Harvey86

He was a ‘number 2’ here wasn’t he? Aside from the cup run and first half of ‘that’ season. I do think he has something- we played well at times under him, just think he’s just not as clever as he thinks he is and maybe doesn’t have the personality to inspire players when in a slump. I reckon the love child of LJ and NP would be interesting though!

Let the working class in to University to clean and cook, but 50 lashes if they’re caught reading a textbook. Can’t get ideas above their station. (working class and went to uni!)

Yeah, I can’t disagree, but if I was offered on a plate the chance of a better job on better money (with a ‘top 6’ squad), I’d take it in a heartbeat too. Maybe LM could’ve done a bit more of the due diligence though!

I actually hope he stays and (gets the team winning OR) gets the payout he’s due. This one is all on the board

I just don’t think he’s the right man for this squad, and that’s not all on him- think a lot of people can see what he’s trying to implement- controlled possession and intricate passing, but I don’t think the squad is capable of delivering that. I don’t think NP necessarily wanted to play the more direct game that we saw, but I think he realised that with Scott gone we didn’t have the requisite ball players in the team so try and hit channels quickly, possibly ala Leicester with Vardy. Big NP fan, but have nothing but sympathy for LM at this point

I also noticed that multiple times, not only in this game but against Norwich too, he lines up to pass into the middle and the player to receive the pass (assume it would be James or Williams/TGH point back, telling him to pass it back to Vyner/ Dickie. I don’t know if that’s because they don’t trust his passing or they don’t want to be played into trouble, but I don’t always think he plays backwards of his own volition

I had to double check that! Makes losing to Norwich and not getting the 3 today feel worse though tbf

I’m more worried that we’ve struggled in the main against Rotherham(under Pearson), Sheff Wed, QPR and now Hudds. In fact I’d say only against Plymouth did we look particularly convincing. Wouldn’t consider us definitely safe

Boooooooooo

We can use the existing rugby markings for that! 22 meter line? Pass it back to Max. Big divot where a scrum took place? Play it inside, then back, then back to Max. By god I think it's working.

This is my concern- whatever your thoughts on Mannings football vs Pearson (and I think there are the occasional good bits), if it doesn’t pick up results and the crowd start getting nasty, I don’t think the players will look to Manning as an inspiration. With Pearson we had a manager who’d played at the top level, and managed there too. It’s a lot easier to buy into/ believe in a process when the person telling you has experience of it. 4 games in is WAY too early to write off Manning, but he won’t do himself any favours throwing the culture/ dressing room under the bus, as I imagine those players could turn against him a lot quicker than they would against Pearson

I don’t know why we don’t try Andi up top on his own sometimes- he’s somewhere between the movement/pacey style of Conway and the work rate/pressing of Cornick. Neither of those two on their own really work, so surely a mix of the two would be a winner. OR it wouldn’t work(more likely). I wouldn’t even say no to seeing Bell through the middle and trying to hit balls long for him to run on to- Norwich seemed to have a pretty high line at times, and he has got pace

Yeah, agreed. Think Manning is trying a bit too hard to be clever, hoping that Sykes cutting inside onto his favoured foot from the wings would be like Robben/ Ribery at Bayern years back. I think Sykes has been a stand out this season, but peak Robben he is not. Really missed his direct running down the wings (except for the ten minutes where we had it, and we scored from it)

100%. I couldn’t work out his position- he wasn’t supporting Conway, and he definitely wasn’t adding any width/ giving Tanner an option down the wing. We all know Tanner isn’t a rampaging wing back- he’s a defensive minded right back. If Manning is expecting Tanner to run that whole right flank on his own, then he’s clearly seeing something in training that has never manifested itself on the pitch. I 100% would have hooked Weimann for Mehmeti and played them both on their preferred side. Or taken Conway off and played Andi up top instead- he would’ve had about the same amount of chances to be effective (I.e. not many). I would be prepared to give the team a lot more leeway if the team had given up playing for Pearson, but right now we look, at BEST, no better than before

I don’t get what Sykes adds on the left- he moved to the right for about 5 mins, we got the goal, then he moved back on the left and was pretty anonymous again. Not sure why we wouldn’t play him in front of tanner the whole match, who looked isolated

After watching the extended highlights, I though Tanner was a bit unlucky to not get a free kick for their second goal- looked to me like their player took his leg rather than the ball, but didn't matter in the end. Was even more impressed by the TGH strike than I was in person, and his free kick and corners looked decent too. Was nice to be able to weather a shift in momentum like the first 10 of the second half and still come out with a win.

I remember how much hype Rooney's overhead kick got against Man City a couple (more than a couple!) of years ago, and that essentially just pinged in off his shin. This was exquisite. Do hate Man United though, was still hoping they'd go on to lose.

I think you could’ve said the same about Knight (more so in the first half anyways). If only one player is pressing, it’s pretty easy to knock it around them. I thought we’d actually been tasked NOT to get drawn into a press, which is why there was so many stand-offs where their keeper had the ball and we all just stood there. Looked a bit weird at the time, suppose it all worked out in the end.

I thought he did well too- nice, albeit bumbly, run down the Lansdown side and won a few knocks ons. I wonder whether LM would consider having him and Conway playing together so someone could pick up on the scraps. Beat me to it

It's like that wrapped present under the Xmas tree - it's the shape of a BMX, you can see the wheels and the handlebars under the paper, you stay up all night thinking about the tricks you're going to do on it, and then you unwrap it Christmas morning and, inexplicably, it's socks.

Agreed - I don't think 'disliking Nige' and 'not thinking he deserved the sack based on performance' are mutually exclusive. FWIW I thought he was doing a great job, given the circumstances. I know some people who didn't particularly enjoy some of the football, but also thought he was doing the best he could with the resources available. I can't imagine there's THAT many people, aside from those that have a dislike for Nige personally, who TRULY felt that he warranted a sacking based on performances, especially given the amount of time we gave to LJ and even what we had under Holden. Even though I liked Nige, the thing that grates the most wasn't the sacking per se, but the feeling that Lansdown is holding his personal opinions above what's best for the football club. Think he's been quoted as (roughly) saying 'this is my club, I do what I want', and I think it's now pretty clear that's the case - either where his personal bias has bought a failing manager more time and money than should be expected (LJ) or here where it's the polar opposite with Nige.

I'm actually getting worried about playing Wednesday, Saturday. What should be about as certain a 3 points as you'd get in the championship is coming up at a time we're in turmoil - not only injuries, but no manager and the gate will be about as toxic as LJ times - especially if Wednesday score early on. If I was their manager I'd be sending them out to get right in our faces the first ten minutes, wind up the crowd, really put pressure on a team stitched together with kids and players out of position. I'd also do exactly what I was told from the upper management and never grumble. And that, Steve, is why I think I'd be perfect for the role of Bristol City Manager Head Coach

2-0 up already. This doesn’t bode well!

I thought it looked fairly churned up Dolman side too. Think I remember Pring slipping a couple of times that side

Doesn't look like EA know anything about Bristol City based on FC24 either. Honourable mentions for James, Williams and Nahki though, who actually look alright.