Nigel Pearson on Sounds of the City

[Robbored]

21 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

That was down to the focus of the questions from GT.

Gregor could pick up the mantle and question along the lines of “we’ve heard a lot about the likes of Weimann, James, Martin, etc, and the youngsters, what about the mid-age range players like….x, y and z?”.  That’s an easy question to get Nige talking???

Big advantage for Geoff over GmG is that GT is a former professional footballer. That gives him credibility in the eyes of most managers.

[AshtonRobin21]

1 hour ago, Marco the red said:

Kalas doesn't have a long term future here based on that interview. 

 

Get the impression that Kalas is possibly the one NP is willing to sell in order to bring in a striker. 

The problem is that any offer that does come in, won't come near to what we paid, and the club is unlikely to sanction a deal in which we suffer a huge financial loss. 

The rest of the team is structured as NP likes, depth in each position but not a bloated squad. 

One issue however, may be that if Kalas does leave, we are potentially a CB short as well as needing a striker. 

Loan market or Free agent CB? 

[Hartleysbeard]

12 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Big advantage for Geoff over GmG is that GT is a former professional footballer. That gives him credibility in the eyes of most managers.

That’s exactly what I thought too. 

[Bar BS3]

51 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

That was down to the focus of the questions from GT.

Gregor could pick up the mantle and question along the lines of “we’ve heard a lot about the likes of Weimann, James, Martin, etc, and the youngsters, what about the mid-age range players like….x, y and z?”.  That’s an easy question to get Nige talking???

And now he can even pick it up from here. Perfect for him. 

[Simon bristol]

50 minutes ago, Hartleysbeard said:

That’s exactly what I thought too. 

Yep, similar background from similar era, twentyman is a decent bloke too which helps.

[MC RISK77]

11 hours ago, Hampshire reds said:

Alan Walsh. what a football player he was. 18k what a bargain. 

I cried for about a week when I saw he was being sold to besiktas for £99k I believe. Was my first hero, will always be my favourite player ever.

[Waconda]

12 hours ago, lenred said:

If we get it right here it could really take off and that excites  

Observes a lot rather than coaching and when he is coaching he wants to give clear messages. Working with people here so it’s about how you deal with people as well as the technical stuff.

Clarity is important, having belief in your people and giving guidance.
 

Players also need to own the leadership of the team and will look to provide opportunities.  

He is very much in the "Ferguson role" does very little of the actual day to day coaching. Observes from a distance, dips in when he feels the need and has a lot of 1 to 1 chats with players to the side.

Certainly couldn't accuse him of over coaching.

[Waconda]

7 hours ago, AshtonRobin21 said:

Get the impression that Kalas is possibly the one NP is willing to sell in order to bring in a striker. 

The problem is that any offer that does come in, won't come near to what we paid, and the club is unlikely to sanction a deal in which we suffer a huge financial loss. 

The rest of the team is structured as NP likes, depth in each position but not a bloated squad. 

One issue however, may be that if Kalas does leave, we are potentially a CB short as well as needing a striker. 

Loan market or Free agent CB? 

Different times now, a financial hit on the fee coupled with removing our top earner from the wage bill is possible IMO.

Kalas may also have asked for a transfer himself ?

It does look likely he is off, one way or another though.

[JoeAman08]

50 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

You might be right but if Kalas stays then it will be strange to have our record signing and best centre back as back up.

Either we will sell Kalas or I expect he will be back in the team soon enough.

I thought he was just talking about Atkinson and Baker as a pair in these friendlies and how impressed he is, after being asked about Atkinson and other signings he's made, and Baker is another one of those signings.

Pearson was also asked about Baker's injury problems. I don't think he was asked about Kalas once.

I do think Baker and Atkinson will likely start next week. They have been training together this whole time and available to play together before Kalas returned in friendlies and training games.

I think it is refreshing. Does not matter how much you went for or how much you are on. You get picked on merit in NP opinion. I really like Kalas but we bought him after a fantastic season next to Webster. He hasn’t been close to that since Webster left. Kalas needs to up his game. 

8 hours ago, AshtonRobin21 said:

Get the impression that Kalas is possibly the one NP is willing to sell in order to bring in a striker. 

The problem is that any offer that does come in, won't come near to what we paid, and the club is unlikely to sanction a deal in which we suffer a huge financial loss. 

The rest of the team is structured as NP likes, depth in each position but not a bloated squad. 

One issue however, may be that if Kalas does leave, we are potentially a CB short as well as needing a striker. 

Loan market or Free agent CB? 

