Ex-Staff Liam Manning

[Northstandboy]

Manager Stats (Click Below)

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https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/liam-manning/profil/trainer/76341
Updates:
06/09/2023 - Nominated for Manager of the month
08/09/2023 - wins manager of the month for Sept 2023
07/11/2023 - Joins Bristol City

 

[Swaby39]

I don't think you can separate the two. if it was a considered decision which he was taking in the long term interest of his family he could have said exactly that.

He scuttled off as if he was trying to inflict maximum damage on our club.

Of course you can.

Did he make the decision any bread winner with a short shelf life would make? Yes. I’d have done exactly the same thing because my number one priority is not my employer’s best interests.

Did he handle it perfectly? Apparently not.

Two very separate issues that can be independently critiqued if we wanted to.

 

[Swaby39]

If you think that Manning moved to get away from Tim Williams then you're completely naive and know nothing about Liam Manning. He was motivated by his own career and finances and nothing more. He thinks that he will be the next Eddie Howe and managing in the PL. Oxford was merely a stepping stone, and he jumped at the first offer to move up the leagues. I don't knock him for that, but equally I wouldn't welcome him back with arms wide open when his is inevitably sacked by Bristol.

I equally couldn't give a s**t about Karl Robinson anymore. Call me old fashioned, but I support the manager and players we have today, not those who have turned their back on the club.

I think he might have, yes. Just like the other hoard of people wanting to go. Fair enough to assume on recent evidence isn’t it?

Is there something wrong with being motivated by your own career and earning well these days? Great message for the kids of today and tomorrow. Listen to what you’re actually criticising him for - it boils down to pursuing a dream and an ambition and taking care of his wife and kid(s). It’s ridiculous.

If what you’re saying is true about how he communicated it then that I will not stand by and he got that horribly wrong. But Jesus he didn’t kill a man, it’s football. Just like the staff clear out - the club needed it. They’re good people I’m sure but they will understand the business they’re in. Again, delivery of this will have been key also, but he had a job to do and did it. Whatever motivated him, it fast tracked us 12 months. He at least had the courage of his convictions to make big calls and what came out of that was results to back up every decision he made.

I would love him back here but not while Williams is here because the club will become a pawn in another game.

 

[chromeyellow]

I dont think "any breadwinner with a short shelf life "would make that decision. It's not as if the Bristol offfer was the only one he was going to get. If he'd managed to get us promoted he'd have a choice of offers.

Of course if he knew he was riding his luck he'd want out as quickly as possible to cash in on his good fortune

 

[Swaby39]

I dont think "any breadwinner with a short shelf life "would make that decision. It's not as if the Bristol offfer was the only one he was going to get. If he'd managed to get us promoted he'd have a choice of offers.

Of course if he knew he was riding his luck he'd want out as quickly as possible to cash in on his good fortune

He came in to the club with 10 games to save us from a fairly certain relegation. He clearly isn’t the type to doubt himself to the point he ducks a challenge.

Bristol City offered to change his life so he did what we would all do. Every football club in the land is a springboard for players and managers until they reach the summit. You think Ruben Rodrigues came here to see his career out at Oxford? You think Des Buckingham has?? Don’t be so wet behind the ears - by taking the job he took a giant leap forward with his career and his financial well-being. How it’s worked out for him is another subject, but the decision was perfectly easy to validate.

 

[chromeyellow]

What Liam did may be what you would do. It is not what we would all do.

Thats why I'm delighted to see him failing

 

[m]

I’d have Manning back - and so would the very vast majority.

You're just not trying anymore, Dick.

 

[Joey]

I dont think "any breadwinner with a short shelf life "would make that decision. It's not as if the Bristol offfer was the only one he was going to get. If he'd managed to get us promoted he'd have a choice of offers.

Of course if he knew he was riding his luck he'd want out as quickly as possible to cash in on his good fortune

He apparently had options to move when he was doing well with MK but didn't. Then the squad got broken up, the one he built took them down and he was unemployed for several months. He's seen first hand how quick things can change and what can happen if you don't take a chance to step up and get a big pay rise, I absolutely don't begrudge him it and would have done the same thing, people who are saying they wouldn't double or treble their wages out of respect for a football team they don't support and have been with for 8 months are either lying or haven't even tried to imagine that situation. Do you also think Will Goodwin is an A*****e? He wasn't at Cheltenham long but took a move here to earn more money, and we're not even a higher level than them currently.

I also don't think he'd have got us up mind. Did a very good job but had every run of the green possible.

 

[Swaby39]

What Liam did may be what you would do. It is not what we would all do.

