Our system detected that your browser is blocking advertisements on our site. Please help support FoxesTalk by disabling any kind of ad blocker while browsing this site. Thank you.
Jump to content
MPH

A Message to Nigel Pearson

Recommended Posts

Posted

Nigel Adkins?

 

He seems like an unfavourable comparison with Pearson, purely because of his career since Southampton, and what has happened to Southampton since he left. When we say that time will tell how well Pearson's sacking is viewed, that's what I mean. Didn't Lambert also take Norwich up two divisions? Maybe I'm wrong.

Posted

He seems like an unfavourable comparison with Pearson, purely because of his career since Southampton, and what has happened to Southampton since he left. When we say that time will tell how well Pearson's sacking is viewed, that's what I mean. Didn't Lambert also take Norwich up two divisions? Maybe I'm wrong.

I was purely listing a manager that has recently taken a team up 2 divisions, in response to an earlier post. Yes Lambert also did it along with Eddie Howe. Mark Warburton wasn't far off last year too. 

Posted

I was purely listing a manager that has recently taken a team up 2 divisions, in response to an earlier post. Yes Lambert also did it along with Eddie Howe. Mark Warburton wasn't far off last year too. 

For me what stands Nigel apart from those other guys (at the moment) is that he had to do it over two spells. Howe will also fall into that category as well should he keep them up.

 

Twice he needed to rebuild the team and twice it worked. Where the others guys did a great job, you wonder could you replicate anything like the success you had elsewhere? Nigel in some way has already answered that question.

 

I think given time his way of putting a squad together and how he builds it will more often than not reap the rewards. But he definitely needs his recruitment team around him, they are key to his success as much as he is.

 

I don't know why some feel the need to compare O'Neill and Pearson, to me they will always be Leicester legends. They both achieved different things, O'Neill went the higher, but he also started with a team in a higher positions so the comparisons are impossible to make.

Posted

Thank you, Nigel.

 

Forever will you stand up there with Brian Little and Micky Adams in terms of on-field achievements.

 

It's just a shame that your off-field antics will have you seated next to Martin Allen.

 

You still had a way to go to be even considered to be alongside Martin O'Neill in terms of stature and who knows, maybe you may have achieved that. It's just a shame that you seemed to be on a self-destruct mission and are incapable of behaving in an appropriate manner for someone in the public eye. You, of all people, would never have tolerated such behaviour from one of your players... unless it was your son, allegedly. 

 

With you at the helm, we may well have built upon the success of the final quarter of last season, although we could also have continued with the form of the middle half where we were awful.

 

I hope you've learned plenty from you time here, not just from a footballing viewpoint, but also a professional one. I hope you continue to have a good career unless you're playing us.

 

I think that's unfair.

 

Little took us up one division and we were on the way down before he walked out. His off-field antics - lying in the process of resigning - led to a court case and him becoming a figure of hate for the next decade.

 

Adams was assistant when we got relegated, took us back up with a great squad but under difficult circumstances, then came back down again and looked completely out-of-his-depth in terms of regenerating our squad and getting back into the top flight. The failure - more the club's fault than his - to replace an ageing set of players led to a squad with an average age of 30. He is the only manager in the club's post-war history for whom you can say that, three years after his departure, there wasn't a single player of his left at the club. We were relegated within three seasons.

 

So I think Pearson winning two promotions, one with money, one without, and keeping us in the Premier League comfortably eclipses both, as much as we may have doubted him along the way.

 

As for his off-field antics being reminiscent of Martin Allen, well we don't know and probably never will know why Allen was fired either. I know he had to deal with a bizarre and highly questionable chairman who spent lots of money but not very sensibly, and that we got relegated immediately afterwards. But I'd say Pearson's off-field antics have far more in common with O'Neill who - after nearly being sacked for a run of poor form in March 96 - never quite forgave a section of the boardroom or the fans, and was quite public about this. It all spilled over in 1999 with the Pierpoint-Out saga.

 

And his interactions with the press could be interesting too - saying people recovered from AIDS quicker than Marshall recovered from injury, calling Savage utterly talentless, publicly slating Fenton, saying he'd signed Taggart so that Lennon had someone to get drunk with, chasing Jeff Winter around the tunnel area after he disagreed with a decision in a game against Everton, whacking Neil Lennon after he got sent off against Norwich. Personally I loved it, but there were people who questioned him - repeatedly.

