Credit where it is due

[BCFC31]

2 minutes ago, Superjack said:

Well if they are technically atrocious, surely NP was doing a good job, no?

Again this is counter to what I am saying I am saying the players are shocking yes person was doing a good job the blame is with jl bt how an earth they could think these players would play an intricate passing system is madness

Edited March 6 by BCFC31

[Superjack]

Just now, BCFC31 said:

Again this is counter to what I am saying I am saying the players are shocking yes person was doing a good job the blame is with jl bt how an earth they could thing these players would play an intricate passing system is madness

And on this we DO agree.

I don't agree that they are atrocious. 

But otherwise this is correct. 

NP could see it. So set us up as a counter-attacking side. Pretty much home and away. 

Of course, if he had been kept on and backed in the transfer market, he could have changed that. 

It's no coincidence that Manning's only good results have come against teams that force us to play the way that NP drilled us to.

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

Technically atrocious I dunno. They have shortcomings of course and they are better suited to a pacier, more counter attacking game (which frankly is more enjoyable in a lot of cases IMO) but atrocious is ott to say the least.

I hardly thought last year post the change to 4-3-3ish when Naismith and Scott in the midfield and Atkinson at the back and yes Vyner too in certain scenarios that classed as technically atrocious. We have some holes but a fully fit Atkinson, Naismith, Twine would again improve us in this regard not the atrocious point is particularly fair in any event.

Plus James of course. I'm not saying he is expansive but atrocious he ain't.

Edited March 6 by Mr Popodopolous

[bpexile]

3 hours ago, REDOXO said:

I know it!  
 

That is difficult take. Particularly as it was Wes Burns that ripped us a new one. 
 

 

Well at least he proved he wasn't good enough for us, I say well done to the lad & anyone else who sees their future elsewhere because at the moment we are definitely a no-where club.

Really hurts me to say that 

[Major Isewater]

Why couldn’t Manning get the players up for the three precedent games ?

[RollsRoyce]

14 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

Why couldn’t Manning get the players up for the three precedent games ?

They were not the main game on Sky 

[exAtyeoMax]

6 minutes ago, RollsRoyce said:

They were not the main game on Sky 

We played Leeds on sky? That was dreadful

[harvey54]

It was fine margins. Nakhi's shot goes in off the post and I couldn't see them coming back from 2 down. City would have had a bit more belief being 2 up. Ipswich getting the equaliser so quick meant a huge momentum shift and they were buzzing. 

Ipswich always thought they could go on and win the game. We were just hoping we could.

I get the feeling that there are a few players in that side that know they aren't going to be there next season and are marking time.

I was encouraged by last night, as I also was by Watford and Middlesbrough away and Southampton at home, but there's also been some dire stuff played against QPR, Cardiff and Sheff Wed too. 

Lansdown isn't going to sack Manning until he's had a summer to buy players he needs and has a preseason. Manning will be gone by October if we're still not performing consistently by then. I really hope we are because I don't want another's season like this one.

 

[Fordy62]

6 hours ago, Floatn Over said:

I spent a day recently working with someone who is a big Ipswich fan.  A knowledgeable guy who knew his football and was very complimentary about us and that we really should be enjoying some success.

In discussing Ipswich this season he puts it extensively down to solid driven motivation, everyone from the programme sellers, to the people selling pies and pints, ball boys, players, management team, directors and yes Mark Ashton and in turn supporters have developed a focused belief.  The players are good but they’re not that good in his view.  There is a buzz around Portman Rd describing it like church bells ringing.  He expected this season to be one of consolidation but he’s enjoying every minute even finishing work early midweek to drive ridiculous mileage to away games he would have probably given a miss in the past.

Thats the difference and what we do not have.  We had it under GJ, getting to the playoff final.

However……..he is worried that they’ve overspent with recruitment and the reinforcements they brought in taking into account wages etc, to an extent that they must now get to the prem’ or this will bite them firmly in the arse.

Watching tonight’s game just brought this back to mind, so we either drift along or how do we get what they’ve got ?

I think a lot of the togetherness you describe there is what we were building under Nige. The foundations were in place and the deadwood had mostly been slung. 

But rather than back the best manager we’ve had in years, they stabbed him in the back. 

And that’s why we’re so intolerant of Manning when in reality he’s only half way up a sacking ladder that we watched LJ climb to the top of twice. 

Problem is what comes next. It’s either sack Manning - in which we have to go through our Mickey Mouse ‘best man for the job’ nonsense. Or, more worryingly for me, the ‘let’s throw money at him to prove he’s the right man’ approach - which will end up in us needing Nige again. 

We have some genuinely good players here now and they’re being made to look shit. Stupid club. 

[harvey54]

6 hours ago, Floatn Over said:

I spent a day recently working with someone who is a big Ipswich fan.  A knowledgeable guy who knew his football and was very complimentary about us and that we really should be enjoying some success.

In discussing Ipswich this season he puts it extensively down to solid driven motivation, everyone from the programme sellers, to the people selling pies and pints, ball boys, players, management team, directors and yes Mark Ashton and in turn supporters have developed a focused belief.  The players are good but they’re not that good in his view.  There is a buzz around Portman Rd describing it like church bells ringing.  He expected this season to be one of consolidation but he’s enjoying every minute even finishing work early midweek to drive ridiculous mileage to away games he would have probably given a miss in the past.

Thats the difference and what we do not have.  We had it under GJ, getting to the playoff final.

However……..he is worried that they’ve overspent with recruitment and the reinforcements they brought in taking into account wages etc, to an extent that they must now get to the prem’ or this will bite them firmly in the arse.

