Fans Forum

[GeoTheCiderHead]

My favourite part of the night was Tins talking about the academy lads and how he has to sometimes give Nige a nudge to play them and he then proceeded to give him a full on nudge - thought Nige was going to fall off his chair. Overall, a really good night full of insight. 

[Davefevs]

8 minutes ago, Pearsonistheman said:

What was said about Lingard out of interest? 

Was all in regards to a Q re loans.

Said he sent him back to ManU as his attitude was crap.

Also said re Harry Kane “he didn’t play, well, he did play, but the players weren’t having him”…either meaning he wasn’t good enough, or his attitude wasn’t good too.

[Corsham Alf]

2 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

That was very very insightful.  All three speakers were excellent.

A summary:

1. Accounts out in the coming weeks.  £10m better off that last year but still a big loss

2. FFP no issue, as expected

3. City current report from Nige "could do better" but "on the right course"

4. Academy and club much more aligned

5. No players close to signing new contract.  Problem is that wages are dropping and players won't sign for less money, which the club has to offer in the current climate.  Gould says very hard to compete with parachute payment clubs as well

6. Question about how Euell is doing and how his role affects what Nige does.....Pearson said worked with Euell at Southampton, he's thoughtful, a forward which is important.  Curtis more of a talker, loyal....good to have different characters. 

7. Fan loyalty scheme being revamped and out by Xmas.  Very different to what we have seen before.  More than just discounts.....experiences money cant buy.  loyalty points can be earned by spending in other retail., over 150 retailers in total.  Gould apologised for delay

8.  Nige was asked why he always starts replies to questions with 'ummm'.  Said he is thinking about what he shouldnt say! 

9.  Will Gould leaving trigger a restructure, maybe a DoF?  Gould said it is an opportunity.  Clubs are structured in different ways.  Structure is currently good in that they know what they are doing.  Scouting systems and coaches scouting work well.  Nige says we dont need to reinvent the wheel.  We dont need something new just for the sake of it.  Sounds like he wouldnt want a DoF. 

10.  Why do we tend to struggle against big strong physical teams Nige?  "Because we arent a big strong physical team".  Nige said he would like to challenge teams like Millwall better but it will take time.  Need to be more clever.  We dealt with them, they didnt open us up but we lost because of two individual mistakes.  Too many individual mistakes still.  We dont have a squad that will ever be taller man for man.  We can only add one or two players as we go so even if we wanted that we cannot have it.  Got some 'monsters' coming through the academy so could change if they are good enough.  Nige says he tells Jay Dasilva to use his height (!)......Jay doesnt get beaten very often.  Some of our bigger lads could learn from him.  We have a lot of pace in the squad.  We have quick footballers.  That is the model. Swansea have conceded 40% of their goals to counter attacks so we have an opportunity. W

11. We can become more consistent by learning to draw games that we then lose.  Need enough knowledgeable players in the side to influence teammates to settle for a point.  If we had drawn half the games we have lost we would be just outside the play offs.  Very tight league.  Nige is an optimistc, we are not that far away.  We have only drawn three games and we have lost games we shouldnt lose, either through careless mistakes or royal cockups!

12.  Asked on Jan Transfer Window, Gould says not a lot to spend.  We have sold £20m worth of players per year in recent years.  Recent strategy is to target the best out of contract players.  We look to be in top 10 clubs in terms of salary spend so that is a sweet spot for us.  We are attractive in that market and that is the market we are targetting.  In the event we sell a player we will look to reinvest a percentage of that.  (Nige asked how much and was met with laughter).  No magic money tree.  Nige asks about money a lot but is onside with where we are. Nige doesnt believe in collecting players.  Would want a centre back.  Important to remember we only want better than we have.  Cannot fast-track.  Will not sign a middle of the road championship player.  Youngsters coming through.  Need a Naismith there to help bring players through, a position where if you make a mistake it will often prove costly, like a goalkeeper.

13.  League average of home grown players in squad last season was 2.5. Ours was 6.5-7.  We are in a good location, would be harder if we were a midlands club.  Our long term future is our academy.  Tinnion works closely with recruitment team on squad depths.  They will look at youth depth before Nige looks to sign a player.  We dont need to be a cat one academy as we can offer opportunities.  Fewer loans going out now as more chance for opportunity now.  No more days of 10-12 loans going out.

14.  On Loans.....130 Premier League players currently on loan to 72 clubs in EFL at cost of £30m.  Dont want loans that will block our own talent.  Question asked 'could one or two loans in Jan not push us over the line?'  Gould said 'yes if they can provide enough value....no value when they leave 6 months later.  Tammy and Andy Cole given as examples by fans there....and Ryan Kent!  Nige says the market has changed.  He has taken Cleverley and Lingard (who was disgrace) from Man United, Kane from Spurs but didnt play him as wasnt good enough.  Back in those days first 6 months on loan was free.  Nowadays you bring them in and they are earning twice more than anyone else at the club so doesnt work financially.  The game has changed.  Premier League Loan Managers are expected to turn a profit. 

