Spike

All I've heard this week from some of our fans is how Manning just needs backing and how we're playing better football, I honestly wish I could see what they're seeing. All I see is poor tactics, bad game planning and players who just don't look like they want to play this way at all.

Just conceded a goal where they practically walked it in, ripped apart again. Two unmarked players too, trash defending.

All over the place defending that, like panicked rats scurrying around.

That Johnston looks a right handful, they're getting a fair few situations of 3 on 2 in the wide areas too which is giving him good positions to run into.

This stream I'm watching he keeps calling Mehmeti "met-metti"... really irritating :laugh:

Conway at his best there, running alongside a defender, beats him to it, causes a problem with a good ball into a dangerous area. I wish we saw more of those situations, it's where Conway really causes the opposition problems and exactly what we've not been seeing of him under Manning, hopefully the odd glimpse will make Manning realise that's where Conway is best.

Because it seems to be the thing now that clubs try to make sure they use away kits when they are away and it doesn't clash, I can't stand it, should be in the red today, also the yellow is bloody horrible.

I think it's tough but I'd go with McCrorie personally, he seems a lot more rounded but no doubt Tanner has games where he's fantastic.

You could walk onto a plane without any security checks in the 60s There were milkmen in the 60s Smoking was encouraged in the 60s Some children's toys were made from lead in the 60s Asbestos was used as a Christmas decoration as it looked like snow in the 60s We should go back to that...

Tinnion is a core problem in this club, as he said, he's been here 30 years and the only positive input he's had was either playing football or coaching the youth, everything else he's been mediocre or absolute shit. No wonder he's happy right now, we beat Swansea at home, the bloke probably still has nightmares about Swansea at home after they smashed us 7-1 under his last game in charge of us as a manager. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons we got rid of Pearson was because he's everything Tinnion wishes he was. As a young man I used to think Tinnion was a proper Bristol City player, now I think he's just a corporate stooge who has kissed asses all way to the top and his flip flopping answers don't help reassure anyone.

Fantastic player, only fault I can find in him is that occasionally he'll carry the ball a little too long and get himself in a bad position but even then, it's his carrying the ball that often gets our midfield moving and allows him to start attacking plays that aren't always down the wings. We really do need that engine midfielder who comes to collect and can turn on the ball to create movement forward though, that would really step up our options.

If you think we're going to be making any big signings or any signings that will suddenly make us competitive I would suggest becoming prepared for disappointment. We'll probably bring in a few players he wants but it won't change anything as this level is far too competitive and the level of player required for Mannings set up is too expensive for us so we'll get the watered down version of what he wants. We'll also more than likely lose Conway and Pring, King will be gone and then maybe another one or two and we'll have to start another rebuild which will fail under Manning, then he'll be sacked and the board will brush under the mat how he's their man and how they're to blame before appointing another "up and coming" manager who will probably sold down the river with promises too.

Sack, usually I'd say it takes time but with what I've seen so far this is the first appointment that I see no benefits or improvements, if anything we've got worse and we're not even using our players to their strengths. Manning is not adaptive enough for this club, this club will have limits, restrictions etc and he cannot adapt his tactics to suit players so he'll need to bring in players, but those players will be far too costly to make us competitive with a non adaptive playstyle. Manning won't be able to improve us unless he changes his approach which he's already confirmed he has no intention to do.

The performance was poor, in this game we got a chance and took it but we didn't perform any better and it's not the entertainment that we're concerned about, it's the ability to win games. We lost 4 consecutive games and then scraped a 1-0 win with a very poor performance, is that what you want from your football club?

I'm at the mother in laws so my signal is gone so I haven't seen the last 20 minutes of the half, best part so far.

I know this is a joke but it genuinely concerns me at the thought that they do, I mean any confident manager who knows what they are doing doesn't need the fans to know what to do or say. I'm fine with them reading and maybe even saying "look I'm aware of what the fans are saying" but pandering to fans.... bad look that will only appear shallow and desperate IMO.

4-2-3-1 for Swansea, I can see them playing the way we struggle to break down, numbers behind the ball, use the "front 4" they have to counter. Hope I'm wrong.

I might start downloading these and playing them before bed, save me a fortune on Nytol.

Fair play to be so positive, I'd see it more like if we're factoring in relativity then Pearson. Left us with half hours squad injured and still playing football that kept us in the top half. Manning has joined as the players were all returning and has had a largely better selection choice and has managed to take us down the league and provide with 3 consecutive games where we not only lost but didn't even look capable of creating an attack. Manning could have a preseason but we'll not be any better off, the man needs players that suit his system in order for it to work but at this level we can't afford those types of players, they are luxury players that the teams with a lot more money to spend sign. We can't do a Cotterill again, this isn't League one and we can't afford the quality we could in that league to build the squad that suits his tactics.

I mean what's worse? Saying nothing and the fans get pissed off because they're not communicating or coming out and essentially telling the fans they don't think there is a problem and we've just been unlucky? At this point I just see Tinnion as guy with a 3 inch paint brush trying to paint over the cracks only to realise the "cracks" are the grand canyon. The worst part is Tinnion will be here as long as the Lansdowns are meaning nothing will change. Too many high positions taken by guys with no clue how to run a club and egos too big to admit it and get the right men in.

