The fat lady has sang and is now stuffing her chubby face with cream cakes and lard sandwiches! Good luck today
I'm sorry but what's all this negativity about last nights game, was I watching a different game to the rest of you?? I thought it was a cracking game, just the sort of game we needed, both sides open and attacking, both sides going for the win. We were undone by some woeful defending for the first goal and a wonder strike from Chalobah for the 2nd, which I defy any goalkeeper to have got to. Yes we were denied a stonewall penalty, but the ref played advantage because the ball fell straight at the feet of Marshall, who bought off a great save from Almunia, should the ref have called the play back for the penalty?? I do have to agree though that we've lost out on the play-offs weeks/months ago, the dreaded curse of the Manager of the Month I do also agree that NP 'has his favourites' and that we missed a combative midfielder like Danns. I have a number of mates who support other teams within the Championship and to a man they have said "What's happened to you lot, the best squad in the league??" but we're not the best 'team' (obviously) in the league, I don't know, the only ones who know that are the ones wearing the blue shirt of my beloved LCFC. So on to next season, will he stay or will he go?? Good question, but who does he get replaced with if he does go?? Now that is the million dollar question. Ah well, there's nothing like being a Leicester City fan is there
It's not a million dollar question at all. Kenny jacket would do a great job here even without a budget. Has an eye for good players and has shown excellent motivation skills. Would like to give him a chance. Proven at this level
Luckily I only have 4 fingers and a thumb on each hand that I use for counting, now if I was from Coalville ................
Not for me thanks, he just seems like another Pearson to me- I'd like to see someone young and dynamic. Look at the likes of Swansea and Southampton, it's doing great for him. I'm not saying Jackett isn't a good manager- he's done us over twice this season, but I think he's overrated- Millwall are hardly a small team at this level. Di Canio plays alongside the players in training- I'd love to see someone like that (unless we're talking O'Neill of course).
As much as I like MON, and to most of us he is an absolute legend, I don't want him to come back. Reason why?, well because there would be far to much expectation for him to live up to, he absolutely transformed us back in the late 90's. What would happen if he didn't give us instance success?? He did go 12 games without a win, when he first arrived, and everyone was calling for his head on a platter, but look what happened after that, we went on such a ride with him all the way to the top. As much as it pains me to say this, and I just know I'm going to get slated for this, but we need someone like Neil Warnock, someone who's not scared to make the difficult decisions, someone who can get the players to get stuck in where it hurts. Now I know that MON used to be able to get the players to jump through fiery hoops for him, and Pearson just doesn't seem to have got that ability, at the moment, but we do need stability and in my humble opinion stability will breed success, you just have to look at the likes of Fergie, Moyes, Wenger etc. I think we should give Pearson another stab at it, and IF we are not permanently ensconced in the playoffs by say Xmas, then he has to go so we can get someone in to take us to the next level, that way I think we should be able to keep our better players, including Schmeichel, because they will see us as a stable club. Just my 2 penneth worth.
The team Pearson has built must be quite tempting for MON, and no doubt he'd be given the summer blank cheque book to improve. I would give Pearson more time. Kind of agree with Calnefoxile, think the team that we currently have are good enough to get promoted, just need the right motivator.
... but that is the very LEAST we should be, given the money put at Pearson's disposal ... we are not a 'great team' - you are only as good as your current form and we have won 2 in 15 ... that my friends makes us a shockingly bad team in the here and now ... ... how many of you now have confidence that Pearson knows what to do to change a game we are behind in otr getting outplayed in ? ... I don't ... and didn't during his first spell either ... many on here jumped on a bandwagon when Sven was sacked ... not many arguing for 'stability' then ... yet Sven's record was never this bad over any 15 game spell!! ... frankly if we don't make the play-offs it is criminal, given where we were ... and at the end of the day that 'buck' has to stop fairly and squarely with a manager who did not have the ability to turn it around ... despite having just about the largest 'war chest' in this division ...
... the difference is that MON has, more than any other manager that could come in, 'earned' the right for us to be patient ... and that is why I would want him above anyone else - but there is more. I could always see and understand what Martin O'Neil was trying to build - saw Neil Lennon's debut at Reading, when him and Garry Parker played keepball for 10 minutes - each buy that came in seemed to fit and the progress built - but the major difference was that I could also appreciate the changes MON would make tactically when games weren't going our way - it didn't always work but you could understand his thinking - he outwitted the managers of Leeds, Arsenal, Man United, Liverpool, Tottenham ... a Middlesbro' with Ravinelli and Juninho ... can you honestly see Pearson ever being able to do that ... afraid I can't ... not in a million years ... Nigel Pearson could possibly get us to the Prem I agree ... but we'd get murdered there under his management ... got nothing against the guy - just being brutally realistic ...
As mentioned elsewhere on here 2 wins in 15 is relegation form, if our players, as a unit, were good enough to get promoted then our form would have been better. Some of our players simply aren't good enough for the championship let alone the Premier League!
