Bye Bye Pearson

[Finnaldo]

Yes instant success will never happen just look at Hull, Bolton, Palace, Watford.... MUPPET!

Yep, definitely worked with Sven and Paolo.

[Foxhateram]

But here's the thing, Foxhateram, anyone who's got an ounce of leadership capability gets shipped out, but Pearson doesn't like people questioning him. We then get fed a line about them being difficult, a bad apple etc etc. This team has been crying out for a leader on the pitch for months but he's done nothing about it - just brought in a couple of young loanees. And he really won't change his ways, however patient we are with him.

Yep because you can loan other teams leaders, they will let you have them no questions asked. Think about it, despite contrary belief you can't just sign who you like, you have to scout what is available, if nothing that will improve the side pops up, what can you do?

What leaders have we had in the last, well, ten years? Pearson has fallen out with imaginary people now? Beckford - awful for money, danns - average for side at the foot of the table, wellens? Don't even go there. Anyone? Recent leaders? Name a player that Nigel has dumped who has gone on to do better things?

You just blindly slate the man who has shipped out the big earners, created a promising side on a tight ffp budget, and has led us to the best chance of promotion since Adams. I just don't understand the lack of respect and complete denial of acceptance towards his achievements at several clubs, not just ours.

[peach0000]

Pearson deserves to be fired now for a handful of reasons:

a) His failure to address obvious deficiencies in centre mid, at left back.

b) The extraordinary situation with Schlupp at Man U. Not that I think it massively hurt us; rather that I've never known a manager in his position go about squad management - and reducing competition for places - in such a way. Moore's loan out, on a less bizarre scale, was also nonsensical.

c) His insistence on never changing an unbeaten side (even now he won't change a defence that conceded two in each of the last three games, and hasn't kept a clean sheet in two months... surprise surprise we concede two in the first half today).

d) His side's inability to play more than one formation.

e) Several poor signings. Vardy was an expensive error; Whitbread and Futacs also straightforward flops. Few of his signings since have been clear-cut successes.

e) He has failed to deliver on his minimum season objective, i.e. a place in the play-offs. In fact, we're on roughly the same points, once more, that we attained under Sven, so how he can claim he's 'achieved a great deal in a short time' I don't know.

There is no convincing defence of Pearson. He has comprehensively failed and had longer than the average Championship managerial tenure in charge. If he is fired, no manager will feel that City were unduly trigger happy.

But do we have the resources, or any hope, of appointing one of the obviously more talented managers to replace him? O'Neill isn't unthinkable, but neither could we be sure of appointing him unless we'd already fired Pearson and Di Matteo is a long shot.

As much as Pearson has undeniably failed, there remains a case for keeping him on the grounds of it being difficult to find a superior replacement.

But yet still performed better than any other manager we have had for years. He has built a young team for the future and if not this season next season we will probably get promoted. Also he wasn't the only manager looking at vardy also the other two where on frees

[johnny the fox]

ALL YOU PEOPLE ARE VAMPIRES...

PUT THAT FOOKIN STAKE DOWN..

[kingfox]

Yep, definitely worked with Sven and Paolo.

Has worked with other clubs though, so it can be done.

[wattolcfc]

Pearson, who continues to play Konchesky, after his CONSTANT inept performances and not bringing in competition for his place, shows me that he is not up to the job. Pearson had his chance with almost 2 seasons and couldn't even achieve a play-off spot with quite a big budget for the Championship. Constant fall outs with players such as St. Ledger, Matt Mills, Danns and maybe Beckford/Wood also shows he can't handle the bigger players - something which is quite important IF we were to ever reach the Premier League.

[coley1884]

Pearson deserves to be fired now for a handful of reasons:

a) His failure to address obvious deficiencies in centre mid, at left back.

b) The extraordinary situation with Schlupp at Man U. Not that I think it massively hurt us; rather that I've never known a manager in his position go about squad management - and reducing competition for places - in such a way. Moore's loan out, on a less bizarre scale, was also nonsensical.

c) His insistence on never changing an unbeaten side (even now he won't change a defence that conceded two in each of the last three games, and hasn't kept a clean sheet in two months... surprise surprise we concede two in the first half today).

d) His side's inability to play more than one formation.

e) Several poor signings. Vardy was an expensive error; Whitbread and Futacs also straightforward flops. Few of his signings since have been clear-cut successes.

e) He has failed to deliver on his minimum season objective, i.e. a place in the play-offs. In fact, we're on roughly the same points, once more, that we attained under Sven, so how he can claim he's 'achieved a great deal in a short time' I don't know.

