DaveInSA

I’ve made my judgement on Manning.

Whatever I think matters not one jot. Because of the leadership (or lack thereof) at the top.

its just so predictable.

i’ll be absolutely delighted if we’re still in this division at the end of his contract. 

I don’t know what they actually do in training.

I would set up the U21s in a 6-4-0 formation. And tell the first team to play. All day or until they score 10 goals - whichever comes first. And then tell LIam what they learned.

Because right now we have no plan against a team that either sit back or is physical - and that’s about 40% of the games we will play.

On 16/02/2024 at 11:45, DaveInSA said:

Fully expecting a typical Bristol City performance tomorrow.

We’ll lose. Even though this is exactly the sort of game we should win.

@City oz, sad but true. 

Final ball is just so poor

1 minute ago, Sir Geoff said:

Local leisure centres and libraries.....Labour councils, not Tory government.

Caused by Tory policy of bankrupting local councils.

I’ve replied to numerous public transport surveys over the past 4 years since I moved back to the UK. It’s a total waste of time.

The service that is needed, is so far away from what is delivered, and that is due (mostly) to privatisation. Now, I don’t want to get political, but I am. The #Tories have privatised the life out of the UK. So much so, that almost all public services are now private (local leisure centres, buses, water, sewage, leccie, gas (not Rovers)). Except for the NHS, which is next on their list. Oh, and libraries, which they just close.

Bottom line is they’ve ripped the country to pieces and then blame the leftie green tofu eating wokerati for everything.

Fully expecting a typical Bristol City performance tomorrow.

We’ll lose. Even though this is exactly the sort of game we should win.

Bristol City fans after Leeds : worst team ever, Manning hasn’t a clue.

Bristol City fans after Southampton: absolute world beaters, Manning is god.

:laugh:.

The truth lies somewhere in between. Until we can consistently compete and beat teams then we will always be mid table.

This is the nut that needs cracking.

Kudos for tonight. But can we string an unbeaten run of 8/9 games together. That would be progress for me.

He’s been lulling everyone into a false sense of security with the slow passing posession based bollox.

Now for a play off push. Playing the way we know best. 

2 minutes ago, Ecko said:

Didn't Knight just play a brilliant through ball?

This

1 minute ago, DaveF said:

What the HELL is going on?

It’s either the start of our play-off push.

or it will be 3-2 Boro by 5pm.

According to the radio we look most dangerous when we’re hitting forest on the break.

Well who’d have thought that?

Hopes - that Lansdown sells the majority share and we get proper people who understand football in to run the club. I don’t want us to really be in the Prem as I have no interest in that at all. Must be competitive in Championship though - and if we go up so be it. 

Expectations - mid-table mediocrity.

AND it would be typical City to get knocked out in the FA cup 1/4 finals this year and be relegated next year.

7 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

A lot of people try to turn it into a Pearson Vs Manning debate. But the reality for me is that I always look at the bigger picture. There are some people that are/were so anti Nige for whatever reason and they just can't let it go. However for me, whilst I was a big Nige fan, ultimately I'm a fan of Bristol City. 

My over arching concern has always been that Liam Manning does not fit the criteria which was set and what most of us expected. He's a guy that likes to play 3 at the back and he likes to control games through possesion "if the opposition haven't got the ball they can't score" is what he once said. It's the complete polar opposite to everything we've been building towards and it doesn't suit the players we've got. 

Had we of brought someone in that was a continuation of Pearson then I don't think there would be so many pissed off right now and many would have got behind it because at least you can then see the logic in the decision. There would have then been some integrity in this decision. 

But the reason people are pissed off is not mainly because Pearson was sacked but because the plan was ripped up before it came to fruition. I think that's left a very sour taste in lots of people's mouths especially when the club said the change was made to make us compete this season. The timing of it was all wrong.

Their new plan had no chance of being successful this season. The club lied to us at a time that they said they wanted to improve communications. Even Tinnion on RB lied the other day when he tried saying the football is now much better to watch and people are now enjoying it. We can't score and we can't win. What is Tins seeing that we're not? 

