Dr Balls

Absolutely it’s unforgiving. Generally it’s not a place for the inexperienced. They can quickly get found out. Manning is going to have to start getting results soon or things could get ugly. There is already a definite drop off in the atmosphere at AG following Nige going, but that will get a load worse if this continues much longer. The next 2 home games against Sunderland and Hull are critical, because if we get no points from them, we will only be a few points above the bottom 3 and completely out of form at halfway through the season. That’s a real concern and all so unnecessary.

As well as losing, it’s the number of goals we are now conceding. After years of being poor defensively, Nige finally seemed to have cracked it this season. But we are going backwards at a rate of knots under Manning. And the biggest worry then is that any confidence we had built up is also lost and things just keep spiralling. Doesn’t bode well for Saturday!

Hence my comment about “rinse and repeat” in terms of bringing in more players to play his way, another season written off before it’s really got started. JL said this is a top 6 squad - then Manning should clearly know the requirement this season is a top 6 finish, not another clearing out and building again.

Thanks Rob, I have been missing these recently. Always good to have one of your reports from games away from AG - both detailed and insightful.

Been said before that right back is often the worst footballer, because if you are right footed and any good you would play in another position. Maybe a bit harsh, but Tanner does seem to struggle to see a pass or take the ball forward. The contrast with Pring on the left is marked. So if we have to have a back 3 without Atkinson or Naismith, then Vyner, Dickie and Pring seems the best option. I guess the concern then is playing Zak on the right and him getting caught out…

Here we go again. More than 50% possession but losing. Manning either changes his approach to how we set up and play or we will quickly be in trouble.

Thanks to Ashton, FFP and COVID, we have had our own “cost of living crisis”. We’ve gone from shopping at Waitrose and up market foreign delis under Johnson to Lidl and “grow your own” under Pearson!

Considering Joe sill lives near Clifton College, has anyone local ever interviewed him about his time as player/manager and whether or not that team really did have a chance of promotion? His leaving at that time was one of the biggest “Sliding Door” moments for the club, along with the Hull game in 2008.

And this goes back to another thing that Tinnion had previously said about all the various teams setting up the same way as the first team, so that all players were used to a particular style of play. That goes out the window if you bring in a new coach with a completely different approach.

I’m sure that some of the players might be feeling unsettled. New coach, new tactics, more uncertainty. Consistency can often bring its own rewards in terms of belief and confidence, which ultimately can be the margin between success and failure. Which goes back to what has also been posted in another thread about a new coach immediately imposing his style on the players rather than looking at what they do best and adapting your approach accordingly. Evolution rather than revolution if you like. And if you want the most obvious example of a team downing tools under a new manager, then it has to be 1974 Leeds under Clough. The book wasn’t called the “Damned United” for nothing!

Playing culture? Maybe. Mindset would probably a better term for a different tactical approach that Manning wants. Question is whether the players suit that way of playing (probably not) or buy into it (no idea). Still think he would be a much better fit for Swansea. Anything less than 70% possession is not what they are used to!

He must have some inside knowledge on the owners. No manager normally lasts more than 3 months at Watford with a less than 50% win record. And remember they still have parachute payments…

Not the right person for the Swansea style is the nub of it. They have been pretty inconsistent this season. As for Mowbray, I’m not sure what’s going on there. A few bad results in the last few games but still in the top half and with a good run could easily be back in the playoff positions. They have some really good young players too. Interesting to see who ends up at either club. Not sure either will go for an unproven League 1 manager though.

Culture or tactics? Change of playing style? A different emphasis? Culture is the wrong term. That’s what Nige had to sort out when he arrived. Hence the reorganisation of the playing and coaching side of things, while still having to reduce the wage bill and bring through young players from the academy. Manning has none of those things to deal with, he’s got a nest egg for transfer fees and a target of making the play offs. That’s it. The bigger question is who carries the can if it all goes tits up? Well it won’t be those who appointed Manning, that’s for darn sure!

Which goes back to do we really have a top 6 squad? No. It’s definitely fairly limited. That’s why not being in possession actually has suited us better. It also allowed us to tighten up defensively this season. Then break quickly into more space with fewer defenders, increasing the chances of scoring. The point is that if every team plays the same way it’s actually relatively easy to nullify, because the opposition know exactly what’s coming.

Well Manning hasn’t changed the formation, despite the emphasis changing from a counter-attacking team to a possession-based team. Not that I am sure it’s working!

Mowbray took over from Alex Neil, who was the manager who actually achieved promotion before jumping ship to Stoke.

Agree. We would have to go on a worse run than we ever did under LJ for the owners to give Manning the push. They have dug themselves a mighty big hole, and only if we were looking at relegation would they even consider making a move. By then it would be too late anyway.

And any combination of Dickie to Vyner or vice versa about 70 times. The point is having watched the best sides play “possession football” they don’t do multiple passes between their centre backs. They do play the ball around at the back to draw the opposition forward and then either play through, round or even over them into the gaps created. We don’t - we just tap the ball between defenders while the opposition have all 11 players behind the ball. No wonder that both achieves nothing and is not exciting anyone!

As per a post on another thread last night, to have 2 upfront we need to go to 3 at the back. My preference would be a 3-4-1-2 formation with Knight behind a combination of Conway plus one other. I would put Weimann ahead of Cornick for that role while Wells is out because at least Weimann can also score goals at this level. But even Cornick in a pair with Conway would be better than the current formation.

We don’t play with much of any attacking intent or pace. We seem to have forgotten how to break quickly, which was something we did well under Nige. Our goal was the one time we did it today which kind of proves the point. Someone (our new coaching team?) needs to tell the players to get both themselves and the ball into the penalty box. Tapping it around down either wing without actually making a cross into the box or a shot on goal is another problem. Yes many teams defend deep, but as Norwich’s first goal proved, once it’s knocked into the box, the chance of a goal, even an own goal, goes up considerably.

Weimann was very close to Nige and had played under him before. Nige also got the best out of him with WSM combination up front. He ended the season with over 20 goals and a recall to the Austrian National team after many years out. Plus he scored for them at the Stade de France about 18 months ago. If you want the best out of Andi Weimann play him centrally. Which comes back to too many players playing in less than favoured positions or formations today. If you want a really radical suggestion how about playing Weimann up front with Conway, who clearly needs to play off another striker, with Knight tucked in behind. Then go 3 at the back with Dickie in the centre, Vyner on the right and Pring on the left. Have a 4 man midfield of Williams, James, TGH and Sykes. That probably shoehorns in all our of fit/best players in a formation that probably suits them better. Plus it might give a bit more attacking intent especially as it stops that playing along the back 4 all the time.

Looks like BT won’t be going back to X any time soon then! Not until a change of owners. Which will also likely mean his job goes too…

I think it’s quite telling that our best 3 players today (Knight, Gardner-Hickman, Dickie) all joined the club in the summer. That really reflects what NP had to work with before, and also that if he had been allowed to get a striker of a similar calibre with some of the Scott money in the summer, we might be a bit further up the league table now.

Queues to get in were much shorter than usual, plus there were a lot of spaces in the South Stand. 15,000 actually in the ground probably not a bad shout.