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Guest ttfn

Pearson Out

By Guest ttfn, in Leicester City Forum

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Guest ttfn

Guest ttfn

Posted
Posted

Well, having had a few hours to collect my thoughts on today and the season as a whole, I am afraid I am going to have to add to the whole sorry Pearson debate with my own views. I'm not sure that this really belongs in any of the other open threads so I've started a new topic.

 

Let me start by saying that I am a Nigel Pearson fan. And if you have come onto this thread, attracted by the heading, hoping for some hateful, bile-induced rant then you've come to the wrong place.

 

I think the end of the line has come for Nigel and his staff. Today showed up one of three things - he is either:

1) Totally and utterly incompetent tactically

2) He's gone temporarily (or worse permanently) insane

3) The players no longer want to play for him.

 

I am coming from a place where I have pretty much worshipped the ground Pearson walked on. Over 2 spells and 5 years, he has twice picked this club up from dark, dark places and raised it to heights barely imaginable at the time of his appointment. He's built young, energetic, hungry teams, with players desperate to play for the shirt. Players who valued their place in the squad, who respected him and played the game with a positive outlook.

 

This positive outlook has been most notable in his second spell. Whilst the first spell was driven by pragmatism, the second was, until 4 October 2014, characterised by attack, aggression and flair. In the short history of this club between 2004 (our last relegation) and 2014 (our promotion back to the top flight after the longest absence in our history), the moment that really stands out was some time in August 2012 when Pearson and Steve Walsh plucked Anthony Knockaert out of obscurity to become a key figure in our push for promotion. For the first time, Pearson was putting (was able to put?) a genuinely talented, creative force at the centre of our team's push for the top flight. For a few months, Knockaert was a revelation, but more importantly, the spirit in which he played the game, and the devil-may-care attacking focus which came with him, signalled a change in mindset and attitude which spurred the club on to a play-off place in 2013 and a runaway Championship title in 2014.

 

Fast forward to March 2015 and Knockaert (notwithstanding his personal issues today) is nowhere to be seen. This is not a lament for Knockaert - his limitations, particularly at this level, have long been discussed and will continue to be so. It is a lament for the great times that Pearson has brought us - the drive, the spirit, the energy and the invention of the great side that he built and was fully functioning just six short months ago. But as we lined up today with a 42-year-old goalkeeper, 3 centre backs in their 30s, a 34 year old central midfielder, 5 defenders and our striker on the wing against a pretty turgid Hull side, I am left wondering - what has happened?

 

Let's make no mistake. This is not the same Nigel Pearson who got us out of League One and into the Championship play-offs with young, hungry players and a smattering of experience. This is not the NIgel Pearson who shipped out dross like Beckford and Danns and replaced them with capable players who looked like they wanted to prove themselves in a Leicester shirt. And it is certainly not the Nigel Pearson whose all-out-attack policy brought us 102 points last season.

 

Yes, the Premier League is hard, and yes, it requires "horses for courses". But Pearson appears to have completely abandoned the policies that made me (and I presume many others) buy into him as a great long-term manager for this club. Gone are the days of attacking every team we play. Gone are the days, seemingly, of attacking even our weakest opponents. 5 at the back encourages a negative mindset from the start and yet again it has proven to be the case today. The lack of urgency throughout the game is laughable.

 

I have mentioned it in a couple of threads, but after today's game, we have 0 goals in our last 9 first halfs and 6 in the last 24. Seriously, what is that about? That demonstrates an absolutely criminal lack of ambition. We may not have the best players in the league, but we do have the players to be troubling sides at the wrong (and indeed, as the Manchester United game showed) the right end of the table.

 

This season has been a disaster and Pearson has to be held accountable. To my mind, there is no doubt that he lost his nerve at half-time in the Burnley game. Up to that point we had carried the relentless positivity and attacking intent from 2013/14 into every game. And then, against a Burnley side missing 4 of their best 5 players, we sat back, invited them onto us and inevitably conceded. Next game we went to Newcastle and played 4-5-1 with the wingers on our full-backs toes against a side with no wins and lost 1-0 to a late-ish goal on the counter attack. And since then it has been more of the same. More defensive play, fewer risks taken and an acceptance that the way for us to progress was to "keep things tight".

