Funny but the three of us you have mentioned are all older fans and just as entitled to a point of view as yours, we love our team with as much passion as you, our relationship with Bristol City FC is just as deep as yours, the fact that we didn't rate one individual with as much affection as you doesn't make any us less loyal about our team than you are, we all belong to the fanbase of Bristol City FC, it's the team that matters not the individual and IMO that is how it should remain.
Big Job-Big expectations -Big shoes to fill in taking over from Nigel. Hope it all works out for Liam and The Lansdowns. Will back him 100% and hope it all works out in the best interests off Bristol City FC
The word "big" is very noticeable in your comment RR and you are spot on because the only thing that matters in yet another mess created by the Lansdowns is Bristol City F.C. We have all been through it before and heard all of the false promises uttered from the mouths of the suits about how we are going to succeed based on pillars and all of the other junk bonds issued to take us elsewhere. I intend to support Liam to my fullest but if I still see the same old rubbish leading into the January transfer window I reserve the right to express my concerns about what's happening on the pitch because that is where Liam will be fully judged on his skills. We need to come out of the transfer window in better shape than when we entered it and if that means trusting your new head coach to bring in players that he truly believes can strengthen our squad then open up the wallet to let out the moths. Cornick and Mehmeti don't do a thing for me and if we can't get better than those two particularly then something is wrong at the mill. Miracles just don't happen at Ashton Gate and if the Lansdowns are expecting something different then I have some arable land up on Baffin Island for sale very cheaply. Give us a break and realize that we also have brains.
The context of the era needs to be appreciated, we were not in deep financial mire due to covid,, that generated losses of £60-70m over 2 seasons! After SC / + season or 2 of LJ WE Ssold a couple of players and the strategy was "buy in and increase the attraction via pay deals" .. remember, this is pre covid, and pre £40m loss! It didnt matter who replaced LJ... NO ONE WAS GOING TO GET WADS OF MONEY TILL EVERYTHING LEVELLED OUT ............. we had to get the £40m plus the following seasons amount off the book [ an arrangement with EFL and a plan was agreed to help with this, applied for all clubs ] NP signed in for this period, and fair dinkum did a fair job until recently!! IMHO I think we should have stuck by him, but we do not know the truth or all the reasons why it was a clear out except that CF agreed to stay till it was sorted?? If LM gets a load of dosh January then it had better be we are in the top 6 by the time we play Millwall on Jan 1 st, I would think though the large dollop will be June 2024
Sadly it has been done and I still don’t think we got our number one target -however will back him 100%. However my take is that the Lansdowns feel this is an upgrade on Nige -So I expect to see improvements on what Nige brought to the club. No if no butts this is Lansdowns doing and I expect this to be a manager that is going to improve our standing as a football club. Time will tell.
Tinnion talks Bristol City transfers, doing his homework on Liam Manning and winning fans over Brian Tinnion says there's a palpable sense of excitement at the High Performance Centre since Liam Manning arrived as he opens up on some of the reasons why the 38-year-old was hired Bristol City technical director Brian Tinnion insists Liam Manning will have final say on every aspect of the job, including recruitment, and has dismissed any claims the new Robins head coach is any kind of ‘yes man’. On the face of it, sacking manager Nigel Pearson and opting for a head coach 22 years his junior makes for a radical change of direction. And in certain ways it is, in terms of the club hierarchy desiring someone who was more involved daily with player development and tactical coaching on the training pitches. First impressions indicate that Manning is, naturally, quite a different person to his predecessor - which, to be honest, isn't a great surprise given Pearson is one of a kind in many ways - but he remains very much his own man, who is here to implement his ideas and processes on the team. However, the dynamic between coaching department and front office remains exactly as it was before; Tinnion and the recruitment team will scout, assess and monitor players of interest, Manning will outline what he desires in terms of position and profile, and then he will be presented a series of options from which to select. It’s precisely how it worked under Pearson, with Tinnion serving as technical director and leading the recruitment operation. “It’ll be exactly the same as Nigel Pearson,” Tinnion told Bristol Live. “Do you think we signed players for Bristol City that Nigel Pearson didn’t want? So why would we do it for Liam? Liam will be in the process, we’ll cut the shortlist when we want a certain player. “For example, we went to Nige with Dickie, and this player, and that player - Rob Dickie was the best. We went with Jason Knight for a pressing midfield player; ‘this is one that really fits, Nige’ - ‘yeah, like him, perfect’. “And that’ll be no different with Liam. He will ultimately have the last say, as Nigel did, on the player that comes through the door. He’s got to coach them, he’s got to pick them in his team, so the perception that the manager or head coach us given the players is totally not true. Liam will be very much in the process. “We won’t want him in it too much, but when it gets down to two or three players, ‘this is what we think, these are the players we’ve identified, come and have a look’. That will be the same process for him.” Although Manning’s experience in senior football in England