... .. to summarise what I actually did say about Nigel Pearson - poor run of games in the Championship which he was unable to rectify - lost the play-off semi (twice). I did have doubts (still do) about how astute he is tactically partiulrly in important games (having lost 2 play-off finals and been comprehensively whipped in FA cup ties) ... really enjoyed (and complimented him on the progression of the team throughout) the promotion season - stood firmly by him all of last season even when others were calling for managerial change - if he has 'proved me wrong' in all of that according you - enjoy the moment. As to your 'judging' - you say you will only judge after 38 games ... yet you have already pontificated that the best start in our Premiership history is down to 'evo;ution' rather than Ranieri's impact ... no judgement there then? The irony is that you have inadvertently denigrated Nigel Pearson's tenure by suggesting that him actually being here in person is irrelevant to the club's continued success - you possibly have a point - it would seem apparent that much of the team's success stems from the contribution of the wider management team and arguably did so last season too.. I was surprised by Ranieri's appointment - but couldn't fault his CV - and was therefore cautiously optimistic about our prospects ... so far it has been brilliant and personally I get the feeling that the club generally is in a far better place 'atmospherically' than under Nigel.. Now as far as I can see you give Ranieri absolutely no credit whatsoever for our start or the current amazingly positive vibe permeating from the club - unbeaten in pre-season, unbeaten in the league, comfortably over a tricky capital one cup tie and proudly sitting in second place ... the transformation in Drinkwater and Mahrez has been incredible ... but nothing to do with the manager? ... the tactical changes in games have resulted in positive outcomes - again nothing to do with the manager - does that really seem plausible? .. or are you just suffering from a mixture of sour grapes and (arguably) somewhat misplaced hero worship?
I don't think this is going to cause alot of collapse backstage, but what we haveto be aware of is when Pearson gets a new job then Shakey and Walsh could be off anyway and the owners haveto look out for the future of the football club. CR has only bought in 2 coaches as far as i know, which doesn't relate to a whole backroom staff, or even a whole coaching staff. Its the same as Pearson, we should thank Phillips for his time here and his experience and we move on.
I also wish him success in what he does next, but I'm still not convinced that Pearson's best role is as manager, and he has certainly not achieved anything thus far to allow him to be labelled as 'great'. Some of his actions last season were not an acceptable example to set to players and disgraced the club. I know that a lot of people see him as some sort of refreshing anti-establishment rebel, but as the owner of a global company would that be the sort of behaviour you would like to see from your manager? His team selections often showed a complete disregard for what was actually happening on the pitch and he is isn't tactically astute enough. 'Great'? Not for me. When I see him at a top club, winning trophies or managing at international level then I'll re-evaluate my opinion.
No I'm saying t's difficult to judge Ranieri's impact until the team becomes "his". Which is why I say I'll judge after 38 games. Not 5. Pearson built a steady ship over the years, and that won't crumble overnight, even without the architect. But players and staff will move and if they're not adequately replaced, things will unravel. He's been there a few weeks. Do you really think he's made better players of Drinkwater and Mahrez in that time? Or do you think it was their development during the course of all of last season AND the summer? Mahrez started to look a player after he returned from his drop in form last season. He's merely carried that on. Drinkwater got to train with Cambiasso everyday for a season - but maybe it was a few well-chosen words by Ranieri that did it. Second in the league with 11 points - not being funny but Villa, Sunderland and Bournemouth may all end up in the bottom five spots come May. Last season we started against three of the eventually top five and only had three points less than we have now, with only one defeat - that being to the eventual champions. Whether you regard these two starts as radically different of course depends on your "political" viewpoint. The fact that you think the "atmosphere" is better tells you everything about your perceptions. How can there be any sour grapes? It's not Ranieri's fault Pearson was sacked. I have no malice towards Ranieri at all - basically, until he proves himself either way, I'm completely ambivalent towards him. Hero-worshipping I don't do, not in any walk of life. My only concern (as far as this forum is concerned) is how my club does, and, until proven otherwise, I believe we have taken a misstep. Time with prove me right or wrong, and no amount of fan browbeating or questioning of my loyalties will make a jot of difference.
There were many reasons we struggled early on. Adaptation, the absence of a quality centre back (Upson was injured nearly all season), players dropping out of form, the fixtures lists favoured a poor start and a strong finish - many of these things required patience, and some of our fans didn't have this. Thankfully, the owners did. Remembered, we were never beaten by more that two goals last season, so we were never tactically dominated by anyone. We just lacked that edge, which we finally found. Ranieri's plan B is that he has a stronger squad with better options on the bench. Last seasons's top goal-scorer. Nathan Dyer. Quality midfield options. Kante. This would have be available to Pearson this season too.
Who cares any more - would he have done better? Bugger do I know and bugger do I care as NP is gone. The King is dead, long live the King.
To label Pearson as a great manager is ridiculous. He has done nothing of note to claim such a status. Decent/good manager yes. Very good man management skills , but tactically inept as was proven time and time again. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the man or showing any lack of gratitude for the job he did for us and let's be honest if it wasn't for his twat of a son, he would still be here now, but let's hope it turns out to be a blessing in disguise that because of how thing panned out, it opened the door for Ranieri to come to our club. Ranieri is certainly on another level tactically. He sees things in games and if it's not workings he isn't scared to change. He seems to have a plan a, b, c and d where as Pearson was hard pushed for a plan b. (Ok there I WAS having a dig at Pearson...but it's fact) I really hope CR is able to take us to that next level of a top 10 team over the next couple of seasons to solidify our Premier League status. One thing I'm sure we can ALL agree on right now is that is currently a joy to behold being a Leicester fan. Enjoy the ride guys.
