Pearson’s Not Happy!

[slartibartfast]

17 minutes ago, Tafkarmlf said:

This reminds me of the Millen, Sextone spats back in the day. 

Combined with comments the other day about losing jobs and players etc. 

Im guessing Jon's comments could be taken in a certain light as vote of confirm. 

I don't think that NP is as safe as people seem to think. 

Reading between the lines I may be the only one to think this though. 

I think it's more likely he would walk after Mr Thicko McThick's utterances !

[Son of Fred]

3 hours ago, RUSSEL85 said:

If NP goes because of this, then quite frankly I’m done with it. Hoping there is exaggeration in this rag but Nigel tends to say it as it is.

Quite agree....

They can go 'poke it....................

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, Calculus said:

Yup, certainly looks like the beginning of the end to me. Might take a while but unfortunately I think we'll eventually look back on this as when Nige's stay started to unravel. I doubt that JL has said anything that SL doesn't agree with.

Despite all the good that has been done I despair of the Lansdowns at times.

I’m not sure it’s gonna be easy to move Nige on…either by paying him off his 2+ year’s contract, or continuing to pay him whilst he’s not here.

Anyone know whether we stopped paying LJ when he got the Sunderland job? @Kid in the Riot???

2 hours ago, spudski said:

The difference being SoD and Cotterill, lost the fan base in the end...mainly because they had no idea of what was going on behind closed doors.

I feel there is an understanding now amongst the fan base that we have been run poorly for many years. 

NP has his faults, but he's in a far stronger position with the fans, than the board and owner right now.

They would do well to listen for a change. Get some humility. They are starting to look like little Hitler's. Do as I say...it's my ball, I'm captain, I'll take it home if you don't do as I say syndrome.

Think they are losing the plot a bit...started to look like a good idea, now it just looks like a rich blokes play thing who wants to leave a legacy...the underlying feeling is he's losing respect.

Vocal as I’ve been on here about the finances (whilst bowing down to others superior knowledge) I’d like to find I’ve played a part in debunking some myths about our finances and been proven right about where they were trending…and educating OTIB and twitter in the process.  It is why we can look beyond old fashioned concepts like net-spend and get a far better appreciation of the poor management from SL down.

2 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

No offence,  but all you have done here is reassert what most of us know; that The Lansdowns investment in infrastructure at the club has been excellent.

Now try critiquing their performance on the football side... go on.... there's 21 years of evidence. Go through every managerial appointment and pick the good ones, and let me know which of them have gone onto bigger and better things. 

In anticipation, 

As I often say, we are not a well run club, just a club that’s had a lot of investment….paraphrased a lot of investment in infrastructure and a lot wasted on football.

2 hours ago, Dredd said:

Seems like JL seemed to think the ‘sell players for massive money’ gravy train was going to go on and on. You just can’t use that as a business model, especially when the recruitment was as poor as LJ/MA. We could all see that we were running out of talent to balance the books, MA knew this and swiftly abandoned ship. The club essentially was milked dry of saleable assets (most of which weren’t even signed by MA/LJ which really p1sses me off but that’s not the point).

Has the team under achieved this season? Not for me and I think it’s a bit embarrassing JL has come out and said that. Fair play NP on pulling him up on it. 
Has the CLUB under achieved since receiving almost 100m in transfer fees? Absolutely. The finger is pointed fairly at LJ and MA but ultimately they all report into the Lansdowns so they have to take some responsibility. 

Oh and speaking of identity I still hate that stupid robin badge we have. 

Totally.  Just imagine where we might be if we’d shipped Massengo off on loan to Brum, last January, and therefore he’d left in the summer for a much lower fee than he’s being touted for now.  The fact that he got back in the team under Nige, and did well, meant Watford came in with an £8m bid which we refused.  He now has decent value should we sell him / have to sell him.  I don’t know who was forcing that loan, Holden or Ashton, but it didn’t happen, thankfully.

1 hour ago, VT05763 said:

Though Pearson, who said he was told of Ashton’s departure in “good time,” praised the CEO's achievements for City.

“He leaves a very positive legacy behind him," Pearson continued. "I’ve really enjoyed working with him.

