Who’s going to take the hit?

[Meh]

The board and Tinnion for their terrible decision and in the case of the former, the timing really annoys me.

I still do not get why they appear to be willing to back signings will be needed and will give LM funds in Jan or mainly the summer YET gave NP nothing last summer (I know we bought a couple but compared to funds that came in for Semenyo prior and Scott it was never enough).

They clearly set NP up to fail so why not get rid at end of 22/23 and give a new manager the chance to make some signings who felt would work in his team and the way he wanted to play.

Nobody would know if we would now be better or worse off but we would have players that fit the system. We now seem to be back to “tombola” formation and players as LM is trying to adapt his style and over-thinking.

[Shauntaylor85]

It took Nige two years or so to rid the LJ mistakes, now I fear we have another LJ. Terrible appointment from a terrible club leadership. 

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I’m still not convinced Nige himself won over the fans, more the owners made themselves look bad, thus making Nige more popular.  Until the summer and the end of the window I don’t think Nige was hugely popular, but come the end of it, it was a different story.

I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who had any kind of interaction with NP.

I know there was one post on twitter from a former employee applauding his sacking, and I heard of one player who wanted out.

Speaking from personal experience, on a one to one basis he struck me as a straight talking honest guy who had time for anyone who approached him (some journalists apart).

He rarely used ‘coach speak’ and was definitely a people person, that one attribute in a coach/manager goes a long way in forming bonds with individuals and groups that can be an extremely positive force.

I think he inspired loyalty from many of the people who were around him from the tea lady up, with the obvious exception of the guys at the top table.

I understand that one of the senior non playing backroom staff has also been relieved of their duties, although that hasn’t been confirmed, and maybe incorrect, and although that person would have worked quite closely with NP I don’t know if it was because they were loyal to him or for another reason.

The club is now embarking on an unnecessary journey of change, and I truly hope for all our sakes they get it right.

[johnheadbcfc]

6 minutes ago, Meh said:

The board and Tinnion for their terrible decision and in the case of the former, the timing really annoys me.

I still do not get why they appear to be willing to back signings will be needed and will give LM funds in Jan or mainly the summer YET gave NP nothing last summer (I know we bought a couple but compared to funds that came in for Semenyo prior and Scott it was never enough).

They clearly set NP up to fail so why not get rid at end of 22/23 and give a new manager the chance to make some signings who felt would work in his team and the way he wanted to play.

Nobody would know if we would now be better or worse off but we would have players that fit the system. We now seem to be back to “tombola” formation and players as LM is trying to adapt his style and over-thinking.

I doubt he was set up to fail as this is a business foremost and the worse you do the less money you make (or more you lose) , would of been nice to see pearson get a decent budget but to be honest it's not like many of his signings throughout have really wowed us. I'm praying the next few windows are good

[Tomo]

Interesting comments especially one from a Leicester fan....the worry is that it will be very difficult for Liam to pull the plug on his 'style of play' even if he now thinks the players are not good enough to implement it. Worrying. He would look weak and lose any early respect he has attained from the players. If we lose against Sunderland and at the moment, that is looking likely, the crowd will turn and the atmosphere will become toxic. I hope the fans don't turn on Manning though. It's not his fault. It's Jon and Tinnion? who have created this very awkward situation.

Edited December 14, 2023 by Tomo

[Sir Geoff]

31 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Interesting comments especially one from a Leicester fan....the worry is that it will be very difficult for Liam to pull the plug on his 'style of play' even if he now thinks the players are not good enough to implement it. Worrying. He would look weak and lose any early respect he has attained from the players. If we lose against Sunderland and at the moment, that is looking likely, the crowd will turn and the atmosphere will become toxic. I hope the fans don't turn on Manning though. It's not his fault. It's Jon and Tinnion? who have created this very awkward situation.

How is it not Mannions fault if we lose Saturday. He is the one tinkering with our style of play and making bizarre team selections.

[Fuber]

8 hours ago, Harry said:

 

 

I’m glad this wider ‘Nige’ conversation is being had. 
His time here was very up and down and I do think that needs to be acknowledged. 
We all know the reasons given for removing him were a pile of old tosh, but I do think that his time here has been artificially enhanced because of how he’s been treated. 
 

