Is changing the manager the right thing?

[Bob Weasel Fox]

out of interest, can anyone think of another sector that would change their manager/CEO as often as football clubs? it's also interesting that football clubs are without doubt some of the worst run, unprofitable businesses going.

I personally wouldn't have sacked Sven or Nigel, yet. unless we looked like relegation candidates, and even then I would be reluctant, I would give a manager at the very least, two full years.

Maybe we should of given Paoulo Sousa 2 years, we would either be in the premier league playing an exciting brand of footie by now . . . . or in the 2nd division?

[Mark_w]

I am usually the kind of fan who resists knee jerk management changes, and prefers to allow a manager time to produce the goods. However, after yesterdays shambles I have to admit my support of the current management team is virtually gone.

I understand there are a lot of City fans who are firmly behind NP, but I also understand that from being a member on here, and previously BBC 606, that a lot of City fans live for past glories, and idolise average players from our not so glorious past. Some examples being Ian Hume ( loved for his name rather than ability ), Joey Gudjonnson ( half way goal and everyone loved him), Hossain Kaibi ( one youtube video and people were calling for him to be in the team every week) to name a few.

He is going to fail on point 1. People talk of 6 wins from 6, we can barely win 2 games in a row, let alone 6!!!

On point 2, I would say we have not improved. Pearson has overseen 24 league games now. Winning 9, drawing 7 and losing 8. We have conceded 16 goals in the last 7 games ( and it was arguable that Forest tried to score! ). We have failed to score in our last 2 games against 2 defences that have conceded 123 goals between them.

We have no settled side, the team is chopped and changed all the time. Our top scorer has spent the last 2 games on the left wing! Our winger we brought in ( Marshall ) has spent the last 2 games in midfield with a centre half! Andy King remains on the bench ( if he`s fit enough for the bench he should be fit enough to play). Part of this has been caused by the clear lack of discipline at the club, leaving us being forced to play a defender in midfield at a key stage of the season.

Pearson`s demeanor and man management skills have to be looked at. He has a history of failing to manage big name players, e.g. DJ Campbell, Max Gradel, Jimmy Bullard, Matt Mills, Beckford ( and a spat with St Ledger ). He prefers to fill his squad with potential, which is not a bad thing, but you also need some quality as well and we have the cash for that. I would have to seriously question his ability to manage the players. People call the phone in saying that we are not a team, and blaming the players for being on sky high wages. I`m sorry, that just does not wash with me. Other clubs are playing silly amounts of money to, its not just LCFC! Its about the motivation, the manager,the LEADER. I would have to seriously question Pearson`s Leadership qualities, they simply do not shine through.

Week in week out we get the same interview from him on the Radio, they might as well just record it once and re-play it after we lost. " not good enough", " i`m not happy", " There will be changes" blah blah blah.

I know there are a lot of NP supporters out there, and I like them want the best for my club. I always try to see the positive, but I simply can not see what NP has brought to the team in his second period in charge. I am afraid to say, that if we do not act now and get in a manager who does understand what it takes to get promoted to the Prem, then we will continue this vicious circle.....By Ocotber NP will be fired, and another manager will spend the rest of the season suggesting its `not his players` and watching us flit up and down the league and another season will have passed us by.

Finally, for me, there seems to be a bit of `Dalglish` syndrome here. King Kenny has returned to the Kop and by Liverpools standards their form this season has been awful, in particular at home. Think about it, had Roy Hodgson been in charge with that record there would be uproar amongst the Liverpool fans, but because it`s king kenny there are barely a few murmurs.

Its the same at City, because this is NP, and so many of our fans live in the past, its the same, murmurs. But this is a fragmented side, fighting amongst themselves, conceding goals for fun and unable to beat teams that they should be beating.

This worries me, you normally resist knee jerk reactions but with the clubs 2nd best manager in 15 years it's different? Surely Nigel Pearson deserves to be afforded more time than any other managerial appointment because of the history he has at the club. He was a success at the club, he's the reason I've seen Leicester win a league title in my life time, he's the reason why when we came up we didn't revert back to the rubbish we had in the previous 5 years, and guess what he did spending a lot less money than SGE. The difference between the players you mentioned and Pearson should be obvious, Nigel Pearson has actually achieved some success at Leicester City!

