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Would He, Could He, Should He - Give Nige a Job?

Discussion in 'Bristol City' started by wizered, Apr 27, 2021.

  1. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    Nigel Pearson isn't making it easy for Steve Lansdown as Bristol City's wait goes on
    The manager and owner of Bristol City have finally met but it remains unclear as to when a decision will be made on exactly who will be leading the team for next season and beyond.

    There is a strange, perhaps even unprecedented, contradiction at work regarding Bristol City: the more this team lose and the worse they look, the louder the calls grow for the man in charge to be given a contract extension.

    Under Nigel Pearson, Bristol City are winless in eight. Of the nine matches they’ve been unable to win at Ashton Gate, he has been in charge for six of them.

    Of these largely miserable eight fixtures, all have been against teams who are ranked 11th or below in the Championship and with each performance, the Robins seemingly find new, humiliating ways to lose.

    Consensus opinion from within the fanbase, however, dictates that Pearson must be put in charge on a long-term basis. A view so ingrained that any challenge to that theory is met with the time-honoured, "give your head a wobble".

    This straightforward (and deliberately so) scene-setting exercise is, of course, devoid of context (we’ll explore all that in a minute) but in that simplified form is integral to the crux of the matter.

    Ultimately, how can Steve Lansdown give a three-year contract - because that is what being requested - to a manager who has won two of 12 games?

    A record that, based on form, will be two in 14 given City’s remaining assignments in 2020/21 are at 12th-placed Millwall and against 3rd-placed Brentford.

    As we know, thanks to Bristol City’s confirmation of Bristol Live’s story on Saturday morning, Lansdown and Pearson met in-person for the first time on Friday afternoon for talks.

    It was a reassuring update but also an intriguing one because ... why exactly did they publish it?

    The club may well have learned from the tortuous process last summer to appoint Lee Johnson’s successor and the unease, frustration and sense of distrust that followed.

    By spelling out what has happened - and Lansdown also gave multiple interviews to BBC Radio Bristol, talkSPORT and Robins TV around the time between Holden and Pearson - there is a greater sense of clarity and connection regarding the process.

    But it also ensures, if City’s owner requires it, the very thing that fans would probably rather avoid in this process - time.

    Delivering a “state of play” - however brief - eliminates the anxiety as to the will-he, won’t-he, has-he narrative surrounding their meeting.

    The natural progression is now to begin a new line to run its course: does Lansdown truly believe Pearson is the right man for City? A debate that remains open to interpretation and probably needs the inclusion of the word "yet".

    Results on the field are certainly not making that decision an easy one. What exactly has happened since February 22 to display hard, tangible, definitive evidence that City can progress on his watch?

    Had this been Holden, Michael Appleton or any other young coach whose name struck fear into the hearts of the average fan, the bedsheets would no doubt be being prepped or even hung over the Ashton Gate entrance by now.

    What's, of course, crucial in making that equivalence is who Pearson is, what he's done and what he says. Which appears to have generated a fervour that has almost totally eliminated what he's doing; albeit with mitigating circumstances.

    Pearson’s straight-talking assessment of where it’s gone wrong over the last five weeks have earned him further currency with supporters, if anything enhanced his standing, with a sense that the club is in good hands or, at least, will eventually be.

    He is reinforcing an already existing viewpoint but also speaking from authority and with 15+ years of coaching in the game plus his excellent, and someone underrated, playing career. He has a gravitas that unfortunately Holden or Johnson could never hold with anywhere near the same levels of reverence.

    And those two are especially relevant in perceptions because Pearson and the passion around him is almost a reaction to those two appointments and what they stood for.

    The desire/obsession in some cases for proven, tried-and-tested and a known concept has dictated transfer wishes, particularly strikers, and now manager over the years among supporters, in what is a direct contrast to much of how Lansdown has run the club and the culture he has tried to cultivate.

    As Chris Hughton was deliberately passed over last summer, nine months later Pearson conforms to a similar idea of the now-Nottingham Forest manager in what he's achieved and what he's about.

    Having secured a figure of such reputation in the building, supporters would be loathed to lose him now, given what the collective concern would be should Lansdown return to his previous selection process.

