Nigel Pearson on Sounds of the City

[And Its Smith]

I didn’t hear him say James is the best midfielder he’s worked with. Heard him say he’s as good as any he’s worked with which is slightly different. 

[cityloyal473]

Enjoyed that.  No BS, loved it. 

[Distortia]

I would appreciate if anyone could provide a link to listen as I missed it - I saw the link on the previous page but it only seemed to play the broadcast from 7pm onwards.

Cheers!

[bigbash]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09ptw8j

 

Here a link for anyone who missed it.

1 minute ago, Distortia said:

I would appreciate if anyone could provide a link to listen as I missed it - I saw the link on the previous page but it only seemed to play the broadcast from 7pm onwards.

Cheers!

Great minds!

[CyderInACan]

He’s just said that Atkinson is going to help take us up to the premier league and continue playing there. No pressure then . . . 

[Merrick's Marvels]

Just now, CyderInACan said:

He’s just said that Atkinson is going to help take us up to the premier league and continue playing there. No pressure then . . . 

I found that an interesting comment from one so cagey about what he says in interviews

[Davefevs]

Here’s my notes:

Twentyman

Rennie - “players will tell you the difference”

“Players feel more engaged with the staff”, “being given feedback, given ownership how they train and how they develop”, “players will give me if they understand why they are being asked to do something”

“Steeliness to the players, a focus”

“Best way to force a culture is to get recruitment right”, “don’t think we add more, we may do”.

“Players we’ve brought in have got to be able to the jobs we want them to as players and the right type of people”.

“Players who remain have taken more responsibility, it’s the dynamic”

Matty James 

“As good as midfielder as I’ve worked with

Andy King

“Streetwise, lots of experience”

“Very positive influence on their team mates….Weimann, Martin, Bentley”, “manage the dressing room”

Rob Atkinson

“Proper defender, puts his foot through the ball”, “get some experience in…will help us get to PL and be able to perform there”, “for the future”, “this window….stabilise, foundations, Baker a bonus….financial implications, wasn’t offered initially….the two of them together…wow”

Baker

“Myth about availability, a fantastic athlete, need to manage him”, “staff will….he’ll enjoy playing”, “type of player I think we can more if it”

Striker

“Sell, reality of it….priorities”, “my responsibility to prioritise”, “Weimann, Martin, Well, Antoine…Tommy Conway, Belly who’s making great progress…we are short of a guaranteed 20 goals a season striker, but we can’t afford one”

“Conscious effort to move in a direction to cut wage bill but be competitive and give hope for the future”

“Players not shy of talking about promotion”, “ambitious”, “don’t want to populate squad with nearly men, would rather work with what I’ve got…what’s the point in wasting money on players who aren’t better than I’ve got…would rather develop what’s here”

Management

“Managing people”, “like having fun with media”, “open as possible, but not guff”, “accurate info…matter of fact”

“Hungry and motivated squad because they are close to the team”

“Pressure to deliver on the pitch….owner has invested time and money in infrastructure”, “style of play and identity….I’m not tippy-tappy, I want hardworking, aggressive, who look as if they’re bothered”

2nd half:

“Attracted me….doing something a bit different….get it right, can take off”

Training Ground, coaching,

“Observe a lot….clear messages (you can talk too much)….players get caught / I’m on the prowl”, “biggest part is dealing people, clarity of message, belief in them, giving them responsibility, guidance….players have to drive it too….opportunity to fail, give them leadership”

Paul Simpson

“Making progress….hoping he’ll be back asap”, “no pressure, want him back, but fit”

Curtis Fleming

“Engaging character, passionate, personable, good to have different style coaches”, “I don’t want nodding dogs”

“I didn’t know what I was gonna get from us to work out how we’d handle our opponents”

“GT - Blocks of games? - NP no”

“GT - Skipper? NP not telling you”

Match Day - team selection 

“Usually Friday, so can work on set pieces…allows sulkers to get over it, so everyone can support the team on match day”, “hopefully there ain’t be too many sulkers this season”

[Davefevs]

Was a cracker of a SOTC to whet the appetite for the season ahead.

