grifty

I understand. You could say Mebude was a loan to view if he's any good. He's not, so nothing lost. TGH was signed on loan under Pearson no? He's been injured a bit and Knight Williams/James has been in form so no need to break them up but provides good competition/cover at worst. Twine is another loan to see if he's good enough. If he really enjoys his loan that could knock a few grand a week off any wages demands. Fee yes would be expensive. It will be an interesting summer with regards to transfer targets!

I think this is a fair point. I wasn't much of a fan of Pearson post sorting out the terrible situation he was in when joining where he did fantastic to steady the ship and begin rebuilding. I found his interviews a bit boring and there was just something about the way he spoke to people I wasn't keen on. Manning as a different interview technique but is equally as boring! I think Pearson should have been given more time and support and in terms of the football being played, we've gone from a counter attack at pace team to a probe the opposition until there is space team. Personally I prefer the second style of football. Ultimately the change from Pearson to Manning hasn't changed results and we've had a sort of change in playing style. If however, SL, JL, BT, etc didn't get on with Pearson for whatever reason, surely they would have been less inclined to financially support him with players, etc whereas if they like & support Manning they will give him what he wants/needs ala LJ? This last bit isn't in anything in relation to what you said @Selred just my lunchtime ramblings!

There is a science to that rule...

I wasn't a fan of Max but over the last 10 games or so he massively improved in the areas I thought he was lacking in to the point it was detrimental to us. He takes much more time with his kicking from at least 10 a game going out of play to only 1 if that. There seems to be a bit more cohesion with the centre backs pulling wide, centre mid dropping deep and wing backs staying wide meaning he's got 5/6 options. Because of those options the opposition don't press him and he can take his time to focus on a good connection and direction. Great improvement.

I think part of the problem is that the replays VAR use and then if an on-field check is made are always in super slow motion where everything looks like a foul or contact.

Because you said lower championship, probably lower relegation so I chose QPR as they fit that.

Rangers got the Round of 16 in the Europa League last year losing out to an odd goal to Benfica. You reckon QPR would have done the same?

Don't forget all the posters who has said Bird wants to backtrack out of the deal and the deal is going to be cancelled.

My thoughts are a ‘clever’ player like Twine will need longer to get on the same wave length as the players around him. We’ve seen a few misplaced passes and a collision with Tommy, so he’s got 8/9 games to show some promise.

He seems to be being ‘safer’ with his kicking and taking a bit more time for the longer balls to the wings (Pring or Tanner/McCrorie). I think it also helps having a settled centre back pairing who are both comfortable on the ball and always looking for it. They seem to split wide which then allows James to come short so Max has plenty of options now.

Why should I start a topic for something I don’t agree with?

It's about time someone started a thread to discuss whether Manning should be sacked or not. I'm amazed no-one has started one before!

Ah ok, that's a different message to your original one, but this I agree with.

That just isn't true? Cotts was in charge for 3 years 1 month Nige was in charge for 2 years 8 months LJ was in charge for 4 years 5 months LM (so far) has been in charge for 4 months. Straight talking guys like Cotterill and Pearson who tell it how it is and don't suck up to the hierarchy have been in charge for 5 years 9 months where as LJ & LM have been in charge for 4 years 9 months. LM needs to be in charge for another year for the board to give these types of managers exactly the same amount of time.

No they won't.

No-one should be immune from criticism, but everyone should be immune from personal insults and jibes. Unfortunately there’s a few on here who can only do the latter.

and given him 5 years to get his style implemented...

Bump to the top to give it some more attention.

Referees been good at letting the game play and not falling for Swindon’s diving.

That’s my concern too. I get that people have reservations about Mannings coaching ability, but the serious lack of basic footballing ability (10 yard passes, throw ins that bounce up waist height to the recipient) or a poor footballing brain (passes onto the wrong favoured foot or behind a player and not in front of them to step on to or just aimlessly heading it towards the centre of the pitch) we could have 20 world class coaches and we’d still struggle.

Yeah, why doesn't our £55m stadium rebuild look the same as the £1 billion Spurs stadium. It's ridiculous!

Russell, Jamie, David aaaaaand... Pepe!?

And especially as his game isn’t based on hard or long running like say Knights is. I think the phrase the first few yards are in your head is perfect for James.

He seems to have got some pace from somewhere, whether he’s now up to a good fitness level? Couple of times in the last few games we’ve broken away and running with the ball he has got away from the defender.

Mings played quite a lot under him.