Liam Manning - CONFIRMED NEW HEAD COACH

[W-S-M Seagull]

Just now, Mr Popodopolous said:

Not at all, just a desire to judge by the same standards and metrics I assume.

Absolutely. 

And holding the ownership to account for the things they have said. 

For me that looks like the expectation that we get in the play offs this season.

The expectation from me is that Manning has to deliver with the squad he has got. 

Money will be made available in January but in my opinion it should be of the similar amount as Nige would have recieved. 

In my opinion there is no money available to bring in players to fit the formation and style Manning may wish to play. Manning needs to adapt to what we have got.

I'd be absolutely pissed off if Manning suddenly allowed to sign 5 players in January when most thought that Pearson needed at least two players in the summer which would have seen us compete more.

Those are the things the club stated so I will hold them to that.

 

[GrumpyGit]

2 hours ago, Redrascal2 said:

Shows how much you know about football and that's probably  why you support Oxford United

Don’t expect him to hit the ground running, his success at Oxford came this season after the board went all out to back him and 10 new players came in. 
He left us in 2nd place, some of the football was good, but a lot of it was tippy side to side shit. 
If he does do well, a sniff from a team above and he’ll be off.  Loyalty is not something he believes in.  Probably why he didn’t get a thank you from the Oxford board. 
 

[W-S-M Seagull]

4 minutes ago, lenred said:

Blimey.  Tough audience!  He’s basically just spent 30 mins asking some pretty involved questions in front of his new boss and the local and National media.   Thought he did really well with lots of detail and adapted to the different types of questions.   

 

That's what he has signed up for! This isn't league one or academy football anymore. Pressure is on and the pressure is high at this level.

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

Liam Manning deserves to be given a proper chance, and he'll get that from me, but I remain concerned not just about the player team building but the coaching and fitness team. We haven't just lost Nigel but an impressive coaching set up and a class fitness coach. Often the best signings a manager makes are his backroom staff and if we're to progress as a club the backroom staff needs to gel as quickly as the players. Let us hope so. 

Edited November 7, 2023 by RoystonFoote'snephew
Text corrrection

[Jose]

Well it’s time to move on after a horrible week and back him. 
 

All the best Liam. Best to not take to much notice of the three buffoons above you and do what you do best. Excited to see what you can bring to the table starting Saturday. 
 

Lansdowns feel free to **** off still. 

[Severn Beach Pigeon]

4 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

Top ten might be “good” but it is clearly not good enough for a team that we have been assured is good enough for a promotion challenge. Should that promotion challenge not happen, it has to be on Jon Lansdown to explain exactly where the club got the managerial appointment wrong and to take full responsibility for any error.

Of course. I think Lansdown knows as much as the fans does that the squad is good but that we are out-resourced by other teams in the league.

I actually think Manning is potentially a good appointment and I think taking calculated punts on managers a division below is the route we should be taking. However the past two weeks have left a sour taste in my mouth - not because Pearson was sacked but because of the bullshit senior figures have spouted about the reasons.

I would agree it was a personality clash and expectations will be lower for the new manager but I don’t like liars and feel Lansdown should be pressed and pressed and pressed on his reasoning if a supposedly promotion ready squad is given a lower target under a new manager.

Someone gave a very valid answer to this earlier.

If the goal was promotion/playoffs, fine, but LM isn't starting from an equal ground with the other clubs from the start of the season.

He's coming in with 1/3 of the season gone and 5 points to make up over those in the playoffs.

So to achieve them now he'd have to outperform his remit over the remaining 2/3s of a season.

 

 

If this had all happened over the summer with the same course of events then your argument would be stronger.

[W-S-M Seagull]

Just now, GrumpyGit said:

Don’t expect him to hit the ground running, his success at Oxford came this season after the board went all out to back him and 10 new players came in. 
He left us in 2nd place, some of the football was good, but a lot of it was tippy side to side shit. 
If he does do well, a sniff from a team above and he’ll be off.  Loyalty is not something he believes in.  Probably why he didn’t get a thank you from the Oxford board. 
 

