Mbude.

[Silvio Dante]

2 minutes ago, petehinton said:

I’ve messaged Piercy to see if he can ask for it to be clarified

It certainly doesn’t add up does it. Manning said something like “he’s had permit issues in Belgium, I know because I’ve been there myself”. Only thing I can think is if it’s some odd tax thing that’s way above our heads. 
 

Genuinely felt sorry for him. Hopefully just a one off. But if today is anything to go by, wouldn’t be shocked to see Nelson back on the bench over him if they’ve maybe under egged how much work he needs to get up to speed to the demands of the level after so much time without games. 

The bit I don’t get is why they’d lie. The only rationale I can come up with there is that they thought by saying so it’d be a more exciting signing than a guy who hadn’t played 90 minutes of senior football and couldn’t get in the team at a lower level - it gave positive mitigation for spin.

But, to be clear, if they did lie it’s both not surprising and totally in character.

[pongo88]

Is he Louis Diony’s long lost brother?

[ashton_fan]

I certainly wouldn't write him off yet, he obviously needs more time in the U21's plus some coaching before he's ready again. I remember thinking Semenyo wasn't that good when he first came into the team and Scotty had some poor games early on, he obviously did well at City's academy so can't be as rubbish as people on here are making out.

[petehinton]

2 minutes ago, ashton_fan said:

I certainly wouldn't write him off yet, he obviously needs more time in the U21's plus some coaching before he's ready again. I remember thinking Semenyo wasn't that good when he first came into the team and Scotty had some poor games early on, he obviously did well at City's academy so can't be as rubbish as people on here are making out.

That would be fine….if he was our player. But he isn’t. If we’ve signed someone on loan to end up in the 21s, that’s a right old mess. 

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, JP Hampton said:

Definitely. Little boy lost. If he’s fast no one was using that element. He seemed a bit fixed in one position. Hopefully time will improve things. 
 

And that’s not a criticism of him. Poor decision to pay him. 

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

I think you me and Fevs had a conversation a few weeks ago about DM where we were trying to figure out the lack of game time in Belgium - Tinnion and Manning said work permit issues but when we looked into that seemed not to hold water. It seems from that performance (and potentially why he didn’t play in Belgium) that he’s just one who is fine in U21s football but is nowhere near ready for senior level.

FWIW when he signed, and probably like virtually everyone on here, I’d never heard of him, I ignored the Man City u21 games that got put out.

I watched some clips of him in his recent friendly against Bucharest where he played LW.  And it was not dissimilar to what we saw today.

However I did watch some clips of those early league games, where he played on the right, and he looked better.

+++++

I’ve no idea @Top Robin whether this was Technical Recruitment led or Liam Manning led (City Group contacts), and it doesn’t really matter.  It’s a low risk “gamble” where the upside is we could buy him in the summer and it’s a masterstroke.  The downside is he blocks someone else getting opportunity.

[Silvio Dante]

1 minute ago, ashton_fan said:

I certainly wouldn't write him off yet, he obviously needs more time in the U21's plus some coaching before he's ready again. I remember thinking Semenyo wasn't that good when he first came into the team and Scotty had some poor games early on, he obviously did well at City's academy so can't be as rubbish as people on here are making out.

Without saying you’re wrong - all this has to be predicated on the fact he’s not our player, and the team whose player he is paid £1.5m less than a year ago so will want a large chunk of that back.

So, although you think he may need some time in the U21s and some coaching, we have 13 first team games left this season. Bluntly, he doesn’t have time for a spell in the U21s for us to make a decision on him and if we spent anywhere near £1.5m on him without having seen significant signs he could do it at first team level then I think we’d all be annoyed.

If you think he needs U21 time then by default we aren’t - or shouldn’t be - signing him because of the finances involved.

As for the academy piece, football is littered with players who did well in academies that didn’t make it. It’s a huge leap to men’s football, and he wouldn’t be the first to do well in a good team at academy level then not make it long term.

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

I think it’s something that Piercy etc should be all over. Manning and Tinnion both said he hadn’t played much due to work permit issues. However, he did play early on, there is nothing in the media about work permit issues making him unavailable over there and if you search the work permit regulations for professional sportsmen in Belgium he appears to meet them. Add in that he was Westerloos 5th biggest signing ever and you’d imagine they’d be all over ensuring they could play him.

My working theory is that there were no work permit issues. Westerloo signed him based on the performance in Man City U21s. When they saw him in senior football he wasn’t up to standard yet, so they were happy to loan him out (with option to get rid)

Or, the TL:DR theory is that Tinnion still thinks it’s 1970 and we can’t get info on foreign countries readily, and is once more bullshitting.