He isn’t gonna slag him off is he?  He was placed on gardening leave pretty much soon after his departure was announced and wheeled out when needed to maintain a level of “everything is rosy”.  Too big a conflict of interest.  Nothing to gain by saying anything other than “good job, good luck”, especially as it would undermine SL / JL too.

[SydneyCity]

I think this is all a storm in a teacup.

In my opinion, JL often drifts between wanting to be seen as a chairman, fan or footy lad. In this instance I think he was being interviewed as a chairman but in this particular instance, answering as a fan/footy lad - a throw away, stereotypical line about “we should be doing better” that most fans roll out regularly about their team. Very tone-deaf in this scenario - and unprofessional as a chairman - but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The press has picked this up, Nige has bitten and here we are.

I’d like to think a phone call could sort it all out.

If I’m wrong, and he is outwardly criticising the improvements we’ve made under Nige with the intention of getting rid, then I too will have lost a lot of faith in the board.

[REDOXO]

4 hours ago, CyderInACan said:

Jon Lansdown is a bellend. 

You know I was going to write a long angry diatribe about Mr Lansdown Jr comments. But you summed it up so succinctly I don’t feel the need!

[Spike]

All of the comments aside I think if Pearson does leave /get sacked the next manager appointment could actually be the biggest factor in many fans future of attending/ supporting the club. 

I can't remember the last time we were not getting results but I wanted the manager to stay. For me Pearson is one of the first managers we've had in my lifetime willing to fix issues within the club rather than skirting around them in order not to rock the boat. The only other manager I can think of that I liked and did rock the boat was Cotterill and he did the double and upon the first opportunity to sack him he was gone. 

If Pearson goes I can no longer accept that the owner and Co want the best for this club. For me that would be a clear sign that what they want is to be able to say they know best, when it's clear to say when it comes to football that they do not. 

[Pezo]

It will be interesting to see if the purse strings are unnaturally tightened in the summer.

It’s going to be hard to judge because we will need to make a profit on player transfers.

[Oh Louie louie]

Rotten as a meddler.

Next time theres a crisis jon, dont go on holiday.

Face the music like us.

 

[Oh Louie louie]

Recall, nigel having a tough time at leicester.

The chairmans son, stepped in,smoothed things over, and told his dad, keep calm keep pearson.

They stayed up, and the rest is history.

Jon, that is how you behave. if you want respect.

[Redandproud]

9 hours ago, cidered abroad said:

What a complete plonker we have as a chairman!

And for someone who know absolutely nothing about football

[swanker]

15 minutes ago, RedNachos said:

When is he happy?

We regularly do some work at the training centre and every time I see him he’s always smiling and make time to come out and chat with us. Top bloke in my opinion. 
 

[Edgy Red]

8 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

No offence,  but all you have done here is reassert what most of us know; that The Lansdowns investment in infrastructure at the club has been excellent.

Now try critiquing their performance on the football side... go on.... there's 21 years of evidence. Go through every managerial appointment and pick the good ones, and let me know which of them have gone onto bigger and better things. 

In anticipation, 

I'm not looking for an argument/ongoing debate. At the end of the day this is a football forum and ultimately we all want Bristol City to be successful and produce performances on the pitch that get us off our seats.

I was just trying to offer some balance to the conversation and as another poster said recently, our club has not achieved anything of note in well over 100 years, apart from a few seasons in the top flight in the late 70's and a couple of cup runs, so The Lansdown family are not alone in their failings.

 

[Monkeh]

To be fair we are underachieving,

We are inconstant and sit in 17th, we can't string performances together and really should be around 13th

 

[Mad Cyril]

8 hours ago, Dredd said:

Seems like JL seemed to think the ‘sell players for massive money’ gravy train was going to go on and on. You just can’t use that as a business model, especially when the recruitment was as poor as LJ/MA. We could all see that we were running out of talent to balance the books....

It is a model that has worked consistently for Brentford, Southampton, Peterborough....

It can work. But as you say, we are #### at it.

[Phileas Fogg]

This is a really interesting quote from JL

”Nigel's had a few of his own health issues as well through that so we're still growing that relationship”

A year in and they’re still ‘growing’ a relationship. That doesn’t bode well to me.  I appreciate JL may have been less ‘hands on’ recently partly due to covid, but that suggests (as many of us suspected) that Pearson isn’t the sort of personality the Lansdowns like really. 