Up until Boxing Day last year I would say there were a lot of fans who wanted him out and a lot of fans who were on the fence. There weren’t a huge amount at that time who were 100% happy with him. 
We’d had 18 months or so of pretty rotten football. Yes, there were reasons for that and we know the tough task he faced, but I do think that at Xmas last year most fans would have said that he should have been getting more from the squad and we certainly needed to improve home performances as we were being served up some pretty stodgy games at Ashton Gate. 
 

We then of course went on a 10 match unbeaten run and it looked like he had finally pieced things together. 
For me, the start of that unbeaten run coincided with 3 things : 1) reverting to 4 at the back, 2) Playing Scott in his best role, 3) at the start of that spell he had Semenyo firing (3 goals and an assist in 4 games before he moved). 
 

We won 4 and drew 6 and things were starting to look like they were coming together a little. 
But then we ended the season with 6 losses in our final 12 and it was clear we were going to miss Scott when he was inevitably going to leave. 
 

Come the end of the season I think Nige had done enough in that 10 game unbeaten spell to win over a few of his doubters, but he was by no means seen as the answer still. Again, I think everyone acknowledged the conditions he’d had to work under for 2 years but a lot of fans were still on the fence with him at that stage. But he’d done just about enough to have a little bit of credit in the bank. 
 

It was during the summer that the view on Pearson shifted considerably.  The Scott sale and the ensuing debacle around recruitment, resulted in fans turning their frustrations to the board and it was Nige who was now the man the fans were backing in a battle between Nige and the Board. In the eyes of the majority of fans, Nige deserved a shot and a bit of financial backing but it became evident that the board had other ideas. 
 

Off the field, the fans were now almost unanimously on Nigel’s side. 
The performances (and particularly the home games (still)) were continuing to underwhelm though. Dull v Preston, done by Brum, a good half and a poor half v West Brom, a good one v Plymouth, but poor again v Cov but scraped the win, unlucky but a mixed bag v Stoke, and ok-ish v Ipswich. 
We weren’t exactly setting the world alight and the home performances saw a couple of decent halves of football but mostly still toothless and sloppy football at times. Take out the Plymouth game and we’d scored 4 goals in 6 home matches! Was anyone honestly happy with this??! 

But again, Nige had credit in the bank with the fans as they were happy that we had a team that were giving their all and his reputation continued to be enhanced by the off field situation that had been brewing for a few months and was reaching boiling point. 
 

All in all, I don’t think we can look back on Nigel’s time as one where he was universally heralded. For much of his reign he was leaving a lot to be desired and it was only the battle with the board, the summer of 23 and the unbeaten run in Jan & Feb 23 which now sits fondly in the memories and is what I feel is influencing much of the sympathies with him. 
 

I must admit, back on Boxing Day last year I wanted him gone. But actually, over the next 9 months I did start to warm to him. But I think there is some rather wild revisionism going on with many fans and convincing themselves that we were getting somewhere with him - but I think this view is being clouded and influenced by the anger at the board. 
I wouldn’t have sacked him when we did. But I also don’t think I’d have renewed his contract after the end of the 23/24 season. I think what the board did was wrong and they will need to be judged on that, but I also think that there’s a lot of fans who wouldn’t have felt the same about him in May 23 as they do now. The battle with the board has firmly put Nige in the fans camp and is falsely influencing his standing in what was a tough 2 and half years but ultimately a pretty uninspiring one for the most part. 
 

Let’s just consider those home performances again this season. 4 goals in 6 games and some rather dull games. That’s not me trying to create a talking point, it’s a view that was widely read on here and other media - the home games were dull and disappointing in the main. 8 points out of 21 at home. It wasn’t great. 
I still maintain it was the wrong decision to take at that time, but I honesty can’t bring myself to revise history and claim that Nige was serving us up some scintillating football. 

What this misses also is the impact of Gould. The feedback and intervening between NP and the board, after the removal of action, highlights the stark difference to this summer and role he played. It seems Alexander was backing NP and was sacked for his troubles.

