I think everyone is grateful for what Adam Pearson has done for the club in the past but I imagen it wasn't all just for the club and the city. Soon as he got his hands on FC I knew that it was the end of Pearson at city. I spent my 21st birthday in afghan, and my mother wrote to him explaining my situation and whilst I was out there he sent me a letter and a signed team poster, which I thought was outstanding.
I never wanted to see Adam Pearson back, but would have loved to see Nick Barmby succeed. The trouble is that both seem to have been put up on pedestals by fans. Do I miss them? Adam, no, Nick well kind of, but not as much as I should. Will Steve Bruce ever be as highly thought of as either of them? I don't think so. In fact, I don't think he will be around long enough to gain real popular support. Fail to deliver and he is gone, deliver and he will look to go to a bigger club. One season at the most.
I our first season under Nigel we we're in the play-offs for one week, after the first game of the season, we didn't break the top 6 again all season. In his half season (2011/2012) we we're in the play-offs for 4 weeks in total before he left. Nick on the other hand had us in the play-off for 12 weeks in total, peaking at 4th, Nigel never got above 6th. Can't argue with facts.
Spot on really, tried to sign someone to replace them before the deadline, it didn't come off, so instead of backing the current halves he slagged them off further and stated they would be still replaced and he's willing to spend as much as needed to do so. Poor man management in any sport really!
Personally I wish we still had Nick here at least in some role, preferably manager. He may have been inexperienced but I think with time, he could've become a great manager. Also loved the idea of having a local manager that concentrated on youth and played the game in the right way. We could've been like an English Bilbao over 10-15 years with Barmbs. His 4-2-3-1 was used right through the reserve/youth squads. Short-term, Bruce has a better chance of taking us up. Long-term, I wish we still had Barmby.
In fairness, they've both been terrible at half back this season, one of them will be playing full back tonight and the other one dropped. Everyone knows they both need replacing and the coach and Director of Rugby have both come out in the press numerous times this season and said we're looking for halves. At City I think the way Barmby left could and should have been handled better, but he got the job too early. He should have been made assistant for a couple of years and then taken the job IMO.
Yeah completely agree, not sure any amount of public backing from the owner could turn around their form this season!
It's a boring day at work hence me sitting and working this out! Pearson - 1.6 points per game Barmby - 1.4 points per game So assuming Nigel kept that form up (unlikely due to the injuries/fatigue that kick in towards the tail end of the season) then we would have finished one place above where we did, still outside the play-off's. If you do it from Nigel's last 31 games (same amount as Nick had) then it drops to 1.5 points per game. Across that many games, it's very close, certainly too close to say we would have been better off with one or the other.
I think Nick could in time have turned into a good manager, but I have a feeling that the owners found out that they needed someone with more experience to manage the team. In addition I feel there maybe was the feeling that NB and AP were to some degree too close together, which the owners felt comfortable with, so ultimately got rid of both. I agree with others that the way Nick was dismissed was harsh, but for the position the club were in, they did need someone with more experience at the helm. As far at AP is concerned, he has on the whole done a good job for us, but maye his time was with us was ready to finish anyhow.
Yeah, the season's been dead for a few weeks now, and even if we get into the playoffs (which we should do), we'll only get beat in the first game anyway so what's the point?
I agree with everything you say. With a decent manager we would have got in the play offs. So Barmby was a failure. I was skip reading Adam Pearson's interview and thought 'what does he know about Rugby ?' - Answer : probably the same as he does about football 'nothing'
I don't like Adam Pearson. Early on he was great, taking us up the leagues but the Dowie appointment was a disaster.
As I say, slow day at work! Depends what you want to look at and what you want to ignore, Nick finished higher and maintained a play-off position for 1200% longer than Nigel. But... Nigel had a 0.1 points per game better than Nick. Let's face it there's little to separate the two and people will not change their mind as to who they preferred, we're all far too stubborn for that!
