Pearson has to go!

[Hirsty The Blue 94]

Without going around in circles, yes we expected a tough season, but we look all over the place defensively and none existent in attack for long periods, before Saturday, and devoid of ideas about how to get a win.

I respect the fact that you trust Pearson, but not all have that faith, and mine is going game by game.

The struggle we expected wasn't what we are seeing now, I think the majority expected to win the odd one, scrap a few draws, and lose quite a bit, but come the end of the season, stay up or go down by a point or two.

Not what is it 2 points out of a possible 28, go 500 odd minutes without scoring, go games without really creating, and conceding for fun, and look so poor defensively.

As I said on an another thread, I really hope Pearson can sort it out, but how the results are going, I don't have you faith in his ability.

There are many reasons we are at the bottom, one is our transfers, recruiting similar standard players and players for the development squad, drastic errors are now catching up with us as we lack quality.

It was always going to be a struggle for a championship side in the premier league, but I am sure we could have done better in the summer, and Pearson had to much faith in the squad making the step up, and opted for others casts off on a free and young kids.

We live in hope that these so called fine margins that never go our way, will start to go our way, and performances and results improve.

If we continue in this vain, I don't see the owners having much option if they are serious about the 3 year plan

I disagree with the fact that you state we are all over the place defensively, we were on Saturday but the previous 3 or 4 we have looked pretty comfortable, the problem being the other end.

Yes we are struggling now, but we weren't expected to pick up points from those we did earlier in the season, so it balances itself out. We are only 1 win away from being out of the relegation zone, so for people to suggest he has to go now are talking shit.

I agree with your point about the transfers lacking is the main reason for us being bottom, and I think that was down to Nigel having too much faith in this young squad. But he at least deserves the opportunity to rectify it in January, he has earnt that.

Pearson has had bad patches with us before, but eventually found the solution to the problems which is why I have faith he will turn it around. We as fans just need to have patience.

[Col city fan]

I disagree with the fact that you state we are all over the place defensively, we were on Saturday but the previous 3 or 4 we have looked pretty comfortable, the problem being the other end.

Yes we are struggling now, but we weren't expected to pick up points from those we did earlier in the season, so it balances itself out. We are only 1 win away from being out of the relegation zone, so for people to suggest he has to go now are talking shit.

I agree with your point about the transfers lacking is the main reason for us being bottom, and I think that was down to Nigel having too much faith in this young squad. But he at least deserves the opportunity to rectify it in January, he has earnt that.

Pearson has had bad patches with us before, but eventually found the solution to the problems which is why I have faith he will turn it around. We as fans just need to have patience.

I agree...and I don't..

I don't think our defence is all over the place. But as a team, we are all over the place defensively.

If that makes sense.

Apparently Saturday was like the Alamo at times. It's law of averages. Quite simply, any team put under tons of pressure WILL usually crack.

We are just not taking control of enough games. Control wins games. Order, structure, attacking productively and sensibly wins games. Defending as a unit wins games. On Saturday, it appears any such control was miles away. We could have easily lost (or won) 7/6....

[Alf Bentley]

It might have been like the Alamo on Saturday....but it was also like the Alamo at the QPR end at times, too. One of the most open games you'll see at Premier level.

 

In many previous games, NP had opted to keep things tight. Against QPR, he clearly opted for an open, attacking formation, 4-4-2 with quite a lot of width and direct football.

 

I assume that he felt that, unlike some other recent opponents, QPR were defensively weak and vulnerable to attacking football. As we created a whole heap of chances (2 goals, 3 x Vardy 1-on-1s, Vardy hit bar, Mahrez open goal, James just over etc.), his judgment is justified! I'm not sure that we can be too critical of the tactics. We probably created more meaningful chances than QPR did, but unfortunately we missed too bloody many of them!

 

Personally, I'd have used a third central midfielder (possibly King) with licence to get forward, left Ulloa or Vardy on the bench and kept the width. But who's to say that would have worked any better? We'd probably have kept possession better, conceded fewer chances.....but created fewer chances, too, as the QPR defence wouldn't have had both Vardy and Ulloa to deal with. Vardy, in particular, caused them a lot of problems....but he missed his chances (far from easy, but needs to score some of them at Premier level).

