What Tombsie said down there

Has the time come for us all to reappraise what we think about Knapper?

A couple of months ago I think we all thought we had more than enough evidence to conclude that he was a bit of a geek left in charge of a critical business function with a noddy excel spreadsheet to help him out. That he was continually getting his pants pulled down by grown ups in other clubs, was overpaying for what talent he had found, and was often being sold absolute lemons. And he couldn’t spot a proper manager even if they had a “I’m a proper manager” T-shirt on.

And at that time, well, that WAS what the evidence said, wasn’t it?

Since then:

- he was apparently the one that pulled the trigger on Manning
- he’s replaced him with Clement, when there were other perhaps safer candidates (albeit it sounds like MA did a BIG sales job on PC to close the deal)
- turns out a number of his signings are much better than we thought, under proper management.

Yes, people will point to Jurasek. Jury out. But even he has made some match winning contributions. Yes, you’re gonna say we massively overpaid for Crnac. Maybe, but what will PC be able to get out of him when he’s fit? Medic….made a really solid cameo under PC. Ahmed…assist and nearly a goal, and purchased for buttons. And my god he got the Manning call very very wrong.

Maybe he’s not a total muppet after all? Maybe.

Posted By: Under soil heating on January 18th 2026 at 11:49:14

Message Thread

What Tombsie said down there (NCFC) - Under soil heating, Jan 18, 11:49:14
- Last time I looked we were still in the drop zone (NCFC) - phrankin, Jan 18, 17:12:18
- I think we may be getting carried away a bit... (NCFC) - usacanary, Jan 18, 15:57:28
  - Don’t disagree with the main thrust of your argument (NCFC) - APB, Jan 18, 20:13:12
    - PC started with a team losing every week, demoralised and unfit, bottom 3 (NCFC) - paulg, Jan 18, 21:02:58
- Crnac (n/m) (NCFC) - promethian1, Jan 18, 13:51:00
- I don't expect every transfer to work or to work straight away (NCFC) - Azteca, Jan 18, 13:49:15
- All players, coaches, SDs etc can be reappraised (NCFC) - norwaay, Jan 18, 13:46:27
  - the thing that i couldn't square at the time was (obviously) i didn't know (NCFC) - Tombs, Jan 18, 14:35:36
- Another way of looking at, how bad was LM and why was/is that? And how good is PC? (NCFC) - DH Yellow, Jan 18, 13:38:24
- Was overreaction to a disastrous managerial appointment. BUT his stated goal was (NCFC) - Legacy Fan, Jan 18, 13:31:05
- Ruari Mcconville - what a player, how hes been left out (NCFC) - ParrotPuncher, Jan 18, 13:19:16
- I think the leadership side of things is very much still under the microscope (NCFC) - Sainz and Sinners, Jan 18, 12:28:45
- All clubs will sign duds but now thankfully some of his signings are looking very good (NCFC) - Trent_Canary, Jan 18, 12:18:38
- the feeling i get from reading between the lines is ..... (NCFC) - ghostof barry butler, Jan 18, 12:15:47
- The extreme views from earlier in the season were an overreaction (NCFC) - SimonOTBC, Jan 18, 12:14:20
- Let’s wait and see where we finish in the table (n/m) (NCFC) - jamesward, Jan 18, 11:56:57

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