Telegraph Article Liam Manning

[Polly]

Liam Manning: Nine training sessions in 60 days will not stop Bristol City taking fight to West Ham

 

Exclusive: Despite back-to-back fixtures and limited recovery time, there is a quiet confidence within the West Country side

 

Tom Morgan, SPORTS NEWS CORRESPONDENT7 January 2024 • 4:00pm

 

Liam Manning, Bristol city manager, has led nine full training sessions in his two months at the club CREDIT: Andrew Fox/Telegraph

Liam Manning is 60 days into his mission to deliver Premier League football to a south-west region starved of the top tier for 44 years.

A midwinter Championship whirlwind of back-to-back fixtures and recovery time has allowed only nine full training sessions for the Bristol City head coach. However, a nugget of non-footballing feedback raised by his players during a heart-to-heart debrief this week reassured the highly-regarded 38-year-old that the right philosophies are already hitting home.

“We were talking this morning about what we learned in December and the big things we took away,” says Manning, inviting Telegraph Sport into his office after a squad summit at the club’s training base in rural Failand, North Somerset.

The players discussed an encouraging month of three wins, two defeats and two draws, and then an immensely frustrating recent loss against Millwall. But in a frank exchange of views around bravery and priorities, the players volunteered conversations they had with families enduring real-life turmoil at Children’s Hospice South West.

“We spent some time with a host of families and we invited one of the lads who’s unfortunately not got long left to spend some time with us,” Manning explained. “It really struck me that they raised this. We’re talking about football, winning games, losing games, and that was one thing that hit quite a few of them. When you have bereavements in the family, it’s a bigger picture perspective.”

‘We’re lucky, we’re passionate, we’re obsessive’

Manning is speaking from experience, having lost his own father at 11. “I think that created the fire in the belly for me a little bit,” he says. “That was always my way of channelling it into football. And that’s always been there.

“In football, we’re lucky. We’re passionate, we’re obsessive. We’re quite selfish at times with how we have to be in the industry. Then stepping outside that bubble and having that bigger picture perspective helps when you come back in.”

For the unfamiliar, Manning’s career appears to be ahead of schedule. In November, after the relatively popular Nigel Pearson was sacked, few City fans had heard of the man being prized away from Oxford United, who were then flying high in League One. City’s mouth-watering fixture against West Ham in the FA Cup on Sunday is another reminder of Manning’s rapid rise, having been coaching the Hammers’ Under-23s just four years ago.

However, childhood grief, playing career knockbacks and work in the real world have given Manning a unique route to emerging as one of England’s most promising managers under 40. “Every challenge, every setback – you go one or two ways with it,” he said, having been released by Ipswich as a tough-tackling midfielder, aged 21. “You either fight or flight.”

‘None of it is wasted if the attitude is on the money’

For much of his 20s, every spare hour was filled working at a school, playing part-time and then securing various coaching qualifications. “I didn’t make it as a player through not being good enough,” he acknowledges. “But I got offered the academy job at Ipswich because of the values I had as a person and the behaviours I showed as a youth team player.

“None of it is wasted if the attitude is on the money. I worked as hard as I could constantly. I was really open to learning. I was fully committed in everything I did. If I didn’t show those behaviours, I don’t think I’d have been given the opportunity to go and coach in the academy.”

Manning is a graduate of the Premier League’s Elite Coach Accreditation Scheme and said he loved the “cross learning” with other sectors. He met with Google, Saatchi and Saatchi and the Lawn Tennis Association. “I like the military too – the processes, how they work, communication, clarity, and chain of command,” he said.

An openness to sharing ideas was music to the ears of City owner Steve Lansdown, the Bristolian financial services billionaire who also has control of Bristol Bears rugby and Bristol Flyers basketball teams. Manning speaks regularly with Lansdown’s son Jon, who is now City chairman, and he will be in the stands for matches later this month when the schedule is “more forgiving”.

There is a mood of quiet confidence around City, despite a mixed reaction among the fanbase to Pearson’s departure in the autumn. The club has trimmed the wage bill significantly since former chief executive Richard Gould admitted to Telegraph Sport they had been perilously close to breaching spending rules because of overspending under previous regimes. Pure profits from a talent production factory, headed up by former player and manager Brian Tinnion, has helped hugely, most recently with the £25 million sale of Alex Scott to Bournemouth.

 

As he settles in at Ashton Gate – a stadium now fit to grace the top division – Manning sees plenty of potential. “As well as the academy, it’s the profile of the team,” he says. “Look at someone who has not come through here like [midfielder] Jason Knight – the volume of games he’s got and the age he is at [22].

