Edgy Red

19 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

That’s why he’s already in contract talks. His agent Tony Finnegan doesn’t seem to be in a rush to move him on. 

I hope we can hang on to him for another year. He's got all the qualities to play in The Prem and would be the most difficult to replace (in my opinion)

12 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

No idea if true but heard he’s on significantly less than that currently. 

Wow, if that's correct Dave then we will find it really hard to hang on to him this summer ☹

He's the one player i really hope we can keep for next season. Considering he was injured until around Christmas, his impact in the 2nd half of the season has been excellent.

He's still raw in certain situations but his ability is there for all to see.

I believe a number of clubs already operate that sort of scheme. My mate has a season ticket at Villa and couldn't make a couple of games around Christmas. He informed the club and they resold his seat and he got credit for it.

It would generally only work well for clubs that regularly sell out, but it would be nice for our season ticket holders to have the choice.

47 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Not long ago, Pearson used an interesting word when talking about the Academy and specifically defenders.

He said, whilst the Academy was producing some good players, he'd like to see a few "thugs" coming through.

Thugs!

Now I'm pretty sure he didn't mean that literally but rather as an indication of the sort of mentality, personality, character he'd like to see in the team, particularly our defenders.

Moore is the polar opposite of that. I've always said, he's the sort of nice, polite lad you hope your daughter brings home. He's son-in-law material. That's not what Pearson's looking for mentality wise - even before you consider a player's technical ability, what have they got between their ears?

This may also be why Cundy is getting a chance to prove his worth - Pearson likes his character, so he's giving the lad a chance to play some games and prove his worth. 

This a very valid point and is another reason why i think Alex Scott will go on to achieve good things in the game. He's got a nasty streak and has collected quite a few bookings already. Taylor Moore just doesn't seem to have that nasty side.

Unfortunately i don't think he's big enough to be a commanding centre back and he's not good enough on the ball to move across to right back (at Champ level)

I know it wasn't his fault, but the reported £2 million fee was (another) a really poor deal.

I think he can have a decent League 1 career but he's not good enough for The Champ.

50 minutes ago, grifty said:

Tommy Doherty always looked like he had a bit of a temper on him.

Agreed... Tommy Doherty was like Scrappy Doo!

I haven't been particularly impressed by Matty James but i do wonder if he's another victim of the lack of identity we have as a team.

We don't play with any width and we tend to be under a lot of pressure in most games we play, so it can't be easy for our midfield to dominate a game.

Just like Joe Williams, he was highly rated by his previous club, so he may well be a better player than he's been able to show with us.

21 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Agree with a lot of what’s been said - and I think, bottom line for me is I’m not sure what he’s “for” in there. I don’t see a player who makes loads of tackles, who breaks the game up or plays through the lines to move us forward. He’s just “there” - not doing anything badly but not really doing anything.

Pearson said yesterday about passive players - I think James is absolutely passive and lets the game pass him by. Last week at Bournemouth he had a good last 20 when he had to be steady to balance Massengo but yesterday we didn’t even see that.

So, for me the question is that if at this stage of his career he’s a player who is 6/10 at a lot of things when playing well, but is seeming to dip below that, and not 7/10 or 8/10 at any point, is he any more than now a backup player?

Excellent summary

2 minutes ago, bcfcnick said:

All the Leicester recruits have been disappointing.   Two right backs have been recruited and one was past it and the other wasn't Championship ready. Nigel Pearson makes the point that the team isn't lacking technical ability but  lacks 'personality' and he'll replace the players with personality players.  That's a good sound bite but the reality is that his first effort at this approach has been a failure.  Simpson, King and James all have 'personality' but their contributions have been poor. Their injuries are also another red cross for Pearson's recruitment report.

The question then becomes will NP recruit more James' Simpson's and kings with 'personality' or pick out hungry first-team ready talent like Rob Atkinson.  I fear with the emphasis on 'personality' it might be the former.  If personality is synonymous with attitude and a never say die attitude, we do have that in Andi Weimann and Joe Williams and a few others. Maybe the manager needs to look in the mirror and ask if his tactics, coaching and man management are a factor rather than the 'lack of personality' issue that he perceives is the root of the problem.