[SuperRed]

“I want to be able to make decisions based on just selecting who I think the best team is, rather than having that be hamstrung if you like, to use the wrong word, because of injuries” 

[Simon79]

28 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

I didn’t hear him say James is the best midfielder he’s worked with. Heard him say he’s as good as any he’s worked with which is slightly different. 

This is OTIB, nothing like adding a bit! COYR 

[bcfc01]

Good interview.

NP paid special attention to Atkinson, Baker, James, King, Weimann, Bentley.

Maybe the spine of the team ?

No problems with that.

[TammyAB]

2 hours ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

"I am not one of these tippy tappy people, not into that."

"I want a hard working, aggressive team who look as if they're bothered".

Matty James is the best midfielder he's worked with.

Re: Kalas, he did mention him as an after-thought when talking Centre Backs but I can't see how this would be because he "doesn't rate him". 

Didn't rate Cambiasso then!

[Kid in the Riot]

2 hours ago, JonDolman said:

Yep because he signed Atkinson and re-signed Baker and the topic was about players Nige has brought in.

It was very clear that Nige was talking about Baker and Atkinson playing together. He then said "and we've got Kalas as well". 

Quite clear that as of right now Kalas has gone from being club captain to the periphery of the squad. 

[Finley_Smith10]

Just nice to see us appointing and recruiting people in order to try and build something. For too many years now it’s been to comfortable aswell as having too many players not enough quality. I’d happily take a mid table finish this season then go for it within the next few seasons. Very promising times just got to trust the process. 

[Selred]

54 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Good interview.

NP paid special attention to Atkinson, Baker, James, King, Weimann, Bentley.

Maybe the spine of the team ?

No problems with that.

I didn't think King was that great against Villa. Hope to see Nagy, Williams, HNM or Bakinson replace him. Keep King on the bench for game management in the last 15 mins. 

[Desso]

1 hour ago, INCRED said:

No

Oh!

[stephenkibby.]

Fantastic interview. Atkinson likes a tackle said Nige, If we can keep Baker fit then easy path between our center backs this season witch has to be a bonus.

What came across to me was Pearson is no way a teacher but for sure he's the Head Master.

Looking forward to it now bring it on.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

Good interview, but then exactly the same was said about Dean Holden’s first interviews.  The proof of the pudding, etc. etc.

interesting that he is prepared to talk about promotion (several times) as a realistic ambition.  He certainly gives the feel that he’s not here to tread water.  If I had one slight concern it was that he focused on the influence of the older players and the promise of the young ‘uns, but had little to say about the people in between.  I’d have liked to hear his assessment of the likes of Dasilva, O’Dowda, Vyner, Williams etc.

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Good interview, but then exactly the same was said about Dean Holden’s first interviews.  The proof of the pudding, etc. etc.

interesting that he is prepared to talk about promotion (several times) as a realistic ambition.  He certainly gives the feel that he’s not here to tread water.  If I had one slight concern it was that he focused on the influence of the older players and the promise of the young ‘uns, but had little to say about the people in between.  I’d have liked to hear his assessment of the likes of Dasilva, O’Dowda, Vyner, Williams etc.

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???

[Hartleysbeard]

Listening now and was interested to hear what he had to say about Kalas. The questions asked by GT were very much geared towards an assessment of players NP has brought in (or in the case of Baker, re-signed) and therefore nothing to read into about his thoughts on Kalas. I’d be happy seeing Kalas and Atkinson/Baker (happy with either there) as our primary pairing. 
 

Gregor needs to take note of what NP said tonight and hone his interview skills accordingly. I quite like Gregor but at times his questions lack intelligence and invite the obtuse replies that NP offers. Perhaps he’s been too easily indulged by more media friendly managers in recent seasons. 
 

I don’t especially like Pearson but I think he’s the right man for the job and if he gets the best out of this talented (on paper at least) group then I’ll be delighted. 
What I do like is that he wants players who are committed and play with commitment. Should be much easier on the eye this season I reckon - not necessarily attractive but we won’t be watching from behind our hands in absolute horror. COYR…just don’t expect Nige to bounce around the ground!

