robinforlife2

Very sad news, hadn't even heard he was ill.

We have recently announced, that we were triggering his extra year (his contract actually expires this year, but we have an option to extend it by one year if we want). I would imagine, although I do not know, that this would suggest that any new deal has not been accepted or considered, therefore it is in our best financial interest to trigger the extension. Otherwise he would simply leave for free in the summer, and now we can at least get a fee. If he was likely to sign a new deal, and I would be very confident he has been offered one, if not several, that we would not have gone down the route of triggering the extra year.

I have to be honest, I would be amazed if we are turning down £12m for Semenyo, He's not signing a new deal, and in the summer he has one year left and then he can walk on a free. In fact in 12 months time foreign clubs can get him to sign a pre contract on a free! If we are turning down 12m, it must mean we think we can get slightly more, or its fake news. Also it would do our FFP situation no good, if it turns out this or next season, we are at risk of a breach and turned down a big money offer for a player that would mean the difference staying within FFP or breaking it. I personally think its just paper talk. If any team is offering 12m for Semenyo, he would surely be on his bike right now.

I would imagine young family settled in Aus, but 2 of them are left school and one is at UNI in the UK , so maybe now could be a time he would consider it. He also had bad health issues twice, once when he left Melbourne Heart and had time out, before turning Victory's youth team around. He nearly turned down the Brisbane Roar job, but he was convinced to take it by Beshart Berisa and turned them around. He then stood down when he had a heart attack and was asked to come in for one year for Western United, he done one year and won the league. He then agreed to stay on for this season, but he wasn't too happy with events off the pitch, but he spoke how he wouldn't let the fans down and wanted to prove he could win the title again with a weaker side. He has come out in the last 2 weeks and openly said if Graham Arnold stands down he wants the Socceroos job as it would be his ultimate honour. But whether GA or not would step down I don't know. The media and players in AUS all want him installed as the Socceroos manager. But part of me thinks that he is ambitious, and he is still young, and with his health issues behind him, daughter at Uni in the UK, he might be tempted by a Championship / Premier League club. I personally get the impression he is a very proud Aussie and he feels its his duty to lead them. Read the articles on fan issues and attacks in the A League, where he has defended the league, spoken up for the league, when no other manager has. There is a chance he is settled out there and may not want to leave a good thing, as even if the Socceroo job doesn't come his way, you can guarantee the next big job in Aus has his name on it, but as a player he wanted to play in England. Terry Venaballs convinced him to come over to Portsmouth, and then he joined Coventry and he was on the verge of signing for Crystal Palace, when he was approached by a La Liga side and he fancied a new challenge. I suspect he may be settled, but he is definitely someone who should be on the radar if he is eligible.

I think he would get a work permit. I mean he has been a player at the highest level in 4 countries, outside his country of birth. He spent 4 and a half years in England so he would have previously had a work permit and didn't have any problems over here, so no reason why he wouldn't be able to return. He married in England in the UK in 1999 whilst living in England, and she had lived here since completing uni in the UK, so I don't know if she is English or an English citizen? But I suspect this may qualify him alone and his eldest daughter is 22 born in the UK, his second daughter is 19 (born in Spain) and youngest is 13, and is the only one born in Australia. Given he worked in the UK for 4 and a half years whilst a footballer at the highest level and his only break from constant employment has been when he stood down as a manager of Brisbane Roar after having a heart attack, I fail to see how he wouldn't qualify for a work visa?

Yes John Aloisi. He's worked on a budget probably half of our current budget and got a struggling team to be top 4 in their league twice, and in his current role he has won the league with the team with the smallest budget. He also is responsible for overhauling the Melbourne Victory youth team and got a lot of them into the current set up and in the Socceroo set up. Plus a lot of the press in Aus want him to replace Graham Arnold as the Socceroo's manager. Before you crab the A League, it probably isn't too dissimilar in terms of quality to the Championship, given the sort of players out there and as a player he played for his country at a World Cup and played in the Premier League, whilst being also the first Australian to score goals in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A, where he played for Royal Antwerp, Cremonese, Coventry City (In the Premier League), Osasuna and Alaves. One may argue in his short tenure as a manager he has already proven himself a capable manager by winning a title with a team with no money, and regardless whether the teams he played for at the highest level were lower league teams, he has still played in three of the biggest leagues in the world, and played for his country in a World Cup. He was originally a manager in youth football when he retired from playing, personal issues saw him have to take some time out, but came back by transforming the Melbourne Youth side, before transforming Brisbane Roar back into a top four team, before taking on the job at Western United who have the lowest budget in the A League, and despite predicted to come bottom without a single marquee player, he guided them to win the A League, In the summer he lost all his good players and again had to bring players in from the youth setup, and having had a tough start to the season, they have acquired 10pts out of their last 15, playing 2 of the biggest teams in the A League and beating one, and drawing with the other, A manager wanted for the top job in Aus, but I have no doubt the attraction to manage in England would definitely appeal and he is a manger who has made all his success with no money, and having to work with youth. So before you make out Pearson is a better manager, I would argue, John Aloisi has achieved much more in the last 5 years than Pearson has, whilst working with harder constraints and not only done his job, but excelled. He's only 46 so no dinosaur and just to see what he has done at Western United is mind blowing. He's even got players like Neil Kilkenny looking like they can play football, something he never done here! So yes, he is most definitely a sensible suggestion and would easily work within our current remit, and would most likely progress us. I seriously hope someone at the club has one eye on him, as even if Nige lasts the season, and gets us in a position where we are more stable, we need someone who could take the club forward and have fresh ideas and can work within our constraints, John Aloisi is 100% that man.

