Fuber

Depends how we take into account the impact of Covid on championship players values in the context of the exposure championship clubs suffered in the same period, while considering strikers tend to be worth more. If I was in City's position, I'd look at spread fees which would be more of a help longer term with FFP. So something akin to £8m up front plus £5m across the next 32 months, with further £1m if Bournemouth avoid relegation from EPL otherwise appearance based clauses, and a standard 10-20% sell-on-profit.

Not sure I agree with this Nick. I think LJs view was very much "I know how to setup to counter X team", he even coined the clubs in bag terminology. Then considering how his reign ended, I've also not known another manager having so many rumours of dressing room unrest during their time in charge. I actually think LJ distances himself too much from the squad - especially how he wouldn't even explain decisions to players per the Fielding interview. Eventually - that's what got him sacked.

Correct - I should have amended that all were established under Cotts, not signed by him. Error on my part. Both Freeman and Ayling were signed by Cotts, and sold by LJ for Peanuts or let go for free, and improved once correctly utilised by other clubs at our level - at the time.

That's the remit of every manager at this level - parachute payments aside. Most of his best players that he sold, he didn't even sign. Flint, Pack, Kodjia, Bryan, and Reid all had come through or were signed under Cotts. He gets credit for improving them - as I said he's a decent coach. But his weakness is squad building and man-management. Which are vital in this league. Only of the players signed under his reign sold at a profit I believe we're Brownhill who he knew from Barnsley, and Webster.

Wasn't he subbed off first half for Dolan? Then the latter ripped us apart. May be miss-remembering.

On the pitch sure. But as manager, he even said he had sign off on transfers and left us a bloated tragic mess. Him, MA, and SL were an unmitigated disaster financially that ruined any prospective of future building - irrespective of Covid. If it was NP, getting no shots on target with a squad of that value, he'd be given the P45 at the final wistle as soon as it happened. For contrast, current squad fees are - Academy, Academy, £1.6m, Free, 300k, £100k (Compensation), Academy, Free, £2m (LJ), £4m (LJ), Academy. LJs squad at a time in 18/19, on paper, was worth fees of up to £42m. And that's ignoring that player wage increases year on year to over and beyond our turnover. All of LJs progression was sheer forced improvement of the tools he had via increasing overheads without even getting rid of the deadwood he replaced. Id usually point the finger squarely at MA. However, LJ seems to be at it again at Hibs, 30 players he's used, in 6 months. For contrast, St Mirren, in fifth, have used 22 players. He's an OK Coach, but a horrific manager in that he's doesnt have a set system and focuses on countering the opposition through a range of differing ideas, massively over complicating player instructions, leading to a lack of clear identity on the pitch. We saw it time and again, game after game. Once the luck runs out, and his teams lose the small margins, the bad runs starts and he struggled horrifically to recover from them. The second he finds a system that works, he sticks with it until it stutters, and rather than adapt it, starts from scratch again and again until he finds one that works, rinse and repeat. He'll be sacked from Hibs before the end of the season. Apologies for the rant, but I think a few people are really rose tinting the cup run season and misremembering some of the utter squalor from the following two seasons, Webster's mazy dribbles aside.

It's an odd one. Agent fees mostly come from bonuses rather than retainer, so its oddly the opposite. Just strange as it's not something you usually see. Is it possible that Nige just wants to see the project through, and after a turbulent time with Covid last season, maybe the agent - who may have a good rapport with Nige, just wants to him to succeed? Alternatively, Nige was debating retirement after this job iirc, so maybe simply wants to keepretainer fee on his books.

Agreed, square peg round hole. Didn't suite the system. But that was also down to the manager not really having a system in the first place. Not sure you can blame the player for that. Fammy was never a pressing forward, and he was very inconsistent when the ball was played into him, agreed. However, there's a reason Wells' is having to play that role and not TC in the current setup. Conway is a poacher, his actual link up play, in my opinion, isn't as good as Fammy, in my opinion. He can get bullied and disappear too easily from games - there's a reason he went through a spell 7-8 games in when he started getting hooked as he became a bystander. He is, however, as per my previous point, young and inexperienced, which isn't a problem as long as he's able to adapt and learn. As for the bit in bold, sure - but what what was said teams squad composition like? We, as a comparison, are horrific in that metric with regards to aerial duels overall - and that comes down to recruitment, which as has been discussed, is where Pearson's hands are tied to just free agents and academy graduates. Not disbuting that Conway is arguably the better player. But as a squad, I know who on paper would be more useful in our situation.

