Leigh-thal

[YF Dan]

Gosh we're good this year.

I don't enjoy watching us the way I enjoyed the 2015-16 team, but there's a cold-edge, relentless, Man City-equse-winning-machine-ness that's pretty darned impressive.

I get the impression Liam Manning might be the dullest man to sit next to at a dinner party on earth, but after the hot-headed, knee-jerk, 'get me on Sky Sports News at all costs' nonsense of the previous few years, this comes as a blessed relief. Probably to the players too.

Got a lot of love for how Manning's made little changes that have made such a big difference. For instance, he's clearly worked on getting McGuane to believe in himself and to drive the game forward... he's now the best midfielder at the club by a distance, and the most complete player since Baptiste.

Also - a word for Greg Leigh. Stevenage was the first time I'd seen him play a full game. In the warm-up I was astonished at how high he could jump and how long he seemed to hang in the air. In the match itself, he was even better. His energy up and down that flank was incredible, his desire to win the ball in both areas was a joy and has resulted in this personal goal-fest. and he just seems like a great bloke too.

Also - big fan of Rueben R. He's always the first to congratulate a teammate, or pat someone on the back...and whilst he can pass a ball, he's also a bloody good defender from the front.

Even grumpy YF Dan is gettign excited.

[Kairdiff Exile]

I get the impression Liam Manning might be the dullest man to sit next to at a dinner party on earth, but after the hot-headed, knee-jerk, 'get me on Sky Sports News at all costs' nonsense of the previous few years, this comes as a blessed relief. Probably to the players too.

Amen to that. We've all had bosses who are 'characters' but I'd bet that most of us prefer the guy (or gal) who's a real professional, treats everyone with courtesy and respect, is clear about their expectations of the people they manage and handles themself with a calm decency.

[Isaac]

It's good isn't it? Weird watching games with no serious worries about the result - Fleetwood away and now Shrewsbury have both been played like pre-season friendlies for the last 30 minutes. The only (unfair) complaint could be it's a little bit boring, we could have really gone for it in the last 20 minutes against Shrewsbury but pragmatism won out. I don't think I've made it through a Manning interview yet without my mind wandering off as he mostly says exactly the same things every time.

I know it's not the done thing to point out much positive about the previous manager, but we did go through similar runs while he was in charge - winning 9/10 in the 20/21 season and arguably more impressive 11/16 with only 1 defeat in the 19/20 season. The difference is that those runs of form came in the middle of the season, after a terrible start. They also tended to rely on more sparkling football and riding the wave of momentum and individual form. This does feel more sustainable as it's built on what looks like a better structure but time will tell.