I’d put money on it.

As you said earlier, we discussed and did some digging.  Nothing.

Can only speculate that there was an issue that was found out after he played and that stopped him from playing.  But onky guessing.

[JP Hampton]

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

FWIW when he signed, and probably like virtually everyone on here, I’d never heard of him, I ignored the Man City u21 games that got put out.

I watched some clips of him in his recent friendly against Bucharest where he played LW.  And it was not dissimilar to what we saw today.

However I did watch some clips of those early league games, where he played on the right, and he looked better.

+++++

I’ve no idea @Top Robin whether this was Technical Recruitment led or Liam Manning led (City Group contacts), and it doesn’t really matter.  It’s a low risk “gamble” where the upside is we could buy him in the summer and it’s a masterstroke.  The downside is he blocks someone else getting opportunity.

Interesting. Well for his sake and ours, we will ideally work out how best to use him and/or if he’s ready for this level and do it quickly. 
 

 I had no idea what to expect when he came on today, but as we were 1-0 down, I couldn’t see why he was chosen over tried and tested experienced players. I’m afraid he added nothing in his limited time on the pitch, but actually there weren’t many players that did, in all fairness. 

[TDarwall]

I can confirm the rules around writing insurance in Belgium are quite complex due to the Central Banks enhanced "Know Your Customer" rules. If the Central Bank write the rules for Belgian footy transfers that might explain.

[JP Hampton]

3 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Without saying you’re wrong - all this has to be predicated on the fact he’s not our player, and the team whose player he is paid £1.5m less than a year ago so will want a large chunk of that back.

So, although you think he may need some time in the U21s and some coaching, we have 13 first team games left this season. Bluntly, he doesn’t have time for a spell in the U21s for us to make a decision on him and if we spent anywhere near £1.5m on him without having seen significant signs he could do it at first team level then I think we’d all be annoyed.

If you think he needs U21 time then by default we aren’t - or shouldn’t be - signing him because of the finances involved.

As for the academy piece, football is littered with players who did well in academies that didn’t make it. It’s a huge leap to men’s football, and he wouldn’t be the first to do well in a good team at academy level then not make it long term.

You’re right. He was a “for now” player and that’s what he needs to be, albeit with some settling in time. 

[McNasty Filth]

Felt for this guy. Could it be overwhelming nerves, I don't know, but his brain just looked scrambled after a couple of minutes so could've been the realisation that he had to produce as the pressure was on, bit different to being two three nil up.

Surely anxiety must've overtaken him to look that bad, how else do you explain some of the decisions he was making. There will be some players out there that will never be able to deal with the pressure of playing in front of a large amount of people, musicians call it stage fright.

Just watched his 22/23 season highlights. Like people say it's just kids/teenagers football so you can't really tell, but he does look as though he's got something about him!

[GrahamC]

27 minutes ago, JP Hampton said:

You’re right. He was a “for now” player and that’s what he needs to be, albeit with some settling in time. 

He’s 19 though & has started one senior game in his entire career.

I think we are having a look to see if he’s worth the fee but it is a gamble to chuck him on like we did today.

I’ll be very surprised if we do so again for quite a while.

[Silvio Dante]

7 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

He’s 19 though & has started one senior game in his entire career.

I think we are having a look to see if he’s worth the fee but it is a gamble to chuck him on like we did today.

I’ll be very surprised if we do so again for quite a while.

I think Nige used to say that a player who was 19/20 needed to be around the first team at that age if they were to make it. There will be exceptions but it’s a pretty sound theory when you look historically. So for a 19 year old to have that little experience suggests the odds are against him, with those odds shortening further the higher the level he seeks to make it at.

[1960maaan]

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

He’s 19 though & has started one senior game in his entire career.

I think we are having a look to see if he’s worth the fee but it is a gamble to chuck him on like we did today.

I’ll be very surprised if we do so again for quite a while.

I thought it was an incredibly odd signing as a loan. If he was on Manning's Radar from Man City then ok, if we want to have a look to see if he's worth a punt, OK. But the kid has played a part of 3 games in his career before he came here , to bring him on in a Championship game you are chasing is madness.

I couldn't get my head around the praise he got the other night, a mate repeated it today. He played 11 minutes in a game that was won . I'll repeat what others have said, the subs today were very poor.

Edited February 17 by 1960maaan

[pillred]

3 hours ago, Sir Geoff said:

Would like yo know how he is in anyway better than Yeboah. He was was awful for 30 minutes today.

