Unsettling reality indicates that Liam Manning’s problems at Bristol City might not end there: Look at
For Bristol City in the Championship, the season has not gone well so far.
Bristol City finished 11th in the standings last season despite having another uneven campaign. However, fans had plenty of optimism heading into the summer as the team suffered just two losses in their final ten games.
Though it has not been the season opener that Robins supporters were hoping for, the club’s enthusiasm has grown following a busy summer transfer window that saw the entrance of seven new arrivals.
Liam Manning’s team is four points above the relegation zone and is 16th in the table going into the international break after being held to a 1-1 draw by bottom-of-the-table Cardiff City at Ashton Gate on Sunday.
While Manning’s position is not under any immediate threat, he has come in for criticism at times this season, and with a tough fixture list to come over the next few months, it could get worse before it gets better for the 38-year-old.
Liam Manning could be set for increased Bristol City pressure
Since suffering two consecutive 3-0 away defeats to Derby County and Blackburn Rovers, City have gone on a four-game unbeaten run, but that statistic is not as positive as it may seem at first glance.
The Robins have drawn their last three games, and while the away draw at Swansea City was a good point, they will surely have been hugely frustrated not to have beaten Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff on their own patch, particularly as both of those teams were below them in the table prior to the kick-off.
In fact, the Bluebirds could easily have come away from Ashton Gate with all three points, and City were only allowed back into the game after a couple of defensive substitutions from the visitors in the second half that saw them lose their attacking momentum.
Of the sides the Robins have played so far this season, the current highest-ranked team is eighth-placed Blackburn, and only four of their nine opponents are in the top half of the table.
Alarmingly for Manning, that means there are some difficult games on the horizon, and his side face promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Norwich City, Burnley, Watford and Sunderland over the next two months.
Based on the early season evidence, you would not back City to pick up many victories from that run of games, and if the results go the way that many would expect, Manning could soon find himself under significant pressure.
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