There is a lot of difference in watching planes to flying one, now had you sat in the cockpit for ten years observing and so on, there is a chance you could have a better placed understanding, so I think it's a poor anology. By the same token, to be a good manager at something doesn't mean you needed to be good at that sport. You can watch a lot of football and some to assessments of players who play well and so on, who they link up well with, what sort of player the club has been missing. That's not to say you would be a brilliant manager but by the same token you might have ideas or understands which could be beneficial. In my job, I had no practical or academic involvement in it, but I am now in a consultancy role, which means I go to places and advise what people want and so on. This has come from years of being a guinea pig in a situation which has led to me being asked what they are doing right or wrong in this sphere. So by your token, because I spent years watching and being a guinea pig, you feel my input would not be very good, however it has led to me having a job where I now advise people on what is needed and I analyse what they are doing. I don't pretend to say I am a better football manager than big Nige, I mean I wouldn't kick a ball 10 yards if I tried, I would toe poke it left right and centre and I would not be good enough for a pub league team, but that doesn't mean I can't read players, situations, and so on, and use that judgement to forge an opinion when something or someone is doing it wrong. I have just read Devsfavs response to my OP, and I appreciate Dev as he is someone who attacks the post and not the poster, too often people resort in getting personal, rather than what people post, which is why I value his opinion, I may not agree with it, but I value it. He say's one thing I don't agree on and that's quite simple, 4 - Quickly understand that Nahki Wells is our best striker, it should be him and one other, not a case of Nahki as an impact sub. It doesn't work that way. Nahki and Tommy or Nahki and Antoine, one of the other to come off the bench. We will not score goals without Nahki on the pitch. you have to rotate. You want us to press from the front don’t you? This is where I differ from most fans. Whilst many are happy to be entertained even if we get beat, as I said last night, I would rather it be ugly and scrappy and win 1-0 or draw 0-0, as there is only one thing that keeps you in this league and that's getting points. If our team is too fragile and unable to play the press from the front, then no I do not want us to press from the front. I would be happy if we went out and played dirty with cynical challenges, a few leg breakers here and there to get teams on edge thinking Jesus this guys gonna tear me in half I aint getting close to him. The fact is our squad can't play week in week out trying to play this press from the front, it gets too many injuries and players don't see out 90 minutes, and that is part the reason, why we have a better first half record than second half record. So no, I don't want us to play in a manner where it means we get more injuries, players are knackered after 70 minutes and we've not got the squad to replace them on the bench. If anything the constant trying to play to a way we don't have the luxury of players to support is partly why we are where we are in the table. I respect Nige likes his 3-5-2 / 5-3-2 but we don't have the side to cover it, we don't have a squad to implement and we don't exactly have a physically strong squad. But we have some players who can be demanding and a nuisance and get under players skin, and this is what we should be doing, plus playing a bit tough at the back. There is nothing wrong with a few dirty challenges to get a team on edge. It works for so many teams in this league and I don't get why we don't do it. You gain nothing for being a nice club or soft. So I would rather we won ulgy / dirty call it what you like. I would rather results than entertainment, which is why I would not be adverse to a Warnock type manager. We've tried pretty football for so long and its got us nowhere. Now I know the main reason I want Pearson gone, it's mainly on I don't think he is a terribly nice person. I mean I liked Gary Johnson, I liked Cotts, I even liked Lee Johnson, but I have never warmed to Nige, the same way I never warmed to S'OD. I guess this makes me be more judgemental, but I don't like the way Nige comes across. To me and it may just be me, but I feel he sees this football club as a club who are lucky to have him. like he is better than us, and he is doing us a favour being here, and that he is the all singing and dancing and has to have sorted out the mess, and he feels no one else of his calibre would have wanted to. With this I think he has this hard persona and therefore nothing is ever his fault, it's like we are fortunate to have him. I might be on my own with this opinion, but I have never seen him come across as gracious, passionate, spirited and his praise for the fans now and again feels like he says it because he is pushed into saying it and not that he means it. Maybe he just has a cold persona, and is not a people person, but to me he comes across as very arrogant and like he thinks he is bigger than the club, and I think its because of this, I want him gone. Some of the sly digs he has, some of the comments re fans, players and so on, to many may seem innocent, but I think it's his personality. I get the impression he doesn't give a rats about the club, and he is just picking up his pay packet, which wont be a small one. He will blame everything going on around him at the club and he has never once actually taken responsibility for the awful tactics and shocking performances, and always has someone to blame. If he came out and actually said I got it wrong, I made the wrong decisions, I could probably accept that, as its the truth, but I genuinely feel he thinks he is bigger than the club. Maybe I am seeing too much, or over thinking, but when your Pep, Klopp, Mourinho etc you can afford to be arrogant, because you get results, you win things and you have proven you perhaps are bigger than your club and they are lucky to have you, but when you carry that air of