IAmNick

I agree, but he comes across as a very thoughtful bloke and I have no doubt he'll be choosing his words very carefully to remain professional but also provide a few subtle nods along the way as well. He's not going to outright say anything rude or stupid of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if he makes what he wants to known as well. We'll see!

Why does Manning (hopefully) doing well also always seem to mean that Pearson had to be shit? Or if you think Pearson was doing well, then Manning has to be shit? How about Pearson did a good job for us, progressed us, Manning took over, had a wobble as he found his feet, and now will hopefully go on to do a good job next season and progress us again. That's what we all want isn't it?

Just checked, you and @Chairman Mao were right!

This was against Birmingham wasn't it? Unless I'm thinking of another goal / my mind is playing tricks on me. From near the halfway line in front of the old Williams stand?

But they're probably judging him off both those things right - he had a really poor cameo then hasn't even made it in the pitch again even when we're miles ahead or have nothing to play for. It sounds fair enough to me personally.

But Bobby and Semenyo were talked up and continually given chances by our coaching teams/managers. As well as by a reasonable number of fans who'd seen them many times for the youth teams. That's not happening here. In this case they (the coaching staff) clearly don't see him as good enough, and given we've barely seen him I don't think it's unreasonable for people to take a general steer from that is it? There are more ways to learn about things than just seeing them with your own eyes. If you think he is going to make it I'd be interested what you're basing that off? Presumably if so that's in contrast to Manning and co it's actually you who thinks you're an expert. Or you just have no opinion at all I suppose, in which case why are you here?

Are you suggesting they should probably have jackets on as well..? Might be a few chilly breezes inside the Molineux?

I agree. I don't think Manning would have signed Williams himself... But I'm hoping that as he's seen the value he can bring to the side and the edge he has - which is often missing from very technical players I suspect Manning likes, he'll decide to keep him for the balance it gives us.

Disappointing in front of goal but another encouraging performance. Well done City.

Just a really poor shot I think:

That one Twine just missed was even easier than Skyes one wasn't it?!

It's just if it was backwards which it doesn't look like to be.

Norwich goal: https://streamin.one/v/fccecfdf Offside call:

City goal (Roberts): https://streamin.one/v/8c74e93c

Jesus Sykes, that was really poor

Also pretty confused by the King Power stadium making the list. I've only been once but from memory it was one of the dullest generic bowls going.

No it doesn't. 5th round onwards already has no replays.

I get what you're going for, but I think we need to be a bit careful here - has he really never blooded youth in his career? Do you mean a team's own academy specifically, as that's a very different claim. What is "youth", what is "blooding" them? A quick look, at MK Dons: Brooklyn Ilunga: Gave him his debut from the academy at 17 Callum Tripp: Gave him his debut from the academy at 16 Signed and played: Patrick O'Hora: 21 Matthew Dennis: 19 At Oxford: Gatlin O'Donkor: Regular starter at 18 from the academy Tyler Goodman: Played at 19 from the academy Stephan Negru: Debut at 20 I'm not trying to go out of my way to defend Manning, but I'm just interested where this "He hates youth" thing comes from. His signings have been pretty young, he's playing some pretty young players... what do we mean specifically here? The above is from a quick look so might be a bit wrong. It feels a bit like it's been said a few times recently though and is now accepted as truth.

I think the issue with your logic is that failures also help improve your judgement of a player's ability both potential and present. You don't get better at picking and developing players just by having "hits" - in fact the experience of what doesn't work is just as if not more valuable.

Phwoar can't wait to hear your material on him! I mean I'm not sure why Downsy is going to care what I think about your jokes on OTIB, but come on - let's have it!

Yeah agreed, I forgot that happened as well. I think the refs need to be braver sometimes - and LJ had the right idea where we put out that statement saying we'd no longer be kicking the ball out for the other team. Either it's a head injury/something serious and the ref blows for it, or the game continues. If they kick it out, unless the physio is being called on we should just be able to restart. Is it an injury which needs the game to stop or not? If so, stop the clock and the player waits off the pitch properly once it's done. Half the time the opposition coach is already waiting on the touchline with the drinks and energy bars ready for a 2 minute timeout, while a player gets a bit of a stretch for "cramp" and is back on 10s later like nothing happened.

I thought the player having to stay off for 30s if the physio came one now was meant to be a deterrent. It was annoying yesterday in ET when their player went down, physio on, messed about for a couple of mins, then they subbed him and the replacement came straight on - I get that it's harsh to punish a team for a legit sub, but that was taking the piss a bit I thought. Kind of sneaky way to get around the 30s thing and still waste time.

Brilliant joke, how on earth did you come up with that one? Just fantastic. Woman = kitchen. Really, just inspired.

I think having Scott, Semenyo, and Conway as youngsters who happened to be ready at roughly the same time has raised expectations to a bit of an unfair level. As well as Pring, Max, and Vyner having "breakthrough" seasons at a slightly older age but within the same period. It's given the impression we should almost expect one or two a year - that's not going to happen. I'd like to see more youngsters but I'm not sure who? JKL is the only one I could legitimately feel a bit disappointed not to see. I thought Yeboah was a fair way off the required standard personally. Bell is injured, and Benarous has a long recovery ahead of him. The real test will be in a year or two when that apparently excellent crop start to appear - or if one leaves for a rival without getting much of a look in here. That'd be extremely disappointing.

I partly agree, but I don't think he intentionally changes our approach that much between games. That's nonsensical imo. He's a smart guy (there, I said it). I think he doesn't really seem to appreciate the impact that moving players into different positions has on our overall play - Knight from midfield into today's role for example. Yes, in an ideal world those players know all the positions and can play any of them, and you can move them around and they improvise and adapt and yadda yadda. Maybe that's where he wants to get to, or maybe that's where he thinks we are - but we're not. That's evident. In reality players obviously have their own strengths and weaknesses which mean they raise or lower the overall dynamic when played in a certain position (or rather, with a certain role in the team to be more precise). I think that's where he's going wrong, rather than intentionally trying to have us play a markedly different approach. I don't for a second think he said "Ok lads, I know it's been working but today instead lets slow it down, play it at a pedestrian pace, struggle to break into midfield, and get pinned back on each wing" today.