chinapig

On 19/02/2024 at 15:00, ExiledAjax said:

Looking like this is all delayed again. Too much fighting between EFL/PL around financial deals, and the ailing government in its death throes is sticking it's oar in.

Very messy right now, with fan interests and concerns being right at the bottom of the pile.

From PMQs earlier:

Clive Betts (Lab) asks when the government will go ahead to set up an independent regulator for football.

Sunak says the independent regulator will put fans at the heart of football. He says plans were in the king’s speech. Discussions on how to do this are underway, he says.

Not going to happen before a general election I'm sure.

13 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Depends whether you want to force a passing style or not.

That is my concern, though I'm not sure Liam has clearly set out his philosophy to us fans. I doubt we'll see until next season.

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

@Lrrr the big issue for the squad Nige took over was it was a “cosy club” on pre-covid contracts.  Ability levels wasn’t really relevant!

Think this is a large part of it FKAI.  But you can divorce the two also.

Thats probably the elephant in the room - distrust of the hierarchy.

The problem Liam has is that he's been lumbered with their expectations. I'm afraid he will just have to roll with the punches if he assured them he could deliver what they promised.

19 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Don't want to really mention recruitment, but we’ve been recruiting to a plan / profile for 2 years now, it’s a profile that shouldn’t really make much difference who is in charge.  But I think that looks like a bit of lip-service as it currently stands.  Hey ho.

For once there was a plan behind our recruitment. The question is does the profile of the players we have signed suit the way Liam wants to play?

If his preference is to control possession then I think not. If so what do we do now when it comes to recruitment? I find it difficult to discern what the plan now is.

52 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Interesting article with the QPR manager who said we are one of the best if not the best pressing and counter pressing team in the league so he changed their way of playing to counter us. It worked a treat for them and the concern for me atm is can Manning make “in game” adjustments that give them something different to worry about?

I suspect that Carrick and Martin didn’t worry so much about US and for three of the four halves in those games we looked good. To me it seems Mannings biggest challenge right now is to be a Championship standard “tactician” against managers setting out to nullify us. It’s way too easy to stop us playing if that’s your first aim.

Russell Martin also commented on our strengths in those areas. I was struck when it was put to Liam in last week's presser that his response was a 'yes but..' one. As in 'Yes but there were times when we also had controlled possession".

That implied to me that he discounted the praise because he wants to play in a different way despite the players being best suited to an aggressive approach.

2 minutes ago, Steve Watts said:

Now where have I heard this before......?

Clubs can be slaves to fashion. They see what the likes of Edwards and McKenna have done and decide they want some of that as if a trendy young coach is a guarantee of success. Follow that logic and Coventry should sack Robins immediately on the grounds that he is doing well but not in a fashionable way.

Sunderland clearly didn't do their due diligence on Beale though since he is a well known ******** with not much of a track record.

8 minutes ago, Bs4Red said:

I mean we do have time, it’s the board who have made it seem like we don’t. 
Never would we have been promoted or play offs under NP. 
Looking likely it won’t happen this season under LM. 
So he will have half a season and a pre season to get it right for next year 

Fair enough and I've said before that Liam is not responsible for the nonsense spouted by JL and BT but my point was that if he thinks he doesn't have enough time to coach he shouldn't try to change the playing style until he does.

1 hour ago, Bs4Red said:

Slight difference between us working on something that’s still relatively new and a club who are established in their style and patterns.

In which case don't try to significantly change the style until you have the time to do it.

10 minutes ago, JP Hampton said:

Yes, we thought that was strange mentioning a lack of time again!

It's what we football experts call an excuse.

More seriously, if you don't have much coaching time stick to the style the players are most used to, aggressive and intense. Don't tell them to control possession if it leads to pedestrian football that the opposition can handle comfortably.

4 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

We’re dangerously close to someone saying it’s a top six squad in a moment…

You may very will think that, I couldn't possibly comment.

11 minutes ago, Harvey86 said:

O’Leary, Vyner and Dickie aside, you could make a justified argument replacing any other player in that lineup, and I mean that in a good way. Proper squad depth

Evidence of exceptionally good recruitment over the last couple of years without spending a fortune also imo.

On 14/02/2024 at 17:21, SaintWill70 said:

P.s. I'm no Bristol City supporter and this ain't my forum so I'll back out leave you to it.

Just sticking my head in the door to say well done you Robins, see you next season perhaps as there's plenty of time for us to fck it up yet we usually do

Thanks for your contribution but rest assured we welcome fans from other clubs here. Indeed we have a number of very good semi-regular posters from other clubs, even a couple of Gasheads.