That's what a lot of our fans are overlooking. He was backed heavily at Oxford.

We have a good squad. We don't need to bring in many players and if Manning thinks we do, he's not the right guy for us. He needs to work with what he has got.

The expectation here is that he won't recieve that sort of backing.

Our fans won't put up with the tippy tippy side to side shit. 

It worries me that he's said "if the other side don't have the ball, they can't score" 

[Severn Beach Pigeon]

4 minutes ago, GrumpyGit said:

Don’t expect him to hit the ground running, his success at Oxford came this season after the board went all out to back him and 10 new players came in. 
He left us in 2nd place, some of the football was good, but a lot of it was tippy side to side shit. 
If he does do well, a sniff from a team above and he’ll be off.  Loyalty is not something he believes in.  Probably why he didn’t get a thank you from the Oxford board. 
 

Aw, you added a selfie this time!

 

Please Mods, let me keep him

[Cov 77]

Just now, W-S-M Seagull said:

That's what a lot of our fans are overlooking. He was backed heavily at Oxford.

We have a good squad. We don't need to bring in many players and if Manning thinks we do, he's not the right guy for us. He needs to work with what he has got.

The expectation here is that he won't recieve that sort of backing.

Our fans won't put up with the tippy tippy side to side shit. 

It worries me that he's said "if the other side don't have the ball, they can't score" 

You are pretty angry it seems 

[BigTone]

On 02/11/2023 at 20:38, OliOTIB said:

Here we go again. Page predictions? Im going 22

By when ?  3pm tomorrow.

[Mr Popodopolous]

My expectations are at a minimum to maintain the current levels 40% winning League ratio and or 1.4 ppg. A fair injury permitting, points target for May maybe between 60-65, we have 21 now.

We achieved 18 from 14 under NP despite medium to bad injuries and  no Scott, rising to 21 from 15 under Fleming. Laat season albeit we had Semenyo for 4 games of it and Scott for the duration we achieved 32 from the 2nd half of the season.

Therefore to continue the progress, the positive signs 60-65 pts seems a reasonable baseline. By which I mean it should be the lower to medium end of expectations IMO.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[Merrick's Marvels]

1 hour ago, Countryfile said:

This is my concern, yes the new breed of coaches need to be given their chance, but this is a guy stepping into a world that he has no knowledge of from the inside, hasn’t played at this level, hasn’t coached at this level, he has a relatively easy first batch of fixtures so that is in his favour, but I am concerned he really could crash and burn, I genuinely hope not, but it is one hell of a risk by JL and BT.

Under NP we had become relatively hard to beat, no hammerings this season, some close defeats, should the new guy change things radically we could all live to regret it.

I'm a Pearson man and think he was treated disrespectfully, at best, by know nothing no-marks.

But it was obvious he wasn't getting a new contract and so a change is best sooner rather than later. And I agree with changing to a coach with a more tactical approach as the right direction to go, especially as Pearson has left such a solid foundation to build on - one rooted in a group of players committed to doing the fundamental basics as well as they can. Hopefully, those fundamentals remain our bedrock for a good while yet and don't get forgotten or discarded just because there's a new head honcho.

If so, I think we'll be fine.

Lee Johnson didn't have any experience at this level, did he? Nor his father. Both didn't do so bad, did they? (I'm no LJ lover, btw.)

I suspect this bloke's a cut up above both of them.

[JammyOne]

Poor appointment in my opinion, and we’ll do a lot worse now in the present and future. 

[Banjo Red]

15 minutes ago, GrumpyGit said:

Don’t expect him to hit the ground running, his success at Oxford came this season after the board went all out to back him and 10 new players came in. 
He left us in 2nd place, some of the football was good, but a lot of it was tippy side to side shit. 
If he does do well, a sniff from a team above and he’ll be off.  Loyalty is not something he believes in.  Probably why he didn’t get a thank you from the Oxford board. 
 