And I don't particularly rate Yeboah (yet).

A bit like the whole team (well most of them) he looked pretty promising against the Saints collectively today was a massive comedown.

[Ivorguy]

4 hours ago, ashton_fan said:

I certainly wouldn't write him off yet, he obviously needs more time in the U21's plus some coaching before he's ready again. I remember thinking Semenyo wasn't that good when he first came into the team and Scotty had some poor games early on, he obviously did well at City's academy so can't be as rubbish as people on here are making out.

You say he needs some coaching before he is ready.  I agree completely. Sadly though he’s come to the wrong club at the wrong time for that

[Curr Avon]

11 hours ago, petehinton said:

I’ve messaged Piercy to see if he can ask for it to be clarified

It certainly doesn’t add up does it. Manning said something like “he’s had permit issues in Belgium, I know because I’ve been there myself”. Only thing I can think is if it’s some odd tax thing that’s way above our heads. 
 

Genuinely felt sorry for him. Hopefully just a one off. But if today is anything to go by, wouldn’t be shocked to see Nelson back on the bench over him if they’ve maybe under egged how much work he needs to get up to speed to the demands of the level after so much time without games. 

There was definitely no visa issues, or anything linked to Brexit that Manning stated in an Evening Post article. That was confirmed to me by the KVC Westerlo correspondent Kersten Steurbaut at Gazet van Antwerpen. Mebude only had a problem entering Turkey for a pre-season training camp.

Edited February 18 by Curr Avon

[Silvio Dante]

11 minutes ago, Curr Avon said:

There was definitely no visa issues, or anything linked to Brexit that Manning stated in an Evening Post article. That was confirmed to me by the KVC Westerlo correspondent Kersten Steurbaut at Gazet van Antwerpen. Mebude only had a problem entering Turkey for a pre-season training camp.

That is interesting. The way it was framed by Tinnion and Manning was that DM hadn’t played due to visa issues, indicating he wasn’t allowed to play in the Belgian league. I don’t doubt that missing out on some or all of the pre season camp may impact your playing time - but not to the extent that you don’t kick a ball and your club are happy to get rid of you six months later, particularly when they’re not pulling up any trees and you’re one of their biggest ever signings.

I think my theory of “Tinnion (and Manning here) bullshitting” becomes more sound by the day. And to be clear, that’s not DMs fault. But for a club who are already having issues in how they communicate it’s bloody stupid at best.

[Curr Avon]

13 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

That is interesting. The way it was framed by Tinnion and Manning was that DM hadn’t played due to visa issues, indicating he wasn’t allowed to play in the Belgian league. I don’t doubt that missing out on some or all of the pre season camp may impact your playing time - but not to the extent that you don’t kick a ball and your club are happy to get rid of you six months later, particularly when they’re not pulling up any trees and you’re one of their biggest ever signings.

I think my theory of “Tinnion (and Manning here) bullshitting” becomes more sound by the day. And to be clear, that’s not DMs fault. But for a club who are already having issues in how they communicate it’s bloody stupid at best.

As I've already read out the full message on the FBC Podcast, here it is..  

"Hello Mark,

About Dire. From what I know there haven't been problems with visa problems or Brexit issues. Dire has played in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th game of the season. Not long after he arrived at the Club. Before training camp he had some passport problems to enter Turkey. He didn't have the right passport, but he only joined the group one day later. 

About his performances. In his first game, a 30 minute substitution against Club Brugge, he made a good impression with some nice dribbles and individual actions. Two games later he was rewarded with a starting spot against Anderlecht. It was a terrible performance and he was subbed during half time. As he played that game as a rightback, it might be an excuse as he's not used to that position. 

That are the only things I can remember about him, as I didn't see him play with the U23. During training camp - which he left for a few days as his brother has had a car accident and was fighting for his life - he has been used as a sub in friendly game against 1.FC Bocholt and Rapid Bucarest. He played well - quick and hungry to show himself - and tried to make some actions. 

Apart from that I can't tell you much about him. If you need some more info, I can ask the press officer of the club."

 

Here's the Evening Post article with the Manning quote; https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/liam-manning-believes-belgian-struggles-9078769.amp

Edited February 18 by Curr Avon

[Silvio Dante]

10 minutes ago, Curr Avon said:

As I've already read out the full message on the FBC Podcast, here it is..  

