Nigel’s Agent

[Ostrich]

2 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Point is that if (thinking at home mainly) performances are not so bad, results should turn in due course.

Something similar happened in his PL season at Leicester- the performances were often good, at home especially but they were often losing narrowly but then something clicked. Just clicked.

9 games, 22 pts and probably 2 goals a game and maybe more , can't remember without checking. If @Ostrich is still on here they may be able to add  bit of detail.

Performances weren't terrible in that we weren't ever being beaten comfortably like many teams that sit at the bottom of the league, we were often in games and losing by a goal, I don't think we ever lost by more than 2 that season. But I can't remember if the narrative at the time was that performances were good and we were unfortunate or if that came afterwards - even if it was at the time I think it was a bit of copium. 

Would you think the run of results below was really being unfortunate despite good performances?

Palace 2-0 Leicester
Leicester 2-2 Burnley
Newcastle 1-0 Leicester
Leicester 0-1 WBA
Southampton 2-0 Leicester
Leicester 0-0 Sunderland
QPR 3-2 Leicester

Between the Burnley game listed above and going to Anfield on NYD, we scored 6 goals in 11 games, 2 of which came against QPR who ended up bottom and conceding 73 goals.Maybe performances improved just before results (Arsenal away for example) improved but the winter was pretty bleak for me apart from when we played Liverpool on NYD. Winning 2 in 24 or whatever it was, can't just be put down to being unfortunate despite good performances.

 

A change in formation was key to the change around & and it's often rumoured that Cambiasso sort of grabbed everyone by the scruff of the neck to pull it around. A bit of good fortune was necessary and then momentum took over. 

Bottom line for me is that you can talk about the odd performance meriting more but over time you get what you trend to what you deserve so it's a bit desperate. Not saying Expected Points based on xG is ideal but it seems you've slightly underperformed what you'd expect. Having not seen the games, I lack the necessary context to put xG number in. However, looking at the original tweet, and using just raw numbers there's only really the Stoke game you can make a case for. 0.5xG v 0.1xG in your game against Watford doesn't appear a game you deserved to win and doesn't read as a good performance. In fact, it appears like an atrocious game of football for which both teams should be deducted 10 points for crimes against football.

[M.D]

15 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

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

 

So looking at that and he is kinda young, he's not NP's agent and he's his representative, or have I got that wrong?

[Sturny]

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

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. 

There's definitely fans that are like that. But what if there's the opinion that Nige has been on the decline since 2014, and not as "proper manager" as we believe. I think it's valid, his record has been poor since, including here.

I'm going to look at the opposite side of the leaf here, there's fans that repeat "just back the manager", I think after 90 games in charge now, we've backed enough, criticism is totally allowed. I bought into giving NP time to work on a project but imo we've passed that now, I think we've gotten worse on the pitch, completely lost some of the good momentum we had last season. If fans believe NP needs 3-4 years to sort us out, fair enough, but yikes. I think everyone knows it's a hard job for anyone, but probably is for most midtable-lower champ teams atm. 

I never buy into the "give the manager time to get his own team", how often does that happen in football? I remember hearing that during the LJ era, ruined us. 

Maybe my view is too black/white, but I'm just not happy with what I see on the pitch, I'm sure neither is nige. Really hope we can string some results together, and bloody soon. 

sorry @W-S-M Seagull went on a bit of an off rant from your post  we all want whats best for city at the end of the day. Would love to eat humble pie tonight 

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by Sturny

[Davefevs]

11 minutes ago, P'head Red said:

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

That makes an assumption that those in charge are basing it on “hope”. There may be a series of KPIs (key performance indicators) the whole club are measuring, league position, points, etc are some of the ones we see plus several others we can’t.  Change us happening, sometimes football results take a while to catch up…and that works both ways.  Sometimes you can be getting points you don’t deserve, and it’s a bit of a shock when you lose 5 on the spin.  The alternative paths forward may have been discussed and dismissed because they are seeing progress, just not the progress we can tangibly see.