15.  Question to Nige of do you ever look at reporters asking him questions and think 'why have you asked me that?'  Nige said he isnt good at hiding it!  Wears his heart on his sleeve.  He doesnt like lazy questions.  IF journalists ask intelligent questions then happy to ask all day. Their job is to ask difficult questions.  

16.  5-3-2 suits us.  We dont have full backs, we have wing backs.  Sykes been excellent.  Nige likes 2 up top which this allows.  All of our strikers are better in partnerships and we have players who like to play behind strikers.  We aren't yet a 'clean sheet side'.  The system is there as it suits the players.  Nige and staff had conversation today about benefits of changing it but comes down to the fact that this is the best system.  It gets our best players on the pitch.  Nige isnt a massive fan of 3 at the back but its not about him. 

17.  14 Premier League scouts at a recent under 16 games.  PL clubs can take our players on the cheap.  Need to get them signed on their 17th birthday.  The WSM player we signed this week came to the club and Tinnion showed him how many first team players are ex academy.  Wolves wanted him but he joined us.  Gould said he would never recommend Premier League academies.  England under 19 players had hardly any first team appearances....Scott has a lot.  Maddox and Herbie Kane both below City now after leaving early chasing the dream.  Lloyd Kelly stayed and look at where he is.  

18.  Awful at set pieces last season.  Last 6 games of the season we changed to zonal marking and it improved.  We have unreliable markers so we need to defend zonally. It suits the players that we have.  If we had more reliable markers we would do mixture of zonal and man-to-man marking.  Second goal against Reading was a quality ball in and no blame there.  The ones the two games before that are very irritating.  Many internal discussions on it and practised it and practised it.  Will continue to do what we can do board our goal up.

19.  World Cup plans for players not going will have time off then programmes to do in their own time then mini pre-season.  One practise game.  

20.  Tinnion says Cat One academy wouldnt benefit us. Couldnt loan players out as would need those players to play against the Prem academies.  Costs a lot more.  Lot more pressure.  Cat One can still take other Cat One players.  

The summary is spot on as I was there (not necessarily the order). It was a great forum and all three spoke well. 

[Harry]

3 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

That was very very insightful.  All three speakers were excellent.

A summary:

1. Accounts out in the coming weeks.  £10m better off that last year but still a big loss

2. FFP no issue, as expected

3. City current report from Nige "could do better" but "on the right course"

4. Academy and club much more aligned

5. No players close to signing new contract.  Problem is that wages are dropping and players won't sign for less money, which the club has to offer in the current climate.  Gould says very hard to compete with parachute payment clubs as well

6. Question about how Euell is doing and how his role affects what Nige does.....Pearson said worked with Euell at Southampton, he's thoughtful, a forward which is important.  Curtis more of a talker, loyal....good to have different characters. 

7. Fan loyalty scheme being revamped and out by Xmas.  Very different to what we have seen before.  More than just discounts.....experiences money cant buy.  loyalty points can be earned by spending in other retail., over 150 retailers in total.  Gould apologised for delay

8.  Nige was asked why he always starts replies to questions with 'ummm'.  Said he is thinking about what he shouldnt say! 

9.  Will Gould leaving trigger a restructure, maybe a DoF?  Gould said it is an opportunity.  Clubs are structured in different ways.  Structure is currently good in that they know what they are doing.  Scouting systems and coaches scouting work well.  Nige says we dont need to reinvent the wheel.  We dont need something new just for the sake of it.  Sounds like he wouldnt want a DoF. 

10.  Why do we tend to struggle against big strong physical teams Nige?  "Because we arent a big strong physical team".  Nige said he would like to challenge teams like Millwall better but it will take time.  Need to be more clever.  We dealt with them, they didnt open us up but we lost because of two individual mistakes.  Too many individual mistakes still.  We dont have a squad that will ever be taller man for man.  We can only add one or two players as we go so even if we wanted that we cannot have it.  Got some 'monsters' coming through the academy so could change if they are good enough.  Nige says he tells Jay Dasilva to use his height (!)......Jay doesnt get beaten very often.  Some of our bigger lads could learn from him.  We have a lot of pace in the squad.  We have quick footballers.  That is the model. Swansea have conceded 40% of their goals to counter attacks so we have an opportunity. W

11. We can become more consistent by learning to draw games that we then lose.  Need enough knowledgeable players in the side to influence teammates to settle for a point.  If we had drawn half the games we have lost we would be just outside the play offs.  Very tight league.  Nige is an optimistc, we are not that far away.  We have only drawn three games and we have lost games we shouldnt lose, either through careless mistakes or royal cockups!