I'd arguably disagree with the bold section, but this is a forum and I understand your view and respect it. It's the off the pitch element is what game myself and others theoretically keep NP in plenty of credit. Our culture when he first arrived was the worst I've near seen at any club or ourselves previously. Similar for recruitment - as when MA, the latter took the entire recruitment team with him, which meant no scouting network at the time. It was the reason why on paper signing such as King, James, and Simpson made more sense in that context.

Also, I could be wrong here, but which 6 home games did we only score 4 goals? - unless we're picking the worst results for us scoring across the this season. But

Coventry and Ipswich we were very light on the ground at that stage with King, Pring, and Dickie as back three. With Robert subbed off first half. It's a results business, three points across those two was expected with the latters form. Stoke agreed was poor. As for Preston, we were the only people they battered physically, they got off to a flying start.

The key thing that had fans on Nige side, for me, is he made us very very difficult to beat, even with a massively depleted squad and no depth.

[Harry]

16 minutes ago, Fuber said:

What this misses also is the impact of Gould. The feedback and intervening between NP and the board, after the removal of action, highlights the stark difference to this summer and role he played. It seems Alexander was backing NP and was sacked for his troubles.

I'd arguably disagree with the bold section, but this is a forum and I understand your view and respect it. It's the off the pitch element is what game myself and others theoretically keep NP in plenty of credit. Our culture when he first arrived was the worst I've near seen at any club or ourselves previously. Similar for recruitment - as when MA, the latter took the entire recruitment team with him, which meant no scouting network at the time. It was the reason why on paper signing such as King, James, and Simpson made more sense in that context.

Also, I could be wrong here, but which 6 home games did we only score 4 goals? - unless we're picking the worst results for us scoring across the this season. But

Coventry and Ipswich we were very light on the ground at that stage with King, Pring, and Dickie as back three. With Robert subbed off first half. It's a results business, three points across those two was expected with the latters form. Stoke agreed was poor. As for Preston, we were the only people they battered physically, they got off to a flying start.

The key thing that had fans on Nige side, for me, is he made us very very difficult to beat, even with a massively depleted squad and no depth.

I agree that Gould did an important job and he was very much keeping things together. 
Re the summer 2023 bolded comment, I agree that there were some (such as yourself) who were already firmly with Nige but it was the summer debacle and internal war that saw most others shift firmly into the Nige camp. 
 

On the 4 goals in 6 games, I did make it clear that this was without the Plymouth game (that one was certainly an anomaly as a home result over the past few years). But even if we include that one it’s 8 goals in 7 home games. 
There simply is no argument that convinces me that our home performances have been anywhere near good enough over the last few years and especially this season. 
 

Regarding the point you made on Mark Ashton leaving and taking recruitment team and scouts with him - that’s false. 
The recruitment analysts are the same group that have been here for a number of years, headed up by Gilhespy. The main people who do the scouting are all still here. 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, johnheadbcfc said:

I doubt he was set up to fail as this is a business foremost and the worse you do the less money you make (or more you lose) , would of been nice to see pearson get a decent budget but to be honest it's not like many of his signings throughout have really wowed us. I'm praying the next few windows are good

He certainly wasn’t helped was he?  You have just said he should’ve had a decent budget.

So, what “wow” do you expect when you’re making the fewest signings in the Championship over 5 windows and with so little to spend.  He spent less overall in those 5 windows (just over £7m), that one Tomas Kalas!!  The equivalent of one Taylor Moore on anverage every window!

To get Sykes, James, Atkinson, Knight, TGH and Dickie in is bloody decent.  I could argue some others too.

But that’s if you go down the route of attributing all recruitment to the Manager.  It’s a team, a process…so you’re criticism is poorly aimed imho.

So perversely, if you don’t think it’s been wow, you need to be looking at that team / process instead…and the team are all still here, Tins, Gilhespy, Scouts, Gilhespy’s team of analysts.  So you better pray if that’s what you think.

Personally I think recruitment has improved massively since Gould and Pearson put a framework / process in place…and you are just using it as another stick to continue to criticise Nige with.