With amortisation, it is a lot easier to break even or show a small profit. If we bought for 8m on a 4 year deal that is a 2m a season plus wages. He is halfway through that so if we sold for 4m that would cover the 2m a season plus we get the big wages off the books. That is the simplistic version of it not 100% accurate but an example. Yes it looks like a 4m loss but we also got 2 years of play and that costs. 
 

Would leave us lightish. Still have Vyner, Moore and Cundy. Probably wouldn’t like to rely on them for a large portion of the season but capable in short spells with Cundy perhaps being a wildcard. Plus only need to get to January in a bad situation where we can look at a loan there. Just don’t think we would desperately need one in if Kalas went. 

[CyderInACan]

45 minutes ago, MC RISK77 said:

I cried for about a week when I saw he was being sold to besiktas for £99k I believe. Was my first hero, will always be my favourite player ever.

Fantastic footballer & a thoroughly nice bloke too. 

[TRL]

8 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

And now he can even pick it up from here. Perfect for him. 

Unfortunately Gregor is a shit interviewer when it comes to building a rapport. He gets the Billy basics wrong and always has done, which is really really disappointing since he is no longer a newbie.

 

When I say basics I mean at the very least listen to the answer to the question you asked rather than just saying yeah yeah yeah. How many times has Gregor asked a question, ignored or failed to listen to the answer, then ask a question that has just been answered in his previous question. He is like a particularly crap call centre operative that flounders when off script.

 

Sorry He should stick to writing stories because as a interviewer he is utter garbage and seems to be going backwards.

[The Bard]

1 hour ago, TRL said:

Unfortunately Gregor is a shit interviewer when it comes to building a rapport. He gets the Billy basics wrong and always has done, which is really really disappointing since he is no longer a newbie.

 

When I say basics I mean at the very least listen to the answer to the question you asked rather than just saying yeah yeah yeah. How many times has Gregor asked a question, ignored or failed to listen to the answer, then ask a question that has just been answered in his previous question. He is like a particularly crap call centre operative that flounders when off script.

 

Sorry He should stick to writing stories because as a interviewer he is utter garbage and seems to be going backwards.

He's like Corbyn was at PMQs. He'd just stand up and ask 3 questions and pay zero notice of the answers. Contrast with Starmer who asks then listens to the answer because he's ready to go in for the kill.

[And Its Smith]

Would be very surprised if Kalas left to fund a striker as we would then need a centre back as well. Pearson described Atkinson as a signing for the future so I can’t see Kalas going anywhere. Just OTIB speculation 

[And Its Smith]

1 minute ago, The Bard said:

He's like Corbyn was at PMQs. He'd just stand up and ask 3 questions and pay zero notice of the answers. Contrast with Starmer who asks then listens to the answer because he's ready to go in for the kill.

Yeah cos Starmer has really killed Johnson in PMQs!

[2015]

It was a solid interview and perhaps the best one I have heard from NP since he come into the club. Sounds really excited by the prospect of Atkinson and has belief in the abilities of the squad to do well. 

There feels much more of a unity around the squad right now than this time last season. I get the feeling many of the players wanted out of the place during last season.

I get the impression there is real hunger and desire from NP to get the job done in the long run here. I think we'll have a hit and miss season this term, but as NP said he needs to stabilise us first after a poor 2nd half of last season. 

COYR

[The Bard]

Just now, And Its Smith said:

Yeah cos Starmer has really killed Johnson in PMQs!

Watch the early ones when they were socially distanced. It was carnage. Johnson could barely string a sentence together. 

 

Massively different to Corbyn 

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

If he rates Baker and Atkinson so highly, I’m a little surprised he hasn’t tried 3-1-4-2 in preseason, especially given Dasilva’s shortcomings in a four.

[grifty]

Let's face it, Baker is going to get injured whether its a light knock or something more serious sooner rather than later, so Kalas will be back in the team.

[Supersonic Robin]

2 hours ago, JoeAman08 said:

I think it is refreshing. Does not matter how much you went for or how much you are on. You get picked on merit in NP opinion. I really like Kalas but we bought him after a fantastic season next to Webster. He hasn’t been close to that since Webster left. Kalas needs to up his game. 

I'm all for players starting based on merit rather than price tag, however this may be a bit harsh on Kalas.

TK was excellent last season, and IMHO joins Bentley the exclusive group of players who can be said to have "saved us" in 2020/21. I don't think Kalas could have upped his game much more realistically. He then continued that form through the Euros. 

I think it would be near impossible to make the argument that Baker should be picked ahead of Kalas based on performances/'merit' over the last 12 months.