12.  Asked on Jan Transfer Window, Gould says not a lot to spend.  We have sold £20m worth of players per year in recent years.  Recent strategy is to target the best out of contract players.  We look to be in top 10 clubs in terms of salary spend so that is a sweet spot for us.  We are attractive in that market and that is the market we are targetting.  In the event we sell a player we will look to reinvest a percentage of that.  (Nige asked how much and was met with laughter).  No magic money tree.  Nige asks about money a lot but is onside with where we are. Nige doesnt believe in collecting players.  Would want a centre back.  Important to remember we only want better than we have.  Cannot fast-track.  Will not sign a middle of the road championship player.  Youngsters coming through.  Need a Naismith there to help bring players through, a position where if you make a mistake it will often prove costly, like a goalkeeper.

13.  League average of home grown players in squad last season was 2.5. Ours was 6.5-7.  We are in a good location, would be harder if we were a midlands club.  Our long term future is our academy.  Tinnion works closely with recruitment team on squad depths.  They will look at youth depth before Nige looks to sign a player.  We dont need to be a cat one academy as we can offer opportunities.  Fewer loans going out now as more chance for opportunity now.  No more days of 10-12 loans going out.

14.  On Loans.....130 Premier League players currently on loan to 72 clubs in EFL at cost of £30m.  Dont want loans that will block our own talent.  Question asked 'could one or two loans in Jan not push us over the line?'  Gould said 'yes if they can provide enough value....no value when they leave 6 months later.  Tammy and Andy Cole given as examples by fans there....and Ryan Kent!  Nige says the market has changed.  He has taken Cleverley and Lingard (who was disgrace) from Man United, Kane from Spurs but didnt play him as wasnt good enough.  Back in those days first 6 months on loan was free.  Nowadays you bring them in and they are earning twice more than anyone else at the club so doesnt work financially.  The game has changed.  Premier League Loan Managers are expected to turn a profit. 

15.  Question to Nige of do you ever look at reporters asking him questions and think 'why have you asked me that?'  Nige said he isnt good at hiding it!  Wears his heart on his sleeve.  He doesnt like lazy questions.  IF journalists ask intelligent questions then happy to ask all day. Their job is to ask difficult questions.  

16.  5-3-2 suits us.  We dont have full backs, we have wing backs.  Sykes been excellent.  Nige likes 2 up top which this allows.  All of our strikers are better in partnerships and we have players who like to play behind strikers.  We aren't yet a 'clean sheet side'.  The system is there as it suits the players.  Nige and staff had conversation today about benefits of changing it but comes down to the fact that this is the best system.  It gets our best players on the pitch.  Nige isnt a massive fan of 3 at the back but its not about him. 

17.  14 Premier League scouts at a recent under 16 games.  PL clubs can take our players on the cheap.  Need to get them signed on their 17th birthday.  The WSM player we signed this week came to the club and Tinnion showed him how many first team players are ex academy.  Wolves wanted him but he joined us.  Gould said he would never recommend Premier League academies.  England under 19 players had hardly any first team appearances....Scott has a lot.  Maddox and Herbie Kane both below City now after leaving early chasing the dream.  Lloyd Kelly stayed and look at where he is.  

18.  Awful at set pieces last season.  Last 6 games of the season we changed to zonal marking and it improved.  We have unreliable markers so we need to defend zonally. It suits the players that we have.  If we had more reliable markers we would do mixture of zonal and man-to-man marking.  Second goal against Reading was a quality ball in and no blame there.  The ones the two games before that are very irritating.  Many internal discussions on it and practised it and practised it.  Will continue to do what we can do board our goal up.

19.  World Cup plans for players not going will have time off then programmes to do in their own time then mini pre-season.  One practise game.  

20.  Tinnion says Cat One academy wouldnt benefit us. Couldnt loan players out as would need those players to play against the Prem academies.  Costs a lot more.  Lot more pressure.  Cat One can still take other Cat One players.  

You missed the best bit. 
All 3 having a laugh at Ipswich. 

[Slack]

14 minutes ago, Harry said:

You missed the best bit. 
All 3 having a laugh at Ipswich. 

Someone please tell me the minutes of this or can they clip it. I missed the livestream 

[Harry]

23 minutes ago, Slack said:

Someone please tell me the minutes of this or can they clip it. I missed the livestream 

Tinnion was talking about the u21’s having had a good season but recently lost to Ipswich. But he said with a smile “Ipswich, of all teams” and they all collectively laughed and sniggered. It’s pretty clear what all 3 of them made of Mr Ashton! 