“It’s almost where we want to get to, but the way that we want to do it and the strategy of how to get there – and that is young coachable mouldable players with the right balance of experience alongside it. Having that clarity of what the club is and how we want to get there was a big attraction.”

That said, he “hopes” the club has more business to do in the January transfer window. “We’re working extremely hard to add to it but sometimes these things can be out of our hands.”

Whoever City bring in, Manning, one of many managers in favour of a mid-season break for his players, will maintain a focus on culture at the club, which he says must be talked about “before you can get to tactics”.

“When you talk about the game and the fluid state of it, it’s all underpinned by ‘can you focus for 95/100 minutes’,” he says.

The most obvious example of the model mindset is Declan Rice, who Manning coached for several years as he made the step up to the first-team at West Ham, although he is modest about his role with the England midfielder.

“A coach said to me once ‘they’re all diamonds, we just buff them up a bit along the way’,” he explained. “It’s all on the player ultimately.”

However, he said the record £105 million Arsenal signing had levels of resilience that he now preaches to his City squad.  “We deal with challenges and setbacks in different ways and I think that’s definitely a problem we’re going to face even more with where the world’s at currently.”

Of his wider outlook, Manning says a “sense of entitlement” in society is one of his biggest concerns. He stays away from social media, instead relying on Chris Hogg, his straight-talking assistant who joins him everywhere, to give him honest appraisals and wife Fran to put him in his place. With such grown up perspectives, this face for the future is excited about going toe-to-toe with 60-year-old Moyes. “He’s a terrific role model for someone like myself,” Manning adds.

 

[And Its Smith]

Impossible not to like Manning. Seems like a top guy 

Edited January 7 by And Its Smith

[Davefevs]

32 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Impossible not to like Manning. Seems like a top guy 

I kinda like some of his little mannerisms, the “right” at the end of statement, stuff like that.

I was chatting to a couple of people the other day, and I use the “genuine” word a bit about him.  I have absolutely no doubt he knows what he’s trying to achieve and his way of playing.  But the Championship is brutal, especially when you don’t have the best players (like Martin at Southampton), so I think it is important that he does stick to his principles, processes etc.  I think he will be able to evaluate better by doing that.

The club wanted to go with this type of coach, ignore the “front foot, blah, blah, blah” stuff blurted out, it’s what Manning brings that’s important rather than fitting a clichéd set of words.  I do think he’ll have been surprised by the Championship a bit though, the nous of guys in the opposite dug-out and how fine the margins really are, especially beneath the top few.

[TDarwall]

I quite like him, I like his calmness & how he preaches not getting too high/too low etc.  He has the air of someone who is quietly confident.

The fact is though, every good result will see a "hard to dislike him" thread & most poor one's there will be a "robotic coach 1.1" type thread.

 

 

[Silvio Dante]

2 minutes ago, TDarwall said:

The fact is though, every good result will see a "hard to dislike him" thread & most poor one's there will be a "robotic coach 1.1" type thread.

 

 

Yup. I personally couldn’t care if he goes home and drowns kittens. I don’t need to like him, I need him to deliver for the football club.
 

The fact is that had this article been published after we’d been pumped, then people would have picked up on the Army/Saatchi and Saatchi part as being very similar to something LJ once said, and also that having only 9 training sessions (assumedly sessions not based on other teams as opposed to 9 sessions fullstop) is just a function of being appointed mid season - and again speaks to why changing too much too quickly was probably a misstep. The truth as ever is somewhere in the middle - he’s not LJ and he has only had 9 “sessions” but in a loss that would have been viewed as an excuse and not a reason.

I thought he managed that well today with the little tweaks like Knight dropping in and we pressed with purpose as needed. The result was more than merited and with my glass half full that’s four good performances in the last six. I don’t think anyone will be objecting if that hit rate is maintained for the rest of the season and that’s probably the time to decide whether it’s “impossible not to like/dislike him” as opposed to the euphoria of a top notch performance and result at a premier league club.

[Sir Geoff]

23 minutes ago, TDarwall said:

I quite like him, I like his calmness & how he preaches not getting too high/too low etc.  He has the air of someone who is quietly confident.

The fact is though, every good result will see a "hard to dislike him" thread & most poor one's there will be a "robotic coach 1.1" type thread.

 

 

Cue the 'Give the man some credit' thread that has just appeared.

Edited January 7 by Sir Geoff
edit text

[TDarwall]

8 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Yup. I personally couldn’t care if he goes home and drowns kittens. 

Did he interact much with Kurt Zouma per chance today? 

