Make me glad that Manchester is home and I don't need to bother with transfers. It's really a destination airport not a transfer hub. I think the large numbers from the VS flight bust the system, though that is not an excuse for the shoddy experience.
I did say at the start that the airside route is not great. At least if your bags are checked through (no need to reclaim and recheck in the UK) you can do the landside walk yourself, which looks to be the outcome from this thread.