[exAtyeoMax]

1 hour ago, Harry said:

You missed the best bit. 
All 3 having a laugh at Ipswich. 

I missed that bit, was that near the beginning?

[ExiledAjax]

10 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

That was very very insightful.  All three speakers were excellent.

A summary:

1. Accounts out in the coming weeks.  £10m better off that last year but still a big loss

2. FFP no issue, as expected

3. City current report from Nige "could do better" but "on the right course"

4. Academy and club much more aligned

5. No players close to signing new contract.  Problem is that wages are dropping and players won't sign for less money, which the club has to offer in the current climate.  Gould says very hard to compete with parachute payment clubs as well

6. Question about how Euell is doing and how his role affects what Nige does.....Pearson said worked with Euell at Southampton, he's thoughtful, a forward which is important.  Curtis more of a talker, loyal....good to have different characters. 

7. Fan loyalty scheme being revamped and out by Xmas.  Very different to what we have seen before.  More than just discounts.....experiences money cant buy.  loyalty points can be earned by spending in other retail., over 150 retailers in total.  Gould apologised for delay

8.  Nige was asked why he always starts replies to questions with 'ummm'.  Said he is thinking about what he shouldnt say! 

9.  Will Gould leaving trigger a restructure, maybe a DoF?  Gould said it is an opportunity.  Clubs are structured in different ways.  Structure is currently good in that they know what they are doing.  Scouting systems and coaches scouting work well.  Nige says we dont need to reinvent the wheel.  We dont need something new just for the sake of it.  Sounds like he wouldnt want a DoF. 

10.  Why do we tend to struggle against big strong physical teams Nige?  "Because we arent a big strong physical team".  Nige said he would like to challenge teams like Millwall better but it will take time.  Need to be more clever.  We dealt with them, they didnt open us up but we lost because of two individual mistakes.  Too many individual mistakes still.  We dont have a squad that will ever be taller man for man.  We can only add one or two players as we go so even if we wanted that we cannot have it.  Got some 'monsters' coming through the academy so could change if they are good enough.  Nige says he tells Jay Dasilva to use his height (!)......Jay doesnt get beaten very often.  Some of our bigger lads could learn from him.  We have a lot of pace in the squad.  We have quick footballers.  That is the model. Swansea have conceded 40% of their goals to counter attacks so we have an opportunity. W

11. We can become more consistent by learning to draw games that we then lose.  Need enough knowledgeable players in the side to influence teammates to settle for a point.  If we had drawn half the games we have lost we would be just outside the play offs.  Very tight league.  Nige is an optimistc, we are not that far away.  We have only drawn three games and we have lost games we shouldnt lose, either through careless mistakes or royal cockups!

12.  Asked on Jan Transfer Window, Gould says not a lot to spend.  We have sold £20m worth of players per year in recent years.  Recent strategy is to target the best out of contract players.  We look to be in top 10 clubs in terms of salary spend so that is a sweet spot for us.  We are attractive in that market and that is the market we are targetting.  In the event we sell a player we will look to reinvest a percentage of that.  (Nige asked how much and was met with laughter).  No magic money tree.  Nige asks about money a lot but is onside with where we are. Nige doesnt believe in collecting players.  Would want a centre back.  Important to remember we only want better than we have.  Cannot fast-track.  Will not sign a middle of the road championship player.  Youngsters coming through.  Need a Naismith there to help bring players through, a position where if you make a mistake it will often prove costly, like a goalkeeper.

13.  League average of home grown players in squad last season was 2.5. Ours was 6.5-7.  We are in a good location, would be harder if we were a midlands club.  Our long term future is our academy.  Tinnion works closely with recruitment team on squad depths.  They will look at youth depth before Nige looks to sign a player.  We dont need to be a cat one academy as we can offer opportunities.  Fewer loans going out now as more chance for opportunity now.  No more days of 10-12 loans going out.

14.  On Loans.....130 Premier League players currently on loan to 72 clubs in EFL at cost of £30m.  Dont want loans that will block our own talent.  Question asked 'could one or two loans in Jan not push us over the line?'  Gould said 'yes if they can provide enough value....no value when they leave 6 months later.  Tammy and Andy Cole given as examples by fans there....and Ryan Kent!  Nige says the market has changed.  He has taken Cleverley and Lingard (who was disgrace) from Man United, Kane from Spurs but didnt play him as wasnt good enough.  Back in those days first 6 months on loan was free.  Nowadays you bring them in and they are earning twice more than anyone else at the club so doesnt work financially.  The game has changed.  Premier League Loan Managers are expected to turn a profit. 

15.  Question to Nige of do you ever look at reporters asking him questions and think 'why have you asked me that?'  Nige said he isnt good at hiding it!  Wears his heart on his sleeve.  He doesnt like lazy questions.  IF journalists ask intelligent questions then happy to ask all day. Their job is to ask difficult questions.  