 

Alternatively, we could have played a diamond or 4-3-3 formation and kept things tight....it might then have been yet another tight game that we lost 0-1, to the disapproval of many.....

 

I think that a lot of it is really down to slightly inadequate execution by the players, rather than tactics. Of course, you can then criticise the management for not building a good enough squad or training them well enough. I'm still hopeful that we can improve, survive and thrive in the Premier with the bulk of this squad (maybe the odd tweak in January). 

[Col city fan]

It might have been like the Alamo on Saturday....but it was also like the Alamo at the QPR end at times, too. One of the most open games you'll see at Premier level.

In many previous games, NP had opted to keep things tight. Against QPR, he clearly opted for an open, attacking formation, 4-4-2 with quite a lot of width and direct football.

I assume that he felt that, unlike some other recent opponents, QPR were defensively weak and vulnerable to attacking football. As we created a whole heap of chances (2 goals, 3 x Vardy 1-on-1s, Vardy hit bar, Mahrez open goal, James just over etc.), his judgment is justified! I'm not sure that we can be too critical of the tactics. We probably created more meaningful chances than QPR did, but unfortunately we missed too bloody many of them!

Personally, I'd have used a third central midfielder (possibly King) with licence to get forward, left Ulloa or Vardy on the bench and kept the width. But who's to say that would have worked any better? We'd probably have kept possession better, conceded fewer chances.....but created fewer chances, too, as the QPR defence wouldn't have had both Vardy and Ulloa to deal with. Vardy, in particular, caused them a lot of problems....but he missed his chances (far from easy, but needs to score some of them at Premier level).

Alternatively, we could have played a diamond or 4-3-3 formation and kept things tight....it might then have been yet another tight game that we lost 0-1, to the disapproval of many.....

I think that a lot of it is really down to slightly inadequate execution by the players, rather than tactics. Of course, you can then criticise the management for not building a good enough squad or training them well enough. I'm still hopeful that we can improve, survive and thrive in the Premier with the bulk of this squad (maybe the odd tweak in January).

You don't have to have one or the other Alf..you can have control and make chances. Just because you want to 'go for it', you can do so in a controlled manner.

[veezeeblue]

after disputing 39pts in 13 games we are only 5 pts off an average pts per game which would take us to 44pt survival target (historically valid)

we have 75 pts to play for 

 

another 7 teams are also below his target

 

so for now let's all calm down ....and sing along

 

[Dan LCFC]

It's a cliche that the margins between success and failure in the Premier League are wafer thin.

 

But think on this:

- If we hadn't conceded that late free-kick v. Burnley and had got a draw v. either WBA or QPR (and we arguably had more chances than QPR), we'd now be about 15th and people would be saying we were holding our own

- If we had also stuck away one of several chances v. Sunderland, we'd now be 13th and aiming to beat Liverpool to go into the top half of the table

 

Now, don't get me wrong. If we fail to clear balls from our 6-yard box as we did at QPR, create as few chances as we were doing for half a dozen matches before Sunderland or miss chances like we did at QPR, we'll probably go down. Improvements are needed, but the margins are so fine.

 

We might need to bring in 1 or 2 new players in January - maybe a more instinctive finisher or a mobile, dominant midfielder. But we might just need NP and team to coax/train slightly better performances out of a few existing players. During the 2nd half of the 12-13 season, the form of Vardy and Drinkwater plummeted and we only just scraped the play-offs. Yet last season they had improved to the extent that they were arguably the 2 most important players in winning the Championship. This season, Drinky seems to have completely lost confidence again....but might bounce back yet again; Vardy has looked more of a threat again recently, but missed 3 good chances at QPR.....if he starts taking 1 or 2 chances, that alone could make all the difference.

 

If we were 10 points adrift of safety and being outclassed week-in, week-out, a change of manager (or more wide-ranging squad overhaul) might be justified. That's not the case yet. Even though there have been flaws in our performances, we've been pretty unlucky to only get 2 points from 8 matches. Now, we can't carry on being "unlucky" for too much longer, but it's not panic stations yet.

