Edgy Red

I don't think he's a bad player but when they are all fit, Dickie, Vyner and Atkinson would be ahead of him in my opinion at centre back. I worry about his recurring injuries and i would guess he's one of the higher earners in the squad.

Naismith is a bit of a strange one for me. I'm not sure he's physical enough to play as a centre back in a back 4, but i don't think he's mobile enough to play in midfield. He has had a bit of a strange career really and has played in multiple positions for a number of clubs. I think he's ok and is useful as a utility option but i wouldn't be hugely upset if he moved on. His one successful season at Luton maybe clouds peoples judgement?

Thank you Dave... a voice of reason! It will take Manning a few months to put his stamp on the team and recruit a few players of his choice to try and improve things.

I applaud your positivity, but sadly our current forwards aren't good enough. If that team tonight had Semenyo and Kodjia in it, then we would have got something. I fully appreciate that quality forwards cost a lot of money, but we are lacking at the top end of the pitch.

I completely agree, but he needs time to adjust the team to his style of play. He will need to add a few new faces to the group. Look at what Kompany did at Burnley last summer. He turned a team that had been drilled in to playing direct for 6 years, in to a passing, offensive side. Lets give Manning a chance. It may work, it may not, but lets support him

Thats fine, i completely understand that we all have different opinions. I just think Manning deserves a fair chance to prove himself and a few transfer windows to recruit some players. It may work, or it may not, but lets all support our team regardless

I think it's clear that we disagree. I have said a number of times before that i liked Nige, but i never saw a progression in the way we played over his 3 years. I fully appreciate that he worked under restrictions but the modern game is all about posession and i was never convinced that we were going to move forward under him. Time will tell if Manning will do any better, but lets all get behind him and support the team.

Our forward options aren't good enough and i really hope Manning is brutal moving forward. As good as Weimann and Wells have been, we need to move them on and try to recruit better. Sadly Sam Bell isn't the answer at the moment either. With a couple of decent forward additions in January, i really do think we could push for the top 10

How many players have we got who will ever play for the full England side. Walker-Peters is a very good player

Manning has had THREE games. Give him a chance and lets see how things pan out. If in 3 years time we are still an average Champ team then he will have done no better or worse than the previous manager

Wow, have i read that right... i think we played pretty well tonight and after just 3 games i can already see what Manning wants us to do which after nearly 3 years i couldn't see under Nige. We have just competed very well against a Prem team from last season who scored a worldie goal by an England international. Yes, we were better in the first half but i thought we looked organised throughout and tried to pass the ball as much as we could. We clearly need a couple of new attacking options but i am very optimistic with Mannings start.

TGH was very good today. Obviously the worldie goal helped, but i thought he was decent in posession and tried to be positive when he had the ball. He would be a good signing for us in my opinion

Thanks for your (blunt) response. Your reply to my view is a prime example of why i don't post very often. I have been supporting City for over 40 years and it is my opinion (shared by a number of others) that the quality of football under Pearson did not improve during his time in charge. I respect your opinion if you feel it did. I liked Nige and would have supported the team today in the same way as i will for Liam Manning. I will be at the game by the way!

I agree with this. I still don't fully get the massive Pearson love in. I understand that the wage bill has been slashed, but other than Scott (who was always going to leave), Semenyo and a fit Kalas, i don't believe he's lost that much talent. Pearson was given the best part of 7 million to spend during his tenure but i never saw any tangible improvement in the way we played. Yes, he made us fairly sound defensively but we never looked comfortable in posession. I think Manning has a tough job on his hands but i will support him tomorrow, just as i would if Nige was still in charge.

I agree with Villa Park and Griffin Park. Molineux also has a decent atmosphere tho my last memory there was a 3-0 defeat where flapper Phillips let a back pass roll over his foot!

I said in another post that we have very little quality at the top end of the pitch. Tommy is a fox in the box type player but his overall link up play isn't great and he isn't the type of striker that makes chances for himself. Weimann and Wells sadly have their best years behind them. Bell is still very raw and although he always gives 100%, he doesn't really have the ability to make things happen. Mehmeti was brought in for that reason but it just hasn't happened for him (yet). Sykes always does his best but doesn't have a level of consistency and without wishing to single out Cornick, he simply wasn't the player we needed. For a team that struggles badly in posession of the ball you have to have outlets at the top end of the pitch, whether that is simply some physicality or pace (ideally both). Manning has a tough job on his hands trying to turn this group in to a progressive passing team, but it can be done.

I liked Nige and thought he did a number of positive things during his time in charge but i have to be honest and admit that i wasn't as devastated by his departure as the majority of our fanbase were. I'm hoping Manning can get us playing a more fluid posession based game. Nige certainly made us organised but i was never convinced by us from an attacking perspective. I appreciate that its difficult to find the perfect balance between defence and attack but ultimately i'd like to be entertained when i watch us play. Manning deserves time to implement his style on the squad and i'm excited to see what he can do.

This could be a very exciting appointment. The vast majority of successful teams dominate posession and press high and that will be his remit. I think Nige did some good things during his time but i never felt that the style of football was evolving. We very rarely controlled games with the ball.

I had a season ticket in the late 90's with my Dad and we did a fair few away trips too. Maybe, its an age thing but i enjoyed it more back then. I may have got this wrong but i'm sure Benny said he would throw his cap in to the crowd after every victory... needless to say the club shop didn't run out of caps that season!

I think we are a couple of quality attacking players away from potentially being a top 6 side. If we had all of our defensive options available, we have a pretty decent base to work from. Although we have 7 or 8 forward options, unfortunately they are not good enough. Whilst Alex Scott is a sensational talent, i believe we miss Semenyo more.

Thanks for posting that list... i had a season ticket in the 90's and was gutted when John Ward left. We had some great moments under Danny Wilson and i was sad to see Cotterill leave. Weirdly, i'm not feeling the Pearson departure as badly as those i've mentioned above. I'm not sure if thats an age thing or the quality of the football but i'm looking forward to a change.

Cov are a good side. They should have been 3-0 up against us in the first 30 minutes and they have played well against West Brom tonight. They have good players and their form will turn. Mark Robins has done an outstanding job in difficult circumstances and would be a great option for us, but there is very little chance of us getting him.

Excellent post

I don't want to get in to a debate (the Rioja bottle is now empty) but cutting the wage bill isn't solely down to Pearson. I will reiterate that a managers job is to coach the players at his disposal. I didn't want to turn this in to a Pearson attack but i am just really disappointed by all the negativity aimed at SL.

I keep hearing about mitigating factors but a managers job is to coach the players he has at his disposal. This is clearly now Pearson's team and whilst i acknowledge there have been challenges along the way, and we are currently suffering from a terrible spell of injuries, i stand by my comment that the style of football has been largely uninspiring. I have read post after post destroying Steve Lansdown who has covered huge losses over the past 20 years and yet Nige seems to be the miracle man who can do no wrong. I have had a few glasses of Rioja tonight but i felt i had to respond to all the criticism that SL has been getting on this forum. I'm not anti-Pearson in any way but the debate needs some balance!