    But as well as who Pearson is, it's also what he wants to do with the club; rebuild and reform the playing staff in a direction that differs from the increasingly maligned Ashton/Johnson and, ultimately, Landown-model, which has long been met with suspicion over its effectiveness in securing promotion.

    As mentioned, the 57-year-old has the CV to back this up - albeit with promotion now almost seven years ago (and if players are held to current standards, why not managers?) - and did launch a similar-ish project at Leicester City that eventually ended up with a Premier League title under Claudio Ranieri.

    Nobody is considering that just yet, but there are procedural parallels between City now and Leicester then, and a feeling that Pearson has the nous and sensibilities his predecessors lack, and perhaps Lansdown isn't quite aware the club needs.

    He can, and very much has, been excused for performances on the field because of similar problems that Holden encountered with injuries, as the growing proportion of academy players in each matchday squad continues.

    The casting of Ashton as, at best, pantomime villain or, at worst, Bristol's own Beelzebub has also meant that the faults of this team right now are viewed as a reflection of the CEO's work in squad-building over the last five years.

    The problem with that opinion, however accurate it may or may not be, is that it might not sit wholly comfortable within Lansdown's thought process.

    This is, after all, Josh Brownhill, Korey Smith and Niclas Eliasson aside (three very prominent and influential individuals, admittedly), not a million miles away from same group of players who finished 12th in the Championship under Johnson and then Holden. And who, when fully fit under Holden, won four of their first five league matches.

    Of the 20 players who played the most Championship minutes for the Robins in 2019/20, 15 are still at the club.

    Yes, there are glaring flaws and the injuries have been devastating, plus these are not players that necessarily suit Pearson's style of play and identity, but if it wasn't good enough for Lansdown under Holden in February, why, in a practical sense, should the owner be seeing things with any greater optimism now?


    The house that Ashton built
    Because the other aspect to all this is, while there is merit in picking holes in the recruitment and the replacing of key players over the years, ultimately Ashton - as he admits - is working to a brief laid out by his boss.

    This is, or at least should be, a team cast in his image. And if it wasn't, Ipswich-bound Ashton wouldn't have the luxury of being able to leave for Suffolk, he would have been moved on by now.

    In essence, blaming Ashton and saying the squad isn't good enough is effectively criticising Lansdown and his approach. Albeit in conceptual terms with much greater distance in terms of direct responsibility.

    As Lansdown said in the wake of Holden's exit: "I take full responsibility. Although I’m not on the board I am the owner, I do fund it. I do authorise it. Success can be down to me and failure can be down to me."

    From the owner's perspective as well, we have to consider the widely-held hope that appointing Pearson will lead to some kind of purge of the first-team.

    Exactly who, how and where to are City clearing players out? There are 13 first-teamers out of contract which goes some way but only six have made significant contributions this season, so it therefore doesn't make that much of an impact.

    It's fine to raise concerns of the apparent qualities of individuals but they have to be sold somewhere. There needs to be a market in place and City's struggles this term have affected the value of the assets they could sell.

    Also factor in a depressed market, an industry decimated by Covid-19, with limited finances in the EFL, and how can you move multiple players on if there's no-one willing or able to buy them?

    As a relevant aside, it's part of the reason City find themselves in such a contract quandary with Famara Diedhiou as any plans there were to sell him last summer, when he had 12 months remaining on his deal, were torpedoed by Covid. And the noise around clubs in Turkey and France proved to be just that.

    City just about got Eliasson out of the door to Nimes, for a relatively small and arguably disappointing fee, which so easily could have been nothing had the Swede ended up staying in BS3 and run down his contract, as will almost certainly be the case with Diedhiou.

    From Lansdown's position, he will know that a full-scale rebuild may not be wholly realistic.

    In Pearson’s defence he is a realist and wants time, multiple transfer windows, and has talked about being "creative" in the summer and has repeatedly told fans to temper their expectations in terms of the degree of surgery that will immediately take place on the squad, should he be given the job.

    But perhaps Lansdown leans towards the idea of a coach who can work with much of what is already in the building? With designs on enhancing it - again, an attribute he personally likes to see in managers.