 

If we manage a win v. Liverpool we could go up 5 places tomorrow, for Christ's sake! There's only one Nigel Pearson! COYB!!

 

 

Superb post.

 

However, the longer we keep just falling short, the further we'll get from 17th.

[Dan LCFC]

It might have been like the Alamo on Saturday....but it was also like the Alamo at the QPR end at times, too. One of the most open games you'll see at Premier level.

 

In many previous games, NP had opted to keep things tight. Against QPR, he clearly opted for an open, attacking formation, 4-4-2 with quite a lot of width and direct football.

 

I assume that he felt that, unlike some other recent opponents, QPR were defensively weak and vulnerable to attacking football. As we created a whole heap of chances (2 goals, 3 x Vardy 1-on-1s, Vardy hit bar, Mahrez open goal, James just over etc.), his judgment is justified! I'm not sure that we can be too critical of the tactics. We probably created more meaningful chances than QPR did, but unfortunately we missed too bloody many of them!

 

Personally, I'd have used a third central midfielder (possibly King) with licence to get forward, left Ulloa or Vardy on the bench and kept the width. But who's to say that would have worked any better? We'd probably have kept possession better, conceded fewer chances.....but created fewer chances, too, as the QPR defence wouldn't have had both Vardy and Ulloa to deal with. Vardy, in particular, caused them a lot of problems....but he missed his chances (far from easy, but needs to score some of them at Premier level).

 

Alternatively, we could have played a diamond or 4-3-3 formation and kept things tight....it might then have been yet another tight game that we lost 0-1, to the disapproval of many.....

 

I think that a lot of it is really down to slightly inadequate execution by the players, rather than tactics. Of course, you can then criticise the management for not building a good enough squad or training them well enough. I'm still hopeful that we can improve, survive and thrive in the Premier with the bulk of this squad (maybe the odd tweak in January). 

 

The more I think about it, the more I think we actually had the better chances. How many brilliant chances did QPR actually miss? They shot far more but they didn't miss chances as easy as Vardy's or Mahrez's.

[Alf Bentley]

You don't have to have one or the other Alf..you can have control and make chances. Just because you want to 'go for it', you can do so in a controlled manner.

 

True enough. In fact, I'd say that was what we did v. Sunderland. Didn't go as gung-ho as we did at QPR. Outcome: a tight game with few chances, we probably had slightly the better ones, didn't take them and ended up with 1pt at home, instead of 3.

 

Whether you play gung-ho, controlled attacking or ultra-defensive, execution matters. At the moment, we're losing some matches that we should have drawn on the balance of play/chances (QPR, WBA) and drawing some matches that we should have won on that balance (Burnley, Sunderland)....fine margins of execution (sometimes defensive, sometimes attacking) that are costing us dear in this division. Sharpen up a bit and we should be OK, fail to sharpen up and we might not, but I'm not sure tactics is the issue as we'd employed a variety of tactics across those games.

[LCFCSOULBOY]

It's a cliche that the margins between success and failure in the Premier League are wafer thin.

 

But think on this:

- If we hadn't conceded that late free-kick v. Burnley and had got a draw v. either WBA or QPR (and we arguably had more chances than QPR), we'd now be about 15th and people would be saying we were holding our own

- If we had also stuck away one of several chances v. Sunderland, we'd now be 13th and aiming to beat Liverpool to go into the top half of the table

 

Now, don't get me wrong. If we fail to clear balls from our 6-yard box as we did at QPR, create as few chances as we were doing for half a dozen matches before Sunderland or miss chances like we did at QPR, we'll probably go down. Improvements are needed, but the margins are so fine.

 

We might need to bring in 1 or 2 new players in January - maybe a more instinctive finisher or a mobile, dominant midfielder. But we might just need NP and team to coax/train slightly better performances out of a few existing players. During the 2nd half of the 12-13 season, the form of Vardy and Drinkwater plummeted and we only just scraped the play-offs. Yet last season they had improved to the extent that they were arguably the 2 most important players in winning the Championship. This season, Drinky seems to have completely lost confidence again....but might bounce back yet again; Vardy has looked more of a threat again recently, but missed 3 good chances at QPR.....if he starts taking 1 or 2 chances, that alone could make all the difference.

