Joe Sims interview with JL

[exAtyeoMax]

6 minutes ago, frenchred said:

Same as Barton's Mrs? Just saying

possibly I don't know. Not always the case it is the same scenario

[JoeAman08]

I don’t see why Rennie is being protected on here either? Some tough injuries for sure but always the same people out. Isn’t he supposed to set it plans to manage their workload? Does it matter if you pull a muscle in a game or training?  No not really. Luck or no luck is the same people out with similar injuries. Not rocket science here.

City want a small squad so need a good medical staff to keep it fit. 3 seasons now we always go we are unlucky with injuries. Rennie’s fault or not is a results business and like his mate Nige he didn’t produce enough when needed. 

[The Bard]

3 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Not even necessarily from a fitness perspective, it's just a 10 day break off the pitches so close to a league game that seems odd. 

Players wouldn't usually train three consecutive days before a game either, they usually have the Wednesday off. 

Clearly a long term decision. Get both physical and mental rest before basically 5 months with no break from November to March.

We have finished the last 2 seasons strongly. One imagines that there will be lno rest in November as the new coach will want time coaching the team.

 

[Spud21]

5 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said:

I don’t see why Rennie is being protected on here either? Some tough injuries for sure but always the same people out. Isn’t he supposed to set it plans to manage their workload? Does it matter if you pull a muscle in a game or training?  No not really. Luck or no luck is the same people out with similar injuries. Not rocket science here.

City want a small squad so need a good medical staff to keep it fit. 3 seasons now we always go we are unlucky with injuries. Rennie’s fault or not is a results business and like his mate Nige he didn’t produce enough when needed. 

Ah yes Rennie should ha e been out on the pitch diving in between players to stop them getting impact injuries, I'm not sure how many more times it has to be explained that the majority of our injuries are impact injuries before people grasp that. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Spud21

[maxjak]

8 hours ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

What is it then?

An unbiased unscripted interview with a knowledgeable sports journalist who is not connected to the club........perhaps?  But that would prove too risky for people who always want to control the questions and the agenda?

Edited November 3, 2023 by maxjak

[GrahamC]

1 hour ago, ohhhshauntaylor said:

Just watched - This will be an unpopular opinion on here, but I thought that was far better than I expected, and far better than summarised/viewed by others so to speak - in my opinion.

 

The fact's that will really p*ss people off are pretty clear tho-

• Not even 12 months ago, a high majority of the fans wanted a change at the top, (heighted after WBA home), A high majority also credited an injury, and the subsequent HT formation change vs Swansea as the turning point (ahead of this, with the same squad, we seemed stuck on 3-5-2, before the switch to 4-3-3).

It's been well mooted that NP had to cut the costs, clear out the mess etc, yes of course his net spend is exceptional, but he also did invest and spend some cash- not all of these (nor should we assume they be) were great.

Klose, Mehmeti (jury still out), Simpson, Cornick (jury still out), Baker (writing was on the wall with his injury record), Kane Wilson, Stefan Bajic.

 

Outside of that is/was NP the "long term" man for us - we will never know, the good news is tho, history suggests, he leaves team in a good spot (eg Leicester and the PL win )

 

Hard hat on, COYR

 

It wasn’t a “high majority” it was 56% when only just over 400 people voted.

Likewise the overwhelming vote to keep him recently was a very small sample size of our support.

You have cherry picked some very odd signings, one was a free agent outside the transfer window (who did excellently then), another was sold on without making a loss & Bajic was a low wage, free transfer. You talk about spending money, 6 of the 7 you mention cost £500k in total & we got some of that back on Wilson.

I would argue Pearson’s signings (in the round, not picking on more questionable ones) in value for money terms pissed all over his two predecessors.

[Davefevs]

26 minutes ago, Harry said:

We’ve certainly cut the wage bill but I think we also have to consider that others will have done too. Most teams (aside from the Parachutists) have been cutting costs. 
So whilst I don’t think we are 10th, I also don’t think we’re as low as 16th, as some of this other teams who were less than us will have also cut too. 

