bexhill reds

Sadly I think their decision was based on a 20 min spell against Oxford at the start of the year, before they eventually got beat 5-1.

No one is irreplaceable granted, and I appreciate that quite often your views can be contrary, but no one is stating that TC is the finished article, but to write him off at this stage in his career I think is very short sighted, you don’t get many strikers on top of their game at his age, he’s still learning his trade. His finishing ability will have lots of people looking at him as one to develop further. Ultimately if he’s not going to sign, then we’ll have to sell, and undoubtedly he will have had his mate in his ear on what Prem earnings are, it’s just a crying shame that our current way of playing seems to have a complete aversion to creating any sort of meaningful chance unless it’s a corner, and I get why a young kid would be massively frustrated and to look elsewhere. No issue about being “gifted” goals, if that’s what you believe, although again i think that’s perhaps a line to be deliberately obtuse, but all good striking double acts tend to have one of them scoring more than the other - Turner and Taylor is a good City example, you’ve still got to put them away. I suspect if he was enjoying his football then he might be slightly less inclined to go, but there is nothing about the way we are playing him that suggests he is enjoying he football right now, and frankly I’d have to agree with him. What Manning is serving up is mostly dull and to opposition managers is seemingly very predictable football.

We had a little halcyon period with TC playing of Wells in a 2. Both of them on the same wavelength almost in some form of symbiotic relationship of knowing where the other would be, if I recall the pair of them tore Cardiff a new one at Ashton Gate (oh the irony with the next fixture). We’ve moved so far away from that now to the point where 1 is the 60 minute substitute for the other….

This pretty much sums up where we are. Why would you hang around when you are not getting the service you need. Tinman used to extol his virtues as being the best finisher in the club, but he’s not being given anything to finish… Why when he’s on the cusp of international recognition, would he hang about and regress in a team that no longer creates a) chances generally and b) the type of chances he thrives on. I think in the right environment he’ll be a 15-20 goal a season merchant, but it won’t be here under this regime, still I’m sure we can all find enjoyment with 200+ passes per game across the back 4 with no shots on goal.

Hey Alexa, define “triggered”….

If the manager gives the fans something to get excited then they will. There’s been too much shite served up since Xmas with 4 highlights. Saturdays performance was enough for me.

You forgot the current selection category which was seemingly based on a 20 min spell in a Caribou cup match this season which our current appointment went on to lose 5-1....

I’d like to think the outcome of the next 12 games will decide that. To my mind poor results and more importantly poor performances would suggest he’s done nothing to earn a summer, especially as he now has empty weeks and an international break to convey whatever he wants to do. I’m not buying the players not being good enough or capable of change, these are experienced professional players mostly of championship quality, who are used to being coached and playing different styles - we know he’s not up to it tactically as recent games have demonstrated, but perhaps he’s not that good a coach at this level either… Not sure of the need to highlight Pearson here though, my argument is the apparent inability of the incumbent and the lack of experience at this level. Good debate though. Let’s hope you are right and I’m not.

Bye then, feel free to allow the door to hit you on the way out…..

I get what you are saying, but we both know that football does not work in that way. A string of poor results and the coach/manager is under pressure regardless of the hoped for end game. The commercial implications of poor results and increasing apathy amongst supporters, e.g season ticket sales, sponsorships, corporate hospitality will all have an effect, and that’s before you consider playing side issues. On the playing side you have to consider relegation (probably not at risk this season but not mathematically ruled out at this point). Can the club survive a season or two in League 1, probably yes, but not without major restrictions on budget and transfer attractiveness that will ultimately set us back years, and also affect the club’s perceived value to investors especially if the current owners are seeking a way out. Your expectation is not where the club publicly pitched the appointment of Manning, so whether that’s his fault or not, there is an immediate litmus test on his progress, and bluntly that’s not going well. I think the potential of this squad remains upper mid-table with a bit of twinge of playoff excitement as there is always a team that has a late run, and I don’t think Manning is currently capable of reaching that. There are 12 games left, if we have 12 performances that are anything like the dross served up of late then I think he’s done, a poor result against Cardiff at home won’t do him any favours in the short term.

Exactly and underlines my point, what point of reference does an inexperienced coach (from a league football) perspective go back to when things are not going well? Manning’s point of references will be a bit of L1, L2, and pretty much little else, all he’s got is the theory and experience that would have come from his coaching qualifications and academy youngsters. Does a business looking to recruit a new Ops Director bring in a Business Management graduate with potential or someone with experience? The answer is that they bring them both in, one to develop and one to lead. Unless he can learn as quickly as he wants the current squad to, then I think he’s got problems.

I think the point being alluded to is that the belief is that Manning is one of these new “textbook” coaches where everything is based on theory rather than experience, magnets on the whiteboard as it were. A lot of this comes from coaches like Pep being put on a plinth as a new football management god without the acceptance that he’s made to look world beating because money is no object when acquiring players. With no disrespect to Rotherham, would a Pep type coach be able to go in and get them promoted with a very limited budget. Having learnt some of of his trade in the City group of clubs, it’s clear that he is a disciple of that type of coaching, brilliant if you’ve got academies full of the brightest and best, but not with an inherited squad of arguably 3 managers worth of signings. I’m not sure that academy coaches necessarily are tactically astute enough to immediately make the transition to management, especially in the Championship, that is not to say they won’t, but they’ve got to learn their trade lower down. Managers like Johnson (Snr), Cotterell, and Pearson all did the dirty work before they came to use and were adept to various levels of success in getting a team out of a collection of odds and sods. I don’t think Manning has this ability, that’s not to say he won’t, but I’m not sure that the Championship is the best place to learn it.

Then this recreates problems we’ve had in the past, players brought in to play a certain manager’s way on lengthy contracts become spare parts should we decide that this head coach is better with a PowerPoint than being tactically astute and we go down a different route - again… I’ve seen sparks of something and at times we’ve played well, but you’ve got to look at the trend, and the trend is not great. His post match yesterday was enough for me, when you are criticising the players and openly questioning whether they can learn, when he clearly made yet more selection errors and then just threw on anyone on the bench that could kick a ball in the 2nd half almost as an American Football Hail Mary, but failed to accept any responsibility tells me all I need to know. He might be a great coach at junior and U21 level where he would not be questioned, but at this level you are questioned regularly and he appears to have no answer or idea other to churn out buzzwords or now throw others under the bus. This experiment has not worked and best to end it before more longer term damage is done

Naismith and King caretaker management duo???

I picked up on that, referenced learning 3 times…need to learn, want to learn, capable of learning. Nothing like assessing whether your teaching skills are up to it or whether you totally know what you want to teach….

Do one mate, lots of people are angry with the shite that is being served up at present. Millwall got rid of their coaching starlet because it was not working. Out of his depth at this level.

Manning out. Simple as, that was as clueless and disjointed as you get, and that was with days off and a full week of training. The Lansdown’s clearly can’t pick a manager.

We could have another 30 and still not create a decent chance…

What a let down that game was…

The refreshing answer would be, I started 2 players that were clearly unfit, and I’m beginning to think I’m out of my depth at this level…

That’s looking ever likely…

If Sheff W score again then I reckon this could be a 4 or 5 goal drubbing.

No, just massively frustrated about watching another abject performance, sorry if that offends.

Factually accurate though…

Least he’d put a boot in….