Which players are we going to sign from you?

[downendcity]

35 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Possibly.

I was relatively keen on Evatt for some reason, but that aside I just am not sure whether a change now was required, believe should have got longer.

Will watch the Press Conference later and see what I think then. Rightly or wrongly what might assuage some of those fans is a clear and obvious upgrade but hope Manning does well.

[luke_bristol]

50 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Very impressive, a forward thinking modern coach….might we see some decent football down the gate.

He can’t afford to stick to his front foot principles though, he’s got til May to get us up to sixth so probably needs to be a little more pragmatic. Points win prizes so I’ll take a few scrappy 1-0s over tika taka

[cidercity1987]

8 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

My expectations are at a minimum to maintain the current levels 40% winning League ratio and or 1.4 ppg. A fair injury permitting, points target for May maybe between 60-65, we have 21 now.

We achieved 18 from 14 under NP despite medium to bad injuries and  no Scott, rising to 21 from 15 under Fleming. Laat season albeit we had Semenyo for 4 games of it and Scott for the duration we achieved 32 from the 2nd half of the season.

Therefore to continue the progress, the positive signs 60-65 pts seems a reasonable baseline. By which I mean it should be the lower to medium end of expectations IMO.

Il be judging Manning on 24 points from 16 games which is what Pearson would have been on after our easiest two games of the season. So that's borderline play off form

[ollywhyte]

2 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

Il be judging Manning on 24 points from 16 games which is what Pearson would have been on after our easiest two games of the season. So that's borderline play off form

Not sure that’s how football works 

[W-S-M Seagull]

11 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

I'm a Pearson man and think he was treated disrespectfully, at best, by know nothing no-marks.

But it was obvious he wasn't getting a new contract and so a change is best sooner rather than later. And I agree with changing to a coach with a more tactical approach as the right direction to go, especially as Pearson has left such a solid foundation to build on - one rooted in a group of players committed to doing the fundamental basics as well as they can. Hopefully, those fundamentals remain our bedrock for a good while yet and don't get forgotten or discarded just because there's a new head honcho.

If so, I think we'll be fine.

Lee Johnson didn't have any experience at this level, did he? Nor his father. Both didn't do so bad, did they? (I'm no LJ lover, btw.)

I suspect this bloke's a cut up above both of them.

My concern from the press conference was that LM didn't really speak about the squad and its qualities and the work ethic it has. Touched on it a little but not a lot. 

It very much come across as I'm here now and we are going to do things my way. 

I'm not sure that's the right way to go about it. 

This is a squad that Pearson brought and the players will still feel upset about him leaving and they may have a loyalty towards him.

To a lesser extent it reminds me of when Clough went in at Leeds after Rennie and he told the players to forget everything they had done before. It didn't end well. 

Manning would do well to come in here and to not change things dramatically over night. Continue on the lines of Pearson and Co and slowly introduce his own ideas. 

If he comes in with that iron hammer it will not go well.

Edited November 7, 2023 by W-S-M Seagull

[LondonBristolian]

15 minutes ago, transfer reader said:

Someone gave a very valid answer to this earlier.

If the goal was promotion/playoffs, fine, but LM isn't starting from an equal ground with the other clubs from the start of the season.

He's coming in with 1/3 of the season gone and 5 points to make up over those in the playoffs.

So to achieve them now he'd have to outperform his remit over the remaining 2/3s of a season.

 

 

If this had all happened over the summer with the same course of events then your argument would be stronger.

5 points over 2/3 a season so not a lot so I certainly don’t accept that as a very valid argument, especially as JL explicitly stated he was making the change now to get promotion this season.

However - even if we accepted the validity of the argument - the expectation still has to be our points average over the rest of the season is in the top six in the division. If that happens, Jon Lansdown can possibly explain how the new manager has met his expectations. 
 

