Signs of change or pressure off?

[Davefevs]

Just now, HunstantonRed said:

I don’t believe it. I suspect someone is feeding you for a laugh. 

Yeah probably.

Welcome to OTIB btw!

[Superjack]

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Yeah probably.

Welcome to OTIB btw!

He can do one. Just like he probably has a hundred times before. 

 

 

Unless of course he's a plant.

[INCRED]

2 hours ago, Alessandro said:

Yes it’s nice win but you’re absolutely right.

I don’t think you can understate how poor Blackburn were tonight.

If a team wins 5-0 either you’re meeting a hugely talented attacking team or the losing team have capitulated.

Given the fact we’ve only won a game by more than 2 goals 3 times all season and only 8 teams in the league have scored less goals than us…

Add in Blackburn’s current bottom 6 form and the fact they have the 2nd leakiest defence in the league.

Suggests more of the latter.

A nice win yes, credit for that - but IMo people probably shouldn’t get too carried away though on the back of tonight…

 

Totally agree and whilst it’s nice to put 5 past the opposition I would reference the last 3 games as a better marker of where we are under LM. 
 

Huddersfield & Norwich will provide a stern test as they are desperate for points for different reasons. If we can dispatch them then perhaps LM has cracked the formula 

Maybe next season could bring something better?

[Red Army 79]

1 hour ago, mozo said:

Nooooo... you just invented a story

I’m not making up story’s I find it bizarre that before the international break we were shocking. Couldn’t score couldn’t defend and now we have suddenly gone on this run.

Hope Manning doesn’t turn out like Lee Johnson where we lose 6 on the trot then win 6 on the trot etc. 

[Ian M]

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

I don’t think it’s Bristol Sport. It’s following a similar well worn path that will end tomorrow with it flouncing off and asking for its account to be deleted, then signing up again the next day with a different IP address.

Regular as bloody clockwork.

He doesn’t need to go to the bother. I already banned him. And the new account he made after.

[Northern Red]

6 hours ago, INCRED said:

Totally agree and whilst it’s nice to put 5 past the opposition I would reference the last 3 games as a better marker of where we are under LM. 
 

Huddersfield & Norwich will provide a stern test as they are desperate for points for different reasons. If we can dispatch them then perhaps LM has cracked the formula 

Maybe next season could bring something better?

Blackburn were meant to be desperate for the points, though you wouldn't have known it.

[Vespa Red]

What I was really enthused about tonight was that the game was drifting in the early second half, 3 substitutions and we got the momentum back again.

Blackburn though; for a team who were under pressure at the wrong end of the table were nothing short of woeful.  Utter, utter dogshit!

[Hamdon Mart]

One can be a little too analytical about why things have turned around just lately and yes, one can bemoan the fact it didn't happen 10-15 games ago, or maybe even 6-8 games would have made a huge difference. But it's happened/is happening and long may it continue and it's time to enjoy it. Hopefully LM can keep their performance levels high and City can go into 24/25 with some genuine optimism. 

Last night at times was a joy to watch and although Blackburn were woeful at times, give credit to City's press forcing the errors. If the press didn't happen, then the defenders would have had time to clear - last night, City pressed further up the pitch IMO creating huge uncertainty in their wobbly back four. Great to watch though.

At the end of the day, we are all in it to see our football teams do well and enjoy the good times when they come. I'm off to Gloucester tonight to hopefully see my team Yeovil win National League South. Not a phrase I thought I'd say, least of all when we were preparing to face AFC Bournemouth in the Championship ten years ago tomorrow. But as a wise old sage once said, "We are where we are because we're here" and I'll enjoy tonight even though we have sunk so low in recent years. We HAVE to enjoy the good days like last night, like Southampton, like Leicester etc otherwise why do we follow our team? 

 

[Numero Uno]

1 hour ago, Northern Red said:

Blackburn were meant to be desperate for the points, though you wouldn't have known it.