"Hello Mark,

About Dire. From what I know there haven't been problems with visa problems or Brexit issues. Dire has played in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th game of the season. Not long after he arrived at the Club. Before training camp he had some passport problems to enter Turkey. He didn't have the right passport, but he only joined the group one day later. 

About his performances. In his first game, a 30 minute substitution against Club Brugge, he made a good impression with some nice dribbles and individual actions. Two games later he was rewarded with a starting spot against Anderlecht. It was a terrible performance and he was subbed during half time. As he played that game as a rightback, it might be an excuse as he's not used to that position. 

That are the only things I can remember about him, as I didn't see him play with the U23. During training camp - which he left for a few days as his brother has had a car accident and was fighting for his life - he has been used as a sub in friendly game against 1.FC Bocholt and Rapid Bucarest. He played well - quick and hungry to show himself - and tried to make some actions. 

Apart from that I can't tell you much about him. If you need some more info, I can ask the press officer of the club."

 

Here's the Evening Post article with the Manning quote; https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/liam-manning-believes-belgian-struggles-9078769.amp

Thanks.

So, the horses mouth quote from Liam Manning of “He couldn’t play for two or three months because of visa issues, because of Brexit” is, per your sources (which I’m inclined to believe), an absolute straight out lie.

Whether that lie has been fed to him by higher ups or whether he decided to say it himself off piste is not known.

However, it is clear that Liam has outright lied. And it’s not a lie such as “Matty James won’t make the game” and then playing him - we all understand those. It’s a lie with disregard to the fans.

FFS!

[Bedminster]

When Bell goes off, I thought it was telling that Manning brought on Cornick over him. Our brand new signing being left on the bench in place of a competition winner. 

Manning seeing him train and still brings on Cornick over you. Shame really as he looked good in his cameo on Tuesday. 

[Bedminster]

13 hours ago, JAWS said:

We had a fee agreed for Diony too 

Seven Million Quid haha

[robin_unreliant]

11 hours ago, McNasty Filth said:

Felt for this guy. Could it be overwhelming nerves, I don't know, but his brain just looked scrambled after a couple of minutes so could've been the realisation that he had to produce as the pressure was on, bit different to being two three nil up.

Surely anxiety must've overtaken him to look that bad, how else do you explain some of the decisions he was making. There will be some players out there that will never be able to deal with the pressure of playing in front of a large amount of people, musicians call it stage fright.

Just watched his 22/23 season highlights. Like people say it's just kids/teenagers football so you can't really tell, but he does look as though he's got something about him!

I thought the kid looked really nervous and unsure what to do. Won't help playing in a team that is getting boos at the end I suspect.

[Gratz260689]

Not the best performance, but didn’t help that roberts was having an absolute shocker behind him, I think mebude was trying too hard as it was the basic things that wasn’t coming off!! 

[1960maaan]

Putting aside the fact he has played little football to warrant any adulation , it was a poisoned chalice being thrown on in a game we had little control, shape or idea. 
The Subs were strange . Cornick on when we had Sykes, Sykes comes on at FB and when Conway came on we had 5 attacking players but no obvious shape . 

TBH I'd be watching the kid for the U21s for a couple of games, but if he is going to be thrown in , then games like Southampton are the best bet. Games we have a foothold and are doing well in. By the time he came on yesterday we had lost the plot and had reached panic mode. It's not like we were throwing on a Semenyo , at least not yet.

[Gimme Shelton]

As I think only one other person has referred to in this thread so far,why bring on an untried teenager when you have Twine on the bench? Very strange decision Liam

[Bazooka Joe]

13 hours ago, pongo88 said:

Is he Louis Diony’s long lost brother?

More like a combination of Diony and Bas Savage.

On that showing, we’ve been well and truly mugged off.

What really boils my piss is that, as always, so many of us fell for another of their “we may have unearthed another nugget” PR stunts.

So far, it looks like Fools Gold to me.

[Northern Red]

1 hour ago, Bedminster said:

When Bell goes off, I thought it was telling that Manning brought on Cornick over him. Our brand new signing being left on the bench in place of a competition winner. 

Manning seeing him train and still brings on Cornick over you. Shame really as he looked good in his cameo on Tuesday. 

Cornick who came on and scored the other night and has been playing well recently?

[Arden Red1]

When Sykes came on he didn't do a lot, gave me the impression  he didn't want to be on the pitch 

[petehinton]

8 minutes ago, Arden Red1 said:

When Sykes came on he didn't do a lot, gave me the impression  he didn't want to be on the pitch 

Didn’t look ready to me, and either way was a total waste of bringing on our best wide attacker to play at RB.