 

If we were 10 points adrift of safety and being outclassed week-in, week-out, a change of manager (or more wide-ranging squad overhaul) might be justified. That's not the case yet. Even though there have been flaws in our performances, we've been pretty unlucky to only get 2 points from 8 matches. Now, we can't carry on being "unlucky" for too much longer, but it's not panic stations yet.

 

If we manage a win v. Liverpool we could go up 5 places tomorrow, for Christ's sake! There's only one Nigel Pearson! COYB!!

 

 

 

Sorry Alf but if my mum had wheels she would be a bike. The results are what they are.

[LCFCSOULBOY]

after disputing 39pts in 13 games we are only 5 pts off an average pts per game which would take us to 44pt survival target (historically valid)

we have 75 pts to play for 

 

another 7 teams are also below his target

 

so for now let's all calm down ....and sing along

 

Absolutely brilliant . But sadly have to disadree. But have to admit it is hard after that video. Thanks mate. made my day

[Harry - LCFC]

Sorry Alf but if my mum had wheels she would be a bike. The results are what they are.

 

Shows we're not far off though doesn't it? If we weren't getting close to picking up wins the argument against Pearson would be much stronger.

[Thracian]

It's a cliche that the margins between success and failure in the Premier League are wafer thin.

 

But think on this:

- If we hadn't conceded that late free-kick v. Burnley and had got a draw v. either WBA or QPR (and we arguably had more chances than QPR), we'd now be about 15th and people would be saying we were holding our own

- If we had also stuck away one of several chances v. Sunderland, we'd now be 13th and aiming to beat Liverpool to go into the top half of the table

 

Now, don't get me wrong. If we fail to clear balls from our 6-yard box as we did at QPR, create as few chances as we were doing for half a dozen matches before Sunderland or miss chances like we did at QPR, we'll probably go down. Improvements are needed, but the margins are so fine.

 

We might need to bring in 1 or 2 new players in January - maybe a more instinctive finisher or a mobile, dominant midfielder. But we might just need NP and team to coax/train slightly better performances out of a few existing players. During the 2nd half of the 12-13 season, the form of Vardy and Drinkwater plummeted and we only just scraped the play-offs. Yet last season they had improved to the extent that they were arguably the 2 most important players in winning the Championship. This season, Drinky seems to have completely lost confidence again....but might bounce back yet again; Vardy has looked more of a threat again recently, but missed 3 good chances at QPR.....if he starts taking 1 or 2 chances, that alone could make all the difference.

 

If we were 10 points adrift of safety and being outclassed week-in, week-out, a change of manager (or more wide-ranging squad overhaul) might be justified. That's not the case yet. Even though there have been flaws in our performances, we've been pretty unlucky to only get 2 points from 8 matches. Now, we can't carry on being "unlucky" for too much longer, but it's not panic stations yet.

 

If we manage a win v. Liverpool we could go up 5 places tomorrow, for Christ's sake! There's only one Nigel Pearson! COYB!!

 

 

You make an excellent case but the lasting concern for me is that this is the second time Pearson's been involved in a long run of "bad luck" and yet again he seems caught in the headlights.

 

He's stops being the convincing manager he appears to be and seems like the man full of doubt that I believe him to be. Why? Because he doesn't have a committed philosophy and he doesn't have a truly tactical or convincing mind.

 

It shows in the increasing hesitancy of his interviews when under pressure. He stutters, restarts even more of his sentences, gets testy and so many more idiocyncracies.

 

With the real tacticians and philosophers there's no self-doubt. Even in a crisis their self-belief shines through.

 

Pearson's uncertainty shows just the same in his constant tinkering with the team. He might have righted one problem but, because he's changed another aspect, he never knows for sure. 

 

But most glaring is our basics and our lack of genuine threat from set-pieces. That requires cunning and perseverance but we show no evidence of benefitting from either.

 

Basically a really good manager will squeeze results out of any half-decent bunch of players and ours are at least that. We've done it in the past.

 

But not now and that shows Pearson can't cope with a lowering of confidence in himself because he can't stop it affecting others nor can he stop making the changes which lower the confidence levels still further.