Perhaps NP is inclined to start Baker since Kalas was late returning to pre-season, but I'd be fairly surprised if Kalas isn't first choice in the long-run.

[Mendip City]

10 minutes ago, Supersonic Robin said:

I'm all for players starting based on merit rather than price tag, however this may be a bit harsh on Kalas.

TK was excellent last season, and IMHO joins Bentley the exclusive group of players who can be said to have "saved us" in 2020/21. I don't think Kalas could have upped his game much more realistically. He then continued that form through the Euros. 

I think it would be near impossible to make the argument that Baker should be picked ahead of Kalas based on performances/'merit' over the last 12 months.

Perhaps NP is inclined to start Baker since Kalas was late returning to pre-season, but I'd be fairly surprised if Kalas isn't first choice in the long-run.

I think the Kalas thing is simple. We need to generate some money. At the end of last season we’d have struggled to get our money back. Now we should get back what we paid… maybe more.  He’s also the biggest earner I believe. I think NP is just planning around our most sellable asset rather than planning with him. 
Of course that’s all guess work and I could be completely wrong! 

[Mendip City]

14 hours ago, Hampshire reds said:

Alan Walsh. what a football player he was. 18k what a bargain. 

It’s bonkers to think that nowadays we are paying some players more than £18k A WEEK!!!!!!

[TomThumb84]

May have been covered off already in this thread so apologies if it has;

If we had handled the situation better with more focus, professionalism and care with regards to players nearing end of contract, then we would not be where we are financially.

Crude maths and maybe over-simplifying it, but if we had sold Diedhiou for half of what we bought him for, and the same with Liam Walsh, in January, where we spoke nonsense and realistically had no clue who would and would not sign or stay, then Nige may have had an extra £3m knocking about for a striker.

Good job we got “value on the pitch” from the two players mentioned, alongside a host of others where there was no return on investment, in pounds and pence OR performance.

Unfortunately, this season, we are going to all - including Nigel Pearson - “reap what others have sown”, and hopefully it is enough to consolidate this year.

It still amazes me that under the cloak of Covid, our club almost completely imploded, starting in the boardroom. From a position of “Top 6” is the aim and the least, we are now looking to youth and “offering hope for the future”.

[DaveF]

Bizarre how some people read into things. I didn't get the impression he doesn't rate Kalas and that he is being sold at all... The questioning was around new signings of which Baker is one, Pearson didn't say he prefers Baker to Kalas.

I'm confident for a decent season, I think if Pearson gets his wish of aggressive play then we will be entertaining to watch.

[cidered abroad]

3 hours ago, JoeAman08 said:

I think it is refreshing. Does not matter how much you went for or how much you are on. You get picked on merit in NP opinion. I really like Kalas but we bought him after a fantastic season next to Webster. He hasn’t been close to that since Webster left. Kalas needs to up his game. 

With amortisation, it is a lot easier to break even or show a small profit. If we bought for 8m on a 4 year deal that is a 2m a season plus wages. He is halfway through that so if we sold for 4m that would cover the 2m a season plus we get the big wages off the books. That is the simplistic version of it not 100% accurate but an example. Yes it looks like a 4m loss but we also got 2 years of play and that costs. 
 

Would leave us lightish. Still have Vyner, Moore and Cundy. Probably wouldn’t like to rely on them for a large portion of the season but capable in short spells with Cundy perhaps being a wildcard. Plus only need to get to January in a bad situation where we can look at a loan there. Just don’t think we would desperately need one in if Kalas went. 

@JoeAman08

Very balanced comments and I have totally changed my opinion of Kalas since the start of last season.

Whilst he had a big ball winner alongside, he looked a class too high for City's level. At international level he appears to be a good defender which could be exaggerated by those alongside and in front of him.

However, last season, our defence became a farcical imitation. No more togetherness than a team of seven year olds. We had a keeper who rarely moved off his line - not a problem or a change from preceding years.

It was how all around Kalas were doing. I began to notice that 95% of the time it was Kalas going for the cross, in the air or on the ground.

Initially I thought, he was working so hard to lead our defence. But over a period, it came to me that because of this, the shape of the defence did not exist. Colleagues were just getting out of the way for Kalas to get to the ball, creating panic clearances as the norm rather than once in the game.

I'm not trying to be clever after the event as I'm sure others on here with coaching and playing experience greater than mine, saw it also.

Could this be why Pearson is, apparently, not making Kalas as first name on the team sheet?

Is it Pearson's way of getting him to change the way he plays for us? Or is he being encouraged to play his football elsewhere?