There is no convincing defence of Pearson. He has comprehensively failed and had longer than the average Championship managerial tenure in charge. If he is fired, no manager will feel that City were unduly trigger happy.

But do we have the resources, or any hope, of appointing one of the obviously more talented managers to replace him? O'Neill isn't unthinkable, but neither could we be sure of appointing him unless we'd already fired Pearson and Di Matteo is a long shot.

As much as Pearson has undeniably failed, there remains a case for keeping him on the grounds of it being difficult to find a superior replacement.

I was completely with you until the final two lines, Inkley fox. The analogy for me would be one of staying in a bad marriage on the basis that you might not meet someone better. We may have fallen a little in recent years but we are still a reasonably big club, and despite what some others may feel, have good support. We also clearly have ambitious owners who will back a new manager. He had his chance, now it's time to move on.

[Finnaldo]

Has worked with other clubs though, so it can be done.

But it's never worked with us.

[RonnieTodger]

I want him to stay to be honest. I don't think he's doing a fantastic job, but he's doing well. I heard someone say "well he's had a season and a half now", like it's an overstayed period of management, which just goes to show the general consensus of fans now - instant success or leave. I'd be all for him to leave, if we had a better and realistic replacement available.

But we don't (or not that I can think of).

[MC Prussian]

Pearson deserves to be fired now for a handful of reasons:

a) His failure to address obvious deficiencies in centre mid, at left back.

b) The extraordinary situation with Schlupp at Man U. Not that I think it massively hurt us; rather that I've never known a manager in his position go about squad management - and reducing competition for places - in such a way. Moore's loan out, on a less bizarre scale, was also nonsensical.

c) His insistence on never changing an unbeaten side (even now he won't change a defence that conceded two in each of the last three games, and hasn't kept a clean sheet in two months... surprise surprise we concede two in the first half today).

d) His side's inability to play more than one formation.

e) Several poor signings. Vardy was an expensive error; Whitbread and Futacs also straightforward flops. Few of his signings since have been clear-cut successes.

e) He has failed to deliver on his minimum season objective, i.e. a place in the play-offs. In fact, we're on roughly the same points, once more, that we attained under Sven, so how he can claim he's 'achieved a great deal in a short time' I don't know.

There is no convincing defence of Pearson. He has comprehensively failed and had longer than the average Championship managerial tenure in charge. If he is fired, no manager will feel that City were unduly trigger happy.

But do we have the resources, or any hope, of appointing one of the obviously more talented managers to replace him? O'Neill isn't unthinkable, but neither could we be sure of appointing him unless we'd already fired Pearson and Di Matteo is a long shot.

As much as Pearson has undeniably failed, there remains a case for keeping him on the grounds of it being difficult to find a superior replacement.

Judging from your lengthy post, one could come to the conclusion that no other manager in the footballing world is as flawed and prone to errors like Nigel Pearson.

Maybe the fact that the player aren't up to playing in a different formation is also down to... the players?

Fact is, all managers make mistakes. Just like footballers do. I find it funny that everything you examine is somehow miraculously Pearson's fault. As if there were no other forces involved in managing a football team.

We have seen so many times what chopping and changing does to a team and a club, especially here at Leicester. This squad shows signs of promise and we need stability. No brainer: Pearson stays (for at least one more season). If we won't make the playoffs and if he can't deliver at the end of the 2013/2014 campaign, I might join in with the "Pearson Out!" brigade. Until then: Patience required.

Besides, in case you haven't noticed: The season's not over yet.

[Guest Mee-9]

Time to go. Should have gone weeks ago.

[kingfox]

But it's never worked with us.

Exactly because we are crap.

