Harry

Yep. As Amy says in that short video, the key to success was employing the best people for the job. That’s the main thing we’ve come a long way from.

Credit must be given to Sean O’Driscoll and Amy Kington for getting the Cat 2 status in the first place. That was the foundation of what we see now. Amy led the whole project for the initial Cat 2 application and audit. SOD (although much maligned) helped massively with this too with significant input. Amy’s comments in the video below tell you exactly how we got to where we are today. The work put into this 11-12 years ago is what we are seeing the fruition of now. Yes, Tinnion then later became responsible for the pathway between 18’s and 21’s to the first team, but the foundation was very much credited to Amy and her team (with the help of SOD too) apologies for Jonboy on the vid too!!

City also played Swindon on 15/02/1995 when England were away to Rep of Ireland. The game where the infamous trouble occurred. We were away to Swindon same night. Me and 2 mates somehow managed to sneak ourselves into the County Arms which was full of Swindon. We told the bouncer we were from Marlborough and he believed us and let us in. We got quite a lot of looks as many locals clearly didn’t recognise us but the events unfolding on the TV screens took everyone’s attention.

Ha ha. Is everything alright at home me old pigeon?

When you say “kept making digs” you do of course mean “I said it once - after Watford away”. And I explained why.

He’s not “my man” and I no longer want him here. No hills. No dying. Perhaps Conway might make more of an effort to anticipate and get into better scoring positions. Exhibit A

Charlie Hebdo. They were just, you know, having a bit of a laugh and being all playful, like

Ha ha. I’ve made my feelings on Manning quite clear and I don’t want him here any more - with immediate effect. But he’s not to blame for everything that is wrong with this club and he’s not to blame for the fact there are more established strikers ahead of Conway in the Scotland squad. I’m sure if you could find a tenuous link that you’d blame Manning for the crisis in Gaza.

Are there any versions out there with a picture of career criminal George Floyd replacing the 3 Lions? You know, just playfully, like!

Shankland is in top form in the SPL this season and is the current ‘pick’. Tommy would have had to be simply outstanding to oust him from the squad and if he did I’d guess there’d be uproar amongst the majority of the Scottish fans (who basically know Shankland but prob don’t really ‘know’ Conway). And Dykes, even if we think he’s crap, has started all but 2 of Scotlands games in the last 18 months and therefore been an integral part of the team that’s got them to where they are. I’d be amazed if Tommy gets in ahead of any of those, even if he’d scored 20 goals this season (which he never would have done under Nige either anyway!)

So he’s ahead of Tommy then - who hasn’t made a squad at all yet.

I’m surprised they didn’t put the Ukraine flag on it!

Still no answer to the very simple question : Even, hypothetically, if Pearson had still been here and Tommy had scored another 5-10 goals, which player out of Adams, Dykes and Shankland would he replace?

How have his chances reduced when it’s quite clear from that quote that he’s on their radar but not yet ready They know him from the 21s and know what he can do. How have his chances reduced? If anything, that West Ham goal (under Manning) has raised his profile!

But that “high profile” goal was scored under Manning?? How many more goals do you think would have been required to get him 3 or 4 levels up the pecking order?

Who’s saying anything about chance conversion rate. I’m not talking about half chances and scraps. I’m talking about 5 one v ones. Yes I wouldn’t expect anyone to score 100% of one v ones but it was certainly within Tommy’s gift to secure at least 3 or 4 more goals from these clear cut chances. Again I’ll ask you : which one of Adams, Dykes and Shankland was he due to replace had Pearson still been in charge and he’d scored 5 extra goals?

Ok. So which one of Adams, Dykes and Shankland does he replace?

Good lord! I’ve never read such hyperbolic tripe!! Yes, he may well score 15-20 goals for Cov. But that still wouldn’t have risen him from 6th or 7th choice to 3rd choice. He could already have 12 goals had he buried his one v one chances. And just because he may score 15-20 for Coventry has no relevance to how many he’d score for us. Under both managers we’ve had this season, we wouldn’t score as many goals as Coventry. So if you’re to blame Manning for a lack of goals then Pearson is as equally responsible, as would be Tinnion and the recruitment team for putting together a squad that can only play one way and lacks firepower. If Conway was good enough for the Scotland squad he’d have been called up. Truth is, whichever manager we have here, Tommy is not quite at that level yet and there are 5 or 6 players ahead of him for that squad.

I don’t get this blame on Manning to be honest. Tommy has 7 goals. You’ve said that 12 would have him in contention. He’s missed 5 one v ones under Manning. If he buries those he has his 12 goals. He is responsible for his own dip in form. He’s had the chances but hasn’t stuck them away.

Sorry. Wasn’t meant to do any disservice to Skubala. Just that he’s clearly getting the best out of his players, but he’s got a couple of bloody good ones for that level. And if you can get the best out of the better players you’ll always stand a chance. They’ve hit some lightning form of late. The addition of Moylan has been hugely influential in this.

You mention again about “if he was tearing it up”. But what exactly do you mean by “tearing it up”? Are you talking 25 goals and 10 assists? 20 goals? 15 goals? What constitutes “tearing it up” that would have been sufficient enough for him to be in the reckoning?

I’d note that in most of those clips it features Jack Moylan and Joe Taylor. Two very good players for that level. Sometimes it’s just all about the players and their own capabilities / desire

So, had he scored 12 in the league so far rather than 7, would that have been enough to get him 3 places up the pecking order and selected for Scotland? Personally, I doubt it. If he’d scored 20 so far this season then the prospects may look different. But he was never gonna do that whichever manager was in charge. So I don’t think we can blame Manning for him missing out. He was highly unlikely to be selected anyway, barring injury to 3 others or an absolute blinder of a season himself.

When you say “tearing it up”, what exactly do you mean? If we look at Conway’s goals to games/minutes ratio pre and post Manning, since the start of last season, we might have expected him to have scored around 1.5 more goals so far under Manning. Given he’s missed 5 one on ones, those extra 1.5 goals have been very much within his gift. When you say tearing it up, do you mean: A) same level of scoring form as demonstrated over the prior 18 months = 1 or 2 extra goals or B) should we have expected 20 goals this season?

I’m not a Manning fan, but I don’t think we can blame him for Conway not being in the Scotland squad. He’s 21. He’s only had a handful of call ups to the u21’s. He’s got established players such as Adams, Dykes and Shankland in front of him. He’s also got a slightly more established and experienced Nisbet in front of him plus Brown who is playing Prem football. At best he’s 6th choice. Even if he’d scored his 4 or 5 one on ones he’s had since Manning came in, he’d still be 6th choice. ps - he has to get in above Medube too