RollsRoyce

Excellent win and performance. Not watched or followed the game , but Manning has turned his results around . I have minimal interest these days but as a huge critic of Manning , these last games show a change . Good luck to him . He deserves his chance now. Far from my choice going forward but you have to accept results and that suggests he can create something .

Hardly comparable to a few points here and there though is it?

Yet Swindon were relegated 2 divisions 30 plus years ago.

Then Manning is a crap scout. He said he had watched him extensively last season.

This is the essence of the issue. It is perfectly possible to find players willing to play football for the income a club can muster without loss. The problem has been owners over paying players. At all levels. No one is holding a gun to anyones head, yet wage escalation and the search of success has driven the game to the nonsense levels we have today. Clubs need saving themselves from themselves. It is time to introduce squad size and wage caps. How can the top clubs in the coubtry be paying £300m in wages and still losing money. Bonkers stuff. As for City, our numbers do not stack up. The playing wage bill vs turnover (again, where is that turnover really derived from) vs our losses, simply does not compute.We must have very high non playing costs, and/or our turnover is inflated by cross party sales. (Or our sales of pies and beer are on another scale) Would someone buy it? At the right price, of course they would. Would SL stop funding it? Maybe, but what are the outstanding loans to him? £70m plus?

I would think that both players are well advanced with their options for next season, and on a free transfer, both will have many suitors in the championship. I do not believe either will be at AG next season. TGH was an anticipated signing as the replacement for Williams, Bird is the one for James. We have be told (lie detector active) we are only adding 2 players to what we already know, a "Twine" player, and a forward (Weimann replacement , maybe 2 if TC leaves) . I guess some form of assessment is needed on Naismith and Atkinson, with both of them missing the season, will it be same again next year. We have been fortunate with the lack of injuries to Vyner and Dickie.

I fundamentally disagree with your whole post. There is no sense of realism or recognition of circumstance. It is almost passive aggressive . I saw a club emerging from a period of potential financial disaster , with young talent developed , some scintillating football on occasions marred by defensive lapses , a squad committed and willing to work for each other , a huge transfer positive in the bank and no relegation (that was probably due after such mismanagement) add on substantial player improvements too. What I find really concerning , and it is the blind spot the owners and fans like you have is a complete disregard or understanding of what makes a successful football club . Quote all of the teams you want , but until you take time to understand why those clubs have been more successful than us , then you are going to contribute to flap around with empty comments and no substance . Pearson was the least of our issues. His time would have run, but you do not throw the baby out with the bath water . For the sake of the club, Otib, fellow supporters and themselves , some supporters need to put their spectacles on.

Ipswich are the team of the season by some stretch. As a non PP club, to be in with a chance of automatic with 6/7 games to go is amazing. They keep going, never give up, are dynamic and create problems for every team they play. They are very impressive and yet look at the squad they have. McKenna has one promotion and is close to another. Full credit to him and the club. And I flippin hate Ashton.

That was a decent half, and we continued the same approach, more or less as we did on Friday. Pushing harder higher up the pitch. As their energy drained a bit, we started to find opportunities. We can win this.

That was an enjoyable game. The 2 weeks off worked as we were much improved from the recent rubbish . James makes such a big difference to the side and he along with Roberts impressed . Max has my mom though , his save from Vardy was out of this world. leicester have got worse this season , gone from their game the speed and panache . They might be looking at the play offs now. The final bit of good news . Is that we have now replaced Southampton with Leicester in future club interview's.

I find Southgate the same. Though he has some of the greatest talents we have ever seen to play with. But he is a comatose leader too. Is that in the FA manual? I just look at Klopp Guardiola, Arteta and Postecoglu and they clearly went to a different school. Manning is charisma-free and has zero gravitas. Backed up by the equally insipid Marshall and Jon L. You would go to war with that pair hey? At least we beat Southampton 3-0

Over the last month , Manning has had so much coaching time , time that in Jan he bemoaned was missing . So if he is to save his job , all that time on the grass needs to start translating into something visible. Though, it could be that many have already given up on him and the club and really don’t care anymore . Trust and respect between the fans and the club has been lost

I never listen to Manning interviews as I find his delivery coma inducing. But he is not paid to be a tv super star and should not be judged on media work . But if his team talks are delivered in the same manner , then Houston we have a problem . He’s in the wrong business , sadly for him . Never a number 1 in a million years . But … look at the people who chose him. Same issue , boring and charisma free.

Not read all , well any , of the comments . But Zak you are meant to be a dude . You are so much better than this . I can only assume Jon L was involved.

Ask him what he thinks after June 30 th . Bristol Sport scraping the bottom of the barrel of hope .

On one side, control, he is managed at Ipswich in a different way regarding finances, but also freedom, he was able to choose and identify his head coach. I find the chap quite horrible, but I can also give him credit for one and possibly 2 promotions. He has played his part in that, and a very big one too.

This is why SL has to either sell the club, or make a radical change to his behaviour, withdraw his son, and his own interference and employ someone to build him a Premier league club. But he owns it and has shown that ultimately, he uses it as a personal project, dare I say toy. 2 decades of playing fantasy football owner. He is arriving at the point where that is no longer sustainable. Sell it or put it in the hands of people with ability. For such a successful man, I am still astounded he has never really wanted to get to the Prem. If he did, he would have long ago stepped back and stopped the nepotism and jobs for Jon's mates. I would start with a ceo and a complete change to the recruitment team. The coach or manager will be easy after that.

