QPR Press Conference

[W-S-M Seagull]

Probably my most enjoyable one from Manning so far. Some really good questions were asked too. 

 

Interesting to hear that Roberts wanted to go out on loan in January.

 

https://youtu.be/2jKqf0gZZxY?si=rUXmt4_jG2IQLz0I

 

https://youtu.be/IZURcKMiJtM?si=ZVTKusOZs4dkTokN

 

 

Edited February 15 by W-S-M Seagull

[Davefevs]

Couple of nuggets in there, weren’t there?

I think he’s been very relaxed these last two or three interviews.

[W-S-M Seagull]

27 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Couple of nuggets in there, weren’t there?

I think he’s been very relaxed these last two or three interviews.

A huge difference from when he first joined. 

He seems to have adapted which I like. Less of all that behaviour stuff. 

[ExiledAjax]

People who say he's unemotional - listen to the bit around 13 minutes in where Manning talks about Atkinson. He sounds genuinely a bit upsaet for Rob, and clearly does have feelingsthere. Pretty clear to me that the bit about removing emotion is about being calm and logical on the pitch. 

2 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

A huge difference from when he first joined. 

He seems to have adapted which I like. Less of all that behaviour stuff. 

He must have been so nervous taking over a big club, and taking over from a big personality and a big name in the game. 

[Scrumpty]

5 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

A huge difference from when he first joined. 

He seems to have adapted which I like. Less of all that behaviour stuff. 

Sorry, have to disagree. I thought he was confident and articulate from day one. Perhaps the biggest change is perception.

[W-S-M Seagull]

2 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

People who say he's unemotional - listen to the bit around 13 minutes in where Manning talks about Atkinson. He sounds genuinely a bit upsaet for Rob, and clearly does have feelingsthere. Pretty clear to me that the bit about removing emotion is about being calm and logical on the pitch. 

He must have been so nervous taking over a big club, and taking over from a big personality and a big name in the game. 

I think in his short time here he has understood that whilst he may remove his emotions our team performs best when it plays to the emotions of the crowd. 

I think he's started to learn the power of a collective spirit. And to be fair to him he's never really managed a team that has had such a big and passionate fan base. 

Just now, Scrumpty said:

Sorry, have to disagree. I thought he was confident and articulate from day one. Perhaps the biggest change is perception.

Nah. There was far too much talk about behaviours and principles. He's now dropped all that talk. 

[Scrumpty]

2 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I think in his short time here he has understood that whilst he may remove his emotions our team performs best when it plays to the emotions of the crowd. 

I think he's started to learn the power of a collective spirit. And to be fair to him he's never really managed a team that has had such a big and passionate fan base. 

Nah. There was far too much talk about behaviours and principles. He's now dropped all that talk. 

Perhaps he had a plan. Set out my behavioural principles so start with, move on once they’re understood.

This guy is smart.

[ExiledAjax]

Just now, Scrumpty said:

Perhaps he had a plan. Set out my behavioural principles so start with, move on once they’re understood.

This guy is smart.

The Principles are going to be POTY next season

[Davefevs]

7 minutes ago, Scrumpty said:

Sorry, have to disagree. I thought he was confident and articulate from day one. Perhaps the biggest change is perception.

Confident and articulate, yes….repetitive / “samey”, yes too.

As relationships build both ways between head-coach and press, we are getting more insight from him.

+++++

I said in his early interviews that he was downloading stuff on his favourite subject - his style / behaviours / principles, and therefore was on autopilot to an extent.

What we are now seeing is more challenging Qs, Qs about what has happened and why, and to be fair to him, he doesn’t miss a beat in his answers.  You replied “smart” above…undoubtedly so.  But also able to articulate it, he is genuine, he ain’t a coaching manual “bluffer” is he?

+++++

I still want to hear from “Hoggy” though.

[Malago]

He played the James/Williams contract question with a very straight bat, but gave himself away when asked about Twine, who from the body language will start on Saturday.

[Scrumpty]

18 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Confident and articulate, yes….repetitive / “samey”, yes too.

As relationships build both ways between head-coach and press, we are getting more insight from him.

+++++

I said in his early interviews that he was downloading stuff on his favourite subject - his style / behaviours / principles, and therefore was on autopilot to an extent.