I factored that in Harry, most clubs haven’t cut very much, and this summer have gone back up to old levels based on their recruitment levels.  The story from the MKRT guys is that in the clubs they look after wage level requests have gone back up to pre-covid levels, and some clubs are spending the predicted new tv money.  We are one of the few clubs who’s budgets have continued to go backwards.

So I sort of stand by my post about where I think we are.  And definitely not top 10.

[ohhhshauntaylor]

1 minute ago, GrahamC said:

It wasn’t a “high majority” it was 56% when only just over 400 people voted - not being pedantic, but 56% is a majority, so i stand corrected on the "high" majority claim 

Likewise the overwhelming vote to keep him recently was a very small sample size of our support. I never questioned this, I'm not anti NP, or Pro SL/JL, my point i, the decision is done, we can all speculate around if's, buts and maybes, its done, he's gone.

You have cherry picked some very odd signings, (There isnt a load to choose from, as per the remit he was given, my point being, his hit record potentially would be a challege for the board when asking for funds)  one was a free agent outside the transfer window (who did excellently then- and was then re signed, and subsequently bomed out, for context), another was sold on without making a loss & Bajic was a low wage, free transfer. You talk about spending money, 6 of the 7 you mention cost £500k in total & we got some of that back on Wilson.

I would argue Pearson’s signings (in the round, not picking on more questionable ones) in value for money terms pissed all over his two predecessors - no challenge here, agree, but that's not my point

Quoted above 

[Steve Watts]

1 hour ago, Ghost Rider said:

Well, then, what qualifications do we have to criticise JL? What qualifications do we possess in managing a football club or making medical judgments? Here we are, criticising him with less knowledge and qualifications than he has.

I think most of us possess just as many qualifications in managing a football club, making medical judgments or even being a football club chairman as Jon does...  But that bar is very very low!

[Davefevs]

24 minutes ago, petehinton said:

It won’t fit the narrative, but yep. Injured foot from a heavy challenge in training, tbat Nige openly admitted was one that was avoidable. Shit happens. 
 

I really think they saw blaming and using the players rest / injuries narrative as their silver bullet. But they’ve massively backed themselves into a corner here.  JL doubling down on it in this interview is him saying it’s a huge reason why they’ve done it. Takes fans about 2 minutes to go through the injuries and work out that it doesn’t add up at all, they’re acting like we’re stupid.  
 

If that is their reason - why sack the manager, and one of the assistants? Why not just Rennie?

 

Why was Andy Rolls & Keith Downing not sacked along with Holden when he got the bullet? 
 

It’s all very 2+2=5 however you try and work it out to have some sort of logic behind it. 

And why just sack Rennie, why not Gill Holt, Derek Bonsu, Paddy Orme, etc.. sorry, being facetious.

20 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said:

I don’t see why Rennie is being protected on here either? Some tough injuries for sure but always the same people out. Isn’t he supposed to set it plans to manage their workload? Does it matter if you pull a muscle in a game or training?  No not really. Luck or no luck is the same people out with similar injuries. Not rocket science here.

City want a small squad so need a good medical staff to keep it fit. 3 seasons now we always go we are unlucky with injuries. Rennie’s fault or not is a results business and like his mate Nige he didn’t produce enough when needed. 

None at all, but you’re ignoring that several injuries were contact type injuries not muscle strains.  When you do the breakdown, you’ll see that muscle injuries don’t account for many games missed at all.

”want” - it’s a double edged sword.  Yes, Nige doesn’t want a big, bloated squad, but he also said he wanted a couple more players.  The budget dictates he runs thinner than what is sensible.

[The Bard]

1 hour ago, Ghost Rider said:

Once again, if all the other teams return earlier and we're the only team that doesn't, then I believe JL's perspective may indeed be justified. It's not an idea he's pulled out of thin air; there's a basis for his concern.