 

The net result of this has been a grand total return of 0 goals from home games against Hull, Palace, Stoke, Sunderland and West Brom. If we'd scored 0 goals in any one of those games it would have been a bit disappointing so to score 0 from the 5 is madness. We have afforded way too much respect to the sides around us all season and we are paying the ultimate price. Meanwhile we seem perfectly capable of playing very well against the "big sides" - oh, as long as we're 2-0 down at the time and have to come out to look for a goal.

And this will be forever the limitation of such negativity. All it takes is a freak own goal (West Brom), 1 genuine moment of class (Stoke) or a set piece (Crystal Palace) to make "keeping it tight" and hopefully pinching a 1-0 win into a 0-1 deficit and 30 minutes of frantic hoofball.

 

This is just the mindset I am talking about here. We could (and perhaps will) have a whole different thread on how Pearson has wasted very winnable games against Crystal Palace (A), West Brom (H), Aston Villa (A, Cup), Everton (A) and Hull (H) with absolutely insane formations that neither suited our purpose of needing to win, or at least be trying to win, those games, or the players available.

 

Anyway, this season has been a total disaster. My personal expectations were extremely high - I thought we'd finish 12th or 13th and frankly I have been made to look stupid. On reflection, my expectations were too lofty even for a side coming off the back of a season as good as ours, although it should be noted that no side gaining 100 Championship points has ever come close to being relegated the following season. Danny Finkelstein's usually reliable "Fink Tank" (based off years of statistics) gave us just a 9% chance of being relegated at the start of the season, and for all the wailing about newly promoted sides being "expected to go down" we were actually odds-against being relegated before a ball was kicked in August. Even the most pessimistic Leicester fan must be mortified by effectively being down with 19 points after 28 games and just 11 in the last 23 matches.

 

But enough about this season. We know it's a disaster and it's finished. There are 2 main reasons to keep Pearson now:

a) Who else would be better?

b) He has experience of getting promoted from the Championship.

Well I'm afraid that, after a lot of soul-searching, I can't even get on board with these any more. Frankly, after 11 points from 23 games and 0 goals at home to Hull, Stoke, Palace, West Brom and Sunderland, we can't really do much worse. What's going to happen, we'll get relegated? So what, we're going down anyway. At least a candidate with the right, positive, forward-thinking mentality might give us some football worth watching between now and May. We've seen 3 home goals in our last 9 games for Christ's sake.

 

As for "experience of promotion" as I understand it this argument falls into two categories:

1) He knows the squad

2) He knows the division

 

Well as I mentioned earlier, he doesn't know the squad. The likes of Drinkwater and Vardy (who I did think played well today), so inspirational last season, have been utterly dreadful this season - totally out of their depth and for the most part devoid of self-belief. Do you think that this will come flooding back when we get relegated? Of course it won't, not to mention the fact that they've barely played and will be surely be rusty after basically a year off.

 

From our Championship-winning side, there is every chance that we'll only be lining up with a battle-scarred Morgan, an ageing Konchesky, James, a broken Drinkwater, a broken Vardy and Nugent, plus a few odds and sods who may or may not be up to the grind of a Championship season. Make no mistake, a rebuilding job will be required next season. The team that Peason so carefully cultivated over 2 years to attack and dominate the Championship has been broken up to accommodate Premier League caution.

 

As for Pearson's experience of winning promotion, that is obviously invaluable. Or is it? A quick look at the promoted managers over the last three seasons shows Neil Warnock (previously promoted but with a very low success rate), Paul Lambert (first time promotion), Brendan Rodgers (first time promotion), Malky Mackay (first time promotion), Steve Bruce (previously promoted, but not for many years), Ian Holloway (previously promoted but everyone agrees he's a joke), Nigel Pearson (first time promotion), Sean Dyche (first time promotion), Harry Redknapp (previously promoted but scraped up with a very expensive side).