If the points average is not in the top six, the argument - valid or not - flies out of the window completely and Jon Lansdown has to judge Manning’s appointment as a failure and explains to the fans why that failure occurred.

[BarnzFM]

3 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Are you in love with Nigel? Genuine question.

Why did you lot hate him so much?

[Galley is our king]

1 minute ago, Cristored said:

Are you in love with Nigel? Genuine question.

Are you in love with Jon Lansdown?

Started on here Saturday so you must be Bristol Sport no?

Pathetic by the owners and Pathetic by you for taking part.

Must be good overtime rate eh?

[Bris Red]

4 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Are you in love with Nigel? Genuine question.

Are you actually an employee of Bristol Sport? Genuine question.

[Midred]

Just watched the short interview, is the streamed press conference not available now. Surely they would have recorded it?

[W-S-M Seagull]

5 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Are you in love with Nigel? Genuine question.

Are you Jon Lansdown? I think you are. 

[Merrick's Marvels]

1 hour ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

Spoke well and lots of similarities but let’s see what happens. I hope he goes well and accelerates us forward but a lot of pressure thanks to the board and those crazy objectives set last week. To sack Nigel for Manning and get rid of a whole backroom team really is last chance saloon for many fans with this board. Good luck. 

Mate, they blew it years ago.

Just one example:

Clowns, the lot of them, for not finding a way to back Cotts when we were promoted. We had MASSIVE momentum (hello Ipswich!) and goodness knows how far that could have carried us.

But we allowed ourselves to be derailed by bickering off the pitch - for which Cotts has to share some if the blame.

Him and Pearson, 2 excellent managers of football players, derailed by their relationship with the suits above them. Both had good things going on, derailed by one common denominator.

Guernsey's been good for one thing only -'paying the bills. If he doesn't fancy doing that anything - thank you, cheerio.

[BarnzFM]

Just now, Cristored said:

Thought he did a great job off the pitch, on the pitch I thought it was pretty average. was never getting a new deal and wasn’t getting the best of our signings and didn’t threaten enough up top.that’s my view on him.

Thanks Jon

[fisherrich]

6 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Are you in love with Nigel? Genuine question.

Another Bristol Sport SNAKE on here.

[cidercity1987]

6 minutes ago, ollywhyte said:

Not sure that’s how football works 

Well it does to the Lansdowns, that's why Pearson was sacked just before playing the easiest two

[SBB]

Thought LM came across really well. I wish him luck. 

[W-S-M Seagull]

1 minute ago, Cristored said:

Thought he did a great job off the pitch, on the pitch I thought it was pretty average. was never getting a new deal and wasn’t getting the best of our signings and didn’t threaten enough up top.that’s my view on him.

Well Jon, had you of not sold Alex Scott and then failed to replace him then we would have seen a better style on the pitch.

Had you of given Nige some money from the Scott money then you'd have seen a better style.

But as it was we had to be efficient with the small injury depleted squad. 

Did you really think we could win at Cardiff with just the 11 fit first team players? 

[Andy082005]

4 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Are you in love with Nigel? Genuine question.

I find it genuinely weird how some people are acting. Yes - it wasn’t great how ‘Nige’ was treated, but the cold harsh reality is the football was bang average and the results the same 

Anyone would think we had just let the messiah go 

People have been brainwashed 

[Owl Visiting]

Interesting appointment, like to see a young manager given a chance.

He was really impressive in Wednesday's first season in League One, I thought they deserved to go up automatically that year. Finished above us and Sunderland in a really competitive season.

All went wrong last season of course, but an MK Dons fan I knew predicted it before the season started with them losing their best players. 

Similar age to Danny Rohl who we've just brought in and he's already got us playing much better, as some of you will (hopefully) have seen a bit of at the weekend.

Always tough to follow a popular manager though, so I can see why it's got a mixed reaction. I'm not over Darren Moore yet. 