    If Pearson is such a home run of a candidates, we have to start thinking about why this delay is happening.

    It could well be results, it could be because Pearson hasn't shown quite enough - as he himself has joked - to the hierarchy, perhaps it's also because there is someone else in mind.

    Lansdown has said Pearson effectively fell into place after the Barnsley performance because he was a) a very good manager b) immediately available and c) willing to take the job on a short-term contract, whereas other individuals wanted a longer project.

    Who exactly are those other individuals and did they outright say no in February? Because while time was of the essence then, with the genuine threat of relegation, it may not necessarily be now.

    With City's Championship status secured, are the Lansdowns waiting things out to continue to assess Pearson's suitability and/or wait for answers from potential other targets. Is he Plan A, or Plan B?

    Of course, while the Robins maybe have such a window to wait, all this uncertainty is clearly having an impact; on the field with certain players performing either knowing they'll not be at the club next season or playing up to the supply teacher-type environment knowing he won't be around by June.

    That, in turn, is creating a further sense of anger within supporters and is likely to impact season ticket sales; why, in a time of considerable financial hardship should a fan commit to £500 not knowing who will be in charge and what the direction of the club is?

    Economics alone could be the main mechanism in forcing a decision.

    There is also all the uncertainty beyond that; contracts - who to keep and who to release; transfer policy - as the longer you wait, the harder it becomes to secure targets. Clubs are have been in discussions with agents for several weeks ahead of the summer, City don't want to find themselves at the back of the queue, especially if there are genuine desires to make acquisitions in double figures.

    Finally, there's the search for a new CEO and possibly a director of football and the need for time to work together, to develop a chemistry, understanding of each other and working relationship.

    With such huge changes set to occur across the club, the longer the time individuals have to exist alongside each other before the new season kicks off, the better.

    This window is shrinking by the day, and that's possibly what prompted Lansdown's meeting with Pearson on Friday.

    But something appears to be holding him back in making the final decision. And the longer he waits, the greater the contradiction perhaps becomes.
    https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/nigel-pearson-steve-lansdown-bristol-5342930
     
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  2. Angelicnumber16

    Angelicnumber16 Well-Known Member

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    After Sundays surrender to Luton, it bothers me that Nige is saying he feels 'battle weary'.
    This isn't something you'd expect an interim Manager, who may or may not still want the job on a permanent basis to say, unless he plans to walk away, which he may well do if the backing isn't going to be there to ship out 90% of the dross players we currently have and build again.
     
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  3. Supcon72

    Supcon72 Well-Known Member

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    I can't help but wonder if NP thought he could come in, do a good job and get himself noticed again, and then put himself in the window of a bigger club. Unfortunately for him it has all gone wrong and now he may feel a little trapped at a club that needs huge reform, at a time when money is scarce to do that, and he knows most of the fans want him to stay. He may see this as a task that he cannot succeed in?
     
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  4. Redprintt

    Redprintt Well-Known Member

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    I think he's come in, seen the dross he has to work with, and given SL an honest appraisal of how bad things really are.
    Trouble is that only last year SL said 'we've spent a great deal of money and have a squad capable of of a top 6 finish'. It was the reason given why he relieved LJ of his position.
    SL was/is deluded, the squad was sh*t then and still is as results are proving.
    SL is in a tough position, the 2 (LJ and Ashton) he chose to do a 'Southampton' ie youth, nurture and sell on has patently failed. And they've gone.

    Just think he's incredibly worried he'll screw up again.
     
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  5. Cliftonville

    Cliftonville Well-Known Member

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    Bristol City do not have a regional coaching base. The club has never had the structure, and still won't. Southampton put the types of people in place BCFC never would. And that leaves how sales x recruitment has been conducted.

    Exeter have a larger development set up than BCFC below U23.

    Mr Lansdown chose something very different to Southampton.

    Trouble is that only last year SL said 'we've spent a great deal of money and have a squad capable of of a top 6 finish'. It was the reason given why he relieved LJ of his position .. It some juxtaposition. Mr Pearson could be telling Steve Lansdown "its the Emporers new clothes" .. Humbled?
     
