Merrick's Marvels

4 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

What does Matt Withers see I don’t?

The inside of Lansdown's ass.

31 minutes ago, phantom said:

I wonder how many threads about Liam Manning will be created tomorrow evening if we lose to WBA

The same number there would have been if the Internet was a thing when Pulis was manager. Or Ward. Or Osman. Or any other manager who was dull or useless.

36 minutes ago, mozo said:

I think that's the biggest bit, right...?

Yeah, no, to be fair it is.

19 minutes ago, mozo said:

Just to clarify, it was only a hypothetical and what actually happens could be very different 

 Ain't that the truth!

17 minutes ago, mozo said:

Here's a hypothetical for you Silvio, and indeed anyone else, given these two options, which would you choose...?

1. We beat WBA and Leicester 1-0 in the same unconvincing manner as Swansea, or...

2. We lose to both WBA and Leicester despite a gallant effort, playing attractive front-foot football?

So I'm offering you three wins in a row, or six defeats from 7 games, you choose...

IF we can play attractive front foot football against WBA and Leicester - and IF we can be consistent and replicate that in the remaining 7 games after that - the results against WBA and Leicester won't matter - because that sort of form would be good enough to see us win most, if not all, of those final 7 games - and finish the season on a high.

Here's hoping!

Anyone thinking we're already safe must be crackers.

22 hours ago, Gillies Downs Leeds said:

Good day for the footy managers. Sir Alex had shares in 2 of the winners and Harry Redknapp owned another. 

Better day for the English trained horses.

Big Sam there celebrating too. Pints of wine and brown envelopes all round!

Normal service resumes today with another Mullins yawnfest. 

35 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

Works about same hours Nige was putting in, come the end ....

If only Tinnion and the owners found his mere presence as threatening as they found Pearson's. 

A Coach who doesn't engage with what makes a club tick and what makes its fans tick, will get the same in return.    

27 minutes ago, pongo88 said:

The logic of this is lost on me. If his contract is paid up it will cost the City the same amount of money that it would if he stayed. It would also involve an upfront cost which compared to phased payments is bad for cash flow (though in the overall scheme of things it’s a small percentage of the total costs). If he stays at least there is a possibility that he might get on the pitch before the end of the season 

Agreed, there would be extra cost in paying him up and finding a replacement.

Personally, I think the extra cost is worth it!

Option 1 - Keep him at a cost of X and in return get 10 games of him, probably involving a couple of calamitous cock ups, some eye-catching passes and not much else. Wow.

Option 2 - Get rid and find a replacement at a cost of X + Y but in return get (god willing) 30+ appearances and no calamitous cock ups. Yes please. 

Whatever X + Y  would equate to has to be financially sensible, of course. But we are in a decent place regarding FFP right now.

And as we're running a squad low on numbers, carrying passengers who are always injured is a real problem.

So it's Option 2 for me, all day long.     

Of course, we'd have to find a buyer. And he'd have to agree to move. Both of which are unlikely.

So we're stuck with him for one more year, earning money for nothing. I imagine he's "good in the dressing room" though and, as a vast amount of experience is likely to leave in the summer, perhaps that will count for something. Not much but something.  And, as I say, I'd personally much rather have someone who's actually available to play and contribute on the pitch, not commentating on "Pravda" TV. 

Timon of Athens!

8 minutes ago, redsquirrel said:

on condition we get them all for less than what we get for TC

Yep. My fear is the taps have been turned off, we'll see no more of the 30M from last year and this summer we'll only spend what we get from sales.

Incomers will be unproven young players who are strangers to the Championship - at the same time as a ton of experience is allowed to leave.

30 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

Then in simple terms, he isn’t learning!

I've come to the conclusion they think it's the players that need changing, not the Coach.

So their theory is - buy some new players in the summer and everything will be alright.

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

As ever, the most interesting section was Piercy. I think JP was trying to “lead” Liam a bit into opening out that he wasn’t necessarily the textbook must have possession coach he seems to be but Liams answer only reaffirmed that he is. He did kind of not really answer a question about fan unrest a bit and said again that the four losses were fine margins. JP did try and get him to open out on prior poor runs but he kind of didn’t answer that.

Before the Swansea game, Piercy gave Manning the opportunity (in not so many words but it was obvious what he was angling towards) to expand on his "1 bad performance in 20" comment and explain what "good looks like" to him in terms of a performance, because to Manning its obviously not just the result.

Answer came there none.

Just waffle, buzzwords, pre-programmed phrases, the usual "yeah, no, to be fair" cliches, all delivered in a robotic, personality free manner.