arrogance, yet on the pitch you're failing for me, you make yourself unlikeable and you will lose support of some quickly. I also think too much has been made of the financial situation, and comparing to LJ and the war chest he had. I actually think Covid has changed football, the fees arent being paid like they were and it is now harder to move on players as every club is feeling the strain. The deals LJ made mirrored a lot of clubs pre covid and had it not been for the pandemic, we would have probably sold another player for good money and the whole buy to try and make profit model may have continued. I don't think it's fair that LJ is blamed for a model he was being asked to follow and pushed into the direction of. He made signings such as Massengo, Diedhiou and others who were expected to be sold on for profit to fund the next players in. I don't think it's fair to blame him for what transpired, when it was a directive the club was asking him to take. He was of course identifying players, it was the recruitment team who agreed their wages and so on. I also felt with GJ, SCotts and LJ that we looked a good side, I felt there was times when we could beat anyone and felt we were on the cusp of something. I am not saying had we stuck with LJ we wouldn't be where we are now, but I will also say, I wasn't calling for his head when he was sacked, as I actually felt and do still feel, LJ was a good manager for us, I feel it was a case of the right man at the wrong time. I actually think LJ is a good manager, I think it should be noted the foundations of the side Sunderland have which are in the playoff zone in the Championship now are core Lee Johnson signings. He also had them high enough in the table to be challenging for automatic promotion when he was relieved of his duties. He had a 51% win rate at Sunderland and I dare say his sacking was a shade unjust. The team he was building has not had huge change to the team that now sit 4th in the Championship. I don't think that is a surprise. I also think he is doing a decent job at Hibbs. In a league where you can't compete with the top 2, he has taken over one of the poorer clubs who have struggled for seasons on end, and whilst they aren't doing brilliant in the league in 8th, he is doing better than where they were in recent seasons and he is building a young competent side. I feel Johnson was unfortunate to have his time here with MA, I think LJ is a good coach, I actually think he is good at identifying talent and I think he plays good attacking football and I think he is very knowledgeable. I personally would not be adverse to him having another go with us in the future, but I wouldn't want him right now as I think its too soon , but I do think there is a case of unfinished business and I do think we looked a better side under Johnson than we do under Pearson. I don't know who can steady the ship, who can help us progress. Last month I wrote a long piece about why I would look at John Aloisi, a 46 yo manager who has worked wonders on a shoestring budget at Western United, has the team matching top teams, has given youth a chance played top flight football in England, represented his country in a World Cup, and has caught the eye in the A League in not only the miraculous job he has done at Western United, but in the way he turned around a failing cash strapped Brisbane Roar and also turned around the youth development at Melbourne Victory which has led to several youth players breaking into the first time and the Socceroos. People wont of heard of him unless you follow the A League, but here is a manager who took the team tipped for bottom place and no money to even attempt to buy a marquee player, to winning the A League last season, and despite losing his best players and having no money to replace them has continued to develop players. Having had a rough start to the season, they even went 80 minutes with 10 players to win the other day in a game they were tipped to lose and have won 3 and drawn 1 of their last 5, and the new youth he has promoted is now geling and I am sure Western United will be up there again at the business end. This is a manager who has had to work with youth, no budget, makes teams hard to beat, can identify talent and has won a league title with a team tipped for bottom place. A manager who in his first role as a manager obtained a 40% win rate, and struggled for personal reasons before leaving the game on a poor season. After 18 months out and working back in youth football, he returned to have a 38% win rate in 3 and half years at a club tipped for mid table , yet got them top 4, 2 years running and then since joining the smallest club in the league has won a league title and has a 49% win rate. Now John Aloisi, may not be a name many know about, but everyone keeps asking who? Who could work on no budget, work with youth, help a club through a transition and build a club to win something. Why not a man, who has transformed 2 of the biggest youth set ups in Australia, took a bottom of the league Brisbane Roar to be a top 4 team, then took on another bottom of the league cash strapped club and over 2 years made them A League champions, all on a budget where he couldn't even sign one marquee player ! Had to use youth and had his best players sold underneath him every season, whilst still getting results. A manager who can work on a nothing budget, get teams playing good football and has a 49% win rate in his current role at the team with the least money in their league. Because he is a manager of a team in a league people don't really know and all that, people will laugh at the suggestion, but he is exactly the sort of manager we need. He is a winner, he can work on a shoestring budget, can recruit well, and can transform teams. He is 46 and no dinosaur, he played at the highest level, albeit not for the biggest clubs and he represented his country at the highest level. He is the sort of appointment that wouldn't stand out, but like GJ, like Cotts, he is the sort of manager who knows how to do a job, and I genuinely believe if Lansdown went out and poached him from Western United, not only would we stay up this season, but he'll build a team that within 3 years would be in the premier league.

