Looking at Watford what a cracking job Nigel Pearson has done there

Whilst I accept I could be wrong here, but I thought Pearson and our Chairman did not get on for some reason, or have I dreamt that up?

Anyway, personally speaking, I worry about his temper and man management skills. He was a great leader on the pitch mind, and has like most managers had mixed achievements. I am still in the no camp and prefer others before him. His sacking from Watford seems very bizarre, but something has clearly happened behind the scenes. Watford are a strange club.

Neil Warnock remains my man to lead us up the table and get us on the right path. If he won’t or can’t stay, then please try to get Cook from Wigan, he has done ever so well with Wigan.
 
I am not a big fan of Warnock as you know Coluka but I do agree Id rather retain Warnock than gamble on Pearson and his temperament which could go either way. And yes I don’t think you are imagining something between Gibbo and NP.
 
Ilsan_Boro said:
Leicester were fined for breaching FFP rules the season Pearson took them up to the premier league. They eventually came to an agreement with the EFL over the amount the fine would be. In other words, they didn't dispute that they'd broken the rules.

So it's no myth at all that they spent heavily that season in their quest to go up. To be fair to them and Pearson, they're not the only club who has done this. Many if not most teams who've comfortably gone up in the automatic promotion places have bent the FFP rules and have obviously thought the fine would be worth the extra income they'd get in the premier league.

Pearson still deserves credit for taking them up even though he was well supported financially. Plenty of other managers have also been backed by their owners but have failed to deliver. He was also quite well supported in his first stint at Leicester by Milan Mandaric when he took them back up the championship. Again, it's fair to say that plenty of other managers have been given a good chance to take a bigger club out of the 3rd tier and failed.

However, Nigel Pearson is nearly 57 years old - he is not a young manager. Fair enough, 2 promotions with Leicester and he kept them in the premier League for one season. But where are all the other concrete achievements for this supposed managerial genius? Take out his Leicester stints, and his admirers are scraping the barrel for tenuous links to what are other people's successes.

Sure, many Leicester fans remember him fondly. But Hull fans don't, Derby fans don't and it seems from what zoophonic mentioned above a fair few Watford fans aren't too keen either.

When you're appointing a manager you can do your due diligence and look through all their past record or you can make your mind up beforehand and just look for cherry picked evidence supporting what you'd decided already. A few people would seemingly do the latter and appoint Pearson.

Personally, I think he has his virtues but as a longer term option there seems to be a lot on his record suggesting that sooner rather than later he'll be falling out with someone, throwing his toys out the pram or otherwise engineering his departure.
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"So it's no myth at all that they spent heavily that season in their quest to go up.."
Nigel didnt spend big at Leicester.
The spine of his team was composed of free agents, players coming to the end of their careers - but still able to do a job, fringe players and the likes of Jamie Vardy [1M from Fleetwood].
His skill is building good teams on limited resources.
The subjective assertions are contradicted by by reports coming out of Vicarage Road this morning - reported on 5live / talksport / various media platforms.
Whether supporters like or dislike a Manager isnt relevant .
I would take him at Boro if he decides he wants to go for the job - assuming Warnock isnt offered the post.
We look forward.

UTMB(y)
 
r00fie1 said:
"So it's no myth at all that they spent heavily that season in their quest to go up.."
Nigel didnt spend big at Leicester.
The spine of his team was composed of free agents, players coming to the end of their careers - but still able to do a job, fringe players and the likes of Jamie Vardy [1M from Fleetwood].
His skill is building good teams on limited resources.
The subjective assertions are contradicted by by reports coming out of Vicarage Road this morning - reported on 5live / talksport / various media platforms.
Whether supporters like or dislike a Manager isnt relevant .
I would take him at Boro if he decides he wants to go for the job - assuming Warnock isnt offered the post.
We look forward.

UTMB(y)
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So how come Leicester broke the FFP rules that season?
 
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Derby have broken FFP rules big time in the hope of securing premier League status. I now would like to think the EFL will do the right thing snd discourage this behaviour in future by punishing them appropriately- because thats what FFP is there to prevent. Overspending.
 
Ilsan_Boro said:
So how come Leicester broke the FFP rules that season?