Sousa was awful

Sven brought too many expensive players

Pearson has a side too young to cope when the going gets tough

All the teams who have had instant success, simply have better squads than us, better managers and better mixture of players.

[inckley fox]

We didn't lose promotion tonight, we lost it in the various other home games we were beaten in to lesser sides than Watford.

We have made progress this season, we've cleared a lot off the astronomical wage bill we had and we will finish higher than last season, we've replaced a lot of old has beens with some young players who have their best years in front of them rather than behind.

With some stability and time we will develop until a good team and with a couple of additions should come back stronger next season.

I rather take a chance on that than go through another summer of upheaval and another possible Paulo Sousa situation.

I'm not sure you're right. Pearson's net spending is in the 5m+ bracket and we don't know how much wages have been reduced this season. Beckford, Danns, St Ledger, Konchesky, Nugent etc. all remain on our books, even if some of them went out on loan. And I doubt Morgan, Knockaert and Whitbread are low earners.

This stability argument reminds me of the discussions I had in April 2001. People repeatedly said we shouldn't get rid of Taylor; that a poor end-of-season run rarely translates to a poor start-of-season run, that we were building a younger side, that continuity would be better than having two new managers in little more than twelve months.

Unfortunately, when sides start to slump under a manager it is rarely fixed, not even by a close season. Cardiff solved their tendency to bottle it by firing Jones, Hull by firing Barmby, Bolton by firing Coyle: Leicester, depending on the available alternatives, might be wise to do the same.

[Foxhateram]

Yes instant success will never happen just look at Hull, Bolton, Palace, Watford.... MUPPET!

Hull - our current man built that squad two years ago. Instant? Nope.

Palace - Holloway in charge, he has rallied the troops and got them to a good place. Squad - consistent in the most part for the last year

Bolton - not far from same team that got relegated from the pen, consistent for over a year?

Can you see r the pattern yet? Squad consistency is uvital! But every New man we bring in starts a fresh. Which leads inconsistency results.

Build on what we have now and we will be challenging next year. A nee man will not build upon though. Therefore we should stuck to Nigel.

[Fox92]

I'd give him another year, but that's just my opinion... Even though we are now 7th, he has still taken us forward/improved our position and squad from last season. With a bit of added quality (new midfielder and left back), I don't see why we can't give it another go next season.

I just feel like the last thing we need is changing manager again.

[Greatness_Since_1884]

Tbf I would understand if he were to be sacked now but I would understand if we kept him.

He had to clean up a heck of a lot from Sven and has done that very well which I feel is what is buying him time with the Thai's. No doubt that were he to stay or go now, we should always be thankful to him because he's been great for our football club and things could have been a lot worse had NP not been our manager.

The two outstanding out of work managers are Di Matteo and O'Neill. Doubt RDM will come to us and not sure whether MON still has that magic after Robertsons retirement. Beyond that, is there much else? McLeish probably the best of a very bad bunch.

If they do sack him, I reckon someone like Lennon or Powell would be good.

[Finnaldo]

Exactly because we are crap.

Sousa was awful

Sven brought too many expensive players

Pearson has a side too young to cope when the going gets tough

All the teams who have had instant success, simply have better squads than us, better managers and better mixture of players.

We have a squad with good potential. And, as I've mentioned, we just need a couple of experienced leader types in the squad to keep the balance. Pearson changed to a couple different formations recently and the reason they haven't worked is due to how the squad's heads have dropped. We just need a couple of experienced players to keep them going on the pitch.

[inckley fox]

Yep, definitely worked with Sven and Paolo.

But Pleat turned a side that were in the bottom three into a mid-table side in months; Little turned a side that stayed up on the last day of the season into play-off finalists in nine months, O'Neill won promotion in six and Kelly turned a bottom three side into a mid-table one in twelve weeks. Even the dreaded Sven took a side from the bottom five to the top nine in six months.

If a new manager can have a similar impact to any of the above then we'll be in the Premier League in 2014.

[inckley fox]

Hull - our current man built that squad two years ago. Instant? Nope.

Palace - Holloway in charge, he has rallied the troops and got them to a good place. Squad - consistent in the most part for the last year

Bolton - not far from same team that got relegated from the pen, consistent for over a year?

