Pearson post match ….

[Numero Uno]

2 minutes ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

fair enough. Equally, anyone thinking that some billionaire is going to buy BCFC atm is delusional. We are where we are.

Agreed, it's a hard slog at the moment, that can't be denied whether you are Lansdown/Pearson in, out or shake it all about but there is literally nothing we can do to change it.

[Rocking Red Cyril]

5 minutes ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

fair enough. Equally, anyone thinking that some billionaire is going to buy BCFC atm is delusional. We are where we are.

As always Marina you bang on 

[frenchred]

19 minutes ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

If you look at the accounts that are due along with previous - I'll think you'll find that "WE" have a small part to p(l)ay

So who do we replace him with?

Anyone who can afford to pay him off? What do pathetic response

[Bristol Oil Services]

1 minute ago, Rocking Red Cyril said:

As always Marina you bang on 

You bang on, or

You are bang on?

[REDOXO]

4 minutes ago, Tafkarmlf said:

I disagree with your last statement, but I'm totally unsure whether that means stick ot twist at this stage. 

I also don't think he inherited a farce it's a team full of championship and higher performers in the main, they dont suddenly go from better than average to anamalgous blob of under performance without rejection or defiance of the Managers instructions/training /coaching. 

Nige isnt immune from criticism. It's okay to do so, especially when we clearly arent firing on all cylinders. 

I like/rate Tanner and Atkinson from what I've seen of them, i just struggle with a manager who puts them out to get slaughtered time and again, without changing it up. I'm assuming we do do defensive work? 10 months and 3 coaches later, I'm not seeing much development in address what has been an issue for sometime. 

Sadly I think Bakes maybe done, given the amount tt of head injuries in a short time shame as on his day absolutely fab. 

It wasn’t meant to say either. But for the record I wouldn’t change the manager. 
 

Well we will agree to disagree about the farce that was 13 players out of contract multimillion pound overspend on players fees and wages. The fact that we have valueless assets on huge wages, that needs to be paired back while having limited ability to spend as we can’t generate any money. 
 

Thus in order to make us sustainable we have to blood youngsters and prey we can off load some high earners! I don’t like the fact Wells never gets a chance to start but as was pointed out on another thread that’s probably because he has less than zero value if he’s injured. DeSilva came here and was out for ages with shin splints and has never regained any semblance of his former self. Williams is theoretically our best player that has been crocked since his arrival or before 

This club staggers from farce to farce and has done since SL so spectacularly failed to back Steve Cotterill when we were promoted then threw money at Lee Johnson via Mark Ashton who jumped ship as Pearson was arriving thus leaving him to carry the can for the continuing comedy. Hardly anyone else at the club say s a bloody word and our chairman sits with his hand on his Dick on yacht somewhere off the coast of a Caribbean island 

So yes from where I am sitting Pearson inherited a shit show of mega proportions that was years in the making and continues to give. 

As I said Sir Alf would struggle right now but what we hope is we can keep enough of it going to make a mid table finish and have Half dozen players with previously only league one/two/u23 experience a part of a cohesive squad for next season without spending any money that could give us FFP issues. 

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

7 minutes ago, frenchred said:

Anyone who can afford to pay him off? What do pathetic response

Incomprehensible response

[Ben1980]

14 minutes ago, DT The Optimist said:

In the second half I moved from my usual place in the Dolman and took a seat not far behind our dugout, for a different view and take on the game.  As soon as they scored the third NP turned and said ‘that’s it, get him off’. Clearly not best please, I was unsure who was going but off trotted Atkinson and on came Pring.
my initial thoughts when he made that  remark was Belarous was about to be subbed,  but what do I know. 
I am a great supporter of NP and I think he is the guy who will actually achieve things here. I do think it strange that JD or CP were not started on the LHS. 

Yeah I was sat behind the dugout and saw the same ‘get him off’ after the third goal. Also thought that he meant Benarous rather than Atkinson. Benarous looked great when he got switched to number 10. Semenyo also didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. 
 

Such a shame that Dasilva is a shadow of his former self. Used to think he was one of our best players. 

[frenchred]

5 minutes ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

Incomprehensible response

Red wine! :laugh:

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

Just now, frenchred said:

Red wine!

You've just awarded yourself a UB40!

[sludge]

3 hours ago, JoeAman08 said:

Johnson got the money. Pearson gets the excuses. He’s been a poor appointment and hasn’t gotten this team to play the honest high intensity football he promised. Lethargic all afternoon. Not only were they a much better footballing side but they were fitter and more physical than us. So what has he made us?
 

7 signings were his. Rennie was supposed to keep our best players fit. New contracts to the two young lads starting. New assistant manager in old ones out. He has had enough time and made enough decisions to have the team not be outworked almost a full season on with a preseason. And our best football has come when he hasn’t been around with covid. 
 

Slowly draining the football out of our best players. Two young promising attacking midfielders I’ll put them at wingback. Play a striker in midfield who breaks down countless attacks with poor touches and passes. Down 3-1 take a cb off for a LB but play him a good amount at LCB. Square pegs round holes sounds like the stick to beat johnson with yet nothing for “big nige”

 

He is a has been manager who has fallen out with multiple playing staff over the years and had one successful spell with talent in his staff and recruitment department. And millions of quid in a time 3-4m gets you top talent. Sick of the experiment. Sick of the football on offer. Sick of being outworked every week.
 

And before you talk about money Huddersfield didn’t spend anything on fees this summer. Released almost as many as we did. Relying on frees and loans. None of the prem squad are really there anymore. All with a coach nobody knew before he was hired. 

We’re Bristol City, most fans on here were turning their nose up at the suggestion of Steven Gerrard 18 months ago. Laughable 

[maxjak]

53 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

You can coach until you are blue in the face but the truth is no amount of coaching can prevent a player doing what you ask him to do properly one week and not the next. In the case of Atkinson he did well against Derby and was shocking today. How is that down to coaching? He proved against Derby that he can put the coaching into practice but also proved today that he can't do it every week whilst he is coming to terms with the higher standard.