16.  5-3-2 suits us.  We dont have full backs, we have wing backs.  Sykes been excellent.  Nige likes 2 up top which this allows.  All of our strikers are better in partnerships and we have players who like to play behind strikers.  We aren't yet a 'clean sheet side'.  The system is there as it suits the players.  Nige and staff had conversation today about benefits of changing it but comes down to the fact that this is the best system.  It gets our best players on the pitch.  Nige isnt a massive fan of 3 at the back but its not about him. 

17.  14 Premier League scouts at a recent under 16 games.  PL clubs can take our players on the cheap.  Need to get them signed on their 17th birthday.  The WSM player we signed this week came to the club and Tinnion showed him how many first team players are ex academy.  Wolves wanted him but he joined us.  Gould said he would never recommend Premier League academies.  England under 19 players had hardly any first team appearances....Scott has a lot.  Maddox and Herbie Kane both below City now after leaving early chasing the dream.  Lloyd Kelly stayed and look at where he is.  

18.  Awful at set pieces last season.  Last 6 games of the season we changed to zonal marking and it improved.  We have unreliable markers so we need to defend zonally. It suits the players that we have.  If we had more reliable markers we would do mixture of zonal and man-to-man marking.  Second goal against Reading was a quality ball in and no blame there.  The ones the two games before that are very irritating.  Many internal discussions on it and practised it and practised it.  Will continue to do what we can do board our goal up.

19.  World Cup plans for players not going will have time off then programmes to do in their own time then mini pre-season.  One practise game.  

20.  Tinnion says Cat One academy wouldnt benefit us. Couldnt loan players out as would need those players to play against the Prem academies.  Costs a lot more.  Lot more pressure.  Cat One can still take other Cat One players.  

I'd love them to distill the bits about loans and cat 1 academies into an article or blog post or something that could be pointed at every time someone suggests either option as the solution to our Club's woes.

It sounds like there was a really good breadth of questions and some candid answers. 

Hopefully the video is posted online in full for those of us who couldn't attend or watch live.

[The Humble Realist]

10 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

That was very very insightful.  All three speakers were excellent.

A summary:

1. Accounts out in the coming weeks.  £10m better off that last year but still a big loss

2. FFP no issue, as expected

3. City current report from Nige "could do better" but "on the right course"

4. Academy and club much more aligned

5. No players close to signing new contract.  Problem is that wages are dropping and players won't sign for less money, which the club has to offer in the current climate.  Gould says very hard to compete with parachute payment clubs as well

6. Question about how Euell is doing and how his role affects what Nige does.....Pearson said worked with Euell at Southampton, he's thoughtful, a forward which is important.  Curtis more of a talker, loyal....good to have different characters. 

7. Fan loyalty scheme being revamped and out by Xmas.  Very different to what we have seen before.  More than just discounts.....experiences money cant buy.  loyalty points can be earned by spending in other retail., over 150 retailers in total.  Gould apologised for delay

8.  Nige was asked why he always starts replies to questions with 'ummm'.  Said he is thinking about what he shouldnt say! 

9.  Will Gould leaving trigger a restructure, maybe a DoF?  Gould said it is an opportunity.  Clubs are structured in different ways.  Structure is currently good in that they know what they are doing.  Scouting systems and coaches scouting work well.  Nige says we dont need to reinvent the wheel.  We dont need something new just for the sake of it.  Sounds like he wouldnt want a DoF. 

10.  Why do we tend to struggle against big strong physical teams Nige?  "Because we arent a big strong physical team".  Nige said he would like to challenge teams like Millwall better but it will take time.  Need to be more clever.  We dealt with them, they didnt open us up but we lost because of two individual mistakes.  Too many individual mistakes still.  We dont have a squad that will ever be taller man for man.  We can only add one or two players as we go so even if we wanted that we cannot have it.  Got some 'monsters' coming through the academy so could change if they are good enough.  Nige says he tells Jay Dasilva to use his height (!)......Jay doesnt get beaten very often.  Some of our bigger lads could learn from him.  We have a lot of pace in the squad.  We have quick footballers.  That is the model. Swansea have conceded 40% of their goals to counter attacks so we have an opportunity. W

11. We can become more consistent by learning to draw games that we then lose.  Need enough knowledgeable players in the side to influence teammates to settle for a point.  If we had drawn half the games we have lost we would be just outside the play offs.  Very tight league.  Nige is an optimistc, we are not that far away.  We have only drawn three games and we have lost games we shouldnt lose, either through careless mistakes or royal cockups!

