Harvey86

Weird he couldn’t make it, seeing as he works there

We’re definitely mixing it up a lot more- I saw a few times Sykes and Conway showing some frustration (in a good way) that their runs weren’t picked out with a quick ball over the top. Light years better than the turgid football of not too many games ago. Not fully a Manning convert, yet, but one of my biggest concerns was how rigidly we stuck to a single style of football. If he’s worked out that the current side can thrive with a bit of direct play thrown in too, then fair play.

Late winners (hopefully?) for Leicester and Huddersfield have cheered me right up after watching that. Brum teetering now

My in laws are brum fans so naturally I’d love them to go down. I can’t believe they’re in the equation based off how good they looked at AG earlier in the season- bet they’re not chanting ‘USA’ now!

Not recently

Anyone fancy pming me the name of their IPTV provider? I’ve already got a fire stick, but whenever I’ve looked for a provider, they all look so so dodgy. I suppose maybe that’s to be expected though

Not much urgency since going behind. I know it’s only a friendly, but still

Can’t see why he hasn’t given Toney a few mins instead of Watkins

DM’d you matey

Afraid it’s a 2014 Mini, but I take your point about getting someone experienced and knowledgable in to fix it

We’ve recently lost to Sheff weds and QPR, so I really don’t think there’s any team in this division that you can hand on heart say we’d beat with confidence. Rotherham as close as a sure bet I guess, but I 100% wouldn’t bet on it

100%. Manning has had more than enough time ‘on the grass’ to seemingly coach out any attacking threat we used to possess- surely a better coach would introduce his methods in a way that doesn’t immediately start serving up the dross we’ve been seeing? I would love nothing more than City to win every game from now til the end of the season under Manning, but it won’t happen. If I took my Mini (64 plate) to a mechanic who said ‘you should be getting much better performance out of this’, then when I came back to pick it up, noticed that he’d removed a wheel, and put the indicators on backwards, then when I complained that it was worse than before, said it was my fault because it didn’t have the engine of a Ferrari, I probably would get a new mechanic. That’s what I think of Manning. I think. If anyone actually HAS got a recommended mechanic in BS3, let me know. That story was only partly a metaphor.

I don't think I'd pick either to be honest! Don't think Henderson is really pulling up any more trees at Ajax than he was in Saudi Arabia, though appreciate Gareth does like a holding midfielder so he has to take someone. Be great if we had another solid option at CB so Stones could play DM regularly/ when injury permits.

Phillips moves on loan to another Premier League team where he's starting semi regularly (more so than at Man City anyways!) and he's instantly dropped. Don't think we need him particularly, but I'd rather him than Henderson either way

If we can’t even beat the teams in the automatic promotion places any more, we’re in real trouble! Seriously though, that’s a sickener. Sadly, the nature of losing a game in that fashion really erases the good points for me. Assume there might be fitness issues at play, but Burns made Pring look absolutely pedestrian.

Does anyone think we're maybe missing a 'blood and thunder' captain/ senior player in the dressing room to compensate for the lack of passion from LM? I don't question the commitment or passion from the squad, just not sure that anyone in the dressing room has the sort of personality that would drive them on (since Nige left of course). Maybe Naismith when he's back? I remember him shouting at everyone when he was on the pitch all that time ago. I'm not an LM apologist mind! I'd much rather see passion come from the manager, or at the very least some semblance of tactical nous.

I keep seeing us have some sort of hybrid press/ block in place where one single player will press their central defender when they get about halfway up their own half. I don’t know if that’s intended to funnel the opposition out wide or something, as I’ve never seen them do anything other than pass it around that player and carry on. I don’t really see the value of pressing if it’s not being done by the team as a whole.

Stoke are two up though

You’ll struggle to find them after that performance.

God, this a thousand times. Why is he playing (at least) two players out of their preferred positions? It’s not big and it’s not clever. I assumed it was because he wants our wingers to cut inside for the shot/ pass, but after the match he said in the interview he wants to see players getting on the end of crosses into the box, which we seem to shy away from doing. Either he’s clueless or I am.

Oh hey neighbour, how you finding the street?

I KNEW this would be a wind up after todays game, very well played (unlike the team)

Agreed. Couldn’t decide whether we just didn’t have the quality of player to play his system, or his system was the problem to start with, but I’ve made up my mind after that. I didn’t think any of the players were coasting or not trying today, but the second we get to the halfway line, we’ve got no options other than backwards. Felt sorry for the players today

Don’t get tetchy about it mate

I think I get the idea here- we seem good at winning games we really shouldn’t have a realistic chance in- Southampton/ Watford/ Boro etc. Manning is making us play SO badly that we don’t actually have a realistic chance in any of them. He’s a clever dick him