What cannot be coached is the split second concentration levels needed to play elite level football. You either have it or you have to learn it through the odd mistake or you don't have it and end up in the National League. Look at the Leeds kid at right back tonight who would no doubt have been coached to death since he was 8 and has recently been coached by that "mug" Bielsa who presumably doesn't know jack shit either, literally lost concentration for a split second and bang, 1-0 down two seconds later.

Without a doubt your points are valid, however i cannot exonerate Nige completely, when the same mistakes are repeated, and our manager was a top central defender who obviously knows how to organise a defensive unit.  My main concern are some of his team selections,  i have not seen a great deal of progress in 10 months, but maybe he will redeem himself in the window........though that will be hard to achieve.

[DaveInSA]

3 hours ago, maxjak said:

Mostly agree with your opinion.......the square pegs in round holes assessment is accurate, his Martin fixation and the lack of fitness and poor coaching are also a concern. 

How do you know fitness and coaching are poor?

are you at Failand every day?

Pearson doesn’t trust anyone else to play up front. The options are paper thin. Wells and Semenyo?

So what do you suggest? 

[DaveInSA]

3 hours ago, petehinton said:

He’s just said on RB that Defenders aren’t good enough but they’re what we’re stuck with….

Well, you signed one of them and Kalas is one of the best defenders at this level…!

Didn’t he sign 3?

two pot shots from the lower leagues and Baker?

I just watched the highlights; Vyner is nowhere near good enough and they don’t play as a unit. Who is organising? Because from what I observe, we couldn’t organise a pi55 up in the Thatchers factory.

[mozo]

3 hours ago, the1stknowle said:

I still think Kalas is part of the problem. I know not many agree with that but our defensive record with him in team since Webster left… I honestly think it would be better for both parties to say goodbye. 

 

3 hours ago, petehinton said:

You’re right, apart from laying into Atkinson and the lack of quality from the centre backs for the goals, he was full of praise for them

I think the criticism from NP is fair. Vyner gave a needless, albeit it soft, penalty away and Atkinson I thought had a poor game by his standards and deserving of a roasting.

Kalas, I like his commitment, blocking and rocket-ship heading, but his marking and tracking ability is very err...zonal! He's very much found his level in my opinion.

I actually thought Huddersfield comfortably deserved the win. Definitely I'd criticise the wing back selections, but I'm not sure it's crisis time at the moment. 

 

[Show Me The Money!]

I wouldn’t say I’m in the thinking that we should be questioning NP’s position and get peoples likeness of his honesty but what I’m not so keen on is the distance it seems to suggest there is between him and the players. You don’t get the impression with him that him and the players are in this together. He talks as if he’s viewing the whole thing as an outsider looking in.

Obviously we don’t see what goes on within the training ground or changing room during matches but you just don’t get the impression that everyone is pulling in the right direction.

Some people’s argument that he’s got a crap squad to work with I don’t totally buy. We do have quite a few good players at this club who should be doing a lot better

Palmer, Wells, Kalas, Dasilva, O’Dowda, Wiemann, Atkinson, James, Massengo are all very good players who aren’t all playing to they’re potential and it’s the manager’s job to get them there and keep them there. Not forgetting the promising home grown players too.

So for me NP has to take some responsibility for our struggles over the last year. It’s not just that we have crap players. We don’t.

[maxjak]

1 hour ago, DaveInSA said:

How do you know fitness and coaching are poor?

are you at Failand every day?

Pearson doesn’t trust anyone else to play up front. The options are paper thin. Wells and Semenyo?

So what do you suggest? 

!0 months ......and some of the players have not appeared to have  improved or learnt?    We are poor in possession, and give the ball away too easily. .  Making smug remarks like.."Are you at Failand every day?" 'is just pompous and pointless.  Surely the evidence is apparent during matches that we have a problem maintaining concentration and physicality over 90-95 minutes.  I realise Nige's hands are tied to an extent, but making the best of what is available is the mark of a good manager?.  I would certainly give Martin a rest occassionally, Conway is now fit, and Wells could be utilised more ( But Nige doesn't like him)   i didn't have to loiter at Failand's High Performance Centre to glean that?   I really hope Nige turns it around, the window is a chance to show us how smart he is, and despite  the dangers and obstacles of the January market...........surely  some loans can come in and out, to improve things? 

[Pezo]

52 minutes ago, Show Me The Money! said:

I wouldn’t say I’m in the thinking that we should be questioning NP’s position and get peoples likeness of his honesty but what I’m not so keen on is the distance it seems to suggest there is between him and the players. You don’t get the impression with him that him and the players are in this together. He talks as if he’s viewing the whole thing as an outsider looking in.

Obviously we don’t see what goes on within the training ground or changing room during matches but you just don’t get the impression that everyone is pulling in the right direction.

Some people’s argument that he’s got a crap squad to work with I don’t totally buy. We do have quite a few good players at this club who should be doing a lot better

Palmer, Wells, Kalas, Dasilva, O’Dowda, Wiemann, Atkinson, James, Massengo are all very good players who aren’t all playing to they’re potential and it’s the manager’s job to get them there and keep them there. Not forgetting the promising home grown players too.

So for me NP has to take some responsibility for our struggles over the last year. It’s not just that we have crap players. We don’t.

The first 2 paragraphs are basically what he has been saying since he has arrived “get on the bus” (always a weird analogy because on the bus you’re a passenger whereas what he is saying is those that aren’t on the bus are passengers and aren’t coming on the journey).

The second half I disagree with if your saying they are good enough to be better than where we are, of the 9 players you call out 3 would be top half championship players but would all need someone along side them to bring out there best whereas they have sub 22yo’s beside them, 3 are where they should be at the bottom half of the championship and 3 are playing a league above where they should be for there current ability. If we can only name 3 top half championship players out of our squad then I would say there is merit in saying he hasn’t got much to work with.

