That has to be it. Pearson needs to go.

[Corky]

I am really, really struggling to defend him right now.

 

Another Pearsonite gone from our sect

[Monk]

Been on Foxestalk since 2006 and I have seen so many of these threads down the years it makes me sad.

 

If our current team was in the championship we would be top I think, we are as good as we were last season but up against better opposition. 

 

Accept the fact that we are 17-20th best team in the country right now in terms of the squad. When Mahrez gives the ball away each touch, James misses sitters, Schlupp runs into opposition players is that Pearson's fault? Last few games I think tactics have been fairly sound and on paper good enough to win games. We have just been so wasteful on the ball and not pressuring the opposition enough when we're not.

 

I don't think changing the manager will solve our problems, I just think the bottom line is that the squad isn't good enough.

 

All the threads on here demanding changing x player for y player, it's all a waste of time. I think the best we can hope for is some really good business early in January.

[Steve Agnew]

Pearson should stay at the helm. The players are still with him,but we lack quality and will probably go down no matter whom the manager is at the end of the year. Pearson spends well, creates hungry teams that want to win and he is already signing players for the future, such as Lawrence and Barmby. Let's keep the faith and accept that it might take two pomotions to develop a Premier League team. He is learning and will continue to improve and let us not forget that he has had lots of success with a small budget. With Pearson we won't freefall into League One, without him it's a possibility!

[Guest ttfn]

I am really, really struggling to defend him right now.

The fact is that there is no rational reason to defend him. I want him to stay but that is based on a combination of emotion and that there are no desirable alternatives out there.

We are getting results at the moment that sides in the bottom half of the Championship probably wouldn't take if offered to them:

 

Palace (A) 0-2

Burnley (H) 2-2

Newcastle (A) 0-1

Swansea (A) 0-2

West Brom (H) 0-1

Southampton (A) 0-2

Sunderland (H) 0-0

QPR (A) 2-3

Liverpool (H) 1-3

Aston Villa (A) 1-2

 

You'd back a mid-to-lower table Championship side to pick up more than 2 points from that run. It's only the fact that Blackpool are so desperate that makes me not think that every side in the division below us would be ashamed of that particular run. That's a league that we dominated last season.

There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that we have regressed massively. Pearson obviously has a track record of getting us promoted but last time out it took almost 3 years to re-build a team to get us there and surely next year a similar re-build will be required.

 

You can talk about the step-up in quality all you like, but there is no way that we would have got less than 10 points out of that run of fixtures last season.

 

Looking back on it, a lot of us saw Sunderland as a fork-in-the road. We'd stopped the rot and finally looked like pulling ourselves together. This hope was compounded by going ahead against QPR. But since then, having not scored for 5 games, we have scored 3 times against struggling sides and lost every single game. It's not like we're throwing away 2 points a game at the moment - it's 3 sodding points every match that we're getting ourselves into position to get and then lobbing away with basic errors. 

[Buzzell]

**** the haters.

Pearson In!

[Guest ttfn]

If our current team was in the championship we would be top I think

Absolutely no chance.

 

Norwich got relegated last year with far more points than we look like getting and are in a run of form almost as bad as ours. And they barely lost any first choice players.

[roger the dodger]

He was very downbeat on 5 Live just now ...

so he f..cking should be shower of shit again today

[Moonstomp]

We were ok in flashes today but not consistent enough again ...... Story of the last ten games. Defensively we were naive against a team who hardly score and hadn't scored in the second half of a game this season (or close to that) . But the dilemma around Nigel going is who would come here? We would not be able to attract a top quality manager into a relegation fight with players that clearly aren't good enough .... and I don't say that lightly because it ruins my weekend, week and month when we lose ... but facts show we aren't. Up to it. Defensively we don't have a consistent Premiership player although all of them show flashes of decent play there's always potential for stupid mistakes and with Upson and Simpson the only defensive recruits over the summer we are always going to struggle as most teams in the Premier league have at least one striker that will undo us and we've seen it so far. Loyalty to players is admirable but if giving the likes of GTF a contract is supposed to strengthen the squad to the standards needed for the Premier League then that loyalty is misguided. We started with 9 of the players we had in the Championsip which suggests the summer recruitment didn't strengthen enough so why would a top quality manager (or good quality players?) join us? I like NP and the job he has done for us in both of his tenures and wouldn't want to see him go and be replaced by someone who isn't any better.

[orangecity23]

I'm not convinced by arguments that replacing him will keep us up. People keep bringing up Southampton, but that was a whole different kettle of fish. Adkins had actually started to get them winning again when he got the boot, and there was a lot of outrage at the time - because it was clear that the Southampton owners had been planning for a while to replace Adkins, they'd already lined up Pochettino, it was a fait acompli.

