Life Under Tinman

[The Hippo]

Having not been able to visit the Gate during his period in charge, can some of you shed some light on his time in charge of the club?? Was he just an earlier version of Teflon in management?

I can remember he signed a load of players when he took control, Grant Smith, Partridge etc, dont think any of them have lit up the game since!

[Joshyshaw]

He was the cheap option, no real tactical knowledge and not particularly good in the transfer window. Standard of football was the worst I've seen at the gate. Main problem was the squad discipline though, we had some real quality players in there that amounted to nothing because they were pretty much given free reign off the pitch.

In short, Tinnion was everything that was expected. Only lasted as long as he did because he is an absolute city hero. His management tenure was a shame considering the opinion of him after his retirement. still think he was a tremendous servant to the club, just a shame he had to go out on such a sour note

Given a choice between him and Millen I'd say Millen, but that's like saying I'd rather you shoot me in the left foot rather than the right.

[redfred]

Teflon? The same Teflon who lost his job? W4nk shout.

Tinman had all the endeavour but sadly no idea and in reflection of his signings, they were poor. Probably only Marcus Stewart still had something to offer - sadly his footballing brain didn't match those of his team mates. Performances generally resembled a kick around with mates and it became clear early on that the team weren't playing as a team. Performances generally were poor.

It was odd that his emphasis on fitness didn't actually get the players fit; iirc he had them out for a 7am run every morning with training in the afternoon. Clearly it wasn't enough or the players weren't responding to it, or a mixture of both. Probably his biggest mistake of all, though, was not appointing a good experienced number two - when Tinman started struggling he had someone equally as inexperienced to turn to.

He was, I think, an appointment based in romanticism rather than ability: a City legend who was bound to succed purely because of his love for the club. Sadly that was not the case and from what I hear he is quite a bitter man about it all. Terrible shame.

[Nibor]

Main problem was the squad discipline though, we had some real quality players in there that amounted to nothing because they were pretty much given free reign off the pitch.

Tinnion tried to introduce some discipline after years of Wilson letting everything slide. The "quality players" that failed Wilson (Coles and Doherty for example) really, really didn't like it and that's why they left.

[Red_Mat]

Tinnion's main problem was his appalling lack of man-management skills that his predeccessor and successor had. Players like Tommy Doherty, Christian Roberts, Louis Carey and others all left (and Louis was supposedly his friend!).

There was a sense that he got the job by the backdoor; that he'd stabbed Danny Wilson in the back to get it. And this obviously annoyed those who were Wilson favourites. Tinnion tried to bring in his "own" team, but even these failed to want to play for him.

There was no positives, no sense of encouragement, or of building his players up in the press to feel positive and good about themselves. It all felt negative. Players he had signed quickly lost confidence in him (Grant Smith being a perfect example) and nobody seemed to want to play for him.

The whole year/18 months are a great exmaple of why you need to build friendships, relationships and a sense of togetherness with your squad and backroom staff, because if you don't you're quickly left on your own. Nothing epitomises that more than the photo of Tinnion alone in the dugout at Swansea after that defeat.

A sad end to such an impressive City career, but you have to say it was largely brought on himself.

If he had gone away, got his coaching badges, learned his trade (and some man-management skills) at a smaller club and come back a few years later when the players he had played with had left, he may have succeeded. But I think going about it the way he did, he's probably blown his chances of ever succeeding at management now.

[lugger]

Tinnion's main problem was his appalling lack of man-management skills that his predeccessor and successor had. Players like Tommy Doherty, Christian Roberts, Louis Carey and others all left (and Louis was supposedly his friend!).

There was a sense that he got the job by the backdoor; that he'd stabbed Danny Wilson in the back to get it. And this obviously annoyed those who were Wilson favourites. Tinnion tried to bring in his "own" team, but even these failed to want to play for him.

There was no positives, no sense of encouragement, or of building his players up in the press to feel positive and good about themselves. It all felt negative. Players he had signed quickly lost confidence in him (Grant Smith being a perfect example) and nobody seemed to want to play for him.

The whole year/18 months are a great exmaple of why you need to build friendships, relationships and a sense of togetherness with your squad and backroom staff, because if you don't you're quickly left on your own. Nothing epitomises that more than the photo of Tinnion alone in the dugout at Swansea after that defeat.

