Pearson's First Year (Merged)

[Jerseybean]

It’s a year today that NP took charge, https://www.bristolworld.com/sport/football/bristol-city/nigel-pearson-has-shown-flexibility-and-innovation-and-he-will-need-more-at-bristol-city-3575434

For the record I remain 100% delighted that he is here and very much look forward to seeing his ongoing management turn the Club around. He has IMO already made a significant impact under very difficult circumstances. 

His experience, steadfast approach, clear communication and football/life mindset are all utterly refreshing and will lead to a much better football Club in terms of culture, results and identity.

While I appreciate that not everyone is convinced, for me we are a Club being transformed by a capable man who knows what a huge job he has taken on.

 

[Red Army 75]

100% behind him. 

[Bristol Rob]

12 months today since Nige was appointed.

During that time he has suffered a couple of bouts of the Vids, had another medial procedure that has kept him away from the touchline and has had to motivate his team in empty stadiums.

How would you assess his first 12 months.

Hit, Miss or jury still out?

[CyderInACan]

For me the direction of travel is clear. Hit. 

[The Bard]

Just now, Bristol Rob said:

12 months today since Nige was appointed.

During that time he has suffered a couple of bouts of the Vids, had another medial procedure that has kept him away from the touchline and has had to motivate his team in empty stadiums.

How would you assess his first 12 months.

Hit, Miss or jury still out?

Work in progress Rob.  Some good, some bad but overall I sense a shift in mentality.

This summer will be interesting. A lot of changes.

[Gazred]

Certainly made a positive impression if not always evident on the pitch.

Big summer ahead. If he can retain, move on and recruit as desired then i think we'll really see a true Pearson team.

[SnozRobin]

Hit. He is turning this sh#t show around.

Just hope the Lansdowns don’t mess it up. The fan base is united for the first time in years.

[lenred]

Very much a hit for me. Obviously there are a few naysayers on here but to have someone with Nige’s football pedigree at the helm has been a relief and has filled me with confidence for our short to medium term future.  We are in a ‘ing awful position financially and are incredibly lucky that he has taken the challenge on with such gusto. We are already seeing the changes he has brought about with style of play and crucially bringing the youngsters through and I just hope he gets the time that he needs. Good times ahead if so which, given our position when MA left is a minor miracle in footballing terms. I’m enjoying going to Ashton Gate again for the first time in a good while and that feeling is shared by my pals I go with who although don’t post on here would 100% agree.   Cheers Nige! 

Edited February 22, 2022 by lenred

[cityfan1958]

28 minutes ago, Red Army 75 said:

100% behind him. 

This.

[Davefevs]

On the right track.  Shifting us from Cosy Club to Culture Club!

[Gazred]

13 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

On the right track.  Shifting us from Cosy Club to Culture Club!

With the likes of the boy George Tanner recruited, I'd agree.

[supercidered]

It's turned from depressing i.e. pre-Pearson to genuine optimism. In a space of 12 months given how bad it was it has to be a Hit for me.

[spudski]

7 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

Created (had the vision and balls)  over £50m worth of talent , we score goals and have shots on goal, we play at times some beautiful football. Finally started to assemble a club that will operate in a an organised manner from top to bottom with greater standards and professionalism. All this with an unbalanced squad, with dead wood to shift , a financial black hole not of his making and during covid. Not all plain sailing, but it is starting to come together. Massive summer, as this will be the time we address the squad issues that are quite clear, hope to keep major youth talents, and head into next season as a more cohesive squad and become a team the others do not want to play against. Big hit for me, major foundations being put in place. Whatever happens we will be a better club for Pearson. 

He's not perfect by any means...but has certainly done what you say.

His biggest strength imo, is he's the perfect fit for the majority of City fans.

In his personality and the way he goes about his business. He's similar to Cotterill in that respect ( who I couldn't stand), but I realised a great majority loved him.

Like SC I get the impression he could ruffle the feathers of the owners at times...which imo is a good thing.

The fans in main are behind him...and far more ' educated' as to our situation.

I really do hope we can keep our young hot shots and get rid of the fodder in the summer...and replace with better.