is only just over two years, there are relevant examples to reinforce the point. Most pertinently at MK Dons as having led them to the play-offs, after nearly sealing automatic promotion, Manning saw Scott Twine, Harry Darling and David Kasumu depart in the summer of 2022, while Matt O’Riley had been sold to Celtic in the previous window. He wasn’t as directly involved in the recruitment process to find their replacements, and subsequently form nosedived the following season leading to his dismissal. Having reflected on that mistake, when he took over at Oxford United, it was a different story as the 38-year-old took a more active role in the summer window, as 17 players move on and 11 were brought in. With more of ‘his squad’ in place, the Us then surged into second in League One, prompting a call from City this week to make Manning their new head coach. “Once we had gone for ‘the head coach’ and not manager, you want really a young, up-and-coming, on-the-grass, develop the players, develop the style; so once we had narrowed it down to what we wanted, he was one that came out straight away, really high,” Tinnion added. “We’d known he had really good success coming into the club with MK Dons in his first season, we knew he had lost a lot of his good players he developed in that season to bigger clubs, and then we knew he had a problem after that. “But once we spoke to him, it was really interesting to find out what had happened in that time. He had lost the good players that he had developed, and then the players were brought in for him and he was a little bit detached from the recruitment process. So then, when he lost his job, because the players weren’t as good as the one he lost, he really focused on that part of the problem that had happened. “So when he went to Oxford, obviously he kept them up, and there were 17 players he lost in the summer and they recruited 11 players in and he was very much involved in that process. So he learned from the mistakes at MK Dons. And the good thing for us is he’ll be very much involved here.” For all the talk of recruitment, the anticipation - as stated by Jon Lansdown on Tuesday - is that January will be a quiet window. There may be an option to tweak a few aspects of the squad, depending on Manning’s assessment over these next few weeks as he gets a first-hand view of the players, but having been happy with the quality of the squad at the end of August, that opinion within the club hasn’t changed. The key, of course, is getting people fit - which, again, may prompt the need for action if it doesn’t happen - but with Ross McCrorie the only long-term absentee, as Ayman Benarous and Rob Atkinson edge closer to senior involvement, the group is looking strong with depth and options in a number of positions. “We’ll talk about it, but ultimately if we get the squad fit, we were happy with the squad before the season started,” Tinnion said. “I remember a week or two before the season started, we got Taylor in when we lost Scotty and I remember having a conversation with Nige, ‘do you want us to try and get one more? Do you need one more for your squad?’ and he was like, ‘Tinns, I’m happy. I’m really happy with the squad’. “So if we can get everybody fit, I think the squad’s good. It’s two players in each position, fighting. “If we can get everybody fit, then January will be a quiet one, unless Liam comes and says, ‘look, this one might not be for me,’ then we can start evolving the squad and saying,- ‘Liam’s not quite having him, let’s move him on and try and get someone who suits him more’. And that’ll be constant conversations, every day.” Like his predecessor, the academy will provide Manning with an immediate resource to supplement any selection issues. That has its drawbacks, of course, around inexperience and game management if the squad is too green. But, at the same time, having such a fertile academy as City’s has been for the last three years, with countless individuals making the step up into the senior set-up was a major pull for Manning in taking the job. His foundation is in youth development, working for a decade at Ipswich Town and then four years at West Ham - two of the most historically productive academies in England - so when Manning said on Tuesday that his immediate thought is to turn to the U21 set-up to look for players, it was said with absolute truth, rather than just paying any kind of lip service to his new employers. City’s prolific pathway since moving to the HPC in 2020 is not something Manning has experienced before as a head coach at MK Dons and Oxford. “His history, he loves developing young players,” Tinnion added. “In his own words, he’s never had an academy that’s been as productive as this one. So that really excites him, that we’ve got good, young, quality players that he can play a part in developing into first-team players. “And then also he wants the best players from outside that complement them and he wants the best players to have the best team, of course he does. He’s a very ambitious young coach, he doesn’t want to just come here and sit and stagnate. He wants to go on, he wants to manage in the Premier League. So we’ve got to do everything we can to give him the best tools to do that. It’s no different to Nige. “But he’s a head coach because he loves coaching. Chris Hogg loves coaching. They’re brilliant coaches on the grass. We will try and help to keep them doing that, to have everything else in place, so he can concentrate on that. And when it gets to January, gets to the summer, this is where we are; this is what we need; are you happy with this, which one do you want? Here’s the three options.” The City squad is populated by players from all age ranges, with Andy King 35 and Ephraim Yeboah only turning 17 in the summer. Manning will have to manage different personalities and mindsets, as he did previously at MK Dons and Oxford. In conducting his homework over what sort of person Manning is, Tinnion reached out to