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, Harry said:

The recruitment analysts are the same group that have been here for a number of years, headed up by Gilhespy. The main people who do the scouting are all still here. 

Yep, see post above.

He did take his son with him though .  Young Jacob Ashton is a Recruitment Analyst at Ipswich Town!

[Bobtherobin]

On 12/12/2023 at 23:33, BristolFox said:

Leicester fan (originally from Bristol) so had a great interest in what’s happened with Pearson and felt the need to pass on my condolences for what a shitty decision your board has made (not the first one either, huh).

 

Now I think there’s a couple of obvious points to make here as to why this has gone badly so far.

 

In terms of Pearson’s style of management, he tends to build a family type atmosphere, with the project not just being about him, but about his coaches, the players, the fans all being as one - almost making him like a father figure (and I have no doubt that is why a lot of you liked him despite treading water in terms of league position for 3 seasons running).

 

Now I don’t know much about Manning, but he is certainly a lot younger and nowhere near as imposing in terms of character when compared to Pearson, so that is straight away a big and unbalancing change to have in the dressing room (especially as Pearson has always been very shrewd when it comes to appointing his coaches and some of those left too).
 
 

But that aside, Manning was doing alright at Oxford, did ok at MK too and got a great result in his first game for you against the Boro, so I figured ok - maybe he’ll do alright with you.

 

However, alarm bells did start to chime when I heard about Manning’s desire to shift in style of play, because whilst it’s commendable to want to play progressive passing football - if you had the calibre of players to pull that off it’s unlikely Manning would have been getting the job in the first place (you’d have attracted much more experienced and qualified managers to the job).

Add in the fact it is mid-season (where training time is scarce) and you had god knows how many players out injured to begin with anyway, trying to make changes to a style of play that clearly requires a lot of coaching before you’ve even had time to asses your squad, seems silly.
 

To properly pull that off and embed the team structure, the patterns of play, the way you want to press, how you want to defend, etc, etc, etc - you need a pre-season.

 

It’s not something that can be done in 3/4 training sessions inbetween playing 2 to 3 games in a week. This is the worst point in the season to try and pull something like that off. There’s a reason chairman hit the Allardyce button when a season becomes desperate! 
 

So in summary (TL/DL)

• The board has compounded it’s bad decision in sacking a manager that seemed to have the players on board by appointing a manager with such a stark deficit in character.

• Manning has then added to this issue by attempting to change to a footballing philosophy he doesn’t have the coaching time to implement.

 

One final point

 

Pearson had two spells with us.

 

He got unfairly treated when booted out for Sven BUT our owners clearly realised they had made a mistake and he came back - and that was the beginning of the fairy tail, so who knows… but you would probably need to get rid of Tinnion first! 

Great post. Im already getting excited about the idea of a second coming even though its not going to happen with this owner, and nobody else will want to buy the club. But a dream is good enough for me. 

[Meh]

2 hours ago, johnheadbcfc said:

I doubt he was set up to fail as this is a business foremost and the worse you do the less money you make (or more you lose) , would of been nice to see pearson get a decent budget but to be honest it's not like many of his signings throughout have really wowed us. I'm praying the next few windows are good

Interesting you say a few windows.

How soon do people think we may realistically be able to challenge top 6 again out of interest - head ruling heart?

Do you think that even can happen under the current top level team?

Don't want to start a new topic as that happens too often anyway

[johnheadbcfc]

16 minutes ago, Meh said:

Interesting you say a few windows.

How soon do people think we may realistically be able to challenge top 6 again out of interest - head ruling heart?

Do you think that even can happen under the current top level team?

Don't want to start a new topic as that happens too often anyway

Championship is too difficult for most teams to predict top 6 , I'd hope next season is given more of a go but I've been let down way too many times

[Olé]

12 hours ago, Harry said:

Up until Boxing Day last year I would say there were a lot of fans who wanted him out and a lot of fans who were on the fence. There weren’t a huge amount at that time who were 100% happy with him. 
We’d had 18 months or so of pretty rotten football. Yes, there were reasons for that and we know the tough task he faced, but I do think that at Xmas last year most fans would have said that he should have been getting more from the squad and we certainly needed to improve home performances as we were being served up some pretty stodgy games at Ashton Gate.