Watching tonight’s game just brought this back to mind, so we either drift along or how do we get what they’ve got ?

Good post. We've had two promotion seasons like that. One under GJ and one under Cotts. GJ went on to almost take us up again. Cotts didn't get a chance. Under GJ we were buzzing for that season until we got to the play off final. It's all about momentum.

We haven't learned any lessons and we've not kicked on after those two seasons. Ipswich are riding that buzz at the moment. Good luck to them. I'd rather see them promoted than a parachute payment club like Leeds, Leicester or Southampton. It goes to show it can be done.

[Robbored]

6 minutes ago, harvey54 said:

It was fine margins. Nakhi's shot goes in off the post and I couldn't see them coming back from 2 down. City would have had a bit more belief being 2 up. Ipswich getting the equaliser so quick meant a huge momentum shift and they were buzzing. 

Ipswich always thought they could go on and win the game. We were just hoping we could.

I get the feeling that there are a few players in that side that know they aren't going to be there next season and are marking time.

I was encouraged by last night, as I also was by Watford and Middlesbrough away and Southampton at home, but there's also been some dire stuff played against QPR, Cardiff and Sheff Wed too. 

Lansdown isn't going to sack Manning until he's had a summer to buy players he needs and has a preseason. Manning will be gone by October if we're still not performing consistently by then. I really hope we are because I don't want another's season like this one.

 

I was encouraged as well. - up to a point. Manning got his tactics right particularly in the first half when our high block kept them penned their own half.

Unfortunately second 45 Ipswich found a way to counter the block by utilising width on both wings.Their substitutions made a significant difference as well. Countering a block either deep or high that both QPR and Cardiff adopted but Manning couldn’t come up with a strategy to counter it.

He really looks as if  he’s out of his depth.

[One Team]

19 minutes ago, harvey54 said:

It was fine margins. Nakhi's shot goes in off the post and I couldn't see them coming back from 2 down. City would have had a bit more belief being 2 up. Ipswich getting the equaliser so quick meant a huge momentum shift and they were buzzing. 

Ipswich always thought they could go on and win the game. We were just hoping we could.

I get the feeling that there are a few players in that side that know they aren't going to be there next season and are marking time.

I was encouraged by last night, as I also was by Watford and Middlesbrough away and Southampton at home, but there's also been some dire stuff played against QPR, Cardiff and Sheff Wed too. 

Lansdown isn't going to sack Manning until he's had a summer to buy players he needs and has a preseason. Manning will be gone by October if we're still not performing consistently by then. I really hope we are because I don't want another's season like this one.

 

That last paragraph is worst case scenario for me. Give him the summer, spend some money only to then sack a few months later and we go into yet another rebuild. 

If we lose Sunday we may be better off replacing before the summer and starting again then.

[harvey54]

2 minutes ago, Robbored said:

I was encouraged as well. - up to a point. Manning got his tactics right particularly in the first half when our high block kept them penned their own half.

Unfortunately second 45 Ipswich found a way to counter the block by utilising width on both wings.Their substitutions made a significant difference as well. Countering a block either deep or high that both QPR and Cardiff adopted but Manning couldn’t come up with a strategy to counter it.

He really looks as if  he’s out of his depth.

He's going to get lots of time to learn to swim unfortunately because he won't get the sack and we all know it. He shouldn't be managing our team and it still makes me angry to think about how he got the job 

[One Team]

7 minutes ago, harvey54 said:

Good post. We've had two promotion seasons like that. One under GJ and one under Cotts. GJ went on to almost take us up again. Cotts didn't get a chance. Under GJ we were buzzing for that season until we got to the play off final. It's all about momentum.

We haven't learned any lessons and we've not kicked on after those two seasons. Ipswich are riding that buzz at the moment. Good luck to them. I'd rather see them promoted than a parachute payment club like Leeds, Leicester or Southampton. It goes to show it can be done.

If you take all the emotion and relationships out of it I find it amazing Lansdown can’t see what’s been common in the successful managers of the last 20 years. Still he thinks the way to progress is a young up coming manager who is, perceptually at least, a yes man. 

[harvey54]

2 minutes ago, One Team said:

That last paragraph is worst case scenario for me. Give him the summer, spend some money only to then sack a few months later and we go into yet another rebuild. 

If we lose Sunday we may be better off replacing before the summer and starting again then.

Completely agree. But we're stuck with him as long as the Lansdowns are around and it's sickening 

[1960maaan]

5 hours ago, BCFC31 said:

We are technically poor we have a team of runners... that one gets you so far stop making out we were world beaters under person we weren't we were below average under him aswell 

Disagree , there are some technically good players in the squad . The next bit is worrying as he seems to be taking the hard running bit away while not adding anything.  When we have struggled in games we have worked hard and been fitter towards the end. Last night I saw players looking like they were carrying knocks and looking leggy during the least busy period for some time. 
Not saying that Pearson was perfect , but the togetherness and fitness looked well above what they do now.

24 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

Problem is what comes next. It’s either sack Manning - in which we have to go through our Mickey Mouse ‘best man for the job’ nonsense. Or, more worryingly for me, the ‘let’s throw money at him to prove he’s the right man’ approach - which will end up in us needing Nige again. 

We have some genuinely good players here now and they’re being made to look shit. Stupid club. 

There is another , totally Bristol City , or at least Lansdown route. They back him with money, but don't trust him with it so it will be spent on BT's and the Clubs choices. They then won't be exactly what he wants anyway, probably won't fit the brief and we carry on going the way we are with higher wage bill and another bloated squad . 

Lansdown's version of Groundhog day .