What we are now seeing is more challenging Qs, Qs about what has happened and why, and to be fair to him, he doesn’t miss a beat in his answers.  You replied “smart” above…undoubtedly so.  But also able to articulate it, he is genuine, he ain’t a coaching manual “bluffer” is he?

+++++

I still want to hear from “Hoggy” though.

Perception, again.

Negative perception = repetitive, samey 

Positive perception = consistent, focused 

I’m seeing ‘positive reinforcement’, establishing repeatable behaviour patterns.

[W-S-M Seagull]

1 minute ago, Scrumpty said:

Perception, again.

Negative perception = repetitive, samey 

Positive perception = consistent, focused 

I’m seeing ‘positive reinforcement’, establishing repeatable behaviour patterns.

I'm seeing confirmation bias from you. 

[Scrumpty]

1 minute ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I'm seeing confirmation bias from you. 

You are indeed. Hopefully, I’m not fooling myself!

[redkev]

28 minutes ago, Malago said:

He played the James/Williams contract question with a very straight bat, but gave himself away when asked about Twine, who from the body language will start on Saturday.

I hope twine does start , horses for courses , firstly James & Williams put in one hell of a shift Tuesday also both are not as creative as twine and if qpr sit in ( like we all think they will but we could be totally wrong ) we will need twine’s creativity. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

QPR are 4 points off safety with 14 left.. I think they will not be all that defensive.

Cifuentes isn't known for loads behind the ball either, albeit Twine and Sykes could well give us an extra dimensions that we need.

[Shauntaylor85]

These next two games are really important, too many false starts as a club, let’s stop being Bristol City and beat the likes of QPR, don’t waste the last two games. 

[Scrumpty]

1 minute ago, redkev said:

I hope twine does start , horses for courses , firstly James & Williams put in one hell of a shift Tuesday also both are not as creative as twine and if qpr sit in ( like we all think they will but we could be totally wrong ) we will need twine’s creativity. 

I agree, QPR will sit tight, we’ll need guile to break through. Twine’s more likely to provide that. However, Williams is on top of his game offensively, as well as defensively.

[Shauntaylor85]

4 minutes ago, redkev said:

I hope twine does start , horses for courses , firstly James & Williams put in one hell of a shift Tuesday also both are not as creative as twine and if qpr sit in ( like we all think they will but we could be totally wrong ) we will need twine’s creativity. 

James and Williams at home against a poor away side isn’t right. Personally like to see Knight deeper with Williams and Twine in a 10 behind the front 3. 

[mozo]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Couple of nuggets in there, weren’t there?

I think he’s been very relaxed these last two or three interviews.

Maybe a bit of a mythbusting interview too when he talks about how he wants City to play, and his flexibility on formations. I think Manningball isn't quite what people think it is.

Edited February 15 by mozo

[redkev]

Personally think this will be a tough game , after the Lord Mayors show as the saying goes 1-0 either way for me 

[Scrumpty]

In an ideal world, we go two up early doors, then bring on James second half to control the game.

May be getting a little ahead of myself here!

[Scrumpty]

2 minutes ago, mozo said:

Maybe a bit of a mythbusting interview too when he talks about how he wants City to play, and his flexibility on formations. I think Manningball isn't quite what people think it is.

Agree, Manningball is more mindset than patterns or formations.

[ZiderEyed]

Rs 3-0 Ours.

Prime City incoming.

[Mr Popodopolous]

We should be aiming at all 3 points for sure, but some are perhaps being a bit dismissive or at risk of taking QPR a bit lightly IMO.

[Malago]

My guess at Saturday’s team on the basis that Cam Pring won’t be fit.

                                    Max

           Tanner        Zak        Dickie     Roberts

                                     Williams

                     Knight.                       Twine

    Sykes.                       Wells.                 Cornick

[GrahamC]

23 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

QPR are 4 points off safety with 14 left.. I think they will not be all that defensive.

Cifuentes isn't known for loads behind the ball either, albeit Twine and Sykes could well give us an extra dimensions that we need.

Interesting that QPR fans felt he set up to avoid defeat at Stoke & it failed miserably, apparently they were really poor.

The bottom three are all approaching the stage when they need snookers.

