On Tuesday afternoon, Huddersfield Town announced former Bristol City boss Liam Manning as their new head coach on a ‘long-term contract’ following Lee Grant’s dismissal earlier this month.
In this article, I will be diving into Manning’s philosophy as a coach, so Terriers fans know what to expect going forward.
Who is Liam Manning?
After enjoying a playing career within non-league, Manning made the move to management following his retirement, with his first role being at Ipswich Town where he was an early academy coach.
He was then appointed the head coach of West Ham U23’s after the Hammers hierarchy were impressed with his work developing young talent. During this time, players such as Declan Rice were coming through the youth ranks.
In 2019, Manning left his role at West Ham to join the City Football Group where he became the Director of Coaching, and then later Academy Director with the emphasis on working on youth development structures.
His first senior managerial opportunity arose in July 2020 with Belgian side Lommel SK who he led to a strong finish before attracting attention from countries in England’s lower divisions.
Manning was appointed head coach of MK Dons in August 2021 and led them to third place in his first season, earning two manager of the month awards in that time. Despite such success, he was sacked in December 2022 following a poor start to the next season.
However, he wasn’t out of a job for long, with Oxford United securing his services which led to an instant impact, eventually leaving the club sat second in the League One table for Championship side Bristol City.
Manning guided The Robins to sixth place in the 2024/25 season which is their best finish in recent history and then jumped ship to fellow Championship side Norwich City at the end of the season. His tenure at Norwich was disastrous, picking up just three points out of a possible 33, losing every home game which led to him being dismissed on 8th November 2025.
Manning now joins an ambitious Huddersfield Town side who will be aiming to be promoted at the first time of asking via the playoffs and may even be backed heavily in the January transfer window.
What is his philosophy?
Liam Manning has predominantly used a 3-5-2 or more recently a 4-2-3-1 formation, with both systems enforcing his attacking and high press philosophy.
The goalkeeper has to be good with their feet as his sides build up from the back and try to play through the oppositions press meaning that the goalkeeper needs to be able to play both long and short and also be able to remain calm in high pressure situations with the ball at his feet.
Lee Nicholls has evidenced his ability to be a ball playing goalkeeper under previous head coach Lee Grant, so the transition to Liam Manning could be seamless for him.
When using a 4-2-3-1, the fullbacks must be able to overlap the winger to create dangerous overloads with the aim to cut the ball back to the striker who will arrive late into the box from deep. However, a major weakness of the system is that if unsuccessful, his sides are vulnerable to a counterattack due to a lack of numbers defensively. This is the same for the wingers in the 3-5-2 who operate more defensively minded than the orthodox winger.
Central defenders in both the 3-5-2 and 4-2-3-1 are also required to be good on the ball as they are often required to step up into midfield to attract a press which then creates space for players further forward.
The central midfielders are required to be spatially aware as they will be operating in a double pivot which enables the side to retain possession through continual recycling of the ball, waiting for their chance to attack.
During his short spell at Norwich, Scottish midfielder Kenny McLean was excellent in this role and was one of the few positives from his tenure, with the defensive structure ultimately being Manning’s downfall.
Attacking talent is well utilised in Manning’s systems, with each team adapting slightly depending on who their star attacker has been.
At Bristol City, Manning ‘s star attacker was Burnley loanee Scott Twine who was often a catalyst for victory last season, with most of the play going down Twine’s left channel allowing Twine to take shots and cross from deep when necessary.
Terriers fan will be hoping that Liam Manning is able to get the best out of his side, despite recently losing their star player Leo Castledine to Championship side Middlesbrough.