Obviously I want Pearson to succeed but he will probably have a decent transfer budget from sell-on cuts from Kelly and Webster plus a decent fee for Massengo and potentially a substantive sum from either Semenyo or Scott being sold.   The summer recruitment is going to be crucial and, based on four out of five of his recruits so far, it's questionable whether Pearson will recruit astutely. He's a highly experienced manager but I hope he has learned from the recruitment errors he has made so far.

 

Fantastic post

He isn't very quick or mobile which is a big problem in the modern game. Cov fans raved about him, so not sure what has happened?

He doesn't appear to have a particularly good range of passing either, so unfortunately i have to agree with the OP.

12 minutes ago, Kibs said:

Sounds like he’s had enough to me - of the players and the owner.

You have to wonder who he’s blaming in terms of personalities/character (today’s performance) because of the 10 outfield players:  

He signed Klose, Atkinson, James. He often praises Williams, Martin and Weimann. Scott is a youngster who he rates highly, Cundy is new to this level and Dasilva had a reasonable game. That only leaves Wells and the subs who came on. Who is he blaming? 

Spot on... he's purely deflecting the blame from his own poor record. He can keep blaming everyone else and saying negative things about all and sundry, but ultimately he's the manager of our football club and it's his job to coach the players to produce performances and ultimately results. This group of players (individually) is not as bad as he would like us to believe. Its his job to coach them in to a cohesive, organised unit.

I am surprised by the continued support of him by so many on here. His record is truly awful but i think he has hoodwinked many fans with his regular niggly comments about players attitudes, poor club culture etc. Lets forget about mistakes made by Steve Lansdown for a moment and purely focus on what his job is.

The blame game can only go on for so long. I have very much been on the fence about Nige but i'm getting more disheartened by the week!

I'll await the usual replies...

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

If I was guessing on valuations, I’d say £4-6M Massengo, £8-12 Semenyo, Scott, absolutely no bloody idea!

That looks about right Dave, but like you say, none of us have really got a clue

Frank Lampard might get desperate at Everton next season and bid 25 mill for Semenyo!

7 hours ago, Show Me The Money! said:

@Taz Can’t see us getting anywhere near £50-£60 million. No chance. £15 million tops for all 3.

Unfortunately, i agree with your valuations. I think we could get 20 mill at a push with some significant add ons, but 50 mill is dreaming.

Massengo's valuation has plummeted and whilst Scott and Semenyo both have promise, they aren't in the same bracket as players like Johnson at Forest and Lewis-Potter at Hull.

I would like to hope we will only sell one of the 3 this summer, but time will tell!

8 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I think all of those have “better” squads, better balanced squads, deeper squads, etc.  in some cases it’s marginal admittedly.  All about opinions though.

This season has been poor if you look at many things.

Is it massively different to the expectations of the squad though?

We all have different viewpoints, perhaps I’m just happy to judge differently. Doesn’t make me right or wrong, just the way I see it. 

I always respect your opinions Dave and i suppose its just my frustrations coming out after a few beers on a Saturday night after yet another defeat.

This season has been underwhelming, not just in terms of results, but also performances.

I've watched about 25 games this season either live or via TV and i can count on one hand, the number of 45 minute performances that have impressed me.

Nige arrived with a pretty big reputation, and to this point, hasn't improved us in my opinion. As stated, i will "keep the faith" but it's getting harder week by week.

I will be at The Gate again for the Peterborough game next Saturday and hoping for better!

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Oh we are.  The quality of our squad for the wasted cost far outweighs those clubs.  

I'm sorry Dave, but i don't believe for one minute that our squad (on paper) is any worse than the clubs i mentioned.

Forget about finances for a moment and judge our progress by the players available to the manager at each of those clubs and we are sadly lagging behind in terms of performances on the pitch.

As i have said before, i am happy to stick with Nige, but lets not sugar coat how poor this season has been.

22 minutes ago, hinsleburg said:

This thread (and others) have done my absolute head in this season  as I'm unsure what people were expecting? Surely at the start of the season most people would have taken where we are  right now in the table? The football hasn't been great at times but I've also seen more at times from these players than I have the last couple of years.

We are in a complete financial mess going into the summer but what we do have now largely  thanks to Pearson and the coaching  development is 2 or 3 players who can either be sold or be better next year. Think we will just have enough room to bring in a couple of cheap deals and should have enough to stay up again. (Other teams are in the shit too)

Hopefully then the books are a bit more balanced and the structure behind the scenes then allows us to start looking forward. For me personally if we are safe again this time next year then once again Pearson has done his job. Not sure people understand how much of a mess this club was in and what a long journey it still is to get out of it. 

