Liam Manning admitted that Bristol City simply weren’t good enough in the second half during their 3-0 defeat to Derby County at Pride Park, taking full responsibility for the loss. Despite going into halftime just 1-0 down, with the Robins having shown promise in the first 45 minutes—particularly with Sinclair Armstrong and Scott Twine being denied by Derby goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom—the second half was a different story.
The home crowd’s energy seemed to overwhelm City, and they lost their composure as Derby capitalized with further goals from Kayden Jackson and David Ozoh. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Jerry Yates also struck the woodwork, and Max O’Leary had to make a brilliant double save to prevent an even heavier defeat.
Manning acknowledged that City’s decision-making faltered after the break, with the players becoming overwhelmed by the atmosphere. Instead of maintaining composure, they forced plays, leaving themselves vulnerable to Derby’s counter-attacks.
“I’m not going to make excuses; it just wasn’t good enough,” Manning said. “In the first half, we started well and could have been ahead before Derby scored. But in the second half, we lost our way. It wasn’t us, and that’s the most frustrating part.”
Manning emphasized the importance of sticking to their game plan, reflecting on previous matches where they had successfully maintained their composure. He admitted that both the players and he himself need to learn from this experience.
“When you’re up against it, you have to stay focused and disciplined. We just forced things too much in the second half instead of being patient and playing the ball wide when needed.”
The match highlighted a disastrous defensive performance that was uncharacteristic of City in recent seasons, compounded by the absence of Rob Dickie, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury for two months.
Kal Naismith stepped in, and while he wasn’t directly responsible for any of the goals, he couldn’t provide the same level of assurance and confidence in the defense as Rob Dickie.
“I wouldn’t attribute today’s result to not having Rob Dickie; it was a collective team performance,” Manning explained. “We didn’t have Rob in the second half against Coventry, and there were still some positive moments.
“Losing Rob is a blow due to his quality, but we have other capable players, including Luke McNally, who we brought in. Today’s result wasn’t just about missing Rob Dickie. It was more about the collective basics and behaviors not being up to standard.”
Yu Hirakawa made his long-awaited debut after recovering from an ankle injury, playing the final seven minutes. Given the number of new attacking signings, it’s clear that time will be needed for the team to gel, as Max Bird and Scott Twine’s partnership wasn’t fully in sync during their time on the field.
Ultimately, while this was a heavy defeat, it was Bristol City’s first loss in the Championship after four matches. However, with only five points from a possible 12 in August, the start of the season can be seen in a different light.
“It’s about not getting too carried away with it,” Manning said. “I’m hurting like everyone else and disappointed we couldn’t send our fantastic supporters home happy. There’s a risk of overreacting, but when you look at it, in three-and-a-half out of the four games we’ve played this season, the performance levels have been good. The second half today wasn’t where it needed to be, but overall, we’re moving in the right direction.”
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