 

And the off-field behaviour of the team - which may well be what cost Pearson his job - was also frequently questioned. La Manga is the most famous example, but this was a side which Izzet called 'the best pub team in the world', which contained 'half a dozen smokers' (according to Marshall) and which would literally wreck some local hotels when they had a night out planned.

 

So I'd suggest you stick to comparing managers on their footballing merits. Neither Pearson nor O'Neill did anything, to my knowledge, which endangered that, and their off-field conduct - while occasionally ridiculous and worthy of an apology here and there - was nothing exceptional either.

 

If I were to guess, I'd say this change of manager has more to do with 'leading Leicester into the next phase of their development', which I think were Top's words yesterday. And the last time they did this they brought in Sven, who was 63, successful on the continent and an international manager with a questionable record for the past decade or so. So one or two parallels there. Worth remembering that Pearson had been edged out of the club just a few months earlier back then too, and just a few weeks after takeover talks began.

Posted

I think that's unfair.

Don't waste your time, there are those who will never admit the job he did here for fear of looking foolish having slated him since he arrived.

Posted

I think that's unfair.

Little took us up one division and we were on the way down before he walked out. His off-field antics - lying in the process of resigning - led to a court case and him becoming a figure of hate for the next decade.

Adams was assistant when we got relegated, took us back up with a great squad but under difficult circumstances, then came back down again and looked completely out-of-his-depth in terms of regenerating our squad and getting back into the top flight. The failure - more the club's fault than his - to replace an ageing set of players led to a squad with an average age of 30. He is the only manager in the club's post-war history for whom you can say that, three years after his departure, there wasn't a single player of his left at the club. We were relegated within three seasons.

So I think Pearson winning two promotions, one with money, one without, and keeping us in the Premier League comfortably eclipses both, as much as we may have doubted him along the way.

As for his off-field antics being reminiscent of Martin Allen, well we don't know and probably never will know why Allen was fired either. I know he had to deal with a bizarre and highly questionable chairman who spent lots of money but not very sensibly, and that we got relegated immediately afterwards. But I'd say Pearson's off-field antics have far more in common with O'Neill who - after nearly being sacked for a run of poor form in March 96 - never quite forgave a section of the boardroom or the fans, and was quite public about this. It all spilled over in 1999 with the Pierpoint-Out saga.

And his interactions with the press could be interesting too - saying people recovered from AIDS quicker than Marshall recovered from injury, calling Savage utterly talentless, publicly slating Fenton, saying he'd signed Taggart so that Lennon had someone to get drunk with, chasing Jeff Winter around the tunnel area after he disagreed with a decision in a game against Everton, whacking Neil Lennon after he got sent off against Norwich. Personally I loved it, but there were people who questioned him - repeatedly.

And the off-field behaviour of the team - which may well be what cost Pearson his job - was also frequently questioned. La Manga is the most famous example, but this was a side which Izzet called 'the best pub team in the world', which contained 'half a dozen smokers' (according to Marshall) and which would literally wreck some local hotels when they had a night out planned.

So I'd suggest you stick to comparing managers on their footballing merits. Neither Pearson nor O'Neill did anything, to my knowledge, which endangered that, and their off-field conduct - while occasionally ridiculous and worthy of an apology here and there - was nothing exceptional either.

If I were to guess, I'd say this change of manager has more to do with 'leading Leicester into the next phase of their development', which I think were Top's words yesterday. And the last time they did this they brought in Sven, who was 63, successful on the continent and an international manager with a questionable record for the past decade or so. So one or two parallels there. Worth remembering that Pearson had been edged out of the club just a few months earlier back then too, and just a few weeks after takeover talks began.

Some really good points there, I'd forgotten about a few of those O'Neill sound bites. The Marshall one makes me smile every time. I think's it's important to remember what a large part social media plays now. If O'Neill had gone off in a Ostrich style rant back in the late 90's it would be forgotten about by the morning. Now any remotely bizarre behaviour by a premier league manager / player spreads like wildfire on twitter etc, and is used a stick to continually beat them with. People form opinions on things they know very little about and before you know it the opinion becomes fact. The word allegedly should be banned from foxestalk.

Posted

Thank you, Nigel.

 

Forever will you stand up there with Brian Little and Micky Adams in terms of on-field achievements.

