Kibs

Who cares. Do you really think we should be “controlling the first half” against one of the best teams in the league anyway?

Yes and rightly so if it happens. We should absolutely expect to see progress. But what the fans say or do (especially on here) won’t make any difference. Barring an absolute catastrophe, which I don’t think this group of players would allow anyway, Manning will be given every opportunity to succeed because BT and JL will not want to be seen as being wrong.

I don’t see it, not after Boro and Southampton. Yeah the vocal minority will be on here kicking off for sure but I think the majority of fans are both sensible and intelligent enough to realise that: 1. They are very difficult games. 2. We don’t actually have a squad or team that should be challenging for promotion. 3. JL and BT are full of shit.

Pressure from who? Certainly not the people that employed him and gave him a 3.5 year deal. I’m pretty sure that unless we get relegated, he’ll be given every possible chance to prove them right. We know just how stubborn the Lansdowns are.

Good. He looked a terrific signing when he arrived. Hopefully Manning can turn him a round and ensure it’s not a load of money wasted.

I won’t criticise the interviewer, because I’ve never interviewed anyone in my life in this context, but I find it a hard listen when they continually ask leading questions - much like the in house City stuff.

Naismith has played centre midfield , I remember him playing there, very successfully so too. Played CM alongside James in a run of games last season. We beat Birmingham 4-2, drew 1-1 against Blackburn, then beat WBA in the cup, won 3-0, he was outstanding. Also played the following game at Preston where we won 2-1 but he went off injured.

How do you intend to do that, out of interest?

Agree - would be one of the first names on the team sheet for me

It would be great if it were that simple. We’re averaging a goal a game now, and we aren’t consistently winning 1-0. Chances are that we’re going to need to take more risks on the ball in order to score more goals. Whether that is being braver on the ball, getting more bodies forward, asking the defenders to step out etc, but however we achieve it, we are likely to give away more chances too. Certainly going to be interesting to see how he tries to add goals to this team with the players at his disposal. Personally, as with NP, I’ll be content with a top half finish, happy with top 10, both of which would represent gradual progress.

Fantastic to see Rob Atkinson back out there. Really rate him, both defensively and his bravery carrying the ball forward.

Well, I don’t agree with much you say, but I can see why you view it as a gamble WSM I do agree here, it is a big gamble, and not one that I would have taken, or felt was needed. Unfortunately, we can’t change that now, it’s done, he’s gone, so I might as well support the new man

I seem to recall Tinnion talking about philosophy, not systems - basically being front footed, playing forward and attacking…..which is what every wants isn’t it?

Someone mentioned this on an another thread so credit to them - can’t remember who, sorry! I thought I’d post it here to provide some balance and food for thought. Very interesting body language from Ange Postecoglu, who is one of the most highly regarded coaches/managers around at the moment. Love the honesty in his interviews btw. As I did with NP.

Agree with every single word here, but the bit in bold sums it up brilliantly. What Pearson achieved with his limited resources had him up there as one of my favourite City managers. And you’re right, if people aren’t prepared to get behind and support Manning and the team, the alternative is a return to the merry go round - and who knows what master stroke they would come up with next!!!

I totally get why people are so pissed off, I am too!!! I was pissed off at the start of the season when Nigel Pearson wasn’t given the funds to bring a couple in after the sale of Scott. This league is so tight that I genuinely believed we were only 2 or 3 signings away from being able to really have a go at the top 6, and that Pearson had earned that opportunity. But he didn’t get those players, we had a horrendous run of injuries and he’s now gone…..but none of that is Liam Mannings fault and it just irks me that people want to lay the blame at his door already. I feel for him, he’s in for a rough ride. I hope he has thick skin!!!!

Let’s remember who we are playing??? You talk as if we are prime Man City!! Saturday was crap. No doubt. Don’t disagree but that’s football. QPR are sooooo bad that they nearly took points off Leicester in their last home game. Despite playing the last 35 minutes with 10 men, losing 1-2 to a late goal. I fully expect QPR looked at it and thought, bang average Bristol City next, what a great chance to get a win under the new manager. Sorry to disappoint you but we are an average championship side, with players injured, players coming back to fitness, players out of form, a team out of form, not full of confidence and we’ve struggled to score goals all season……so how can you be so sure we win that with NP in charge? You can’t. Absolute nonsense. We have no divine right to beat anybody. There is so much more to it which you refuse to acknowledge because it doesn’t suit your agenda and your view of football is so simplistic.

Of course we can, and that’s exactly what many are doing. Football fans are so fickle. Do you really think that if we won our next 6 (we won’t have course, because we can’t score goals) that people would still be complaining about how Pearson was treated on here? This place, and AG would be buzzing, and everyone would be loving Liam Manning. And knowing the type of person Nigel Pearson is, I suspect he’d be delighted to see all his hard work and progress continue.

The irony of course being, that this is in fact, a Nigel Pearson team. And given we know that there was no lack of effort, mainly because all these players were NP signings, and are therefore good characters who wouldn’t just down tools, and that we know Liam Manning didn’t try to change much at all, choosing to work on the out if possession stuff due to lack of time, is it not reasonable to think that even with NP in charge, we may have seen the same outcome?

Injured I believe. I hope he stays on as a coach mind. Think he has a lot to offer

I don’t think you’ll find anyone who disagrees. It’s something that Manning and Pearson are both clearly aligned on. Getting the culture right first and foremost. That’s why I’m not concerned about the players downing tools for Manning, or “not playing for him”. They seem one of the most likeable, genuine and hard working group of players I’ve seen in my time watching City and the senior pros (King, James, Wells, Vyner, Weimann, Dickie) simply won’t allow standards to drop just because the manager has gone.

It’s an interesting point. I suppose all managers/head coaches have their strengths and weaknesses. I think this squad will always give their best, because that’s they type of personality that NP has brought in. Even if they weren’t playing for the manager, I think they’d play for eachother. My biggest concern about losing Pearson (and yes, despite quite a few posts defending Manning tonight, I’m gutted he was sacked), is that Pearson never allowed a couple of defeats to turn into a long winless run. He always turned it around quickly. You always knew a win wasn’t far away. That’s massive in terms of preserving confidence, and arguably, it’s more vital in the Championship than any other league, because there is always so little in it.

Just to confirm, you want HIM to change, because YOU (and a few others) don’t like how he acts on camera? Yep…..that sounds about right!! What do you think Nigel Pearsons response would have been if somebody had a word with him, and asked him to speed up in interviews because it irritated a few of the fans?

Oh I don’t disagree we’re poor in possession, but that is how Pearson wanted us set up wasn’t it? We didn’t really want the ball. We wanted to hit teams on the break, at pace. It’s going to take a significant amount of coaching (and probably a few new players) to turn us into a possession based team, which is apparently what we now want to be. Like I said, I think Manning likely felt he couldn’t get enough of that across in the very limited time he had, and it may in fact detract from what we’re currently good at.