[Cole Not Gas]

9 hours ago, RedJim said:

My thoughts exactly. Sick and tired of the losers mentality that pervades this club.

Bye then

[Cole Not Gas]

9 hours ago, steveybadger said:

Careful that’s subversively rational

Some of us actually like rational, sometimes, as opposed to absurd abuse most give the club we support!

Much improved, all City fans happy for 89 mins - not every away game we can say that. Onwards now for Sunday. Keep the faith, keep the support of the club, ease off on the blame and dont get personally vindictive just because we are behind a keyboard. My opinion and I love it

[AshtonGreat]

27 minutes ago, Robbored said:

I was encouraged as well. - up to a point. Manning got his tactics right particularly in the first half when our high block kept them penned their own half.

Unfortunately second 45 Ipswich found a way to counter the block by utilising width on both wings.Their substitutions made a significant difference as well. Countering a block either deep or high that both QPR and Cardiff adopted but Manning couldn’t come up with a strategy to counter it.

He really looks as if  he’s out of his depth.

We gave them a really good game in the second half. I imagine most Ipswich fans would say that was one of the tougher games they've had all season

[Dr Balls]

7 minutes ago, Cole Not Gas said:

Some of us actually like rational, sometimes, as opposed to absurd abuse most give the club we support!

Much improved, all City fans happy for 89 mins - not every away game we can say that. Onwards now for Sunday. Keep the faith, keep the support of the club, ease off on the blame and dont get personally vindictive just because we are behind a keyboard. My opinion and I love it

So how do you rationalise that we are currently in a terrible run of form and that overall since Manning arrived our form has at best been bottom 6 rather than the top 6 spouted by Jon Lansdown? Not being vindictive just laying out the facts!

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

8 minutes ago, Cole Not Gas said:

Some of us actually like rational, sometimes, as opposed to absurd abuse most give the club we support!

Much improved, all City fans happy for 89 mins - not every away game we can say that. Onwards now for Sunday. Keep the faith, keep the support of the club, ease off on the blame and dont get personally vindictive just because we are behind a keyboard. My opinion and I love it

Well said mate.

[Davefevs]

6 hours ago, BCFC31 said:

This is completely against my point that I am saying the players are technically atrocious though isn't it

They aren’t though, that is just your excuse because a young, progressive, modern, on-the grass coach has a flawed ideaology about his best to play this game at this level at this club.

The sane flawed ideaology from the owner that he can get out of this division with a young coach.  He is hell-bent on proving that.  What he should be doing is trying to find the best coach, age is irrelevant.

And to add young coach does NOT (Necessarily) EQUAL High press, forward thinking attacking football.

In Liam Manning’s case it is almost the opposite.

25 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

Disagree , there are some technically good players in the squad . The next bit is worrying as he seems to be taking the hard running bit away while not adding anything.  When we have struggled in games we have worked hard and been fitter towards the end. Last night I saw players looking like they were carrying knocks and looking leggy during the least busy period for some time. 
Not saying that Pearson was perfect , but the togetherness and fitness looked well above what they do now.

There is another , totally Bristol City , or at least Lansdown route. They back him with money, but don't trust him with it so it will be spent on BT's and the Clubs choices. They then won't be exactly what he wants anyway, probably won't fit the brief and we carry on going the way we are with higher wage bill and another bloated squad . 

Lansdown's version of Groundhog day .

Yes, I agree Mike, taking the good elements away.

No, Pearson wasn’t perfect, but he was building a squad with a realistic chance of competing.

I don’t expect people to agree, but I think they need to wake up and smell the coffee.  A summer window isn’t the answer, it probably compounds things.

[RedJim]

36 minutes ago, Cole Not Gas said:

Bye then

Very droll.   I'm not going anywhere.

[Sir Geoff]

35 minutes ago, Cole Not Gas said:

Some of us actually like rational, sometimes, as opposed to absurd abuse most give the club we support!

Much improved, all City fans happy for 89 mins - not every away game we can say that. Onwards now for Sunday. Keep the faith, keep the support of the club, ease off on the blame and dont get personally vindictive just because we are behind a keyboard. My opinion and I love it

Welcome back. We've missed you the last couple of weeks.

[TV Tom]

27 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

We gave them a really good game in the second half. I imagine most Ipswich fans would say that was one of the tougher games they've had all season

Absolutely, we played Luton away around about this time last season when they were also second, now that was a dogs dinner of a performance

[Swede]

6 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

They aren’t though, that is just your excuse because a young, progressive, modern, on-the grass coach has a flawed ideaology about his best to play this game at this level at this club.

The sane flawed ideaology from the owner that he can get out of this division with a young coach.  He is hell-bent on proving that.  What he should be doing is trying to find the best coach, age is irrelevant.

And to add young coach does NOT (Necessarily) EQUAL High press, forward thinking attacking football.

In Liam Manning’s case it is almost the opposite.

Yes, I agree Mike, taking the good elements away.

No, Pearson wasn’t perfect, but he was building a squad with a realistic chance of competing.

I don’t expect people to agree, but I think they need to wake up and smell the coffee.  A summer window isn’t the answer, it probably compounds things.

Exactly the point Dave & others far more knowledgeable than me like Silvio Dante & Spudski have come to the same conclusion. He's just not the right fit. The performance last night was probably more down to the players will to succeed rather than his coaching credentials and when he had the opportunity to apply them, he didn't or couldn't.  A summer transfer window won't make any difference, it will just make it worse.

[Numero Uno]

35 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

We gave them a really good game in the second half. I imagine most Ipswich fans would say that was one of the tougher games they've had all season

I’m not sure why a number of people are talking up last night’s DEFEAT in isolation as if it’s a turning point when, for the last ten and a half weeks, our record is shockingly bad. It’s marooned at the bottom of the table by miles form. 35-36 points per season form.