 

[SBB]

8 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Are you in love with Nigel? Genuine question.

Most of us were, you would’ve known that if you’d been around a little longer. 

[Andy082005]

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

My concern from the press conference was that LM didn't really speak about the squad and its qualities and the work ethic it has. Touched on it a little but not a lot. 

It very much come across as I'm here now and we are going to do things my way. 

I'm not sure that's the right way to go about it. 

This is a squad that Pearson brought and the players will still feel upset about him leaving and they may have a loyalty towards him.

To a lesser extent it reminds me of when Clough went in at Leeds after Rennie and he told the players to forget everything they had done before. It didn't end well. 

Manning would do well to come in here and to not change things dramatically over night. Continue on the lines of Pearson and Co and slowly introduce his own ideas. 

If he comes in with that iron hammer it will not go well.

Ever thought the ‘work ethic’ might be the reason for all the injuries? 
 

Maybe busting our bollocks every game is why players bodies keep breaking down. 
 

A different style may help us 

[bcfc01]

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

My concern from the press conference was that LM didn't really speak about the squad and its qualities and the work ethic it has. Touched on it a little but not a lot. 

It very much come across as I'm here now and we are going to do things my way. 

I'm not sure that's the right way to go about it. 

This is a squad that Pearson brought and the players will still feel upset about him leaving and they may have a loyalty towards him.

To a lesser extent it reminds me of when Clough went in at Lee

Clough wound up the Leeds players and supporters before he even arrived at the club, calling them cheats and thugs. Tbf, he actually then said that to the players faces. When you have personalities like Hunter, Bremner, Giles, Charlton, and the like, it didn't go very well and the players just wouldn't play for him. He lasted a few weeks.

I don't think LM will do that do you ?

Its as far away from the Clough and Leeds situation that you could possibly get.

 

[W-S-M Seagull]

1 hour ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

Spoke well and lots of similarities but let’s see what happens. I hope he goes well and accelerates us forward but a lot of pressure thanks to the board and those crazy objectives set last week. To sack Nigel for Manning and get rid of a whole backroom team really is last chance saloon for many fans with this board. Good luck. 

I think had at least Fleming of stayed I'd not feel as if we've gambled by getting rid of them all and replacing them with inexperienced people. 

I think it would have been difficult to keep Fleming due to his loyalties to Nige but I think if he was still here, I'd actually feel pretty confident about this. I think Flemings experience would have been invaluable for Manning. 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Cristored said:

I’m a teacher. 

That’s interesting, the Academy employs a few teachers, is that where you work?

[City Rocker]

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

 

I'd be absolutely pissed off if Manning suddenly allowed to sign 5 players in January when most thought that Pearson needed at least two players in the summer which would have seen us compete more.

Those are the things the club stated so I will hold them to that.

 

Maybe time to take a few deep breaths mate and let it go? I was as upset as anyone at the manner of NP's dismissal, and of the lack of signings in the summer.

But to say you'll be pissed off with new signings in January, really? 

Let's all move on, leave our agendas behind and get behind the new man, yes? 

[W-S-M Seagull]

3 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Clough wound up the Leeds players and supporters before he even arrived at the club, calling them cheats and thugs. Tbf, he actually then said that to the players faces. When you have personalities like Hunter, Bremner, Giles, Charlton, and the like, it didn't go very well and the players just wouldn't play for him. He lasted a few weeks.

I don't think LM will do that do you ?

Its as far away from the Clough and Leeds situation that you could possibly get.

 

Hence why I said to a lesser extent. 

[W-S-M Seagull]

Just now, City Rocker said:

Maybe time to take a few deep breaths mate and let it go? I was as upset as anyone at the manner of NP's dismissal, and of the lack of signings in the summer.

But to say you'll be pissed off with new signings in January, really? 

Let's all move on, leave our agendas behind and get behind the new man, yes? 

I'm not telling you what to think or feel, so please don't tell me. Thanks.