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  6. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    A lot of conversations taking place at the moment, should we give NP a contract based on performanceof the team, we have all had the debate, why did LJ do better with most of the current squad in his time with us, Chris Hughton may have been a better choice based on his recent form with Nottingham Forest.

    I have just checked out the form of all 3 individuals and learned some suprising comparisons , NP has managed just 12points from his 13 games, Chris Hughton first 14 games with Nottingham Forest managed 13 points, Lee Johnson's last 6 games with Sunderland has placed him 3rd from bottom of the league 1 table on current form and yet they are 3rd in the table on actual form.

    Personally I think we should sign up NP post haste.
     
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  7. Angelicnumber16

    Angelicnumber16 Well-Known Member

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    Then it's about time he let people that actually know anything about football (such as an experienced and proven Manager) get on with the job, and be there in a support role as and when needed.
    For years Lansdown has been aloof when it suits him and I'm not sure he has the sort of open working relationship that is needed for a FC with the majority of the Managers under his watch if not all of them.
     
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  8. realred1952

    realred1952 Well-Known Member

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    AND PROBABLY NOT 2, I believe reference was made after the Swansea game by NP of the help given by the coach's and from that point he commented he was truly in charge! he then changed the pattern to that of his way ...4-1-4-1 which failed his win was v Brum !!

    GOOD to see Wiz on the ball publishing these articles but I cant help but think THE POST has column inch's to fill and are quite repetitive!

    The decision was made before MA was leaving to let Fammy run out his contract, although my "thin line of info" seemed to think he loves it here and is well settled.

    In the past 6 -7 years we have had a sandwich, a sort of triple decker the 2 fillings have been SC and LJ … LIKE ALL SARNIES they have a shelf life!!!!

    We are about to undo all the good bits of the past 5 -6 years. [ covid being a catalyst ] we had a continuum of academy to First team then sell or Academy to to make a profit / get something back.
    we had a "plan" that all players and coach's were on the same hymn sheet … all compatible all brought through the ranks to play a similar style / method! 4 - 4 - 2 is the base of modern day football ...yonks ago it was 2- 3 -5!! … from 442 has evolved 4132 .. 4231 etc City have until recently used 3 -5 - 2 more so pro's and cons another thread!!!!

    having a mass clear out now could be setting us back 5 years!!! or less … a slim ...very slim chance it could take us forward in a couple of seasons! [ players ages fall into original plan ]

    stumbling block … on NP … NOT SO MUCH THE PLAYERS ? AS THE BACKROOM STAFF!!! …. SL in setting up DH et al took on board 2 successful England coach's [ without DH we won 2 games, first 2 games since NP sat in stands at Middsbro! and thanked them for their guidance at Swansea! then won v Brum ..] The plan 5 years ago was based on all round continuity … LJ goes step up assistant, assistant goes step up next in line etc etc… these coach's have proven records and "did win/assist winning 2 games" …. maybe in the back of his mind is " why let these 2 go then finish up with no progress under NP?"

    HOW MANY PLAYERS STAFF might end up at Ipswich?
     
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  9. Jiffie

    Jiffie Well-Known Member

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    Why would he then ask for a 3 year contract if that was the case?

    Here's what I think, yes he has realised what most normal fans have known for far too long, he inherited a basket case of a squad, a squad that has seen off 2 managers and is trying to do the same with him, too many of them have no shame.

    On the plus side a) he won't put up the players crap. b) he has probably blooded more kids than any other manager in City's history.

    What I fear is SL will go into another long winded process and bring in some other cheap lower league no hoper and leave that person with no time or option other than continue with the pap squad that we have and 2022/23 we will have one of the best stadiums back in the 1st division.

    And before you go on your usual 'this is another dig at LJ rant', it is not his fault it is totally the fault of the dysfunctional running of the playing side of our club by the owner and his poodles, SL has to learn to allow football people to run the football side of the business, LJ, Holden and now Pearson have all fallen victim to this pussie squad of players.
     
