Ranieri will also have ruts - naive to think otherwise. That, or we'll end up in the Champion's League. To be fair, Pearson didn't have the options that Rainier has - Wood? Nugent (we all know what you think of him)? A not-yet-adjusted Drinkwater and/or Kramaric? The only real mystery was around Albrighton - my belief is that he was brought on no end during the season by Pearson and his coaches. Why else would Villa have let him go? Benteke and Delph aside, I think he's better than any other attacking players they had. Even they have admitted they didn't realise the quality of the player they had.
.. actually if you substitute the actual 'corresponding' fixtures Ranieri wins .. Victories at home t Sunderland and away to West Ham resumed in one point under Pearson .. .. although we did win at Stoke ...
Ranieri wins, yes. By 2 points. As I said, not a radical difference, and Ranieri has a stronger squad.
.. given Albrighton's missus tweet on Pearson's 'first' sacking ... attempting yo give NP credit for Albrighton's emergence seems well dodgy... more likely that Albrighton came through despite Pearson and that NP begrudgingly had to give him a chance surely?
Lots of interesting views on here as you might expect - thought I'd summarise mine for what it is worth: In overall terms I think Claudio Ranieri's appointment is a significant step forward for the club in terms of the owner's stated intent and ambition. Nigel Pearson did a good job in getting us to the Premier league and indeed in keeping us up in a difficult first season but, putting it into perspective I, personally, was never convinced that he was anything but an average tactician at best. Why? Equipped with arguably the most expensive squad in the Championship and having been in an automatic promotion spot at the turn of the calendar year we went 17 games without a win with the manager unable to 'manage' us out of the rut - largely sticking by the same players and tactics either because he was too stubborn to change things or hadn't got a clue how to do anything different. I stuck by him fully in the first season in the Prem because I did believe he was our best chance of survival - and as it transpired he was. Nevertheless there were some times where his managerial decisions and tactics left me baffled and a little frustrated. The goalkeeping merry-go-round didn't seem to help the team - Kasper undroppable despite his flapping costing us points. Hamer being dropped when in form - likewise Schwarzer. Wes being undroppable wen he was bloody awful - the persistence with Konchesky and Simpson - when ball retention was an obvious must. Anyway we survived and it was great. But had Nigel Pearson shown enough to convince me that he could take us to the next level? - that he has the tactical nous to worry the best? Not for me I'm afraid - he lost two play-off finals - the first I'd competely put down to tactics - we blew our chances in the first leg although the second leg attempt was inspiring. The second play-off perhaps less so, but Watford still deserved to beat us. FA cup ties against Chelsea and Man City - never really in them - great opportunity to get to Wembley last season but lost to a pretty poor Villa in a tie we should have won. I'll leave the off-field antics out of the analysis - but the man management deserves a mention. I thought it was interesting that Jamie Vardy cited Shakey's role in inspiring him to continue after his first difficult season with us rather than the manager. The question has been posed as to whether Ranieri could have had any influence on the transformation of both Mahrez and Drinkwater this season, given his relatively short time in charge. For me a very big yes. Pearson sidelined Drinky last season and watching him come on against Sunderland in the penultimate game demonstrated just how low his confidnce had sunk. Ran around fouling people because he had no confidence to do much else. This season he has been brilliant - so is it purely down to 'time' as some have suggested? or it it more likely that his manager has instilled belief by backing him and keeping faith - not just by words but by actions - for instance, Inler has not 'walked' into the team - it appears from the outside, at least, that the midfield is being picked on form and nobody is too big to be subbed. Mahrez - again some would put Mahrez's phenomenal form purely down to 'acclimatisation' and growing maturity - I don't - Ranieri is giving him the opportunity to express himself - sometimes that exposes us defensively - RDL might not get much support - but we have reaped the benefits undoubtedly - we are the joint top scorers in the league after 6 games and goals are your lifeblood at this level. Why do I think Ranieri has had such a positive influence? - because he has loads of experience in dealing with such mercurail talent (in contrast to Pearson) .. because he has previous - he brought Ginafranco Zola through at Napoli to replace the departing Maradona ... in fact the list of stars he has managed is breathtaking.. Our start has benn brilliant - even more impressive for me because it hasn't been easy and he has had to react to game situations where we have been losing ... and has done so spectacularly IMHO. With MON I always felt we had a chance against anyone because he was such a good tactician - early days yet admittedly - but I'm starting to get that same feel .... personally I never had that under Nigel Pearson. These are just my thoughts and feelings on how the club is progressing ... I accept that others see it differently.
The central defence is the biggest concern for me at the moment. We haven't addressed this situation properly over the last 2 seasons. If we play with 2 there neither Huth nor Morgan is suitably mobile for dealing with the likes of Walcott or Martial. I think we will need to adapt against some teams and have a third central defender, but I'd like to see someone with a bit of pace - so not Wasylewski. Does Bellaoune (probably incorrect spelling there) fit the bill? He looked a bit of a loose cannon on his only appearance so far, but was maybe trying too hard to make an early impression.
Hopefully he will play against West Ham in the cup so we can see what he is really like as he has only played around 30 min as substitute - from what I heard about Benalouane, he is basically a faster version of Wasyl. Can anyone that watched the Bury game give a critique?
NP was talking about his tactics from last season on goals on Sunday He said many people wanted to know why we didnt play 352 earlier and why some players didnt play earlier in the season He said he wouldnt have been appropriate to have played that formation earlier because it leaves us to open. We had no choice towards the end but to play that way He said as a promoted team you have to learn how to find ways of staying in games and ways of winning them He said all the media up roar over the McArthur incident and Ostichgate only strengthened the team and created a siege mentality. He also said Mahrez is capable of carrying this form for the whole season On Ranieri I dont buy into he is or isnt a tactical genius yet. So far he hasnt really changed anything from what NP was doing other then a back 4 going to 3 and we have become more leaky I also dont buy into NP took us as far as he could. We progressed every year under him, never took a back step once so who is to say he couldnt take us further? The answer to that we will never know but based on his past and what his team is doing now I think he would have
Lets be honest, i think we are splitting hairs really between the 2 managers, they have both been good for us as a football club. Although its early days for CR, things are continuing to be positive for us and i think along with MON, they could end up as our 3 most successful managers of the past 20 years.
I'm sure Mrs. Albrighton is a lovely, intelligent woman and I'm sure that particular aberration was purely from frustration that her meal-ticket.. I mean her husband... wasn't playing, which was probably a bit embarrassing for the poor girl when the WAGs met up on a Saturday night at Gala Bingo. I think that Albrighton was/is playing the best football of his entire career after a 3/4 of a season with us tells me all I need to know.
... but not as bad as Mrs Pearson's when the WAGs got round to discussing what each others kids had got up to during the holidays
