The Journalist

I’ve gone for Manning - but only on the assumption having to sack the manager will lead to Steve Lansdown reigning Tinnion in a bit.

Tinnion is part of the problem, but the overall problem still remains the overall structure.

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

Totally agree. Whatever people on here say about the club not admitting mistakes Stevie Boy will KNOW that he has stepped back and a bomb has gone off. He snipped the wrong ******* wire this time.

The worse this **** up gets the more it hits HIM in the sky rocket. He will be very close to the point where he realises doing nothing isn’t an option for him. Tinnion will be his biggest headache, someone he clearly likes but also someone totally lacking the qualifications and ability to successfully undertake his role.

I also agree - and given Steve will know this wasn't seen as his appointment it won’t bother him in the slightest if he has to pull the trigger.

It’s only his own ego he worries about protecting, not other people’s. The only reason he kept Lee Johnson so long was because he knew that one was on him!

I know it’s already been said, but it really does show what a pickle we’ve put ourselves in when Andy King taking charge seems a relatively exciting option.

My only concern would be that he’d get a bit of a bounce and then be given the job permanently despite not being ready for it. He may absolutely be ready for it, of course, but you wouldn’t want a few decent results to create a false impression.

We all know we’ve been there more than once and you couldn’t trust the board to not make the same mistake a third time.

This might be an unpopular opinion but I’d much rather listen to Lee Johnson than Liam Manning.

He came out with some absolutely mental stuff and became almost a parody of himself by the end, but I never felt he wasn’t honest.

Liam Manning has been here months and I’ve still absolutely no idea what he really thinks about basically anything. It’s just a series of sterile, meaningless stock phrases and media-trained nonsense.

Even Keith Millen and Dean Holden were preferable.

That said, I do think it’s made worse/harder for Liam that he’s followed Nigel Pearson, who really is the polar opposite and not your typical football manager.

36 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

As I say, I’m guessing to a degree but for me it’s either that or something like the lad has major homesickness issues that are preventing him from settling (yes Irelands not far but that’s not unprecedented).

On the assumption it is medical then I can see a very good reason why they wouldn’t tell fans. Bear in mind who the medical team were in the summer and how things were framed in October…

It is bizarre, when you think about it, how the previous management team are spoken of/thought of.

The us/them feeling they’ve created around Pearson/Manning, and almost the way they’ve distanced themselves from what went on previously (or at least the way they want it to be perceived), is reminiscent of a new party coming into power after a general election.

Only it isn’t Labour slagging off the way the Tories have been running the country, it’s literally the last people THEY employed to do the job!

On 10/03/2024 at 09:01, Silvio Dante said:

Acknowledged. Probably the wrong word - broader point is I don’t really consider him a legend - he was a decent enough league one player who stayed either because that was his level or because he was comfortable. I don’t think he gets elevated to “legend” status without that goal which I think is the point I was slightly clumsily trying to make.

(There is a broader conversation of what constitutes a club “legend” which this probably isn’t the place for!)

For what it’s worth, and last night’s PR disaster has just reminded me of this, I did initially write that your comment was disrespectful… but I think he’s gradually eroding any remnants of respect every time he opens his mouth 

Just as an aside, reflecting on last night, I wonder how Manning felt listening to it and what their relationship is like.

Publicly, at least, they could barely be more different. Manning is as guarded and straight-batted (a polite way of saying robotic) as they come, whereas Tinnion was absolutely bursting throughout that. It didn’t take that much prodding for him to combust live on air and start spilling stuff he would never have intended to (as @Davefevs pointed out - the fees, bonkers!).

It’s wild to think he’s the technical director at a Championship club. 

Tinnion has sounded increasingly, and slightly unnecessarily, rattled. His tone is so defensive and bordering on out of control - he sounds completely exasperated.

And I don't think Richard Hoskin has been as half as forceful as he could've been.

11 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

Thanks. I will. He manoeuvred his way into a managerial job he was totally out of his depth in and took a side who were in the playoffs to a desperate state within 15 months. That record should have ruled him out of any job in football at a senior level, let alone a higher ranked job at a higher level where he showed no aptitude to deserve it and only got it once more due to politicking as opposed to anything else.

The man’s not just incompetent. Hes delusional. And rampantly egotistical.

I could say more, but again, thanks for the invite

I watched all of Tinnions time at the club. He wouldn’t touch my best ever side. A large number of appearances for a club does not make a club “legend” - it makes, when that player is spending the majority of that time at league one, them an average or below average footballer. He may not have wanted to move for “personal” reasons but the fact remains he was a limited player. Great left foot, very one paced. Poor in the tackle. Dont confuse time served and time well paid for with being a great player.