 

[Supersonic Robin]

26 minutes ago, Mendip City said:

I think the Kalas thing is simple. We need to generate some money. At the end of last season we’d have struggled to get our money back. Now we should get back what we paid… maybe more.  He’s also the biggest earner I believe. I think NP is just planning around our most sellable asset rather than planning with him. 
Of course that’s all guess work and I could be completely wrong! 

It's a decent theory - I suppose it may be transfer-orientated.

However, the main issues I see with that approach are:

A) Even if NP does want to sell Kalas, we need a club who wants to buy him. As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been many rumours to suggest that this is the case.

B) If (A) is accurate and we're not confident of our ability to sell Kalas, you'd imagine NP's thinking may be close to "If we can't sell him, we should use him". It seems very early to sideline Kalas unless we're very confident that we will sell.

C) If we sold Kalas, we'd certainly need to replace him (very well). To fully justify the sale, we'd likely also need to sign a striker using some portion of the funds. Hence, if the plan is to sell Kalas, then we'd need to have identified good targets at CB and ST, be very confident of getting them, and be able to move fast (given that we'll start playing competitive games in a few days). It would feel risky losing such a key player this close to the start of the season.

I'm not sure that trying to sell Kalas is the route that we are/should be going down.

[Merrick's Marvels]

6 minutes ago, DaveF said:

I'm confident for a decent season, I think if Pearson gets his wish of aggressive play then we will be entertaining to watch.

"If" Pearson gets his wish - a big IF, that one.

I agree it would make us more entertaining to watch but Matty James can't do it all by himself.

Vyner, Dasilva, Moore, O'Dowda, Palmer, Nagy, Bakinson - passive, passive, passive. We have no forwards to physically dominate opponents, either.

This makes me less than confident that Pearson has enough players made of the right stuff to implement the style he wants.

Williams and Massengo will help James in the middle of the park but goodness only knows when the former will be ready for 90 minutes of football, never mind Sat-Tues-Sat.  

[2015]

4 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

@JoeAman08

Very balanced comments and I have totally changed my opinion of Kalas since the start of last season.

Whilst he had a big ball winner alongside, he looked a class too high for City's level. At international level he appears to be a good defender which could be exaggerated by those alongside and in front of him.

However, last season, our defence became a farcical imitation. No more togetherness than a team of seven year olds. We had a keeper who rarely moved off his line - not a problem or a change from preceding years.

It was how all around Kalas were doing. I began to notice that 95% of the time it was Kalas going for the cross, in the air or on the ground.

Initially I thought, he was working so hard to lead our defence. But over a period, it came to me that because of this, the shape of the defence did not exist. Colleagues were just getting out of the way for Kalas to get to the ball, creating panic clearances as the norm rather than once in the game.

I'm not trying to be clever after the event as I'm sure others on here with coaching and playing experience greater than mine, saw it also.

Could this be why Pearson is, apparently, not making Kalas as first name on the team sheet?

Is it Pearson's way of getting him to change the way he plays for us? Or is he being encouraged to play his football elsewhere?

 

Not trying to be too clever at all. I have always questioned his stance when he jumps for a header which caused him an injury for a month last season when he went flying out of control needlessly for a header. Also did the same vs Rotherham in April and had to come off. 

I don't think he performed that badly, he gets infront of the ball very well, but sometimes his decision to go for headers and tackles are way off the mark, sometimes reckless.

[Oh Louie louie]

Im sure walshy gave a interview once, and he said he scored more headers in turkey in a year, than what he did in his time here?

[lenred]

4 hours ago, VT05763 said:

He is very much in the "Ferguson role" does very little of the actual day to day coaching. Observes from a distance, dips in when he feels the need and has a lot of 1 to 1 chats with players to the side.

Certainly couldn't accuse him of over coaching.

Just for clarification as I’ve been quoted a couple of times here, this is me replicating what NP said, not my POV. Sorry should have put it in quotation marks! 

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, JoeAman08 said:

I think it is refreshing. Does not matter how much you went for or how much you are on. You get picked on merit in NP opinion. I really like Kalas but we bought him after a fantastic season next to Webster. He hasn’t been close to that since Webster left. Kalas needs to up his game. 

With amortisation, it is a lot easier to break even or show a small profit. If we bought for 8m on a 4 year deal that is a 2m a season plus wages. He is halfway through that so if we sold for 4m that would cover the 2m a season plus we get the big wages off the books. That is the simplistic version of it not 100% accurate but an example. Yes it looks like a 4m loss but we also got 2 years of play and that costs. 
 

