Supersonic Robin

That is a fair point - the need for a manager who plays "front foot football" (or a phrase similar to this) was quoted as part of the reason why the club chose to replace Pearson. Not only is it a rather silly reason for a club in our position to change manager, it's something which the new manager is rather ironically failing to implement.

Not picking on you in particular, N.U, but I really don't understand this obsession with "positive front-foot football". We are a club stuck midtable in the Championship, who haven't come close to promotion to the Premier League in well over a decade. The idea that we (and 99.9% of other clubs) can be picky about the style in which we try to win games is ridiculous to me. Perhaps once we've won our 3rd Champions League in a row, then we'll start worrying about the style in which we're winning. For now, let's simply worry about playing winning football.

Well said. Historically, we've massively underachieved, and some fans seem to think that we should therefore be happy with what we're doing at the moment. We are the biggest club in approx the 6th biggest city in England. We can comfortably average 20k+ attendances even when finishing midtable year after year. We generate good revenues compared to many other clubs who regularly play at this level. We are not a club who should see avoiding relegation from the Championship as anything more than an absolute minimum expectation. It amazes me that some of our fans think otherwise. I don't think there's another club in England who have such a large chunk of the fanbase readily talking down the potential of the club.

I agree that parachute payments are "broken". They were (supposedly) intended to aid clubs in adjusting for Championship finances. Ironically, they do the exact opposite - they allow clubs to continue to spend at an above-Championship level for a couple of years. However, in fairness, there are clubs that manage to find a way to be promoted without them. No doubt that in a few seasons we'll be saying "How can we expect to compete with teams like Luton and Brentford with the parachute payments they receive?", when perhaps we should be asking "How did Luton and Brentford manage to be promoted without parachute payments, despite being financial minnows compared to us?".

I understand the frustrations with Mehmeti, but at least there is clear talent there. Mehmeti has the raw technical ability, but as you say, lacks positional and tactical understanding etc. However, the elements Mehmeti lacks are elements that can be coached. For that reason, I'd be inclined to stick with Mehmeti and try to unlock the potential. Bell, conversely, doesn't appear to have that same raw ability that Mehmeti does. My view is the same as yours, he will likely regress to a lower level. For me, the distinction between the two is that Mehmeti has the potential to become a very dangerous player with the right coaching, whereas Bell doesn't. Mehmeti is "frustrating". Bell is just....."not very good". FWIW, I absolutely don't think Bell is a better option than Mehmeti currently. Quite the opposite in fact.

Bit of a harsh post, OP, but I understand your frustrations. Bell - I have to reluctantly agree. He seems to offer so little at this level, and has always looked a bit like a kid playing mens football. There are a few very specific situations where he appears useful, but for the most part, he doesn't look up to Championship standard. It does have to be said that he's probably had a bit of an easy time from our fans due to be "one of our own" and because of who his Dad is. I wouldn't be at all disappointed if we moved him on in Summer. Mehmeti - Mehmeti is a bit different. He's clearly a better option than Bell, and he clearly has an X-factor about him. Recall that he's in the NTT20 21 under 21. Also recall that there were many teams at our level (and even above) interested in him around the time we signed him. There's a player in there, and at times he looks on the brink of becoming a dangerous player at this level. Frustratingly, there are also times where he doesn't! I'd be inclined to persist with Mehmeti, in the hope that a good coach can convert his clear footballing ability into an ability to function well within a Championship team.

So you agree that Manning hasn't improved what Pearson was doing, despite having far more first team players available? Weimann and James have been excellent contributors in recent years, and though they're approaching a time where they may need to be replaced, they are both clear successes from Pearson's time as manager.

Agree. I think fans assume that the Lansdowns' aims for the atmosphere are the same as ours. I don't think that's the case. I think the Landowns dream of a fun, jolly, family friendly atmosphere, with no hostility or intimidation. Almost closer to a rugby game or an NFL game in nature. Exactly this. West Ham moaned about the difficulty of creating an atmosphere in their stadium, and then conceded that we showed them how it's done. There's 20k home fans in AG. If you want an atmosphere, then sing. That's all it takes. In fairness, I completely get why fans don't feel especially enthusiastic about home games. We've been an incredibly midtable side with dodgy home form for years - a perfect recipe for a stale home crowd.

Yeah! Boo! Old dinosaur manager who helps the clubs to make sustainable progress - boring! Boo! Boring old players who are experienced and reliable at this level! Yawn! Let's get a nice shiny young manager from League 1 because that's fashionable! Let's assume the teenagers we've signed from Ireland and Non-League are an immediate upgrade on ex Premier League players Weimann and James! Wait.....What's that? We're not collecting more points or looking any better at football? Ah well, at least we don't have a boring old dinosaur manager anymore!

What?! I don't recall us being a team who regularly conceded at least 7 or 8

Errr, what?

Completely agree - I've been banging this drum for a while. It's great getting good results against Middlesbrough, Watford, etc. But it's wasted when you drop so many points against QPR, Birmingham, Huddersfield, etc. Last time I checked, our record against bottom half sides under Manning was - P7 W0 D3 L4

Disappointed tonight. Didn't expect a win. Didn't even really expect a draw. What I do is expect is to look competitive and respectable against any side in the same division as us. We didn't tonight. Leeds very good in fairness, but we should have offered more.

Valid point. I think our "Best XI" is actually pretty good, but the quality in the squad tails off very quickly.

In fairness to Manning, it's against the top sides that we've performed better under him. It's our record against bottom half sides which been the big concern

True, but equally, when everyone is that poor it's rarely just down to invididual performances

Decent bit of play by Mehmeti to create something there

Got to respect Sky trying to persist with the narrative that we're a side competing for the play-offs

For balance, as cr*p as we've been, it's worth remembering Leeds are a very good side

FWIW there's probably an argument that he'd have hoped to do better for the goal. Very much in credit so far tonight though

Don't mean to be harsh on Manning, but comementary teams seem so generous in their praise of some managers almost soley on the basis that they're reasonably young.

In fairness, I think it's because we're the most midtable team in the history of football. Every season we couldn't be further from promotion/relegation drama.

I've always wondered about this. Almost every week it's "sold out" online, and half empty come 3pm on Saturday

And not beaten a single bottom half* side in that time *at the time we played them

Vegan Pasties FC it seems