You are right. Absolutely right. Manning is a symptom, his football ideals are not what the club needed anyway, but there is a void of competence at the top, we have nobody at the club who knows what is required to create a successful team/club. These people fired, wholesale, the people we did have at the club who knew what that looked like. Instead of evolving and growing, they have taken the club backwards. Maybe they should look at the consistent presence of Tinnion (the recruitment team) Jon L and Marshall, because those 3 need changing if any new manager or coach is to ever have any chance of success at this club. If the club were to be taken over, all 3 would be gone in an instant. Maybe that is what is going on, job preservation for the boys.

I rather think, and this is my view, that they actually believed what they were saying. Whilst that then became an extra burden for Manning, I am still of the opinion that Marshall, Tinnion and Jon L , possibly SL too, thought that a young coach would , with new ideas, more training, get a better performance from our squad. They were being honest. The trouble is, they were being superficial and making decisions without any of the 3/4 of them having anything but a fanciful idea about such matters . I almost wish they were saying blatant lies, maybe they did not highlight Nigel's health, but the rest of it, for me, they really thought Manning was going to be the surprise package, 30 games to sneak into the play offs, Luton style, or Cooper at Forest. It was a reckless gamble, made out of hope rather than policy, disregarding all of the nuances of change that had occurred the previous years. They were not lying or being dishonest, just incompetent.

Well if he has got 8 games and the Gay chap was just giving an opinion, which is hardly outlandish is it, what will the club be expecting from those 8 games. if indeed they are even remotely considering a change. What can you see in those games you have not seen already? What I mean is that there is almost no chance we will see anything earth shattering in performances , as it seems we do not have the players to play his way. So imho, you can either decide you are going to go with Manning next season no matter what, or if you have doubts, it is far better to cut him out now and start looking and recruiting for a replacement. Waiting another 2 months is wasting time, as you will want a new person to start summer planning asap. Recruitment can be long winded too, and after this mess up, it will need to be done in a far more diligent and in depth manner too. So I do not get the 8 game stuff. If you are keeping Manning next season, then keep him. If you are in doubt after what you have seen so far, those 8 games will change nothing. Get rid now and start building. Getting rid at the end of the season would seem daft to me, and looks more like a forlorn hope something magical will happen so someone can avoid a big decision.

Ok fair enough, I have no idea who the Gay chap is. But are you saying he made up the comment about Manning having 8 games to save himself, just for dramatic effect ? And there is no truth in that ?

I would think firing someone because they have become disabled would play out badly. Whatever the reasons, health, lack of personal relationship with him, results, they wanted rid. Why they did not do it in the summer if , as was suggested they had spent a few months sounding out his replacement, that Pearson got to hear about, was all pretty shabby. Why let Pearson and Alexander do the summer, then fire them both within a few months of seasons start ? Odd thinking from the Kelly (Please do not disregard his role in this) , Jon L and Tinnion.

I did not hear the earlier comment on the show where someone, the chap Gay it seems, said that Manning has 8 games to save the show. What does that mean? Does he have to win some games? Play well, so performances? Get a certain number of points? Also, based on what I read here, that person is being fed information directly, allegedly, from Tinnion. If that is the case, then Tinnion needs cautioning, as that sort of information is far too sensitive and important to be divulging outside of the club management circles. That undermines Manning further (and I am someone who wants him gone) and is unprofessional. What if the players get to hear that?

You are right, you would think he would have interested Swansea. Though I think clubs are now having to re-evaluate the criteria for finding a young coach and be a lot more discerning about what experiences they have had, who they have worked with and if they have achieved any promotions in the past. Milwall quickly saw their error, Plymouth are paying for theirs and ours has not turned out so well. Being young is hardly a qualification.

I managed to tune into the last half hour. Some interesting points, and a few red herrings as well in my view. But they did touch on the area where I believe, others will disagree, that the club is lacking. Leadership. When they removed Nige they left the club with the following 4 key people. Marshall, Tinnion, Jon Lansdown and Manning. In isolation you would question each of those people to perform their roles, but in combination it is in my view a recipe for disaster. There is no strength or depth of ability in that set up, so when you do have say a Manning type come in, who is learning on the job, the rest of the structure is not sufficiently able to support and carry them. This would be true of any young inexperienced coach coming in. I personally detest how Manning wants to play football, but that is about preferences, others love that type of game plan. But you cannot move Manning out, and for me he must go he is so out of his depth, but you have to also look a all 4 of those key positions. I do not believe those 4 people would not be on any other Championship clubs blue print for success. It is also worth mentioning that in recent years it has been shown that some of our better periods have been with experienced managers, GJ/SC and to an extent in terms of stopping a L1 return NP. Strong personalities all 3 of them. As there is no other leadership at the club, those people have had to fill a void. Removing NP, and at the same time all of his key team members was reckless and demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of what elements are required to create success. That did not happen at Brentford, Luton or Brighton. They all evolved along a similar path. Manning has to go, the club is spiralling in one direction. But simply changing him for another young coach will risk the same outcome.