Nigel’s Agent

[The Bard]

46 minutes ago, Harry said:

Well. I never expected that!! 

So, if the value of the squad has increased, then this gives even more sway to my point in my other thread in that he should be doing better with this squad. 
If the squad is now worth more than when he took it on, why are we in a significantly worse position? 

You know exactly why Harry.  Profile of the players.  In particular 2 under 20 on little money but with potentially big fees.  As opposed to the previous situation of a mass of overpaid mediocrity.  No one seriously thought Birmingham should have gone up with Jude Bellingham in CM worth £25 million.  Rest of the team wasn't good enough and its the same for us.

 

[winsaw]

59 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Point is that if (thinking at home mainly) performances are not so bad,

 

Performances don't keep you in the league thought, results do and at the moment we look unable to turn performance into positive results,

[KegCity]

58 minutes ago, M.D said:

I think because he has developed our youth players but not necessarily that the squad has improved.

The likes of Scott, Semenyo and Conway have seen their values rise considerably under NP's guidance.

Surely that means the squad has improved then? He’s got rid of deadwood and developed youth team players into key parts of the first team squad.

[M.D]

Just now, KegCity said:

Surely that means the squad has improved then? He’s got rid of deadwood and developed youth team players into key parts of the first team squad.

I don't think the squad has to be fair, there is little depth in it now..

[P'head Red]

44 minutes ago, Roger Red Hat said:

How do you know?

You'd be willing to risk it and wait to find out?

[Bobbie]

2 hours ago, ooRya said:

I don't think anyone is denying that point.

However, some of us aren't prepared to fall headlong into League 1 while he does it.

And my brain works fine thanks.

Well if no one is denying it then a whole lot fail to mention it. We are not in the bottom 3 and haven’t looked like a relegation side on the vast majority of games. Have some patience 

[Steve Watts]

3 hours ago, LondonBristolian said:

I'm torn but I think there is a valid point here. I think on balance I want Pearson to stay. I'd certainly understand if he did get sacked but, either way, the most important thing to me is that we complete the journey we're on.

The absolute last thing I want is a new manager to come in, decide he doesn't fancy any of the players NP has signed or the way that the club have been instructed to play from first team through the youth teams, rip up the foundations of the last two years and we find ourselves starting again from scratch. 

If there is a change, I think it has to be someone who can do the job NP is doing more effectively rather than someone who disagrees on the nature of the job is that needs to be done. 

This won't happen, it's as simple as that.  If we change manager there is no way we would appoint one who didn't buy into the club philosophy.  If the reports on Hughton are to be believed he talked himself out of the running when the fantastic human got the job.

[Super]

Sounds to me that he already knows Pearson is on his way.

[Roger Red Hat]

14 minutes ago, P'head Red said:

You'd be willing to risk it and wait to find out?

Do you have an answer to my question?

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

17 minutes ago, Steve Watts said:

This won't happen, it's as simple as that.  If we change manager there is no way we would appoint one who didn't buy into the club philosophy.  If the reports on Hughton are to be believed he talked himself out of the running when the fantastic human got the job.

What was Hughton wanting out of interest, would be interested to know if indeed you have more insight.

Besides which his next job at Nottingham Forest, he hardly achieved great things albeit they change managers often.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, M.D said:

I don't think the squad has to be fair, there is little depth in it now..

It's hard to say, we have players who can probably fill in here and there without much problem but when it becomes a prolonged run of games..plus more young players will lead to more inconsistency in performance.

In theory, if we must stick with the back 3:

                  O'Leary

    Kalas Naismith Atkinson

Wilson James/Williams Scott Pring

                    Weimann

               Conway Wells

Not too bad IMO. Problem is when form dips or medium to long term injuries kick in you are having to compromise. King e.g. is fine as a filler, not a prolonged starter. Tanner and Pring can fill in at CB in a back 3 but not for long.

Likewise if you go for a back 4, maybe Tanner-Kalas-Atkinson-Pring...Not a huge fan but you could switch in game between 3 and 4 at the back if Naismith was to be beyween the defence and the midfield- some phases he could drop, others he could form part of a CM 3. Fit and firing Semenyo would be like a new signing. DaSilva started the season quite well but has faded? Feels like we are compromising somewhat unless we have a settled 11 in play.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[P'head Red]

16 minutes ago, Roger Red Hat said:

Do you have an answer to my question?