[Numero Uno]

11 minutes ago, TV Tom said:

Absolutely, we played Luton away around about this time last season when they were also second, now that was a dogs dinner of a performance

Rather than a dogs dinner of a quarter of a season……

[TV Tom]

2 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

Why couldn’t Manning get the players up for the three precedent games ?

Maybe for the same reason NP couldn’t get the players up for many games ?

[RedJim]

7 hours ago, Supersonic Robin said:

I was planning to write something similar, but don't think I could've put it better myself.

Today was undoubtedly an improved performance, but ultimately it's a 4th consecutive defeat for us.

There have been a fair few posts on the forum tonight along the lines of - "Ipswich are quality, we gave it a go. What more could we want?"

Granted, Ipswich are flying at the moment, but we were 2-1 up with 15 minutes to play against a team in the same division as us. How can we come away with 0 points from that position and simply be happy that we gave them a decent game?

Do we really have that little self respect? That little self belief? That little ambition?

If we come away from a night like tonight feeling positive, what does that say about where we are as a club? And what does that say about who we are as a club?

[TV Tom]

1 minute ago, Numero Uno said:

Rather than a dogs dinner of a quarter of a season……

Pearsons quarter season wasn’t that bad 

[TV Tom]

7 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Rather than a dogs dinner of a quarter of a season……

Pearsons quarter season wasn’t that bad 

[oldstandrobin]

10 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

This is what we’re reduced to now. We’ve lost our fourth game in a row to a club who’ve just spent four years in League One, but it’s OK because “we gave it a go”. So what if it felt different. It felt different against Southampton and we’ve lost every game since then. I have zero faith in Manning now, and even less faith in the people that put him there.

Meanwhile Ipswich join the long list of clubs that emerge from the depths of lower league football and pass us on the way up.

Sick of this club.

Cant help but agree CR, after supporting them for so long, sick to death of being overtaken by likes of Bournemouth and many more, we now face yet another period of possibly entering a relegation battle, will NEVER see Prem football in my lifetime at AG I'm afraid.Lansdown Snr and Jnr have betrayed genuine City supporters.

[TV Tom]

Come on people, irrespective of people’s opinion on Manning/NP no one can deny that was a very good performance last night, as a rule when playing away against a top two club we barely raise a glove

[Alessandro]

The way I describe last night was like a boxing match.

We were a weight division below, but came out positive and swinging - landing some good blows. Ahead on points.

But instead of being ready for the inevitable comeback from our superior opponent and looking to box clever - we kept looking for the knock out blow, left ourselves wide open, and got knocked out.

So you can say, oh well done, we’ve had a go and showed some spirit and looked good at times, but we still got knocked out. It was naive. Against lesser opponents it might work, but ultimately again we seem unable to play the right game for the right opponent.

Interestingly though - I’ve got a question - if I and plenty others can see that, did Manning:

A) Not see that and froze in the headlights again, failing to adapt to the game situation again. 

or

B) See it and think, no we stay the course, regardless of result?

I suppose what I’m asking is, did anyone else have the feeling Manning is now playing ‘his way’ almost like he’s been told he has a free pass - “just go out and play your game” from above or is he being stubborn to show, “this is how I play, take it or leave it and back me in the summer if you want us to close that gap”?

Because surely he can see what us layman can, right?

 

[red panda]

Some of the posts on here are embarrassing.  No Ipswich are not Man City or Real Madrid, but they are second, have comfortably more than 2ppg, and were in good form (having won their last five) with lots of confidence.  From where we started - three really depressing and disjointed performances - a competitive performance away to Ipswich is progress.

[pillred]

10 hours ago, PFree said:

Okay, beaten in the end by a side who were better than us, but fair play, we gave it a real go. Along with most others, I’ve been really disappointed after the last three games but tonight felt different.

Finally, well done to our fans who made the journey, horrible place to get to and it takes flipping ages.

 

Better than us? we were beaten in the end yes, but watching the game it was only right at the end where we lost it had Wells's shot gone in to make it 2-0 or Mehmet's wonder strike went in who knows how the game would have turned out, any neutral watching last night for 80 minutes would not have known who were the better side, am I delusional? maybe, to my mind we just seemed to run out of inspiration, had we held on for a few more minutes I think maybe your opinion might have been different.   

Edited March 6 by pillred

[W-S-M Seagull]

8 hours ago, Supersonic Robin said:

I was planning to write something similar, but don't think I could've put it better myself.

Today was undoubtedly an improved performance, but ultimately it's a 4th consecutive defeat for us.

There have been a fair few posts on the forum tonight along the lines of - "Ipswich are quality, we gave it a go. What more could we want?"

Granted, Ipswich are flying at the moment, but we were 2-1 up with 15 minutes to play against a team in the same division as us. How can we come away with 0 points from that position and simply be happy that we gave them a decent game?

Do we really have that little self respect? That little self belief? That little ambition?

If we come away from a night like tonight feeling positive, what does that say about where we are as a club? And what does that say about who we are as a club?

Let's be honest here. The only people who are being positive about us LOSING is Liam Mannings biggest fans. 

Yea we fought hard etc and had a few chances but it was nothing to write home about. People are talking like it was the performance of the century. Ipswich concede a lot of goals whilst scoring a lot. Rotherham scored 3 there for example recently. So us scoring twice wasn't really as special as people are making it out to be. 

The first half we barely offered anything going forward. 

[1960maaan]

I'm seeing a lot of "much improved" , is it though ?