Whilst it can be agreed that a point away at Millwall is a sound result. It was of course a better performance, the team whilst looking nervy in the first half, held out and in the second half had 2/3 chances to win it. One could argue in the final 20 minutes we should have won it, and that Nahki coming on gave us a lift and we looked the more likely winners. However, we have been here many times before. It always seems to me, that when the pressure is on, and a result is fundamentally needed to "appease" the fans, we get one. It was no different to prior to West Brom, there was a lot of unhappiness in areas of the fan base and then we won 2-0. However this was followed with 2 defeats and a draw. The pressure again seem to be boiling after the humiliation against Lincoln, and it was muted a thrashing against Watford, may have spelled the end. However a draw against Watford prior to the World Cup break again seemed to ease pressure, and the comeback win against Rotherham, seemed to settle some nerves and reassure those "backing" Pearson they were right to do so. However fast forward two defeats on the bounce, comments of "players I can trust" and again the fan base started to turn. So then we have last night, a result I kind of expected, in a scrappy game where on the balance of it, neither team deserved to lose. The Pearson stay brigade feel justified, they have seem promise and a performance and feel he is the right man for the job, but is it possibly just a co-incidence that every time the pressure cooker starts to step up, the team pull out a needed result, but its all forgotten a few days later. Whilst I have been very vocal that I feel Pearson is not the right man to take us forward, I am not so pig ignorant that I feel if he gets the team playing CONSISTENTLY better, that he shouldn't be given the opportunity. Many feel last nights team selection shows he knows what he was doing, others may argue that he should have been playing that team or close to that team week in week out, and its poor tactical skills which has seem him playing square pegs in round holes and last night was the first time he tried round pegs in round holes in quite some time. Others will say that he was right to drop Atkinson and bringing him back in shows his treatment of him was correct and it had worked, whilst it could of course be said, that we threw away our last two games and any chance of points by Pearson leaving a defender out and playing an attacking midfielder in defence. All things said, but for me, last night papers over the cracks, for the third time this season (West Brom away, Watford at home, and now Millwall away). Nothing in my mind has changed, that we have a manager who is unable to get a team which by all standards has a number of players capable at this level picking up wins, or playing consistently to a level where its not a case that any BCFC could turn up. Then there is the treatment of players, which may work now and again, but can only surely cause rifts in the long run. For all people say we have been unlucky not to have picked up 8/10 points more this season and had we done that, people would be delighted, this is one of the most stupid suggestions going. The facts are we haven't picked up 8/10 points more, because we have failed to take advantage in games when we were in the ascendency, and sloppy mistakes often by playing players of out their natural position has caused us to lose or draw games we might have won. This isn't being unlucky, it is poor decision making and game management and whilst some times this can sit with the players, it has to be reflected by the manager. A defeat to Coventry on Sunday would mean last nights draw is immaterial as it would confirm that we are a team that can fail to deliver week in week out, what we need to do, and its easy to say hang on we've not lost yet, but we seldom follow up a good game with another good game. Pearson still lingers around the 28% win rate, a strike rate that would have seen the axe fall long before, but our position and financial status has probably given him more grace than many others will have got. Even Johnson who went on massive winless runs, acquired better win ratios. People seem to think money is the answer and that when Pearson has some to spend he can recruit savy and get us in a prominent position, but already we have seen that most of the players signed by Pearson haven't actually done that good. Of the 3 has beens from Leicester, one has done well, two haven't and one is here for coaching reasons and the other has been bombed out. We have recruited from lower leagues and although Tanner and Atkinson have been OK, Sykes, and Wilson don't really look up to it. Perhaps Kal Naismith is his golden signing, but the fact is, he hasn't actually recruited that well with what he has recruited, so what makes people think that suddenly more money means better recruitment. This is one thing I fail to understand. If you are poor at something, giving someone more opportunity doesn't mean you get better. It's a bit like being a gambler, who loses £10-15 every Saturday, but they get close to winning. It doesn't mean if you give them £200 to bet with, they will suddenly start winning. The more likely scenario is actually a bigger flop. One would argue if you can't recruit well with no money, you wont recruit well with money, and I personally buy into this theory. Now whilst I have said I think Pearson's time should be up, I would like to see him do a few things that could help me understand why we are proceeding to stick with him; 1 - Play the best team in the right positions every week 2 - Admit Chris Martin, Andy King are not good enough at this level any more, and not use them anymore 3- Bring Massengo back into the squad. He may not be likely to sign a new deal, and he may not be first choice, but there are not 18 better options than him, if he leaves for free at the end of the season, so be it. At least make the most of him, whilst he is here. 4 - Quickly understand that Nahki Wells is our best striker, it should be him and one other, not a case of Nahki as an impact sub. It doesn't work that way. Nahki and Tommy or Nahki and Antoine, one of the other to come off the bench. We will not score goals without Nahki on the pitch. 5 - Quit playing Weimann or Scott at right wing back, neither are right wing backs, and you have signed players to play in this position. But finally we need some consistency on the pitch. A draw at Millwall is all well and good, but if you lose your next 2 games, it is just groundhog day. I am not expecting us to win or draw every week, but I am sick of no consistency and it feels like the only time we get a result is when his job is actually under fire. Coventry (A), Birmingham (H), Blackburn (H), Huddersfield (A) and Preston (H) are our next five games. We all know that Blackburn should be tough, but they have lost 4 of their last 5 and have dropped away from the autos because of it, it's even had their fans getting itchy feet on the manager. But Birmingham, Coventry, Huddersfield and Preston are all no better than lower mid table to relegation candidates this season and Preston have also lost 4 out of their last 5. Coventry have won 1 in five, Huddersfield have won their last two so could be finding form, but Birmingham have only won 1 in their last five. We have five games against teams very similar in form to us, and 4 of the 5 in similar league situations, In my opinion anything less than 7pts from the next 5 games, is not good enough, I would accept 6pts with 1 win, 3 draws and a loss to Blackburn, but this Pearson until the end of January. If we are not generating at least 6-7pts from these 5 games, then we will most definitely be in a relegation dog fight going into the next five against Norwich, Wigan, Sunderland, Hull and Cardiff which are five huge games given 3 of them are genuine relegation candidates. For the moment I am willing to accept giving Nigel the next 5 games, but a defeat on Saturday, and I don't think we should be sticking with him for 2 weeks before our next League game, as it would give the board 2 weeks to find someone who can galvanise the team for a tough second half of the season. I know the Pearson fan club, will laugh at this post or make out I'm an anti Pearson and so on, but I want us to succeed and ultimately that means staying up this season. Until Pearson stops heck assing around and puts out a team like he did last night week in week out, we will never get any consistency to more forward on the pitch and regardless of how well a team players. Its points that determine if you stay up or not, and we find it very hard to pick up 3pts under Pearson, 28% over 2 years is fact of that.