 

We need to develop our own philosophy and to make it work without noticeable weaknesses. It's that simple.

 

And we need to be lead by someone who knows where he's going.    

 

Pearson is intelligent enough to adapt that frame of mind he just isn't showing it right now and if he doesn't start showing it immediately then he and we might as well move on. Because he won't get out of the kind of slump we suffered two years ago - not in The Premiership. 

 

Doubt is like a raincloud. It drains the joy out of everything. 

[surrifox]

for what it's worth my take on this is that the players need to step up and justify NPs faith in them. After  pi$$ing the championship last year he was entitled to think that the likes of JV, DD and MJ (among others) had earned their right to show what they can do in the prem and not go for a bunch of journeymen/ rejects  with prem experience ahead of people who have shown an affinity for the club . The depth of the squad required some new faces but the core of the squad would remain. We were either unable or unwilling to land some of his targets (I suspect the likes of Cresswell and Deeney were targets) so he went with what we have .

 

What would changing the manager at this stage really achieve? Getting more out of  NP's players than he was capable of?  If the new manager comes with a shopping list (which I guarantee Pulis will ) who's to say that we will be able to afford them , or that they can do what's necessary to keep us up . If they are prepared to join a newly promoted club in the January window they will almost certainly be looking to break the wages structure and if the mission to stay up fails we are stuck with their salaries on championship money. If we are relegated sticking with the manager would be an unprecedented step but not necessarily a fatal one. Ask the supporters of  most of the recently relegated sides whether they feel better off as a result of ditching the manager that took them into the prem - I'd struggle to think of any.

[foxinsocks]

It's a step up - and players (defenders, goalkeepers, forwards) make mistakes.. with experience and confidence they will make better spur of the moment judgements and thus reduce (but not eliminate) mistakes. Every week the mistakes should be less.

More concerning is that it's a step up for Nigel too - and so he will make mistakes - and has done - though he has much more time to make his decisions (to select a team to set out the shape and the tactics etc.); but still it seems he has made errors: e.g. the "4CMs experiment" went on too long; zonal marking is failing; set piece defending; is Kasper dominant enough for the prem? (or is Hammer worth a go?); why put on albrighton (who can cross) and then take Ulloa off? (Nugent will not win a ball in the air in the prem!); we need more early diagonal balls in to ulloa (when defenders are back tracking)... if we do persist and go to the byeline then we need to practice cutting the ball back to the edge of the box to an arriving midfielder.

WE now have James running thru and having chances... great.... and Nigel has arrived at his best starting team (we will need alternative defenders and midfielders as we pick up cards and injuries) - but right now he has got there..at last.

WE Have a weak bench - no one on it to present a threat - we're stuck with that... Wood/Nugent can't help and don't worry defenders when they strip down... Knocky could be counselled to come on and both defend and cause havoc (terry vennables use to say you need to give players simple messages) - he should be encouraged as he is our best sub. Similarly if necessary Drinky could come on behind the front two - he can score!

So Nigel has work to do. What Nigel needs is someone to encourage him to fix these things. It's reasonable that there is work to do for LCFC - what Nigel has to do is make progress in solving these problems. The club would be far better to help him (bring in some mentors) rather then change managers at this point. I hope Nigel can work at the training ground and solve each of these things. His future and our hopes depend on it. He needs to show he is making progress... while he shows he is making progress we should support him. If he doesn't make progress then fans should realise that he can't progress and must go (which will be a big mess but necessary). I hope he sort these things out.... quickly

[NotTheMarketLeader]

The more I think about it, the more I think we actually had the better chances. How many brilliant chances did QPR actually miss? They shot far more but they didn't miss chances as easy as Vardy's or Mahrez's.

that is without question. Ours were chances created with passing and pace, playing football while QPR hoofed it into our box. Sadly we did allow them to do that with lazy defending and that's what cost us. Kasper ffs come and catch the ball once in a while, and take some pressure off our defenders. It's like he's wearing deep sea divers boots that are cemented to to the bastard goal line!