I have never seen a more obvious example of a team totally letting down it's travelling fans.......like ever. The bit I couldn't fathom was simply how much more aggressive WE were than them, the team with effectively bugger all to play for. We pressed, harried, stuck our foot in, looked like we were mildly interested in performing and winning the game etc. etc. the complete opposite of them who looked like they were in Bristol for a kickabout to fulfil their obligations to the league and get out and get home as quick as possible. They have Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry and Leicester in their last four games.................if we were in their position this board would have us relegated after last night.

[Son of Fred]

19 minutes ago, Hamdon Mart said:

Last night at times was a joy to watch and although Blackburn were woeful at times, give credit to City's press forcing the errors. If the press didn't happen, then the defenders would have had time to clear

High press.........not low block ....

Cheers Nige

Edited April 11 by Son of Fred

[SecretSam]

10 hours ago, Negan said:

 The owners got their man, I’m praying they back him now. 

I think this is key. With a number of key players potentially OOC in the summer, we need to invest solidly.

[LondonBristolian]

I really don’t get why people find it so implausible that there are people on these boards with contacts at the club and that they occasionally hear info that isn’t in the public domain. I also don’t really get why people find it wildly implausible that - after a run of bad results and poor performances - the players took a view on that or that the Technical Director had words with the manager. That strikes me as what would almost certainly happen, whether anyone heard about it or not.

What I would say is that, if either the players or Tinnion had views on what was needed to improve, I think Manning deserves credit for listening and taking feedback on board rather than being stubborn or defensive. A lot of people don’t engage with or learn from feedback and it can be a real flaw.

[Davefevs]

A lot of talk of high press last night, and yet our opening two goals came from defensive errors, albeit forwards latching into balls into channel.  One a weak backpass, the other missed control / volley.

But what we did was condense the pitch, more than press hard per se.  Blackburn occasionally broke the line of our front 3, but with Pring and McCrorie playing quite high, they were suffocated.  Our front 3 split their back 4 really well.  Blackburn were able to knock it about but they went nowhere.

Second half, they went to a back-3 and for 20+ minutes it was stalemate, they had possession, we just didn’t let them get back into the game (nice job done, no need to risk a 2-0 lead).

Then the subs came on, and we ripped them a new one.

Condensing the pitch is what we didn’t do on Saturday, do did we work as a team.

If we aren’t (generally) that creative in build-up, then best way is to win it high up.  I think a few of us have been crying out for this.  It doesn’t need to be reckless, last night was efficient to say the say the least.  And with Joe Williams and Jason Knight ready to pounce on balls into midfield, we gained a lot of ball / possession in their half, before they could set.

[Bazooka Joe]

10 hours ago, HunstantonRed said:

A new manager needs time. Players need time too.

“HunstantonRed” - yet another alias, but just “a Rose by any other name.

I can think of a more appropriate word than “Rose” but as we won, I’m in a good mood.

 

[Alessandro]

10 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

Aren't most people basing in on the last 4 (certainly) possibly 7 games.? Not just tonight.

After the Cardiff game I was properly pissed off at how dreadful we were.

Swansea, I actually think was deliberately cautious to stop the rot.

Ipswich - at least we competed.

West Brom - wasn't great, but now looks like a blip in the run, rather than reverting to type.

What makes you think anyone is basing it on 1 game, when we haven't conceded a goal in 4 games & taken 10 points from the last 12 available..?

There’s a few on here using that win last night as justification to say they’re vindicated for their strong support of Manning - and sticking the knife those who’ve, rightly ImO, been critical of an otherwise underwhelming, and at times little streaky, reign under Manning so far. 

As I said in another thread, the last 4 ‘results’ have been very good - but in those 4 games we’ve been the beneficiary of some poor finishing (Vardy) and top keeping from Max (v Sunderland in an otherwise pretty poor showing) and we were literally gift wrapped 4 goals last night.

So all I’m saying is, within that nice run, it’s not all been perfect sailing - we’ve ridden our luck at times and despite the clean sheets we’ve continued to give away big chances, statistically that will catch us up.

That’s not taking away however from a big improvement from Manning, playing a footballing style that is better suited to the squad finally and more akin to what was suggested the club wanted when they appointed him. Hopefully that means he has adapted (voluntarily or otherwise) which would be very good news. 