Think I would prefer Shakespeare and Hathaway .......

Would genuinely take 0-0 tonight. We can't afford a defeat, morale is already at a low. Personally think it's going to be very very tough. Would not be surprised to see Bentley back in tonight. Yes his distribution is questionable but he's the better shot stopper of him and Max and we may come under siege early tonight. Millwall often look for an early goal, then frustrate. A goal behind in the first 25 minutes could be a disaster for us. Every manager normally has that game that tips the scales. I want for a performance and a result tonight, heck I would take us to be played off the pitch and scrap a 0-0 or a smash and grab 1-0 win, but I fear a 3-0 or 3-1 Millwall and if that happens, I feel this will be game that wields the Axe on NP. I suspect NP would have preferred Coventry before Millwall, as you fancy us to get something from Coventry, but this will be tough. I don't feel it will be pleasant viewing for City fans tonight. I'll take 0-0 all day long.

In the last 6 games, Hull have picked up 7pts to our 5, Wigan have picked up 5 to our 5. Wigan in their last 3 have played Boro away, Sheff Utd at home and Millwall away. 1pt from those three fixtures is no disaster. Hull's 6 fixtures which have yielded 7 points have included Blackpool (H), Sunderland (H), Watford (A), Reading (H), Cardiff (A) and Millwall (A) of which they only lost 1-2 against Reading and picked up a result against everyone else. I would hazard to say Hulls last 6 results have been largely a lot more positive than ours! We've lost to West Brom, Lost to Stoke, beaten Rotherham, drew with Watford, drew with Boro and lost to Sheff Utd. If we went 6 games with 4 draws, 1 win and a narrow loss, we would be delighted.

It's very clear I have been Pearson out longer than most. I don't dislike Pearson, I just don't buy into just because we have no money and the person who should replace him can't be identified is the correct reason to keep him in a job. I had three main gripes about Pearson I said early on. 1: He had wasted the career of Nahki Wells here and if it hadn't been for Semenyo getting injured he would have got the Bentley/Massengo treatment. What has transpired is Pearson left our best striker out of the fold, was happy in January to try and send him on loan (Nahki didn't want to go) and only when his hand was forced did he give him a chance. From thsi chance Nahki has proven countless times he is a team player, our best striker and ultimately earned himself a new contract. THIS IS CLEAR EVIDENCE PEARSON DOES NOT KNOW HIS BACKSIDE FROM HIS ELBOW! He was happy to waste the career of one of our best players, leaving him to waste, fans accusing said player of having a bad attitude and not wanting to be hear. Some of these fans wanted him sold to Preston! Where would we have been this year without Nahki, slap bang in the relegation zone! This was no stroke of genius to convert a player, this was pure awful management who had no idea the talent he had at the club, I said long ago, this worried me and showed Pearson could not be trusted to recruit and should be sacked, I stand by this, he exposed what an awful manager he was by demoting Nahki and never playing him to his best positions in the past, for me this made his job untenable. 2: He is a bully! I don't care what others think, Pearson is a bully, he has frozen out his own choices of purchases, thrown players under the bus, and used the players I can trust nonsense. This is not how you inspire people, if I were Massengo, Bentley, Klose, Atkinson, I would wouldn't try a yard for him, I would deliberately let us get humiliated so the board have to step in. The facts are, teams are a bond, squads are a bond, players hang about with players, some times coaches, they get on with each other, and keeping high spirits is important. You can say he is trying to motivate all you want. He isn't. He is pig headed and a bully. He feels he is above this club and we are lucky to have him. He is a bully boy who has demoralised a number of players, he has publicly exposed them and frozen them out. Do you really think other players will be motivated by this, no they will play scared, frightened that one false move, one mistake, one bad comment and they are back in the naughty seat in Frozen corner. Players look like they are playing with no confidence, or belief, they are playing in fear of their positions and unless they have the surname James or King, know they are one error away from the reserves. You wont get results when players feel like this. Pearson has done this to the squad, no one else and is another reason he has to go. The day he is sacked, everyone has a chance again, and players will have a boost. 3: He is not getting any better, yet he has his team and his tactics. Pearson by his own admission says this is a team that could be good enough to be top half. He has never said this is a relegation fodder team, he has spoken of youngsters of quality. He is not wrong. We have some good players, some talent coming through and we are in a position where many say the results don't lie, but the fact is the main reason this team is where it is, is for all the moments of magic, there are awful mistakes, often by sticking with the same formation which isn't working. Continually not playing players in their best positions and that is down to poor management and poor tactics. I don't buy into what people say that anyone who inherits this squad will have the same problems as Pearson, and that we are better to stick than twist. The fact is, Pearson is not getting the best out of these players, whether its them not giving him 100%, or them unable to adapt to his tactics, but the facts are simple, we are underachieving. When we beat West Brom 2-0, we had a similar line up to the team that yesterday lost 2-0 to West Brom. In Steve Bruce who had just been sacked when we beat them West Brom had not in their own fans eyes recruited well and were annoyed the only forward they bought was from Salford. They felt they would go down under Bruce, as the team just didn't turn up and play to their ability. Now the new manager of West Brom has not had the luxury of transfer windows or a chance to rejig a squad, he has simply worked with exactly the same tools Bruce had, tools which had them losing to us 2-0 and looking relegation candidates, but what the new manager done, was got them playing again, giving them good tactics and they improved and suddenly they came to us and done what we did to them. The facts are simple, the same team that beat the same West Brom in October 2-0 are the same team who were beaten 2-0 by pretty much the same team, only one thing is different, when West Brom had a team not playing to their best, Bruce was not given the "he's doing the best he can" relief by the fans, he was sent packing and West Brom have turned it around. Now we are not blessed with money, but West Brom's improvement has not come by spending money, it has come from new motivation from a new manager who knows what they are doing. There is no reason why the same affect can't happen here. Pearson is leading us to a regression on the pitch. For all the off the pitch advancement, on the pitch is what decides relegation. We can count ourselves lucky the league is wide open and 10pts separates Playoffs to Relegation Zone, but we now have a situation where small gaps are starting to open from mid table to bottom 6 or 7 and by the end of January, it could suddenly be 3 of 5 and not 3 of 10. This is the situation we are facing if we don't act now. Pearson has had more than enough time, but a 26% win rate is enough to get you sacked at any club. Our financial position is no worse than several in this league and our CEO has told us that we are in the top ten wage payers in the league, so for all our financial constraints, we are still happy to be one of the better payers in the division, yet we are playing shocking. I actually feel the players want change, maybe some feel its the only way to get back in the squad. None of the players want to get relegated, but at the same time too many players look lost by frustrating and confusing tactics. Those who say Pearson should stay because the better option is not obvious, are the same people who are likely to have only worked for people in life and not hired and fired. In order to find the right candidates, the job has to be available. If someone is not performing and not getting the best from their workforce, you do more damage than good by keeping them in place. It is my feeling, that no one could do worse than Pearson is currently doing, that's not to say I know who can do better, and who can turn us around, but I actually think no one could do any worse, and therefore I see no risk in sacking Pearson. Those who don't want Warnock, I understand why and he would not be a solution to the long term problem, but he could be an option to actually make sure we stay in this league. Give him the job until the end of the season to keep us up. In the summer our finances will be better, and we will probably sell Semenyo, Scott and possibly one other. Then we can at least be an attractive proposition to a new manager to work off a blank canvas at the start of the season, with a respectable budget, with a lot of dead wood gone, and money in the bank from player sales. This is when we look for the manager to take us forwards, a permanent replacement to Pearson is not needed right now, but what is needed, is someone to stop the rot that is leading us to League One, and that financially will cripple us, and don't expect us to bounce back, as League One is a lot tougher than the last time we were there and we would be one of many big fish in that pond, playing the Gas twice a year, and probably looking at Plymouth in the Championship lording it as the best in the west . The problem now is we are going backwards under a leader, who has alienated several members of the squad, bullies the team, doesn't know his best players from his worse, and can't get a result with his tactics. The problem is not to replace him, the problem is keeping him. Pearson has to go. That alone can start to stop the rot.

