saturday, and the game after that, and the one after that. As for Tinnion, plenty of evidence he's a back stabber. And - to be clear - no-one takes pleasure in saying that. It's just that all the available evidence points that way, massively.