Numero Uno

The problem is that the people who accuse posters of being "Nige Fanboys" are "anti-Nige" themselves and so this debate will never be allowed to settle into a simple "what is Liam doing to hit target" discussion. If Liam shows the same tactical nous and ability to affect a game moving forwards that has been on display for the last two matches MANY DOUBTERS will get off his case. Some won't in the same way that some minimise the situation Nige inherited simply because they don't like/rate him or in a number of cases because he brought in Danny Simpson..........that's the crux of it with more detractors than you might realise. Anyway, moving on, let's see if Liam can replicate on Saturday against another mob who are ripe for the taking after yesterday. Small steps but ones he needs to be taking.

I'm not sure what Plymouth are thinking there. It's not the sacking of Foster so much but the totally unplanned solution they have in place which looks like something they knocked up in a ten minute Board Meeting..........almost like the Owner had another engagement he didn't want to miss so came up with something off the top of his head. If Steve came up with a cunning plan like that this place would be in the meltdown of all meltdowns......especially if it involved Tinnion in charge!!!!! They have to go to Rotherham on Friday - fail to win there and it's looking like dire straits for them. That said Rotherham are an absolutely terrible side at this level (probably won't stop them coming to us and getting something though!!) and despite winning yesterday should have been obliterated by all accounts.

The first two thirds of Pearson's time in charge was either rebuilding a bomb scare of a squad or working to a strict FFFP budget. That is fact isn't it? "Some" is certainly a significant minimisation of the situation to make a point and with a lesser manager we would almost certainly have been in League 1 and not challenging to get back out until next season imo. If you can't acknowledge that then I think you have colours nailed firmly to the mast. I do agree that the football was uninspiring but for me nothing he produced was as bad as those Cardiff and Swansea games recently, that dials straight back to "end of Dean Holden levels". However that should be behind us now (it had better be tbh). The reason some people are less patient is that Liam did not have to "fix" anything and the purse strings are being slowly relaxed for him to "add and improve". He's been dealt a decent hand coming into a new club in effect compared to most managers who are often inheriting a car crash. Ultimately Liam will get his chance next season whatever even his biggest detractor thinks and we'll all judge him on that now with many people considering that he has been brought in by the club to give us "a greater chance of success". That means "matching the last manager" and being on 18 points after 14 games next season will not cut it. He has to exceed the performance of the previous manager and show real signs of improvement next season otherwise he's not hitting target and some fans will have their own opinion on that whether you agree with it or not.

Certainly enough to be seriously concerned. Cardiff and Swansea were enough to make me wonder whether watching pro football was worth the time and cost tbh. I think one or two (well one in particular) would do well to wait and see a bit longer before proclaiming themselves right all along and everyone else wrong. It’s improved significantly “over a weekend” after two weeks on the grass but nothing has been finally cracked just yet. That 44% defeat record simply has to come down which means he has to keep picking up results - the longer that remains the less that fans who aren’t convinced yet will be prepared to back down on their view of him. 44% is 20 defeats a season for context.

He did ok up to and including Boxing Day then the wheels came off in terms of our league form which is all I care about really. It was poor bar six to seven halves of football (out of 28) for three months in the league. Even after a very impressive Easter he’s still on a 44% Defeat Ratio (you brought stats into it!!) and that is unimpressive in anyones book. If and when Liam shows this isn’t a false dawn (and we don’t go on another post Southampton run) many people will revise their views and that is fair enough imo. I can only think of one obvious poster who has not praised anything about the last two games. One.

Exactly that. People who have been critical of Manning are calling out two much improved performances. Not just improved, chalk and cheese to what preceded them. Don’t see that as a problem tbf. If that trend continues into the early part of next season then there will be full U turns. For me he needed these performances to even make it to next season and that’s a given now. Speaking for myself there is one person in a Senior position in our club I wouldn’t U turn my view on and it definitely isn’t Liam.

Very harsh albeit Saints are schooling them. Probably fan frustration.

Not been announced which tells you the crowd was shite……..

You cannot be a clown AND have his goals conceded record at the level we play at. Anyone who thinks you can knows eff all about goalkeeping.

Rotherham we’re always going to win a game. I’m glad it was today because we all know………………….

2-1 Saints.

Great weekend. Better performances. Subs that made a difference. 6 points. That’s what we’ve asked for now deliver it a bit more often. Ignore the WUM who fails to realise 21 of our points this season in 15 games was by the previous regime. Do your maths on the rest WUMMER.

Class. I haven't heard someone called a "get" for years...................

Blackburn 3-0, Stoke equaliser.

Just taking the emotion out of the game. Expect us to strike soon................

Absolutely. The first time I have looked at his substitutions and thought they all effected the game in the way you would want them to. He could have played it safer and delayed the changes but he didn't, as you say it was the timings as much as the changes.

Each game means something different to each supporter and not necessarily revolving around what you think it means. Some are looking at these next three or four matches and deciding whether they buy a season ticket or not. It's not bog standard to them and if their decision goes the wrong way because Liam is safe in his job and can't be arsed to produce then it won't be bog standard to the club. After the 90% rubbish we have sat through since the win on Boxing Day it is not unreasonable to ask Liam to give something for supporters to grasp onto.

Sometimes there isn't a particular "narrative". If Liam wants to succeed he has to produce consistency not Southampton, five defeats, Leicester City, five defeats. That's no good. Most people want to see him produce over a number of games and are far more nuanced than judging over one game. Not everyone though.

The thing I want to see over the remainder of the season is in those games where Liam's set-up DOESN'T work, how proactive will he be to change it up? Will he just stand there and let it fail for 80 minutes or do something about it a lot sooner? For me that has been a massive failing of his so far and part of the reason he has a defeat percentage that exceeds 45%.

It's a manager who has failed to beat (too) many sides at the bottom end of the table showing us that he can go to Plymouth, get a result this afternoon and not fall to a sixth defeat in eight matches. No, not earth shattering stuff but if the club want the manager to have the confidence of the fans and if they want to shift a few more season tickets it is very important that the great performance and result last Friday is followed up with results over the next seven matches however meaningless you might deem them to be.

The Manager and the Technical Director come out with conflicting statements and nearly every one of us would have been able to pick the bloke telling the truth. Amazing isn’t it?

If Liam has designs on remaining in post then putting in performances in these last seven games will not only ensure that BUT it will get a few more fans onside. These are the type of games where he needs to give us a lot more. Beating Leicester and Southampton means nothing if we end up with 21 points in total from the second half of the season. For me, 10 points minimum in these last seven is a fair target.

He’ll be looking forward to the cricket season……no chance at all of going to the Euro’s imo. Mainoo for a start has now overtaken him.

The Football Department is on the lookout for an 18-20 year old League 1 keeper with 1500 games under his belt……

…………….I bet you all soiled your pants you laughed that hard.