Sheaf Saint

Did you not watch the game then?...

We have got a replacement. Stewart has returned from injury. That counts, right?

Still did drop them, and that cost him his job. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

Manning certainly doesn't. I doubt it's on the highlights but there was a moment in the Boro game where he was, as usual, out of position and had two oppo players in his qtr of the pitch. One on the ball and another ahead of him in acres of space inside our box. Manning just trotted alongside the man on the ball for a few seconds with no intensity whatsoever, and when it became obvious he was about the release the ball to the player ahead of him, he then decided to put in what couldn't even be described as a half-hearted attempt to block the pass. It's a recurring theme with him. If he's not too busy arguing with a lino to defend a cross into the box, he's just wandering about completely oblivious to what's going on around him, making token efforts to intercept balls that have already gone past him. Players with his limited technical ability need to make up for it with effort and desire. I've never seen either from RM, and I look forward to the day I never have to watch him play for us again.

A player doesn't go from looking decent to looking like he's never kicked a ball in his life just because of poor coaching. But I agree something doesn't add up because his performances for us have been so laughably terrible, and there's no way he could possibly have been that bad when we scouted him.

The fact that Baz keeps finding himself right at the bottom of these tables season after season kinda pisses on your argument that they are just random.

I hear you, but surely we're just back to the old 'cow shit or dog shit' choice, like we are with our keepers. How about we choose to change paths and avoid stepping in the shit altogether? Or is that too much for SR to grasp maybe.

Derby I could forgive because LND got injured early on so our entire game plan went out the window. Blackburn was the clincher for me. That was one of the most pathetic team performances I've ever seen, coupled with the single most mind-bogglingly stupid substitution anyone could ever make.

Disagree. Our forwards seem to have forgotten where the net is of late. It could be that they are being starved of service because of the weak midfield and the propensity of Downes to just play it back to the CBs, but we had chances in the first half against Boro that we couldn't finish. We didn't create anything against Millwall, and couldn't lay a glove on 10-man Coventry when we had basically no defending to do. I think the defence is the first priority to work on, but our problems run much deeper. We're playing Fellows out of position which detracts from his natural attacking instinct, and relying on the hapless Manning to provide creativity from the other wing. Tonda managed to secure a few wins by finding a way to get our forwards into the game more while ignoring how shit our defending is. As soon as other teams cottoned on to that one tactic we were using and nullified it, the goals have dried up but the defence has been just as shit. In short, we're fucked all over the pitch.

This pun sucks.

So did half the team.

Careful what you wish for etc... but probably yes. They are utterly incompetent custodians of the club and have sucked every last bit of joy out of supporting it.

Cue @trousers with a Kenneth Williams gif

It was the second goal where the ball was played long into no-mannings-land and then Baz failed to stop a shot in the middle of the goal.

Is your middle name Nostradamus? 🤨

It wasn't even really OK though was it. After a bright first few minutes, Boro had us pegged back for the next half an hour and pressed us into constant mistakes while trying to play around them. It was only about the last 15 mins of the first half that we played OK, and had better chances while never being dominant.

Yep. Rage-inducing stupidity from an experienced international.

A classic example of backpfeifengesicht if ever I saw one.

On another thread recently, someone called him the worst LB we've ever had and another poster said "What about Benali?" It's true that Franny was technically limited, but what he lacked in skil he more than made up for in desire and tenacity, and he never gave anything less than 100% effort. Manning isn't fit to lace his boots. Watching this chump just jog about and giving attackers all the time and space they need, completely oblivious to any danger, it's infuriating.

I think he might have posted that using the wrong login 🤨

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxMJOSXZ9PrzjmPODKUGVqAmD6xG8E-gsG?si=6sAHFCfum3GhRhmc

World-class, that was.

Whether you meant masquerade or massacred, it still works either way.