As somebody else alluded to, don't think there is anybody else realistically I would want in charge right now.

I agree with most of what you say but i do feel that Nige has been given a bit of a free ride this season.

Whilst our financial problems are clear, i don't believe that we are in any more of a mess than Luton, Preston, Millwall, Huddersfield etc.

A managers job is to improve what he has available to him, and i don't feel he has done that. Nige still has my support but unless we bring in 3 or 4 players in the summer that greatly improve us, next season will unfortunately follow a similar pattern.

I thought at the very least he would make us organised and hard to play against, but if anything, we are the opposite of that.

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Thought he played well (in context) today when he came on, got us playing, nipped into challenges etc.  I didn’t see any outside influences in his game play today.

I'd be surprised if Massengo is still with us next season. I do think he's got ability and he's still young, but if we get offered anything over 4 million, we won't be able to turn it down in our current position.

I've said on previous threads that i'm not sure what he actually excels at? He's not a great passer of the ball and his assist/goals figures are awful. He can still improve and with better players around him he may go up another level, but i'm not sure he's as good as many believe him to be.

18 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I believe they’ve used the least number of players in Lg1 this season.  I suspect Cotts had aspirations to do a bit better this season though.

You're probably right Dave. I've spoken to Cotts (many years ago) at a couple of trophy presentations in Cheltenham and his passion for the game is incredible and he sets very high standards.

I just think with what he's been through over the past 18 months that he's doing a decent job and i was surprised to see that they have such a good defensive record amongst a strong set of clubs.

It will be interesting to see if he can get them in to the top half of the league next season.

I have just checked the League 1 table and Shrewsbury have the 3rd best defensive record. They are comfortably mid table in what is a very strong league this season.

Fair play to Cotts with all of his personal health issues over the last 18 months, i think he's doing a decent job at The New Meadow.

Regardless of what anyones opinions are of his time with us, he's proving again that he's more than a decent coach and can organise a team at that level.

7 hours ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

It’s taken you longer to get “out of grounds like Villa Park and Anfield” - can you clarify? So you obviously were able to park within those two stadia and after the games it took you a long time to get out? Longer than when you parked within Wembley Stadium - really? 

I've been on supporters coaches to both Villa Park (regularly with a friend who's a season ticket holder) and Anfield, and it generally takes at least 45 minutes to get moving after the game.

That may be due to the location that the coaches are departing from, but i felt that Wembley was no worse than my experience of those 2 grounds.

I went to Wembley on Saturday for the Switzerland game and was really impressed with the organisation for coach transport.

I caught a National Express direct service from Gloucester and apart from some of the normal London congestion at the end of the M40, it wasn't too bad heading in, or out.

The stadium itself is incredible, the sound system is fantastic, and me and my mate had a great day out for about £80 each.

To be honest, it's taken longer getting out of grounds like Villa Park and Anfield!

3 minutes ago, Rossi the Robin said:

This season has turned out exactly how most people on here predicted. Stay up was the priority- I’d say 80% would have been happy with that considering the circumstances. Should be even more since the financial figures were released.

I agree with you to an extent Rossi but i do feel Nige has been given excess slack by many fans.

Our squad isn't as poor as some make out and i would have hoped that he would have been able to coach us in to a more structured unit by now.

I will keep the faith for now but as i've said before, this summers recruitment and the start to next season is crucial.

I think this thread shows how frustrated we've become as Bristol City supporters.

Most genuine fans realise that the current managers position is tough, but even the most ardent Nige followers must admit that his 12 months have been underwhelming.

Nobody knows how the next 12 months will pan out but i fear it won't get a whole lot better. The sad thing is that clubs like Luton, Preston, Millwall and Coventry continue to punch above their weight while we seem to be constantly treading water.

As for Cotterill, i think he's doing a decent job at a small club in a big pond... but thats a discussion for another day!

I've been underwhelmed by the progress under Nige to this point but i do appreciate the constraints he is working under.

I think this summer will be really interesting and whoever we bring in (3 or 4 free transfers etc) have to work, otherwise next season will be an even bigger struggle.

If we have to sell Semenyo or Scott then so be it, but the players Nige brings in have to hit the ground running otherwise he will start to be under pressure.