Liam Managing

[Kairdiff Exile]

Thoughts on our new boss then?

Personally, I’d have chosen Appleton - not out of misty-eyed nostalgia, but hard-headedly because I think he has the right attributes to sort us out. Manning is more of a blank canvas, but presumably interviewed better than MApp or McCann. I have a residual mistrust of anyone who has managed Franchise FC as I would question their values, but I appreciate that’s a minority viewpoint these days.

That aside, I guess time will tell - but he needs to hit the ground running as the remaining games are big ones. For all the blame that is being thrown at KR for the position in which we find ourselves, we are still clear of relegation - if other teams overturn us then the new man will have played a significant role in any downfall. Let’s all hope it works out.

[Dr Bob]

Against Lincoln, there was more togetherness on the pitch and in the stands (apart from that dickhead in front of us who kept having a go at Henry). They did nothing apart from get a penalty, whilst their MotM was as their keeper. Even if that was only down to his save from GO'Ds header, Lincoln remain the only team in the entire EFL who have not lost at home this season. Disappointing? Ever so. A disaster? More frustration, TBH.

Against Derby, who expected anything other than a defeat? Be honest now. And yet frankly they did nothing to deserve their half-time lead, whilst the ref seemed to give them anything (let alone everything) and us nothing. By the end it was frustration rather than disappointment that was my dominant emotion. And the general atmosphere was so much better than it has been in ages.

For me, what I have already seen speaks of how poisonous the dressing room must have been by the end of KRs time. I do not have to look far between the lines of what CS has said to be convinced of how much of the KR show it was. And what a shit-show.

In short (no pun intended), I can already see things already to be more positive about. I said yesterday that if we stay up, then I am really looking forward to next season under LM. As for the rest of this season, I see that the bottom four have now all caught up with our games played, and we have a far superior (aka less bad) goal difference, equivalent to another point. Without ploughing through all of the remaining 10 (12 for Stanley) games of the bottom 6, let us write off Wednesday and Barnsley. Bolton, Pompey and Peterborough should beat us but are sufficiently inconsistent (albeit mostly against each other it seems) for there to be some hope in each game. This brings us to the games against Morecambe, Cheltenham, Port Vale and FGR. 6-pointers all. Presumably neither Stevens nor Taylor will be able to play for Vale against us?

Thinking about how we played against Derby, plus a bit more clarity and zip that I would hope any new manager would bring, I would hope that we could do well in those games. I reckon that LM will be really good at ensuring there are cool heads out there, even if I know that I shall be bricking it every game.

On the other hand, we know what they say about hope. And it might still come down to us v Accy, literally...

[Isaac]

Can I be the first to say Manning Out?

I get the strong smell of relegation with this squad and have since I watched the game at Fleetwood that we somehow won. I didn't see the Lincoln game but while we were reasonable against Derby, the fact our best chances fell to O'Donkor (who I like, but we should not be relying on him at his age) and Smyth (who looked good in patches, terrible in others) says a lot about what's gone badly wrong this year. The decision to let Taylor go in January looks more bizarre as each match goes by. Although the club has made a series of bizarre decisions on the playing side over the last year. Fingers crossed not the case with the manager (sorry, head coach) appointment.

On the basis that we can't surely keep losing every single game, then a win under the new manager might kick start some confidence. If there are injuries to Henry and Bate then you'd think he'll have to change the formation, even something like that as a bit of a reset might help. I'm going to Morecambe on Saturday so let's hope he can work some magic this week, as a defeat there could be terminal.

[ty cobb]

For me this is a high risk appointment. A inexperienced manager who has had one and a bit seasons in league 1. He took over a MK team who were decent in league one (13th the season before he took charge) and left them rooted near the bottom just a season and a bit later. Yes he had a very good season before this, but so what - if this is what we are basing decisions on why get rid of Robbo in the first place who took us to the play offs twice playing some fantastic football. All this talk about having to sell your best players - well so do we, fact of life for most league 1 teams, he still managed to bring players in (and able to attract Holland ahead of us).

Sure he is articulate and am sure interviewed well but for me the reward for essentially getting a team relegated in league one shouldn't be a league one club looking to get promoted.

I don't subscribe that he is the cheap option or that we needed a grizzled manager like Neil Warnock to take us to the end of the season and then move on. If someone is good enough to keep us up at the moment then give them a chance going forward.

Of course wish him well and to show I know nothing - he has a huge task to lift a widely unbalanced squad, however, it was only the Wycombe away game that had we won we would have been thinking of the play offs. This group of players has achieved some good results this season, we should have enough in the squad to not get relegated but given the low morale and injuries will be tough - this will be a good chance to see if he has learnt anything from his time at MK earlier in the season.

[Kernow Yellow]

Yes it's a risk, but I'm glad we didn't go down the road of 'bring back the guy who did well before'. That rarely ends well, and Appleton has failed at many more clubs than Manning.

He has a massive job on to turn us around. While it's certainly not a lost cause, I don't think I can ever remember a run as bad as the one we're on at the moment. And the squad Robinson has left him with is nothing short of criminal for the budget he was given. Where are the goals coming from?

So really, Manning has two quite separate tasks - rescue this sorry season by avoiding relegation by whatever means possible; and build his squad for the future. It's not an enviable position to take on, as failure at either will set him back at this point in his career, so good luck to the guy. COYY

[OtmoorYellow]

I’m not remotely convinced that LM is the right man for the job. Apart from one season at MK, he has achieved little.

That said I am satisfied that KR had overstayed his welcome. Even putting aside some of the less savoury tales off the field.