[Davefevs]

48 minutes ago, Scrumpty said:

Perception, again.

Negative perception = repetitive, samey 

Positive perception = consistent, focused 

I’m seeing ‘positive reinforcement’, establishing repeatable behaviour patterns.

No positivity or negativity expressed at all, just simple words to explain how we are getting different kinds of insight now, and further explained in the section beneath it too.

The post from me was nothing to do with your final bit (which I’ve underlined in italics) purely about the type of info we are now getting, which are great…and not to mean the ones before weren’t either…just different.

27 minutes ago, mozo said:

Maybe a bit of a mythbusting interview too when he talks about how he wants City to play, and his flexibility on formations. I think Manningball isn't quite what people think it is.

Yep, the last few interviews have really opened up his thinking.

What the challenge is now (for me) is seeing how that comes out in games…and I know it won’t look the same each game.

The classic today was (aided by Piercy’s Q) that “control does not necessarily mean possession”.  And if we take that notion into Southampton, it’s how we controlled the game out of possession with our excellent 442 press / block.

Edited February 15 by Davefevs

[W-S-M Seagull]

15 minutes ago, mozo said:

Maybe a bit of a mythbusting interview too when he talks about how he wants City to play, and his flexibility on formations. I think Manningball isn't quite what people think it is.

Oh no we saw what Manning ball was in the early days. That QPR game is the most boring game of football I've ever seen. 

But and this is the key bit, Manning adapted. After a while he learned that the to get the best out of this squad was to go back to a style this squad was built for and he has evolved upon that style. Was it Blackburn away when we 1st saw us go back to a more familiar style? 

Big ️ in the box for the early style but then a big in the box for adapting but an annoyance remains that we did waste time on that style to begin with. 

We can talk all day about this but I think he came in here and over estimated our ability based on the fact this is the most talented squad he's ever had. I think our games against Oxford gave him a false impression. He then realised that other Championship clubs are also quite good. 

But it looks like he now knows the squad inside and out and knows its strength and weaknesses. 

Hopefully we can salvage our season. The expectation is to win the next two and if we do then we'll be on course for not only my pre season expectations but also the raised expectations the board set. 

[Port Said Red]

35 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

No positivity or negativity expressed at all, just simple words to explain how we are getting different kinds of insight now, and further explained in the section beneath it too.

The post from me was nothing to do with your final bit (which I’ve underlined in italics) purely about the type of info we are now getting, which are great…and not to mean the ones before weren’t either…just different.

Yep, the last few interviews have really opened up his thinking.

What the challenge is now (for me) is seeing how that comes out in games…and I know it won’t look the same each game.

The classic today was (aided by Piercy’s Q) that “control does not necessarily mean possession”.  And if we take that notion into Southampton, it’s how we controlled the game out of possession with our excellent 442 press / block.

I feel this matches what I said before about "front foot football" not necessarily meaning having the ball and attacking, it's about being positive in all aspects of the game, with and without the ball. 

I don't believe he has adapted his approach, I think it's more about the players "getting it" and being confident that it works.

[Davefevs]

Just now, Port Said Red said:

I don't believe he has adapted his approach

No do I….yet…nor am I convinced he will!

I think when we come out of this run of games and have played a bit more variety of team styles, we will know a bit more.  Is it opposition style related, is it opposition ability related, etc…or something very different.  I’m not too fussed really.  It isn’t “front foot, high press, forward thinking, attack minded football” though…it has some of that, but that’s too simplistic and too contradictory too.

Saints, Forest, West Ham are teams where it would be no surprise to put a game-plan in place to contain / block.  Hence we saw the kind of attacking we did.

Boro, Coventry, both away, both very capable teams, who aren’t hugely dissimilar to each other either.  That allowed us to play a mixed style.

The slightly ironic thing is that both QPR and Wednesday are very different under Cifuentes and Rohi to their previous managers and aren’t gonna be quite the games they were first time around.  But…it’s two games where we have more ability than the opposition.  Would be good to see that shine through.

For me, I think much is dictated by our press / block.  I think you could argue that “attack is the best form of defence” is outdated and replace by a saying from Coach Kapoulas’s (amongst others) - “defence fuels offence”.

But we all know football is too fluid, has too many variables.