You keep saying this, but has he, can you demonstrate how this is so, please? I think you were so desperate for a previous manager to be booted out that you're trying to convince yourself, and everyone else, that things have to be better now that person has gone. NEWSFLASH - They are not, no matter how much you try and say otherwise.Not all down to NP, the global situation has not helped for sure, but we are not better off than 2 years ago, not even close.
Surely you can see NP has the nucleus of two failed managers teams. What he has brought in James first name on the team sheet-Atkinson-Tanner look good signings. King has done it and been there, but i'm sure can offer something when fit again. The only one i think is a mistake is Simpson and i have been told by a players Dad he is a billy big bollocks.
I would agree with James, Tanner and Atkinson is too soon to tell, but have made promising starts. King looks past it, and Simpson is a joke.
Well I'm interested what January will bring because so far, I'm not convinced. One thing said for LJ, he did try different things to get the best from the players he had or against certain opposition......too much at times it has to be said, but at least he was versatile......I don't see this from NP whatsoever so far......maybe he only has one way and needs the players to fit.....must admit, it's not my style of football and worry it won't change.......we are so predictable, the formula must be written down somewhere for all to see!!
I would broadly agree with this, but given the budget (which I know he would have been aware of going into the season) it was never going to be enough, the biggest mistake was not finding 1mil for Michael Smith, 11 goals from 18 games + 5 assists, a player who we knew could do a job because he certainly did in both games against us last season, not only did he score in both games but roughed us up even international centre back Kalas couldn't cope with him. We do not have a player on the books like him and haven't done since Wilbraham.
A replacement for Fammy was a monster mistake. Martin was never going to be the answer on his own he needs a rest-to be fair to him he has played every game so far and has done a reasonable job but we need more goals. Wells has never looked like he wants to be here and weimann is hot and cold on the goal front.
Yet it was still a lot more than a lot of clubs sat higher in the table than us had, so that argument just doesn't stack up. NP made a decision to buy a £1.6m CB and not spend £1m on the striker, many of us (myself included) felt we needed more than a new CB. Those are decisions made by NP and he has to own them, and the consequences.
As I said in reply to 1For; he's consistent now. He's found consistency as soon as he left us. I understand about it being easy to let him go - but its frustrating to see him doing so well while we struggle. I bet he doesn't regret leaving us one little bit - in fact I bet he laughs at us wallowing in our mire from his lofty heights. As for consistency - we only have 2 consistently decent players in our entire squad; Kalas and Bentley. All the rest are either inconsistent through performance, or inconsistent through injury. I would go as far as to say that apart from Kalas and Bentley we get 1 good game in 4 from the rest (perhaps with the exception of Massengo). Injuries are one thing and can't be fixed by formation, squad selection or tactics. However, the inconsistency of the other players MIGHT be. Of course, they could just be inconsistent full stop. Pato however, is an example of a player who was inconsistent for us under more than 1 regime, but has found form as soon as he left. I don't think that is a coincidence. It's an indication of something wrong at Bristol City that getting rid of Pato, Fammy, LJ, DH and Ashton simply hasn't fixed.
Wells is a strange one - why was he so good at QPR and is now so crap for us? As for Weimann; he is a great engine, but not an out-and-out striker. He will never be a prolific goalscorer at this level and it's wrong to expect it from him. He simply isn't a number 9. Its difficult to say what position naturally suits him tbh but he's one of the very few who busts a gut every game for us.
go back into NP's somewhere and he said Pato was unable to give game time due to injury and he didnt get to see a lot of him .. so maybe a classic error on his part ... so far he has not achieved much and a year is nearly up ... he is the manager and for now we have to stick by him .. my opinion is he has the wrong coach's [ maybe right one for defence but needs a coach for midfield/attack! ]
when you sit back and look at individuals [ from the past mostly ] players in certain positions excel when others take some of the heat off [ OK BCFC is a pot boiling out of control ] Yesterday whilst noting the passing of RK [ ARSENAL/LPOOL] he was a midfield player [ centre forward ] who had attackers popping in goals , so pressure was off and he scored a few himself because he was not constantlypinned back. A thought that passed me was a likeness to having him at BCFC!.initially thought along lines of JoshB.. then Andi W, our top scorer! and how many he might get if we had players up front doing a job. at the mo we have a leaky defence because no goals to defend an attack orientated coach would be able to sort that!
….. except they aren’t just ‘rubbish’ are they? Wells, Pato - they play/played well at other clubs but are crap/inconsistent for us. It’s Bristol City that’s the problem sometimes, not always the players
I believe him and i have witnessed it over the last 3/4 years as well. Get em gone i say and a new dawn arises.
Palmer is the biggest waste , he was expensive and now is drawing a large wage that we could really do with being spent on a striker , midfielder.
Yeah. Fking League 1 if we carry on like this. I've not seen ANYTHING yet to convince me that NP is better than LJ or DH. Nothing at all. Actually no - sorry - the lack of corporate spin in interviews was refreshing at first, but that won't win games and keep us up. I'm supporting Pearson for now - out of hope and desperation, more than belief. He's NOT the messiah - he's just yet another Bristol City manager struggling to win games. I know he's got less money to spend than his predecessors (well, certainly LJ - not sure about Deano), but that's no different for most of the teams in this league. I know some people don't like to hear it, but most of the squad that people are calling crap are the SAME PLAYERS that delivered successive top half finishes under LJ. LJ was sacked after the 1-0 defeat to Cardiff on 4th July 2020, which left us 12th - TWELFTH. The lineup on that day was: Bentley Vyner Kalas Baker Dasilva Weimann Nagy Smith O'Dowda Diédhiou Wells Hunt, Paterson, Benkovic and Afobe came on as subs in that game. All of those in RED have gone but the spine of the team is the same now and, although this particular game resulted in defeat, overall they delivered a top half finish. Since then we have 'strengthened' with incomers under both Holden and Pearson. Either Nagy, Smith, Pato, Adobe and Diedhiou were Worldies and thats the reason we are struggling without them (really??), or NP is failing to get them playing like a top half team. Disclaimer: Ok, I have to admit that there is a tiny possibility that they simply all 'lost' their skills (due to Covid maybe?) and became crap during the summer of 2020 and that's why they are crap now. Strange things happen sometimes. The players are not brilliant, but they are better than relegation fodder. They've proved it before.
The thing is, LJ tinkered.....although sometimes forced through injuries etc..... with the players, but more importantly he tried different styles and of course sometimes it paid off and other times it didn't.....some would say he tinkered too much....maybe he did..but you could see he tried.. I don't necessarily look for one particular style (although I'm not a fan of long and hopeful), so changing it up now and again reduces the likelihood of being predictable, which I feel we are.. I hope we don't have another manager, stuck in his ways, which seems to be the case IMO....but maybe he's holding out until January....that should give an indication to whether he's the real deal or just here to up his pension..