A sad end to such an impressive City career, but you have to say it was largely brought on himself.

If he had gone away, got his coaching badges, learned his trade (and some man-management skills) at a smaller club and come back a few years later when the players he had played with had left, he may have succeeded. But I think going about it the way he did, he's probably blown his chances of ever succeeding at management now.

In fairness we don't know how the appointment came about. The "stabbing Wilson in the back" part I'm not convinced on as TIns never struck me as anything other than honourable and 100% focussed on doing right by City.

If the conversation went along the lines of:

SL: "what do you think about Wilson and his ability to take this team forward Mr Tinnion?"

BT: "He's probably taken us as far as he can gov"

SL: "As a respected and senior member of the playing staff what would you do if given the chance?"

BT: "I'd restore passion and hard work to the team to win back the fans and bring them what they deserve"

SL: "That'll do nicely"

Would anyone expect any different from the guy??

Essentially it was a gamble that went wrong, it left a city hero with a sour taste in his mouth, it left an army of Tinman supporters feeling sad and confused and brought a brilliant career to a close with many questions left unanswered which in turn spawns a load of crap that blackens this man's name.

It is better to have a go and fail than to not accept an opportunity of a lifetime when presented. Some say "brought on by himself" but hindsight is 20/20 vision. I would personally back any attempt to bring Tins back to the club to build up his coaching credentials in a more structured way. How awesome would that be to see Tins come on the pitch at half time - "OOOHHHHH, TINMAN IS A SH*THEAD............................"

I've got a tear in my eye just at thinking about this!

[Ashton Great]

The fact that he signed Bradley Orr as a "box to box goal scoring midfielder" tells you all you need to know.

[Superjack]

Teflon? The same Teflon who lost his job? W4nk shout.

Tinman had all the endeavour but sadly no idea and in reflection of his signings, they were poor. Probably only Marcus Stewart still had something to offer - sadly his footballing brain didn't match those of his team mates. Performances generally resembled a kick around with mates and it became clear early on that the team weren't playing as a team. Performances generally were poor.

It was odd that his emphasis on fitness didn't actually get the players fit; iirc he had them out for a 7am run every morning with training in the afternoon. Clearly it wasn't enough or the players weren't responding to it, or a mixture of both. Probably his biggest mistake of all, though, was not appointing a good experienced number two - when Tinman started struggling he had someone equally as inexperienced to turn to.

He was, I think, an appointment based in romanticism rather than ability: a City legend who was bound to succed purely because of his love for the club. Sadly that was not the case and from what I hear he is quite a bitter man about it all. Terrible shame.

Agree with most of this post, although his first signing was Heffernan, which was a good one.

[bearded_red]

Teflon? The same Teflon who lost his job? W4nk shout.

Tinman had all the endeavour but sadly no idea and in reflection of his signings, they were poor. Probably only Marcus Stewart still had something to offer - sadly his footballing brain didn't match those of his team mates. Performances generally resembled a kick around with mates and it became clear early on that the team weren't playing as a team. Performances generally were poor.

It was odd that his emphasis on fitness didn't actually get the players fit; iirc he had them out for a 7am run every morning with training in the afternoon. Clearly it wasn't enough or the players weren't responding to it, or a mixture of both. Probably his biggest mistake of all, though, was not appointing a good experienced number two - when Tinman started struggling he had someone equally as inexperienced to turn to.

He was, I think, an appointment based in romanticism rather than ability: a City legend who was bound to succed purely because of his love for the club. Sadly that was not the case and from what I hear he is quite a bitter man about it all. Terrible shame.

Steve Brooker?!

[redfred]

Heffernan and particularly Brooker were both good signings, so I stand corrected there. In fact Brooker still remains one of my favourite strikers (forgetting his horrendous injury record) to play for the club in recent times, so I feel doubly ashamed!

[RedRock]

Ok .. I'll put my head up to be shot at.

I don't think he was as bad as most make out. Signings portfolio compares favorably to Wilson's and anything subsequent.

Can we add Alex Russell to the list?

For what I heard seemed to talk a decent game too. Let down by players that Wilson allowed to get out of control.

[bearded_red]

Ok .. I'll put my head up to be shot at.