 

Previous promotions don't seem to suggest that a manager is going to be well-equipped for promotion in the future. In fact, it would appear that actually, it doesn't really make much difference, particularly when you consider that previously promoted managers might be more likely to get plush Championship jobs.

 

I also don't think the "relegated sides don't stick with their managers often so comparisons to Pearson staying are worthless" comments are really much help in this debate - the fact is that we don't really know either way, but it strikes me as fairly obvious that there is an overwhelmingly negative attitude on display every week at the moment, and I'm not confident that it can be turned around next season without significant change.

And so what if it can? Even if Pearson gets us up next season, we'll need more upheaval then, because surely Pearson has shown that he is not good enough to manage this side in the Premier League.

 

As it is, I think we're a significantly poorer side today than we were a year ago. The spark has gone. The joie de vivre has gone. And frankly the direction and philosophy of the club, so apparent over the previous 24 months, has gone.

 

Pearson has done wonders for this club, he really has. In my short time (since around 2004) supporting this club he has been by far and away our best manager, has produced easily our best sides (often on a shoestring) and has given me more great moments than I either care to remember or deserve. But I think it's clear that he has reached the end of the road. We've gone backwards this season and I don't think he knows how to fix it. And worse still, he's not being true to himself or the approach he has instilled into the club, and the approach that we bought into.

 

I would never, ever abuse, barrack or in any way try to force him out of the club. But to my mind, Nigel Pearson has taken this club as far as he can and the time has come for him to be politely, gratefully and respectfully relieved of his duties.


TL;DR - I am really sad.

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Max Power

Max Power

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Posted

Excellent post.

 

The point about how the team has changed since last year from young, quick and vibrant to old, slow and stodgy was really brought home watching Burnley this evening. They are playing the same way they were last year, and yes they may still go down but they're having a right go and the manager seems to have a plan. We're just lurching from one bizarre set-up to another. It's really inexplicable and quite depressing. What went wrong?

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RowlattsFox

RowlattsFox

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Can't argue with any of that, I've always been supportive of pearson but I feel it's gone too far now. Relegation is one thing but to go down with such a wimper is embrassing.

Pearson may learn from this and make a juch better fist of it if he gets another opportunity at this level but I can't see this happening with us.

My main worry is who's next, not for the rest of this season but for next.

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Col city fan

Col city fan

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Posted

Why even say the negative bit col ffs

Because I believe it.

I'm surprised your bringing anything like this up at the moment Una, I really am. As a staunch Pearson fan, it's honestly not the time to be criticising others. Not tonight. Not after what we saw today.

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l444ry

l444ry

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Seems like today's result is the straw that has broken the camel's back for many Pearson Disciples. They seem to be like rats leaving the sinking ship whilst making excuses as to why it has taken them so long to see sense come over from the dark side! 

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Unabomber

Unabomber

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Posted

Because I believe it.

I'm surprised your bringing anything like this up at the moment Una, I really am. As a staunch Pearson fan, it's honestly not the time to be criticising others. Not tonight. Not after what we saw today.

Yeah but you agreed with his point yet had to open by having a go at him, no need at all. Just seemed petty. 

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Unabomber

Unabomber

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Posted

Because I believe it.

I'm surprised your bringing anything like this up at the moment Una, I really am. As a staunch Pearson fan, it's honestly not the time to be criticising others. Not tonight. Not after what we saw today.

Also wtf you're surprised I am bringing ANYTHING up because I am a Pearson fan? So cos I am a Pearson fan I can't bring anything up?

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ZeljkoKalac1

ZeljkoKalac1

Posted
Posted

A lot of good points.

Problem is though, we're going down now! And I don't believe there is better person out there to get us back up than pearson. Of course it would seem harsh to get rid of him if he did get us back up, but there's no room for sentiment in business.

My opinion is back him if we go down, we still have a great squad for that league, and learn from our mistakes next time round.

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