This is your best post for a while - way more considered

1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

It's almost an act of self-sabotage.

I know it isn't but it feels like such a foolish decision, maybe Manning will suddenly change and go back to something more transitional as we go but I dunno...Jon Lansdown and Tinnion, these 2 especially have a lot to answer for.

‘Tis the Lansdown way and will always be thus.

Someone, normally not qualified gets their ear (Ashton, Tinnion), then somehow (by stroking their egos) becomes their “trusted” advisor, part of the inner circle. And then…we get this nonsense. - every time a flip flop of direction.

I’ve been back in the UK for 6 years. My Brother keeps saying, c’mon Dave, get a season ticket. But why would I. It’s completely average. I go to 4-5 games a season. I’ve said this before on this forum I want it to be a little bit better than a little bit worse. And TBF when we had WSM up front then it WAS like that - at least we always looked like scoring a couple (the downside was that our defence was conceding a couple too), but at least I left with a smile on my face  

We need to find combinations of players that work at this level, and have all of them operating at 100% all of the time to stand a chance against the parachute payment clubs. It’s a massive ask.

Maybe Manning can do it. But can we afford to wait for 1,2,3 windows for him to do it?

It’s all so needless and daft. 

13 minutes ago, Sheltons Army said:

If you lived far away and looked only at results and league tables , you could probably have a good argument for that claim and I accept , it  wasn’t written as a criticism

And yes at times the Football wasn’t particularly entertaining and there were performances and hiccups along his time ......

I always said he wasn’t a Messiah or a coaching genius but he had a lot of top qualities that saved our bacon and set us up) and I think many fans either understood this all along the journey or hopped onboard as it went on.

We won’t ever find out how far he could have taken us

And now, we are about to rip up the fact that our bacon was saved along with a clear view of what we were as a football club and replace it with something else. It makes my blood boil.

Mediocre Bristol city with their mediocre head coach, mediocre players, mediocre top management and mediocre front foot high intensity football…

…deliver mediocrity season in season out.

I have a big concern that we will go backward next year. Possibly even relegation. 

9 hours ago, petehinton said:

One rhat doesnt “block the pathway” for those involved in the periphery of the first team, potentially ready for first team exposure, for want of a non wanky phrase. Becoming overloaded in positions where we have good enough talent in the 21s to blood through. 
 

If he does have an option as the parent club suggests, that changes things a bit vs just having someone else’s player take Nelson/Yeboahs wide player ‘spot’ for example.  However not exactly sure how he’d fit with how we’ve played here the last month or so, unless they see him becoming a central striker. 

I think they know that Tommy is out the door in the summer and want to have a closer look at this lad, possibly as a striker.

we’ll see…

my brother's post match review : boring as ****

Job for @Jerseybean and @BigTone, looks like it was written by AI…

this is the match preview from sports 10:

Match preview!

As part of the 1/16 finals of the FA Cup on January 26, Bristol City and Nottingham Forest will fight for victory.

Bristol City knocked out the representative of the Premier League West Ham in the 1/32 finals of the FA Cup. The teams failed to identify the strongest in the first meeting 1:1, and in the replay on their own field, the “citizens” won with a minimum score of 1:0. In the Championship, Br istol City

4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Well you learn something new everyday, just assumed he was James from Elmore.

I know I’ve asked this before (and forgotten) but @DaveInSA, is that St.Annes or South Africa…or somewhere else?

South Africal Dave.

I lived there for 15 years! 

11 hours ago, SydneyCity said:

I have three concerns.

1. I can't be bothered any more. The games are on at 2am to 4am over here and I have to be up at 7am to take my kid to swimming. I find the games extremely boring to watch under Manning, so I now choose bed instead. I don't bother with Manning's pre/post match either. Again I find them boring.