Personally, I think MApp had unfinished business and so a high level of motivation, not to mention experience at this level. Sure he wasn’t so well credited at higher levels, but I doubt any of us truly knows what the relevant circumstances were. And it will be at best another 2 seasons before we dare trouble the Championship scorers. We need someone to sort us out now.

I wasn’t very keen on any of the other candidates truth be told.

We have some talented individuals, but not a team. That is scandalous given the finances involved and time and opportunity given to KR. No manager should take a club backwards, but that is what KR has done over the last 12 months. The impression I have is that he saw himself as some kind of coaching god who could not be wrong. But when the same things don’t work, over and over again, there is only limited room to exclude the leader from the blame.

Good luck to LM of course, but yesterday’s result at Morecambe did not leave me with confidence going forwards. If we can’t beat Morecambe, who can we beat?

[slappy]

Well I hadn't expected Manning to jump ship quite so soon into his time with us. About eight months?
OK he has us up at the top of the table, but obviously he must tick all the right boxes for what Bristol City are looking for.
But normally I'd expect a club to want to see a season or two track record of a manager at a club before moving up a division.
Appleton I think left once he saw he wasn't getting the backing for a promotion. Clubs like Preston and QPR took lower league managers like Westley and Ainsworth after seeing their succesful results in the lower division.
Obviously Bristol City are playing in a higher division, but are currently only mid-table. I wonder how long they will give him if they aren't in the play-offs soon after the next transfer window?

[Isaac]

Disappointing decision from Manning to scarper at the first half decent opportunity. The statement on the OWS suggests the club are annoyed with him, having given him (supposedly) a very good budget, the assistant/coaches/analysts he wanted, they probably reasonably expected he'd stay longer than 6 months. I thought he was a bit dull, personality wise and some of our performances were also a little on the dull side, although I'm not really complaining about that given the results (plus there was the theory that there was more to come, but we'll never know).

Understandable from Manning from a certain point of view - presumably significantly more money and the opportunity to take a club, in theory, into the premier league, but I doubt he'd get as much patience from the Owners/fans at Bristol City compared to what he'd get here. I guess if you don't have supreme self-confidence, being a manager is not for you. Championship clubs seem to change manager more often than any other league, so there's the risk that if he fails over the next 6 months he gets sacked and has a very under-whelming looking cv. Also a bit surprised City didn't look at Mousinho.

We often seem to lose managers at the point where we might be looking at promotion. Wilder and Atkins in League 2 spring to mind. At least on this occasion it's early enough in the season that if it does derail us there's time for a recovery, but I can't pretend it's anything but a problem.

[Dr Bob]

A slightly odd decision from Brizzle. There is nothing yet to demonstrate that LM is not flattering to deceive. He fell short at MK and has not been with us long enough to show he can deliver over the course of a season.

That said, he has made the choice and we must now trust that the Board will undertake the same thorough process that brought him in. Two things, though, are certain. Where we are in the table will make us an attractive proposition, including encouraging some to "drop down to League 1"; and every Tom, Dick, Harry, Cowley and Ainsworth are going to be linked with us. I saw Cowley sitting just along from me near the RadOx people for the Blackpool game. He may just have been along to watch...

[ty cobb]

This is really frustrating. I had my doubts about Manning - he had one good season at MK where he took over a team that Russell Martin built, but failed to get them up. The next season his team got relegated and he was sacked in Nov with his team joint bottom of the league and 6 points adrift. I felt he had a lot to prove when he joined us - yes he managed to keep a team up who should never have been near that end of the table but it was this season that he was going to prove his worth. And he had won me round at least, the football was good, organised, recruitment was brilliant and some of the performances such as Derby and Barnsley away were quality. So for him to bugger off after a few months with us, after decimating our back room team leaves a sour taste and I hope he fails at Bristol City as a result.

Still we should be able to get a better manager in than last time given we are in a much better position and therefore hopefully a lot more attractive. Hope the Board do a similar process than last time, which worked well, but also consider managers already in a job such as Dave Challinor and Luke Williams who have both done a fantastic job at their clubs - Challinor interviewed for the Charlton one so would be open to a move.

[slappy]

No idea how accurate this is, but according to the other site, the club had a relegation get-out clause for Manning last season, and then he was on a rolling one year. Once BCFC came sniffing, was it too late to try and offer him a better contract?

If so, not surprising he took a move up a league. Surely BCFC will expect him to perform pretty quickly?

Also I've been baffled by how you can be sacked from an X year contract but not get X year's compensation. Apparently some clubs put in a performance related get-out, but we ended up paying Robinson in full? Or is there gardening leave where you still get paid, but if you take another job, you are deemed to have mitigated your losses so don't get any more compensation?

[Kairdiff Exile]

I'm fairly sanguine about it all. He got offered a lot more money to move to a bigger club, I don't blame him for going even if I'd have much preferred him to have seen this season out.

I do think though that there ought to be a transfer window for managers as well as players. You can sack a manager any time, you can appoint an out-of-work manager any time, or promote from within, but you should only be allowed to poach an under-contract manager during the summer break. And yes, I'll still hold that view even if Oxford United poach a great manager from a Fourth Division or Conference side over the coming weeks.

[Kernow Yellow]

Manning down. It's understandable but very disappointing. I can't bring myself to wish him well at BCFC, even if it is obviously a bigger and better job. I think it does present more risk for him - they have more expectation than we do, and if he bombs there he'll have achieved nothing of note. I doubt he will though. As a club we ought to have earned a reputation for sticking with managers and giving them time, and it's a shame not to have that reciprocated.

Taking his backroom team with him does destabilise us considerably, but at least he's left us a decent and balanced playing squad for someone else to take on. I have no opinion on who I want to take over, though obviously I don't want a 'name' or a dinosaur. Someone I've barely heard of hopefully. COYY