Kibs

I don’t like the system (3 or 5 at the back) but I think for Mannning, it was about getting the right players on the pitch. Boro were always going to come out flying second half and they had to improve. Obviously we were always going to tire too, but we earned the right to defend the lead and ultimately, it worked. Nothing short of a sensational effort IMO. Back home early hours Thursday, travelling up north again Friday so barely no recovery or preparation. I’ve got zero complaints!!! COYRs!

I agree to a point, and I accepted the situation a while ago (NP out, LM in). I have tried to be balanced on LM but if we aren’t going to pick up wins against the teams around us (Millwall, Blackburn etc) then we HAVE to pick up points in home games against better teams like Leeds don’t we? One thing that we were excellent at previously was never going more that a few games without a win. How many is that now in the league?

Hardly gone to town have we? 2 loans and 1 brought forward from the summer where I assume Derby will continue to pay wages. We’ve taken the option on TGH which would also have happened in the summer anyway. Weimann has gone out on loan to offset some of the wages. I am actually pleasantly surprised by our recruitment this January. Given that we are lower in the league than when Manning arrived, I half expected JL/BT to do anything and everything to give LM the best chance of finishing as high as possible, just to save face!!! But we appear to have remained sensible and stuck to a plan - e.g, Bird coming in due to so many CMs being out of contract next season.

Does this mean we may not be sticking with a back 3/5 after all? Anyway, young with point to prove and sounds like we have an option to buy, so got to be pleased haven’t we?

I can actually understand it from our perspective (a number of key potentially high earning midfielders OOC in the summer), and from Derbys perspective too. What’s in it for the player though? Some advantages I suppose (security) but you’d imagine he would have plenty of choice in the summer.

And there was me thinking we just get worse after Christmas every season!!! That’s what it feels like anyway

I honestly don’t think a new striker makes much difference. Goals and creativity needs to come from everywhere. How many of our players have actually got a history of chipping in with goals? Not many.

Would just about sum up our luck with injuries wouldn’t it!!!

Love the first touch and ability to play on the turn, something much of our midfield do miss when we get in those pockets!!

Yep, both good players, but defenders by their very nature. We’ve struggled to score and create all season, and relying on Pring and McCrorie to solve that won’t see any improvement IMO.

I agree it’s not an about formations, but those 5 “attackers” included Williams and James. I like them both as players but how many real goal contributions are they and the “defenders” likely to provide? If you listed the players from our starting XI yesterday, and looked at the goals/assist across their careers, how many are going to contribute and pop up with a goal/assist. I bet it doesn’t make pretty reading. I was really hoping to see some attacking intent at home with Mehmeti and Twine in the same team.

But it’s now inevitable isn’t it. The players which have been previously recruited have been recruited to play out of possession, on the break etc…. We could not have picked a manager with a more different approach. It’s absolute insanity and goes against everything we have been told previously about head coaches being able to come in and not needing to rip it all up. This isn’t a dig at LM btw, I actually quite like him (as do the players I believe) but like it or not, we’re now going to have to go through another period of transition.

I didn’t like the set up today (not talking about the formation), but a home league game and we’re essentially starting with 5 defenders and 2 holding midfielders so not surprising to me that we struggle to create from open play. We’ve struggled for goals all season but for me, Manning has to get more players on the pitch who are comfortable getting ahead of the ball and being an option - especially if he wants to get the best out of Twine.

Still don’t see where the goals and creativity come from, and I don’t think taking out Mehmeti and TGH at home really help with that.

It is disappointing isn’t it. Im sure it’s been mentioned earlier but can someone explain the benefit to Burnley and the player in this? If he performs well for a few months, very unlikely remains with us IMO.

Only Bristol City could work so hard to patiently manage their way out of a pretty dire situation, avoiding any real threat of relegation in the process, and then completely rip it all up just when things are starting to look up. It’s unbelievable. I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon and rip Manning apart - thought I’d hate his interviews but I don’t actually mind them. The performance second half yesterday was dreadful, and he should have reacted but it was a howler from two fairly reliable players that put us behind. Also easy to forget how we performed against Preston earlier this season at home. That was just as bad (IMO) and the comments on here are a stark contrast from last weekends. The week to week over reaction (on both sides) is tiresome. He’s going nowhere though, the players seem to like him, the club have their “yes man” and he’s now going to get the budget that should have been given to his predecessor. I only hope he uses it well because it’s going to get very messy if things don’t pick up once he has some of his own players in place.

This is true to an extent, and I was going to say exactly the same, but he also has to support this from the sidelines. As a player, your first focus is on your individual performance/battle. Manning can see the bigger picture.

It feels like we’re reaching new season lows in recent weeks, despite players coming back from injury, which is worrying. Really disappointing. If they want this front foot/controlling football, they had better spend some money because this lot are simply not capable of it - which is probably why NP was happy for us not to have the ball!!!!

Goals and creativity been a problem all season. Not enough throughout this squad. Feel Manning has to be braver and more positive with his changes too.

Agree with this. I also think that LM has more players coming back from injury too, so there is less necessity to chuck them in quite so early. There were times when NP literally had no alternative!!! Definitely his best press conference so far too. I quite like how open and honest he is about injuries (when asked).

Really like Joe Williams, like most players, he really benefits from a run of games but I think with all his injury issues, it’s even more important for him. If we do sign an Attacking Midfielder this month, who drops out? I assume Knight will play deeper so potentially leaves one place between Joe Williams, Matty James and TGH!!

Unless you are playing for a Top 3 club, not that many players actually score 20+ league goals a season in the Championship. If he was playing up front for Leicester, he’d score a bucket load. Let’s not forget he’s suffered a couple bad injuries which has hindered his progress a little bit too.

He’s just trying to hook the ball, eyes only on the ball. It’s madness. If you slowed down and reviewed every single challenge during a game, there would be several instances where it suddenly “appears” dangerous in super slow mo and “endangers” the player. We’d end up with 7-aside!!

Could have been a lot worse, sounds like he’ll only miss 2 league games assuming no set backs.

Great first interview. Confident, well spoken, thought about his responses and came across really well. Seems to have a good head on his shoulders to go with his obvious talent. Good luck to him