They've literally lost the fan base...

[Sleepy1968]

6 hours ago, SecretSam said:

Sadly, it's not that simple, for all his faults I imagine Steve L wants to sell to someone who will care for the club, there have been so many examples of that not happening - including to our opponents, yesterday, whose owner changed their colours, FFS.

The interim plan seems to be to let Jon run the club, ahem. But I still agree the long term plan is to sell.

Problem is SL wants to get his money back (overvaluing the club massively). As well as taking that hit, the new owner would also need to be okay with losing £15M+ annually. Them gullible Bristol City supporting billionaires don't grow on trees.

[W-S-M Seagull]

1 hour ago, bearded_red said:

The sort of bullshit that professional athletes will stop listening to almost immediately.

You could see that in their body language. 

[Slack Bladder]

In the fallout/carnage of the Nigel Pearson sacking I thought I heard Jon Lansdown admit communication with the fans wasn't very good and they needed/would to do better going forward.

Well, all is strangely silent again from the board/chairman we still seem to hear sweet FA from them.

Tinnion seems to disappear when there is the slightest bump in the road and won't be back on Twitter until we are in the Prem 

So, I hope Jon stands by his words and does an interview sometime soon, hopefully without vetting the questions beforehand. I would just like to know what's happening before they ask us to put our hands in our pockets for season ticket renewals 

[Davefevs]

10 minutes ago, Slack Bladder said:

In the fallout/carnage of the Nigel Pearson sacking I thought I heard Jon Lansdown admit communication with the fans wasn't very good and they needed/would to do better going forward.

Well, all is strangely silent again from the board/chairman we still seem to hear sweet FA from them.

Tinnion seems to disappear when there is the slightest bump in the road and won't be back on Twitter until we are in the Prem 

So, I hope Jon stands by his words and does an interview sometime soon, hopefully without vetting the questions beforehand. I would just like to know what's happening before they ask us to put our hands in our pockets for season ticket renewals 

When listening back (last week) to all those post-sacking interviews and the Fans Forum, the number of times comms needing to improve was mentioned, especially by JL…and very little if anything has been done.

[W-S-M Seagull]

10 minutes ago, Slack Bladder said:

So, I hope Jon stands by his words and does an interview sometime soon, hopefully without vetting the questions beforehand. I would just like to know what's happening before they ask us to put our hands in our pockets for season ticket renewals 

With season ticket renewals coming up soon they they are going to need to do something. 

Last season they increased because fans believed in the steady progress we was making.

[Barrs Court Red]

13 minutes ago, Slack Bladder said:

In the fallout/carnage of the Nigel Pearson sacking I thought I heard Jon Lansdown admit communication with the fans wasn't very good and they needed/would to do better going forward.

Well, all is strangely silent again from the board/chairman we still seem to hear sweet FA from them.

Tinnion seems to disappear when there is the slightest bump in the road and won't be back on Twitter until we are in the Prem 

So, I hope Jon stands by his words and does an interview sometime soon, hopefully without vetting the questions beforehand. I would just like to know what's happening before they ask us to put our hands in our pockets for season ticket renewals 

We don’t even have programme to have fortnightly “chairman’s notes” or something.  
 

 

[W-S-M Seagull]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

When listening back (last week) to all those post-sacking interviews and the Fans Forum, the number of times comms needing to improve was mentioned, especially by JL…and very little if anything has been done.

One thing that stuck out was when Jon said "You can't tell fans what they don't want to hear" 

For me thats why communication is so poor. 

In this situation what fans don't want to hear is "we have full belief in LM and will give him the summer to reshape the squad etc" but if that's what their plan is, communicate that. Have the conviction in your beliefs to do that. At least then the criticism of poor communication goes away. 

I think Jon's outlook is completely wrong. He goes along with the theory that it's best to say nothing. I don't agree. I think if they were saying things we don't want to hear, fans would still respect the fact they are communicating.

Get himself on radio Bristol with no vetted questions, the fans might not like the answers but there would at least be an appreciation of the fact they are prepared to hold themselves accountable. 

The fact they just hide away on a yacht in the Bahamas just shows how cowardly they are. 

[Davefevs]

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

One thing that stuck out was when Jon said "You can't tell fans what they don't want to hear" 

For me thats why communication is so poor. 

