Manning Championship reaction
Norwich City’s year long unbeaten run at Carrow Road was ended by a former season ticket holder, and Norfolk bred, Bristol City boss Liam Manning.
Manning revealed last season he used to be a regular at Carrow Road until he moved away at the age of 15, as well as spending time in the Canaries’ academy.
But it was all business for Manning on his latest successful return, with Anis Mehmeti – another ex-City youth player – and Nahki Wells scoring to inflict a third straight defeat on a lacklustre home side.
“It’s not really about statements,” he said, with the Bristol boss also asked in his post-match if he deployed any special plans to subdue Championship player-of-the-month Borja Sainz. “This is a really tough place to come against a strong side who are in good form at home.
“Of course we take confidence from it, but ultimately, we play Burnley at home in two weeks and that is a completely different challenge. For me, we take the positives, we reflect, we learn, and it is really important we stay grounded because the Championship is so difficult, so tight, the margins are so fine.
“We knew the threat he (Sainz) carried but I have to say he was up against George Earthy in only his second start, who did a terrific job. We knew he liked to come inside on his right foot so when he did we had good bodies there.
“That is why we want with the shape we did. When he came inside he encountered a lot of traffic. We did a really good job of restricting a really, really good player to very little.”