Firstly, for anyone in this division to match up to that Watford side, made up of TOP FLIGHT Italian players, must be a very decent team. We didn't catch them on an off day. They were superb. But even so, that "once-in-a-thousand-efforts-goal" (as Sky called it) goes over the bar and the ref gives us the peno we deserved and we'd have won it. Fine margins. We've actually done quite well in this tough run. Two decent draws against Brighton and Palace away and a great win over Bolton. But it's not these matches that have lost it for us. It's the games against the strugglers that have done us. Barnsley (x2). Millwall (x2). Peterborough. Sheff Wed. One point from 18 there, eight of those dropped points at home. Clearly we're better than all these sides, so what went wrong? Bad tactics doesn't cause you to lose matches like that - it's not like we rested players or anything. Too many players not living up to their potential will though. We do have good options on the bench. Lately Nugent has been coming on. Dyer/Marshall are good options too. When fit we have James/King/Drinwater to enter the fray. But the truth is we, and probably true of most clubs in this division if you studied it, are not very good at coming back from behind. A stat that came out of the Watford game: Leicester have not come back from 2-0 to win in TEN YEARS. Obviously not all that is Pearson's fault! The difference with Sven was that he spend a fortune. No doubt he was being paid a fortune too (more that Pearson I feel pretty confident in saying). Sven knew he had to bring that money back in (via Premiership money) quickly or he was done for. He failed to make any significant ground in the league in a full year. In other words, every penny he spend was effectively wasted. Pearson has come in to mop up that mess and try a different approach: bring in young, unknown players while attempt to balance the books. His job was MUCH tougher than Sven's and he almost pulled it off. Odds are against us but he still might. In short, I felt that if Sven had stayed he'd have driven us into the ground. If Nige stays we willl only improve. The only question is will that improvement be significant enough to get us automatic? We saw from the signing of Vardy that relying on the untested doesn't always work. Regarding the "war chest", as I said above, I don't believe this was as open to Nige as it was to Sven. Indeed, as I said above, I think Pearsn's remit has been to recoup some of that wasted money. I think our owners learnt quickly that spending money alone isn't enough. Yes, this spell has been frustrating but it's the same manager and same team that did so well early on (actually, more like halfway through - we started badly too). But if we're not ready to go up, we're not ready. Yes it's frustrating but would you want us to go up right now? (I'd fear for Hull if they do make it as I think they will either need to spend a fortune or face instant relegation). As you said in another thread, we need more players that would cut it in the Prem. If we get rid of Danns, Beckford and whoever else is earning more than they should be (I dread to think what Konchesky and St Ledger are on), maybe the war chest will be offered to Nige to do just that...
I'm going to be bit controversial here and say that, maybe, O'Neill methods may be a bit antiquated now. After leaving Leicester, he went to Celtic and won stuff (imagine that?) but he hardly set the world alight at either Villa or Sunderland, the latter set of fans having some having some strong opinions against him. It's not the 1990s anymore and the Championship is a much tougher place. It would be great to have him back, but I can't help feeling it would be like your ex that you were head-over-heels in love with wanting to get back with you after 13 years, even though she dumped you for someone else. You hope that those good times you had with her before will be back, but in reality she's lost her looks, put on weight and nobody else wants her. Oh, and she's a bit short on cash too.
... wish somebody would tell that Ferguson bloke in Salford that his methods are now antiquated and wont succeed in the modern game ... be serious. O'Neil made Celtic the dominant force in Scotland (almost immediately) ending an age of Rangers dominance .. He turned Villa round ... look what has happened since ... He saved Sunderland from relegation in his first season without a doubt ... yes they've had a couple of good results since he left but they came down with rather a bump last night .. ... but the bottom line is that he was, is, and will always be, a far superior football manager than the tactically clueless Pearson ... so if I got to choose I know what I would want ... but each to his own.
You are aware we had the same players in the first half of the season? you know? when we were 2nd? and that was when we were messing about with Vardy and Waggy up front. We've gone from a team that are totally inconsistent (WLDWDLWDL) into a team that seem to have had 2 completely different halves of the season, in the end it is the same league finish more or less, im not saying its better, but to see us having the capability of "going on a run" is encouraging. I think Pearson would be able to sort it out next year once some of the non-playing high earners have been shipped out, the players will have a distinct advantage next year if we keep the same core squad, as teams like QPR and others that will need to chop/change and will have a totally new team. It is the wrong move imo for the owners to bring in a new manager and deconstruct or mess with the team that Pearson has built.
... a team that has actually failed dismally (even if we did by some fluke creep into the play-offs) in terms of the owners expectations for this season (and ours if we are honest) and whose malaise he could not 'manage' us out of? 2 wins in 15 games ... dress it up as you like, that is relegation form and would usually have resulted in a manager getting the sack ... ... can we put the dismal run down to seriouds long term injuries to key players? ... no ... what then? ... can't be the players if you take your argument - because they are the same bunch that went on a good run earlier in the season .... what then? ... atmospheric conditions, the wrng colour shirts, karma, the tea lady poisoning the halftime beverages? .......... or an underperforming manager...
If we'd had another inconsistent season, i would agree with you that nothing has changed and would want him out, but the fact that this has been a season of two halves shows improvement. The last half of the season has been new experience from recent seasons, and i would agree with you that we could not get out of the slump, but its something we havn't experienced in a while. Our defence is one of the best in the league, this is shown by the fact that we have only lost once by more than 1 goal, and there is a distinct correlation in Wood's and Nugents slump in form and ours. Pearson has tried to avert this by bringing in Schlupp up front. If your main goalscorers arent scoring, your never going to win. If we had sacked Pearson at the start of the slump, would we have got to the playoffs ... possibly ... but the fact that they had faith in Pearson then leads me to believe they will keep him at the end of the season.