[redkev]

From what I have seen so far ( still very early days ) I think we have a top coach who knows exactly what he wants my issue is do Bristol city currently have the players to carry out his principles / methods / ideas ( not in any way is a slur on the players ) 

[BCFCGav]

It’s a squad and manager that’s easy to be proud of. And Manning’s high potential as a manager has shone through at times in his early tenure. I think he’ll have a long, successful career. I hope beyond hope his first big success is here, and he’s not one that goes onto big things elsewhere and we’re left saying ‘what if’.

[Port Said Red]

9 full training sessions puts a bit of perspective on suggestions that he has been here long enough to make real changes.

[Fordy62]

I didn’t enjoy his reference to the military. Brought back dark memories of coaches of yesteryear. 

[Bobtherobin]

12 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

Yup. I personally couldn’t care if he goes home and drowns kittens. I don’t need to like him, I need him to deliver for the football club.
 

The fact is that had this article been published after we’d been pumped, then people would have picked up on the Army/Saatchi and Saatchi part as being very similar to something LJ once said, and also that having only 9 training sessions (assumedly sessions not based on other teams as opposed to 9 sessions fullstop) is just a function of being appointed mid season - and again speaks to why changing too much too quickly was probably a misstep. The truth as ever is somewhere in the middle - he’s not LJ and he has only had 9 “sessions” but in a loss that would have been viewed as an excuse and not a reason.

I thought he managed that well today with the little tweaks like Knight dropping in and we pressed with purpose as needed. The result was more than merited and with my glass half full that’s four good performances in the last six. I don’t think anyone will be objecting if that hit rate is maintained for the rest of the season and that’s probably the time to decide whether it’s “impossible not to like/dislike him” as opposed to the euphoria of a top notch performance and result at a premier league club.

I definitely would care if he went home and drowned kittens. 

[Out of his pie crust]

14 minutes ago, Ryan said:

I definitely would care if he went home and drowned kittens. 

I think we’re ok. He’s not Joey Barton

[RedRoss]

I like the perspective given on how young our team is.

We had 5 players 22 and under in the team yesterday and they are regulars in the league. All with decent experience already.

Even the other players are a few years from touching 30.

5 of these players are home grown from our academy.

I think alot of this is missed with the over negativity after a loss or the hysteria after a win. If I was a fan from another team looking in I'd think we are doing something right.

[BigTone]

1 hour ago, Port Said Red said:

9 full training sessions puts a bit of perspective on suggestions that he has been here long enough to make real changes.

I would have thought he would have led many more than 9 in a 60 day period

[grifty]

12 hours ago, redkev said:

From what I have seen so far ( still very early days ) I think we have a top coach who knows exactly what he wants my issue is do Bristol city currently have the players to carry out his principles / methods / ideas ( not in any way is a slur on the players ) 

Well that's what Manning will be assessing now. The ones that he can get to carry out his principles will stay, the ones he can mould/coach into it will get time to and the ones that refuse or simply can't/are really not able to will be sold and replaced with players from the first two categories.

[Port Said Red]

12 minutes ago, BigTone said:

I would have thought he would have led many more than 9 in a 60 day period

I suppose it depends what the definition of a "full session" is, does he mean full scale matches with all players present? There is a lot of other work shown on the Uncut videos, on specifics which would eat into the time available.

[Davefevs]

59 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

I suppose it depends what the definition of a "full session" is, does he mean full scale matches with all players present? There is a lot of other work shown on the Uncut videos, on specifics which would eat into the time available.

Was gonna post the same.  Depends what he means by full sessions and the purpose / focus, because we know he’s had lots of “other” sessions.  In pre-season when you take out fitness work, friendlies, rest, etc, how many full sessions do you get then?  I think it’s one of those things that makes us say “omg, no wonder it’s gonna take time”, but the reality is probably a bit different for the players.

[Bobtherobin]

1 hour ago, Out of his pie crust said:

I think we’re ok. He’s not Joey Barton

Exactly my point but I dont want type his name and its too early for my usual description. Results matter up to a point. 

[spudski]

He's the second young coach we've had, who's been quoted on something that concerns him.

Quote...

'Of his wider outlook, Manning says a “sense of entitlement” in society is one of his biggest concerns.'

Man managing young players who have this attitude seems a problem, not just in football, but in all careers..

I've had it recently with youngsters in the work place, and others I know who are friends in managerial roles, have similar experiences they speak about. 

It seems a more common theme. And some of them aren't that ' young'. 

 

[Merrick's Marvels]

3 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

I didn’t enjoy his reference to the military. Brought back dark memories of coaches of yesteryear. 