 

It's just a shame that your off-field antics will have you seated next to Martin Allen.

 

You still had a way to go to be even considered to be alongside Martin O'Neill in terms of stature and who knows, maybe you may have achieved that. It's just a shame that you seemed to be on a self-destruct mission and are incapable of behaving in an appropriate manner for someone in the public eye. You, of all people, would never have tolerated such behaviour from one of your players... unless it was your son, allegedly. 

 

With you at the helm, we may well have built upon the success of the final quarter of last season, although we could also have continued with the form of the middle half where we were awful.

 

I hope you've learned plenty from you time here, not just from a footballing viewpoint, but also a professional one. I hope you continue to have a good career unless you're playing us.

Sums it up perfectly for me.

Posted

Some really good points there, I'd forgotten about a few of those O'Neill sound bites. The Marshall one makes me smile every time. I think's it's important to remember what a large part social media plays now. If O'Neill had gone off in a Ostrich style rant back in the late 90's it would be forgotten about by the morning. Now any remotely bizarre behaviour by a premier league manager / player spreads like wildfire on twitter etc, and is used a stick to continually beat them with. People form opinions on things they know very little about and before you know it the opinion becomes fact. The world allegedly should be banned from foxestalk.  

 

I agree totally about social media. In fact, where Pearson was concerned, the 'bad name' he made himself has nothing to do with football. It was clear he created an 'us and them' mentality in order to galvanise the squad, and in doing so the only real enemies he made were in the media. As far as I'm concerned - and all fans, I'd optimistically like to think - he could have continued making as many enemies as he liked so long as we kept getting better. It's never bothered Ferguson, Clough, Mourinho, Wenger, Big Sam or King Kenny, among many others.

Posted

Don't waste your time, there are those who will never admit the job he did here for fear of looking foolish having slated him since he arrived.

 

I know I know, but when you find yourself in a situation - one way or the other - where your opinion is set in stone and won't change regardless of what happens, then it ceases to be an opinion and becomes an allegiance or a grudge. I remember arguing against many of these same people when Pearson was re-appointed in 2011, and along with some of them when it seemed to make sense to move him along. Times change, circumstances change - it turned out I was wrong to change my mind back in March, and I have to accept that, because it's an unavoidable truth - but some people's views are still governed by what it was that they first said about him in 2008 or 2011, as if they've been bound by that initial declaration of opposition or support.

 

The only thing that makes me smile is that there's one person whom I know to post on here who was fervently anti-Pearson, still is, always will be. He was also - he's less happy to reveal - fervently anti-O'Neill back in March 1996, but because it's not recorded for posterity on social media he keeps quiet about that. It's incredible to think that there Leicester City fans who can seriously hold a grudge against two of the four or five most successful leaders in its history. It's like being a dye-in-the-wool Labour supporter but hating Hardie, Attlee and Blair / a devout Tory but hating Churchill, Thatcher and Cameron.

Posted

jolly good laugh. a minutes applause for a departed manager. that's how to back  the new guy in his first game eh?

 

Pearson has now left the club twice and both times been denied a proper goodbye to the fans and likewise the fans to Pearson. Unlike last time when it was quickly apparent Pearson would return to the Walkers with him managing Hull it does not look like we will see Nige in the near future. With our record of a minutes applause for just about anything surely we owe Pearson one and with Sunderland first game of the year it seems fitting.

 

Posted

Literally saved the club- balanced the books, brought the sports science on, gave us a team to be proud of, got us into the prem, managed the best game ever as a Leicester fan versus man Utd. I could go on and on.

Legend

Posted

come on its too much.......he got well paid for what he did, and of like all managers there is a shelf life dependent on the whim of the owners of any club, he's had his ups and downs not the greatest thing since sliced bread in my eyes I reserve that for MO'N

but even he saw a way out to take the next step up........... NP is his own worst enemy and would still be here if he had kept hismouth shut and concentrated on football matters instead of making enemies.

Posted

Literally saved the club- balanced the books, brought the sports science on, gave us a team to be proud of, got us into the prem, managed the best game ever as a Leicester fan versus man Utd. I could go on and on.

Legend

Saved the club from what? We had by far the best squad in League One and he took us up when we was strong favourites. Joined us again when Sven left us only two points off the play-off places in the Championship. 

We were always a good job for a new manger coming in. However he did a very good job with us.