[NcnsBcfc]

5 hours ago, LondonBristolian said:

Bentley reminds me of Shay Given, in the sense that he makes great saves but seems to find himself in teams that are defensively suspect to an extent that you really wonder if it is a coincidence. My questions would be how good his communication are and how much the defence trust him? With Kalas, I think there is a similar thing that - whilst he does a lot of good things - we've struggled to find a defensive unit that works around him. He's been in too many poor defensive partnerships for it to always be his partners' fault...

I think the thing with Kalas is he often thinks with his heart, rather than his head. 

When he is playing alongside better players  and thus able to focus on his own game, he's an excellent international defender. You don't get the amount of caps he has through being poor. When he played with Webster, collectively they were the best centre back partnership i'd seen at City in the last 40 years. Yes of course, Webster was superb; but Kalas also played a massive part in that combination.

Unfortunately when he is around young, inexperienced; or plainly not up to it defenders; he obviously tries too hard to cover their failings; and in the process completely compromises his own performances.

He's not a leader of course, however you look at him sometimes and think he should be. He gets emotionally involved in situations when things start going wrong; and his head drops.

Looking at Huddersfield's first goal today. It looks to me as if his first movement is to try to help Atkinson out, as if he feels he's going to lose the challenge. In the process he takes his eye off the runner coming through.

I think in essence, he doesn't trust the defenders he's playing alongside at the moment to get the job done.

Anybody who's played football to a decent level, will know that dreadful feeling when as a defender you line up with players that you can't trust.

Edited December 19, 2021 by NcnsBcfc

[NcnsBcfc]

Whilst people might be drawing comparisons with Huddesfield today on their squad against ours.

Let' not forget that:-

A) They were awful last season, and were in the bottom six most of the season.

B) Were in receipt of Parachute payments that allowed an easier transition from a PL club to a Championship one.

C) Were able to get rid of most of the High earners during the summer. We are still lumbered with a majority of ours until Summer 2023.

D) Despite their failings last season with a young new manager. They didn't panic, even though they had been a PL for a couple of seasons a few years before; sack him; and try to bring someone new in.

Let's not forget, if we had beaten them today we would have been level on points with them in the league.

Yes, this season is a real struggle and the football is extremely poor at times. But I fail to see how making a change now  would be anything other than a massive gamble that could easily backfire on us again.

NP said a 3 year project when he started (probably based on the summer 2023 as mentioned above).

The graphs on budgets to turnover, and the earnings from transfer fees show how we've wasted a golden opportunity over the last 4 years to progress.

We have to do things differently, and that will require people to understand that there will be good performances, bad performances; and sometimes awful performances. That is City at the moment.

The main thing is we need to stay in this division during this financial/team rebuild. It's not going to be pretty; but it is, what it is

[Son of Fred]

6 hours ago, sticks 1969 said:

What the owner who has bank rolled us

built a nice stadium 

built a state of art training ground 

However much £££ are in the account the bloke knows as much about football as you can write on the back of a postage stamp 

Been asleep at the wheel for years & allowed Ashton free hand to squander the family silver & preside over an internal shambles.

Should we stay up this season & subsequently begin to turn the corner it'll be inspite of him,,not because of him.

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Son of Fred

[Rebounder]

31 minutes ago, NcnsBcfc said:

Whilst people might be drawing comparisons with Huddesfield today on their squad against ours.

Let' not forget that:-

A) They were awful last season, and were in the bottom six most of the season.

B) Were in receipt of Parachute payments that allowed an easier transition from a PL club to a Championship one.

C) Were able to get rid of most of the High earners during the summer. We are still lumbered with a majority of ours until Summer 2023.

D) Despite their failings last season with a young new manager. They didn't panic, even though they had been a PL for a couple of seasons a few years before; sack him; and try to bring someone new in.

Let's not forget, if we had beaten them today we would have been level on points with them in the league.

Yes, this season is a real struggle and the football is extremely poor at times. But I fail to see how making a change now  would be anything other than a massive gamble that could easily backfire on us again.

NP said a 3 year project when he started (probably based on the summer 2023 as mentioned above).

The graphs on budgets to turnover, and the earnings from transfer fees show how we've wasted a golden opportunity over the last 4 years to progress.

We have to do things differently, and that will require people to understand that there will be good performances, bad performances; and sometimes awful performances. That is City at the moment.

The main thing is we need to stay in this division during this financial/team rebuild. It's not going to be pretty; but it is, what it is

Good post. I'm also reminded of Warburton at QPR who was under a fair bit of pressure not that long ago, but slowly turned it around. I can understand why people are frustrated with the performances though. 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Rebounder

[old_eastender]

Once again, having listened to NPs post-match interview in full, a very honest assessment by NP. You cannot really argue with anything he said.

The thing is can he sort it out though?  On that the jury is still out I'd say. He doesn't help himself by his obsession in playing Chris Martin all the time, defending starts from the front and his dire lack of mobility really does not help. The build-up to their 2nd goal started from CM failing to hold the ball. 

[Rob k]

13 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

Once again, having listened to NPs post-match interview in full, a very honest assessment by NP. You cannot really argue with anything he said.

The thing is can he sort it out though?  On that the jury is still out I'd say. He doesn't help himself by his obsession in playing Chris Martin all the time, defending starts from the front and his dire lack of mobility really does not help. The build-up to their 2nd goal started from CM failing to hold the ball. 

He wont be able to sort it out with the current squad no

Edited December 19, 2021 by Rob k

[Waconda]

8 hours ago, Show Me The Money! said:

I wouldn’t say I’m in the thinking that we should be questioning NP’s position and get peoples likeness of his honesty but what I’m not so keen on is the distance it seems to suggest there is between him and the players. You don’t get the impression with him that him and the players are in this together. He talks as if he’s viewing the whole thing as an outsider looking in.

Obviously we don’t see what goes on within the training ground or changing room during matches but you just don’t get the impression that everyone is pulling in the right direction.