What strikes me as ironic is the criticism directed at Jon Lansdown with statements like, "Who the hell is Jon Lansdown to criticise the amount of time off the coaching and medical staff are giving to players? What qualifications does he have in that regard?" Well, then, what qualifications do we have to criticise JL? What qualifications do we possess in managing a football club or making medical judgments? Here we are, criticising him with less knowledge and qualifications than he has. It's indeed an ironic situation.

Classic example of people looking at something with too narrow a lens.

1. The idea that the longer rest period is negligent is imbecilic. It's clearly a decision taken with the WHOLE season in mind.

2. It's not just physical but also mental/ emotional rest too.

3. There was no discernible drop in fitness. We were rusty and there have been More in game injuries certainly. We saw out the Coventry game well and came on strong 2nd half v Ipswich. 

4. Decision is All about delayed gratification. You'dve thought SL would understand that.

5. It's not ironic to criticise someone's unqualified criticism of someone highly qualified in their field.

What is ironic is for someone unqualified to offer their unqualified criticism of someone else's unqualified criticism of another person's unqualified criticism of someone highly qualified in their field.

I would've thought that was clear.

Edited November 3, 2023 by The Bard

[Steve Watts]

I'm just shocked we've got 18 pages on Jon Lansdowns interview with Joe Simms?  I mean, I like the guy, but I really don't think Joe's qualified enough to manage in the Championship.....

[Mr Popodopolous]

16 minutes ago, maxjak said:

An unbiased unscripted interview with a knowledgeable sports journalist who is not connected to the club........perhaps?  But that would prove too risky for people who always want to control the questions and the agenda?

Twentyman and a live not pre recorded interview would've been excellent.

[ooRya]

If you wind a spring too tight, eventually it's going to snap.

Maybe it's irrelevant as to whether a player picked up an injury in training or in a match, perhaps the problem is the fact that so many players have picked up an injury at all........maybe fitness levels not being managed properly?

[Fammyfan]

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I factored that in Harry, most clubs haven’t cut very much, and this summer have gone back up to old levels based on their recruitment levels.  The story from the MKRT guys is that in the clubs they look after wage level requests have gone back up to pre-covid levels, and some clubs are spending the predicted new tv money.  We are one of the few clubs who’s budgets have continued to go backwards.

So I sort of stand by my post about where I think we are.  And definitely not top 10.

I believe the top 10 must be in relation to the outgoing transfer fees and doesn’t take into account the monies received. On that basis, we probably are top 10 but it’s a selected statement to suit the narrative, carefully worded to suggest that we should be a top 10 club

[Mr Popodopolous]

I still stick with 12th-15th for our likely football budget.

Not just wage bill but amortisation etc?

Edited November 3, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[kmpowell]

The below is a post I made in December 2022, a reply to a thread where somebody said the Lansdown's were a pox on our club. Sadly I think my prediction is now playing out (with the exception of the relegation bit, which still might happen should the worst happen)...

I hate the 'backed into a corner with no way out' situation that's been created, and I genuinely feel the way all this has been handled has driven a large wedge between fans and the club, a wedge that could have been avoided.

Reading this thread and others, it's also sad to see the 'connections' such as Joe Sims, 3 Peaps etc, who have never ever had any dishonest intent behind them, now also being judged and put in positions where they really have no option but to go along with the narrative/spin.

In my 38 years as a city fan, I've never witnessed such a split between fans and club. Perhaps it's because there wasn't forums/social media back in the day, but this feels different.

I was initially angry at all this, but that anger has turned to sadness and me wanting to distance myself from the club I love, until it's all over, and we have a common goal stability in an alignment of club and us fans. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by kmpowell

[JoeAman08]

23 minutes ago, Spud21 said:

Ah yes Rennie should ha e been out on the pitch diving in between players to stop them getting impact injuries, I'm not sure how many more times it has to be explained that the majority of our injuries are impact injuries before people grasp that. 