Big improvement but as I say, I’m not celebrating anything yet….long way to go. 
 

EDIT - I dare say the results uptick have also been helped in part by the return of a player we don’t have next season too…

Edited April 11 by Alessandro

[awbb]

I'll lend my voice to the cautious.

The Championship is utterly abject and ruthless in equal measure. It's incredibly difficult to perform to an average level consistently match by match, let alone well. The stars can align, of course, especially if a team has momentum, as we have seen with Ipswich this season.

Nothing would really surprise me regarding Huddersfield on Saturday. We could be as bad as Blackburn were last night and somehow find ourselves on 60 points at 5pm or play as well as we have in years and somehow contrive to lose. 

Geniunely, I hope Manning has seen that, despite what the analytics might say, our performances will be better when we press when we're out of possession and look to move the ball "vertically" at pace when in possession. That style of football is one that I enjoy watching and if there is any belief that a home crowd can make a difference, an intangible that most statistics, I suspect, will struggle to identify, having your fans enjoying the match will help.

[Major Isewater]

11 hours ago, Alessandro said:

Personally (not getting heady after winning 5 nil) 

#emotions 

[Alessandro]

4 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

#emotions 

#allthefeels

[W-S-M Seagull]

17 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

There’s a few on here using that win last night as justification to say they’re vindicated for their strong support of Manning - and sticking the knife those who’ve, rightly ImO, been critical of an otherwise underwhelming, and at times little streaky, reign under Manning so far. 

As I said in another thread, the last 4 ‘results’ have been very good - but in those 4 games we’ve been the beneficiary of some poor finishing (Vardy) and top keeping from Max (v Sunderland in an otherwise pretty poor showing) and we were literally gift wrapped 4 goals last night.

So all I’m saying is, within that nice run, it’s not all been perfect sailing - we’ve ridden our luck at times and despite the clean sheets we’ve continued to give away big chances, statistically that will catch us up.

That’s not taking away however from a big improvement from Manning, playing a footballing style that is better suited to the squad finally and more akin to what was suggested the club wanted when they appointed him. Hopefully that means he has adapted (voluntarily or otherwise) which would be very good news. 

Big improvement but as I say, I’m not celebrating anything yet….long way to go. 
 

EDIT - I dare say the results uptick have also been helped in part by the return of a player we don’t have next season too…

This is how I feel. 

Let's see if things are any different against a team that plays with a low block before we start to get excited. 

 

[Red Army 79]

1 hour ago, LondonBristolian said:

I really don’t get why people find it so implausible that there are people on these boards with contacts at the club and that they occasionally hear info that isn’t in the public domain. I also don’t really get why people find it wildly implausible that - after a run of bad results and poor performances - the players took a view on that or that the Technical Director had words with the manager. That strikes me as what would almost certainly happen, whether anyone heard about it or not.

What I would say is that, if either the players or Tinnion had views on what was needed to improve, I think Manning deserves credit for listening and taking feedback on board rather than being stubborn or defensive. A lot of people don’t engage with or learn from feedback and it can be a real flaw.

Completely agree

Id also be disappointed if these type of closed doors meetings that may or may not have happened got leaked to the public. 

It would show a lack of respect, integrity and not great for both trust and team morale. 
 

Let’s hope we can continue to finish the season on a high creating a bit of positivity going into next season. 
 

Our last two promotion seasons started with a change of management that didn’t start off to well but on both occasions got on a bit of a run at the end of the season prior and that momentum continued into the promotion season.  

[Davefevs]

57 minutes ago, awbb said:

our performances will be better when we press when we're out of possession and look to move the ball "vertically" at pace when in possession

Amen brother.

[LondonBristolian]

11 minutes ago, Red Army 79 said:

Completely agree

Id also be disappointed if these type of closed doors meetings that may or may not have happened got leaked to the public. 

It would show a lack of respect, integrity and not great for both trust and team morale. 
 

Let’s hope we can continue to finish the season on a high creating a bit of positivity going into next season. 
 

