The Journalist

I've been working today so still trying to digest all this. And it's days like today, in a weird way, that I feel even more fortunate to do the job I do... because it's the reason I don't waste thousands of pounds, travel hundreds of miles and squander hours and hours on this club like I used to when I was younger. As we've all discussed at length over the past few weeks, of course Nigel Pearson leaving is not the end of the world. This club was here before him and will be here long after him. But that's not the ******* point, is it? He didn't deserve this. And we didn't deserve this completely tone-deaf crap from the owner again. (Sorry if I'm just repeating what everyone else has said, been wanting to vent since the news came out - been head down in Premier League football all afternoon... something this club won't ever have to worry about.)

Be pretty funny if Ashton comes on the pitch at the end to celebrate.

Not really sure you’ve read my post properly. I felt from the beginning he wouldn’t likely stay long term and that after rebuilding someone else would come in to push us on, but now I’d like him to stay. He deserves it. I’m a huge Pearson fan.

I’ve read this whole thread with great interest over the past couple of days. FWIW, while your views aren’t necessarily widely shared there’s a lot of logic there and it’s been a healthy debate. The best of OTIB IMO. When Pearson was appointed and during the first 6-12 months, when the ride was fairly uncomfortable and many didn’t support him, I was of the view - and I know others shared this opinion - that he was exactly what we needed at that moment and that we would make good progress with him… but not necessarily take the “next step” while he was manager. It’s funny that now we’re reaching the natural separation point and results haven’t wildly improved, we’re all getting cold feet. I think the reasons for that are as follows (and in a weird way show we’re actually quite an empathetic, right-thinking bunch… unusually for football fans!): - We’ve sold our best two players, who both broke through under Pearson, for more than £30m and he hasn’t been given the opportunity to replace them. The “what football makes football can spend” mantra is at best a bending of the truth and at worst an outright lie. That feels unfair. - Pearson has improved the style of play and created the most likeable group of players we’ve had in nearly a decade. We are entertaining to watch under him. - He continues to give youth a chance, something none of our recent previous managers have done to any genuine extent. - He’s never really been given the public credit we all feel he deserves for stopping the rot and turning us around. It’s almost like the owners resent his relative success. This has created a bit of a Pearson v Lansdown narrative and the manager is winning that by some distance. - Because of the uncertainty over the ownership situation, there is a nervousness about what happens next. Things seem comfortable on the pitch currently but none of us know what the next couple of years will look like. - And finally, and perhaps most crucially, there is a mistrust specifically in our ability to appoint a suitable successor. We fear going from this period of stability to a string of poor appointments - something history would support. So, to conclude this waffling, there IS some sense in moving on at the end of this three-and-a-bit-year period and bringing in some fresh eyes to make the next push. We are trending upwards and that’s arguably a good time to change. And many of us were in favour of this - in principle - three years ago. We predicted it. But now we’ve arrived here it just feels wrong, it feels slightly unfair on the manager and at best seems tone deaf to the supporters. That’s the bit (I think) we’re all uncomfortable with.

A brilliant strike out of nowhere and turning an average cross into a goal with a superb finish. Some player.

Wow.

Cornick’s unlucky to be coming off when others have been far worse than he has.

Cornick has been quite good. TGH hates playing right-back, absolutely dying to come inside and get involved every time we have the ball. Williams and Knight busy but zero composure. I’d quite like to see Mehmeti here. It’s a game crying out for a player to go past a player.

Joe Williams is doing my head in here.

We’re going too long too quickly and it’s playing right into their hands. At least we’ve settled a bit after that iffy first 10 minutes.

Also, and I say this as a sometimes-critic, I think that’s the best I’ve seen Sam Bell play in terms of all-round game in the first half. He’s looked a real proper player.

Plymouth actually play some nice stuff but, my word, the state of their defence. Whenever we win the ball back, wherever it is on the pitch, they’re immediately a complete mess. Their shape is all over the show. They look like a team used to blowing opposition sides away and not having to worry about transition.

Really hope Nahki scores tonight, looks really bright and in amongst it, just not quite dropping for him. A goal would do him the world of good.

This is really well put. Despite my criticism of SL, and my belief that change is needed, I wouldn’t say I don’t “back” or “support” him because I do still believe his intentions are broadly positive. This isn’t a Steve Dale scenario. And the change I mention is only worth pursuing if it’s positive change. Ironically, despite everything SL’s most important Bristol City decision has still yet to be made and we really do need him to get this one right… and that’s who he eventually decides to sell to!

Sad, innit? I’ve always been such a big SL supporter, have always felt his heart was in the right place and like the notion of a local businessman owning our club… but in every passing interview during the past couple of years he’s come across as increasingly arrogant, aloof, out of touch with the fans and disrespectful towards others. As you know, his Luton comment just completely lost me. That’s not how I want us to talk about other clubs, cheers.