Does sorting out a sinking ship, a double promotion and keeping us up not count as a great achievement?
This i see as the main difference between them sofar for me (and the more light-hearted interviews) If we were 1-0 down at home under Pearson, no way he would have bought on Dyer and changed the formation at half time. Depends on your definition of great manager, he was great for us and will probably be very high on the list of any club that sack their manager first ... maybe Derby are planning ahead with Phillips going there ...
Yes it does. But it doesn't make him a great manager. Neil Warnock was good at getting teams out of the Championship but would you label him a great manager?
Great "achievement" doesn't make him a great manager. Your gain such a status over many years at the top level winning trophies. So I say again...Pearson is NOT a great manager at this present time
"Great" is an objective word. He's no Alex Ferguson or Brian Clough, but in terms of Leicester managers over the last 15 years, he's the greatest of all. In terms of all-time Leicester managers, he's probably top 10. Exactly where he is in that top 10 is obvious a matter of opinion, as is how many of that top 10 were "great". Don't get how people are calling Ranieri a tactical wonder after just 5 games. There's more to tactics than making substitutions. Like playing a side incapable of keeping a clean sheet. Tactically inept managers do not win league titles and keep sides in the Premier League. Again, let's not use the term "fact" for opinions that are no such thing.
yes .. as does 3 promotions from League 1 with 3 different teams for Si.Mon Grayson. ... but not really comparable with Ranieri's managerial record in the best leagues in Europe...
If you could actually narrow your criteria down even more and say he was the greatest Leicester City manager of the last 3 years (up until July this year at least), I wouldn't argue with you. Maybe Pearson was the exception that proved the rule and was the tactically inept manager who kept his team (or rather presided over a team that kept itself) in the Premier League. I didn't see anything that could persuade me he was tactically capable at the top level. I wish the sniping at Ranieri would stop. You say you'll give him until the end of the season to make your judgement, but can't resist having a negative jibe at every opportunity. We are 6 games into the season. It will take any manager longer than that to really assess the squad and its strengths and weaknesses. The first 6 games of a Premier League season is not the best time to try out different combinations of players because we need points on the board and, if you're winning or drawing, why change it? He didn't have the luxury of a long pre-season to experiment so has stayed very much with the personnel from last season and has been drafting some of the new players in piecemeal to see what might work best. The last 2 games have highlighted the fact that our defence is our weakness and our pace going forward is our strength. It will now be a case of seeing whether and how he addresses those defensive frailties or if he wishes to go with the Kevin Keegan approach to team selection and try and outscore the opposition (which might be the first for an Italian!).
Ranieri is still learning about the club and even the divison. Its a different beast to what it was when he was at Chelsea, he will make mistakes and he will get things right. So far the results have been really good and the team's spirit which Nigel helped create along with the backroom staff is still there Both Nigel and Ranieri should be judged on their own merits and achievements not comparing them to each other. NP achieved every goal he set out for here, Some with style and some we fell over the line but we got there every time. Ranieri isn't in complete control of club unlike Pearson. Of our summer signings Huth, Fuchs, Okazaki was signed while NP was here and Kante was a NP target which the club continued to pursue. Only Inler and Benalouane are real Ranieri signings Its too soon to judge Ranieri or our season, the only thing you can say at the minute is so far so good but the signs are good.
I'm not jibing at Ranieiri, I'm saying that I don't understand how some fans have decided that Ranieri is already tactically more aware than Pearson after just 6 games. I absolutely agree with you and Proud that it will take time for him to get to know his players, so some of the very obviously tactical errors he's made so far are understandable. What isn't understandable is the some are heralding him as a tactical genius, for what pretty much amounts to bringing on subs that clearly should be starting.
We are on 12 points after 6 games - it took us nearly 6 months to reach that under NP - and are the only unbeaten side in the Premier League. I know you like to credit NP for everything but since we got this without him, I think that praising CR is fair. BTW I don't think anyone is calling CR a genius - just that he was able to react well to problems was as shown by us coming back from setbacks in our last couple of games. Our defense does need sorting out as we can't rely on outscoring the opposition all season - and CR has acknowledged that and will hopefully come up with a solution.
The type of fixtures we've played have helped. Substitute Bournemouth for Burnley, and we got 10 points from the corresponding fixtures last season. We also got eight points in our first five games last season, including matches against Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton. Neither are radically different. We have Arsenal next - the true acid test. We put two fantastic showing in against them last year, hopefully we'll do the same this season. OK, I was being facetious when I said fans have called him a genius, but they have decided he's more tactical astute than Pearson. I see no evidence of this other than Ranieri undoing mistakes he made in the first place (ie, bringing on players that should have started for players that shouldn't have). Our defence SHOULDN'T need sorting as it looked solid in the last nine games last season and we still have the same players, arguably with better options (Fuchs for Konchesky, Benaloune for Upson etc).
... not surprisingly I wholly agree ... Pearson's inability to manage the team out of prolonged ruts and to persist in playing the obviously out of form far out weighs any credence to arguments about Ranieri bringing on subs that 'should have started' ... 17 games without a win from second at the turn of the year speaks for itself in terms of tactical nous I'm afraid...
