RollsRoyce

Now you've done it. we will now lose 3 in a row. Seriously, today was as good as an away performance and result as we have had in recent years. We need to keep the senior players fit, and we can be in the mix with the other non-parachute payment clubs. Getting Naismith/Atkinson/McCrorie into the squad will also be like having new signings. The Championship can turn in a nano second, as we all know by now. 3 wins breeds confidence, and that is a huge boost.

Exactly this. We are back to playing to the strengths of the squad. Full credit to Manning for adapting, and tuning the approach based on what he saw. That is a very good sign and also gives me a lot of confidence. When it was rip it up and start again, then that risked a mess. He changed. Let us hope the big injuries are behind us and with some confidence we can be back in the Championship mid table mix. Well done Manning and the squad.

What a great goal, and fully deserved. We have made Watford look very poor. A lot of hard work and determination as a team.

We are getting the full good the bad and the ugly with Mehmeti. At times, he must drive his teammates nuts. But he is improving.

Mehmeti on his left foot too. That he needs to do a lot more of. Cutting onto his right has been predictable. But then he goes left. Excellent.

well this game is no bore draw is it

Penalties, own goals, this is what you need to have the Championship good luck winds blowing in your direction. Excellent, as we have not had any for years.

Pring , right-footed too. Excellent.

His analysis is flawed, as from the accounts, it is impossible to accurately analyse where the money is being between playing/non playing/stadium etc. spent. His quote of weekly wage, if intended for the playing side, is inaccurate. The title player costs is incorrect.

earlier this season, we played Hull away. After initially struggling as they passed through our high press, we adjusted, and in the second half totally dominated them. The home game, bar some minor semantics, was not greatly different, apart from the ball ending up in their net. Some are trying to make out we have turned a corner, from what I do not know. The corner Nige had to turn was getting players fit again. The same group have produced under Manning, very similar performances, with an underlying trend of great in game fitness and willingness to work for each other. Manning has opened a little on the attacking front, whilst making us a little more vulnerable at the back. But after the early days, Manning looks to have been more pragmatic and is utilising the squad for what it can do, not what it cannot. So credit to him there., we have backed off from passing it around aimlessly at the back, and are not looking at possession for the sake of possession. No one can say if it would have been better or worse under Nige, it is impossible. But the Hull home and away fixtures had a lot of similarities. If Manning can maintain this, and you would think he can now, then we should remain in that mid table Championship mass, where a bit of luck and a following wind can create opportunity. Manning is fortunate he inherited the Pearson version of the club and not the Holden/LJ version. Though he needs to work out which player he can turn into a £10M plus saleable asset pretty quickly. That was the same next challenge for Nige too. So well done Manning and the squad for getting the results stabilised again to the level in line with where we possibly are with the squad/budget post sale of Scott and the limited investment from that sale.

If they stopped funding the debt, they would be screwed. You need to study the accounts. You are miles off. BCFC would be far from screwed if the club defaults, in fact putting the club into admin or bankruptcy would elicit a new owner very quickly.

excellent from Knight. Much better the last 10 mins

Mehemti scores ! Finally. Well done that lad.

He doesn't seem to be enjoying the front foot football very much. Though he may have to resort to Captain Mainwaring at half time "You stupid boy" (you have to be ancient)

It's a club thing, it is run by a bunch of amateurs.

What is controversial? Any coach or manager at the club is in the hands of the recruitment team to provide options and solutions. Oh, you are trying to say that Pearson chose all of these players? James/King yes, but all of the others no. He had a final say, but it depends who is proposed to him. Same with Manning, was same with LJ. Though the owners and head of technical, said, on record, that we have a top 6 budget and changed manager because the current squad is good enough for a promotion push. They defined how we play from youth to first team, on record. Then hired someone who did not coach his sides to play in the described manner. That is not Mannings's fault either, though he should have waited for Swansea where his approach would have been more in tune. He jumped from Oxford too early to the wrong club. Our issues will remain the same until the recruitment is substantially improved, and we have a consistent approach to how the club plays football. Yet again, we have changed direction. The squad, without injuries, working to their strengths, like another 10/12 teams in this league, with some luck, and confidence, could fight for 5/6 th place. But it all has to be pointing in the right direction, and it does need luck, mainly with injuries. we are at least getting the penalties now. The team looks confused to me because they are being asked to change how we had planned to play, and for a system they were recruited to (from youth team recall) bit has now changed. So of course they are not performing (yet?) as it is a lot of change to perform mid season. This squad can play better, they did away at Hull earlier this season, where for a large part of the game, we battered them. But that would not fit your agenda, would it. But the same players and the performance was far better than today. So far. It is only half time, and much can change so we may yet see us take the game to them as we did away from home.

And likes a pint of cider, and lives in Somerset.