If so...the future looks a lot brighter.

 

[AshtonRobin21]

Progression should be fairly clear for all to see..

- Attacking intent

- Development of youth

- Unity between Players, Staff and Fans

- Playing with passion (most of the time)

- Huge improvements from players such as Semenyo. 

 

Still a couple of areas to work on, defensive changes will be made in the summer. But Pearson is 100% the man to take us forward. 

If we can see an upturn in our away form, to match our home record, then we will be in for a much more exciting season next year. 

Players such as Weimann, Martin, Williams, James, King, Bentley, Klose and Kalas offer a strong experienced core to the squad, and all seem determined to play well for the manager. However, I have been most impressed with how Nige has got the likes of Semenyo, Scott, Massengo and Pring to settle in amongst the experience, and it is that blend that is making us exciting to watch once again.

[Bris Red]

100% behind him. He has everything stacked against him here financially at the moment - it’s a tough job made even tougher i feel by the meddling of the Lansdown family. 
I don’t think anyone can’t knock the job he is doing under difficult circumstances. 
 

[Davefevs]

8 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

We are far away, but closer that it seems

Good way of putting it.  For me, that means we can make the next step next season.  That is gonna be key to hopefully keeping the youngsters onside.

[Fordy62]

Rewind 12 months and are we really discussing all of Semenyo, Scott and HNM being worth 8 figures? Weimann approaching 20 goals and Pring being an automatic selection? All on a comparative shoestring?

Inconsistencies will remain for a while and we’ll have many a down, but we’re now entertaining to watch and definitely a club on the up. Cheers Nige!

[2015]

If you compare where we were this time last year to now, you have to say there has been improvement. As said previously, we could barely muster a shot on goal in some matches at this point last year.

The best thing Pearson has done is he has improved valuable young assets (Scott, Massengo, Pring, Semenyo) and also got the best out of Weimann and Martin as well. 

The biggest issue is we haven't been consistent, but that happens with inexperienced young players, and a side who had relegation form between January and May 2021.

[Rossi the Robin]

31 minutes ago, Tafkarmlf said:

Wowsers a year already. 

I'm waivering between B-/ C+ and much of the improvement recently attacking wise has been spectacular to see. 

There's been highs, lows and wtf moments and we're still very much Work in Progress especially defensively where we've been a mess for the majority of the time. Also some naff signings and bizarre tactics. 

Curtis addition seems to have galvanised and that's a plus too. 

Can see why he's loved and adored,  try to be objective and feel the 'grade' fits overall. 

 

Good post. I’ve been a fan since he joined although was a bit disappointed with the style of football a number of times - seems the addition of a rejuvenated Semenyo has helped the cause

Once the defensive errors are cut out consistently, think we should be looking for a 8th-12th spot next season 

 

 

 

[Bristol Rob]

For all the improvements we can see and the explosion of youth we all seem to appreciate; I still find myself thinking.... 'Danny Simpson?'...  'Why?'.

But aside from that, I'm happy.

[Pezo]

It would be easy to be critical depending on what you're comparison is.

If you think we should be winning the league or even in the top 6 then you're (an idiot) going to think he hasn't done a great job.

If you compare it to where we were when he came in the situation's and constraints he has had to deal with then I'm going for a B+.

If he was marking the club after a year I'm sure it would be a D+, unfortunately we have some players that are C+ but some that are complete F's!

[Pezo]

Just now, Bristol Rob said:

For all the improvements we can see and the explosion of youth we all seem to appreciate; I still find myself thinking.... 'Danny Simpson?'...  'Why?'.

But aside from that, I'm happy.

That's a big reason for why it's not an A for me.

I'm sure he can't get into it now but when Danny Simpson leaves I would like Nige to give an honest assessment of what he was expecting from Simpson when he brought him in, why he had to bring him in as a player, what were the benefits of having Simpson in the squad, how he thought it worked out overall.

[Alessandro]

Is there a better tactical manager out there who could get more out of this squad? Maybe. Would that be papering over the cracks. Probably, yes.