[suffolk fox]

Without going around in circles, yes we expected a tough season, but we look all over the place defensively and none existent in attack for long periods, before Saturday, and devoid of ideas about how to get a win.

I respect the fact that you trust Pearson, but not all have that faith, and mine is going game by game.

The struggle we expected wasn't what we are seeing now, I think the majority expected to win the odd one, scrap a few draws, and lose quite a bit, but come the end of the season, stay up or go down by a point or two.

Not what is it 2 points out of a possible 28, go 500 odd minutes without scoring, go games without really creating, and conceding for fun, and look so poor defensively.

As I said on an another thread, I really hope Pearson can sort it out, but how the results are going, I don't have you faith in his ability.

There are many reasons we are at the bottom, one is our transfers, recruiting similar standard players and players for the development squad, drastic errors are now catching up with us as we lack quality.

It was always going to be a struggle for a championship side in the premier league, but I am sure we could have done better in the summer, and Pearson had to much faith in the squad making the step up, and opted for others casts off on a free and young kids.

We live in hope that these so called fine margins that never go our way, will start to go our way, and performances and results improve.

If we continue in this vain, I don't see the owners having much option if they are serious about the 3 year plan

This. Top post.

Oh and Alf Bentley no such thing as what if especially in football it's the score after 90 minutes that counts.

[foxinsocks]

that is without question. Ours were chances created with passing and pace, playing football while QPR hoofed it into our box. Sadly we did allow them to do that with lazy defending and that's what cost us. Kasper ffs come and catch the ball once in a while, and take some pressure off our defenders. It's like he's wearing deep sea divers boots that are cemented to to the bastard goal line!

I think he likes the glory of the save - when burly score, Jokovic headed down into the 6 yrd box- and Kasper should have smothered it... but he got ready to save and it was a goal! Look at How De Gea played for Utd v arsenal - he came out and asserted himself.... and stood up. I would like to see hammer have a run - this will give kasper time to reflect on how he needs to change.

[AdamN]

Even more mind boggling is that some would sooner keep NFP and get relegated than change manager and stay up. That beggars belief

 

I'm sorry, but this is bollocks. Nobody would say no to a change in manager if it meant we were guaranteed to stay up and there was no chance of Pearson keeping us up, but most people believe that sticking with Pearson is a risk worth taking, given how well he has run the club from the moment he took over in 2008 and subsequently in 2011. The problem with those saying we should bring Pulis in is that they seem to have this idea that he'll magically turn everything around and have us as an established Premier League side in 3-4 years. Well what if he doesn't? Then we're stuck with a manager who a lot of our fans don't have a great opinion of to start with, and we'll be back in the Championship without the man who has always had us fighting for promotion from that very league before.

[mr cottee]

2 seasons ago we could not turn around a very poor run. This run now has the same feeling all over again. I have the greatest respect and gratitude for what Nigel Pearson has done  but with the window coming up then a change may now be inevitable. 

[v6rat]

I'm staggered that he still chooses to sit in the stands watching rather than getting stuck in with the players on the touchline. Passion on the touchline from their manager and leader rubs off on the players.

[Corky]

Does it? Like the run we had 20 months ago?

[The Doctor]

I staggered that he still chooses to sit in the stands watching rather than getting stuck in with the players on the touchline. Passion on the touchline from their manager and leader rubs off on the players.

 

We seemed to do fine without it last season, and struggled with it 20 months ago. This idea that he needs to be bouncing around on the touchline is bizarre to say the least. Seems to be just another boot people are trying to put in.

[l444ry]

Been with Pearson all season but playing 4-4-2 with this squad and in this League is suicidal in my opinion. 

[v6rat]

We seemed to do fine without it last season, and struggled with it 20 months ago. This idea that he needs to be bouncing around on the touchline is bizarre to say the least. Seems to be just another boot people are trying to put in.

It's not about bouncing around, it's about being in the trenches with the troops on the frontline when things are tough.

[The Doctor]

It's not about bouncing around, it's about being in the trenches with the troops on the frontline when things are tough.

 

But that didn't do anything for us 20 months ago. That isn't an important thing by any stretch of the imagination - what is important is that he gets the tactics right, and if he sees the game better from up in the stands, I'd rather that.