 

If we get relegated the following will happen.

- At least half of the playing squad will be gone. These players will need to be replaced with players who can make the step up. If this isn't done correctly we'll be in for a long season.

- the gates will drop, probably to around 10-14k.

- L1 is not a walk in the park. Take a look at the league table, half of those teams have been in the championship in the not too distant past. Some now in league two, and even national league. 

- Lansdown will find it harder to secure external investment. 

- It will be harder for us to persuade promising academy prospects to stay, if wanted by upper championship/ premier league sides.

- above all we will take a huge financial hit, one which we cannot afford to take. 

Will you now answer my question?

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

41 minutes ago, P'head Red said:

If we get relegated the following will happen.

- At least half of the playing squad will be gone. These players will need to be replaced with players who can make the step up. If this isn't done correctly we'll be in for a long season.

- the gates will drop, probably to around 10-14k.

- L1 is not a walk in the park. Take a look at the league table, half of those teams have been in the championship in the not too distant past. Some now in league two, and even national league. 

- Lansdown will find it harder to secure external investment. 

- It will be harder for us to persuade promising academy prospects to stay, if wanted by upper championship/ premier league sides.

- above all we will take a huge financial hit, one which we cannot afford to take. 

Will you now answer my question?

 

I mean we have a higher income base than Sheffield Wednesday, unlike Derby we would have no embargo restrictions. How FFP would carry over between the two divisions is hard to say but Sheffield Wednesday retained players such as to name some Iorfa, Bannan, Windass, Paterson and a clutch of others on relegation. Derby despite being at deaths door almost financially retained players such as Knight, Bird, Sibley. Bielik could also yet return. I would argue that all of these are Championship standard players.

Unlike us both have signed PL or Championship loanees The high off-field revenue yes it would take a hit but not a huge one.

Why should we be in a position where we are significantly wrecked vs those two for example?

Wigan came up while not being able to spend an awful lot.

That said relegation would be a disaster and needless IMO.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, winsaw said:

Performances don't keep you in the league thought, results do and at the moment we look unable to turn performance into positive results,

That is true.

1 hour ago, Steve Watts said:

This won't happen, it's as simple as that.  If we change manager there is no way we would appoint one who didn't buy into the club philosophy.  If the reports on Hughton are to be believed he talked himself out of the running when the fantastic human got the job.

I believe it was Cook who talked himself out of it during the interview.  See below re Hughton.

57 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

What was Hughton wanting out of interest, would be interested to know if indeed you have more insight.

Besides which his next job at Nottingham Forest, he hardly achieved great things albeit they change managers often.

Hughton (allegedly) wanted to rebuild immediately with proven players on proven transfer fees…basically he wanted money for immediate change.  As you’ll see Holden got Joe Williams (£1.25m) a few frees and a couple of loans.  Hughton and City realised they weren’t a match for each other.  Quite how it got into multiple interviews, god knows.

[W-S-M Seagull]

5 hours ago, cidercity1987 said:

It's a stain on the supporter base that this guy feels the need

Why can't we just support Pearson to finish the job he's been bought in to do

I feel like the agent was probably quite upset hearing all the chants against WBA, knowing how difficult of a job Pearson has had it. 

We have certain fans, and I can name them, that are always against whatever manager we have. As soon as their 1st bad result comes they say "well I'm not sure this is the right guy" these fans are always the 1st with their "we want ... out" these fans are very vocal on local media, on social media etc etc. For whatever reason they appear to have their own agenda. I think its because they once took Woking to Chanpions league glory on Championship manager so think they could do a better job.

People follow them like sheep. I've seen the same people repeat this manager after manager. They would do the same with Pep or Klopp. I don't quite understand why they do it, probably an attention thing maybe. 

[Bobbie]

2 hours ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

And there we have it: criticism of Nige belongs to the "brain dead fans". Well, us brain dead fans (including 60% of the 700 who voted on OTIB) perhaps have enough brain cells to see that we have a manager who has one of the worst records at BCFC and has not improved on field performances WHATSOEVER.