The, 'we can barely win two games in a row' argument is pretty rubbish seeing as most people who want Pearson out didn't want Sven, who couldn't win two in a row at all to go. Personally I believe that this '2 in a row' thing is more down to the character and the attitude of the players, or maybe they just can't handle the pressure. Even if we have not improved (And I think you can see that a number of individual players performances are much better under Nige) we have done pretty much what we where doing with Sven with a new manager with SGE's squad, surely as Sven therefore was given more time so too should Nigel. With the available players 4-4-2 was not a realistic option if, Wellens and King weren't fit enough to start and like me you wouldn't trust Bamba in a two man central midfield, and no one was complaining about Marshall playing through the middle before today so that's not a reasonable thing to have a go at NP for.

Questioning Nigel Pearson's leadership is what has really angered me and convinced me that while a long post like most Pearson haters you don't know what you're talking about. Nigel Pearson proved his leadership skills when he lead us to 5th in the Play-Offs with at best a starting eleven of, Chris Weale, Michael Morrison, Jack Hobbs, Wayne Brown, Bruno Berner, Paul Gallagher, Richie Wellens, Andy King, Lloyd Dyer, Steve Howard, Matty Fryatt. Are you seriously telling me they got themselves to 5th in the Championship while Nigel Pearson sat about shouting at DJ Campbell and Max Gradel all day? Who cares who he fell out with we finished way above expectations in 5th and at Hull, Nigel was about to finish way above expectations in a Play-Off place. No players is bigger than the club and so far we've seen Leicester finish above expectations when Nigel falls out with and removes player, we can't do that this year but based on previous success he deserves next year to prove it. Who cares what his interviews are like, really?

By looking at his second spell you're being too narrow minded, how many managers we appointed would you not look at their previous managerial experience when they've only had 5 months in charge with someone elses squad. Most people would judge the manager in that situation on more than just 'What has he done for us this second' they'd look at what he's done in the same division with similar clubs recently, and frankly I like the look of it. Was Nigel Pearson out of the game for over a decade after leaving us? No he was guiding an incredibly average Dull side into the Play-Offs, ahead of SGE's Leicester, and he left them in a higher position than us because he enjoyed his first spell at the club, he cares about the club, and because he thought wrongly that Leicester fans had memories, and didn't look to get a manager sacked after five months in their job. That was Nigel Pearson's biggest mistake.

[paulsherwood1]

TheFatBastard.....

its not my job to tell the owners... I`m merely stating what I see as a frustrated fan. Its also not my job to come up with a solution. I just can see that what we have now is not good enough.

[seenitall]

Well it worked for him at Hull.

Pearson is a builder, he did it here and he did it at Hull. So why are we expecting anything different?

But has it in fact worked at Hull - finished below us last year after a Nige pre season and were not even play off favourites when he left - this with his parachute payments to play with - not as great as you think he is you know............

[Mark_w]

But has it in fact worked at Hull - finished below us last year after a Nige pre season and were not even play off favourites when he left - this with his parachute payments to play with - not as great as you think he is you know............

They where seventh and would have been top 6 if they won their game in hand, and they lost a couple of games at the end, largely, I believe because they knew Nigel was going. Hull hardly used their parachute payments to bring players in at the start of his first year, most of what he was doing was based on moving players out they weren't in a great way financially.

[accessory]

The performances of Birmingham, Blackpool and West Ham this season place Pearson's "achievements" at Hull into perspective.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Give him the summer to sort it out. The January transfer window is a joke and anyone who expects any truly useful or team changing signings to be made then is deluded. He made a slow start at Hull last season, but it wasn't until the start of this season that Hull showed any real improvement, which Barmby has been able to build on.

In the last 10 years we have only had 2 managers last 2 seasons (and that barely!) and in that time, 10 different managers (if you count NP twice). Constantly changing has done us no favours so let's just try toughing it out for a change shall we?

[accessory]

They where seventh and would have been top 6 if they won their game in hand, and they lost a couple of games at the end, largely, I believe because they knew Nigel was going. Hull hardly used their parachute payments to bring players in at the start of his first year, most of what he was doing was based on moving players out they weren't in a great way financially.

Neither are Birmingham. Chris Hughton had to dismantle the side which went down last season and rebuild a new one almost from scratch. He also had the distraction of the Europa League. He's still taken them to 4th place though.

[Mark_w]

Neither are Birmingham. Chris Hughton had to dismantle the side which went down last season and rebuild a new one almost from scratch. He also had the distraction of the Europa League. He's still taken them to 4th place though.

And Nigel was heading for that position, he also guided a cheaply assembled Leicester squad that was infinitely worse than Birmingham's to 5th. Imagine what he can do with some money, why do people want do deny us the chance to just see what would happen?