Compare and contrast with the Gaschat forum where any of their fans who doesn't toe the party line is likely to be banned.

Great performance last night btw, looks like it's going to be nip and tuck for the second spot to the end.

Turns out a minimum of 2 games per round will be free to air.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/15/tnt-sports-agrees-four-year-deal-for-live-fa-cup-coverage-from-2025-26-season

29 minutes ago, TonyTonyTony said:

You have no clue whats gone on to make statements like that.

Palace had already agreed terms with Oliver Glasner who won the Europa. League with Eintracht Frankfurt.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/15/crystal-palace-roy-hodgson-oliver-glasner-manager

3 minutes ago, GreedyHarry said:

I’m happy with that as long as Bugs Bunny is announcing the VAR decisions.

 "Eh, what's up ref?"

1 hour ago, ExiledAjax said:

At the very least the final will be on free to air as it's a Cat A protected event.

What is TNT Sports though? Is it a foreign operator like DAZN or one of those?

TNT Sports is part of Discovery+ which is in turn owned by Warner Bros.

2 hours ago, Open End Numb Legs said:

A protest? I am going to buy shares in tennis balls...

 

Bulk buy out of date chocolate coins and you'll make a killing.

Though on the down side they'd clear them off the pitch and sell them from a wheelbarrow in the alleged concourse.

41 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Message to LM - be Liam Manning!

He always comes across as vain but going to greet his adoring fans before the game is another level of cringe.

14 minutes ago, AppyDAZE said:

Cult of Nige?

I'm sure i had their first two albums, but lost a bit of interest after they went all poppy.

They were never the same after their drummer died in a bizarre gardening accident.

2 minutes ago, RobImps said:

What a brilliant result and performance tonight

Biggest takeaway for me - the change in style over last few weeks.

I'd say West Ham away was the noticeable difference, we were playing a quality side who simply wouldn't let us play the boring keep ball we have been under Manning, so we reverted to counter attacking football to a degree, and had some success.

Over the last few weeks, I've seen us move back to a counter attacking side - these players were signed for this style under Nige - and we look a million miles better for it, we look far more dangerous and it's definitely more entertaining to watch.

Tonight, those midfielders were tackling hard and snapping into every lose pass before we absolutely went forward at pace... Last seen at Swansea away before the injuries!

This, for me is the style I want to see and what these players are best at.

Always a side that has that late surge into playoffs

I've said the same in another thread though you have put it better. If Liam is showing flexibility and a willingness to adjust his approach that's to his credit.

Better that than someone who has a fixed way of playing and tries to shoehorn players into it whether or not it suits them.

13 minutes ago, Crimson Crayola said:

They're so different. Think Roberts actually has a more rounded game to him and a potentially higher ceiling. Classy.

It was said that when Nigel and his staff saw him in pre-season training he was even better than they expected.

When you look at the squad Liam inherited it shows that recent recruitment has been unusually successful, Roberts being an example.

Compare and contrast with the Ashton/LJ era and you can see how consistent it has been. I expect Max Bird to continue that trend.

10 minutes ago, Porto Red said:

Haydn

He should be good at orchestrating the play then.

46 minutes ago, SimonD said:

Thanks for the low down on Bristol City. 

 

The £10 million hole. We should have made sales the summer before last, but they were so determined to get Beale in as manager that they let him dictate who left. 

Last season's managerial change (Beale out, Critchley out and Ainsworth in) was hopefully neutral. We also "earned" around 1/2 million compensation from Chair and Dieng being at the World Cup. Not taking up the option on Charlie Austin's contract made a very decent saving. 

 

This season, Cifuentes was end of contract in Sweden. We'd tried to get him last season, but couldn't afford the buyout. 

The generally accepted amounts are £2m for Dieng and £700k for Dickie. (He had started well for us, but we'd broken him. He definitely needed a fresh start)

We've gone to town with naming rights this season. Stadium, Away Stand, South Africa Road Stand and training ground have all been "claimed". 

The majority of the rest will be through payroll which has left us very weak, but the activity towards the end of the January window do suggest we made it.

 

 

 

Yet you passed up the chance to keep Chris Martin, now leading Bristol Rovers to a glorious promotion.

21 minutes ago, cellist said:

Any famous long shirt wearers in City colours over the years?

This is the kind of question we need answered. A job for the Former Players Association I reckon.