Posted

Saved the club from what? We had by far the best squad in League One and he took us up when we was strong favourites. Joined us again when Sven left us only two points off the play-off places in the Championship. 

We were always a good job for a new manger coming in. However he did a very good job with us.

Two points of the play offs, yet he still got sacked! Grossly unfair, and yes the groundwork had all been done prior to Pearson's arrival.

 

My message to Pearson, is to stop his ridiculous off field antics, or he will end up in hot water again.

Posted

Two points of the play offs, yet he still got sacked! Grossly unfair, and yes the groundwork had all been done prior to Pearson's arrival.

It's incredible how people have started saying (in this and other threads) that Sven somehow laid the groundwork for what NP achieved. Are you completely insane?

Posted

Two points of the play offs, yet he still got sacked! Grossly unfair, and yes the groundwork had all been done prior to Pearson's arrival.

 

My message to Pearson, is to stop his ridiculous off field antics, or he will end up in hot water again.

 

lol

 

Here's a report on Sven's final match (0-3 home defeat v. Millwall): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2052164/Leicester-0-Millwall-3-Svens-men-stunned-Henderson.html

 

So, his final team was: Schmeichel, Peltier, Bamba, St. Ledger, Konchesky, Johnson, Wellens, Abe, King, Beckford, Nugent.....and this is the groundwork that had all been done prior to NP?  lol

 

I'll give you Schmeichel, Konchesky & Nugent (King started pre-2008, but became a 1st teamer under Pearson). So, what did the other 7 players contribute to NP's Championship winning team? What have they achieved since anywhere?

 

My message to Dangerous Tiger: Get down to your local zoo and get into the tigers' cage where you belong.  lol

Posted

It's incredible how people have started saying (in this and other threads) that Sven somehow laid the groundwork for what NP achieved. Are you completely insane?

I wouldn't go as far as saying sven laid the groundwork but we certainly weren't the shambles some are claiming we were when Pearson took over again.

He clearly benefitted from some of sven's signings though. He just needed to prune that squad, get it playing together and add in a few bits of quality and that's what he did in two and a half years.

Posted

I wouldn't go as far as saying sven laid the groundwork but we certainly weren't the shambles some are claiming we were when Pearson took over again.

He clearly benefitted from some of sven's signings though. He just needed to prune that squad, get it playing together and add in a few bits of quality and that's what he did in two and a half years.

Prune the squad? We were a QPR-style mess, spunking a staggering amount on wages for avergae players like Mills and Beckford.

NP took 2 and a half years to sort out the mess.

Posted

I wouldn't go as far as saying sven laid the groundwork but we certainly weren't the shambles some are claiming we were when Pearson took over again.

He clearly benefitted from some of sven's signings though. He just needed to prune that squad, get it playing together and add in a few bits of quality and that's what he did in two and a half years.

 

 

Here's the Wiki page for our 13-14 Championship-winning season: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013%E2%80%9314_Leicester_City_F.C._season

 

In the player appearances list, of the players who made 10+ appearances, I count 16 signed or promoted from the youth team by Pearson.

 

Only 3 players from the Sven era made 10+ appearances: Schmeichel, Konchesky & Nugent (plus King who appeared before both but became a regular under NP).

 

Inconvenient things, facts.  :D

Posted

I wouldn't go as far as saying sven laid the groundwork but we certainly weren't the shambles some are claiming we were when Pearson took over again.

He clearly benefitted from some of sven's signings though. He just needed to prune that squad, get it playing together and add in a few bits of quality and that's what he did in two and a half years.

Three people, he benefited from three people (and two of them have been lamented by fans as being and not worthy of a game)... if you asked him he'd probably say the others hampered him just as much as those three helped. Good god look at the team that played Millwall...

 

 

K Schmeichel (G) 1   L Peltier (D) 2   P Konchesky (D) 3   S Bamba (D) 6 yellow.106.0.pngS St Ledger (D) 12   A King (M) 10   (74) M Johnson (M) 17   R Wellens (M) 19   (45) Y Abe (M) 22   (45) J Beckford (F) 20   D Nugent (F) 35 yellow.106.0.png   C Weale (G) 21   J Paintsil (D) 4   (45) L Dyer (M) 11   (74) G Fernandes (M) 26   (45) D Vassell (F) 13

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...