As mentioned elsewhere, SO’D and Cotterill were both long in the tooth and straight talking. Both had tough remits and clearly locked horns with the Lansdowns who don’t enjoy heading home truths it seems. The club gave enormous backing to Johnson (who seemed happy to play their game) and then the inexplicable appointment of Holden. It’s obvious what sort of manager they prefer.

I don’t rate Jon or value his point of view on football. He’s terrible at giving interviews too and clearly has an ego (remember his pettiness about the three lions flag a few years ago?). Unfortunately though, if Pearson gets on the Lansdowns’ bad side there’ll only be one winner.

Once again it’s that familiar situation of proven and experienced football man having a different point of view from the owners. 

[Red Army 75]

Me personally I was always going to start to judge NP as Bristol City manager from next season. With what’s gone on staying up this season was all that matters to me. Yes it’s frustrating to lose games, last minute goals and conceding poor poor goals. I’m hoping he gets rid off some players and NP said it’s our most important transfer window coming up. Looking forward to him building his team. But my worry now is a couple of more defeats and a bit of disharmony in the camp I’m starting to think he might not be here in the summer. Which would be terrible. NP has a voice and is not afraid to use it. The lansdowns aren’t use to this kind of personality managing our football club. I really hope it’s a storm in a teacup and NP is here in the summer.

[red panda]

I like Nige, and hope he stays a long time

.... but I really can't understand all the anti-Lansdown posts on this thread.

Nige is very clearly wrong this time.  He even says himself "We haven’t won the number of games that we should have done. We haven’t got the number of points that we should have."  Football is a results game and Nige has given us a very good definition of underperformance.

[Phileas Fogg]

2 minutes ago, red panda said:

I like Nige, and hope he stays a long time

.... but I really can't understand all the anti-Lansdown posts on this thread.

Nige is very clearly wrong this time.  He even says himself "We haven’t won the number of games that we should have done. We haven’t got the number of points that we should have."  Football is a results game and Nige has given us a very good definition of underperformance.

I think the historical context is important. We've seen it several times now - the Lansdowns being uneasy with public 'criticism' or resistance from an experienced manager. The general impression is that they feel safer with a manager like a Johnson JR/Holden/McInnes who won't discuss grievances explicitly in public. 

Both SO'D and Cotterill weren't given much patience from the board once the relationship deteriorated, whereas Lee Johnson in particular was given enormous patience and backing. Probably because SL was desperate for his appointment and the 'model' to work. 

The general consensus on here seems to be that, to quote Pearson, "we are where we are". We won't go down, we will lose a few games (probably some heavily) - but our young players will continue to develop and our team will gradually improve. People appreciate Pearson's honesty about the club, he doesn't sugar coat and speaks in a way supporters appreciate (ie no cliches or being too clever clever). For some reason as a supporter base we seem to prefer that sort of 'manager' rather than a head coach and Pearson has a lot of favour with the support I feel despite results. 

I think people are willing to give Pearson a bit of a pass this season, on account of the context (covid, finances). I think though that if this time next year we are still in a similar position that supporters will question him more. Most seem to think Jon Lansdown's comments are misguided and perhaps as a result of not really working well with personalities like Pearson.

[Roe]

There's been a lot of delusion behind the scenes for a while now, probably part of the reason we've been so bad the last couple of years. 

Earlier on in the season we were told we had a "top 6" squad when clearly we were nowhere near that. 

It's gonna be a sad day when Nige leaves us. 

[exAtyeoMax]

Plus Nige ridiculed them calling it the HPC… 

[cityloyal473]

If NPs abrasiveness and telling it as it is proves his undoing, its yet more evidence that SL/JL have no forking clue.

[Northern Red]

21 minutes ago, Roe said:

There's been a lot of delusion behind the scenes for a while now, probably part of the reason we've been so bad the last couple of years. 

Earlier on in the season we were told we had a "top 6" squad when clearly we were nowhere near that. 

It's gonna be a sad day when Nige leaves us. 