I don't think he was as bad as most make out. Signings portfolio compares favorably to Wilson's and anything subsequent.

Can we add Alex Russell to the list?

For what I heard seemed to talk a decent game too. Let down by players that Wilson allowed to get out of control.

Great shout on Alex Russell, forgot him. One of the most underrated players we've had in my opinion. Never had a bad game.

[RedRock]

Alex Russell and Paul Heffernan probably two of the most naturally gifted footballers down the Gate over the last few decades.

[Alex_BCFC]

Richard Keogh was a reasonable signing at that level too.

Problem with Tinnion was when we were losing 1-0 he would just go gung-ho and stick 4 up top to try and win the game. Tactically he didn't have a clue at times. The football wasn't that bad until we got the 'magnificent 7' and then we just failed to live up to expectation getting worse with every game until the Swansea match.

[jimmer007]

The transfer market was one area he did well in in my opinion, tinman always had the eye for a good player

[Private Cider(cider army)]

Giving Leroy Lita a chance and a run in the first team was a great move... Signing Steven Gillespie at the time was a sensible move (didn't work out but went on to play in the Championship)... and i think (though stand to be corrected and doing this from a vague memory) giving débuts to Cole Skuse, David Cotterill and James Wilson (the last one i am now questioning - may be i mean Darren Jones !!)

Someone mentioned above a great eye for a player - but couldn't curb the drinking culture and player power, in fairness something that took GJ, the hand grenade and the 12 game losing streak...

Also just remembered - great relationship with the fans, even having an OTIB account and posting on the forum...

[David Brent]

Tinnion went from being mates with the players to being their boss, must've been tough. At least Tinnion tried to build his own team and do it his way. My biggest gripe was not using Goodfellow. Also, DW signed Gillespie and GJ played Wilson.

[Private Cider(cider army)]

DW released Gillespie after a trial saying not good enough - Tinman bought him back and gave him a contract... I also think that Tinman sold Carey to Coventry (though did re-sign him later that season)

In:

Stephen Gillespie (Liverpool), Paul Heffernan (Notts County, £125,000), Bradley Orr (Newcastle).

Out:

Lee Matthews (Port Vale), Scott Brown (Cheltenham), Tony Rougier, Lee Peacock (Sheff Wed), Joe Burnell (Wycombe), Louis Carey (Coventry), Darren Caskey.

BBC Sport verdict: A new era begins at Ashton Gate with player-boss Brian Tinnion replacing the departed Danny Wilson. After two third-place finishes, City are desperate to go one better - but with top scorer Lee Peacock gone, much depends on new striker Paul Heffernan.

[David Brent]

Private Cider - wasn't that Scott Brown who Tinman brought back to the club? I also remember seeing Steve Gillespie at PO final. Think Carey was out of contract and chose Coventry. Tinnion re-signed him of course.

[Monkeh]

DW released Gillespie after a trial saying not good enough - Tinman bought him back and gave him a contract... I also think that Tinman sold Carey to Coventry (though did re-sign him later that season)

In:

Stephen Gillespie (Liverpool), Paul Heffernan (Notts County, £125,000), Bradley Orr (Newcastle).

Out:

Lee Matthews (Port Vale), Scott Brown (Cheltenham), Tony Rougier, Lee Peacock (Sheff Wed), Joe Burnell (Wycombe), Louis Carey (Coventry), Darren Caskey.

BBC Sport verdict: A new era begins at Ashton Gate with player-boss Brian Tinnion replacing the departed Danny Wilson. After two third-place finishes, City are desperate to go one better - but with top scorer Lee Peacock gone, much depends on new striker Paul Heffernan.

wilson brought in gillespie after he scored 7 in 3 reserve games, tinnion brought back scott brown after wilson said he wasn't good enough

[ballwinningcentrehalf]

I remember being irked how he'd basically come out and tell everyone our tactics and line-up on the website before each game.

Promised that he'd play attacking football, getting men forward and crosses into the box, but he  started by playing an awkward, slightly lopsided 4-3-3 usually with two centreforwards (one pushed wider) and then the third man as a slightly withdrawn classic number 10 style. It didn't work. Players looked confused and our play became quite congested with little width.

Liked his as a person on the few times I had any contact with him, and it's a shame it didnt work out, but he was the wrong appointment from the start.