I have seen a few people on here countering the popular narrative and saying that there is some rose tinted revisionism about Nigel Pearson's time at City, that his football was awful etc.

Yes, there may have been a mass reaction and backlash to the abysmal way he was treated, but suggesting that some of us can't remember what football we were watching is ridiculous.

You're obviously someone I know well and trust so not suggesting you're being quite so blunt in your argument, but I respectfully submit that in the same season before Boxing Day 2022:

• We had a 5 game run of 13 from 15 points scoring 12 goals, including stunning away win at Blackburn to go THIRD*
• Then gave both Norwich and Burnley (at the time fresh from the Premier League) 2 very tough games on their patch
• Won 2-0 away at West Brom and completely controlled the game, more so than I've ever seen us manage up there

Suggesting Pearson only got things right after Boxing Day is nonsense, in fact we started to turn the corner in the previous season (WSM) when the fast counter attacking was emerging. 

It is for that reason I wasn't booing NP at the Boxing Day game - the opposite, I thought it was a ridiculous overreaction, a far bigger one than people who defend NP are now accused of!

 

*Stunning away win at Blackburn:

Match Report - shock horror, nearly 4 months before Pearson supposedly finally figured out how to get us playing (!!)

Quote

In my life I've seen Smith, Osman, Jordan, Ward, Lennartson, Johnson (G), Millen, Coppell, Millen (again), McInnes, O'Driscoll, Cotterill, Johnson (L), and Holden teams all play in the second tier and Nigel Pearson's side eclipsed all of them today for quality of football and dominance at this level. The side he has fashioned is gelling brilliantly.

Under Johnson (L) City enjoyed many fine away days - arguably the highlights of his tenure - but never as slick and convincing as the way Pearson's in form side destroyed early pacesetters Blackburn from the off in a one sided assault at Ewood Park - Scott, Weimann and Wells unplayable despite the scoreline eventually having a balanced look.

 

[bearded_red]

Great post @Olé

[Davefevs]

Thanks @Olé.

And that drop off from Norwich and Burnley came when both James and Naismith were injured.

[Sheltons Army]

Yes , great post @Olé far closer to the truth / reality

 

Over the decades , with NP in charge , was a period I was really content with him in charge and the overall vibe of the players / squad

Barcelona we were not , and those who want things yesterday were whining 

What I really enjoyed and appreciated was I knew that no longer did we have lightweights with crap attitudes picking up big wages , that he was supporting the young homegrown players , that he got the fans , that he was honest , and dug us out of an almighty hole , with hardly a hint of a moan , and absolutely zero b*****t

I liked the vibe and apparent atmosphere and culture that he , Fleming , Euell and Rennie appeared to have fostered.

One of the few managers at this level under who I never thought we could get relegated

Of course results matter , and to some they are the b all and end all, but to me feeling proud of the manager his staff , and playing staff was a real joy.

@Harry implies that there weren’t many who supported NP all along and of course there were some who he grew on , but I think a fair number , like myself who could see what a big task he had , that he was absolutely the right man to be taking on the task , and enjoyed and admired the way he went about it

Of course there are some who were anti Pearson , chipping and whining away , and even some now who are fixated on how many home wins , how many ppg, and , totally oblivious,  or blind to , what he actually did here

There are periods for a football club where there are things more important than ppg , numbers of home wins , away wins , style of football.

I still and will always believe that with the vast majority of appointments we may have made we would be sat back in League One where history indicates it takes us an average of 8 years to get out of.

 

 

[Harry]

50 minutes ago, Olé said:

I have seen a few people on here countering the popular narrative and saying that there is some rose tinted revisionism about Nigel Pearson's time at City, that his football was awful etc.

Yes, there may have been a mass reaction and backlash to the abysmal way he was treated, but suggesting that some of us can't remember what football we were watching is ridiculous.