Agreed. Althought I'd temper that and say, I dedinateky think with regards to Williams, injuries have likely had an impact, same with DaSilva. Ashton appointing Rolls was one of the most damaging actions the former undertook imo. No coincidence that Hamstring injuries are appearing at Ipswich.

In pure goalscoring terms, sure. And as much as I can't believe I'm saying this, Fammy was a weapon when it came to defending his own box. The latter was also great for us in enabling us to mix play. He was stronger than Tommy and better aerially, which meant you could more easily play it into him from deep, and not as slow as Martin, so you could still play it into the channel. For the above reasons, for me, with our current imbalance with regards to height, and weakness to set pieces, I'd have Fammy back in pretty sharpish. Enabling the likes of Bell to go out on loan.

We still have less coaches in the current team than what LJ had at any point. Former had two assistants. No reason not to have more than 2 coaches.

It ain't. For me, anyway. Should NP be doing better, yep. However, comparing squads - I'd be shocked anyone can look at them and say our squad now is stronger. Johnson had numerous experienced professionals and way more depth, too much even. Now we have none, and NP has bled more academy players in the past 12 months than LJ did in 36. At the time Lee was sacked, he'd won once in 11. Yes, the likes of Scott, Conway, are likely better than Paterson and others. But they are not, nor should they be expected - to be as consistent, as we saw Boxing Day. The likes of Maenpaa, Diedhiou, Benkovic, even Pedro Pereira - walk into this team. Over the likes of Bentley, Conway, Vyner, Tanner, etc. They were also then on double the likes of Atkinson's current wages now. Ultimately, the only point that matters is the lack of available investment in the playing squad, and no matter how its framed, that rests squarely with the Lansdowns ownership of the club.

His record has been atrocious his last few clubs.

Instead of the same names being banded about - how about going the European route, ala Kompany, Wagner, Farke, etc?

Recruitment was Walsh - CS was Nige's assistant at Hull and Leicester.

When did LJ have a lower wage budget?

Rather him than Scott Parker tbh. Keane would keep it simple, effective, and if anyone doesn't give 100% I'd rather not be in their show.

As Tesco say, every little helps!

I'm fully expecting one of Semenyo/Scott and/or Massengo to go.

My patience has finally run out. Sorry Nige, it's hasn't worked. The performances are no where near where they need to be.

It's just typical championship officiating.

To be fair. They didn't even have a shot on target which speaks volumes imo.

Our best upwards trajectory aside from GJ was under the period he nor Jon were chairman , under Keith Dawe. I think that speaks volumes.

Think this is probably accurate, a devolved structure under the chairman most likely, thereby probably meaning Gould slowly stepping back with the financials being hand over to another figure yet to be hired or one of the club directors short term. Although my query would be, who does this make head of youth development now? - usually a technical director (such as the likes of Ashworth) are not hands on with the academy. I may be being daft and forgetting something.

d club and a quick look at most Championship Clubs will confirm this. Our plight to stick within FFP whilst reducing losses is no different to most clubs who aren't getting PP. SL has been and is a good owner and has built a solid club with his own personal money. Should he decide it's time for a change then there will be some willing candidates but the rest is entirely speculation. In the case of those maintaining that the only possible man for the job remains Nigel Pearson are delusional. I just don't see it M. It's a matter of opinion ultimately, so we may have to respectfully disagree, in this instance at least. No other club had year on year spending increases that we did relative to turnover under MA (2017-2020) - all singularly down to lack of owner oversight, irrespective of the overall FFP impact on other clubs. The worst aspect of it, for me, is it's repeating the exact same mistakes of the end of the GJ through O'Driscoll era. The only thing the same now to then is our ownership and complete lack of direction. Cotts (and Burt) worked wonders, right people, right time. Different chairman (god bless Keith Dawe). Fan numbers while great, ultimately don't have a huge impact (Luton, Brentford, Bournemouth, Watford, QPR). Training Facilities (which aren't that great in the grander scheme of things) and Academy mean nothing, unless they save us from a relegation battle short term - which hasnt worked so far, nor the past 18 months. The latter will likely just help bring us back to financial stability (i.e. if we sell Scott), and it's not to dissimilar to some other clubs' output (Reading, Blackburn, Norwich, West Brom). Its more where our Academy output previously (pre Bryan/Reid) was completely woeful, by comparison, so at least the increase in output in itself is fantastic, however - we were playing catch-up in the first instance. There is one word that describes our clubs ownership. Amateurish. There are clubs worse than us, i.e. Reading and Huddersfield among others, but plenty more are better run from an FFP and ownership standpoint taking into account clubs size and consistency (Preston, Luton, Blackburn, QPR, Swansea, Millwall, etc).