Manning was brought in to take the current squad closer to a promotion finish. Not in 2 years, not after 4 transfer windows, this season. It is exactly the same principle as when you change the coach/manager to avoid relegation. You cannot talk about the early days. It is now. So yes, he has to be judged by the here and now. Steve Cooper managed it at Notts F did he not? That we have decided to bring in a coach that plays a type of football alien to the club, and that includes youth team to the first team, is an error that can have fatal consequences. This was meant to be about making a push with the existing squad now. This season. What we are seeing is a deterioration in performances, as players are unable, in transition, learning, wherever each individual may be on that journey to adapt. This is a whole club rebuild, we are not playing the football Tinnion described in his in-house interview (so he knew the questions) , where we play the same way from youth to first team. Forget the nonsense of "front foot football", we are now heading in a Man City (to give a topline example) and not a Liverpool direction. These are not small changes, they are fundamentals. This is yet another example of where the club has flip-flopped from one approach to another. We are certainly not following any of the Brentford/Luton examples cited in the past. Because you need to be consistent. For years. Manning will need to learn fast, he looks like a crossbreed of O'Driscol and Lee J , but all top managers, well he is a coach, not a manager, will tell you that you need to maximise your resources and adapt to them. Performances are good? Not sure what games some are watching, but you are clutching at straws. Our defence has reverted to the error-strewn version of 2/3 years ago, which was sorted out by great coaching and player management, and is now looking like a fishing net full of holes. We may create a few more attacking options, but for the most part it has turned AG into a morgue. Manning needs to start finding solutions and fast. His remit was top 6 and a promotion push not a relegation battle or 4 transfer windows to deliver. He is not getting the best out of this squad, it is a limited squad of course, but it should be in the mix with the other 10 teams chasing that 5/6 th spot. At the moment, if results do not improve, we are looking at the bottom 6, not the top 6. The team is still in that mid-table mass of teams, so all is not lost, but it needs to start pointing in the right direction very soon. Manning has to deliver, and the continued creation of excuses for him is unacceptable. He was hired to deliver a result, and there are clear club-created communications on this, not fan-generated. How some are now wanting to play that down is ridiculous. What, were they joking? I doubt the ability of those at the club, but we are regressing, not progressing. Manning was meant to boost the team, results and performances and thus far has failed to do that. Swansea was the club for Manning.

Out of his depth, yet again the Lansdown family listen to him as he tells them what they want to hear. Needs to be fired after this debacle, and hired a manager who does not play anything like how he claims the youth team to first team play. We need a much higher quality DOF who is experienced and competent. This is nothing to do with Manning. He should have gone to Swansea. Tinnion has no clue and is at the centre of all of this mess. Jon L cannot sack himself, though he would do well to resign and go off snorkelling, as he has zero clue about running a football club. We had a divided club with LJ, and finally, we got everyone on the same page, and yes, the Lansdown family did it again. There is a good reason why BCFC has never sniffed the Prem, and it is down to decisions made by the owners. When they get it right, it is by accident, they get scared, and revert to L1 type. The level of incompetence is only allowed because "It is my club" . But first, sack Tinnion and hore a proper DOF, then Manning might over. a few years do something. Top 6 squad this season without Scott, or investing the Scott fee, well that is just plain delusion.

Not true. It just confirms that the club is run by a bunch of half-wits, and we should have sacked the number one culprit Tinnion not the manager.

I expect every game from now on to be a success. what is this ridiculous nonsense? Nige had us a few points off the playoffs with a huge injury crisis, with multiple players on the bench who had never played a league game in their lives. Despite the issue claimed of detraining, suddenly we have many first-team players back available. Mannnng has the tools He has to deliver now, not tomorrow. That is what the board demanded, why on earth are people changing the target? We changed, because we, well two people said we could be better. Now, not tomorrow. Manning has to get a promotion this year or he is a failure. He will be fired in the summer if he has not delivered. Lansdown and Tinnion set the rules. They fired all of the coaching team and the main medical man. They stated the reasons, but some people are now questioning that. They run the club, not the fans, they stated they feel promotion with the current squad is the aim. Manning needs to deliver. Zero excuses. I would have fired Tinnion, Lansdown, Gilesphy and all of Bristol Sport before Pearson, but my solution to getting to the Prem is very different to those amateurs. Interestingly, that solution may even have included someone like Manning.

I am struggling to understand why the appointment of Manning is deemed different to that of a new manager or coach coming in to save a side from relegation. The words from the club were in public, they feel that promotion is possible with the squad that we have. There is no need to buy more players or Manning-type players, as we have recruited to a BCFC plan, not a Manning plan. That is also what the club said. Of course, there will be a normal squad evolution, that is football. But the excuses being laid out are not acceptable. You do not get time to save a side from relegation, and Manning has 3/4 of a season to make a strong promotion push. Steve Cooper did it at Forest. It is undoubtedly far too early to judge Manning, and he has some skills that deserve their chance to shine. It is far preferable that he does make a great success of his stint at BCFC, and that he can realise the ambition of the board to get promoted this season. If he does not, he and the board will have failed. Well, certainly Tinnion and Lansdown. Manning has come in as many players return from injury, he has not had to field a bench with 5/6 players with zero league games starting experience. So he is getting the best, almost, that this squad can offer. Let his ability shine, and by January, we should have a better idea of where this new adventure is heading. He deserves the support and best wishes of everyone. But enough of the excuses. His target is promotion, nothing less.

JL said, very clearly, that the lack of coaching and preparation was stopping us from being top 6. JL and Tinnion sought change. They will need to own what they have done. Manning has a big 2 weeks, and he has a great history of getting really strong results from his teams. Manning is not the issue, BTW. It would also be expected, with a top 6 squad, that he will improve rapidly what is going on after this International break. He does not have the injury disaster we recently saw, so he will have a strong squad to work with. (Top 6, as JL said. IMHO more like the top 13) . Manning has a good group of fit and able players to use. It will take him some time, but you have to expect he will drive the team to a top 6. He has done that before, and JL said we have a top 6 squad and a top 10 wage bill. We must never forget that. I would put money, and a big bet, on Lansdown following his behaviour with Lee J. When questioned, he will spend millions trying to justify his decision. So Manning just needs to get to Jan, and then the Lansdowns will spend millions on him.

Well. That was awful, two very poor sides. We also had our senior players back too, so it was not just a scratch squad made up of players who had never played a league game. At least Manning has the International break now to get on the grass and on the front foot. No holidays this time lads.

10 plus easily. They have an international break after this weekend, so they will head into the subsequent games without being deconditioned and having had lots of on-the-grass training. We have a top 6 squad, so will need 10 points from 5 games to reach that target.