THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

Im truly not sure of what I think of Manning as we only saw two extremes.

On the surface of it he seemed very good with a team that was riding high and full of confidence and improved us in a season where we could have crashed and burned although I think there could be an argument made that he should have done better with the squad and momentum the side had. the loss to Oxford and then the god awful performance against Wycombe in the first playoff game were perhaps a sign of things to come.

He seemed very poor with a team who I can only assume that he had more input to then previously and seemed lost and bereft of ideas very early on.

I imagine that he going to be decent manager at the kind of level he is currently at but probably not much higher and not much bigger clubs. Potentially journeyman for most of his career with a few high and a few low spots. Just like the vast vast majority of managers.

The more I have considered this the more I reach the conclusion he is a terrible manager, to me there are three facets to being a football manager and as best I can tell he is good at one.
Firstly you need to be able to coach players and all evidence would suggest he can do that at least to a basic level with most of his experience being with younger players.
Secondly managing resources and this is where I feel he failed most; when he had an abundance of good players playing well he gave us a good team but as soon as problems arose he wasn't able to provide solutions, last season it was most noticeable in the failure to cope when Eisa was injured whereas this season he was unable to find a decent eleven and drill them to get some results (obviously he had a bad hand but he couldn't grind out anything). Also managing isn't just about your resources but managing those around you I felt he played lap dog to Pete and Liam S rather than being an equal fighting his corner.
Finally leadership and motivation, he showed pressure little of it, last season think back and who were the leaders it was Lewie, Darling and Twine, everyone at the club spoke with reverence when talking about them but Manning never had that about him, do you honestly believe that players played for him out of respect?, because they were inspired by him?, they wanted to impress him and earn his praise? Not for me I think they liked him as a person and that he was a nice boss to work for but I can't think of a manger that parlayed that style into great success.

Unfortunately Mark at the moment isn't showing he is a great deal better at what let Liam down but I live in hope.

I think that's incredibly fucking harsh.

The players, all of them, spoke about how good a bloke he was to work for. And what a good coach he was with his methods. Several players including Twine and Darling mentioned how he lost his rag at half time on a few occasions so we can't exactly judge how "inspirong" he was or wasn't when we weren't there to see it. Believe me if he offered no inspiration we'd have had nothing like the season we had. He made mistakes but to suggest he's a "terrible manager" is frankly absurd imo.

The group of players he got last season weren't exactly tried, tested and proven. Parrott had a shit goals record, Twine was potentially pretty good but we'd lost Fraser and felt it'd take a lot to replace him, Eisa was given hot and cold reviews, Watson's best spell was a loan in a relegation battle... it was a young group who'd joined to play with a gaffer they'd be sold a big deal over who eventually left 5 minutes after convincing them to join. To say it was all Russ's work is also a myth, because he barely coached that group. Liam coached them to a playoff finish despite player departures like Fisher and O'Reilly and kept a dressing room stable and motivated despite a stab in the back from the previous gaffer. That takes as much, if not more hard work than coaching tactics.

So to suggest he doesn't inspire anyone or lacked leadership Md passion is mind boggling to me. The fact we had as good a year as we did is testament to his leadership.

_________________
#DonYourWhite

Turn Stadium MK WHITE In The Playoffs

https://donsaction.co.uk/

GET THIS SEASONS HOME SHIRT FOR £16.50 ↓↓↓
https://shop.mkdons.co.uk/collections/23-24-home-kit

We’re speculating Alby - trying to fit explanations around the few facts we have.

I agree the views on here can be too harsh. Happy to understand another hypothesis if you have one. Provided it doesn’t rubbish him out of hand.

He’s clearly got capabilities. I saw a lot of strengths and a few weaknesses. Understandable given he’s only just emerging.

I wanted him out, and didn't see many people on the socials calling for him out when I did Initially, btw... But I e always conceded he's clearly a good coach and it just wasn't working at the time.

I have it on good authority he "had" the dressing room the whole time and there was a real feeling of responsibility and they'd let him down. I don't buy that any coach who has that feeling with his players is unable to motivate them. He clearly had made mistakes as well as Sweeting and Winkelperson, but I believe his legacy with us is what he picked up last year with the shit show Russ left that the shit show he eventually left himself. Last seasons work wasn't a quick fix and I was certain we were facing another long 2/3 year rebuild (from last season) and yet, nope. We had a good season.

_________________
#DonYourWhite

Turn Stadium MK WHITE In The Playoffs

https://donsaction.co.uk/

GET THIS SEASONS HOME SHIRT FOR £16.50 ↓↓↓
https://shop.mkdons.co.uk/collections/23-24-home-kit

That's the trouble though if you give him credit for the first season he has to take the fall for the second, if you say the second season wasn't his fault look at the recruitment the surely you have to say the first wasn't his doing it was the recruitment, I can't see how you can have it both ways ergo I don't think he has shown himself to be a good manager.

He is as much to blame as Sweeting and Winkelbot are. Not solely. In the same way Sweeting was as much responsible for the success last season as this seasons failure. Nobody is alone here.

If he was a "terrible manager" we'd not have had a season like we had last season. Why can't it just be a middle of the road thing? He's a capable manager who's had poor times, good times and a lot inbetween.

_________________
#DonYourWhite

Turn Stadium MK WHITE In The Playoffs

https://donsaction.co.uk/

GET THIS SEASONS HOME SHIRT FOR £16.50 ↓↓↓
https://shop.mkdons.co.uk/collections/23-24-home-kit