12.  Asked on Jan Transfer Window, Gould says not a lot to spend.  We have sold £20m worth of players per year in recent years.  Recent strategy is to target the best out of contract players.  We look to be in top 10 clubs in terms of salary spend so that is a sweet spot for us.  We are attractive in that market and that is the market we are targetting.  In the event we sell a player we will look to reinvest a percentage of that.  (Nige asked how much and was met with laughter).  No magic money tree.  Nige asks about money a lot but is onside with where we are. Nige doesnt believe in collecting players.  Would want a centre back.  Important to remember we only want better than we have.  Cannot fast-track.  Will not sign a middle of the road championship player.  Youngsters coming through.  Need a Naismith there to help bring players through, a position where if you make a mistake it will often prove costly, like a goalkeeper.

13.  League average of home grown players in squad last season was 2.5. Ours was 6.5-7.  We are in a good location, would be harder if we were a midlands club.  Our long term future is our academy.  Tinnion works closely with recruitment team on squad depths.  They will look at youth depth before Nige looks to sign a player.  We dont need to be a cat one academy as we can offer opportunities.  Fewer loans going out now as more chance for opportunity now.  No more days of 10-12 loans going out.

14.  On Loans.....130 Premier League players currently on loan to 72 clubs in EFL at cost of £30m.  Dont want loans that will block our own talent.  Question asked 'could one or two loans in Jan not push us over the line?'  Gould said 'yes if they can provide enough value....no value when they leave 6 months later.  Tammy and Andy Cole given as examples by fans there....and Ryan Kent!  Nige says the market has changed.  He has taken Cleverley and Lingard (who was disgrace) from Man United, Kane from Spurs but didnt play him as wasnt good enough.  Back in those days first 6 months on loan was free.  Nowadays you bring them in and they are earning twice more than anyone else at the club so doesnt work financially.  The game has changed.  Premier League Loan Managers are expected to turn a profit. 

15.  Question to Nige of do you ever look at reporters asking him questions and think 'why have you asked me that?'  Nige said he isnt good at hiding it!  Wears his heart on his sleeve.  He doesnt like lazy questions.  IF journalists ask intelligent questions then happy to ask all day. Their job is to ask difficult questions.  

16.  5-3-2 suits us.  We dont have full backs, we have wing backs.  Sykes been excellent.  Nige likes 2 up top which this allows.  All of our strikers are better in partnerships and we have players who like to play behind strikers.  We aren't yet a 'clean sheet side'.  The system is there as it suits the players.  Nige and staff had conversation today about benefits of changing it but comes down to the fact that this is the best system.  It gets our best players on the pitch.  Nige isnt a massive fan of 3 at the back but its not about him. 

17.  14 Premier League scouts at a recent under 16 games.  PL clubs can take our players on the cheap.  Need to get them signed on their 17th birthday.  The WSM player we signed this week came to the club and Tinnion showed him how many first team players are ex academy.  Wolves wanted him but he joined us.  Gould said he would never recommend Premier League academies.  England under 19 players had hardly any first team appearances....Scott has a lot.  Maddox and Herbie Kane both below City now after leaving early chasing the dream.  Lloyd Kelly stayed and look at where he is.  

18.  Awful at set pieces last season.  Last 6 games of the season we changed to zonal marking and it improved.  We have unreliable markers so we need to defend zonally. It suits the players that we have.  If we had more reliable markers we would do mixture of zonal and man-to-man marking.  Second goal against Reading was a quality ball in and no blame there.  The ones the two games before that are very irritating.  Many internal discussions on it and practised it and practised it.  Will continue to do what we can do board our goal up.

19.  World Cup plans for players not going will have time off then programmes to do in their own time then mini pre-season.  One practise game.  

20.  Tinnion says Cat One academy wouldnt benefit us. Couldnt loan players out as would need those players to play against the Prem academies.  Costs a lot more.  Lot more pressure.  Cat One can still take other Cat One players.  

Fantastic write up. Thanks 

[Loco Rojo]

Really enjoyed watching it last night. I think Nigel came across so differently to his press interviews which was nice - more down to earth and relaxed.

Made me chuckle as well when someone shouted out (jokingly i think) 'Ryan Kent' as a suggestion as one of the better left sided players we've had and Tins reaction to laugh out loud and roll his eyes. Made me chuckle anyway.  

RG also came across well too. 

There were a few good humoured moments throughout.

Thank you City and to those involved in arranging that evening (and putting it on Youtube).

 

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Loco Rojo

[Bris Red]

I found the comments about clubs having ‘’loan managers’’ quite interesting, these loan managers are also looking to make a profit each year on their players. Nige was basically saying that most if not all Prem managers nowadays have no real say in who they can loan out.