Can you see r the pattern yet? Squad consistency is uvital! But every New man we bring in starts a fresh. Which leads inconsistency results.

Build on what we have now and we will be challenging next year. A nee man will not build upon though. Therefore we should stuck to Nigel.

Hull have about three Pearson signings as established first team players.

Bolton and Palace both changed managers. A new manager, clearly, doesn't have to get rid of the existing squad (see City under O'Neill).

I'm not sure there's much substance to this argument.

[Greatness_Since_1884]

Hull - our current man built that squad two years ago. Instant? Nope.

Palace - Holloway in charge, he has rallied the troops and got them to a good place. Squad - consistent in the most part for the last year

Bolton - not far from same team that got relegated from the pen, consistent for over a year?

Can you see r the pattern yet? Squad consistency is uvital! But every New man we bring in starts a fresh. Which leads inconsistency results.

Build on what we have now and we will be challenging next year. A nee man will not build upon though. Therefore we should stuck to Nigel.

Palace built by Freedman as well. If we can add a couple more experienced heads, particularly in centre mid, to compliment the nucleus of young players we have then, whoever the manager is, we'll still be up there IMO.

The only worry is we either have to sell Schmeichel, Nugent, SSL etc. or give them new deals on reduced terms. KS definitely could play in the Prem, maybe a low PL club would take a punt or Nuge.

[coley1884]

Yep because you can loan other teams leaders, they will let you have them no questions asked. Think about it, despite contrary belief you can't just sign who you like, you have to scout what is available, if nothing that will improve the side pops up, what can you do?

What leaders have we had in the last, well, ten years? Pearson has fallen out with imaginary people now? Beckford - awful for money, danns - average for side at the foot of the table, wellens? Don't even go there. Anyone? Recent leaders? Name a player that Nigel has dumped who has gone on to do better things?

You just blindly slate the man who has shipped out the big earners, created a promising side on a tight ffp budget, and has led us to the best chance of promotion since Adams. I just don't understand the lack of respect and complete denial of acceptance towards his achievements at several clubs, not just ours.

Well, we're clearly not going to agree are we Foxhateram? And that's fair enough, it would be a boring world if everyone had the same viewpoint. However I don't agree that I'm 'blindly slating' him - I try to be balanced and reasonable in my postings and have supported City long enough to have a bit of perspective on the subject. I'm not sure I've disrespected Pearson's achievements, other than to say though, apart from us winning the 1st division - which was very, very enjoyable at the time - I'm not sure they've been that great. Keeping Saints in the Championship and Carlisle in the league is about it I think?

As for the players who've left, well I personally think it's a bit early to judge whether they've gone onto better things in fairness.

In terms of the players you can sign, well yes, teams want to keep their best players, of course they do - I think that's what you're saying? But we're a relatively big club and have made good signings in the past. And I do honestly think Pearson has a pretty poor record in terms of transfers of late.

[Finnaldo]

But Pleat turned a side that were in the bottom three into a mid-table side in months; Little turned a side that stayed up on the last day of the season into play-off finalists in nine months, O'Neill won promotion in six and Kelly turned a bottom three side into a mid-table one in twelve weeks. Even the dreaded Sven took a side from the bottom five to the top nine in six months.

If a new manager can have a similar impact to any of the above then we'll be in the Premier League in 2014.

Pearson got us promoted from League One, a league notorious for being a headache to get out off. This season he's built a good core to build on next season.

[Tom17LCFC]

If he stays, I don't care. Fair enough, I'll get behind him.

If he goes, I don't care. Fresh impetus injected.

[Ricey]

I'm torn.

I can see the advantages of sticking with him, hoping the consistency and (hopefully) lessons learnt will pay off next season. However, there's been countless faults on show this year and I fear he hasn't got the tactical intelligence to build a team capable of winning promotion.

I guess it all depends on what our options are. There aren't any obvious, realistic, managers available at the minute.

[Harry - LCFC]

Personally I'd like him to stay. But if we do bring in a new manager I don't want us to make sweeping changes as it likely won't work first time - and we may as well have just stuck to our original path with Pearson.