On the plus side, we'll be due a new club to copy by then. They seem to come in two/three-year cycles (just beginning on Luton, of course, after giving up with Brentford and Brighton).

My point is you have to be careful, to an extent, to judge a manager's performance/legacy on the state he leaves the club in because timing has quite a lot to do with that. Edit: Also worth saying - you know I'm a huge fan of Nigel Pearson, think he's done a brilliant job etc so it's more a broader point I'm making than anything specific to him!

This is really interesting and don't disagree with any of it - but re: legacy it does raise quite a thought-provoking point around point of departure, doesn't it? You're basing your legacy argument around Pearson leaving at a pretty positive juncture, assuming we at least finish in middle table this season with a young, improving team. He could well sign a new contract, which the vast majority of us would be happy with, stay another 24 months, us still be floating around in mid-table and the general feeling across the board is we'd built a bang average squad not capable of going the next step. What's his legacy then? Similarly, if Gary had left for a bigger club at the end of his third full season you'd have said we were in a good position to kick on, with two positive seasons behind us and a young star striker - Nicky Maynard - now settled in at Championship level. Just think it's interesting and shows how much timing has to do with your perceived legacy/the club you leave behind. I'm saying this as a huge Nigel Pearson fan, by the way, so I'm not arguing with your overall point - just that you have to be careful about how you're framing that argument.

One thing that also came through from that interview - and I appreciate many fans felt this was the case anyway, but it being put across publicly to the media is a different thing - was that the club wanted to sell Alex. From that, the Alex money had already been spent prior to his departure, him staying would've cost the owner a considerable amount of cash as a result, the owner was closely involved during the process of the sale and those negotiations went on for several months... that's very different to setting a price and waiting for a club to match it. And, again, while we all know the optics haven't been great for a while around transfers/the manager's future I just feel like the chief executive hasn't made it any better in that interview. And I can't pretend I don't feel just a bit disappointed by the whole thing? Just for clarity, I don't consider myself a typical forum moaner/a grass is always greener on the other side type. I've always been a supporter of the owner - I still am, really - and I can always forgive poor decision making when it's made in good faith or for the right reasons. Nobody is perfect and I do believe he's really tried to get us promoted to the Premier League during his tenure, that he does genuinely want to leave the club in a good place. But it's hard not to be slightly despondent about the direction of travel off the pitch, isn't it? We've sold our two best players for a combined £30-35m in the past nine months and, despite the "what football brings in, football can spend" mantra that's been trotted out publicly even in recent interviews, we've recruited, almost exclusively, players surplus to requirements at Championship clubs or out of League One and League Two during that timeframe. That's not to say our recruitment has been a disaster, I do like some of the players we've brought in, but the team that started at Swansea contained just two - one of those a loanee signed as injury cover, according to the chief executive - who weren't with us 12 months ago... when Alex and Antoine were still part of our squad. Of course, the strategy now is to emulate a club - Luton - who've achieved promotion on a shoestring budget against all odds. I mean... actually where is the logic there? It was against all odds for a reason - it's unlikely to be repeated again in a hurry! And I can't imagine they spent the past two years telling all and sundry that promotion was the aim, being around the top six was the expectation and that worst teams than them had done it either. And, to top all of it off, the board could barely be more visibly uncomfortable with Nigel as manager - they give the impression that any success, past, present or future, has been and will be in spite of him rather than because of him. The chief executive refusing to talk about a prospective new contract on the radio I can live with, but the club refusing to give any clear public backing to one of the most popular managers we've had in the past decade is tone deaf at best. At very best. After all that - and taking a deep breath - can we still have a successful season? Yeah, we can. Could we even do the unthinkable and get promoted if things go our way? Absolutely. It's football, weird shit happens. But if the above happens it won't be in spite of Nigel, it'll be in spite of his employers at this point IMO.

I can't speak for anyone else, but personally I'm seeing what I didn't want to see.

I listened to the interview earlier and was surprised he wasn’t asked whether the club actually want Pearson to stay or whether Pearson himself wants to stay. I thought he was given an easy ride, in all honesty. You can ask the same question using different words that make it much harder to dodge…

I'm still not 100% convinced about Max, but I do think his handling has been excellent from the games I've seen. He's been very secure and often caught when other goalkeepers (and Bentley probably does come into this category) would parry.

Commentary makes it IMO ?

He was really good today after an indifferent start to the season. Made his finish for the goal look much easier than it was. I still think he’s more of a threat when he hasn’t (and sometimes even when we haven’t) got the ball than when he has it - his pace, his workrate and clever runs makes him a nightmare to play against. If he can contribute more with the ball - and he has the ability to IMO - what a player he could be. His ceiling may well be higher than Conway’s IMO, Tommy is just far more rounded as a player currently.

My hunch is all three goals were rightly disallowed and the foul on Nahki felt borderline - it’s a blatant foul and he wasn’t attempting to win the ball particularly, but it was a long way from goal and there was a covering defender. I think we’d have been annoyed if it was given against us.