[W-S-M Seagull]

5 minutes ago, Andy082005 said:

Ever thought the ‘work ethic’ might be the reason for all the injuries? 
 

Maybe busting our bollocks every game is why players bodies keep breaking down. 
 

A different style may help us 

You'd have a point if the injuries were non contact injuries. 

[bcfc01]

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

Hence why I said to a lesser extent. 

[Severn Beach Pigeon]

9 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

5 points over 2/3 a season so not a lot so I certainly don’t accept that as a very valid argument, especially as JL explicitly stated he was making the change now to get promotion this season.

However - even if we accepted the validity of the argument - the expectation still has to be our points average over the rest of the season is in the top six in the division. If that happens, Jon Lansdown can possibly explain how the new manager has met his expectations. 
 

If the points average is not in the top six, the argument flies out of the window completely and Jon Lansdown has to judge Manning’s appointment as a failure and explains to the fans why that failure occurred.

The bolded bit I do agree with, and nearly included in my own post.

 

First para, yes and no 

5 points over 2/3 of a season isn't huge, but we're also far enough in to suggest those up there are the ones there on merit and outperforming those plus the other 4 teams between us and the playoffs is harder than simply "it's just 5 points"

[W-S-M Seagull]

One interesting thing I picked up on was that he kept saying "this place screams high performance" 

Pearsons attitude was the opposite of that. Nige used to say something like "it's only a building, it's the people that make it high performance" 

 

 

 

[W-S-M Seagull]

2 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Yep Nigel was clever he knew exactly what he was doing in that sense. 

I can see you in 50 years going round the streets with your leaflets preaching the cult of Nige.

Would those be leaflets that you've coloured in with your crayons Jon?

[luke_bristol]

5 minutes ago, Cristored said:

God know they wouldn’t be able to pay half my salary.

 

Then you were had, sorry. Did a solid job but no where near good enough to justify that mindset.

No*
 

Nowhere*
 

C-, Must do better

[Galley is our king]

2 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Yep Nigel was clever he knew exactly what he was doing in that sense. 

I can see you in 50 years going round the streets with your leaflets preaching the cult of Nige.

So your a teacher?

Bollocks, teacher my ass. My daughter IS a teacher and no teacher would ever ask someone "are you in love with Nigel Pearson"? Serious question.

You are not a teacher but you are a ****....

[johnheadbcfc]

1 minute ago, Galley is our king said:

So your a teacher?

Bollocks, teacher my ass. My daughter IS a teacher and no teacher would ever ask someone "are you in love with Nigel Pearson"? Serious question.

You are not a teacher but you are a ****....

Christ

[eardun]

First impressions - I like him. 

[Sleepy1968]

24 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

5 points over 2/3 a season so not a lot so I certainly don’t accept that as a very valid argument, especially as JL explicitly stated he was making the change now to get promotion this season.

However - even if we accepted the validity of the argument - the expectation still has to be our points average over the rest of the season is in the top six in the division. If that happens, Jon Lansdown can possibly explain how the new manager has met his expectations. 
 

If the points average is not in the top six, the argument - valid or not - flies out of the window completely and Jon Lansdown has to judge Manning’s appointment as a failure and explains to the fans why that failure occurred.

If you caught the presser earlier you might have notice that JL has already back-peddled a bit - he's not expecting a top six finish under the new boss. Said something about not putting him under too much pressure.

[AshtonGreat]

9 minutes ago, eardun said:

First impressions - I like him. 

Yeah he seems like an impressive guy. Am looking forward to his tenure

[samo II]

5 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

If you caught the presser earlier you might have notice that JL has already back-peddled a bit - he's not expecting a top six finish under the new boss. Said something about not putting him under too much pressure.

They never were ‘expecting’ a top six spot even with Pearson, I don’t think.

While it’s happened now, that was just the language they needed to try and soften the sacking, and the timing was as they knew we stood a good chance to beating Weds and QPR and didn’t want to sack a guy they didn’t like who had us at the brink of a playoff spot.