[Davefevs]

7 minutes ago, M.D said:

So looking at that and he is kinda young, he's not NP's agent and he's his representative, or have I got that wrong?

Tomato / Tomato (rep / agent) - same thing.  FWIW I can’t imagine Nige needs a lot of representing, can you!

here’s his linked in profile.

[Roger Red Hat]

26 minutes ago, P'head Red said:

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?

If you look at my post I suggest 'no one of any substance' has been suggested as a replacement. In your DoF scenario that is still required.

[TedsHeadIs Red]

4 hours ago, pongo88 said:

This is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

I’ll begin by saying that in football there are only beginnings and ends. People no longer have patience for ends of beginnings. Nige’s interviews suggests he thinks we are still beginning. But after tonight it could be the end. Or the beginning of the end. I’ll end it there. 

Are you still with me? 

 

[AshtonRobin21]

59 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

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.

I believe Hughtons knowledge of the squad (at that time), was appalling. Which concerned the board.

He wanted a complete re-shuffle. Something the board weren’t willing to risk (and rightly so).

[Porto Red]

35 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

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

 

Perhaps he uses those fat stacks to live in Porto, a discerning choice 

[Lanterne Rouge]

Just now, TedsHeadIs Red said:

I’ll begin by saying that in football there are only beginnings and ends. People no longer have patience for ends of beginnings. Nige’s interviews suggests he thinks we are still beginning. But after tonight it could be the end. Or the beginning of the end. I’ll end it there. 

Are you still with me? 

 

Being a City fan is certainly a Never Ending Story.

[Mr Popodopolous]

28 minutes ago, Ostrich said:

Performances weren't terrible in that we weren't ever being beaten comfortably like many teams that sit at the bottom of the league, we were often in games and losing by a goal, I don't think we ever lost by more than 2 that season. But I can't remember if the narrative at the time was that performances were good and we were unfortunate or if that came afterwards - even if it was at the time I think it was a bit of copium. 

Would you think the run of results below was really being unfortunate despite good performances?

Palace 2-0 Leicester
Leicester 2-2 Burnley
Newcastle 1-0 Leicester
Leicester 0-1 WBA
Southampton 2-0 Leicester
Leicester 0-0 Sunderland
QPR 3-2 Leicester

Between the Burnley game listed above and going to Anfield on NYD, we scored 6 goals in 11 games, 2 of which came against QPR who ended up bottom and conceding 73 goals.Maybe performances improved just before results (Arsenal away for example) improved but the winter was pretty bleak for me apart from when we played Liverpool on NYD. Winning 2 in 24 or whatever it was, can't just be put down to being unfortunate despite good performances.

 

A change in formation was key to the change around & and it's often rumoured that Cambiasso sort of grabbed everyone by the scruff of the neck to pull it around. A bit of good fortune was necessary and then momentum took over. 

Bottom line for me is that you can talk about the odd performance meriting more but over time you get what you trend to what you deserve so it's a bit desperate. Not saying Expected Points based on xG is ideal but it seems you've slightly underperformed what you'd expect. Having not seen the games, I lack the necessary context to put xG number in. However, looking at the original tweet, and using just raw numbers there's only really the Stoke game you can make a case for. 0.5xG v 0.1xG in your game against Watford doesn't appear a game you deserved to win and doesn't read as a good performance. In fact, it appears like an atrocious game of football for which both teams should be deducted 10 points for crimes against football.

Thanks for the Leicester context. Was under the impression performance outstripped results somewhat.

Cambiasso was a bit of a catalyst?

Vs Sheffield United 1.8-0.5, better. Woodwork twice, penalty dubiously denied, one of their players wrongly reprieved a red card

In fact we were quite good vs Watford but perhaps didn't create the clearcut chances. We put in a good shift and we were not bad in possession 1st half especially, penalty we should have had one, maybe two. Not like we had to absorb any great waves of pressure from Watford but can see how a point maybe seen as fair.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[Davefevs]

11 minutes ago, AshtonRobin21 said:

I believe Hughtons knowledge of the squad (at that time), was appalling. Which concerned the board.