In this situation what fans don't want to hear is "we have full belief in LM and will give him the summer to reshape the squad etc" but if that's what their plan is, communicate that. Have the conviction in your beliefs to do that. At least then the criticism of poor communication goes away. 

I think Jon's outlook is completely wrong. He goes along with the theory that it's best to say nothing. I don't agree. I think if they were saying things we don't want to hear, fans would still respect the fact they are communicating.

Get himself on radio Bristol with no vetted questions, the fans might not like the answers but there would at least be an appreciation of the fact they are prepared to hold themselves accountable. 

The fact they just hide away on a yacht in the Bahamas just shows how cowardly they are. 

He must’ve feared being called an ostrich by Nige!  

[Numero Uno]

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

With season ticket renewals coming up soon they they are going to need to do something. 

Last season they increased because fans believed in the steady progress we was making.

For all the critique you get on here the above is the nail hit very firmly on the head. I don’t ever turn it in with twenty minutes of a game to go but yesterday I’d just had a guts full and it wasn’t just me, that car park resembled a gas away following yesterday……..

[ZiderEyed]

23 hours ago, handsofclay said:

This is spot on. The majority of us felt like we were all in it together. We had a manager who treated us with respect and was honest in his assessments and made us feel a part of the processes in moving the club gradually forward. We all knew the constraints he was under and accepted setbacks as part of the journey and felt proud that so many academy lads were progressing to our first team. Indeed BT himself used that as a USP in signing promising young players to our club.

But those in power evidently didn't like the fact the supporters felt a greater affinity to the club. It was, after all, their club. Not the popular manager's. So they found the appropriate moment to fire him and show us that they know better by bringing in a bright new spark who'd fire us, via the front foot, to a higher level. Instead, they have again shown themselves to be a bunch of incompetents. Manning is clearly out of his depth and is destroying all the positivity diligently created since Holden's departure. 

Hopefully this hasn't been mentioned yet but you're making a really good point here about fan inclusion.

While we obviously aren't decision makers at the club, NP made fans feel CONNECTED, as though they were personally involved and included in the how & why of decisions. That togetherness in understanding of why we were doing things financially, on-pitch, backroom, with a sole figurehead thar ran the footballing affairs (I know this isn't true in praxis). It was conveyed par excellence by NP and done to bring fans + suad together.

Contrast that with LM and BT, we are passive observers, which if anything I feel is the predominant factor in the desperartion and reactive response to the shocking displays recently. Fans are rightly pissed off, but I'd argue it's more to do with personality, appearance, 'behaviours' ironically, and seeing nothing of yourself on the pitch. The element that produces the disconnect (board + BT meddling, rubbish comms, poor performance across a generation is pushed to the fore), is brought forward again. 

It's ironic but it's the behaviours that are making LM look shit. 

[Sleepy1968]

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

One thing that stuck out was when Jon said "You can't tell fans what they don't want to hear" 

For me thats why communication is so poor. 

In this situation what fans don't want to hear is "we have full belief in LM and will give him the summer to reshape the squad etc" but if that's what their plan is, communicate that. Have the conviction in your beliefs to do that. At least then the criticism of poor communication goes away. 

I think Jon's outlook is completely wrong. He goes along with the theory that it's best to say nothing. I don't agree. I think if they were saying things we don't want to hear, fans would still respect the fact they are communicating.

Get himself on radio Bristol with no vetted questions, the fans might not like the answers but there would at least be an appreciation of the fact they are prepared to hold themselves accountable. 

The fact they just hide away on a yacht in the Bahamas just shows how cowardly they are. 

I'm not sure off the cuff public speaking is up Jon's Street. Or should that be 'up his jetty?' It was a bit of a car crash when NP was dispatched.

I wonder what he's like at senior reds? I'm sure @headhunter could remind us.

[W-S-M Seagull]

3 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

For all the critique you get on here the above is the nail hit very firmly on the head. I don’t ever turn it in with twenty minutes of a game to go but yesterday I’d just had a guts full and it wasn’t just me, that car park resembled a gas away following yesterday……..

Me and my friend were talking on the way up. 

With the roadworks on the a370 it's not easy to get to Ashton Gate from Weston at the moment. 

We have to go up the M5 and through Clevedon instead and we were discussing is it really worth all this hassle and expense?

We were saying how we used to turn up early, watch the band play etc but now we leave Weston about 50 mins before kick off and arrive after the players have entered the pitch. 

It feels like a chore now to watch us. Zero excitement and only going because we've paid for it. 