Like it or not, without that one goal he’s a footnote. And without it, he in no way weasels his way back into a job he can’t do.

I say this as someone who’s spent the past few months nodding along in agreement to pretty much everything you’ve posted - to describe a player with more than 500 appearances for our club and a genuine trier as a “footnote” is slightly pathetic.

Like you, I think the current position he holds is a joke. After a truly disastrous spell as manager why we thought promoting him to the level above that was a good idea heaven knows. It’s very “us”.

Incompetent, delusional and rampantly egotistical? By all means. We’ll be better off when he’s no longer in his current post.

But let’s not discredit that argument by pretending his playing career was a “footnote”.

“If you’re talking about injuries, in the last seven or eight weeks we’ve probably not been giving the players the best platform, training-wise, to achieve what they want to and of course that goes into your thinking.

“There are multiple reasons, international breaks - we took nine days off in the first one and 10 days off in the second one, which is pretty much unheard of at this level.

“We came into the season really well-conditioned, really good physically and you could see it when we were playing, I believe we’ve been at real risk of deconditioning ourselves during the international breaks."

Just now, luke_bristol said:

The lowest I ever felt was the Holden appointment, but this isn’t far off. I think how unnecessary this all is makes it particularly frustrating. 

I liked Holden, though. He was clearly out of his depth and the wrong appointment but I liked his intent, how he wanted to go about it, his personality.

Manning - and everything about us currently - feels so sterile and meh. I’ve no real affection for him, no attachment, no real feeling of wanting him to do well.

Maybe that’s just me - or on me - but it is what it is.

23 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

This is rubbish, isn’t it?

The past three-six months have been complete self sabotage. I’ve never felt more disconnected from the whole thing.

13 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Announced by John O'Shea as Ireland's new goalkeeping coach. Which gives me a chance to re-share my Rene Gilmartin story.

IT WAS FUNNY AT THE TIME OK

 

The big takeaway here is that Will C on Twitter is YOU?!

You once called me a “tetchy ******”. Not that I’ve held onto that or anything.

19 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

 

Dreadful news. I was hoping I wouldn’t be able to watch it.

Undoubtedly stepped off it in his final few months with us - and he wasn’t a good enough player to get away with that.

He was alright, but also our best spell as a team throughout his time with us was when he was injured…

Matt Smith at Gillingham in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy!

It's quite a good topic, that. I can't ever remember seeing a player score four in a game in the 25 years I've been following... anyone else?!

Tony Thorpe scoring a 28-minute hat-trick on the opening day at Northampton in 2001 is about the most notable I can think of.

5 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

The behaviour of the Lansdowns and their historical appointments suggest you might not be wrong.

I also get the sense they really, really want to ‘prove people wrong’ who have criticised them. “See you in the premier league” Tinnion is an extremely telling quote.

100% this. The two January loan signings - certainly Twine - had that written all over them. No real future value/long-term view, let’s just make sure we finish higher than Pearson. I said that at the time and stick by it.

It’s the same reason I don’t see Manning going anywhere quickly. I’ll be amazed if they don’t double down on it.

I’m slowly falling out of love with us. That’s a horrible feeling.

1 hour ago, IAmNick said:

I agree with your entire post for the record, but just playing devil's advocate - why? I think we could perhaps get better at spotting when a manager isn't doing the job and ditch them sooner. I'd use Lee as an example, Gary before him, and many would also point to Pearson (I wouldn't but many would!)

It’s a fair question… I guess because I like to think of us as a pretty reasonable, patient fanbase and I’d always prefer to go a game too many than a game too few.

Is that ruthless enough? Admittedly, arguably not!

The major problem with this that immediately sticks out is post-match the commentator is immediately scampering downstairs for interviews and isn’t returning to his desk until 1745-1800 (on a Saturday, for example).

And then, either way, getting a co-commentator to do it is still going to involve additional production in the studio fielding phone calls/comnecting/cutting off etc.

Basically, it’s a really good idea in theory but won’t work practically - at least not without spending money that could be better used elsewhere.

Personally, I would actually just make it a Bristol football only phone-in though and cut out the non-league football and rugby union (you could still make those interviews available online and broadcast them if something exceptional was said).

The station wouldn’t have the bottle to do that - you’re in “we’ll always do it that way because we’ve always done it that way” territory.

Our fifth different crest in five years… for a club that talks a lot about identity it feels like we’re going through an almighty identity crisis?!