 

Our situation is the more typical Premier League struggling side scenario. We don't have a new boss lined up, we're being force into this by a bad run of results. Without a new boss, we will end up with someone like Pulis based around their availability, more than whether they are a good fit for the squad we already have. Pochettino worked because his style fitted what Adkins had already implemented at Southampton, and took it to a new level. Pulis's favoured direct style seems ill fitted to our squad which is not exactly the most physically imposing, and his Palace stint has illustrated he is only interested in short term gains, and his own reputation. Are there any candidates out there who will play a 'Pearson style', but add a different dimension? Can't think of any myself.

 

Also, with no manager lined up, we are consigning ourselves to several games of the Rudkin and Stowell caretaker combo, which has never looked capable of getting a positive result, even at Championship level. We'd essentially write off hopes in the next few games in the interim, get someone new in, have a mad panic of rush signings in January before the new man had properly assessed the players we already had.

 

If we keep Pearson, we might go down. If we bin him now, I've got a horrible feeling we will go down anyway, and end up in a total mess whilst undoing all the long term improvements we've worked so hard to set up in the last few years.

[Col city fan]

My worry is that Pearson isn't learning. At least, not quick enough. The flat 4-4-2 away from home is suicide. Yes, it means we 'have a go', but there's having a go in a controlled, disciplined way and there's having a go in a way that simply looks desperate.

The two goals we conceded today, especially the second one, looked so unlike goals conceded at this level it was unbelievable. Where on earth was our left hand side for the second goal? Unbelievable and embarassing.

[Bunyip]

Been on Foxestalk since 2006 and I have seen so many of these threads down the years it makes me sad.

 

If our current team was in the championship we would be top I think, we are as good as we were last season but up against better opposition. 

 

Accept the fact that we are 17-20th best team in the country right now in terms of the squad. When Mahrez gives the ball away each touch, James misses sitters, Schlupp runs into opposition players is that Pearson's fault? Last few games I think tactics have been fairly sound and on paper good enough to win games. We have just been so wasteful on the ball and not pressuring the opposition enough when we're not.

 

I don't think changing the manager will solve our problems, I just think the bottom line is that the squad isn't good enough.

 

All the threads on here demanding changing x player for y player, it's all a waste of time. I think the best we can hope for is some really good business early in January.

 

 

The squad is down to HIM. He continues to play schlupp when it is obvious to all that he is a liability and no where near good enough for the Prem. Just why did Pearson buy Allbrighton ? to come as sub when Schlupp has yet anther crap game ? Neither the squad or Pearson is good enough and only the deluded clinging on to hope think otherwise. 

[kingfox]

Out of his depth at this level, he has taken us as far as he can. This team needs new ideas, Pearson seems like he doesn't have a clue what to do with this team.

We have lost to the likes of Palace, Villa, West Bromwich and QPR, while drawing against Sunderland and Burnley, quite frankly that is embarrassing.

Don't think a manager like himself will attract the type of players we need in January either.

Just depends if fans believe in gambling.

[inckley fox]

The squad is down to HIM. He continues to play schlupp when it is obvious to all that he is a liability and no where near good enough for the Prem. Just why did Pearson buy Allbrighton ? to come as sub when Schlupp has yet anther crap game ? Neither the squad or Pearson is good enough and only the deluded clinging on to hope think otherwise. 

 

There was a question mark over Schlupp's role in their second today, and over Konchesky's, but it seems like he's a player we're very quick to jump on the back of. For a youngster we treat him incredibly harshly.

 

Of our younger players, it was Moore who, for me, had a bit of a disaster today. And I'd argue that Konchesky, our most experienced player at this level, was very poor once again. In fact, the best left back performance anyone has put in this season probably came from Schlupp.

[Babylon]

Absolutely no chance.

Norwich got relegated last year with far more points than we look like getting and are in a run of form almost as bad as ours. And they barely lost any first choice players.

Snodgrass and Fer off the top of my head, but more importantly they went through several managers and went with the current bloke for no apparent reason.

[Guest ttfn]

Snodgrass and Fer off the top of my head, but more importantly they went through several managers and went with the current bloke for no apparent reason.

Barely lost any.

 

Norwich have had 2 managers in the last 3 years, it's not exactly a revolving door, but yes the guy is hilariously under-qualified.

[inckley fox]

Out of his depth at this level, he has taken us as far as he can. This team needs new ideas, Pearson seems like he doesn't have a clue what to do with this team.

We have lost to the likes of Palace, Villa, West Bromwich and QPR, while drawing against Sunderland and Burnley, quite frankly that is embarrassing.

Don't think a manager like himself will attract the type of players we need in January either.

Just depends if fans believe in gambling.

 

I understand the frustration, but we are still playing quite well. Performances like this, with a tweak or two, will probably bring better results over the next four games than they have in the last four. But I could be wrong or, equally, it could all nosedive from here.

 

I agree that there's a decision to be made and that it probably needs to be made now. But I find it very hard to justify sacking a manager on the back of our current performances. I'd look, instead, at how he could be better supported in his decision making. If that's a coach or a General Manager then so be it, but change doesn't have to mean ripping it all up and starting from zero. A coach who knows what a set piece is might be a start, for example.