Good Performance.
M'Boro (for 45) and Southampton sides that give us room to play. Good performance, importantly we score at good times and got blocks in when it counted.

Poor performance
QPR ,Sheff W and Cardiff , restrict space and get us to play even slower . Limit chances and don't give us room to break.

Decent performance 
Ipswich gave us room to play and we could hit them on the break , or pinch the ball high. We missed the chance at a great time and didn't get the blocks in when we needed to. 

This isn't a much improved performance , it is continuing a pattern . We will probably do ok against Swansea if they open up and give room and time. 
We have a run of games against teams that may well come at us, this could be a time we pick up enough points and may even look good at times. The time to judge progress is when we play a team that sits and restricts space , lets see how we go then. 

[TonyTonyTony]

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

Let's be honest here. The only people who are being positive about us LOSING is Liam Mannings biggest fans. 

Yea we fought hard etc and had a few chances but it was nothing to write home about. People are talking like it was the performance of the century. Ipswich concede a lot of goals whilst scoring a lot. Rotherham scored 3 there for example recently. So us scoring twice wasn't really as special as people are making it out to be. 

The first half we barely offered anything going forward. 

Where is the issue, with looking at the positives of the performance? You are so glass half empty it's ridiculous.

For me, it was a decent away performance against a team at the top of the league. Far better than the last few games, where we have been terrible.

I suppose you have little choice but to be negative, saying as your mind is made up already.

[milo1111]

There is no credit due because we’ve just lost our fourth game in a row and we are in dreadful form over the last few months.

lets see how we go Sunday. If it’s anything like the last two home performances we are going to be in a heap of trouble as they were absolutely shocking.

[bearded_red]

We were always going to be better against a team like Ipswich than we’ve been in the last three games. Surely everyone knew that? Surely everyone who watches us play knew that? 
 

It’s a nonsense to suggest ‘oh if only we’d played like that in the last three games’. We can’t play like that because the opposition let us have the ball. And when the opposition let us have the ball we play crap football at walking pace 70 yards away from the opposition’s goal.

This utterly small time reaction that we should be somehow over the moon with last night is stunning. This wasn’t a plucky non league team getting beat at Man City or Liverpool in the third round. 

We were fine for 70 minutes, we could have got something out the game. We didn’t, we lost, and let’s be honest it could just as easily have been a couple more in the last few minutes. It’s four defeats on the bounce, it’s 9 points in 13.

Celebrating because we weren’t atrocious and didn’t get thrashed at Ipswich. Was this the aim when we sacked Nigel Pearson?

[Keepers Ball]

10 hours ago, Lordofthebling said:

Fair play, can't fault that, either team could've won that. Seeing where we currently are, .can't grumble.

On to the next one.

Sorry fella but its that very attitude as to why this is City is absolutely backward when it comes to success. Size of the bloody place yet we have this apathetic mindset of it will do. 

[milo1111]

4 minutes ago, Keepers Ball said:

Sorry fella but it’s that very attitude as to why this is City is absolutely backward when it comes to success. Size of the bloody place yet we have this apathetic mindset of it will do. 

All day long. I’m so sick of it. NP was slowly solving the soft underbelly that we’ve had for years (bar cotts double season) and now it’s back in full swing. Absolutely soul destroying.

[38MC]

58 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

 A summer window isn’t the answer, it probably compounds things.

Spot on. Not only that, it's potentially a dangerous path to follow.

LM even if backed is only going to have the funds for 3 or so quality additions to the first team squad to play 'his way', because technical players ain't cheap - look at figures quoted for the number 10 we were after. And then they'd probably just get injured anyway, or be dragged down to playing at a mediocre level. 

We will lose Conway and we will lose James, we will lose King from the dressing room and I dare say we might lose one or two more. We will then be left with a mixed match of players, some able to play in a counter-attacking system, some in a recycle the ball and go again system. But there will be a large incompatibility and a total imbalance in the squad.

Manning has already shown he cannot get the players to perform in his system, and without giving him the licence to go and get 7-8 first teamers (and back the horse the whole way FFP wise - and why the fk would we do that?!), it just cannot work in my mind. We can't even look to the academy for these technically strong players to step up as the pipeline doesn't seem there for Manning-ball. 

The only way I see we can continue with Manning is to trust that he can (eventually) coach what is here. That seems absolutely foolish to me based on what we've seen so far. But if he goes into the summer he simply cannot get the chance to make wholesale changes or significant signings. He hasn't shown enough to be trusted to spend money that we will carry for 3 years from an FFP position.

So to me, the only way we keep him is to trust the coaching process and not let him hamstring us further down the line because he hasn't yet shown enough to trust him with money. And to me that's destined to fail. 

[Red-Robbo]

I think you can take last night as "much improved" while still despairing of where we are. That isn’t celebrating a defeat, it's acknowledging that we put in a reasonable performance in an away match against an in-form promotion contender. We weren't thumped 7-0 as one Otiber suggested we might be.

It's at this stage if the season that the bottom clubs that might escape the drop (Rotherham have already given up the ghost) are at their most dangerous. Players are desperate to retain their Championship status (and wages) and minds are focused like never before. Every season we lose to at least one club you look at before the match and think "that should be 3 points in the bag". 

So, losing to hitherto poor clubs is not just a Liam Manning phenomenon.  What was concerning about the past three losses was the manner of defeat. We looked like we could hardly be arsed. Out of ideas, not as fit, poorly set-up and coached. 

If the performance at Portman Road can instill some self-belief in the side and get it back on track to record the not many more points we need for safety, that'd be good.

It's a big IF however. 

 

[Roe]

It was a "much improved" performance from absolutely shite baseline.