Norwich, 5th in the league sack there manager. Meanwhile here at Bristol City, Nigel Pearson with a 26% win rate, can't win at home, can't play players in their correct positions, seems to be unsackable.

Hopefully Lansdown sees this thread, sees who posted it and thinks without reading it, that Big Nige aka Davefevs wants the boot and relieves him of his duties.

have any more concerts been announced yet or just arctic monkeys

Speaking ahead of Saturday's game at Ashton Gate, Pearson said: "Managers don't go forever on a run of bad results. I'm aware that this is going to be an important game because otherwise, people might start wondering about what my position is. "I've invested too much time and energy in this job to allow players, who I don't really trust that much at the minute, to play and that's how I will be approaching the game. I will be blunt, you didn't ask the question directly but you're right to ask it and very kind not to ask it in a blunt way but the bottom line is we need a result this week. Simple as that. "But, we have invested too much in the strategy that we're adopting to ignore the work we have put in. It's been a difficult 18 months in terms of trying to reshape it. Unfortunately, we know we need to make adjustments to the squad but we don't know if we can do it at this time and that's the big problem for us." When asked if he needs a result in regards to his position as manager, Pearson added: "Maybe, I can't answer that but I don't worry about that anyway. "But no. It's about finishing this part of the season positively. We've dropped down to 20th which is not great but it's ridiculously tight. We continue to throw points away that we shouldn't which means we find ourselves dropping down the table when our aspirations are a lot higher than that. Managers ultimately carry the can but there's a lot more to it than that." On the return from the initial international break at the beginning of October 1, Pearson set a target for his side to remain in and around the top six after a really positive start to the season. That obviously hasn't transpired with City three points above the relegation zone. -------------------- Two clear points, one: we are treated with the players he can trust line, where have we heard that before? Two: He set a target for the club in October to be around the top 6. Yet we are in the bottom five. Pearson has admitted there in a nutshell, we are under performing. The fans say we are where we should be given everything going on, but was Pearson deluded then to say we should be around the top 6. If he believed that this team could be around the Top 6, you have to question why we are where we are, when the manager clearly felt this group of players can compete, when the Pro Pearson fans have basically said it's not his fault and the players are no good. He goes on to say "We need to have a look and feel of a team and not isolate people." This is a huge contradiction, given he has just said he will play the players he can trust ! Basically saying there will be players pushed out the team. That is exactly how you isolate people !!!!!

Bristol City have gone backwards after Xmas pretty much every season for the last 5/6 years, the last two years under Pearson have been no exception. If this team goes backwards this season after Xmas, we're in League one.

At what point do you pull the trigger. If we are 22nd on Saturday night, do you not think that is a catalyst. There is no guarantee he will motivate the players over the month off. Why should he get January to fix his own mess out? What happens if he signs 2/3 loan players or free agents in January, sells Semenyo and moves on Massengo and then start of February, we are in the relegation zone. At that point you have set the impossible task, and relegation would be more than likely. If we seriously don't want to gamble, he gets until Xmas at the longest. If we are within 3pts of the bottom three after the West Brom game on Boxing Day, then he has to go. I do think he should be sacked now, I think if we lose on Saturday he definitely has to go, but I wont stand in the stands chanting Pearson out, as that doesn't help the players on the pitch. But if he is still here after Saturday, I think the club have to publicly give him a vote of confidence and make it clear, in this position around Boxing Day and he has to be shot of, before he can do more damage in January.