Our last two promotion seasons started with a change of management that didn’t start off to well but on both occasions got on a bit of a run at the end of the season prior and that momentum continued into the promotion season.  

I agree with your post but, in fairness, I think often it's not about anyone deliberately leaking things. It's just that people have a frustrating meeting and then vent a bit to someone they trust - maybe another colleague at the club, maybe their best mate or a family member - and either someone overhears or the person they sounded off to mentions something to someone else and all of a sudden it's public knowedge....

(EDIT: Obviously occasionally our Technical Director DMs confidential info to others on social media too but hopefully that's a rarity!)

Edited April 11 by LondonBristolian

[Bar BS3]

1 hour ago, Alessandro said:

There’s a few on here using that win last night as justification to say they’re vindicated for their strong support of Manning - and sticking the knife those who’ve, rightly ImO, been critical of an otherwise underwhelming, and at times little streaky, reign under Manning so far. 

As I said in another thread, the last 4 ‘results’ have been very good - but in those 4 games we’ve been the beneficiary of some poor finishing (Vardy) and top keeping from Max (v Sunderland in an otherwise pretty poor showing) and we were literally gift wrapped 4 goals last night.

So all I’m saying is, within that nice run, it’s not all been perfect sailing - we’ve ridden our luck at times and despite the clean sheets we’ve continued to give away big chances, statistically that will catch us up.

That’s not taking away however from a big improvement from Manning, playing a footballing style that is better suited to the squad finally and more akin to what was suggested the club wanted when they appointed him. Hopefully that means he has adapted (voluntarily or otherwise) which would be very good news. 

Big improvement but as I say, I’m not celebrating anything yet….long way to go. 
 

EDIT - I dare say the results uptick have also been helped in part by the return of a player we don’t have next season too…

Manning himself always says don't get over excited by the wins & don't get to down about the losses.

If only some of our fans would actually listen to him & let him get on with his job.!

It's too early to judge him properly. He needs a summer window & a pre-season with the squad.

Of course, it can take much linger than that still - but it will be interesting to see where we are around Christmas time, half way through next season & a good year under his charge.

It looks like this season should see an improved points total on any season since LJ was here, so that's progress, albeit slow & steady.

[Red-Robbo]

1 hour ago, Alessandro said:

There’s a few on here using that win last night as justification to say they’re vindicated for their strong support of Manning - and sticking the knife those who’ve, rightly ImO, been critical of an otherwise underwhelming, and at times little streaky, reign under Manning so far. 

As I said in another thread, the last 4 ‘results’ have been very good - but in those 4 games we’ve been the beneficiary of some poor finishing (Vardy) and top keeping from Max (v Sunderland in an otherwise pretty poor showing) and we were literally gift wrapped 4 goals last night.

So all I’m saying is, within that nice run, it’s not all been perfect sailing - we’ve ridden our luck at times and despite the clean sheets we’ve continued to give away big chances, statistically that will catch us up.

That’s not taking away however from a big improvement from Manning, playing a footballing style that is better suited to the squad finally and more akin to what was suggested the club wanted when they appointed him. Hopefully that means he has adapted (voluntarily or otherwise) which would be very good news. 

Big improvement but as I say, I’m not celebrating anything yet….long way to go. 
 

EDIT - I dare say the results uptick have also been helped in part by the return of a player we don’t have next season too…

I don't think we were "gift wrapped" goals. Hyams may have been poor but both pens and his under-pressure back pass came because we were pressing high and continuously. For his first,  Conway still needed to be alert to the possibility and bury it. I've seen us miss plenty of possible interceptions. As for Mehmeti's goal, there was nothing gift wrapped about it in my opinion. After robbing the defender he had to hold him off, take it into the box, wrong-foot another defender and shoot from an angle to avoid a third. It was pure skill. 

You don't fluke a 5-0. It comes because you were playing well - as well as them playing poorly. 

[Kid in the Riot]

Quite a bit of arse-covering in this thread from some posters

Turns out maybe Manning isn't a competition winner afterall. 