He wanted a complete re-shuffle. Something the board weren’t willing to risk (and rightly so).

Yep, hence he wanted his players in, because as you say he wasn’t clued up on what was here.

Twas the right decision.  For Bristol City.  What he did at Forest has no real relevance to me, where he started well, got them solid, then started the next season poorly.

[cidered abroad]

58 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. 

I completely agree with everything you have said in the above post.

Yet my one reservation is that in my seventy three seasons, we have had a relegation to  mostly the Third Tier in every decade except the 60's. I know that is being totally pessimistic especially as we have enough quality players and a manager only bettered in that time by one or two, but I'm beginning to smell the worst.

[AshtonRobin21]

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Yep, hence he wanted his players in, because as you say he wasn’t clued up on what was here.

Twas the right decision.  For Bristol City.  What he did at Forest has no real relevance to me, where he started well, got them solid, then started the next season poorly.

I would have put good money on Glenn Murray starting up front for us, had he got the job.

The scary thought, is that our financial situation could have been so much worse if we bowed to Hughton’s demands.

[pongo88]

40 minutes ago, TedsHeadIs Red said:

I’ll begin by saying that in football there are only beginnings and ends. People no longer have patience for ends of beginnings. Nige’s interviews suggests he thinks we are still beginning. But after tonight it could be the end. Or the beginning of the end. I’ll end it there. 

Are you still with me? 

 

Surprisingly Winston Churchill never said anything about middles so I can’t add anything 

[Davefevs]

20 minutes ago, AshtonRobin21 said:

I would have put good money on Glenn Murray starting up front for us, had he got the job.

The scary thought, is that our financial situation could have been so much worse if we bowed to Hughton’s demands.

A decision they did get right.

[B-Rizzle]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

That makes an assumption that those in charge are basing it on “hope”. There may be a series of KPIs (key performance indicators) the whole club are measuring, league position, points, etc are some of the ones we see plus several others we can’t.  Change us happening, sometimes football results take a while to catch up…and that works both ways.  Sometimes you can be getting points you don’t deserve, and it’s a bit of a shock when you lose 5 on the spin.  The alternative paths forward may have been discussed and dismissed because they are seeing progress, just not the progress we can tangibly see.

I’ve said it previously but I appreciate the difficult circumstances NP has been working in and the work he’s partly done to reduce the wage bill (I say partly because largely this come from the ceo, right? NP has just had to work within those restrictions) and to promote youth such as Scott and Conway.

But do you genuinely think he’s done/doing enough to convince you that he’s the right man to tactically lead and coach this group of players to maximise their potential? I can’t see he is.

We also talk about culture change but there can’t be a great culture if he’s freezing out young hard working players (massengo) because they won’t sign new contracts and playing king at CB because Atkinson and Klose’s levels aren’t good enough (players he signed fairly recently).

Interested to know what convinces you that he’s still the man for the job? 

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

2 hours ago, Bobbie said:

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. 

Yes indeed- I do think you're stuck with brain dead- hopefully you'll get over it.

[Steve Watts]

6 hours ago, Davefevs said:

That is true.

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

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.

That was what I meant. It was reported that his intention was not to use the academy - something supported by his reluctance to use youth at Brighton as well. 

[Port Said Red]

5 hours ago, pongo88 said:

Surprisingly Winston Churchill never said anything about middles so I can’t add anything 

Jean Luc Goddard (film maker) was asked whether a film should have a beginning, a middle and an end,  said "Yes, but not necessarily in that order". I am not sure if that's relevant, but it is a favourite quote of mine.