And even then we still lost and got battered last 20 minutes once Ipswich turned up

[pillred]

6 minutes ago, Roe said:

It was a "much improved" performance from absolutely shite baseline.

And even then we still lost and got battered last 20 minutes once Ipswich turned up

The last 20 is pushing it, 10 I will give you.

[W-S-M Seagull]

1 hour ago, TonyTonyTony said:

Where is the issue, with looking at the positives of the performance? You are so glass half empty it's ridiculous.

For me, it was a decent away performance against a team at the top of the league. Far better than the last few games, where we have been terrible.

I suppose you have little choice but to be negative, saying as your mind is made up already.

What is there to be positive about Tonyx3? We are on a run of 23 points from 21 games and have lost 4 in a row.

If you care to look back at my posts from last season you'll see I was positive about performances in games that we lost. 

I'm calling a duck a duck. 

For me, I expected us to put in a better performance against Ipswich because its the same sort of game as Southampton, West Ham, Forest etc. Games that suit us. So we were only better by default really and in the end we were totally outclassed by Ipswich so in some respects you can say we've gone backwards. 

What can we take from last night that will be relevant to the Swansea game? 

[W-S-M Seagull]

32 minutes ago, pillred said:

The last 20 is pushing it, 10 I will give you.

There was 8 mins added on. Ipswich were by far the better team from about the 79th min onwards. 

[Roe]

32 minutes ago, pillred said:

The last 20 is pushing it, 10 I will give you.

Including the 8+ minutes of injury times when Max had more of the ball than all our attackers combined?

[Numero Uno]

1 hour ago, red panda said:

Some of the posts on here are embarrassing.  No Ipswich are not Man City or Real Madrid, but they are second, have comfortably more than 2ppg, and were in good form (having won their last five) with lots of confidence.  From where we started - three really depressing and disjointed performances - a competitive performance away to Ipswich is progress.

So what is progress on Sunday? Surely there comes a point when he has to deliver a group of decent results in a row, not two followed by three dismal and one battling defeat?

[TonyTonyTony]

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

What is there to be positive about Tonyx3? We are on a run of 23 points from 21 games and have lost 4 in a row.

If you care to look back at my posts from last season you'll see I was positive about performances in games that we lost. 

I'm calling a duck a duck. 

For me, I expected us to put in a better performance against Ipswich because its the same sort of game as Southampton, West Ham, Forest etc. Games that suit us. So we were only better by default really and in the end we were totally outclassed by Ipswich so in some respects you can say we've gone backwards. 

What can we take from last night that will be relevant to the Swansea game? 

Last night's performance has taken us backwards?  

There was plenty of endeavour on display last night, something that has been missing in recent games. If we can take that to the Swansea game we have a reasonable chance of getting a result. I do agree with you that Ipswich away, is in the same bracket as the games against Southampton, Forest and West Ham, but that doesn't mean the performance last night was in some way guaranteed. The lads put a shift in, against a good side, and could have won, or drawn the game. Ultimately, it's another loss but i can still see the positives from last night.

[AshtonGreat]

2 hours ago, Numero Uno said:

I’m not sure why a number of people are talking up last night’s DEFEAT in isolation as if it’s a turning point when, for the last ten and a half weeks, our record is shockingly bad. It’s marooned at the bottom of the table by miles form. 35-36 points per season form.

It's not shockingly bad. We drew with and then beat Premier League West Ham, drew with Premier League Forest twice, beat high-flying Southampton, won away at Boro, drew away at Coventry...

[winsaw]

I am amazed at the amount of happy clappers in this thread happy with last night's result because we turned up and gave it a go,  it really does show what's wrong with the club as long as players are being congratulated for failing we are never going anywhere, we lost so what they did wasn't good enough, we really have become a cosy club that accepts failure 

[TV Tom]

2 hours ago, bearded_red said:

We were always going to be better against a team like Ipswich than we’ve been in the last three games. Surely everyone knew that? Surely everyone who watches us play knew that? 
 

It’s a nonsense to suggest ‘oh if only we’d played like that in the last three games’. We can’t play like that because the opposition let us have the ball. And when the opposition let us have the ball we play crap football at walking pace 70 yards away from the opposition’s goal.

This utterly small time reaction that we should be somehow over the moon with last night is stunning. This wasn’t a plucky non league team getting beat at Man City or Liverpool in the third round. 

We were fine for 70 minutes, we could have got something out the game. We didn’t, we lost, and let’s be honest it could just as easily have been a couple more in the last few minutes. It’s four defeats on the bounce, it’s 9 points in 13.

Celebrating because we weren’t atrocious and didn’t get thrashed at Ipswich. Was this the aim when we sacked Nigel Pearson?

I doubt if anyone is celebrating in fact I expect the majority is gutted we lost but most of us recognise a good performance when we see one

[TV Tom]

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

There was 8 mins added on. Ipswich were by far the better team from about the 79th min onwards. 

That makes a whole 19 minutes then out of 100, for the rest of the game we were better or at least their equal, you must be a right laugh at a party

[PFree]

I posted positively as I thought all of the players at least put a shift in last night and gave it their all. Okay they lost but in reality they gave a top side a good game. I have no doubt that another performance like that on Sunday will result in point/s.

I’ve been a ST holder for other 30 years and seen some terrible times, far worse than this. I hoped we had turned a corner after the Southampton game but clearly not.

The route cause of where we are is poor senior management of the club over several years and a lack of investment in the team, we have reduced overall wages but at the cost of quality I am afraid (I appreciate FFP played a part).