former Robins defender Richard Keogh, who is just 12 months younger than City’s new head coach and worked with him in Milton Keynes. “I think the person he is, that won’t be an issue,” Tinnion said. “He’s a good person and he’ll get that respect. I’ve spoken to Richard Keogh who was at MK Dons, and he said he was fantastic. I spoke to Richard during the process, when he was identified and he spoke really, really highly of him. "Richard was a senior player… probably the same age! And he said he was fantastic, dealt with every player individually, he had a good relationship with them, he developed them. "He even has development plans for the senior players, to help them become better. So I don’t think that’ll be an issue whatsoever, and I know the senior players we’ve got, they’re good people.” Tinnion says there is a buzz and excitement at the High Performance Centre about Manning, the way he works and what’s possible with this team. But undoubtedly the people who he’ll need to win over the most are the supporters. Ashton Gate can be an expectant crowd, and while they’ll get behind the new man in charge, there remains a proportion who still pine for Pearson, what he stood for and his standing in the game. They will therefore view these next few weeks and months with a degree of scepticism - and understandably so, to a point. Tinnion is in no doubt, though, opinions will change in time, due to what they’ll be seeing on the pitch. “I honestly think he’ll gain their respect on how the team plays, how they look and how they’re organised - running, being physical, winning the duels, that’s what this crowd wants,” Tinnion said. “This crowd doesn’t want teams to come to Ashton Gate and dominate Bristol City and he will not allow that. “So I think he’ll gain the respect of the crowd on how his team is organised and is detailed - they know their jobs and they won’t get run over. “I feel it (the excitement), and I’ve got it even more since we’ve had the conversations with him; I think he’s ambitious, he’s bright, a bright football coach who can adapt to every situation. If they press us, well we’ll go over; if they drop off, we’ll go through them. He’s thinking of every part of the game. “There’s a real excitement. I went in on his chat with the players and there was a real engagement from the players. There’s a real buzz about the HPC that there’s something different and we’re moving on. Nige did a great job for us, and I was one who had a great relationship with him, but it’s time now to move on.” please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
I am still trying to digest the rapid appointment of Liam Manning who has become our new head coach and I am starting to be a bit concerned about his lack of playing time for any decent team. His managerial experience is also sadly lacking and I suspect his resume would not have sent a lot of owners into a mad rush to get him on board, but for some as yet unexplained reason we went in and signed him up in less than 48 hours after the supposed initial contact. There are somethings about his hiring that concern me and the first is the statement by Brian Tinnion who said that we didn't go out to hire a "yes man' and yet I suspect that is what we did to satisfy the Lansdowns. What has changed the criteria surrounding who controls the on-field antics because from where I am watching this smacks of a hasty decision and when you add in the fact that he will only be called the head coach it smacks of control issues somewhere within Bristol City FC. I hope that the Lansdowns, in conjunction with BT I'm sure, are prepared for what might happen if their questionable rapidity in hiring should backfire on them all? Without any doubt all of us want our team to succeed but those of us with long term obsession of everything BCFC have long memories as well and our expectations have been shattered many times before. I also noticed a little phrase in the piece by Brian Tinnion where he stated that little or no money would be available for the January transfer window, which also smacks of times long gone. I am also not too sure about him using Richard Keogh as a sounding board because didn't he have some personality issues that got him into trouble around the same time as did Bradley Orr? Virtually everything about this article tells me that we have hired someone who will kept under a tight rein and the control will remain with SL/JL/BT who will deal with the new yes man as they see fit. Please make me eat my words in April because I really want to be wrong in my assumptions about what our new head coach is all about, but there is something in the back of my mind that is creating serious doubt about what happened in a flash before our very eyes. Here's to some good luck and even better times ahead for us and Liam - long live the king.
with MK Dons in his first season, we knew he had lost a lot of his good players he developed in that season to bigger clubs, and then we knew he had a problem after that. Nige, ‘do you want us to try and get one more? Do you need one more for your squad?’ and he was like, ‘Tinns, I’m happy. I’m really happy with the squad’. 2 comments from the above. First one a bit hypocritical? We sold the family jewels and have never recovered! Second one .. if correct than blows the "should have spent the ASc money on ..................." OUT OF THE WATER!!!
JL, Tinnion and Manning are all reading from the same script. Almost verbatim. I want it to be successful, but there's something I can't put my finger on that I'm not comfortable with.
I find it difficult to believe a word BT says, it may be unfair, but it seems along with the rest of the board they keep changing the facts to fit their agenda.
Well if it all goes south the fans will let BT and the Lansdowns know their feelings in no uncertain terms
Oh we will big time-I just hope we have pulled the genie out from the bottle and he is going to do something that managers for over 30 years have failed to do.
