Bristol City’s stand-in boss Chris Hogg said he’s preparing his players for another emotional game at Ashton Gate on Saturday, as a packed stadium prepared to show their support for head coach Liam Manning and his family, following the loss of their newborn son almost a fortnight ago.
Hogg has taken the reins of the first team with his best mate Manning on compassionate leave, and led the team to two impressive away performances in four days with a win at Middlesbrough and a crazy draw at Stoke, but now the focus is on the arrival of Leeds United in what will be the first chance the Ashton Gate home crowd has to show their love for the Manning family.
Hogg said he’s spoken regularly with Liam Manning as his best mate, and the head coach was very appreciative of the outpouring of love and support for him and the family following their tragic loss.
He said taking on the team has been a ‘double-edge sword’ because on the one hand he never wanted to take charge of a team under such circumstances, but on the other, football is providing a focus and a distraction from the personal grief.
“On one side, it’s been horrible, just in terms of never wanting to take over a role in this situation and it’s quite unique obviously,” he said. “So from that sense, it’s not enjoyable one bit. I miss my mate.
“The other side is football, I’ve been in it a long time now, and all my experiences, everything I’ve ever done in football, always prepares you for the moment you’re at and the present moment. So I’ve leaned on lots of experiences, what I had as a player, but also I’ve been coaching now a long time, so I feel ready, feel prepared for whatever my job demands or whatever people demand of me. I’m just trying to do the best I can with it,” he added.
Another big display of love and support for Liam Manning and his family, following the death of little Theo, is planned ahead of Saturday’s game by the Ashton Gate faithful, and that has been a huge provider of support for the Manning family.
“He’s very aware of everything about the support and he really appreciates that,” said Hogg. “It’s given him and his family a strength that obviously they will be leaning on at this point. He’s very aware of the support, the tributes, everything like that. It’s such a unique time really for him, his family, for everybody around the football club. It’s really been a strength of everybody pulling together again but he’s very aware at all,” he said.
But on the football pitch, the cold, hard reality of football is that, after the tributes and emotions on Saturday, Bristol City have a match to play against one of the best teams in the division in Leeds United, so a lot of Hogg’s work will be about getting the players to deal with the build-up to the match, and then focus on the game itself.
“I think it’ll be difficult, there’s no getting away from it,” said Hogg. “I think the fans will do a tremendous job again showing their support. It’s close to a sellout, if not a sellout. So there’ll definitely be that emotion in the air, and rightly so in terms of supporting Liam and his family.
“We’ll have to accept there’s going to be some emotions and fear going in the game, some anxiety,” he said. “So I think once you do accept that and then you kind of process it in your mind. And I’m sure we’ll speak about some strategies around the players staying focused and present ready for kick-off. It’s such a unique situation when something’s so close to your heart, and somebody who is so close to your heart, is going through what they’re going through.
“So credit to the players for Middlesbrough. It was slightly different the other night obviously because we went straight into the game. But we’ll have to speak about it and I’m sure the players will be fine. They’ve done a great job at staying quite level,” he added.