Manager/Coach Next Manager

[Carpy]

some small details on contract.

Tell them not to rush, the last time we did that with a managers contract we got stuck with a lame duck

 

[BeechRoadBokelberg]

Goes without thinking? And it must be embarrassing for Manning to see his name on the poll on this thread is AN other

I reckon all this talk of Manning on Radio Oxford and the complete silence from the head honcho's, before kick off tomorrow the club will announce the double appointment of Robbie Fowler and Dwight Yorke.

In their opening interview they will state they want to build a team around Josh Murphy.

 

[Shosho]

Tell them not to rush, the last time we did that with a managers contract we got stuck with a lame duck

Firing up the fax machine now

 

[tonyw]

Tell them not to rush, the last time we did that with a managers contract we got stuck with a lame duck

Agreed - as long as he's in the stadium tomorrow, and on the training ground by Monday.

Have to give him the full week to prepare with the squad before the Morecambe six pointer.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

We have had good Smiths and not so good Smiths

And a lesser seen Smyth

 

[Carpy]

Firing up the fax machine now

Mick Brown will not thank you

 

[OX14]

Understand photos etc have been done but some small details on contract. Club want to announce tonight

Still time to do a uturn for both parties then?

 

[Swaby39]

The short-term positive with Manning - unlike KR (and apparently Short as well), he's not allergic to 3-5-2. In fact his great MKD team last season played it all year.

It's what fits our current basket-case squad best, and leads to the fewest number of square pegs in round holes.

Now I think we're likely going to have to play Joseph & Wildschut as the front two, and ping it forward for them to fight for more often than he'd like (because asking our current defenders, at their current level of confidence, to pass the ball around like they're Man City is asking for trouble) but at least we'll hopefully have a formation that suits the personnel.

Absolutely agree and for me it would’ve been a critical part of the interview process! I suspect they did hypothesise over what the team would look like and rightly so.

I think he will set us up well but it is still asking a lot as some players have ceilings that won’t be broken just because a new manager is in town - some just simply are not very good.

Saying that, we do have a smattering of bloody good footballers at this club and we forget that far too easily. A clutch of our players are some of the best in the league in their position. I haven’t seen many midfielders as good as Bate, wingers as explosive as Brown or wing backs as tricky as Anderson. That’s before talking about Brannagan, Findlay, McGuane - these are top, top L1 players. Imagine their potential in a Manning side - it makes you quite giddy. Then you realise it could be in league 2 and most of those names will be gone.

There is no question in my mind they have the ability to do far better than they have. What we’ve lacked all season long is a proper cohesive game plan where people’s strengths are showcased and their weaknesses mitigated. I.e. when Anderson goes on a mazy - which is so very good at - how hard is it to assign someone the job of covering him and let him do what he does best? It’s not rocket science, we just haven’t done it. And mentally the players are shot. KR reduced them down to zombies and that is nine tenths of how we survive - belief.

I think we will be vastly improved but we’ve left it so so late now. The board have royally cocked this up, he’s been available for months but their obsession with KR could set them back years. Manning has 10 games to spare their blushes. His first game is a cup final. No run up and straight in at the deep end. I’m super excited by him but this won’t be plain sailing.

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

If we are going to be Man City like wake me up when the ball eventually gets to the opposition penalty area. Cannot stand watching City or any team Pep has his hands on. Far too many passes sideways, far too slow and as boring as hell. Would rather watch Arsenal, United, Liverpool or Madrid for entertainment. Can’t deny the City way is very effective though.

Agreed they’re doing way better than Man U in the last decade and converse to popular opinion haven’t spent as much as Man U on transfers

 

[Swaby39]

If we are going to be Man City like wake me up when the ball eventually gets to the opposition penalty area. Cannot stand watching City or any team Pep has his hands on. Far too many passes sideways, far too slow and as boring as hell. Would rather watch Arsenal, United, Liverpool or Madrid for entertainment. Can’t deny the City way is very effective though.

If you know what you’re watching, it is absolute genius what Manchester City do.

 

[werthersoriginal]

If you know what you’re watching, it is absolute genius what Manchester City do.

I don’t know what I’m watching but I enjoy seeing them play! And they seemed a decent respectful bunch when we played them, unlike sly, whinging Arsenal.

 

[tonyw]

I think he will set us up well but it is still asking a lot as some players have ceilings that won’t be broken just because a new manager is in town - some just simply are not very good.