Some people’s argument that he’s got a crap squad to work with I don’t totally buy. We do have quite a few good players at this club who should be doing a lot better

Palmer, Wells, Kalas, Dasilva, O’Dowda, Wiemann, Atkinson, James, Massengo are all very good players who aren’t all playing to they’re potential and it’s the manager’s job to get them there and keep them there. Not forgetting the promising home grown players too.

So for me NP has to take some responsibility for our struggles over the last year. It’s not just that we have crap players. We don’t.

Some good insight here - IMO.

[BigTone]

14 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

Can’t wait to hear what tripe he comes out with tonight 

sure it will be an “open and honest” interview that will get lapped up again 

Almost 12 months on and it’s still a shambles . I’m truely amazed people can honestly look at us and see progress 

Starting to lose any enthusiasm TBH

[Loosey Boy]

Interesting to hear Nige’s comments re Pring after the game - was due to start yesterday but Pring himself then said he wasn’t “ready”……not sure that will have gone down well with NP. CP did well when he came on.

It does still beg the question re DaSilva though - as @Davefevs said yesterday; can only assume he’s making up the numbers before we look to move him on in Jan (if there are any takers)

[DaveInSA]

8 hours ago, maxjak said:

!0 months ......and some of the players have not appeared to have  improved or learnt?    We are poor in possession, and give the ball away too easily. .  Making smug remarks like.."Are you at Failand every day?" 'is just pompous and pointless.  Surely the evidence is apparent during matches that we have a problem maintaining concentration and physicality over 90-95 minutes.  I realise Nige's hands are tied to an extent, but making the best of what is available is the mark of a good manager?.  I would certainly give Martin a rest occassionally, Conway is now fit, and Wells could be utilised more ( But Nige doesn't like him)   i didn't have to loiter at Failand's High Performance Centre to glean that?   I really hope Nige turns it around, the window is a chance to show us how smart he is, and despite  the dangers and obstacles of the January market...........surely  some loans can come in and out, to improve things? 

Not pompous. I was asking you to support your opinion, with some facts.

What you’ve stated above re ‘losing concentration’ - how do you coach that? That is an individual weakness- which is far too prevalent in the DNA of our players.

Ashton deliberately recruited ‘mentally weak’ players. As a collective their is no coherence and no leadership on the pitch. You can’t coach that - I think it’s telling that our under 23s are showing these seasoned pros the dark art of shithousery.

We’ll not do much business in Jan (I hope we do) there’s no money. We’re spending all our cash on Players to sit on their backsides. So unless KP, JD, Wells and Moore go, we can’t afford it.

we have defenders who can’t defend, a midfield that is non existent and an attack spearheaded by a geriatric. All in all it’s a total mess. 

[DaveInSA]

9 hours ago, Show Me The Money! said:

I wouldn’t say I’m in the thinking that we should be questioning NP’s position and get peoples likeness of his honesty but what I’m not so keen on is the distance it seems to suggest there is between him and the players. You don’t get the impression with him that him and the players are in this together. He talks as if he’s viewing the whole thing as an outsider looking in.

Obviously we don’t see what goes on within the training ground or changing room during matches but you just don’t get the impression that everyone is pulling in the right direction.

Some people’s argument that he’s got a crap squad to work with I don’t totally buy. We do have quite a few good players at this club who should be doing a lot better

Palmer, Wells, Kalas, Dasilva, O’Dowda, Wiemann, Atkinson, James, Massengo are all very good players who aren’t all playing to they’re potential and it’s the manager’s job to get them there and keep them there. Not forgetting the promising home grown players too.

So for me NP has to take some responsibility for our struggles over the last year. It’s not just that we have crap players. We don’t.

Very good players. I’d gamble that none of them would make it into a top 6 side in this division.

Very inconsistent players too. For me, they’re not good enough. They don’t have the mental fortitude. They’re not ‘winners’. They expend a lot of energy but deliver little.

[Waconda]

8 minutes ago, DaveInSA said:

Very good players. I’d gamble that none of them would make it into a top 6 side in this division.

Very inconsistent players too. For me, they’re not good enough. They don’t have the mental fortitude. They’re not ‘winners’. They expend a lot of energy but deliver little.

Kalas, Weimann, Bentley would for sure.

The players are not as bad as many "conveniently" claim them to be.

We have a mid table Championship squad that has under performed during NPs reign BUT importantly for me things have improved since the Blackburn game, on the pitch, in the dug out and obviously on the training ground. Continue like we are and I can see safety this season and possible light at the end of the tunnel.

Slip back to where we were the weeks before NP went away Ill last time and a change will be required.

[exAtyeoMax]

Are we playing with fear? So many reasons why performances can be effected. I’m not anti Nige but it’s a strange game to play, with the “bus” analogy and seemingly deliberately leaving players out, plus his post match comments regarding the quality of the squad he has to play with. To me, it all seems very negative, or at least creates a kind of malaise, for fans and possibly the players (as his comments are made in public).

RB/Gary Owers commented repeatedly yesterday about how we only started playing towards the end of the match, and that we can do it…

Perhaps Nige should have kept all these comments private/on the training ground. Even so, it strikes me that this style of management isn’t that productive. 

[Rob k]

34 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

I think we have good players at this level. I was disappointed in what I saw yesterday.

Huddersfield manager has them playing some very good football. That comes from the training ground.

Tactically there were problems first half in their shape against ours when we didnt have the ball. And when we did have the ball we didnt pass it well enough.

Whatever Pearson said at half time seemed to make us worse 2nd half.

Hopefully O'Dowda will be back next week as I think we missed him. We no longer had a direct threat on either wing.

I wonder if Pearson might go to a new system soon. I think it might have been a good idea to go something like 4141 2nd half yesterday.

Huddersfield played some nice football as they had O’Brian absolutely running the game - we have nobody even remotely as good as him in that position 

[maxjak]

1 hour ago, DaveInSA said:

Not pompous. I was asking you to support your opinion, with some facts.

What you’ve stated above re ‘losing concentration’ - how do you coach that? That is an individual weakness- which is far too prevalent in the DNA of our players.