147 Out, 102 In The outs still currently have it.

Nail on the head. Pearson has had two years to get his team playing football and performing on the pitch. Our budget is bigger than all bar West Brom and Boro around us in the league and people keep saying the same thing about money, but the fact is, Pearson can't make use of the tools he's got, and he's added tools to his bag. It's not like we had 35 players, he has sold 15 and brought in no one. The main core of the team is the same that were performing better than before Pearson was here. People say he got rid of waster like Palmer and Bakinson, but they weren't playing anyway and if anything what they've been replaced with is hardly anything better. The progress is off the pitch, but on the pitch we are a shambles, but we don't have a bad squad. People say part the problem is, a number of these players know they are on their way out the door, and this is one of the reasons why a new manager is vital. If a new manager comes in, suddenly with no money to work with, he will assess every player and give every player a chance to prove their worth, you may actually find that some of the players who expect to be released by Pearson, or not given contracts or be sold, might find form, as they have a chance of impressing someone and earning a new deal. The fact is people say we need rid of DaSilva, Kalas, Wells, Bentley, King, Klose, Martin and then think we will be able to replace them easily. What we should be doing is negotiating new deals for DaSilva, Kalas, Wells and Bentley that fall within our wage structure, to keep proven quality players at this level at the club. King, Klose and Martin wont be on huge money, but the reality is, one if not two of those will need replacing and there is no guarantee, that we can replace them with 2 better players for the money. If people expect us to recruit, we have to sell Massengo in January, if we don't we may as well play him. For all he is not a solution to the problem, he is not the 6th best central midfielder we have, so he should be around the 1st team. The same as Bentley is arguably our best, if not 2nd best keeper, he should not suddenly be 3rd choice. A manager refusing to involve these players is in fact wasting money by not having them involved. We have three key assets, Scott (long term deal), Conway (just signed new deal) and Semenyo (out of contract at the end of next year). The latter is the most sensible to sell. In fact to do any respectable recruitment, whether short term or long term in January, he has to be sold. If you approached DaSilva, Kalas, Wells and Bentley and asked them to extend for one year on 20% less wages, I suspect most would. They will know that they are unlikely get better than that deal, it gives them security of another year, and take at this view. Say Kalas is on 20K, Wells 20K, bentley 15K and DaSilva 15K, it would save 14K, so it would mean keeping 4 quality players at this level, and effectively getting one big fee off the books. It would be like moving one on, but keeping all four. The players really isn't the problem, finances don't help, but the biggest problem is, for whatever reason a number of the players are not playing to their best, and the person in charge of getting them to play to their best is the manager. If the manager can't get the best from the group of players he has, the solution is not to start getting rid of the players, but to get rid of the person unable to get the best out of them. Look at any business, If the recruitment team head hunt and recruit a team of 15 people they know are up to the task, and employ me to manage them, if the team don't perform, they are not going to think, hang on we made the right choice in appointing this guy to manage the team, so we recruited badly with the 15, they will say, the team is not the problem, the manager is, and it is the manager who will be replaced. We are in no different situation. Either every player in the team is not worth their place (and Nigel recruited a number of them) or the one managing the team is not up to the task. I am firmly with the latter. Good players with the exception of an aging Martin and King don't become average players overnight. Many times we see good players disappoint here and get a new lease of life somewhere new, that is because we have had poor manager after poor manager who has been unable to get the best out of our players. There is no guarantee that the next manager will get the best out of all of them, but the chances are they will get more out of the current manager who is failing to get them to perform consistently and is already starting to isolate players, pick on players, give out labels that they are letting him down. When this starts to happen, it's the beginning of the end. When he starts using the terms, players I can trust and so on, that's when you know he's a dead man walking. I expect us to struggle against Watford, and hopefully the board will then see the light, that the manager is not getting the best out of the team, and that is the reason, why he has to go and someone else has to try and galvanise this group of players for a survival bid over the next six months, as the team have clearly lost faith in Pearson and are no longer trying for him, and performing. Probably down to frustrating tactics and so on, but at the end of the day, most managers get the sack and with a 29% win rate, Pearson has been given plenty of time to get the team performing better. This is not knee jerk, it's been months and months of gradual decline.

Currently 70 voters want Pearson to stay, 107 want him to be replaced. A very small sample of fans, but does suggest that there is equally as much desire for twisting, as there is for sticking.

I don't think it's unrealistic for most fans to know most things about most players from most clubs. A lot of fans keep an eye on a lot of teams and so on. Not everyone only watches City and that's it. He may be an impartial fan but he is also an ex Walsall player and still works with a youth development academy in the midlands.

Does that mean they would not be committed with a change of manager though. If anything, that comment alone suggests he has lost the support of his players.