But it’s gone now: the sour taste remains and I’m not suggesting we forgive and forget, but Manning didn’t fire Pearson, and we have to see what he is about.

Without being flippant, you hope it’s a Ranieri scenario where what Pearson built ends up the foundation for what his successor achieves, as he’s undoubtedly left a better legacy than the he arrived to, but we can only see.

I’ll be disappointed if we go into the tank now, but equally can’t imagine without injury luck changing and some dramatic and unexpected spending that we’ll be challenging, but stranger things have happened.

He has my support as they all do at the start.

[Northern Red]

35 minutes ago, Cristored said:

I’m a teacher. 

An academic, you could say...

[Lordofthebling]

14 minutes ago, Galley is our king said:

So your a teacher?

Bollocks, teacher my ass. My daughter IS a teacher and no teacher would ever ask someone "are you in love with Nigel Pearson"? Serious question.

You are not a teacher but you are a ****....

* you're 

[Sir Geoff]

38 minutes ago, Cristored said:

I’m a teacher. 

Obviously not an English one, judging by the appalling grammar in your previous posts. God help kids today if that is the standard.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Sir Geoff
edit text

[Mr Popodopolous]

Genuinely I wish Manning well. Heard his snippet on Radio Bristol, still to watch his Press Conference etc.

There will be doubters of course and the NP dismissal still leaves a sour taste but the one thing Manning can do to win over fans.

Win games, a fair chunk of them.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[W-S-M Seagull]

6 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Genuinely I wish Manning well. Heard his snippet on Radio Bristol, still to watch his Press Conference etc.

There will be doibtrts of course and the NP dismissal still leaves a sour taste but the one thing Manning can do to win over fans.

Win games, a fair chunk of them.

And this is what it comes down to Mr P, winning games. 

If he comes in and has a difficult start then there is no period of grace. 

NP got that period of grace because fans understood all the restrictions he was working under. LM doesn't really have those restrictions. Injuries aside, he has a talented squad and he has to have them outperforming their ability pretty quickly.

Progress may have been slow under Pearson, but we were making progress and I have no doubt that either this season or next season we'd have got into the play offs. 

So the expection from me is that Manning needs to accelerate that progress and if he does absolutely fantastic, but if he doesn't he will be judged on that. He doesn't have that time to reshape the squad etc. He has to hit the ground running. Big pressure for him.

Edited November 7, 2023 by W-S-M Seagull

[rednotblue]

Good luck to him. 

[TonyTonyTony]

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

Why are you telling me what to say and think? 

Im not. When did i say that?

Im pointing out your posts are very negative about everything BCFC. At some point i hope you regain some positivity 

[W-S-M Seagull]

Just now, TonyTonyTony said:

Im not. When did i say that?

Im pointing out your posts are very negative about everything BCFC. At some point i hope you regain some positivity 

I lost my positivity when we sacked a manager who we was making slow progress with and replaced him with a inexperienced head coach.

I will gain some positivity if Manning at the very least has the same record as Pearson. 

But right now, I legitimately have concerns that all the hard work that has been done over the past few years, could have all been for nothing. 

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

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

"The players are craving to be coached"

Dig at Nige? 

Let it go

[LondonBristolian]

27 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

If you caught the presser earlier you might have notice that JL has already back-peddled a bit - he's not expecting a top six finish under the new boss. Said something about not putting him under too much pressure.

I’ve been out all day so didn’t catch the press conference but I’m not surprised.

18 minutes ago, samo II said:

They never were ‘expecting’ a top six spot even with Pearson, I don’t think.

While it’s happened now, that was just the language they needed to try and soften the sacking, and the timing was as they knew we stood a good chance to beating Weds and QPR and didn’t want to sack a guy they didn’t like who had us at the brink of a playoff spot.