Would leave us lightish. Still have Vyner, Moore and Cundy. Probably wouldn’t like to rely on them for a large portion of the season but capable in short spells with Cundy perhaps being a wildcard. Plus only need to get to January in a bad situation where we can look at a loan there. Just don’t think we would desperately need one in if Kalas went. 

If you accept Kalas leaving and Vyner as a CB cover., then you need another RB instead.  You can’t go in with one RB - Simpson.  If Kalas goes to fund a striker, it has to fund a defender as well.

I can’t imagine Nige wants Kalas to go, but I get worried when Kid says Brighton are looking….but if they are, chances are we will get a sizeable fee.  I don’t want him to go though.

1 hour ago, Supersonic Robin said:

I'm all for players starting based on merit rather than price tag, however this may be a bit harsh on Kalas.

TK was excellent last season, and IMHO joins Bentley the exclusive group of players who can be said to have "saved us" in 2020/21. I don't think Kalas could have upped his game much more realistically. He then continued that form through the Euros. 

I think it would be near impossible to make the argument that Baker should be picked ahead of Kalas based on performances/'merit' over the last 12 months.

Perhaps NP is inclined to start Baker since Kalas was late returning to pre-season, but I'd be fairly surprised if Kalas isn't first choice in the long-run.

With Nige, the last 12 months are irrelevant, the last few months of last season might be, but undoubtedly pre-season is the basis for this season.  It could be as simple as Wells, Nagy and Kalas coming back late means they’re behind the others, and it appears that being fit (and robust) is key.  He’s taken no risks with Joe Williams or Han-Noah Massengo this summer….he’s thinking about a gruelling season.

Nagy did make Loughborough, so he might be fine, but TK and NW might be playing catch up.  Baker and Atkinson have had chance to build minutes together, form a pairing.  He sounds like he really likes Baker.  A fit Baker (yeah, yeah, we know the past) is a top half defender at this level.  If he’s been “fixed” by Rennie, then that’s fantastic.

Gonna be a nervy few weeks….

36 minutes ago, TomThumb84 said:

May have been covered off already in this thread so apologies if it has;

If we had handled the situation better with more focus, professionalism and care with regards to players nearing end of contract, then we would not be where we are financially.

Crude maths and maybe over-simplifying it, but if we had sold Diedhiou for half of what we bought him for, and the same with Liam Walsh, in January, where we spoke nonsense and realistically had no clue who would and would not sign or stay, then Nige may have had an extra £3m knocking about for a striker.

Good job we got “value on the pitch” from the two players mentioned, alongside a host of others where there was no return on investment, in pounds and pence OR performance.

Unfortunately, this season, we are going to all - including Nigel Pearson - “reap what others have sown”, and hopefully it is enough to consolidate this year.

It still amazes me that under the cloak of Covid, our club almost completely imploded, starting in the boardroom. From a position of “Top 6” is the aim and the least, we are now looking to youth and “offering hope for the future”.

Negligence is the word.  I think someone’s mind was on East Anglia.  Left Pearson with a difficult situation which he’s trying to repair.  Not an easy task.

13 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

@JoeAman08

Very balanced comments and I have totally changed my opinion of Kalas since the start of last season.

Whilst he had a big ball winner alongside, he looked a class too high for City's level. At international level he appears to be a good defender which could be exaggerated by those alongside and in front of him.

However, last season, our defence became a farcical imitation. No more togetherness than a team of seven year olds. We had a keeper who rarely moved off his line - not a problem or a change from preceding years.

It was how all around Kalas were doing. I began to notice that 95% of the time it was Kalas going for the cross, in the air or on the ground.

Initially I thought, he was working so hard to lead our defence. But over a period, it came to me that because of this, the shape of the defence did not exist. Colleagues were just getting out of the way for Kalas to get to the ball, creating panic clearances as the norm rather than once in the game.

I'm not trying to be clever after the event as I'm sure others on here with coaching and playing experience greater than mine, saw it also.

Could this be why Pearson is, apparently, not making Kalas as first name on the team sheet?

Is it Pearson's way of getting him to change the way he plays for us? Or is he being encouraged to play his football elsewhere?

 

Our defence last season played 6 minutes together in its preferred 3 of Vyner, Kalas, Mawson….against Northampton in the cup, before Kalas got injured.  Then Mawson v Boro.  Moore got played LCB, even Tommy Rowe played there.

In fact I doubt that was the preferred 3….Mawson, Kalas, Baker was it.  It never played.

To lay partial blame at Kalas’s door is incredibly harsh.