Ashton deliberately recruited ‘mentally weak’ players. As a collective their is no coherence and no leadership on the pitch. You can’t coach that - I think it’s telling that our under 23s are showing these seasoned pros the dark art of shithousery.

We’ll not do much business in Jan (I hope we do) there’s no money. We’re spending all our cash on Players to sit on their backsides. So unless KP, JD, Wells and Moore go, we can’t afford it.

we have defenders who can’t defend, a midfield that is non existent and an attack spearheaded by a geriatric. All in all it’s a total mess. 

Do you honestly believe that Ashton set out deliberately to recruit mentally weak players?  I agree that he is despicable Judas, but that would be some agenda to pursue?  Ha!

[JoeAman08]

13 hours ago, sludge said:

We’re Bristol City, most fans on here were turning their nose up at the suggestion of Steven Gerrard 18 months ago. Laughable 

Not sure if I am getting your point right but just because we are Bristol City does not mean we can’t get a good manager in. Our recruitment of managers seems to be similar to how this forum would hire. Who are the names available? Do they have an affiliation with City already? Think there needs to be more due diligence in recruiting someone to run this club. 

1 hour ago, JonDolman said:

I think we have good players at this level. I was disappointed in what I saw yesterday.

Huddersfield manager has them playing some very good football. That comes from the training ground.

Tactically there were problems first half in their shape against ours when we didnt have the ball. And when we did have the ball we didnt pass it well enough.

Whatever Pearson said at half time seemed to make us worse 2nd half.

Hopefully O'Dowda will be back next week as I think we missed him. We no longer had a direct threat on either wing.

I wonder if Pearson might go to a new system soon. I think it might have been a good idea to go something like 4141 2nd half yesterday.

I don’t feel like formation matters when people like Weimann, Martin and James can’t be dropped. Not saying they are poor or shouldn’t ever start. Saying because all 3 of them play all the time, it is hard to blend anything else into this squad. 4141 could work but he needs to be brave enough to drop Weimann or Martin in it imo. Yesterday would have been brave to play Pring LWB and Benarous centrally for Weimann. I know Weimann scored twice but he really didn't help Massengo and James at all defensively. We got cut through the middle time after time because Weimann was too far forward or too wide thinking about attacks. We keep killing ourselves with James in a two. Makes him and his partner so ineffective. Not his fault nor a lack of effort. He just doesn’t have the legs in games like yesterday. 

[The Bard]

The game I saw yesterday saw us start very aggressively pressing high which resulted in our goal.  Huddersfield clearly well coached looked to play through our press.  As soon as they did it put our defence in the position where they have to decide whether to follow the press up or drop off to deal with the counter attack and that is where we lost the game.

 

On at least 2 occasions (build up to the penalty and the 3rd goal), Atkinson got that decision badly wrong, following a player into midfield who just ran him out of position. Their equaliser also came from such a circumstance with Scott pressing high and Vyner getting sucked into midfield meaning they got an overlap down our right.  Even then Atkinson was completely indecisive edge of our box when a bit of cynicism would've got him a yellow but stopped a goal.

2nd goal was also down to indecision between the RCB and RWB.

Once we brought on Pring for Atkinson I thought we improved markedly, creating enough chances to have got back into the game.  

I'm intrigued as to how Pearson reacts to this.  He's called Atkinson out for his performance but I wonder if we'll go back to a back 4.  If we do, I'd expect to see Tanner and Pring starting but am interested whether Vyner or Atkinson get hooked.  If we stay with a 3, Pring will play left of the 3.

 

 

 

 

[Sleepy1968]

2 hours ago, Loosey Boy said:

Interesting to hear Nige’s comments re Pring after the game - was due to start yesterday but Pring himself then said he wasn’t “ready”……not sure that will have gone down well with NP. CP did well when he came on.

It does still beg the question re DaSilva though - as @Davefevs said yesterday; can only assume he’s making up the numbers before we look to move him on in Jan (if there are any takers)

Interesting comment re Pring - I hope "not ready" in terms of fitness only. And that's much better than Nige deciding that AB is a better fit in that position.

Re Dasilva - he seems to be persona non-grata. Can put decent crosses in on his day but I don't think he's a great defender and as we've seen is easy to play against due to us playing narrow (why we do that is another question). Isn't he under contract until June 2023? Might be difficult to shift unless say LJ or MA want him.

[Olé]

2 hours ago, DaveInSA said:

we have defenders who can’t defend, a midfield that is non existent and an attack spearheaded by a geriatric

Match Report: West Brom away

Match Report: Birmingham away

Match Report: Coventry away

Match Report: Sheff Utd away

Match Report: Hull away

[ChubStixx]

The players are better than they're being made out to be. We can definitely get more out of them.

Squad looks devoid of confidence and the right mentality to me.

[Ian M]

Until we fix recruitment at this club we won't succeed under any manager. We only enjoyed a level of success under LJ as some of the 50 odd signings were decent and able to improve the starting XI. But if you are bringing in those sorts of numbers you're gonna get 1 or 2 right.

With our finances we can't repeat that approach unless a couple of our Academy lads end up going for Webster/Kelly/Reid/Bryan money.

We really need to be identifying youngsters with decent potential that at any time we sign them, we believe we can develop them into top 6 Championship players within 2 years and hope that 1 season we get to keep enough of them at the club to get to the PL. Then we can get relegated and receive the bounce-back monies.

Aside from that, with the current squad I'd look to pick a back 4 who can defend, 4 CBs if need be. 2 from James, Massengo & Williams in front. Then I'd be interested to see how Benayous and Scott got on in a 3 behind Semenyo with 1 other.

[pillred]

15 minutes ago, Olé said:

Match Report: West Brom away

Match Report: Birmingham away

Match Report: Coventry away

Match Report: Sheff Utd away

Match Report: Hull away

Groundhog day?

[lenred]

I’m going well against the grain here but I enjoyed much of yesterday. Thought we played some good, aggressive football at times but were let down with some poor positioning and even worse refereeing.  We are where we are at the moment squad ability wise and we will continue to get results go against us a fair portion of the time. Just got to try and enjoy the ride for what it is.
One slight gripe though.  Please can we now stop with the attacking the Atyeo second half. It’s doing my nut in! 