I’m sure if Nige could guarantee we would get another Tammy mark 2 then him and the board would try and make a deal happen but players like Tammy coming in on loan and scoring 20 plus goals are so few and fair between that it probably isn’t worth the financial risk..

[GrahamC]

13 minutes ago, Loco Rojo said:

Really enjoyed watching it last night. I think Nigel came across so differently to his press interviews which was nice - more down to earth and relaxed.

Made me chuckle as well when someone shouted out (jokingly i think) 'Ryan Kent' as a suggestion as one of the better left sided players we've had and Tins reaction to laugh out loud and roll his eyes. Made me chuckle anyway.  

RG also came across well too. 

There were a few good humoured moments throughout.

Thank you City and to those involved in arranging that evening (and putting it on Youtube).

 

 

Yes, it was a joke (it was me).

The 2 players named by the questioner for successful loan players included Andy Cole FFS, & he’s in his 50s now.

I was pointing out that people quickly forget shit, expensive loans, but as is often the case, my sarcasm was lost on a fair few people, including Tinns, according to @Merrick's Marvels who was sat next to me..

Edited October 28, 2022 by GrahamC

[Loco Rojo]

4 minutes ago, Bris Red said:

I found the comments about clubs having ‘’loan managers’’ quite interesting, these loan managers are also looking to make a profit each year on their players. Nige was basically saying that most if not all Prem managers nowadays have no real say in who they can loan out.

I’m sure if Nige could guarantee we would get another Tammy mark 2 then him and the board would try and make a deal happen but players like Tammy coming in on loan and scoring 20 plus goals are so few and fair between that it probably isn’t worth the financial risk..

Yeah, I thought exactly the same thing. The LMs driver is to hit financial (I assume) targets for their club, effectively running their job as a business within the club (which I hadn't fully appreciated). Feels like that can hike up the price of loan deals (especially if the LM isnt hitting their financial targets). I can see why City try to avoid going to the loan market as it can cost loads (as well as it blocking the development of our own younsters).

Every day's a school day.

[The Humble Realist]

If you are sad enough to trawl through my posts you'll see plenty of times that I've knocked the club for various things that have been disappointed with in the past e.g. the way they handled the covid refunds.

However, credit where credit is due. They made the forum as open as they could last night, promoting it on the offical site and putting it on multiple streaming channels and I think over 30,000 people were watching on youtube at one point. 

This is a huge improvement on the previous era and i just thought it was good and fair to praise the club in this instance for making last night open, transparent and accessible. 

[ExiledAjax]

2 minutes ago, Loco Rojo said:

Yeah, I thought exactly the same thing. The LMs driver is to hit financial (I assume) targets for their club, effectively running their job as a business within the club (which I hadn't fully appreciated). Feels like that can hike up the price of loan deals (especially if the LM isnt hitting their financial targets). I can see why City try to avoid going to the loan market as it can cost loads (as well as it blocking the development of our own younsters).

Every day's a school day.

Norwich's accounts recently showed that they received £6.4m in loan fees last season (when they were a Prem team). Looking at their loan list that season that £6.4m was spread across 14 or so players, but would likely be concentrated on 6 big loans (Cantwell to Bournemouth etc). 

That's Norwich's prices. Imagine what the big Clubs are charging.

It's not a guaranteed cheap option at all.

[Loco Rojo]

7 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Yes, it was a joke (it was me).

The 2 players named by the questioner for successful loan players included Andy Cole FFS, & he’s in his 50s now.

I was pointing out that people quickly forget shit, expensive loans, but as is often the case, my sarcasm was lost on a fair few people, including Tinns, according to @Merrick's Marvels who was sat next to me..

I thought Tins recognised it was sarcastic (if I did, he must have done) - his reaction suggested (to me anyway) that he thought it was funny.

[Loco Rojo]

21 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

Norwich's accounts recently showed that they received £6.4m in loan fees last season (when they were a Prem team). Looking at their loan list that season that £6.4m was spread across 14 or so players, but would likely be concentrated on 6 big loans (Cantwell to Bournemouth etc). 

That's Norwich's prices. Imagine what the big Clubs are charging.

It's not a guaranteed cheap option at all.

Imagine if City could make that amount from the loans we send out. Would be a great little earner.   I do appreciate City probably have a similar approach when clubs come calling to loan our players (not suggesting we make money anywhere near that).

It does highlight though just how lucrative a business (within a business of a football club) can be doesn't it.

Goes to show how good events like last night are. I know what was discussed may not be new information for lots of people on here but I find it really helpful to hear it from the 'horses mouth' as you often get to hear more details and context.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Loco Rojo

[Red Skin]

I subscribe to the club's YouTube channel and got an alert about it.  

[ExiledAjax]

Just gone up on the Clubs YouTube channel. Not sure why this is just showing a link though...