[Corky]

And Nigel was heading for that position, he also guided a cheaply assembled Leicester squad that was infinitely worse than Birmingham's to 5th. Imagine what he can do with some money, why do people want do deny us the chance to just see what would happen?

He might not be as good though. His best skills might be getting the best out of, on paper, an inferior bunch of players acquired at a lower cost.

I hope he does spend well when given the chance, he's got some good characteristics as a manager.

[trabuch]

I don't think sacking managers helps a team. If Sven had been kept we would most likely be top 6 now (and there would still be people calling for him to be sacked for failing to get automatic promotion). If the players believe the manager is in for the long run they should play better for him. I wasn't in favour of appointing NP but I am in favour of keeping him - but then again I would have kept Sousa and even Levein (honestly)!!

[Matt]

Matt...

I totally understand your point, but we can`t afford to wait until Christmas to see if we are the same or worse. There has been nothing shown under Pearsons second coming to suggest things will change. Do people think that a `summer` and a couple of players will change things? Hmmmm, not sure. I also agree he did well getting us out of League 1, but lets remember that League 1 is a different proposition...even Gary Megson wins games in league 1!!!

Ok so we can't afford to wait until Christmas to see if we are the same or worse...So sacking NP and bring someone new in will bring instant success? It will guarentee us to be better? To me there is no point in sacking Pearson yet because it won't make us any better instantly, besides this season's over now, so lets build on what we have (And we have seen little glimpes of a good team - just not consistanly) use this as a long pre-season (Obviously you are going to have players going off on holidays during the summer but still use this testing things). To me I think we've seen good performances this season on occasions, all we need to sort out is a few prima donnas, and get consistancy - That is all down to what Pearson can do and it's easier said that done but I think the only thing we are lacking is the consistancy and it's not just Pearson that had that problem, Sven didn't do it either.

Also to the people want NP out who do they want who is realistically available to come in?

[stourbridgefox]

I think there are deep seated problems at the club caused by getting rid of a successful manager and his replacements being unable to live up to their predecessor.

A nice little paradox is that Nigel Pearson is one of the people trying to live up to the memory of his first stint at the club.

One of Pearson's strengths in his first stint was his insistence on data analysis and his fitness regime. And one of the reasons Sousa failed to miserably in my opinion is that Pearson's control freak approach to fitness was thrown out. We all know that Sousa's team appeared unfit, whereas under Pearson the first time we were almost guaranteed to score late goals.

So along comes Sven who admitted to not knowing how to turn on a PC. Funny as this seemed at the time, it left me wondering how he coped with the data analysis and data about fitness collected by Pearson. It is probably fair to say it was left to slide.

In his first season, Sven brought in big name players mainly on loan and we had an exciting last two thirds of the season. We ultimately missed our target however.

Sven's second season was very disappointing. The sexy, fluid, attacking football had been replaced by a bland defensive game which did not seem able to break down Championship defences. Even so, Sven was sacked too early in my opinion. But I was pleased to see Nigel Pearson back.

My bet is, Pearson has tried to re-install his data analysis and fitness regime at the club. While a group of players in League One were happy to accept this approach, I imagine higher profile players may be more reluctant to wear sensors to bed to ensure they do not have sex!

So the club has a choice. Do they back their big name and big wage players or do they back their manager? For me there is only one answer. We have seen how Chelsea has become almost unmanageable for a succession of managers due to player power.

I fear choosing the players over the manager here may have a similar result, leaving any replacement with a mountain to climb.

And...if Pearson cannot fix our disciplinary problems, who can?

[Dan]

Seriously fail to understand people who question Pearson's man-management skills, when it's clear that he's trying to clear up a huge lack of discipline that Sven's allowed to creep in.

Sven brings in players and tempts them with generous contracts, Pearson brings in better, hungrier players and doesn't let ego's like Matt Mills walk around like they own the place. Mills from what I know has allowed his transfer to boost his ego with the amount it was, think he's above everyone, and people are actually questioning Pearson for trying to sort this saying that Pearson's the one with the ego.

People fail to realise what a massive shambles Sven left us in, with the best budget of the entire division. How anyone can defend his earlier reign here is beyond me.

Pearson you need patience with, he was never going to work some absolute miracle and yes, he's not been ideal, but getting rid of him when he's brought in players like Drinkwater and Marshall for next year, who's going to manage them?

He's proven before with time he can bring us success, people fail to realise the season was pretty much dead bar a miracle extremely early on.