The convenient contact injuries now but forget the last 2 years before it. 
 

Benarous - freak thing. Did we push too early? Did we not strengthen it before we got him training again? 
 

Weimann - weird heel thing. Back too early missed more time. Missed time last year muscular
 

Conway - missed large chunks of the last two seasons with muscle injuries. 
 

Naismith - muscular last year after moving to midfield and again this year. 
 

Williams - we ran into ground and now out again. Done a job with him but not exactly reliable. 

Couldn’t get Kane Wilson fit. Kalas and James last season muscular. 
 

He didn’t really live up to the expectation did he? 

11 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

And why just sack Rennie, why not Gill Holt, Derek Bonsu, Paddy Orme, etc.. sorry, being facetious.

None at all, but you’re ignoring that several injuries were contact type injuries not muscle strains.  When you do the breakdown, you’ll see that muscle injuries don’t account for many games missed at all.

”want” - it’s a double edged sword.  Yes, Nige doesn’t want a big, bloated squad, but he also said he wanted a couple more players.  The budget dictates he runs thinner than what is sensible.

See above. The problem has been ongoing without contact ones like Vyner. No Pearson didn’t get the ideal window. Never hear me say he did but it wasn’t an awful one either. We would have been up in the 7-8 range with more signings and then we could say how they needed more time to gel. Always seemed another excuse for NP. Never really been a fan, think most know that. My opinions haven’t really changed and I don’t think I am unfair in what I say. Not overly anyway
 

 

[supercidered]

3 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I still stick with 12th-15th for our likeky football budget.

Not just wage bill but amortisation etc?

You loves a bit of amortisation Mr P  

[Ian M]

8 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I still stick with 12th-15th for our likeky football budget.

Not just wage bill but amortisation etc?

What about planned-for paying up of the management team’s contracts and recruitment of replacements? That’s gotta add to our numbers.

I genuinely believe we couldn’t afford to do this 12 months ago and not until we sold Antoine did that change. Unfortunately results were quite good then. Creating a nest egg in the Summer assured this could happen at a convenient time this season.

[REDOXO]

Bloke goes on radio to try and justify a decision. 
 

Bloke using his medical knowledge (zero) to assess the fitness of players given a break

Bloke implies that there is a lot he can’t talk about that went in to said decision. Rinse and repeat 

Bloke states we should be doing better with a top ten budget

Bloke brushes over having to play teenagers due to injuries

Bloke says club have communication problem. 
 

Bloke goes home. 

[maxjak]

5 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

Bloke goes on radio to try and justify a decision. 
 

Bloke using his medical knowledge (zero) to assess the fitness of players given a break

Bloke implies that there is a lot he can’t talk about that went in to said decision. Rinse and repeat 

Bloke states we should be doing better with a top ten budget

Bloke brushes over having to play teenagers due to injuries

Bloke says club have communication problem. 
 

Bloke goes home. 

Bloke swans off to the Bahamas to  lie even more?...........but this time on a Lilo?

[Davefevs]

13 minutes ago, ooRya said:

If you wind a spring too tight, eventually it's going to snap.

Maybe it's irrelevant as to whether a player picked up an injury in training or in a match, perhaps the problem is the fact that so many players have picked up an injury at all........maybe fitness levels not being managed properly?

Agree with spring analogy, and fatigue through winding that spring can result in it snapping (strained / torn muscle).

I agree with some of @JoeAman08 comments re injuries last season, and some this season, but with reference to muscle injuries mainly.  And in respect of those we are generally seeing less and less because over a period of time they’ve (Rennie and team) changed the methods to make the hamstrings in particular more robust to deal with the workload required to play a hard running game.  It takes time to change this.

When Vincent Kompany gives you feedback that over last season the change in how hard the team runs and how difficult that makes it, you tend to believe that the medical regime and the people in it must be doing the right thing.  Other managers have called it out in their pre and post match interviews this season too.