Warning. Some viewers may find this content offensive.

https://youtu.be/KZsf2qciHpo

Edited October 28, 2022 by ExiledAjax

[Bristol Rob]

 

 

[The Exiled Robin]

12 hours ago, IAmNick said:

Brilliant, thanks.

Was watching on youtube an hour or so behind and it randomly cut out halfway through. Hopefully it'll be uploaded properly at some point.

Just has been

[Stockwood gate]

I was there last night and one thing people haven’t mentioned is what he said about black managers and coaches in the game  , he mentioned this when asked about Jason Ewell being employed if people want to slag him off okay fine but we  also we need to praise him for his positive position on black managers etc role models in the game even though he says Curtis Fleming never shuts up that got people laughing , i asked the question about why we are poor against physical teams thank god I don’t ask him questions ever week poor reporters

[ExiledAjax]

Anyone fancy chatting about the fans forum?

I thought it was great to hear some details around the season tickets. Teenagers up, adults down, and a slight increase overall. But also a significant migration to the south stand within the stadium.

I'd also like to compliment those who attended for asking some really thoughtful questions in a polite manner. I'm proud of our fanbase after watching the video of last night. Fan engagement is a two way street and we have to demonstrate to the Club that it's worth them doing things like last night. Well done to all.

[Davefevs]

Interesting comments re back 3 and front 2…which was the point the YouTube feed stopped last night for me.

If nothing else it still highlights that we can’t evolve the squad as quickly as Nige would like and are “making do”.  Not one poster on OTIB has Vyner in their preferred starting line-up, yet he’s been an ever present in the league.  And he’s generally done ok too.  Combo of having talkers like Naismith and Klose alongside him has helped too I’m sure.

[Bristol Rob]

So what we have learnt is that offence is rarely offered but chosen to accept; and that Nige has been walking in the Mendips.

Oh, and loans in are quite expensive. Which if we being fair here, Mark Ashton mostly had covered off with an agreement to buy if it worked out.

[One Team]

One thing I think we did understand is there doesn’t appear to be an opportunity for Mark Ashton to come back to replace RG!

[ExiledAjax]

6 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Interesting comments re back 3 and front 2…which was the point the YouTube feed stopped last night for me.

If nothing else it still highlights that we can’t evolve the squad as quickly as Nige would like and are “making do”.  Not one poster on OTIB has Vyner in their preferred starting line-up, yet he’s been an ever present in the league.  And he’s generally done ok too.  Combo of having talkers like Naismith and Klose alongside him has helped too I’m sure.

Haven't quite got to the formation bits yet.

I'm up to the question about Euell. Again I thought that was answered well by Nige. Pearson is clearly conscious of his own weaknesses and values a member of staff who brings things to the table that he doesn't have - including a black role model for some of our squad to relate to. Giving Euell some credit for our attacking prowess as well. Sounds like he's really happy with his staff at the moment.

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

So what we have learnt is that offence is rarely offered but chosen to accept; and that Nige has been walking in the Mendips.

Oh, and loans in are quite expensive. Which if we being fair here, Mark Ashton mostly had covered off with an agreement to buy if it worked out.

Dasilva - yep (£2.5m) took option

Diony - yep (£8m was the rumoured figure if we went up) didn’t take option

Pereira - yep (£4.5m rumoured) didn’t take option

Afobe - yep (no idea on cost) didn’t take option

Abraham - nope

Kalas - nope

Palmer - nope

Woodrow - nope

Mawson - nope

Sessegnon - nope

just trying to remember if there were any more that had an option to buy, only recall the top four.  Happy for any corrections.

[GrahamC]

1 hour ago, ExiledAjax said:

Anyone fancy chatting about the fans forum?

I thought it was great to hear some details around the season tickets. Teenagers up, adults down, and a slight increase overall. But also a significant migration to the south stand within the stadium.

I'd also like to compliment those who attended for asking some really thoughtful questions in a polite manner. I'm proud of our fanbase after watching the video of last night. Fan engagement is a two way street and we have to demonstrate to the Club that it's worth them doing things like last night. Well done to all.

Good point.

I expected to log on and find threads on our struggles at set pieces & maybe one on FFP.

Didn’t think for one minute I’d see the name Kenny Everett, but what do I know?

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, ExiledAjax said:

I thought it was great to hear some details around the season tickets. Teenagers up, adults down, and a slight increase overall. But also a significant migration to the south stand within the stadium.

That bit about teenagers up, that's good. You 'hook' them young, good chance that loyalty stays persistent.

Not all of course, people move away, life circs change etc etc but that is interesting and positive.

Football behind the goal, appeals to a lot of people. I always preferred it myself although it's a personal preference of course, the idea of an 'End'. Guess side on, the shape and tactics can be followed more readily?