Thats why I'm delighted to see him failing

Well we’re supporters of the club and which he is not. You have to disregard that. What troubles me about this debate every time it comes around is that we talk about him as though he gave nothing to the club before he buggered off. Some people speak about him worse than they ever did about Robinson which I find extraordinary.

To a large degree we owe our league one status to him and the only reason we’re still within a shout of the play offs is the points he put on the board early in the season. It’s our own fault for failing to build on Manning’s work here but he took our club on leaps and bounds in a very short time. So no, I don’t begrudge him a better paid job elsewhere that puts him on the map of the championship. Maybe he’ll get sacked, maybe he won’t. Doesn’t change what he did here and how much I appreciate it.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

I don’t understand the comments about the way Manning played the game making it sound like we were a free flowing attacking team, we were slow playing the ball around and would try and pass it into the net. We had a lot of people on here saying how bored they were with his style of football.
Also what was this ‘connection’ we suddenly had with the team because I think I might have missed that unless it was just down to a forced fist pump which was awkward to watch at times?

The way Manning conducted himself towards staff and players was a shambles. Just listen to Wayne Brown’s interview on the behind the badge podcast.

I also have seen a comment on this thread about how Manning is a slow burner so it’s no surprise that he isn’t hitting the ground running but given time he might get it right. This from a poster who wants Des sacked after the exact same number of games and the same win % as Manning has at Bristol City.

Des might not be the answer long term but nor is Manning!

 

[unification]

The same posters who go after Des after every result and come up with unrealistic suggestions (Nigel Pearson for example who hasn’t managed in the third tier since 2009) are also the ones that want Manning back!

I agree it would have been better if he hasn’t left but thats Manning for you. He achieved nothing here and considered his short term bank balance to be more important than potentially having something of note on his managerial CV.

He made his choice. He lives with it and it doesn’t concern OUFC any more.

 

[Scotchegg]

Just looked at the Championship table and didn't realise it was so tight in the bottom half. Bristol City may be 13th but they're only 6 points ahead of the last relegation spot, and with Ipswich away away on Tuesday they could slip further down the table.

With West Brom and Leicester being two of the following three games, Bristol City might be in the brown stuff by Easter.

 

[Scrongo]

Hissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

 

[Peterdev]

Nope. He did a good job here but I thought at the time we were fortunate to be where we were, the goals were always likely to slow down and cracks were starting to show before he left. Otherwise he did really well at MK when he inherited a team with Scott Twine, Harry Darling and a load of other talent then when he was able to put his own stamp on them took them down. Now he's at Bristol City where he's performing worse than the man he replaced. It'll sound petty but it's not meant to be, he did a good job here, he got us very organised and you could see he had a plan even if it was dull. I don't think we'd have held onto an automatic position if he'd stayed, although I do think we'd be in the playoffs still.

I'd much rather we actually backed the manager we spent a fortune getting out of his last job. This week was the first time he'd had a full quota of staff (bar the assistant of course) and we've put in a very good performance. We've also put in a lot of crap performances and at times he's seemed out of his depth of course but I'll die on the hill that he's been stitched up and if we don't make the playoffs it's as much on those above him.

Couldn’t agree more with the analysis. We were very fortunate with injuries. Leigh was a star performer and I’m grateful we’ve kept hold of him. Beadle was great for us too, but I’m sure Cumming will be good in time. I’m also sure Burey will feature more as he gets fitter. Goodwin we hope becomes a regular and I hope he plays with Harris rather than instead of.
The Bristol City followers seem very unhappy with Manning. They seem to expect instant success and want Pearson back. Honestly, you can’t please some people.
The club have invested heavily in Buckingham and now he has the makings of a good team he needs time. I’m frustrated we didn’t get a result yesterday and really hope our luck changes and we can keep up yesterdays performance next week

 

[Swaby39]

I don’t understand the comments about the way Manning played the game making it sound like we were a free flowing attacking team, we were slow playing the ball around and would try and pass it into the net. We had a lot of people on here saying how bored they were with his style of football.
Also what was this ‘connection’ we suddenly had with the team because I think I might have missed that unless it was just down to a forced fist pump which was awkward to watch at times?

The way Manning conducted himself towards staff and players was a shambles. Just listen to Wayne Brown’s interview on the behind the badge podcast.

I also have seen a comment on this thread about how Manning is a slow burner so it’s no surprise that he isn’t hitting the ground running but given time he might get it right. This from a poster who wants Des sacked after the exact same number of games and the same win % as Manning has at Bristol City.

Des might not be the answer long term but nor is Manning!

