Ivorguy

Oh, you are all so young.  MikeThresher was one of our best LBs.

I feel they have backed themselves into a cul de sac with Bristol Sport 

Many thanks to all who post on Otib that keeps people like me, living a long way off, in touch with all the news and gossip from Ashton Gate.

i wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a great New Year for all of us and for City

3 minutes ago, Kibs said:

Rumour has it that Nige rang around a few players early Friday and told them to ignore everything that LM says!! 

Well done NP, we’ll chalk that one off as another win for him!!! COYRs!!

Nonsense.  No ex manager, let alone one of integrity, would do that

I was and remain a huge Nige fan, but I see the positive changes wrought by LM.

The phrase that comes to mind is standing on the shoulders of giants.  So good for LM that he appears to be doing just that and, fingers crossed, we will see major improvements next season

Only flies in the ointment remain the Lansdowns , if they fail to provide funds or bring in directors with cash, and, of course, BT.

Good battling second half where we managed to overcome the weaknesses evident in first half, and which we are all too familiar with, some of which at least will be addressed in coming window..

A real pleasure to see a battling City side - not our usual style.

I think the word that, imo, sums us up in that half is lacklustre

The Lansdowns, father and son, are like a throwback to 19th century management styles.

Nothing about City’ management looks either modern or professional.  Gould and NP were clearly the real deal - how either were appointed remains a mystery.  Yet I suppose by the law of averages over a period of decades even the Lansdowns can stumble on the right answer by sheer accident. But with BT now being Mr Bristol City they have certainly made up for that.

38 minutes ago, Ghost Rider said:

Of course, let's celebrate our successes; after all, that's the essence of the club's history. However, I mean promotions and actual silverware and significant times like the Ashton Gate 8. Would you truly consider a victory over Manchester United as something to be lorded over for years and years? I'm not saying it wasn't a good night, but it's just one win over Manchester United. Do you see what I'm saying?

"Now, we shouldn’t hold in high esteem the most qualified manager we’ve had in decades. He managed to help turn this mess of a club around with virtually no support or appreciation from above, all while maintaining our Championship status against the odds?" This is where our views differ, and people may throw the "anti-Pearson" label at me as some strange insult, as if it's wrong to question the second coming of Christ himself.

Nigel was a good manager who did the job of keeping the club going, but saying he had virtually no support is inaccurate. Firstly, who employed the guy in the first place? Secondly, what do you mean by no support? He had Richard Gould, etc., sorting out transfers and managing FFP, that wasn't NP. He even mentioned he wasn't involved in anything related to outgoing transfers or contracts. So, he literally had nothing to do with getting us out of FFP. In the 2021/22 season, we finished 17th with a team that had Alex Scott, Antoine Semenyo, Weimann, Matty James, Pring, Vyner, Kalas, Bentley, Wells. It's hardly a rags-to-riches tale. SEVENTEENTH. Don't forget; everyone was calling for his head last Christmas!! So, forgive me if I'm not crying about him day and night, but he simply was an average manager. The only thing everyone seems to grab onto is that he was 2 points from the playoffs at one point. The fact that he was nearing the end of his contract, was about to have major surgery, and wasn't ripping up trees, and seemed to be a bit of an arse at times seems to have been ignored. I liked the guy as a person, but as a results-driven business, he was bang average. I'm sorry if that makes me "anti-Pearson," whatever the hell that actually means. In terms of appreciation, I'm pretty sure the millions in his bank account should count as significant appreciation for literally doing his job. I wish my boss would come over and tickle my belly every day for doing what I'm paid to do.

"I can see sod all to look forward to with this club under this regime" - And there we have it, it's the "anti-Lansdown" agenda. We have a lot to look forward to, and we've benefited greatly from the current owners, or do we just forget the years bumbling about in League One? The stadium and training ground don't count, apparently.

 

You conveniently miss out the giant albatross placed around City’s neck by the Lansdowns, namely Bristol Sport.

i have said over years this could/will prove disastrous for City at some future point

10 hours ago, fisherrich said:

Went to the works Xmas party last week in County Durham. All they ever talked about was football (and that was the women). Bristol and surrounding area is unfortunately a footballing backwater, simple fact. Guy I was chatting to, said to me how proud he was of the fact that three generations of his family have all been buried in the Sunderland home kit! 
The North East is a hotbed of football.
They demand success, whereas down here it’s “Snooze” ….. most home games.