I will forever appreciate Steve L for steadying the club financially, creating a great training facility and providing us with a Premier ready stadium, but his sell by date was two or three years ago - my fear is the tangled mess this club is legally which will put so many investors off - but there we go, I sincerely hope some form of buy out news arises one day soon and we get the required investment into the playing staff to take us that bit further.

For Manning, happy to give him a chance, but the more I see and hear puts me off him sadly, all I can hear is LJ type tech speak and taking no responsibility.

 

[Numero Uno]

44 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

It's not shockingly bad. We drew with and then beat Premier League West Ham, drew with Premier League Forest twice, beat high-flying Southampton, won away at Boro, drew away at Coventry...

What are you talking about? You cannot laud performances in cup games and individual performances in league games when you have picked up NINE points out of THIRTY SIX since we convincingly won a game near the end of LAST YEAR. That is a shocking run end of story. If Manning crashes and burns a bit more and we are playing the Few next season who will give the smallest **** about the games you list?

[cidered abroad]

Last evening, my wife came into room where I was listening to RB.

What's the score? 2-1 to City.

She replied that they'll probably lose 3-2! And I thought you've got it right!

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, TV Tom said:

Come on people, irrespective of people’s opinion on Manning/NP no one can deny that was a very good performance last night, as a rule when playing away against a top two club we barely raise a glove

I can categorically, hand on heart say that was not a very good performance last night.  Not even for 77 minutes.

It was a game where we worked hard and contained Ipswich, but first half we were error strewn in passing, control and running into dead-ends.  There was the odd flash - Cornick cross to Wells, Wells and co pressing to create a chance for Knight.  But that was it.

Second half we forced them into a few more errors and win some territory and played a bit better.

We took the lead, nice goal, we looked on top (great), then the subs.  We went back ahead probably against the run of play…and then we went to pieces.

So, that’s not my definition of very good.  In places it reached 7/10, but for large parts it was 5/10-6/10.

We need to stop thinking gutsy / containing = good.

Happy if you disagree TT.

[ZumerZetSmithy]

this game felt different for me as well as i sat on my sofa listening to the radio i got asked who has died 

[TV Tom]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

I can categorically, hand on heart say that was not a very good performance last night.  Not even for 77 minutes.

It was a game where we worked hard and contained Ipswich, but first half we were error strewn in passing, control and running into dead-ends.  There was the odd flash - Cornick cross to Wells, Wells and co pressing to create a chance for Knight.  But that was it.

Second half we forced them into a few more errors and win some territory and played a bit better.

We took the lead, nice goal, we looked on top (great), then the subs.  We went back ahead probably against the run of play…and then we went to pieces.

So, that’s not my definition of very good.  In places it reached 7/10, but for large parts it was 5/10-6/10.

We need to stop thinking gutsy / containing = good.

Happy if you disagree TT.

Yet you think we played well at Cardiff !!! They are in second place mind Dave and unbeaten at home for six months, if you don't rate last night's performance I dread to think what you think of some of the rubbish we've had to put up with over the last five years

[Numero Uno]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

I can categorically, hand on heart say that was not a very good performance last night.  Not even for 77 minutes.

It was a game where we worked hard and contained Ipswich, but first half we were error strewn in passing, control and running into dead-ends.  There was the odd flash - Cornick cross to Wells, Wells and co pressing to create a chance for Knight.  But that was it.

Second half we forced them into a few more errors and win some territory and played a bit better.

We took the lead, nice goal, we looked on top (great), then the subs.  We went back ahead probably against the run of play…and then we went to pieces.

So, that’s not my definition of very good.  In places it reached 7/10, but for large parts it was 5/10-6/10.

We need to stop thinking gutsy / containing = good.

Happy if you disagree TT.

What’s happening is even the Anti-Nige Society are starting to see what is happening (how could you not see it?), realising how outspoken their previous position has been at times in relation to how events have transpired and some of the excuses and comments you are starting to see are comical and verging on desperation and very intense straw clutching.

Nobody was blaming Nige two weeks ago when we were 15 clear, now it’s only 6 clear Liam had suddenly inherited a mess. I would suggest this has started to go wrong since Boxing Day, before that Liam’s start was ok. Nige hasn’t been in charge or had a window since it’s all started going pear shaped.

[Sheltons Army]

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

What’s happening is even the Anti-Nige Society are starting to see what is happening (how could you not see it?), realising how outspoken their previous position has been at times in relation to how events have transpired and some of the excuses and comments you are starting to see are comical and verging on desperation and very intense straw clutching.

Nobody was blaming Nige two weeks ago when we were 15 clear, now it’s only 6 clear Liam had suddenly inherited a mess. I would suggest this has started to go wrong since Boxing Day, before that Liam’s start was ok. Nige hasn’t been in charge or had a window since it’s all started going pear shaped.

Almost as if NPs legacy has drifted and LMs influence taken over  eh Numero

 

And as for the ones screaming for this , and outing NP

Many have lost their internet connection and others are simply doubling down 

Edited March 6 by Sheltons Army

[TheJudge07]

I don't really understand why we are applauding a defeat because the players put in a shift?? That is the minimum requirement every game we play. This is a 4th successive defeat and a record since Nigel left that has us 23rd - its relegation form. It is not acceptable. 7 wins in 25 and 10 defeats is nowhere near good enough. This is a results business and sadly he is not getting results. The Board dug out Nigel publicly for this. This is much worse.  He can only play one way and he is completely out of his depth. That is not surprising given this is his first stint in the Championship. That is the sad reality and we have seen it all before with this owner and the people in charge. They have no idea as to what is required to get to the top.    The players he has cannot play tippy tappy football and he needs results fast. I genuinely dont think he can get a tune out of them and those results he has attained appear to be one offs.   The team are not able to play that penetrating pass that opens up teams and this passing around the back and side to side is pointless. They dont retain the ball with purpose and probe defences, simply because we dont have that level of player. We dont really control the game through possession and that is the flaw of Manning and the modern coaches. They are trying to copy Guardiola, forgetting he has had 1 billion to do it. Personally, I think this is going to get worse before it gets better and if we dont win against Swansea, I am not sure where the next points are coming from.  We still need 10 points to be safe and I think we are sleep walking our way to relegation. There is always one team that drops like a stone and it could be us.....   I would be minded to terminate this disastrous appointment. Michael Duff was a bit unlucky at Swansea - he might fit us quite well given his style of play. 