2. I think the pathway will fall apart. Manning will get to bring his own players in - to prove that he was the right choice - and there'll be less chance for Academy players. I also fear that if it's taking seasoned professionals (and I do think they are good enough / talented professionals) time to adapt, then it will take the Academy longer. When Manning inevitably leaves, we'll lose a generation / class of young talent who aren't suited to the needs of the new manager / coach. I didn't have this concern with Nige as I felt he had a personality that was shifting the whole club on and off grass, so to speak (and I think Tinnion has the personality to do as he's told).

3. The club now seem to be pushing Manning more than the team. A lot of the official comms are now predominately talking and asking about Manning and his principles and philosophies. We're being smothered in soundbites. I was concerned by the Behind the Scenes Scott Twine video too. It literally was just him. Nothing personal against Scott Twine but we are shifting away from an emphasis on team / squad to look at our new head coach and his new players. Regardless of what we individually thought about the overall ability of Nige's squad, I think we pretty much all felt a togetherness and connection and they were working hard for us and the badge.

Other than the first concern, I don't blame Manning. He's been given a very specific role and he's doing it.

The first concern is the big one though. To perform in our current style, in a way that excites, you need elite players playing against elite players. You can get away with it below the Championship as there are a lot of really good players who have, for whatever reason, found themselves at a level lower than their ability. Their ability shines and they look like Barcelona by comparison. The Championship is a brutally contested league where everyone is very good and relatively evenly matched, including the managers. You're not going to break many teams down playing slow, passing football.

Something needs to change if we're going to improve on last year, but Manning seems to have one coaching manual, and he doesn't have the experience yet to know when you've got to do something different.

Thanks for writing this - saved me a huge amount of bother. And makes a large amount of sense at the same time.

It goes all the way back to Steve Lansdown and his total lack of any ****** idea what the strategy is for this club. Cyclical Steve. We'll never get promoted with him owning the club.

I may live to regret writing that , but I just don't see the plan. If Manning gets us promoted it will be through a massive slice of luck (IMHO) rather than a calculated piece of strategic development and growth of this football club.

We should celebrate things worth celebrating.

A defeat of the mighty Liverpool - why not.

its a damning indictment of our relative failure over the past 40 years as a club if that’s our “best moment”.

21 hours ago, ExiledAjax said:

This is why I carefully used the word "opportunity".

I think we will have a good opportunity. A balanced squad of a good age, many of whom have played together for a while. Good financial situation with zero FFP concerns. Possibly beneficial rotation of teams being promoted and relegated from/to the division. Hopefully a settled backroom. 

That opportunity still needs to be grasped of course. That requires good decision making, good preparation, good execution, plus a dose of good luck.

I can understand your reticence to get excited, but I think the opportunity will be there where it hasn't really been for a few seasons now.

Ps. I'll be amazed if we're in relegation danger. We've not been anywhere near that since Holden left and we're just not that kind of team.

Thanks for the clarification. In my judgement you’re one of the more sensible posters on here.

We do have the opportunity and maybe Manning is the man. Hence my “time will tell” point.

I’ve just been here before I guess. Multiple times in my 40 years of following this underperforming and inconsistent club.

My relegation comment stems from the concern I have that Manning is hardly pulling up trees. And, if we don’t recruit well in summer, a bad start could snowball into a crisis. 

1 hour ago, ExiledAjax said:

We're about to start talking about double pivots aren't we!

But yeh that's part of the system isn't it. How does a back 3 in possession become a back 4 out of possession? Which wing back comes back and which stays up, which direction do the CBs shift (if they do at all), and who decides that. 

How Scott Twine slots into all of this, and how that improves us is the thing.

Ps. Twine aside, I am excited by next season. I feel like a lot of things are potentially aligning and we may have the best opportunity for some while to push for that top 6 finish.

Unfortunately, I'm seeing something else play out - a relegation dog-fight. I hope I am wrong. I will, of course change my opinion if results improve between now and the end of the season. But I've been here multiple times with BCFC and just when we're on the cusp of something quite good (or maybe even excellent) we nosedive due to those muppets running the club.

Time will tell.