[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.

[Big C]

Could it be just a case that after Kalas's stint at the Euros NP has had longer to work with Atkinson and Baker over the summer and may be more up to speed in the early weeks?

[phantom]

1 hour ago, Big C said:

Could it be just a case that after Kalas's stint at the Euros NP has had longer to work with Atkinson and Baker over the summer and may be more up to speed in the early weeks?

All will be revealed soon, the clues were in the interview when asked another specific question

I was impressed with how GT reacted to NP stern answers, not heard anyone else stand up to his terse manner

[JoeAman08]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

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.

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….

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.

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.

Depends on whether NP trusts Cundy and Moore. Towler still around too at the minute. If he does there is no need to rush another defender in. Counting on players staying fit rather than having 3 options everywhere. 

[Super]

Really enjoyed that. GT has really turned into a superb sports presenter.

[Mendip City]

2 hours ago, Supersonic Robin said:

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.

Yeah all of that makes sense… I guess a couple of things we don’t know are:

Is there interest? Rumours don’t always surface and most top leagues are a week or two away from starting and there’s the best part of a month of the window left to go.  
 

Does Kalas want to be here? How did he feel at the end of last season? (Something odd went on). Has the Euros turned his/his agent’s head? 
 

For all his ability, I didn’t see him as a leader or organiser. Maybe NP finds that odd… almost unacceptable for a centre back… it’s certainly not how NP himself was as a player. 

By the way… I know nothing! All idle speculation!!
 

 

[Kid in the Riot]

4 hours ago, grifty said:

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.

Now that a significant proportion of his salary depends on him spending minutes on the pitch, rather than the treatment table, we shall see... 

[cidered abroad]

@Davefevs

I wasn't trying to criticise Kalas because if my interpretation of his performances is correct, then he gets my admiration.

But if by trying to be the whole defence himself, then he may have been unaware of the fact. I have never seen a City defence like it in seventy years. The "panic" attempts to clear the ball from the goalmouth to the moon are the worst I can remember and that includes seven relegations and plenty of years when we just avoided the drop.

On the other hand, I may be spouting a load of bollox which should please anyone who feared that one day my belief that I'll get the City managers job will come true!

[downendcity]

2 hours ago, Mendip City said:

Yeah all of that makes sense… I guess a couple of things we don’t know are:

Is there interest? Rumours don’t always surface and most top leagues are a week or two away from starting and there’s the best part of a month of the window left to go.  
 

Does Kalas want to be here? How did he feel at the end of last season? (Something odd went on). Has the Euros turned his/his agent’s head? 
 

For all his ability, I didn’t see him as a leader or organiser. Maybe NP finds that odd… almost unacceptable for a centre back… it’s certainly not how NP himself was as a player. 

By the way… I know nothing! All idle speculation!!
 

The bedrock of all that is OTIB.  

[The Bard]

4 hours ago, Big C said:

Could it be just a case that after Kalas's stint at the Euros NP has had longer to work with Atkinson and Baker over the summer and may be more up to speed in the early weeks?

This. He's 2 weeks back.  I suspect will play vs Forest Green and maybe one other game if Baker needs resting before the transfer window and international games.

 

[Elruliri]

1 hour ago, cidered abroad said:

@Davefevs

I wasn't trying to criticise Kalas because if my interpretation of his performances is correct, then he gets my admiration.

But if by trying to be the whole defence himself, then he may have been unaware of the fact. I have never seen a City defence like it in seventy years. The "panic" attempts to clear the ball from the goalmouth to the moon are the worst I can remember and that includes seven relegations and plenty of years when we just avoided the drop.

On the other hand, I may be spouting a load of bollox which should please anyone who feared that one day my belief that I'll get the City managers job will come true!

70 years of following the City you deserve a medal as big as a frying pan!

[Daniro]

3 hours ago, Super said:

Really enjoyed that. GT has really turned into a superb sports presenter.