[The Bard]

Clearly we were very good last night.  But Blackburn were shit. 

Pleasing thing is in previous similar scenarios we've failed to take advantage but we did that last night..

Edited April 11 by The Bard

[Steve Watts]

I honestly don't think last night told us anything we didn't already know. As we showed against Watford and some team beginning with S that I heard we may have bested, when we play the system that the squad was built to do we look good.  Many of us have been saying this for bloody ages and last night just reaffirmed that.  Yes, it helped that Blackburn were terrible, but we attacked at pace and with purpose and was not a typical "Manningball" style yesterday and the substitutions, as utterly predictable as they were, paid off handsomely. The big question now, is can we do it all again on Saturday.  That will be key to us building some momentum, especially given that for once we're the bogey team.  We need to pretty much carry on where we left off, rather than the last false dawn after beating the southerners and then reverting back to type a few days later against QPR.

Very pleased with last night however and was nice to enjoy the match for a change.  Long may it continue.

[mozo]

4 minutes ago, Steve Watts said:

I honestly don't think last night told us anything we didn't already know. As we showed against Watford and some team beginning with S that I heard we may have bested, when we play the system that the squad was built to do we look good.  Many of us have been saying this for bloody ages and last night just reaffirmed that.  Yes, it helped that Blackburn were terrible, but we attacked at pace and with purpose and was not a typical "Manningball" style yesterday and the substitutions, as utterly predictable as they were, paid off handsomely. The big question now, is can we do it all again on Saturday.  That will be key to us building some momentum, especially given that for once we're the bogey team.  We need to pretty much carry on where we left off, rather than the last false dawn after beating the southerners and then reverting back to type a few days later against QPR.

Very pleased with last night however and was nice to enjoy the match for a change.  Long may it continue.

I think the control is what we can associate with Manning. If we couldn't get down a flank we cam back and recycled the attack either on the other wing or through the middle. Early in the second half when Blackburn tried to rally, we slowed the game down a bit and squeezed and made sure we dictated the rhythm of the game.

I sense there will be a misconception that we can only win with a high press, which I don't believe is the case. We can use a block too, it's just about how you execute it. 

[Numero Uno]

1 hour ago, LondonBristolian said:

(EDIT: Obviously occasionally our Technical Director DMs confidential info to others on social media too but hopefully that's a rarity!)

Whether it's a rarity or every day it's a compelling reason he shouldn't be in post imo. Happy to give Liam the time to show us what he can do but not the TD I'm afraid. That's not something I will be budging on even if Manning wins us the Champions League.......in five years, obviously.

[Numero Uno]

1 hour ago, Red-Robbo said:

I don't think we were "gift wrapped" goals. Hyams may have been poor but both pens and his under-pressure back pass came because we were pressing high and continuously. For his first,  Conway still needed to be alert to the possibility and bury it. I've seen us miss plenty of possible interceptions. As for Mehmeti's goal, there was nothing gift wrapped about it in my opinion. After robbing the defender he had to hold him off, take it into the box, wrong-foot another defender and shoot from an angle to avoid a third. It was pure skill. 

You don't fluke a 5-0. It comes because you were playing well - as well as them playing poorly. 

Not knocking Tommy at all but it was as simple a finish as you will ever get in a 1 v 1. Because of the mistake by Hyam the keeper was in a poor position and literally gave Tommy the whole side of the goal to aim at. A player of his ability literally could not miss........in fact I would have been disappointed to miss that myself (accepting it would be a possibility)!! 

I felt sorry for Pears to be honest. Any keeper playing behind that back-four deserves some sort of bonus to make up for the short term harm it will do for his career. Even on back passes he had balls played back to him and then the player would "hide" behind the line of a City player so he couldn't receive it back. He would have walked off last night absolutely raging and probably had a right rant in the dressing room afterwards. There was so much "wrong" about Blackburn last night it was untrue. If they were trying to get Eustace sacked they might have made it less obvious......................

Agree on Mehmeti that whatever the rights and wrongs of the defending it was a very good bit of play that opened up a second half that had been a bit drab to that point.