ChippenhamRed

It got us four consecutive seasons of Championship league position improvement, and even when that run ended we still finished a very respectable 12th. Three top-half finishes in a row. So he helped establish us a Championship club and gave us a firm base from which to kick on. His time here was far from disastrous, we enjoyed some great moments during his tenure (cup run in particular), and his win percentage - without the benefit of any time in the easier League One - compares favourably with any manager in our living memory. And before anyone says "but look how much money he was given" - comparing spending from different eras is entirely irrelevant, if you compare our net spending with that of our rivals, it was never more than mid-table. I think LJ left at the right time. But personally I think he is worthy of a little more respect than he often gets.

11 now. First match when he was 7, nearly 8. He wasn’t really interested until then - I had to be patient. Russia 2018 gave him the football bug. Personally I think someone people are so desperate to take their kids (understandably) that they take them too soon. Better to wait until they really want to be there, are old enough to genuinely enjoy it and last 45 minutes without needing the loo. Just my view!

I’m really pleased for my boy. Since his first game in 2018 we’ve been incredibly boring and he’d never really seen a truly exciting match. But he’s seen loads of thrilling stuff elsewhere on the telly (Euros especially). He absolutely loves football, but he hasn’t truly caught the City bug yet and I can’t say I blame him. However, he hasn’t stopped talking about the Millwall second half (our most recent match) and he’s really looking forward to going again next month! If that boring era had gone on much longer we’d have probably lost him for good. Being entertaining is as important as winning if we’re going to secure the next generation of fans. Both would be even better!

Yes, that’s fair.

Mental that he’s not an automatic starter for us, or at least hasn’t been until very recently.

I liked Pearson’s interview tonight. He’s saying the same things we are on here; the good and the bad. I like it when a manager sees it the same way as the rest of us, because it gives me confidence he will sort it out. Certainly not always been the case with previous managers.

We’re being entertained, we have some very promising young players, we’re failing to win when we should rather than scraping a point when we shouldn’t. Plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Try Facebook mate.

I’m not sure those two things are directly comparable.

Ha ha for a moment there I thought you said "easy chance"

I'm not sure the character building is worth the year it takes off your life every time you watch us. I don't want to be a strong character in a wooden box.

So frustrating. Pring could have done anything other than the one thing he did. Kick it into Row Z. Run for the corner. Give it to Semenyo. Commit GBH. Streak. Literally anything other than give the ball to them and that's the 30 seconds gone.

Has the stream gone?

Mate seriously shut up. There is so much more optimism at the moment than there's been for a long time, and with good reason.

GAME MANAGEMENT FFS. Why are we allowing it to get so stretched! Pring could run for the corner or pass it.

Sadly true. But that price will go up and up the more they achieve with us. Let's hope we can benefit from their talent first before we cash in.

I really, really hope we build a side around Massengo, Scott and Semenyo. The potential is enormous.

What I like about us now is that we’re starting to play good, entertaining football more consistently. We’re still losing some, but the defeats are either because we are simply outclassed (Fulham) or where we probably should have won (Luton). Much better than scraping by with poor, boring performances and wins owing more to luck than superiority - which has been the case with us for a long time. And all of that is with a limited squad with some very obvious areas for improvement. Every reason to be optimistic about where we’re heading.

Starting to become difficult for the Pearson naysayers. A long way to go, but it looks obvious to me that we’ve turned a corner.

Could easily surpass 20 this season. That’s a proper striker’s total.

Ah of course! Don’t mind me.

If it is I’m lost.

That’s different. But you can’t look at the table and describe the game as a “must win” when we’re 11 points clear of relegation, with 8 teams below us, with 20 games and 60 points still to play for.

Flint is both overrated and past his best. A cult hero for us, yes, but because of this his reputation was elevated beyond his ability.

Sorry but this is absolutely nowhere near a “must win”. Overused phrase.

Coldplay?! Massive Attack surely