[Babylon]

The fact is that there is no rational reason to defend him. I want him to stay but that is based on a combination of emotion and that there are no desirable alternatives out there.

We are getting results at the moment that sides in the bottom half of the Championship probably wouldn't take if offered to them:

Palace (A) 0-2

Burnley (H) 2-2

Newcastle (A) 0-1

Swansea (A) 0-2

West Brom (H) 0-1

Southampton (A) 0-2

Sunderland (H) 0-0

QPR (A) 2-3

Liverpool (H) 1-3

Aston Villa (A) 1-2

You'd back a mid-to-lower table Championship side to pick up more than 2 points from that run. It's only the fact that Blackpool are so desperate that makes me not think that every side in the division below us would be ashamed of that particular run. That's a league that we dominated last season.

There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that we have regressed massively. Pearson obviously has a track record of getting us promoted but last time out it took almost 3 years to re-build a team to get us there and surely next year a similar re-build will be required.

You can talk about the step-up in quality all you like, but there is no way that we would have got less than 10 points out of that run of fixtures last season.

Looking back on it, a lot of us saw Sunderland as a fork-in-the road. We'd stopped the rot and finally looked like pulling ourselves together. This hope was compounded by going ahead against QPR. But since then, having not scored for 5 games, we have scored 3 times against struggling sides and lost every single game. It's not like we're throwing away 2 points a game at the moment - it's 3 sodding points every match that we're getting ourselves into position to get and then lobbing away with basic errors.

I think you are going a bit OTT. We have not regressed, our stlyle of play clearly just doesn't translate to the premier league.

You go on about what points we'd have got last year or other champ teams would have got. It's all pointless comparisons. We were awful against Man City when in our pomp and were lucky to win against Fulham, conceding no end of goals to a team in a massive slump. You don't know what we'd have got or any other team.

[iamafox]

I said after QPR that Pearson needed to go, I still believe that now.

 

Constant mistakes at top-flight level are not acceptable, yet Pearson has had far too much time to rectify them and still hasn't done so. How can you defend him for that?

 

Every manager has their limits and I don't think Pearson can take us any further. 

[Guest ttfn]

I think you are going a bit OTT. We have not regressed, our stlyle of play clearly just doesn't translate to the premier league.

You go on about what points we'd have got last year or other champ teams would have got. It's all pointless comparisons. We were awful against Man City when in our pomp and were lucky to win against Fulham, conceding no end of goals to a team in a massive slump. You don't know what we'd have got or any other team.

No, I don't know, it's what I think (if that isn't clear I apologise, I thought it would be clear).

We absolutely were not "in our pomp" when we were well beaten by a Man City side far better than any of those we've lost to.

And what "style of play" is that? We've not had a consistent style of play at all this season.

 

Last year we won the ball high up the pitch or in midfield and then looked to spring counter attacks. I can't remember seeing us press high up since the Chelsea game.

[Bunyip]

There was a question mark over Schlupp's role in their second today, and over Konchesky's, but it seems like he's a player we're very quick to jump on the back of. For a youngster we treat him incredibly harshly.

 

Of our younger players, it was Moore who, for me, had a bit of a disaster today. And I'd argue that Konchesky, our most experienced player at this level, was very poor once again. In fact, the best left back performance anyone has put in this season probably came from Schlupp.

 

Yes you are right. Moore was terrible . But what is even more terrible is that Schlupp is the only cover for Konchesky. We all knew from last season how bloody awful Konchesky is , but Pearson did nothing about proper back up for that position in the close season . Just another damning indictment on Pearson lack of foresight. 

[Fez of Mahrez]

I think you are going a bit OTT. We have not regressed, our stlyle of play clearly just doesn't translate to the premier league.

We're not playing the same way though. We've brought in Ulloa and Cambiasso who can't replicate the energy we played with last season and Schlupp is somehow in the team every week on the left wing in the Premier League when he was our reserve left back / 5th choice striker last season.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

I disagree.

Changing managers every time it gets tough is a recipe for disaster.

We, more than most, should know this.

Keeping Pearson is already a disaster, ffs.

[inckley fox]

We're not playing the same way though. We've brought in Ulloa and Cambiasso who can't replicate the energy we played with last season and Schlupp is somehow in the team every week on the left wing in the Premier League when he was our reserve left back / 5th choice striker last season.

 

Are you saying we look better with Nugent up front than with Ulloa?

[Col city fan]

Are you saying we look better with Nugent up front than with Ulloa?

I thought Nugent looked good when he came on. Finally, we had at least some link between the midfield and the final third. He was lively, chasing down and had that great shot. Good performance today. At least he showed some bloody energy in a side that has become so slow getting forward.

[hackneyfox]

We either haven't brought them in YET or our current squad still has something to answer for.

 

I'd like to see the latter working out for the better this month and astute additions being signed in January.

There's hope - some are just too blind to see it.

We aren't likely to sign any decent players, we'll surely lose the next 3 and then who is going to sign for a team nailed on to be relegated.