Imagine how good Manning will be once he's found the time to visit a few 5star Michelin restaurants! 

When's his birthday, perhaps we can club together and buy him a grass-measuring stick?  

[The Original OTIB]

3 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

I didn’t enjoy his reference to the military. Brought back dark memories of coaches of yesteryear. 

Fred Ford?

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Imagine how good Manning will be once he's found the time to visit a few 5star Michelin restaurants! 

When's his birthday, perhaps we can club together and buy him a grass-measuring stick?  

We can sign that French player Soufflé then

[Charlie BCFC]

3 hours ago, Out of his pie crust said:

I think we’re ok. He’s not Joey Barton

Somehow I think he’d do worse than that looking at his Twitter account recently 

[bearded_red]

Finding his habit of being front and centre after a good result and sneaking off down the tunnel after a bad result very irritating.

Feel the comparisons with Lee Johnson are on the whole very unfair, but I’m afraid this behaviour is very Lee Johnson.

Of course it’s ultimately completely irrelevant in regards to how good a football manager he is, but it’s still irritating nonetheless.

Edited January 8 by bearded_red

[Red-Robbo]

17 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I kinda like some of his little mannerisms, the “right” at the end of statement, stuff like that.

I was chatting to a couple of people the other day, and I use the “genuine” word a bit about him.  I have absolutely no doubt he knows what he’s trying to achieve and his way of playing.  But the Championship is brutal, especially when you don’t have the best players (like Martin at Southampton), so I think it is important that he does stick to his principles, processes etc.  I think he will be able to evaluate better by doing that.

The club wanted to go with this type of coach, ignore the “front foot, blah, blah, blah” stuff blurted out, it’s what Manning brings that’s important rather than fitting a clichéd set of words.  I do think he’ll have been surprised by the Championship a bit though, the nous of guys in the opposite dug-out and how fine the margins really are, especially beneath the top few.

 

Exactly. He's not paid to be a fascinating orator. 

With football, the proof is in the pudding: you either get results or you don't.  Plenty talk the talk; not all walk the walk.

Manning seems as aware as us fans that he is trying to get points on the board with a sparse squad and no absolutely outstanding talents - don't get me wrong, we've good players, but no more Alex Scotts

He seems quite feet-on-the-ground and sensible , and wedded to the Pearson continuity of getting an identifiable style of play; building a team rather than just coaching individuals. A team can be much more than the sum of its parts. 

Still too early for me to fully assess his impact, but I like a lot of what I see - and read. 

[lenred]

2 hours ago, bearded_red said:

Finding his habit of being front and centre after a good result and sneaking off down the tunnel after a bad result very irritating.

Feel the comparisons with Lee Johnson are on the whole very unfair, but I’m afraid this behaviour is very Lee Johnson.

Of course it’s ultimately completely irrelevant in regards to how good a football manager he is, but it’s still irritating nonetheless.

Tbf to him he came out into the middle and applauded supporters after the Millwall performance.  That’s good enough for me.   If you’re going to come out after a win you have to do it every single match, regardless of the result.  

[bearded_red]

1 minute ago, lenred said:

Tbf to him he came out into the middle and applauded supporters after the Millwall performance.  That’s good enough for me.   If you’re going to come out after a win you have to do it every single match, regardless of the result.  

Ah okay, fair enough, I didn’t see that so maybe I’m being unfair, certainly after other defeats (I think Norwich was the game I particularly noticed it) he’s gone straight down the tunnel.

[lenred]

Just now, bearded_red said:

Ah okay, fair enough, I didn’t see that so maybe I’m being unfair, certainly after other defeats (I think Norwich was the game I particularly noticed it) he’s gone straight down the tunnel.

Yeah you’re right he did.   Just needs to keep it up now!  It’s one of my bugbears - petty maybe but so be it

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

Exactly. He's not paid to be a fascinating orator. 

With football, the proof is in the pudding: you either get results or you don't.  Plenty talk the talk; not all walk the walk.

Manning seems as aware as us fans that he is trying to get points on the board with a sparse squad and no absolutely outstanding talents - don't get me wrong, we've good players, but no more Alex Scotts

He seems quite feet-on-the-ground and sensible , and wedded to the Pearson continuity of getting an identifiable style of play; building a team rather than just coaching individuals. A team can be much more than the sum of its parts. 

Still too early for me to fully assess his impact, but I like a lot of what I see - and read. 

Yeah, that’s a good way of describing him and the other bold bits too.

I think (at this early stage) he rotates better than Nige.