Perhaps brain-dead was a little harsh, apologies. Impatient, irritating and unable to see the bigger picture or put the current performances within any context of the club situation is perhaps a better way to describe you. Although, the fact you take a poll on Otib as your evidence against, I think I might just stick with brain-dead. 

[Davefevs]

He replied to me.

 

[RedM]

Sounds like the Agent is trying to muster some support from Pearson's employer by reminding him of all the good he has done. Wonder why he feels the need to do so though

For what it's worth I can see us getting a result there tonight, possibly a draw. Then once again Nigel can limp on. I think he's a dead man walking if I'm honest and they both know it.

[GrahamC]

I think it’s pretty odd but don’t reckon for a minute that Pearson is the sort to say to his agent “results are poor at the moment so put something out to try to put it in to some context”.

Don’t think the arrival of the new CEO (who doesn’t even start until February & let’s face it, Pearson could be gone before then) was a factor here, either.

Seems to me like this bloke has simply chosen (stupidly, for me) to put something out there supporting his client, but genuinely don’t think it will make the slightest bit of difference to what plays out.

 

[Roger Red Hat]

58 minutes ago, P'head Red said:

Will you now answer my question?

Happy to, now that you've answered mine. What was it?

[RedM]

Just now, Davefevs said:

He replied to me.

 

Is Nigel his only client, that's quite a lot of time he invests in him!

[W-S-M Seagull]

3 hours ago, M.D said:

Ive not read that before so thank you for putting the link up, shows some perspective as to what is going on behind the scenes.

There was a Leicester fan who comes on here from time to time and I remember him saying that many will question NP's tactics, player choice's and subs but it will all click at some point, I really hope it does here..

I was thinking the other day that whilst we are not getting results, performances have generally been okay. And that reminded me of when it looked like Leicester were getting relegated and suddenly it all clicked. Those that know Leicester would say that escaping relegation that season was maybe more of a miracle than going on to win the title. 

When Coventry were going through a bad patch earlier on in the season, Mark Robbins (who many would have here) said something like he wasn't concerned about results, as long as the performances were good, then the results would follow, and they did. 

4 hours ago, Bobbie said:

Lansdown has made plenty of mistakes over the years but to sack Pearson now would be the biggest of the lot. 
 

The bloke is sorting our club out from top to bottom. Let’s hope SL doesn’t listen to the brain dead sections of our fan base 

I've said it a few times but the biggest challenge Pearson has is getting our fan base to buy into the culture change that is occurring. 

3 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

You need a manager who buys in however.

Someone like Parker wouldn't even look twice "I want this, and this and that- oh and that shiny one there". Only Parachute Payment clubs or PL clubs need apply for my services...

Granted that is two ends of the spectrum but you do need a manager who will buy in and not kick off etc. Who understands and accepts the situation for what it is.

Someone like Parker would ask for a big wage and a £10m transfer budget or expensive loans I imagine. Just one example-  certainly wouldn't agree with reducing the amortisation and wage bills. Hence someone like Parker wouldn't join us- a lot of managers would chafe against the FFP restrictions we are under.

In this regard Nige is the perfect manager for us right now. He's prepared to work with what he's got. He doesn't give a crap about his win record or whatever. He does not shift from his long term vision for short term results to keep his record intact or whatever. Nige thinks long term. Many many other managers would crumble and lose sight of their long term vision to protect their job. 

We've needed someone like Nige for a very long time. 

[P'head Red]

6 minutes ago, Roger Red Hat said:

Happy to, now that you've answered mine. What was it?

Are you willing to risk waiting to find out if what I said would turn out to be true. You could argue we'd be gambling on bringing someone new in, but is it not better to try a new approach than watch the ship sink?

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by P'head Red

[W-S-M Seagull]

7 minutes ago, RedM said:

Is Nigel his only client, that's quite a lot of time he invests in him!

I thought Nige wouldn't be the sort to have an agent so the fact that he does, probably suggests that him and Nige are very good personal friends. 