 

Edited March 6 by TheJudge07

[Numero Uno]

9 minutes ago, Sheltons Army said:

Almost as if NPs legacy has drifted and LMs influence taken over  eh Numero

 

And as for the ones screaming for this , and outing NP

Many have lost their internet connection and others are simply doubling down 

Exactly. I was totally against firing Manning regardless of how Nige had been treated...............until we played QPR at home when it became very clear to me that the managers of clubs who NEED to tactically out-think him (i.e. managers of clubs fighting for their lives) are finding it an absolute doddle to do so and he's learning nothing to counteract it. Then he went and followed it up immediately TWICE MORE just to prove that I wasn't completely losing it. People moan about no Plan B but Plan A is a shower of shite totally unsuited to the players available and has shown no signs of being modified or improved. Literally the only times we play well is when we adopt "Plan Nige" and counter attack. It's absolutely comical in it's irony.

I understand my own arguments I've put forward previously about the circus picking the next manager and until that changes then nothing changes, and that is a massive worry for me, BUT I am convinced that if the current manager remains along with Sid heading recruitment then next season will be a relegation battle from either start to finish or start to such times as Liam's replacement can get us out of the mire if they aren't appointed too late. I can only speak for myself but it's staring me right in the face unfortunately.

The NEXT point to be put forward on the horizon if and probably when Manning reaches a point of no return will be "obviously they were 100% correct to boot out Nige but picked the wrong man to replace him". Guaranteed!!

If anyone wishes to put a marker on and quote the above when Liam emphatically proves me wrong please be my guest and I would be absolutely delighted for you to do so. If he doesn't prove me wrong by Christmas then the undeniable truth will be that the hierarchy and the impatient "Nige Out Fan Club" have combined to undo the necessary work in reducing FFFP risk and keeping us at Championship level by Nige, Richard Gould, Curtis Fleming, Phil Alexander, Jason Euell et al by a good 18 months. Worse, if it really goes wrong, we'll be back exactly where we started and next time there will almost inevitably be no repeat fix. If that happens, there will be plenty to remind you.

[Superjack]

2 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Exactly. I was totally against firing Manning regardless of how Nige had been treated...............until we played QPR at home when it became very clear to me that the managers of clubs who NEED to tactically out-think him (i.e. managers of clubs fighting for their lives) are finding it an absolute doddle to do so and he's learning nothing to counteract it. Then he went and followed it up immediately TWICE MORE just to prove that I wasn't completely losing it. People moan about no Plan B but Plan A is a shower of shite totally unsuited to the players available and has shown no signs of being modified or improved. Literally the only times we play well is when we adopt "Plan Nige" and counter attack. It's absolutely comical in it's irony.

I understand my own arguments I've put forward previously about the circus picking the next manager and until that changes then nothing changes, and that is a massive worry for me, BUT I am convinced that if the current manager remains along with Sid heading recruitment then next season will be a relegation battle from either start to finish or start to such times as Liam's replacement can get us out of the mire if they aren't appointed too late. I can only speak for myself but it's staring me right in the face unfortunately.

The NEXT point to be put forward on the horizon if and probably when Manning reaches a point of no return will be "obviously they were 100% correct to boot out Nige but picked the wrong man to replace him". Guaranteed!!

If anyone wishes to put a marker on and quote the above when Liam emphatically proves me wrong please be my guest and I would be absolutely delighted for you to do so. If he doesn't prove me wrong by Christmas then the undeniable truth will be that the hierarchy and the impatient "Nige Out Fan Club" have combined to undo the necessary work in reducing FFFP risk and keeping us at Championship level by Nige, Richard Gould, Curtis Fleming, Phil Alexander, Jason Euell et al by a good 18 months. Worse, if it really goes wrong, we'll be back exactly where we started and next time there will almost inevitably be no repeat fix. If that happens, there will be plenty to remind you.

[Lordofthebling]

7 hours ago, Keepers Ball said:

Sorry fella but its that very attitude as to why this is City is absolutely backward when it comes to success. Size of the bloody place yet we have this apathetic mindset of it will do. 

Not really, my opinion echoes yours on the whole.

But the fact that we've been beaten by 3 teams below us, to then go toe to toe with a league leader, was a better performance.

It wasn't my own reflection of where the club is, where the city is, the strategy of the suits, my frustration level as another 'smaller' club gets success, just that one night as a reflection.

If we had of won 2 of the last three then lost to Ipswich, we would've taken that on the chin.

But I get what you're saying! 

[Isawjonshaw]

18 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

This is what we’re reduced to now. We’ve lost our fourth game in a row to a club who’ve just spent four years in League One, but it’s OK because “we gave it a go”. So what if it felt different. It felt different against Southampton and we’ve lost every game since then. I have zero faith in Manning now, and even less faith in the people that put him there.

Meanwhile Ipswich join the long list of clubs that emerge from the depths of lower league football and pass us on the way up.

Sick of this club.

post of the day/week/month.......