Getting soaked for 90 mins yesterday in the cold whilst watching dull football with us playing for the draw had me wondering why I'm doing this to myself. 

One of my kids said "Dad, can we not come here anymore and instead use the money to go to a few Man City games instead" and that really hit me. 

I don't blame anyone for not wanting to watch anymore of yesterday. I stayed behind because I wanted to boo. However the stewards were very quick to usher fans out unusually, wonder why. 

If Manning is still here I will seriously be considering if I'm going to renew. With over a thousand quid me and the kids could do many other things that will be enjoyable. 

[Bazooka Joe]

It looks very much like . . . . .

 

Manning has lost the dressing room.

The Club has lost it's fan base.

The team have lost their last three games.

Most fans have lost all hope.

Those who backed the dismissal of Pearson/appointment of Manning, are lost for words

Tinnion and the Lansdowns have lost their marbles.

Downsey has lost his voice (if only)

 

Have I missed anything?

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3 by Bazooka Joe

[Bedminster]

The next 11 games is the biggest of mannings career. We lose 5 of them then he doesn’t deserve the summer. Simple. 

[Numero Uno]

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

Me and my friend were talking on the way up. 

With the roadworks on the a370 it's not easy to get to Ashton Gate from Weston at the moment. 

We have to go up the M5 and through Clevedon instead and we were discussing is it really worth all this hassle and expense?

We were saying how we used to turn up early, watch the band play etc but now we leave Weston about 50 mins before kick off and arrive after the players have entered the pitch. 

It feels like a chore now to watch us. Zero excitement and only going because we've paid for it. 

Getting soaked for 90 mins yesterday in the cold whilst watching dull football with us playing for the draw had me wondering why I'm doing this to myself. 

One of my kids said "Dad, can we not come here anymore and instead use the money to go to a few Man City games instead" and that really hit me. 

I don't blame anyone for not wanting to watch anymore of yesterday. I stayed behind because I wanted to boo. However the stewards were very quick to usher fans out unusually, wonder why. 

If Manning is still here I will seriously be considering if I'm going to renew. With over a thousand quid me and the kids could do many other things that will be enjoyable. 

This is the danger. Bore Ball will ultimately lead to people doing other things on a Saturday or not making that extra effort after work in midweek. Once that starts happening people find they aren't missing it as much as they thought they would. Then the club is in trouble. Sometimes I have commitments on a Sunday that make attending games difficult - as it happens I'm free next Sunday but if I had my other commitments I wouldn't have been bothering after that mess served up yesterday. 

[Bristol Oil Services]

5 hours ago, Roger Red Hat said:

There was a clip at the end of the last 'robins uncut 089' where LM was telling the players, "I've said it to a few of you now, if you want to be a tough team you have to soak up tough times". 

WTF? Patronising shite. We used to be pretty tough.  He seems to have removed that.

Only someone that played for Wroxham, Long Melford, Melton St Audrey and Ipswich Wanderers and managed Milton Keynes in League One can stand in front of our Championship lads and say that sort of thing ....

[W-S-M Seagull]

21 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

Only someone that played for Wroxham, Long Melford, Melton St Audrey and Ipswich Wanderers and managed Milton Keynes in League One can stand in front of our Championship lads and say that sort of thing ....

In a group chat I'm in with fans of other clubs I was literally just saying to them about his 'playing' record. The guy couldn't even coach himself to make it as a pro. 

If you're someone like Andy King who's been there and done it you're gonna laugh at this fella criticising you. 

[CliftonCliff]

46 minutes ago, Bazooka Joe said:

It looks very much like . . . . .

 

Manning has lost the dressing room.

The Club has lost it's fan base.

The team have lost their last three games.

Most fans have lost all hope.

Those who backed the dismissal of Pearson/appointment of Manning, are lost for words

Tinnion and the Lansdowns have lost their marbles.

Downsey has lost his voice (if only)

 

Have I missed anything?

 

 

 

 

No, that about covers it.

[W-S-M Seagull]

33 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

This is the danger. Bore Ball will ultimately lead to people doing other things on a Saturday or not making that extra effort after work in midweek. Once that starts happening people find they aren't missing it as much as they thought they would. Then the club is in trouble. Sometimes I have commitments on a Sunday that make attending games difficult - as it happens I'm free next Sunday but if I had my other commitments I wouldn't have been bothering after that mess served up yesterday. 