[Mark_w]

I think there are deep seated problems at the club caused by getting rid of a successful manager and his replacements being unable to live up to their predecessor.

A nice little paradox is that Nigel Pearson is one of the people trying to live up to the memory of his first stint at the club.

One of Pearson's strengths in his first stint was his insistence on data analysis and his fitness regime. And one of the reasons Sousa failed to miserably in my opinion is that Pearson's control freak approach to fitness was thrown out. We all know that Sousa's team appeared unfit, whereas under Pearson the first time we were almost guaranteed to score late goals.

So along comes Sven who admitted to not knowing how to turn on a PC. Funny as this seemed at the time, it left me wondering how he coped with the data analysis and data about fitness collected by Pearson. It is probably fair to say it was left to slide.

In his first season, Sven brought in big name players mainly on loan and we had an exciting last two thirds of the season. We ultimately missed our target however.

Sven's second season was very disappointing. The sexy, fluid, attacking football had been replaced by a bland defensive game which did not seem able to break down Championship defences. Even so, Sven was sacked too early in my opinion. But I was pleased to see Nigel Pearson back.

My bet is, Pearson has tried to re-install his data analysis and fitness regime at the club. While a group of players in League One were happy to accept this approach, I imagine higher profile players may be more reluctant to wear sensors to bed to ensure they do not have sex!

So the club has a choice. Do they back their big name and big wage players or do they back their manager? For me there is only one answer. We have seen how Chelsea has become almost unmanageable for a succession of managers due to player power.

I fear choosing the players over the manager here may have a similar result, leaving any replacement with a mountain to climb.

And...if Pearson cannot fix our disciplinary problems, who can?

Think that pretty much sums up the situation perfectly.

[stourbridgefox]

The thing which is almost criminal is that the platform which Pearson had build first time was thrown away so cheaply by Mandaric when he allowed Pearson to leave.

If Pearson had been allowed to build on that 5th place with a bit of financial muscle, then who knows where we would be now?

[THEFATBASTARD]

TheFatBastard.....

its not my job to tell the owners... I`m merely stating what I see as a frustrated fan. Its also not my job to come up with a solution. I just can see that what we have now is not good enough.

so whats the point in rehashing what we all already know? its not constructive is it? analyising it over and over again turns into one long whinge..we need some answers now not more and more questions..to say its the owners problem is just a cop out...thats the problem with critics ..its easy to knock but they never put their necks on the line..

[dpjfox]

Im all for stability, and im quite sure its what our club needs. I was hoping/expecting the appointment of NP would give us that, However he has had a lot of time to establish his ideas and plans for the club and we dont seem to be advancing further as a club. People say he needs the summer to bring in his own players but yesterdays poor performance was with a team mainly of players brought into the club by NP. I dont agree with constantly changing managers and would therefore keep NP, but for how long?. BTW i think we have the squad of players at the club now to be competitive in this league, eg if MON had this group of players im sure we would have been up there challenging

[Leicester_Loyal]

We can't sack Nigel, we just can't.

[stourbridgefox]

Sacking Pearson just means a new manager has to start from scratch to understand and fix the problems which exist at the club regardless of who the manager is.

[Jace]

Its no wonder Martin O Neill didn't want the job

[seenitall]

I have an issue with this having to have a solution to the problem before moaning business too - Pearson is on a million quid a year to sort this out - why should fans have to have the answers - you're either good enough or you're not and we're not - so let's moan

[cc_star]

I think the earliest we can ask the question is the international break in October when England play San Marino & Poland

If we're still not looking like the team we expect, then we either need to look at changing the manager or our expectations.

[Kitchandro]

If we sacked the manager now, by October next season the people who wanted it would realise how rash they were. In fact I think they'd actually shit themselves a bit if they woke up tomorrow morning and he was gone.

Stop panicking, it's times like these where we need to show a little faith and patience. Most of you had it for Sven so Pearson should get it to, considering we're playing no worse than we were under him this season.

[seenitall]

If we sacked the manager now, by October next season the people who wanted it would realise how rash they were. In fact I think they'd actually shit themselves a bit if they woke up tomorrow morning and he was gone.

Stop panicking, it's times like these where we need to show a little faith and patience. Most of you had it for Sven so Pearson should get it to, considering we're playing no worse than we were under him this season.

I wouldn't - we can't get relegated now (just) and we are not going anywhere else so why not make the change now - it is in fact the right time TO BUILD FOR THE FUTURE!!!!