So when you hear Tinnion saying stuff like (paraphrased) “need to be trained physically to play the way we want to play” as a dig, it’s disrespectful to the medical team, most of whom are still involved, but also something he would’ve been part of setting and recruiting towards for the last 2-4 windows.

Thats what I don’t get.  It’s like their memory has been erased, like they’ve never been involved.

Re ACLs - they are often freak in occurrence and now becoming the modern day version of torn cartilage, but much more serious and difficult to rehab from.  The methods they use these days, removal of part of hamstring to replace ACL can lead to weaker hamstrings as a result.  If you lose cartilage at the same time as rupturing the ACL that makes the whole balance of the knee different when the ACL is replaced.  And that can lead to re-rupture.  It’s a bit of a bastard really, the scourge of the modern game.

[W-S-M Seagull]

55 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I factored that in Harry, most clubs haven’t cut very much, and this summer have gone back up to old levels based on their recruitment levels.  The story from the MKRT guys is that in the clubs they look after wage level requests have gone back up to pre-covid levels, and some clubs are spending the predicted new tv money.  We are one of the few clubs who’s budgets have continued to go backwards.

So I sort of stand by my post about where I think we are.  And definitely not top 10.

I'm pretty sure that recently on the price of football podcast a question was asked about wage budgets and the answer given was that at the start of the season every club is giving data about the wage budgets of the entire league. I think it said something like the clubs wouldn't be individually named but a club would be able to work out where they are in that list. 

So with that in mind, and assuming I didn't dream listening to that or misunderstood what was said, saying we have a top 10 wage budget is clearly a lie. 

Or maybe we do have a top 10 budget? But only allowed Pearson to spend a certain percentage of that budget, knowing they wanted him out.

[JoeAman08]

7 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Agree with spring analogy, and fatigue through winding that spring can result in it snapping (strained / torn muscle).

I agree with some of @JoeAman08 comments re injuries last season, and some this season, but with reference to muscle injuries mainly.  And in respect of those we are generally seeing less and less because over a period of time they’ve (Rennie and team) changed the methods to make the hamstrings in particular more robust to deal with the workload required to play a hard running game.  It takes time to change this.

When Vincent Kompany gives you feedback that over last season the change in how hard the team runs and how difficult that makes it, you tend to believe that the medical regime and the people in it must be doing the right thing.  Other managers have called it out in their pre and post match interviews this season too.

So when you hear Tinnion saying stuff like (paraphrased) “need to be trained physically to play the way we want to play” as a dig, it’s disrespectful to the medical team, most of whom are still involved, but also something he would’ve been part of setting and recruiting towards for the last 2-4 windows.

Thats what I don’t get.  It’s like their memory has been erased, like they’ve never been involved.

Re ACLs - they are often freak in occurrence and now becoming the modern day version of torn cartilage, but much more serious and difficult to rehab from.  The methods they use these days, removal of part of hamstring to replace ACL can lead to weaker hamstrings as a result.  If you lose cartilage at the same time as rupturing the ACL that makes the whole balance of the knee different when the ACL is replaced.  And that can lead to re-rupture.  It’s a bit of a bastard really, the scourge of the modern game.

It is all fair. I know I go OTT sometimes. My thoughts are that the reputation that Rennie come in with, the reality didn’t match that expectation to me. Same with NP really. I thought we had turned a corner middle of last season when we went 433, then moved Kal into midfield. Lasted a bit and then injury took Kal away then took RA away. We never got back to that and for me been downhill since then. Even when winning it never felt we were a strong side. Better drilled than before? Yes. Bit fitter for the most part? Yes. But never dominate games which I think is the next step.
 

Doesn’t mean any thing in terms of style. Could be a dominant possession side who patiently creates opening. Could be a high pressing side that forces opponents into mistakes. Could be a team that sits back and defends deep and counters well. I think we want an identity but it never happened under NP. We don’t have the footballers for possession. We don’t have the pace for countering quickly(like Birmingham done to us at AG under Eustace. Haven’t played the right midfield, imo, to be a high press side.
 