Trying to find a reason for us to sit in the pouring rain for almost 2 hours yesterday was very difficult! After warming up and drying up in the sports bar at half time the kids did not want to return to the game. Had to convince them by finding alternative seats. 

Sheffield United last season was horrendous weather but the kids didn't mind as it was a good game and a good performance. 

Yep I'm only going out of habit now really. As games are now easily available to watch online then I'm going to seriously consider not renewing. 

Could have a nice holiday abroad for a grand. I make sacrifices so I can go to games either financially or by turning other things down cos I'm going to games. 

At this moment in time I have zero interest in attending the Swansea game at mid day on a Sunday. 

 

[CliftonCliff]

6 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Great post Cliff.

I’m not a million miles from you, even if I perhaps am more opinionated in my posts.

Thanks, Dave, appreciate it, coming from someone who talks more sense than most. (And without wanting to turn this into some sort of mutually congratulatory love-in, you do yourself an injustice. Having firm and clearly expressed, respectful opinions does not equate to being opinionated. We have plenty of posters who fit that description. You’re not one of them.)

[Davefevs]

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

In a group chat I'm in with fans of other clubs I was literally just saying to them about his 'playing' record. The guy couldn't even coach himself to make it as a pro. 

If you're someone like Andy King who's been there and done it you're gonna laugh at this fella criticising you. 

The truth is, if you haven’t played the game, you have to be twice as good, or else you’re one disagreement away from having “show me your medals”, or “you didn’t play the game” thrown back at you.

I don’t think that’s fair, but it is what it is.

[GBF]

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

Trying to find a reason for us to sit in the pouring rain for almost 2 hours yesterday was very difficult! After warming up and drying up in the sports bar at half time the kids did not want to return to the game. Had to convince them by finding alternative seats. 

Sheffield United last season was horrendous weather but the kids didn't mind as it was a good game and a good performance. 

Yep I'm only going out of habit now really. As games are now easily available to watch online then I'm going to seriously consider not renewing. 

Could have a nice holiday abroad for a grand. I make sacrifices so I can go to games either financially or by turning other things down cos I'm going to games. 

At this moment in time I have zero interest in attending the Swansea game at mid day on a Sunday. 

 

 

[spudski]

57 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

The truth is, if you haven’t played the game, you have to be twice as good, or else you’re one disagreement away from having “show me your medals”, or “you didn’t play the game” thrown back at you.

I don’t think that’s fair, but it is what it is.

The problem with Manning is the arrogance. He's used terminology and phrases recently where he speaks about players not taking on board his knowledge of overcoming defeats and becoming stronger. And such like. 

Can you imagine what half our squad are thinking when this bloke speaks. 

He's literally got no experience compared to the majority of our squad that have played way above everything he's ever achieved. 

A coach with ideas on tactics, a game plan, I can take...but telling the likes of James, King, Wells etc of how they need to be mentally stronger, and how he will tell them how, when they've done it so to speak, is down right delusional, disrespectful and arrogant. 

The bloke is a legend only in his head, and I haven't got a clue what his sidekick does apart from smirk and talk to his hand.

Led by donkeys. 

 

[handsofclay]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

The truth is, if you haven’t played the game, you have to be twice as good, or else you’re one disagreement away from having “show me your medals”, or “you didn’t play the game” thrown back at you.

I don’t think that’s fair, but it is what it is.

 

8 minutes ago, spudski said:

The problem with Manning is the arrogance. He's used terminology and phrases recently where he speaks about players not taking on board his knowledge of overcoming defeats and becoming stronger. And such like. 

Can you imagine what half our squad are thinking when this bloke speaks. 

He's literally got no experience compared to the majority of our squad that have played way above everything he's ever achieved. 

A coach with ideas on tactics, a game plan, I can take...but telling the likes of James, King, Wells etc of how they need to be mentally stronger, and how he will tell them how, when they've done it so to speak, is down right delusional, disrespectful and arrogant. 

The bloke is a legend only in his head, and I haven't got a clue what his sidekick does apart from smirk and talk to his hand.

Led by donkeys. 

 

This is the nub of the problem. You have both highlighted a MAJOR defect in LM's experience. Very few football managers let alone successful football managers have no career as a footballer to fall back on and earn the respect of their charges. The very few, such as Jose Mourinhio, who do succeed manage to do so by force of an incredible personality that masks that defect.