Yep, that was me, so I’ll qualify the statement.

I don’t want Des sacked. I want him to do well but when I made that comment I was waiting for any green shoots to be positive about and we got that yesterday, at last. It only took 30 games or so and I’ve formed a judgement in my mind that now needs changing with more performances like yesterday. I see little point sacking him now but I stand by the narrative that he’s horribly underachieving and should be held more accountable for that than he is currently by those who want to make excuses for him that are well past their sell-by date. His back room is settled (and apparently his choice) and he has no worse injury problems than anyone else. He’s also been very well backed in January. Remedying all of those things is still yielding absolutely nowhere near what he should be by now.

Manning and Des’ current jobs are not that relatable, not least because they are at different levels. The two tasks were very different but challenging in their own way. I have also pointed out numerous times that Des got one of the toughest jobs to come up in the EFL this year and that’s predominantly because he came in as we were on the crest of a wave. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but he needed to make an instant impact on the players mentally. Des inherited a side positioned in 2nd with the task of continuing the promotion charge and has returned near-relegation form overall - well beneath what should be deemed acceptable in a desperately poor league with a good squad. I accept context is important and acknowledge he walked in to an injury crisis. Manning picked up what was a middling championship side with the task of changing their identity mid season and pushing them on to the play offs but they have remained a middling championship side - he’s probably achieving the minimum and walking a fine line now. He has at least picked up some mightily impressive results in amongst some real dud ones.

FWIW I have never said Manning is doing a good job there, I’m not nearly close enough to know. Their fan responses suggest it’s not great and he may well deserve to get sacked and soon. I don’t see what that has to do with what he did for our club which was transformative and should be applauded. Des is dining out on that and those on the positive bus have been banging the play off drum for months - the only reason you’re able to do that is Manning’s fast start to the season! Des has added very little to that.

I have seen enough of Manning here to understand why they may be taking time to find some consistency and that he will get it right there with a summer window and pre season. He may not be afforded that if they get much closer to relegation and I can already see Pearson back in there if that happens. That’s their problem. With Des I am much less sure as until yesterday we haven’t managed much more than a brilliant 10-15 minutes within a game, the rest has been painful with no results along the way that suggest we’re getting somewhere.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Yep, that was me, so I’ll qualify the statement.

I don’t want Des sacked. I want him to do well but when I made that comment I was waiting for any green shoots to be positive about and we got that yesterday, at last. It only took 30 games or so and I’ve formed a judgement in my mind that now needs changing with more performances like yesterday. I see little point sacking him now but I stand by the narrative that he’s horribly underachieving and should be held more accountable for that than he is currently by those who want to make excuses for him that are well past their sell-by date. His back room is settled (and apparently his choice) and he has no worse injury problems than anyone else. He’s also been very well backed in January. Remedying all of those things is still yielding absolutely nowhere near what he should be by now.

Manning and Des’ current jobs are not that relatable, not least because they are at different levels. The two tasks were very different but challenging in their own way. I have also pointed out numerous times that Des got one of the toughest jobs to come up in the EFL this year and that’s predominantly because he came in as we were on the crest of a wave. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but he needed to make an instant impact on the players mentally. Des inherited a side positioned in 2nd with the task of continuing the promotion charge and has returned near-relegation form overall - well beneath what should be deemed acceptable in a desperately poor league with a good squad. I accept context is important and acknowledge he walked in to an injury crisis. Manning picked up what was a middling championship side with the task of changing their identity mid season and pushing them on to the play offs but they have remained a middling championship side - he’s probably achieving the minimum and walking a fine line now. He has at least picked up some mightily impressive results in amongst some real dud ones.

FWIW I have never said Manning is doing a good job there, I’m not nearly close enough to know. Their fan responses suggest it’s not great and he may well deserve to get sacked and soon. I don’t see what that has to do with what he did for our club which was transformative and should be applauded. Des is dining out on that and those on the positive bus have been banging the play off drum for months - the only reason you’re able to do that is Manning’s fast start to the season! Des has added very little to that.

I have seen enough of Manning here to understand why they may be taking time to find some consistency and that he will get it right there with a summer window and pre season. He may not be afforded that if they get much closer to relegation and I can already see Pearson back in there if that happens. That’s their problem. With Des I am much less sure as until yesterday we haven’t managed much more than a brilliant 10-15 minutes within a game, the rest has been painful with no results along the way that suggest we’re getting somewhere.