Some on here were still saying it was a top 10 squad as recently as last week.

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

6 hours ago, Davefevs said:

He isn’t gonna slag him off is he?  He was placed on gardening leave pretty much soon after his departure was announced and wheeled out when needed to maintain a level of “everything is rosy”.  Too big a conflict of interest.  Nothing to gain by saying anything other than “good job, good luck”, especially as it would undermine SL / JL too.

So what has now changed? However you interpret Nige's recent comments towards his employers or their accuracy- "he isnt going to slag him off is he" is precisely what he has now done albeit in not quite so vernacular terms.

[The Bard]

10 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

Some on here were still saying it was a top 10 squad as recently as last week.

There's not much difference between a top 10 and a top 18 squad.   A few last minute goals.  Literally.  
Weird how these classifications are used.    the Championship consists of the top 6 and genuine play off contenders.  At the bottom those seriously endangered by relegation.  In the middle a big blob of mediocrity.  We are very much in that blob and it really doesn't mean much whether we're towards the top of the blob or the bottom.  It's still the blob.

Edited February 18, 2022 by The Bard

[Son of Fred]

5 hours ago, SydneyCity said:

I’d like to think a phone call could sort it all out.

I'd have to have a concern that such a call would indeed "sort it out"....well & truly!

[Ivorguy]

How much longer until Lansdowns lose the true fan base?

Until Nige walks or is sacked, I guess?

Really and utterly browned off by the whole ongoing mess at Ashton Gate.

One day of Old Harry in the chair would sort this shambles of a club out.

 

[Dolman_Stand]

5 hours ago, SydneyCity said:

I think this is all a storm in a teacup.

In my opinion, JL often drifts between wanting to be seen as a chairman, fan or footy lad. In this instance I think he was being interviewed as a chairman but in this particular instance, answering as a fan/footy lad - a throw away, stereotypical line about “we should be doing better” that most fans roll out regularly about their team. Very tone-deaf in this scenario - and unprofessional as a chairman - but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The press has picked this up, Nige has bitten and here we are.

I’d like to think a phone call could sort it all out.

If I’m wrong, and he is outwardly criticising the improvements we’ve made under Nige with the intention of getting rid, then I too will have lost a lot of faith in the board.

Well said

[JP Hampton]

I don’t know enough about JL to make any real comment but I do know what’s happened since Pearson came. They knew the type of manager they were employing they seemingly wanted someone with a firm character willing to knock a few heads together his reputation preceded him.  
What I believe that JL should be saying is we’re behind NP and it is a case of trusting “the process” which will take time. What they also need to do is make sure that we don’t keep allowing players to improve here only to sell them on to the detriment of the club. 
 

You could add Danny Wilson to SoD and SC another manager who left after being frustrated by the board. 
 

The trouble is we’ve heard a lot of soundbites from the Lansdowns  over the years and I think this comment from JL is simply another of those, but he wasn’t banking on NP reacting to it in this way. 
 

[Tin Soldier]

FACT The Lansdownes have not got a clue on how to run a football club. Which is why BCFC is part of this Bristol Sport. There  is no identity, no association, no direction, when Bristol City FC is part of this bloody Bristol Sport ideaoligy.

And where is the success model/plan to just keep selling your best players every year and replace with monkeys. Shambles, and has been for years. No manager can produce a successful team with that policy.
Nige P is just exposing the frailties when asked at interviews. 
The Lansdownes will hate the fact that Nige P is not a Yes man and will talk honestly to the Press. 

As for Jon Lansdown, what a joke!!

Edited February 18, 2022 by Tin Soldier

[Numero Uno]

2 minutes ago, Son of Fred said:

I'd have to have a concern that such a call would indeed "sort it out"....well & truly!

Exactly. Would be better if they did nothing and just said "sorry for the misunderstanding" in the Summer. With ego's at play here though I could see a scenario where NP is either sacked in the misguided view they will sell more season tickets or he simply tells the Lansdowns to do one. It's on a knife edge I think. What I do know though is if the Lansdowns sack Nige after letting him start the job then they are finished with me. I was hoping that after 20 years of ineptness on the football decision making side of things they had finally decided to let two blokes with experience run the show.................