But it’s gone now: the sour taste remains and I’m not suggesting we forgive and forget, but Manning didn’t fire Pearson, and we have to see what he is about.

Without being flippant, you hope it’s a Ranieri scenario where what Pearson built ends up the foundation for what his successor achieves, as he’s undoubtedly left a better legacy than the he arrived to, but we can only see.

I’ll be disappointed if we go into the tank now, but equally can’t imagine without injury luck changing and some dramatic and unexpected spending that we’ll be challenging, but stranger things have happened.

He has my support as they all do at the start.

This is a good post and I do agree. I know the club never seriously expected Pearson to be challenging for promotion but I do think the Chair and Technical Director have to be accountable for the messages they communicate to the fans. 
 

FWIW, I will get behind Manning on Saturday and I don’t plan to judge him on my feelings about Pearson’s sacking. However I also don’t want the board to be able to walk back on their public statements without serious scrutiny from the fans and press.

[W-S-M Seagull]

5 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Manning isn’t an anarchist mate, he’s a football manager.

You're getting his job title wrong Jon. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Manning isn’t an anarchist mate, he’s a football manager.

He clearly isn’t a football manager.

[W-S-M Seagull]

6 minutes ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

Let it go

I will if and when Manning out performs Nige.

[Street red]

9 minutes ago, Cristored said:

Manning isn’t an anarchist mate, he’s a football manager.

Coach half the job of a manager  

[bredwood]

What a week it’s been. Lansdown and Bristol Sport have hardly covered themselves in glory by coming up with feeble excuses for the sacking and then sending a stream of drones onto OTIB to rubbish Pearson using tactics that Putin would be proud of.

Obviously I hope Manning succeeds but forgive me for being cynical after seeing their previous attempts at appointing young unknown talents. 

[Jerseybean]

Welcome to my club Liam. I’d like to wish you the very best of luck in your new role.

I will use the club’s own rationale for sacking Nigel Pearson as a yardstick for how  successful our new Head Coach is.

In last week’s interviews it was made crystal clear that the hierarchy expect the current squad to be capable of promotion or at the very least competing at the top end of the table.

“We currently have a squad deemed capable of winning promotion/ being at the top end of the league,” “100% the aim this season is promotion,” “This squad should be at the top end,” “the aim is promotion and we wouldn’t have made the change if we didn’t think we could achieve that,” “there would be no point in making the change now if we were happy to just bumble along for the rest of this season”. 

Personally, I think that’s delusional but what do I know, I’ve only been supporting the club for 60 odd years.

It was also strongly implied by JL and GM that some of the proceeds from recent transfers will put us in a good place when it comes to recruitment in 2024, something that LM will have an opportunity to influence.

So, I’m going to give this a year and as always will continue to fully support my team. I’ve consistently made it clear that I was a big Nigel Pearson fan and I was outraged at his sacking.

Looking forward, with an open mind, to seeing what happens under LM.

 

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

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

I lost my positivity when we sacked a manager who we was making slow progress with and replaced him with a inexperienced head coach.

I will gain some positivity if Manning at the very least has the same record as Pearson. 

But right now, I legitimately have concerns that all the hard work that has been done over the past few years, could have all been for nothing. 

Derby County	27 May 2016	8 October 2016	14	3	5	6	21.43	[83][108]
OH Leuven	22 September 2017	3 February 2019	56	18	15	23	32.14	[110]
Watford	6 December 2019	19 July 2020	22	7	5	10	31.82	[108][failed verification]
Bristol City	24 February 2021	29 October 2023	131	42	32	57	32.0

 

And I will gain some negativity if, at the very least, he has the same record as Nige since 2016 but, of course, Liam won't last a full season here if he doesn't improve results and ends up with the same track record as NP..

What is it with you that you seem to think that NP won the world club championship with us??? It's like an obsession.

He did a solid job, he addressed some major issues but was sacked with us in a worse League position than Johnson and Holden. But that hides the good things he did yet exposes the bad.

Mann up.