So, there it is, 141 days later, he’s gone.

It’s hard to deny Liam Manning was getting the results we needed to be on track for promotion. It insulated him from criticism and rightly so. But, and this may not be the most popular opinion, I never really warmed to him.

I get all the corporate hocus pocus about behaviours and values, and we were all reassured by the hypnotic powers of his PowerPoint presentation but, despite our form, I’m not sure I was never excited by his football or him as a person. Which is weird, because we won a lot and you’d think that would be enough.

He was the product of a system, a corporate automaton. He trusted the process more than he cared about the result. It’s what we needed to stem the threat of relegation last season; a sensible pragmatic head as we became consumed by the chaos of his predecessor. 

Once he’d stopped the rot, a structured, mechanistic rebuilding was perfect; new players, new philosophy, great start. But it wasn’t ever truly refreshing or exciting, it was a relief, I was waiting to be caught up in a wave, an unstoppable momentum that would carry us to the Championship. Maybe it was coming, but it wasn’t there, not yet.

The football was very good but it never quite got to great, there were times when we were positively dopey, laden down with his philosophy. We were a very 2-0 team – routine, unenthused. We got results, and for that you can’t deny he was successful, but I was still waiting for that ripsnorting thriller which had us cascading down the stands in delirious abandon. I can’t imagine that ever happening, perhaps because it never did, maybe because it was never going to. 

Immediately after the Maidenhead game, there was a lengthy discussion on the radio about whether Manning would take the Bristol City job. It dwelt on whether he’d turn down The Good Thing he had at Oxford, whether he’d betray the trust the board had placed in him. The conclusion seemed to be that Manning was a twelfth dan mind-ninja who would calculate all possible scenarios and come to the right decision. 

I had little doubt that he’d take it if offered; it’s more money, more resources and more kudos. If Jerome Sale is right, he’s doubled his salary. Who wouldn’t take it? 

It’s hard to give career advice when there’s that opportunity in front of you, but for someone so controlled and measured, this could be a real shit-or-bust move for him. Perhaps he will improve Bristol City enough for promotion and set himself for a move into the Premier League and the higher echelons of the game. Or, perhaps he’ll stall, creating a reputation of a man promoted beyond his ability. Plus, there’s no safety net, his CV is one of unfulfilled promise. If it doesn’t work out, would you invest in a coach who might leave at a moment’s notice and has yet to stay anywhere long enough to be tangibly successful? Or maybe owners are perpetually stupid and will keep recruiting him thinking he might change.

He’s also going to have to deal with a new experience, a small enclave of the English game who will happily want him to fail, who will boo him and badmouth him at every opportunity. Water off a duck’s back, particularly if he’s successful, but it’s a different pressure for someone who until now has been seen universally as a coach with potential who does things the right way. Michael Appleton is a good coach whose failings overshadow his successes, Manning’s risking being put in the same position.

There was no discussion on the radio about whether Bristol City would offer him the job and I’m really surprised they have. He’s completed one full season as a manager in England and while he took MK Dons to the edge of promotion, he didn’t get them over the line. You can almost identify the moments when he failed; twice against us, he conceded points as a result of his players being caught dicking around and playing from the back. An ideological indulgence that cost him promotion.

Maybe he’s learnt, but who knows? There’s a point of the season where science gives way to pragmatism, where players are playing on fumes, through injuries and are scratching out points to desperately drag themselves over the line. We have no idea whether Manning had that mode in his arsenal, he didn’t get there with MK, he left before he got there with us. If Bristol City have ambition for promotion, in that respect, they’ve taken a big punt.

I think, more likely, they want a manager that will guide them to a sensible place, develop players who can be sold on and be part of a corporate machine. Less demanding than Nigel Pearson, less erratic. If that’s the case, he makes more sense. The vanilla option. Maybe when football is paying your mortgage – as an owner or a manager – it’s just about being as bland and compliant as you can be to survive.

As I say, it’s not necessarily a popular opinion, plenty of Oxford fans are unnerved by his departure. Not because they really loved him, I suspect, but because of the fear of the unknown. As a club, we need to move away from being over-reliant on one person bringing us success. A manager is a key appointment, but clubs we aspire to be like; Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth have been able to punch above their weight by easing from one manager to another while maintaining a forward momentum. It’s a key aspiration for any club, the next few weeks will undoubtedly show how close we are to that. 

Above that, I hope we can channel the apparent betrayal and injustice into something positive and to super-charge our promotion push. Maybe the anger and angst will do us good. Without doubt Manning put us back in a good place, perhaps now we can make it a great one.