[Rob k]

2 hours ago, JonDolman said:

Huddersfield had won 1 in 7 before yesterday, and that was probably only because in that one win WBA had a player sent off in the 6th minute.

So them having a good midfielder is no excuse.

So it shows you exactly where we are - you must be able to see it with your own eyes. You could give us Pep G and we wouldn’t be much better with that squad. 

[Davefevs]

5 hours ago, DaveInSA said:

Very good players. I’d gamble that none of them would make it into a top 6 side in this division.

Very inconsistent players too. For me, they’re not good enough. They don’t have the mental fortitude. They’re not ‘winners’. They expend a lot of energy but deliver little.

My (general) view is that we are left with the players from previous regimes who weren’t good enough to be wanted elsewhere.  It’s obviously not as black and white as that, but our best players (Brownhill, Pack, Reid, Bryan etc) carried the lesser players and were courted by better teams.  When you’re left with lesser players, even those only slightly lesser, you see the weaknesses exposed.  And here is where we are.

We can obviously pick one off examples like O’Dowda is better at LB than Wallace at QPR, but Wallace isn’t first choice, McCallum (injured) is, and so not really comparing apples with apples.

We are good enough to not be embroiled in a relegation battle.  I don’t think we are in one currently either.  We ought to be a little better off than where we are but we are seeing the realities of the squad strength.  Certainly by the end of the window, some questions might be answered if certain players leave.  It’s all speculation, but is Martin playing because Wells is off and we front want an injury to scupper it?

[Loosey Boy]

46 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

My (general) view is that we are left with the players from previous regimes who weren’t good enough to be wanted elsewhere.  It’s obviously not as black and white as that, but our best players (Brownhill, Pack, Reid, Bryan etc) carried the lesser players and were courted by better teams.  When you’re left with lesser players, even those only slightly lesser, you see the weaknesses exposed.  And here is where we are.

We can obviously pick one off examples like O’Dowda is better at LB than Wallace at QPR, but Wallace isn’t first choice, McCallum (injured) is, and so not really comparing apples with apples.

We are good enough to not be embroiled in a relegation battle.  I don’t think we are in one currently either.  We ought to be a little better off than where we are but we are seeing the realities of the squad strength.  Certainly by the end of the window, some questions might be answered if certain players leave.  It’s all speculation, but is Martin playing because Wells is off and we front want an injury to scupper it?

@Davefevs- I think you may be right about Wells……City will be desperate to get rid of the reported £27kpw wages…..could be the same scenario with JD too?

[Andy082005]

5 hours ago, JonDolman said:

They are good players imo. 

I'd even say Semenyo would get in some of those top 6 sides. Maybe not the 3 that expect promotion, but at this rate maybe even one or two of them!

O'Dowda or Lee Wallace at left wing back for QPR? I have always thought fans may be surprised what level of clubs will be in for O'Dowda if he ever becomes available. I guess we might find out soon enough if he doesnt sign a new deal.

And I don't see why Matty James would not get in a couple of those top 6 teams. There isn't a lot in it between him and some of the other midfielders in the top 6 teams imo. He's a very good midfielder at this level.

The likes of Massengo and Scott in better teams would be interesting.

Okay maybe Vyner and Martin would probably not come close.

I'm interested to see where Dasilva goes. I have said Swansea would be the right side for him, and they are only currently a mid table side.

QPR might also be the right team in how Warburton has them playing. It could be we have a top 6 left sided player in Dasilva but we just don't play to his strengths.

Also lets not forget Wells was top championship scorer when we signed him. Lets see what level of clubs come in for him.

This is the problem we have, the standard of football we have Ben subjected to in the last 4 years or so, people genuinely believe some of our players are better then they are 

Semenyo wouldn’t get in any of the top 6 teams in this league. Still far to inconsistent 

O’Dowda - he would move to another Championship side, but he is an average player at best at this level 

James - here’s where I will come across controversial.
 

 I do quite like James but I still don’t believe he is any better then Marlon Pack. We let Pack go a couple of years ago and where as it was the right thing to do as we needed an upgrade if we wanted to push on, I still don’t think we have ever found it 

James is just an average midfielder at this level. 

 

[Davefevs]

23 minutes ago, Andy082005 said:

 

 I do quite like James but I still don’t believe he is any better then Marlon Pack. We let Pack go a couple of years ago and where as it was the right thing to do as we needed an upgrade if we wanted to push on, I still don’t think we have ever found it 

Pack was a very good player…we sold him for the wrong reason…£money.  Johnson saw Nagy as himself, and what you really needed was a position of transition away from Pack to Nagy (succession planning Massengo), but we did a one in, one out…completely bonkers imho.  Pack was being stifled by Johnson’s system, but perversely it was dependent on Pack.

[Waconda]

16 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

I rate O'Dowda more than quite a lot of regular posters on here. I think he's very good at this level. Nyambe is Blackburn's best one on one defender and he could not live with O'Dowda. Lewis Potter who is a very good player who has rumoured prem interest O'Dowda had in his back pocket. Though he did put in a couple of bad crosses in that game, I think when used correctly he plays well most games. I know many disagree but that's how I see it with him.

I didn't rate Pack that highly to be honest. Personally think James is quite a bit better but again I know some will disagree with that. So agree to disagree on those players.

You say about the last 4 years or so, but we have often been very close to the top 6 or in the top 6 in that time.

Agree on COD but Pack better than James - IMO.

[bpexile]

On 19/12/2021 at 06:52, Roger Red Hat said:

Have the bunch near you also got minimal experience?

Have the bunch near you got minimal experience tolerance?

[supercidered]

On 18/12/2021 at 17:15, !james said:

Simpson? 

Simpson eh.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

21 hours ago, ChubStixx said:

The players are better than they're being made out to be. We can definitely get more out of them.

