What hes doing is doing what Cotterill did - making statements of the squad to the board by means of stubborness and stupidity.
He clearly knows who he wants out, has to make do currently with who we have, but is trying to make a point re the squad imo.
With JL questioning performances and Nige publicly biting back, we have a very public tug of war going on which ( i hope ) Nige wins.
JL/SL dont have a history of utilising tough managers clearly because they like control and dont know how to handle someone taking over their ‘nice’ Bristol City. I think in Nige theyve got something which they shouldve expected, but are uneasy about handling.
Hopefully a summer of some funds invested and a few sales/frees/get rid ofs will go some way to giving Nige a squad he really wants.