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  10. bcfcredandwhite

    bcfcredandwhite Well-Known Member

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    Based on performances and results since taking over - if you were a neutral you'd probably think not. He's not shown anything to me, taking this season in isolation, to convince me that he's any better than the previous 2 incumbents - other than perhaps the post-match interview.
    However, NP has a pedigree, which neither LJ not Holden did.
    If he IS offered the job, it'll be on his past achievements before joining BCFC, rather than anything he's been able to evidence at BS3 since his arrival.
    A bit of caution though; Danny Wilson also came with a pedigree and failed to even get us out of league 1, so past achievements don't guarantee success, so I'm tempering my expectations now, whereas just after he arrived I thought he was maybe the man to take us to the promised land.
    I'd be content if he steadies the ship again and keeps us in the championship next season.

    Having said all the above, I WOULD offer Pearson the job. His pedigree doesn't guarantee success (as I've said above) but it's a better bet than someone who has NEVER done it before and he does seem to have the respect of the footballing world. The last thing we need is another recruitment merry-go-round with an untried amateur being tasked with the job.

    Let him build his own team, using his own preferred players and applying his own tactics. If we are still 5h!t when he's been allowed to do all that then we'll have to think again, but he deserves a chance with his own players IMHO.

    The biggest question is; would he ACCEPT the job, now that he's supped from the poisoned chalice that is the job of Bristol City Manager???!!!
     
    #10
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  11. realred1952

    realred1952 Well-Known Member

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    his last couple of interviews trend toward him wanting it but not getting it! …… … … yet
     
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  12. Alandicksthegreat

    Alandicksthegreat Well-Known Member

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    By comparison LJ last 14 games have managed 25 points thats why their third in the table, just saying :)
     
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  13. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    Stop trying to cause a nasty little spat over LJ again, it's boring and the forum is tired to death with it.
    If you took the trouble to notice I informed our members where Sunderland currently are in the table.
    ' they are 3rd in the table on actual form.'
     
    #13
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2021
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  14. Angelicnumber16

    Angelicnumber16 Well-Known Member

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    3rd from BOTTOM that should be
    0 wins in their last 6 games. 3 draws and 3 defeats
     
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  15. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    I was trying to demonstrate the 3 managers that were being compared, have all suffered the same type of form recently and that we should IMO go ahead and appoint NP.
     
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    Last edited: Apr 27, 2021
  16. Alandicksthegreat

    Alandicksthegreat Well-Known Member

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    Sorry about that Wiz just a comparison of form l will never mention LJ again hopefully neither will you, l apologize to all other posters you will not hear from me again.
     
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  17. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    That is your decision, I don't want to lose you from the forum and I agree with you we should all calm down about LJ, that should not stop us having discussions about Bristol City FC, stay in touch when you wish.
     
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  18. invermeremike

    invermeremike Well-Known Member

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    I think it will take a radical change of direction from SL to get Pearson to stay beyond the end of this season and if we are honest our record under new management has been less than stellar. Perhaps those results will give City the chance to duck behind the bushes again and restart the process of finding a new head man. I just have this gut wrenching feeling that this will all turn sour on us and we will head back to the wilderness like a bunch of headless chickens and the whole nonsense and bad decisions. I wonder if we have had the foresight to look elsewhere for our new manager because I fear Nigel might just be too much for our owner to bear considering his usual yes men approach.

    Pearson clearly has the essentials to put us back on track but has he seen enough of both the credo and player recruitment of Bristol City to wave goodbye in a couple of weeks? If the departure of NP happens then I believe we could be doomed due to the over abundance of below par players burdened by lousy attitudes. Was someone asleep at the wheel when the crash happened or were they just oblivious to common sense?
     
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  19. AshtonRed

    AshtonRed Well-Known Member

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    The point is surely whoever SL decides to appoint he has to do it now, because that’s the first part of the jigsaw and unless we start to put the pieces in place soon we will be in the brown sticky stuff next season as there is so much that needs changing before the beginning of next season, which is not that far away.
     
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  20. bcfcredandwhite

    bcfcredandwhite Well-Known Member

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    Using that analagy, where does Sir Nigel sit, taking the last 6 games and ignoring all the others?
    Don't tell me - it's a different thing....!!! <laugh>
     
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