The latter is where I think we could get to. With more Naismith, Knight, Hickman, Williams and maybe a 10 like Mehmeti(thought played well at Cardiff). Conway, Bell, Sykes and Cornick good from the front. Dickie a bit slow but Vyner covers well. All that just wouldn’t happen under NP. So the change is welcome for me and we’ll see what happens. I’ll admit there is a decent risk of it going properly wrong with all that said. Worth the risk for me though. 

[Sir Colby-Tit]

The main thing I got from that interview is that Jon likes to say "in that sense". A lot.

[Davefevs]

12 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said:

It is all fair. I know I go OTT sometimes. My thoughts are that the reputation that Rennie come in with, the reality didn’t match that expectation to me. Same with NP really. I thought we had turned a corner middle of last season when we went 433, then moved Kal into midfield. Lasted a bit and then injury took Kal away then took RA away. We never got back to that and for me been downhill since then. Even when winning it never felt we were a strong side. Better drilled than before? Yes. Bit fitter for the most part? Yes. But never dominate games which I think is the next step.
 

Doesn’t mean any thing in terms of style. Could be a dominant possession side who patiently creates opening. Could be a high pressing side that forces opponents into mistakes. Could be a team that sits back and defends deep and counters well. I think we want an identity but it never happened under NP. We don’t have the footballers for possession. We don’t have the pace for countering quickly(like Birmingham done to us at AG under Eustace. Haven’t played the right midfield, imo, to be a high press side.
 

The latter is where I think we could get to. With more Naismith, Knight, Hickman, Williams and maybe a 10 like Mehmeti(thought played well at Cardiff). Conway, Bell, Sykes and Cornick good from the front. Dickie a bit slow but Vyner covers well. All that just wouldn’t happen under NP. So the change is welcome for me and we’ll see what happens. I’ll admit there is a decent risk of it going properly wrong with all that said. Worth the risk for me though. 

I posted on WhatsApp to Harry the other night, something like.

I don’t care about attractive football, I care about results, and by results I mean achieving results via an identifiable method (system)…whether that be hung-ho or defensive / counter-attacking.

I really don’t mind.  I can get behind anything.  But I do want to win, and I do want to win because of the way we play, whatever system that is.  I don’t want to lose playing attacking, nor do I want to lose playing defensively either.

[Spud21]

7 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said:

It is all fair. I know I go OTT sometimes. My thoughts are that the reputation that Rennie come in with, the reality didn’t match that expectation to me. Same with NP really. I thought we had turned a corner middle of last season when we went 433, then moved Kal into midfield. Lasted a bit and then injury took Kal away then took RA away. We never got back to that and for me been downhill since then. Even when winning it never felt we were a strong side. Better drilled than before? Yes. Bit fitter for the most part? Yes. But never dominate games which I think is the next step.
 

Doesn’t mean any thing in terms of style. Could be a dominant possession side who patiently creates opening. Could be a high pressing side that forces opponents into mistakes. Could be a team that sits back and defends deep and counters well. I think we want an identity but it never happened under NP. We don’t have the footballers for possession. We don’t have the pace for countering quickly(like Birmingham done to us at AG under Eustace. Haven’t played the right midfield, imo, to be a high press side.
 

The latter is where I think we could get to. With more Naismith, Knight, Hickman, Williams and maybe a 10 like Mehmeti(thought played well at Cardiff). Conway, Bell, Sykes and Cornick good from the front. Dickie a bit slow but Vyner covers well. All that just wouldn’t happen under NP. So the change is welcome for me and we’ll see what happens. I’ll admit there is a decent risk of it going properly wrong with all that said. Worth the risk for me though. 