You saw enough in Manning eventually, but that was after having a full pre season with the squad. Even then I don’t think anyone expected us to keep that early season form up and results were getting worse before Manning left.
Also it might be different levels but Manning took over a Bristol City side 4 points off the top 6 and 10 points off the drop. They now sit 12 points off the top 6 and 6 points off the drop zone.
We will never know where we would be if Manning had stayed but IMO I don’t think we would be a million miles away from where we are now.

As for Des, he finally took the hand brake off and it was the most exciting game of the season to watch as a fan. If he keeps this up then I think opinions will soon change.
Yesterday could have been Des’s Appleton moment where things just clicked into place.

 

[Leysboy]

What Liam did may be what you would do. It is not what we would all do.

Thats why I'm delighted to see him failing

If you flipped burgers for a living at McDonalds, and Burger King offered you the same job, and x3 your annual salary, you would tell them to shove it, because you’re loyal…. Or Maybe wait until Wendy’s come calling?

We work for money, there is zero loyalty. You think of your family, and work for money. I know I would disappear if offered the same job on 3x my yearly salary.

 

[Scotchegg]

If you flipped burgers for a living at McDonalds, and Burger King offered you the same job, and x3 your annual salary, you would tell them to shove it, because you’re loyal…. Or Maybe wait until Wendy’s come calling?

We work for money, there is zero loyalty. You think of your family, and work for money. I know I would disappear if offered the same job on 3x my yearly salary.

I would perhaps have expected the same person to have said goodbye to their McDonalds mates before leaving. And if I didn't have the decency to do that then maybe I wouldn't expect to go back to McDonalds even if someone who pops in for a Big Mac every couple of weeks was desperate for my return!

 

[chromeyellow]

If you flipped burgers for a living at McDonalds, and Burger King offered you the same job, and x3 your annual salary, you would tell them to shove it, because you’re loyal…. Or Maybe wait until Wendy’s come calling?

We work for money, there is zero loyalty. You think of your family, and work for money. I know I would disappear if offered the same job on 3x my yearly salary.

what if there was a chance to stay on at McDonalds and then go and work for Gordon Ramsey,

 

[Swaby39]

You saw enough in Manning eventually, but that was after having a full pre season with the squad. Even then I don’t think anyone expected us to keep that early season form up and results were getting worse before Manning left.
Also it might be different levels but Manning took over a Bristol City side 4 points off the top 6 and 10 points off the drop. They now sit 12 points off the top 6 and 6 points off the drop zone.
We will never know where we would be if Manning had stayed but IMO I don’t think we would be a million miles away from where we are now.

As for Des, he finally took the hand brake off and it was the most exciting game of the season to watch as a fan. If he keeps this up then I think opinions will soon change.
Yesterday could have been Des’s Appleton moment where things just clicked into place.

You make a plausible argument and then go and spoil it with more excuses for Des. 30 games to take the handbrake off? Just what exactly was he waiting for to do that? Rock bottom? Why when we’re in free fall? Sorry I’m not buying it. I think he’s been searching in a panic for solutions and not found them and yesterday something clicked - mind you, we still didn’t beat the poor side in front of us. He may well have found a certain formula yesterday, we’ll see next week when he either does or doesn’t do it again - it’s bold to say anything else at this stage. If it’s a new dawn, I will be overjoyed. But I’m not sorry for not allowing one very good (but still losing) performance it to rewrite history in my mind.

You’re right, Manning certainly benefited from having a summer to mould things his way. I’m not dismissing that, but didn’t he do well with that time? That’s all I’m saying. He’s getting back handers for doing a fantastic job. People saying we were overachieving as though that’s to be knocked - isn’t that how you get noticed as a manager? Punching above your weight? I don’t get it.

You’re allowing the circumstances of his departure to completely cloud your judgement of what he did and then using it to portray Des at at a huge disadvantage. They so far have no part of a season as Oxford manager in common so we can’t give an exact comparison. But in simple terms it’s not even up for debate who has been the better custodian of the role and had a greater impact on the club.

Manning isn’t doing it for Bristol City, I’m not here to say he was the right choice for them or anything of the sort. I’m merely saying the opinion of him in our camp is hard to understand, particularly since those of you who really take issue with him struggle to say a bad word against the most destructive manager in our history.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

what if there was a chance to stay on at McDonalds and then go and work for Gordon Ramsey,

Triple money is quite something to pass up. How much did McDonald’s increase his salary by in order to keep him, and is he still on not even half what Burger King offered him?

What if he stayed at McDonald’s and then he ended up getting sacked by them because they decided they could do better, before being left working for peanuts in Big Karl’s Salmonella Kebab Stand in Homebase car park?

Flipping burgers sounds a bit perilous if you ask me. I’d probably pursue a less brutal career, like football management.