Whether you are Nigel in or Nigel out, the fact of the matter is you have to evaluate our whole squad and determine the answer to the most sensible question, are our squad performing. Last night I sent a mate of mine who supports West Brom, the list of our squad and how he would view them as Championship Players. The following are his views; Daniel Bentley - Solid Championship Keeper Kane Wilson - Promising lower league player, untested at this level Jay Dasilva - Solid Championship Player Kal Naismith - Very good Championship Player Rob Atkinson - Quality League One Player, capable at this level Matty James - Not the player he was, but still solid at this level Alex Scott - Very good player, Premier League Standard Joe Williams- Solid Championship Player Chris Martin - Used to be okay at this level, but getting on a bit now Andy King - Was a good player, couldn't judge him now as not noticed him Antoine Semenyo - Decent player at this level Max O'Leary- Said he had caught his eye when he has seen him play a few times, and thinks he is very much an underrated player and wouldn't mind seeing him at West Brom Andreas Weimann - Said West Brom hate him, as he has always been a bogey player for them, as often scores against them, but is a very good player at this level Tommy Conway- He thinks he could be very good. Impressed by him when we played them and thinks he is a future Premier League player Cameron Pring - Doesn't know anything about him, but his stats have been okay for the first team, so must be capable Mark Sykes - Said he looks a nearly player to him, probably too good for League One, not quite good enough for the Championship George Tanner - Said again doesn't know enough about him, but his stats rate that he is reliable at this level, so not a bad player all things considered. Nahki Wells - He thought he was brilliant against them and said he wished they had him at West Brom, he is a quality striker at this level Tomas Kalas - Won promotions from this league with other clubs and is a rock at the back, likes him. (We all know he's injured) Timm Klose - May be getting on a bit, but he saw him as a solid defender at this level, and thinks he played very well against them Zak Vyner - His comment is one that struck to me. You don't play 100 matches at this level and not be good enough. May not be a star player, but if you manage 100 games at a certain level, that's your level Han Noah Massengo - Said he rated him as a player and thought he was decent when he saw him last year, surprised he has disappeared. Stefan Bajic - Had never heard of him, but watched last nights match and said, he looked like a rabbit in headlights. ------ So whilst many people have the conclusion, the squad is not good enough and Pearson is doing well with the tools he has, a supporter of another Championship club believes that 15 of our Squad are of Championship standard, and 4 are of potential Championship standard. Bar 1 or 2, I pretty much agree with his comments also. Yes there can be some credit given for injuries to Naismith, and Kalas which means depth is not our friend. But a team with 15-19 players who are capable at this level, should not be failing to perform. The one thing I disagree with, is when we are in a position that we need points and wages are paid regardless, two players in Bentley and Massengo appear to be frozen out now. For a club with financial constraints, is it wise to have say 30K a week of talent, not being utilised? Regardless of whether they have no future here and will not be here next season, they should be involved in the squad, as they are capable at this level. For me, an injury free line up should be Bentley DaSilva - Atkinson - Kalas - Klose - Naismith James - Scott Weimann Wells - Conway Bench: O'Leary, Tanner, Pring, Vyner, Massengo, Williams, Semenyo That is a very capable Championship side, with adequate cover. There is no doubt, we have a larger than ideal wage bill, but the fact is the big wages are utilised by some of our best players, if these players can't be kept on better deals for the club, they need replacing. Those calling for Kalas, Bentley, Wells & Dasilva to be moved on to free up money, have to accept that 3 of those actually need replacing by incoming players, which means you have to be able to recruit well, Pearson whilst not disastrous, has not recruited outstandingly. Simpson and King were a waste of wages, forget about off field influences, they were signed as players and not coaches. James has been one of his better signings. Williams is always injured, Tanner is still raw, Atkinson is probably his best signing. Naismith is a solid squad player, but another to have picked up an injury and has been a delight at times, and a frustration at other. Klose has been OK, and is not a bad signing. It is too early to write off Sykes, Wilson & Bajic, but at present it's hard to say they are an improvement on what we had here already. Pearson has had the luxury of several promising players developing through the academy, but these are players who have been here all along. If people get their wish and certain players leave at the end of the season due to contracts expiring, they must also accept that a couple of the starlets will also be sold. I fear at the end of the season our squad will look as follows; Wilson Naismith Atkinson Williams O'Leary Weimann Conway Pring Sykes Tanner Vyner Bajic This means we go from 15 Championship standard players to 7, and the 4 potential remain. This means despite the big wages gone, we will need to recruit 8-10 players and that will not be easy. Staying in the Championship is Vital to our progression, bigger teams than us have dropped to League One and it has taken them a long time to get back out, and most are still there! Those saying Pearson has been dealt a hard hand, may want to look at the facts, that on paper our Squad, albeit a bit thin, has at least 19 players who are solid, capable or promising at this level. With that in mind, we should not be in the position we are in. Teams who have been promoted with a core of League One standard players are performing better than ourselves, or are as equally vulnerable. On the pitch, 29% all fixtures and 25% at home, are a win rate, which deservedly gets you the sack. Pearson's short term reign at the club, should have never led to a three year contract, but he sold the club a plan to fix, and stabilise the club and progress. Now I am not ignorant enough to say, he has not stabilised the financial mess and worked within constraints given to him, but I think the club is far from fixed, and I would give more credence to the academy staff, who keep plucking one or two gems out, to help out the first team. But for me the key word is progression and whilst there is progression and can be further progression off the pitch, we are not progressing on the pitch and at the end of the day, that is a manager's number one job. I personally believe we are in a real danger of being relegated and we are lucky the league is as wide open as it is, as it means our 2 wins in 12 games has not been heavily punished, however clubs around us have started to find form, and some of these have made changes management wise and this is bearing fruits. Saturday for me is the last game Pearson should be in charge. It then gives the board 4 weeks during the world cup to make a replacement of bringing in a short term manager to make sure this club does not go down. That has to be the key factor. Not sign someone for 2/3 years, a 6 month job to get us to the summer of a better financial position and be able to attract a manager who can start to take the club forward in a positive manner. This squad is underperforming and going backwards under Pearson, maybe losing confidence and possibly many are looking at the exit door already. Pearson will not turn this around, this is very much his squad which are underperforming. It's not a case of them not being good enough. Their histories and abilities show they are capable at this level, what they need is new vision, to get them on track, steady the ship and make sure BCFC are in the Championship next season. I thank Pearson for what he has done behind the scenes and appreciate the constraints he has had to work with, but it's a results business and just because you get all the pieces out the box and put them on a mat, doesn't mean you'll finish the puzzle. The next 6 months are about preparation and protection of our status, it is no longer about looking forward 6 months or 18 months of a financially better City that can rebuild and recruit, it's about making sure, we are not a League One team with a fancy all singing and dancing stadium and Academy players who will be picked up left right and centre. The team are underperforming, that is a fact. This is not to do with money and average tools. We have a squad that should be performing better, but they are not, and they are also not being fully utilised to the best of our advantage and that is a managers job. That is the fundamental reason why change is now needed.

Hmm Maths not good. We lose, West Brom and Blackpool win, we are in the bottom three.