Liam Manning, as we and the players have sussed, has very little to boast about in the personality stakes. I've yet to see a spouter of coaching manuals top the billing at the London Palladium. 

[phantom]

On 02/03/2024 at 19:45, LocoPal said:

No personalilty, no fight, no imagination & no creativity. Just

 

Liam's just a slide ruler man with lots of over-complicated graphs & charts. Get a real manager in.

 

Could even bring Nigel back & and i'd be happier with an honest, losing performance!

I wonder if he's got around to the Red Arrows PowerPoint yet? 

On 02/03/2024 at 20:03, Street red said:

This blaming of players is cringe hardly there fault if there at a certain standard it's people at the top that need slating.

Of course they're to blame 

They're lacklustre and look disinterested, if they don't want to put in 100% for the shirt they should foxtrot Oscar 

[One Team]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

The truth is, if you haven’t played the game, you have to be twice as good, or else you’re one disagreement away from having “show me your medals”, or “you didn’t play the game” thrown back at you.

I don’t think that’s fair, but it is what it is.

Spot on. You don’t have to have played at the top to be a good manager, clearly there are examples of where this proven.

But right now, Manning spouting some of this to our senior players must be jarring. 

People talk of him having lost the dressing room, this is one scenario where you could see it’s happened. 

Conversely you can’t imagine the same conversation happening with Nige. 

Edited March 3 by One Team

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, handsofclay said:

 

This is the nub of the problem. You have both highlighted a MAJOR defect in LM's experience. Very few football managers let alone successful football managers have no career as a footballer to fall back on and earn the respect of their charges. The very few, such as Jose Mourinhio, who do succeed manage to do so by force of an incredible personality that masks that defect.

Liam Manning, as we and the players have sussed, has very little to boast about in the personality stakes. I've yet to see a spouter of coaching manuals top the billing at the London Palladium. 

And although I’m sure there are exceptions, Mourinho had fantastic mentors in Sir Bobby and LVG, including being an assistant under Louis.  And I think that learning the good cop / bad cop routine as an assistant is part of the man-management education you need when you become the main man, whether that be head-coach or manager.

[Steve Watts]

20 hours ago, One Team said:

Whilst I can't imagine not wanting to miss out on a pay out, do you think Manning is the sort of person to walk?

He clearly develops no loyalty with his employers based on his previous roles so I do wonder if he might think "sod this for a lark!" given the backlash he's having. I'm not sure how it ended for him at MK but I don't get the impression, based on his post match interviews of late, he's experienced booing of the like we've seen.

If you look at it from his perspective he may well think that this isn't what he signed up for. Like when you start a new job yourself and work out early on its not going to be for you. 

He's got a 3.5 year contract on the highest salary he's ever had - and on this showing is ever likely to have....there is absolutely no chance of him walking.

[Son of Fred]

17 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I think Jon's outlook is completely wrong. He goes along with the theory that it's best to say nothing. I don't agree

If you haven't anything worthwhile to say, keep your mouth closed.

Maybe this is Jon's outlook?....

[beaverface]

15 hours ago, Numero Uno said:

This is the danger. Bore Ball will ultimately lead to people doing other things on a Saturday or not making that extra effort after work in midweek. Once that starts happening people find they aren't missing it as much as they thought they would. Then the club is in trouble. Sometimes I have commitments on a Sunday that make attending games difficult - as it happens I'm free next Sunday but if I had my other commitments I wouldn't have been bothering after that mess served up yesterday. 

I coach an U14s youth team. A lot of my players are season ticket holders, and likewise our opponents next Sunday are season ticket ticket holders also, and so a 10:30am kick off for us makes a 12:30 kick-off vs Swansea extremely difficult.

All week we've been scrabbling around trying to rearrange next weeks fixture to another day, but with the snow\rain on the weekend just gone cancelling fixtures, the likelihood of the Avon Youth League allowing us to have a free Sunday next week is probably non-existent!! Therefore we've changed our tact and we're now looking at an early kick-off of 9:30am, but that still doesn't help any fans who are upwards of U15's and kick off at 2pm.

I don't know who signs off of the kick off days and times at City, but with 12:30 kick off's on a Saturday followed by a 12:30 kick off on a Sunday the following week isn't doing anything to help the grass roots junior footballers who play on weekends. Talk about burning the bridges with all the Saturday and Sunday league footballers !!!