Having had a few days now to really digest this appointment, I have to say I'm even more excited than I was when it was first announced. Manning was not at all the wrong appointment from the board at the time - he's done an incredible job with turning us around from near relegation to top 2 in one 10/10 transfer window, and revolutionised our playing style, galvanised the club. But I think his failed promotion with MK 2 years ago, where from what at one point looked a nailed-on top two finish to somehow remaining in League 1, then a few months later being out of a job, ultimately haunted him. With us he's now found himself in a similar position, but rather than prove to himself that that he is indeed capable of getting over the line, he's taken a shortcut to managing in the Championship - somewhat understandable but arguably selfish and cowardly. He is a top, top coach, but showed loyalty only to himself.
The big difference with Buckingham is he is one of us. You can see how honoured he is to be managing us, and he's young enough for this to feel like a real-life Football Manager dream to him. He has just as much ambition as Manning to manage at the top level, but above anything he wants to manage us at the top level. He isn't going to jump ship when some club perennially treading water in the division above mentions his name, and he is a serial winner, not a promotion short-cut taker. If anyone is going to really buy into our long-term ambition as a club, it's him. And from what I've read, his playing style looks just as impressive and effective as Manning's - with this brilliant squad Manning and his servient support team were kind enough to assemble for him, coupled with this extra Buckingham x-factor now, I think we've got an even better chance of the automatics than we did 2 weeks ago. We're. Going. Up