9 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

Spot on, but unlike with Swansea, they need to be convincing wins. Scrapping to an undeserved 1-0 will not be good enough against these teams.

Unless Twine is the second coming of Lionel Messi, I think we all know what sort of performance to expect against teams who will set up to keep it tight and nick a Cardiff style win.

We are boring as sh1te, with a boring as sh1te coach, led by incompetent dunces and a disinterested owner.

What could possibly go wrong.

1 minute ago, Galley is our king said:

It must be even more annoying when you work your hardest for a club and..... GET THE SACK!!!!

Well said.

13 minutes ago, Crimson Crayola said:

You realise that the HPC employs more that just Tinnion right? If JL or SL wanted to keep tabs on Pearson not everything has to go through him.

But this is the point. He wasn't sacked for not turning up. (Or any of the bullshit cooked up by JL) He was sacked because he didnt toe the landsdown line and pretty much critisised them in public. I'm not saying tinnion is blameless but anyone that thinks he is anywhere as near a culpable as JL or SL (or even Pearson himself to that matter) needs to wake up.

 

So it was the tea lady at the HPC?

Who would Lansdown a) listen to, and b) believe?

Not the tea lady.

It doesn't matter that the reasons were bullsh1t - they were the reasons given and who had the opportunity, the motive and the form to concoct those reasons?

Tinnion.

Tinnion is Iago, pouring poison in Lansdown's ear.

Jon Lansdown doesn't know what day of the week it is, never mind have the wherewithal to orchestrate such a thing.

So you're the one who needs to wake up methinks.

19 minutes ago, milo1111 said:

Bravo. Absolutely brilliant post. Don’t know whether to laugh or cry after reading it though!!!

Ta. Not that it gives anyone any pleasure to spell it out. Top player for us, very flawed behaviour ever since and a prime example of why we're such woeful under achievers - off the pitch, we simply never get it right for long enough.

Anyway, I hear Nige is back in town soon - just in time for karaoke night down the Blue Flame. I believe he'll be belting out a version of this after a couple of pints of Cheddar Valley:

6 hours ago, Crimson Crayola said:

Critiquing him on his role is fair. But the majority of the flack that comes his way isn't based on his performance as technical director but the assumed role (on no evidence) he played in the dismissal of Pearson.

"Assumed". "No evidence".

Amongst the reasons we were given for sacking Pearson were:

The manager is never here these days - The players are being given too much time off - We want more on the grass coaching of front foot progressive football.

And there's only one way you can come to those conclusions - you'd have to spend a lot of your time at the HPC.

SL, JL, GM, BT are the people responsible for Pearson's sacking.

So unless SL can see from Guernsey what goes on at the HPC every day, unless JL can do so from Bermuda or Feverpitch HQ, who the hell do you think came up with the bullsh1t about Pearson not turning up enough, the players having too much time away from the HPC, not enough "progressive" coaching going on out on the grass? GM being irrelevant.

Who?

Even Inspector Clouseau could identify the culprit in that line up.

What's more, only one of those 4 had motive and opportunity.

Not only that but form for it too - Danny Wilson told us so.

So you'd have to be a one-eyed dunce not to know who was responsible for pouring poison in Lansdown's ear. Again.

It was Tinnion. In the HPC. With a knife.

Is Murphy the new McCrorie?

8 hours ago, pillred said:

 we are playing at WBA on Saturday, and Birmingham are at home to Watford.

He's a Watford fan. 

2 minutes ago, Superjack said:

I think he phoned Lansdown for the job.

 

He may regret that, but I doubt it as he has fallen in love with North Somerset.

Yes he did but he didn't have to accept once the T&Cs were explained to him!

I'm glad he did mind.

40 minutes ago, Kodjias Wrist said:

Why are Bradford still down there ? I know they have cheap tickets etc or at least they did 10/15 years ago but still get huge crowds in that league. Surely they should be up there more? When’s the last time they were in league one 5 season ago? 

We aren't the only club that's badly run!

35 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

I think there was more to it than that!

Well that's how I remember the radio interview! Can still hear it now, like it was yesterday.

He was cryptic in the extreme and, when pushed, merely said "it's a big city" - leaving the interviewer and listeners none the wiser. Which I found quite funny at the time.

I liked him then and I still like him now but, while there may have been interest from our side back then, I think it's true he had bigger and better options than basketcase Bristol City.

He was wise to be wary of Lansdown back then and, in hindsight, may regret having said yes to him all these years later.