I believe they're just cheaper and technically they allow you to get a bit more from your car, but yea apart from that, not much
In some countries there are more manual cars so I get them, but trashing on automatic is just dumb. It's much more enjoyable (people I know told me that). Most manual drivers have muscle memory so it's not really something that takes too much place in their mind, but I guess having to remember less could make you more focused on the road.
Disclaimer: I have an automatic driver license, and no manual driver license haha
Okay, didn't think this would happen