You're obviously someone I know well and trust so not suggesting you're being quite so blunt in your argument, but I respectfully submit that in the same season before Boxing Day 2022:

• We had a 5 game run of 13 from 15 points scoring 12 goals, including stunning away win at Blackburn to go THIRD*
• Then gave both Norwich and Burnley (at the time fresh from the Premier League) 2 very tough games on their patch
• Won 2-0 away at West Brom and completely controlled the game, more so than I've ever seen us manage up there

Suggesting Pearson only got things right after Boxing Day is nonsense, in fact we started to turn the corner in the previous season (WSM) when the fast counter attacking was emerging. 

It is for that reason I wasn't booing NP at the Boxing Day game - the opposite, I thought it was a ridiculous overreaction, a far bigger one than people who defend NP are now accused of!

 

*Stunning away win at Blackburn:

Match Report - shock horror, nearly 4 months before Pearson supposedly finally figured out how to get us playing (!!)

 

Cheers Rob I appreciate your response. 
Yes, I agree that there were other spells under Nige where we did ok, so you are right to say it wasn’t just after the Boxing Day game last year.

However I would counter this and perhaps suggest that the better displays were found away from home. 
I recall you posting something similar to the above when LJ left. You’d commented that whilst his reign here was ultimately a difficult watch, he gave you some of the best away days you’ve had. 
I think both Nige and LJ were able to produce some excellent away wins but the home performances were, more often than not, rather disappointing. 
 

I’d also like to make the point that the arguments I put forth on here are not really aimed at the likes of yourself and some other posters who I know backed Nige for most of his time here. 
I am more aiming this toward those who were on the fence or weren’t behind him until the pendulum really did swing in his favour with the summer 23 fiasco and internal war. 
It’s many of those posters who seem to be expecting Manning to come in and start playing scintillating football, and are highly critical of what they call ‘tippy tappy between the cb’s” football, when the truth is that we weren’t playing scintillating football under Nige. 
 

These people seem to have forgotten, in a matter of a couple of weeks, that the home performances this season had been pretty dire and are somehow expecting that to change overnight. 
 

I will reiterate what I’ve said a number of times - I liked Nige. He grew on me over the time he was here. I didn’t agree with his sacking. But all that said, there are a number of people who are expecting Manning miracles, but this is mostly because of the ridiculous situation inherited and bullcrap from the board. 

[Sir Geoff]

6 minutes ago, Harry said:

Cheers Rob I appreciate your response. 
Yes, I agree that there were other spells under Nige where we did ok, so you are right to say it wasn’t just after the Boxing Day game last year.

However I would counter this and perhaps suggest that the better displays were found away from home. 
I recall you posting something similar to the above when LJ left. You’d commented that whilst his reign here was ultimately a difficult watch, he gave you some of the best away days you’ve had. 
I think both Nige and LJ were able to produce some excellent away wins but the home performances were, more often than not, rather disappointing. 
 

I’d also like to make the point that the arguments I put forth on here are not really aimed at the likes of yourself and some other posters who I know backed Nige for most of his time here. 
I am more aiming this toward those who were on the fence or weren’t behind him until the pendulum really did swing in his favour with the summer 23 fiasco and internal war. 
It’s many of those posters who seem to be expecting Manning to come in and start playing scintillating football, and are highly critical of what they call ‘tippy tappy between the cb’s” football, when the truth is that we weren’t playing scintillating football under Nige. 
 

These people seem to have forgotten, in a matter of a couple of weeks, that the home performances this season had been pretty dire and are somehow expecting that to change overnight. 
 

I will reiterate what I’ve said a number of times - I liked Nige. He grew on me over the time he was here. I didn’t agree with his sacking. But all that said, there are a number of people who are expecting Manning miracles, but this is mostly because of the ridiculous situation inherited and bullcrap from the board. 

You must be reading a different forum, as I don't recall anyone expecting that type of football, although it was mentioned on FBC, when Manning was appointed. Oh and a certain Brian Tinnion, also mentioned it. We certainly weren't promised 'tippy tappy' football but that is what we now have. We were however promised an improvement in style.

NP's style was fine and garnering a reliable standard of football that with a few tweaks (a couple of additions in the summer) would, I am sure, have seen us higher in the table than we are currently.