[W-S-M Seagull]

2 minutes ago, P'head Red said:

Are you willing to risk waiting to find out if what I said would turn out to be true. You could argue we'd be gambling on bringing someone new in, but is it not better to try a new approach than watch the ship sink?

 

It's this short term thinking that has led us to where we now are. 

We can't just rip it all up now and start the process all over again. We'll just be stuck in that cycle forever. 

We need to have faith and belief in what our long term vision is. Yes it's currently a little bit rocky but that's how these things sometimes goes. 

[Roger Red Hat]

1 minute ago, P'head Red said:

Are you willing to risk waiting to find out if what I said would turn out to be true. You could argue we'd be gambling on bringing someone new in, but is it not better to try a new approach than watch the ship sink?

 

For clarity, I don't think its ever a good idea to be relegated. I don't agree that bringing in a different manager at this point is a good idea, particularly as I've seen no one mentioned of any substance. 

In reference to your original post, you stated we would be in league one for a long time, I asked 'how you 'KNEW' that, you don't. We might be, but I think I'm right in saying we were down for 2 seasons last time?

 

[Davefevs]

7 minutes ago, RedM said:

Is Nigel his only client, that's quite a lot of time he invests in him!

A good agent should be working for his client(s) all the time (working hours).  Hopefully that is what they get paid to do!  Some are of course bad-eggs.

Here’s who he reps according to twitter.

 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/oporto-sports-management/beraterfirma/berater/7756

https://www.oportosports.com/individuals/#//agency

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07973034/officers

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

13 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I was thinking the other day that whilst we are not getting results, performances have generally been okay. And that reminded me of when it looked like Leicester were getting relegated and suddenly it all clicked. Those that know Leicester would say that escaping relegation that season was maybe more of a miracle than going on to win the title. 

When Coventry were going through a bad patch earlier on in the season, Mark Robbins (who many would have here) said something like he wasn't concerned about results, as long as the performances were good, then the results would follow, and they did. 

I've said it a few times but the biggest challenge Pearson has is getting our fan base to buy into the culture change that is occurring. 

In this regard Nige is the perfect manager for us right now. He's prepared to work with what he's got. He doesn't give a crap about his win record or whatever. He does not shift from his long term vision for short term results to keep his record intact or whatever. Nige thinks long term. Many many other managers would crumble and lose sight of their long term vision to protect their job. 

We've needed someone like Nige for a very long time. 

Agree on all of your points tbh. Interesting you should mention Coventry, thought they were in a bit of a false position a) Because of the fixture problem and b) Because I thought they were okay vs us in October, could see the players were still with Robins etc.

You only have to read some of the match reports, stats efc from that Leicester season to see that they were generally even when losing playing alright, at home especially and not necessarily getting what they deserved during their bad spells. A bit like the current situation with us, Monday aside.

If performances remain solid, generally clubs get their reward and teams kick on from it. Not guaranteed but generally. Likewise if teams are snatching results, playing patchy football but winning, perhaps even somehow winning that also matches up with results in the end. ie Results decline and at times sharply! We have certainly seem that in recent years! 2019-20 and 2020-21 especially.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[The chief]

4 hours ago, headhunter said:

And this is the absurdity of this maelstrom of discontent - 5 more points and we'd be eyeing 5th & 6th ; fine margins!

5 points less and we’d be bottom! Well joint bottom anyway.  
Reasons for discontent have been discussed at length. Players out of position, ineffective in-game management/subs etc.

let’s all hope we pull a few wins out of the bag starting tonight and the dissenting voices will quieten .

[P'head Red]

4 minutes ago, Roger Red Hat said:

For clarity, I don't think its ever a good idea to be relegated. I don't agree that bringing in a different manager at this point is a good idea, particularly as I've seen no one mentioned of any substance. 

In reference to your original post, you stated we would be in league one for a long time, I asked 'how you 'KNEW' that, you don't. We might be, but I think I'm right in saying we were down for 2 seasons last time?

 

If you look at my post I've suggested moving Nigel up to DoF. This will allow him to continue making necessary changes. We need a new idea on how to improve this team, how to find a style of play that works. Because this isn't happening, is it?

What alternative solution is there? Just have to sit passively and hope something just changes?