Squad looks devoid of confidence and the right mentality to me.

And this is exactly the problem.  The players look not only devoid of confidence,  but afraid - and that can only be the fault of the manager.  Pearson, I’m afraid, comes across as a bully and there are few people in management in any industry these days who think that that kind of management can work.  We have moved an awfully long way from that style of management., and in that respect Pearson is a dinosaur.

It comes down to the fact that in any walk of life a manager’s job is to plan strategy; to deploy resources as effectively as possibly; to motivate his team to get the absolute best out of the available resources; and to take responsibility if things go wrong.

It strikes me that Pearson is failing on all counts at the moment.

I want to weep when I see how well Steve Cooper is doing at Forest, in the wake of Chris Hughton’s abject failure.  The world has moved on.  Society (and football) realised that you cannot manage by bullying a long time ago.

[AshtonGreat]

On 19/12/2021 at 08:48, DaveInSA said:

Not pompous. I was asking you to support your opinion, with some facts.

What you’ve stated above re ‘losing concentration’ - how do you coach that? That is an individual weakness- which is far too prevalent in the DNA of our players.

Ashton deliberately recruited ‘mentally weak’ players. As a collective their is no coherence and no leadership on the pitch. You can’t coach that - I think it’s telling that our under 23s are showing these seasoned pros the dark art of shithousery.

We’ll not do much business in Jan (I hope we do) there’s no money. We’re spending all our cash on Players to sit on their backsides. So unless KP, JD, Wells and Moore go, we can’t afford it.

we have defenders who can’t defend, a midfield that is non existent and an attack spearheaded by a geriatric. All in all it’s a total mess. 

Eh?

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

Just to go back to DaveinSA’s comments about ‘mental weakness’ and not being able to coach lack of concentration, sorry mate, but that really is nonsense.  Even my boy’s coach teaches them the importance of concentration and helps them work on it.  As to the concept of ‘mental weakness’ that sounds like something that women were accused of during the Victorian age!  All sports now employ psychologists to help deal with this sort of thing, but the main person when it comes to instilling confidence and concentration in a team is THE MANAGER.  

Edited December 20, 2021 by The Dolman Pragmatist

[Major Isewater]

On 18/12/2021 at 22:06, sludge said:

We’re Bristol City, most fans on here were turning their nose up at the suggestion of Steven Gerrard 18 months ago. Laughable 

In fairness, Gerrard may turn out to be a top manager but we needed a steady hand with experience to sort out this mess of a club.

 

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

1 hour ago, Tafkarmlf said:

I never get the whole mentally weak argument either. 

Training, dedication and a really restricted lifestyle, diet when the seasons on would mean you'd have to be resilient and strong willed to maintain those levels or else you'd be found out PDQ. 

Hardly 'Weak' that's bloody hard for anyone who's ever had to do it for any amount of time to a high level, making sacrifices all over the shop to remain at that level. 

So, yeah, agree, dont buy it as an argument at all 

 

 

Aye.  It’s hard to imagine how someone who is ‘mentally weak’, if there is such a thing, could even get there in the first place.  I’m heavily involved in grassroots and semi-pro football, and the tenacity and determination that kids need to even have a chance of making it in the game is astonishing.  Even young kids are doing multiple training sessions every week, and pre-pandemic it was quite common for, say, under-11s at league academies to be flying to European cities for matches!  If you haven’t got the determination, you’ll get found out very quickly.

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

And this is exactly the problem.  The players look not only devoid of confidence,  but afraid - and that can only be the fault of the manager.  Pearson, I’m afraid, comes across as a bully and there are few people in management in any industry these days who think that that kind of management can work.  We have moved an awfully long way from that style of management., and in that respect Pearson is a dinosaur.

It comes down to the fact that in any walk of life a manager’s job is to plan strategy; to deploy resources as effectively as possibly; to motivate his team to get the absolute best out of the available resources; and to take responsibility if things go wrong.

It strikes me that Pearson is failing on all counts at the moment.

I want to weep when I see how well Steve Cooper is doing at Forest, in the wake of Chris Hughton’s abject failure.  The world has moved on.  Society (and football) realised that you cannot manage by bullying a long time ago.

What’s the evidence for bullying?

A few players have come out and specifically said Nige is nothing like the media-interview-Nige we see and hear, that’s he’s quite fun. 

[GrahamC]

On 19/12/2021 at 11:11, The Bard said:

The game I saw yesterday saw us start very aggressively pressing high which resulted in our goal.  Huddersfield clearly well coached looked to play through our press.  As soon as they did it put our defence in the position where they have to decide whether to follow the press up or drop off to deal with the counter attack and that is where we lost the game.

 

On at least 2 occasions (build up to the penalty and the 3rd goal), Atkinson got that decision badly wrong, following a player into midfield who just ran him out of position. Their equaliser also came from such a circumstance with Scott pressing high and Vyner getting sucked into midfield meaning they got an overlap down our right.  Even then Atkinson was completely indecisive edge of our box when a bit of cynicism would've got him a yellow but stopped a goal.

2nd goal was also down to indecision between the RCB and RWB.

Once we brought on Pring for Atkinson I thought we improved markedly, creating enough chances to have got back into the game.  

I'm intrigued as to how Pearson reacts to this.  He's called Atkinson out for his performance but I wonder if we'll go back to a back 4.  If we do, I'd expect to see Tanner and Pring starting but am interested whether Vyner or Atkinson get hooked.  If we stay with a 3, Pring will play left of the 3.

 

 

 

 

If Luton escape COVID & the Boxing Day game goes ahead then we will probably have O’Dowda & King back for selection, giving us a couple more experienced options.

Certainly it will be an interesting selection, he clearly wasn’t impressed by Atkinson so whether he starts the next game or not will be enlightening.

Personally I think we should be playing a back four anyway, Tanner’s absence made that somewhat harder to do but I don’t think we have looked solid enough defensively for much of the season, & see this as the best formation for us to do so. 

King alongside James would also make us harder to play through.
 