Saying that, we do have a smattering of bloody good footballers at this club and we forget that far too easily. A clutch of our players are some of the best in the league in their position. I haven’t seen many midfielders as good as Bate, wingers as explosive as Brown or wing backs as tricky as Anderson. That’s before talking about Brannagan, Findlay, McGuane - these are top, top L1 players. Imagine their potential in a Manning side - it makes you quite giddy. Then you realise it could be in league 2 and most of those names will be gone.

One of the most frustrating things about this season is that this is not like the Kemp/Rix/Talbot/Patterson eras. Then, you looked down our squad list and there were a whole heap of players that were just complete bobbins.

I don't get that this season - there's very few players in our squad that I think are genuinely rubbish (though the jury's still out on the January signings).
The problem is that a) There's massive gaps in the squad where we're completely lacking players that are specialists in particular positions (FB, DM, ST), b) Half of the time our players don't seem to know what they're supposed to be doing and c) For many, motivation seems to be lacking.

Noone can sort out (a) until the summer; I have pretty high confidence that Manning can sort out (b) in short order......(c) is the big question mark. How is he as a motivator? How quickly can he get the bulk of the squad to buy in to what he wants?

 

[Leysboy]

I’m quite amazed nothing has been announced, but I don’t feel we need to panic here.

Manning May of been at the training ground today meeting the players, and maybe even had an input for tomorrow, but Short will be in the dugout. I expect Manning will be at the ground tomorrow with TW. He may even be announced before the game tomorrow. We will see, but no need to push the panic button. Relax!

 

[Swaby39]

One of the most frustrating things about this season is that this is not like the Kemp/Rix/Talbot/Patterson eras. Then, you looked down our squad list and there were a whole heap of players that were just complete bobbins.

I don't get that this season - there's very few players in our squad that I think are genuinely rubbish (though the jury's still out on the January signings).
The problem is that a) There's massive gaps in the squad where we're completely lacking players that are specialists in particular positions (FB, DM, ST), b) Half of the time our players don't seem to know what they're supposed to be doing and c) For many, motivation seems to be lacking.

Noone can sort out (a) until the summer; I have pretty high confidence that Manning can sort out (b) in short order......(c) is the big question mark. How is he as a motivator? How quickly can he get the bulk of the squad to buy in to what he wants?

Any thought of squad improvements is completely on hold. We haven’t earned the right to that discussion and frankly it still bothers me that Tim even utters the word ‘championship’ or ‘promotion’ when we haven’t even achieved the absolute minimum which is to consolidate and be sure of our L1 status.

Manning has to get the best out of this and to me it is so incredibly obvious. It’s not a difficult job to pick the team. We don’t have a full back at the club. Not one. We have a lot of centre backs and some wing backs. So play them there. There are other examples but to me, the team picks itself.

We do have some dodgy areas of the field where we really don’t have a capable player so we need to actively mitigate that rather than ignore it and pray they don’t exploit it. E.g. don’t let anybody shoot at Eastwood from 25 yards or more!!!

 

[behindthegoal]

LM plays a similar way to KR....... Good, we'll see entertaining football.

 

[Oufcrealist]

I have absolutely no concerns over the style of play with Manning. Frankly, I’m beside myself with excitement as he plays the game exactly the way I like to watch it. His MK team kept the ball so you couldn’t score and drained you of energy and confidence. I love that type of philosophy. Very Man City-like

Except his players did give the ball to us twice last season trying to play out from the back and we did score.
There's a time and place for it, not all the time. He won't be able to do that with our defenders and especially not Eastwood. He'll have to forgo it with what he's got at the moment otherwise it'll lead to giving goals away.

 

[Osleroad]

Goes without thinking? And it must be embarrassing for Manning to see his name on the poll on this thread is AN other

Well I voted for that she says smugly

 

[Swaby39]

Except his players did give the ball to us twice last season trying to play out from the back and we did score.
There's a time and place for it, not all the time. He won't be able to do that with our defenders and especially not Eastwood. He'll have to forgo it with what he's got at the moment otherwise it'll lead to giving goals away.

Could be to their discredit or our credit, though. There isn’t a style out there that isn’t beatable and maybe we just got it right on the day. They finished 3rd so I would take from that that more often than not, teams had no answer to them.

But yes, agree with second thing there.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

LM plays a similar way to KR....... Good, we'll see entertaining football.

Similar way to KR, losing?

 

[Jster]

Similar way to KR, losing?

Erm, he got to the playoffs twice, and close another time. Some here seem to be under the illusion that he was only manager here this season!