 

We are Bristolians; we don’t do passion. 

For me our glorious past was glorious if you think of Wedlock, whom my grandfather’s generation lauded as the best of the best, and my hero Atyeo, whose like we are unlikely to see again - a one club footballing genius and truly great bloke.

That is some history to e proud of.  I am 

24 minutes ago, Never to the dark side said:

What a horrible nasty thread. Shames us real football fans.

Give the bloke credit for getting back into the game

Don't shoot the messenger,I presume you will be at Watford on Boxing day?

Sadly not.  
Living on South Coast I am one of many elderly city fans who has been priced out of attending football unless the matches are local to us.

What a horrible nasty thread. Shames us real football fans.

Give the bloke credit for getting back into the game

I think in simple terms Manning is a poor man manager, and yet with Nige we had got used to having someone who was a great man manager.

Whether or not SL is looking to sell he simply can’t.  The Barca Sports model has failed because after two decades of SL City are so far behind Barca in the football pyramid that no seller is likely to buy the whole caboodle and SL has so muddied the corporate waters that he can’t disentangle City from this Gordian Knot of his own making.

I really struggle to see how all this will end

In 15th slot after tonight’s games.

Going to be a long long second half to the season 

1 minute ago, Street red said:

Glad I'm not the only one honestly the difference to how I felt at the start of the season and now is a massive shift feel like going around Nige's to have a beer or 2 ( Father figure). This club has totally cocked up.(Again)

It isn’t the club that has messed up again but the Lansdowns, serial failures the both of them

Just now, KingHillRed said:

It didn't sound that way to me 

I thought the way Nakhi put his point across was more along the lines of - I know the gaffer wouldn't have asked Max to hump it long so why are we

More along players not being brave enough to take responsibility

We will see what we see, but the blue touch paper is alight, imo.

5 hours ago, Monkeh said:

The openly critical comment on commentary from 2 senior players tells us the dressing room aren't backing him 

Precisely.  If two senior players are so open then the rest will follow.  It seems to me that Naismith is a leader among men

Expect fireworks soon 

Seems to me saying it is early days is similar to comments made at Pompeii when Vesuvius first began to throw ash down on the city.

We don’t need months to come to judgement.  Sadly LM is self evidently out of his depth in this league

Personally I think this will go the way of GJ’s leaving, ie he will lose the dressing room - modern day footballers are not like those of the Fifties and Sixties.  Most, if not all,  of them are professionals in every way, and will not expect one man to ruin their own personal goals for their career.

Belt up for a rough ride

He just has to win next two home matches.  Anything else leads to only one conclusion.

If he does lose these two games then I really wouldn’t want him and Tinnion to spend money in January which potentially will leave our next manager/coach with a problem of a disjointed and low morale squad

I don’t believe Manning can last unless the Lansdowns are happy to be back where they started in Division 1.  But what worries me is that if results do not improve and Manning does go who the hell wants the Lansdowns to be in charge of appointing his successor.  I have been a critic of them on Otib for years and years and have zero confidence in them.  The sooner they find a buyer the sooner we can hopefully get back onto the right path.

Just now, BCFCGav said:

For sure, but imagine refusing to spend the Scott money on new players (nest egg etc.) then having to piss a portion of it on sacking a manager. Makes my stomach turn!

I agree but necessity may demand that they have to do precisely that

Just now, BCFCGav said:

3.5 year contract. Paying him out would be very very pricey, and a catastrophic waste of money. Not an option for me.

Well sometimes good management acknowledges a poor decision and seeks to rectify it.

2 minutes ago, Dolman Block B said:

Got a real bad feeling about all this 

 

Defo relegation battle unless the owners spunk some decent funds in 

Not at all sure even that would work.

They may need in February to think carefully whether to retain Manning if results don’t dramatically improve 

Perhaps owners don’t like the expense of The Championship and would feel happier in division 1

Who knows, because the owners treat the fans so poorly