Agreed he's good at doing football interviews.  He's not afraid to ask the difficult question and having been a footballer gives him the confidence to stand up to Nige in particular.    Pretty sure NP didn't remember the game 20p was on about when they played against each other.    Geoff was making it out they were great rivals; bless!

He's been around so long you've got to love him, even though he's a gashead, but there are few things I find more annoying in the whole world than that weird way he reads tweets out on the radio.  

"He - speaks - very - slowly - and - mono-ton-ously - when - he reads - out - tweets - and - why - does - he - need - to  - read  - them - out - anyway - when -we  - can - see - them - on - twitter - ourselves" 

[Davefevs]

51 minutes ago, Daniro said:

Agreed he's good at doing football interviews.  He's not afraid to ask the difficult question and having been a footballer gives him the confidence to stand up to Nige in particular.    Pretty sure NP didn't remember the game 20p was on about when they played against each other.    Geoff was making it out they were great rivals; bless!

He's been around so long you've got to love him, even though he's a gashead, but there are few things I find more annoying in the whole world than that weird way he reads tweets out on the radio.  

"He - speaks - very - slowly - and - mono-ton-ously - when - he reads - out - tweets - and - why - does - he - need - to  - read  - them - out - anyway - when -we  - can - see - them - on - twitter - ourselves" 

Because not all radio listeners are on twitter?

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

7 hours ago, DaveF said:

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.

I don’t think it’s bizarre by any means.  Pearson spent some time talking up Baker and Atkinson, to an extent which suggested that they are his first choice pairing.  Hardly bizarre to consider that perhaps if Kalas is not first choice he will want away.  Given that Pearson also seemed to suggest that he’d like to buy a striker, but only if we sold, then it’s a reasonable suggestion to make. 

[maxjak]

23 hours ago, mightyreds89 said:

Very clear that Baker & Atkinson are his main centre back pairing. Also speaking highly of the presence and influence of Bentley, Wiemann and Chris Martin big positive personalities alongside James and King. 

At what point in the interview have you gleaned this information....   I don't believe this to be the case  The only reason Kalas has not featured is because of the extra time he has been allowed off because of the Euros.  I see Baker and Kalas as the first choice main central pairing, with a young inexperienced Atkinson as back up.  I will be amazed if that is not the line up against Blackpool.?

[DaveF]

40 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

I don’t think it’s bizarre by any means.  Pearson spent some time talking up Baker and Atkinson, to an extent which suggested that they are his first choice pairing.  Hardly bizarre to consider that perhaps if Kalas is not first choice he will want away.  Given that Pearson also seemed to suggest that he’d like to buy a striker, but only if we sold, then it’s a reasonable suggestion to make. 

I think it is bizarre that from what Pearson said that people presume 'he doesn't rate him' and 'he must be off'.

[Northern Red]

25 minutes ago, DaveF said:

I think it is bizarre that from what Pearson said that people presume 'he doesn't rate him' and 'he must be off'.

Confirmation bias.

[Elruliri]

I've always rated twentyman he will ask the questions we want whereas gregor looks like he's rushed back from broadmead after a big mac. 

[old_eastender]

23 hours ago, Countryfile said:

If we assume Atkinson will partner Baker, and James and King will anchor the midfield then Bentley will captain the team.

I really hope not, when we have Nagy, HNM or Williams who can do that. King should be on the bench and used to help shut the game down with 15 mins left...

[bcfc01]

42 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

I really hope not, when we have Nagy, HNM or Williams who can do that. King should be on the bench and used to help shut the game down with 15 mins left...

Massengo isn't fit enough for Saturday and debateable that Williams is ready as well, but I agree about Nagy - he should partner James imo. But if its King, then no problem with that either.

If we have a closed doors game this week to get a couple up to match fit, it may well change.

[CyderInACan]

1 hour ago, old_eastender said:

I really hope not, when we have Nagy, HNM or Williams who can do that. King should be on the bench and used to help shut the game down with 15 mins left...

People keep saying this about King as if we’re going to be winning on 75 mins or so! It’s been said so often it’s almost become fact. If we’re shutting down games as suggested then I’ll be a happy chappy but I just can’t see it all that often.