And I don't particularly disagree with any of that, I think he was building an identity more than you credit him with, we aren't one of the best pressing sides in the division by accident, but we lack in certain areas, don't think our midfield is able to move the ball quick enough to create openings which I think explains why we aren't great at home as we need to play more as the dominant side which for me leads to the ponderous style we have in possession often leading to an aimless hump to Conway / Wells. 

Saying this Nige has clearly been building towards a style and identity for me, but it's a process he came in to a massively unbalanced squad with almost 0 ability to play to any sort of coherent identity, and as someone who would have been happy to see him go after the West Brom game he had completely got me back on side with the foundations he was laying for either him or someone else to kick in with. 

I was not convinced that Pearson was definitely the man to take us forward and could definatley have understood making this decision towards the end of the season (more likely an announcement that he would leave at the end of his contract.)

I think it's been an absolutely bonkers decision to get rid now, we have been getting by with the massive effort from the players keeping us in games, can't comment on Cardiff but the way we got better as the games went on against Cov and Ipswich says to me our fitness is well up there, and with our injuries we are hanging in games through effort more than anything, and were it not for mistakes we could easily be looking at having taken points off Leeds and Ipswich. 

We are now for me in a very precarious position, if results do not go our way over the next 2 games it could get very toxic, very quickly for a manager who is likely to be on the up and coming scale more than the expirience head one. 

[Bazooka Joe]

56 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

Bloke goes on radio to try and justify a decision. 
 

Bloke using his medical knowledge (zero) to assess the fitness of players given a break

Bloke implies that there is a lot he can’t talk about that went in to said decision. Rinse and repeat 

Bloke states we should be doing better with a top ten budget

Bloke brushes over having to play teenagers due to injuries

Bloke says club have communication problem. 
 

Bloke goes home. 

Bloke beyond repair.

Time to fix it.

[JoeAman08]

3 minutes ago, Spud21 said:

And I don't particularly disagree with any of that, I think he was building an identity more than you credit him with, we aren't one of the best pressing sides in the division by accident, but we lack in certain areas, don't think our midfield is able to move the ball quick enough to create openings which I think explains why we aren't great at home as we need to play more as the dominant side which for me leads to the ponderous style we have in possession often leading to an aimless hump to Conway / Wells. 

Saying this Nige has clearly been building towards a style and identity for me, but it's a process he came in to a massively unbalanced squad with almost 0 ability to play to any sort of coherent identity, and as someone who would have been happy to see him go after the West Brom game he had completely got me back on side with the foundations he was laying for either him or someone else to kick in with. 

I was not convinced that Pearson was definitely the man to take us forward and could definatley have understood making this decision towards the end of the season (more likely an announcement that he would leave at the end of his contract.)

I think it's been an absolutely bonkers decision to get rid now, we have been getting by with the massive effort from the players keeping us in games, can't comment on Cardiff but the way we got better as the games went on against Cov and Ipswich says to me our fitness is well up there, and with our injuries we are hanging in games through effort more than anything, and were it not for mistakes we could easily be looking at having taken points off Leeds and Ipswich. 

We are now for me in a very precarious position, if results do not go our way over the next 2 games it could get very toxic, very quickly for a manager who is likely to be on the up and coming scale more than the expirience head one. 

Fair enough and I agree the timing wasn’t right. Just now that it is done I am looking forward to whats next. I thought he was building an identity middle of last season with Naismith in midfield and the 433/4312. He never went back to it though. Partly because injury but seemed reluctant too. 
 

I have said I’d have let him see out the season(or much of it). Just seems that wasn’t possible and the relationship between him and higher up was disintegrating so it was inevitable. I said in another thread, this is perhaps/probably what the Lansdowns hired him for. Get us through a tough period where we need to reset, with never the intention of keeping him longer than the 3 years. In that case, he did a very good job. Very risky going forward I agree. NP for me was a sure thing. Will be safe but probably not threaten the playoffs. Now, we could bring someone in who can get this club to a top 6 finish. However, it could go real wrong and end up in a relegation if those bottom clubs get it together some