[Simon bristol]

Just been reading up on all this,, those tweets are pretty embarrassing! 
i will add my usual comment,, as a club we are mediocre, the only shining light is tinnion and the way he is planning for the youth players to come through, oh and thought that we can remove 5/6 big salaries in summer 23.

the owners disappear for months at a time and cant be trusted to pick a manager, the money was all pissed up the wall, weve a couple of very good youngsters who will be sold but on the whole the senior pros just arent very good, and we have had this for decades… false dawns, new signings who cost millions and are pathetic , new managers who are rubbish,, its no wonder the team gets booed off when we have seen it all before.

i took my kids to the lincoln game, it was embarrassing and they havent asked to go back…. That was a disgrace, and if thats what 2 years of pearson can serve up then he can go now,, but i  have no faith his replacement would be any good, why should any of us expect better?

so on to pearson, how many players has he bought in? Ive lost count, but how many have been a hit? He spent about 2 million on 2 defenders who are in and out, plus naismith and klose neither of whom are great, then wilson who couldnt get in before he was injured cause sykes was preferred out of position and is now on the outs, james and king are both slow in midfield and make very little impact, bajic looks like bentley mark 2 and has played one poor game in 6 months. We still struggle to defend, and its a surprise when we arent losing most weeks. The trick is not to take it too seriously anymore!

[Fuber]

14 hours ago, Shuffle said:

Agent trying to protect his client and gravy train. 

It's an odd one.

Agent fees mostly come from bonuses rather than retainer, so its oddly the opposite. Just strange as it's not something you usually see.

Is it possible that Nige just wants to see the project through, and after a turbulent time with Covid last season, maybe the agent - who may have a good rapport with Nige, just wants to him to succeed?

Alternatively, Nige was debating retirement after this job iirc, so maybe simply wants to keepretainer fee on his books.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Fuber

[W-S-M Seagull]

Tonight we saw a Nigel Pearson team. 

Every single player worked their socks off, that is the culture Nige has been trying to install. 

As a fan, that's the least I expect from our players. I don't care what Nige has to do to get players playing like that each game but I'll support him in whatever way he goes about it, even if it means calling out unenthusiastic players in the press. 

I work hard for my money to spend on my tickets, so I expect the players to do the same. 

[fgrsimon]

Very odd, must surely be the first time a Manager has got a vote of confidence from his Agent?

[ooRya]

18 hours ago, Bobbie said:

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 

Ha ha ha ha ha.........................................How many more decades do we give?

[Harry]

17 hours ago, Davefevs said:

He replied to me.

 

 

17 hours ago, RedM said:

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

 

17 hours ago, Davefevs said:

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

 

I think that RedM was more coming from the angle of - The agent said he’s been to most of City’s games. If that’s the case then he couldn’t have possibly been to ‘most’ of his other client’s games - Appleton, Clarke, Evans, Hargreaves etc. 
I think it was more a question of ‘why does he spend most of his time watching Pearson’s games rather than his other clients’? 
Not a criticism in any way, just intriguing. 

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, Harry said:

 

 

I think that RedM was more coming from the angle of - The agent said he’s been to most of City’s games. If that’s the case then he couldn’t have possibly been to ‘most’ of his other client’s games - Appleton, Clarke, Evans, Hargreaves etc. 
I think it was more a question of ‘why does he spend most of his time watching Pearson’s games rather than his other clients’? 
Not a criticism in any way, just intriguing. 

Related in some way?

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

23 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 

Really sad to see a City fan describing anyone from the fan base who doesn’t agree with them as ‘brain dead’.  I don’t agree with your perspective Bobbie, but that’s fine: a forum is all about opinions and I’m sure you’re not brain dead.  At the end of the day we all want City to succeed.

[Bobbie]

4 hours ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Really sad to see a City fan describing anyone from the fan base who doesn’t agree with them as ‘brain dead’.  I don’t agree with your perspective Bobbie, but that’s fine: a forum is all about opinions and I’m sure you’re not brain dead.  At the end of the day we all want City to succeed.

Bore off 

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

6 minutes ago, Bobbie said:

Bore off 

Eloquently put.