Is there a better manager out there with the pedigree, experience and personality to develop players and make the changes that need to be made at the club? Not just a bit of poly filler here and there but knocking down the wall and re-building if that's what it takes? I'd say no, not in our price range.

What the last 6 or so years has shown us, for us to even compete in this league and have the odd flirt with the top 6, we needed to spend beyond our FFP limits.

SL, you gave it a go, but the current system hasn't worked, NP can see that and is our best hope of getting through to the owners that message too, tweaking what needs to be tweaked and burning down what needs to be burned.

Hit for me. 

[Alessandro]

3 minutes ago, Pezo said:

That's a big reason for why it's not an A for me.

I'm sure he can't get into it now but when Danny Simpson leaves I would like Nige to give an honest assessment of what he was expecting from Simpson when he brought him in, why he had to bring him in as a player, what were the benefits of having Simpson in the squad, how he thought it worked out overall.

If we're only complaining about 1 "bad" signing under NP - well given we'd lost count under Ashton, Johnson and Holden, i'd say that was very much progress in the right direction.

Edited February 22, 2022 by Alessandro

[ooRya]

Still to be convinced TBH.

On the one hand, I recognise all the difficulty's that he has had to face...and is still facing. But I do think that he has been incredibly lucky with the crop of youngsters that were ready to come through.

[Alessandro]

2 minutes ago, ooRya said:

Still to be convinced TBH.

On the one hand, I recognise all the difficulty's that he has had to face...and is still facing. But I do think that he has been incredibly lucky with the crop of youngsters that were ready to come through.

Don't really agree with this. The only one you could say he's been "lucky" with, as in come out of nowhere really, been given a debut and been immediately influential on the pitch, is Scott.

Semenyo and Pring are both progressing as they should IMO. They've had their lower league loans, been in and around the squad and they've now been developed and integrated by NP into quality champ players, so I don't see that as 'lucky'.

Even then we're talking 3 young players. To balance that you can take Weimann, Martin and (to an extent) Massengo who were more established squad members that have gone on to step up a level under NP.

[Davefevs]

3 minutes ago, ooRya said:

Still to be convinced TBH.

On the one hand, I recognise all the difficulty's that he has had to face...and is still facing. But I do think that he has been incredibly lucky with the crop of youngsters that were ready to come through.

Or you could ask, would those youngsters still be playing u23 football with someone else in charge.

Would another manager have risked Scott (and Bell for that matter) at RWB?  Would Robbie Cundy have been brought on as sub in crucial points of the last 3 games?  Benarous too, hadn’t even become a regular in the u23s until this season.

Yeah, he might’ve been forced into it to some extent, but there are plenty of managers who would’ve been sticking with the older players, or bleating about playing the youngsters.  Nige is actually saying they’ve been better in some cases.

But it’s all about opinions.

[Pezo]

3 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

If we're only complaining about 1 "bad" signing under NP - well given we'd lost count under Ashton, Johnson and Holden, i'd say that was very much progress in the right direction.

To be honest I usually give a manager 50/50 with signings, that's usually works out about right.

I don't think it's just one bad signing for Nige, there should be questions about the Leicester Reds, Simpson, James, King plus Baker not on football ability but injury record but I also understood we needed experienced players, the judgement is still out for Atkinson and Tanner - they look ok, Weiman is turning out to be a great signing.

There are still questions about our injury record as well and although it's improved it's not good enough enough.

[cidered abroad]

For once, there isn't anything I can add to previous comments.

At last we have a proper football manager, who organises the playing side from top to bottom, includes Academy and young pros with the first team squad so that everyone believes that they belong to the club, not like Cam Pring and probably plenty of others, at the time of Pearson's arrival.

We have a football team again that tries to win and entertain.

[Bristol Rob]

Reading the replies that are calling out the home grown players being largely a great success this season and whilst it might be something this needs its own thread, but how well have their careers been managed to date?

Monster work by Tins for the loans, development path and monitoring, taking kids who have likely reached a point of having outgrown the U23s, and getting them exposed to competitive football at levels they have been able to learn and thrive in, before bringing them back and them then being able to start competing for the 1st team squad.

Cheers Tins!

Helps NP no end I would guess.