[Fuber]

7 hours ago, Harry said:

I agree that Gould did an important job and he was very much keeping things together. 
Re the summer 2023 bolded comment, I agree that there were some (such as yourself) who were already firmly with Nige but it was the summer debacle and internal war that saw most others shift firmly into the Nige camp. 
 

On the 4 goals in 6 games, I did make it clear that this was without the Plymouth game (that one was certainly an anomaly as a home result over the past few years). But even if we include that one it’s 8 goals in 7 home games. 
There simply is no argument that convinces me that our home performances have been anywhere near good enough over the last few years and especially this season. 
 

Regarding the point you made on Mark Ashton leaving and taking recruitment team and scouts with him - that’s false. 
The recruitment analysts are the same group that have been here for a number of years, headed up by Gilhespy. The main people who do the scouting are all still here. 

Disagree. Some of the analysts are the same, sure, as they were employed by us directly. But MA had his own network via which most of his transfers were made, using consultant and scouts to filter options that were then liaised to MA and LJ.

Gillespie was nowhere near qualified to head up recruitment like he did when NP first came in, but he was tasked with it under Gould to help keep costs down.

MA had his own network of both scouts, consultant, and agents. That stopped when he was out on gardening leave his final season. It's also how he was able to immediately get signings on board when he got through the door at Ipswich.

[Harry]

47 minutes ago, Fuber said:

Disagree. Some of the analysts are the same, sure, as they were employed by us directly. But MA had his own network via which most of his transfers were made, using consultant and scouts to filter options that were then liaised to MA and LJ.

Gillespie was nowhere near qualified to head up recruitment like he did when NP first came in, but he was tasked with it under Gould to help keep costs down.

MA had his own network of both scouts, consultant, and agents. That stopped when he was out on gardening leave his final season. It's also how he was able to immediately get signings on board when he got through the door at Ipswich.

Oh 100% he had his own network. He’s ran his own player welfare companies and has links to certain agencies. 
We had analysts in place at AG and a few actual scouts and they still remain. 
But yes, Ashton did kind of override all of them anyway and did his own thing through his own contacts. 
But the actual analysts and scouts are still here. 
So I agree to an extent that we were starting from a crap base as the recruitment team which we had behind the scenes hadn’t really ever done anything of any note because Ashton ran the show himself.

[JP Hampton]

7 hours ago, Sheltons Army said:

Yes , great post @Olé far closer to the truth / reality

 

Over the decades , with NP in charge , was a period I was really content with him in charge and the overall vibe of the players / squad

Barcelona we were not , and those who want things yesterday were whining 

What I really enjoyed and appreciated was I knew that no longer did we have lightweights with crap attitudes picking up big wages , that he was supporting the young homegrown players , that he got the fans , that he was honest , and dug us out of an almighty hole , with hardly a hint of a moan , and absolutely zero b*****t

I liked the vibe and apparent atmosphere and culture that he , Fleming , Euell and Rennie appeared to have fostered.

One of the few managers at this level under who I never thought we could get relegated

Of course results matter , and to some they are the b all and end all, but to me feeling proud of the manager his staff , and playing staff was a real joy.

@Harry implies that there weren’t many who supported NP all along and of course there were some who he grew on , but I think a fair number , like myself who could see what a big task he had , that he was absolutely the right man to be taking on the task , and enjoyed and admired the way he went about it

Of course there are some who were anti Pearson , chipping and whining away , and even some now who are fixated on how many home wins , how many ppg, and , totally oblivious,  or blind to , what he actually did here

There are periods for a football club where there are things more important than ppg , numbers of home wins , away wins , style of football.

I still and will always believe that with the vast majority of appointments we may have made we would be sat back in League One where history indicates it takes us an average of 8 years to get out of.

 

 

That’s it that many of us saw the bigger picture where NP was concerned. 

[Superjack]

15 hours ago, Sir Geoff said:

How is it not Mannions fault if we lose Saturday. He is the one tinkering with our style of play and making bizarre team selections.

Mannion!

Perfect.