[Maltshoveller]

26 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

What’s the evidence for bullying?

A few players have come out and specifically said Nige is nothing like the media-interview-Nige we see and hear, that’s he’s quite fun. 

If it comes out that Nige is a bit of a bully

It will only come from players who dont make it ofr are frozen out 

A bit like with Roy Keane being a bully When he was captain at Man Utd you never heard any of the 1st team say he was a bully

Why? beacuse they are winners who can handle a bollocking when they play bad They see it as a kick up the ass NOT bullying

[Davefevs]

23 minutes ago, Maltshoveller said:

If it comes out that Nige is a bit of a bully

It will only come from players who dont make it ofr are frozen out 

A bit like with Roy Keane being a bully When he was captain at Man Utd you never heard any of the 1st team say he was a bully

Why? beacuse they are winners who can handle a bollocking when they play bad They see it as a kick up the ass NOT bullying

Yep, and pretty much every dressing room I’ve been in has had fall-outs…mainly those out of the side, and especially when results aren’t going well, and even more so when players think they are better than what they are.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

What’s the evidence for bullying?

A few players have come out and specifically said Nige is nothing like the media-interview-Nige we see and hear, that’s he’s quite fun. 

It’s what I’ve heard from one of the players.  Only one, admittedly, but the impression I was given was that he wasn’t alone in feeling like that.

Edited December 20, 2021 by The Dolman Pragmatist

[cidered abroad]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

What’s the evidence for bullying?

A few players have come out and specifically said Nige is nothing like the media-interview-Nige we see and hear, that’s he’s quite fun. 

What is a bully? Many definitions in a dictionary. I cannot believe that Nigel Pearson, a football manager who has the whole spectrum of personnel under his management will be a bully, physically or verbally.

There will certainly be very straight to the point conversations with players. And also plenty of arm round the shoulder. A vindictive manager will not last anywhere very long because even those who are not involved will not appreciate that type of mismanagement.

[GrahamC]

13 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

It’s what I’ve heard from one of the players.  Only one, admittedly, but the impression I was given was that he wasn’t alone in feeling like that.

Bless him.

All employees don’t like their manager shocker..

Bet he’d have loved GJ & Cotts..

[Bristol Oil Services]

4 hours ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Just to go back to DaveinSA’s comments about ‘mental weakness’ and not being able to coach lack of concentration, sorry mate, but that really is nonsense.  Even my boy’s coach teaches them the importance of concentration and helps them work on it.  As to the concept of ‘mental weakness’ that sounds like something that women were accused of during the Victorian age!  All sports now employ psychologists to help deal with this sort of thing, but the main person when it comes to instilling confidence and concentration in a team is THE MANAGER.  

Can you put some flesh on the bone of: "...my boy's coach .... helps them work on it (concentration)", how does the coach do this exactly?

[Roger Red Hat]

I believe I’ve read glowing reports about NP’s man management skills from several Leicester players in the past. There’s a difference between bullying and straight talking.

[Davefevs]

36 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

It’s what I’ve heard from one of the players.  Only one, admittedly, but the impression I was given was that he wasn’t alone in feeling like that.

Ta.  This sums it up for me.

 

[cheese]

On 18/12/2021 at 18:53, paul_fox said:

I think the same. I think people like him because he chucks himself in front of shots but to me he's gets caught out of position so has to do it. Another 1 that I think is part of the problem that people don't agree with is Bentley. 

I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this.

[tin]

On 18/12/2021 at 21:06, sludge said:

We’re Bristol City, most fans on here were turning their nose up at the suggestion of Steven Gerrard 18 months ago. Laughable 

Almost as laughable as the suggestion of Steven Gerrard, who a) didn't want to come here, and b) had a £4.5m release clause in his Rangers contract. 

[maxjak]

5 hours ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Just to go back to DaveinSA’s comments about ‘mental weakness’ and not being able to coach lack of concentration, sorry mate, but that really is nonsense.  Even my boy’s coach teaches them the importance of concentration and helps them work on it.  As to the concept of ‘mental weakness’ that sounds like something that women were accused of during the Victorian age!  All sports now employ psychologists to help deal with this sort of thing, but the main person when it comes to instilling confidence and concentration in a team is THE MANAGER.  

100% correct....there are many and varied exercises one can do to improve concentration and mental discipline.  Sports Psychologists specialise in promoting focus and disciplined thinking, training sports people to immerse themselves in their performance, and making sure they are able to concentrate on the job in hand, and not be distracted by any exterior influences.   When I played amateur football, I was going through some financial and emotional problems, and the psychologist took me through some exercises, which made me block out any distractions and concentrate fully on the here and now.....it definitely works.   IMHO

[Bazooka Joe]

3 hours ago, Maltshoveller said:

If it comes out that Nige is a bit of a bully

It will only come from players who dont make it ofr are frozen out 

A bit like with Roy Keane being a bully When he was captain at Man Utd you never heard any of the 1st team say he was a bully

Why? beacuse they are winners who can handle a bollocking when they play bad They see it as a kick up the ass NOT bullying

Pearson: "I've told you before, training starts at 10.30. This is the third time you've been late for training. Listen carefully to what I say. Don't be late again or there will be consequences"

Player (who has a grudge) " You're upsetting me. I was only an hour late this time. Why I am never in the starting XI ?  I'm going to contact my agent and the PFA about your bullying"

[Waconda]

5 minutes ago, Bazooka Joe said:

Pearson: "I've told you before, training starts at 10.30. This is the third time you've been late for training. Listen carefully to what I say. Don't be late again or there will be consequences"

Player (who has a grudge) " You're upsetting me. I was only an hour late this time. Why I am never in the starting XI ?  I'm going to contact my agent and the PFA about your bullying"

Or ...............

[Bazooka Joe]

50 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Or ...............

Bradley, a former City right back.

Two R's as in oo-arr.

[Waconda]

34 minutes ago, Bazooka Joe said:

Bradley, a former City right back.

Two R's as in oo-arr.

A different scenario to the one you suggest.