Exactly, I think everyone is seeing this except the board, or they are and now they know they've messed up and their perfect vision is not attainable.

Manning isn't improving us, in fact our best football is in the areas that Manning is trying to cut out from the previous Manager. The longer we have the more I think we'll see this and the more we'll only confine to pick up points when the opposition attack us and the player instincts over ride Mannings tactics. I don't see Manning going anywhere soon, the board would have to admit they ****** up and we have bought a few players to start next season which suggests Manning is in those plans. I'm not looking forward to the near future, we'll have some good games based on what the players were taught prior to Manning but the longer he coaches us the more we'll see our best games fizzle out. We can't keep relying on the opposition to play the way we want them to in order to be in with a chance.

Arteta, Pearson, both strong with gameplan and tactics but took time to find what suited them, Manning is a paint by numbers manager, he's so generic and lacking. We could give Manning 5 years and at best I'd imagine us mid table of the Championship, more realistically I see us potentially dropping into League One with him being sacked with 3-4 months left in a season further into his position here. Mannings issues are that he blames players for not getting results when he's the reason they couldn't perform as he's set us up in a style that we don't have the suited players to play. That'll piss players off and quite possibly demotivate them as they know they're capable of better but they're being ha stringed. Mannng is also slow to read the game and makes any impactful changes. There are times when the commentary teams have picked up on what's going wrong and still, he doesn't react and then we go on the lose or give up a good lead. If the commentary teams are picking up on the issues when the coach is not then there is a real problem. I was thinking to myself the other day how maybe I'm just not seeing something so I asked a few of my mates who support other championship teams to join me on discord for a few of them and have them access us to get a non fan based view on our set up. They said when we don't have the ball we look more dangerous than when we do have it, asked to elaborate they said when we get the ball we just go side to side or backwards until we lose the ball or until the opposition get a foot on it but fail to retain which creates an opening. With the Ipswich game they all said we looked far better when the gameplay was "frantic" to which I think is what happens when the game is opened up by the opposition attacking us rather than getting men behind the ball. I mean the TLDR is Mannings tactics are not showing us signs of life, the left over instincts of Pearson spending years to teach our lads to play on the counter is where we show up, Mannings slow build, passing game is where we're falling apart.

It's got nothing to do with the players intensity, they're playing just as hard in both games. The difference is when the opposition attacks us we're fighting to get the ball back and get on that fast counter so we look more aggressive and determined. When we play a team who sit back and counter us we have more possession but can't actually do much with it so the slow passing, retaining possession football comes out where we look boring and lifeless. You see bursts of our best football when the opposition disposess us and we get the ball back quickly because then the transition is more open for our attack. The whole blaming the players thing doesn't sit well for me, we saw under Pearson that the players are driven, we've seen it in patches under Manning when they've been allowed to show it too but for the most part the laboured, "don't care" football is Mannings tactics being played as he's taught them. They're obviously uninspiring to the players as they struggle to break down teams who sit back but they're told to be patient in their build up and to retain the ball. Under Pearson it was more get it forward as quickly as possible and if the bank is lost fight for it high up the pitch again. I don't blame the players, I blame the tactics Manning is trying to play. We simply do not have the creativity or the shape to play a slow build up style, in fact I can't think of a single team in the Championship who do play a slow build up successfully. I mean even you look at the table the highest positioned team so play defensive football is Cardiff and even they hit on the counter attack rather than playing a slow build up style. We're going to keep getting contrasting performances as long as we try to play a slow build up, especially when we have so many players who shine when allowed to use their pace like Bell, Conway, Sykes, Pring and so many more.

I think the problem with this kind of appointment is he's still early career, I think our club needs someone who is confident and has the experience to demand respect from the players. I do see this as another issue that Liam Manning has, he's come in and replaced Nigel Pearson, Pearson who demands respect but it also respectful to those who earn his. I don't see why our players would respect Manning, he's not done anything of worth that the players can respect and he talks football like it's all very simple to figure out. I personally think we need someone with experience but also who can command respect. I think I'd actually rather stick with Manning, I can't stand Lampard as a manager, amazing player but I feel like his win percentages are very boosted by the fact that he managed Derby at a time when they had a squad more than capable of promotion, then Chelsea when they were a much stronger squad. My brother is an Everton fan and for me Everton was the first real job he had that was difficult and he barely kept them in the Premier League and then went on to only win 1 in 11 the following season before he was let go. I think Lampards name comes from playing and I don't think the players would see him as a manager, but more of a coach with a wealth of playing experience. I'm sure the media would take notice of us but do we want the media that Birmingham got recently with Rooney? Essentially that went down like a lead balloon. For me this is the best option we have and although his win percentage with Swansea was not great I think it was not the right club for him. Realistically there aren't a lot of better options and I think whilst his experience isn't the level we need he's still the best option as I don't see us getting another Pearson-like manager who is willing to stand up to the board and I don't think the board will hire another manager like that until we're really in a desperate situation.