Did they buy too many sandwiches?
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Look at the details - go online - the new owner invested 100M - much to wipe out their exisitng debts - which werent caused by nigel Pearsons spending.
The club had acrued debts over a number of seasons - Sven cost a fortune as did players on lucrative contracts.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/21/leicester-settlement-football-league-ffp

By the way.
Welcome to the board, but check your facts and keep the sarcasm to yourself.

Thanks.
 
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Zoophonic said:
Derby have broken FFP rules big time in the hope of securing premier League status. I now would like to think the EFL will do the right thing snd discourage this behaviour in future by punishing them appropriately- because thats what FFP is there to prevent. Overspending.
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Yes, lots of clubs have pretty much ridden roughshod over the FFP rules. Unfortunately, the structure of our leagues makes it easier to get away with. Many obviously think that once they're up in the premier league their excess earnings will dwarf any potential fine. And once they're up, a fine is all the EFL can do. They have no jurisdiction to deduct points in the premier league.

Leicester ended up agreeing a 3.1 million fine for their FFP breach. Ridiculous given what they gained from breaking the rules.
 
"I used to work in the Derby area and what I heard from a couple of mates I'm still in touch with, who know people working at the club then, was that Pearson was widely regarded as a bit of an unhinged nutter who would completely lose it whenever he didn't get his way"

The problem was there was only room for one of them at Derby, and the chairman wasn't budging.
 
r00fie1 said:
Look at the details - go online - the new owner invested 100M - much to wipe out their exisitng debts - which werent caused by nigel Pearsons spending.
The club had acrued debts over a number of seasons - Sven cost a fortune as did players on lucrative contracts.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/21/leicester-settlement-football-league-ffp

By the way.
Welcome to the board, but check your facts and keep the sarcasm to yourself.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, although I'd actually seen that article before. (Apologies too for the tone - there was another post replying to me which perhaps merited that but, looking back, it wasn't yours.)


Obviously, Leicester argued, like many other clubs have, that there were good reasons for their breach of the FFP rules. Show me a club who admitted they deliberately overspent to go up.

I take your point about the relatively low transfer fees spent but these days transfer fees is a much lesser part of the overall spending picture than used to be the case. Also, the amount clubs spend on transfer fees and how much they recoup when selling isn't really a manager's business any more.

My point was that Pearson was well backed by the owners that season. That can happen without spending loads on transfer fees. Perhaps I'm wrong and he was operating on a shoestring with players paid peanuts on pay as you play deals or similar. I've never seen anything to suggest that though. And anyway, I'm not really saying he shouldn't be given credit for taking Leicester up. I'm just wondering why the rest of his CV is so patchy.

I've never disputed that he seems to have a number of positive qualities as a manager. But to me there seems to be a lot of baggage there too.

Why is Leicester the only English club he has spent much more than a season at? Is that not a bit suspicious for a manager who's 57 next month?
 
With Nigel Pearson what you see is what you get.
He is one of the school where owners keep out the dressing room and selecting teams is the Managers job [see Clough and Sam longson at Derby]: where he rules who does what and if the players or anyone else doesnt like it, then cheerio.
He isnt a media man and I prefer some one who represents the team and the area, not a marketing or media man.
Instead of media speak I`de sooner be told frankly to **** off. At least people know where they stand.

Incidentally - managers who came back to the same clubs: Billy Davis is a good example at Forest: he had two spells as manager and one as caretaker. He did similar at Derby! Gary Brazil was a player who twice managed trees.

No fan of trees - they have had 21 Managers in 20 years - what a shambles.
 
Parts of that last description of Pearson could equally be applied to another former manager of ours WGS. Not a marketing or media man, tells it how it is etc etc.
These guys may sound first class material but on the other hand they can fall out with players and their bosses and thats not good for the Club at all.
 
Pearson punched Adam Masina at half time on
Friday which is why he was sacked, Shakespeare was asked to take over but turned down the opportunity due to his loyalty to Pearson.

Pearson wasn’t prone to flashes of anger as a player but obviously the pressures of management are different and it’s not the first time his temperament has led him into trouble.
 
If Pearson & Shakespeare were interested in taking over, they would, again, be my #1 choice.. outstanding candidates, know the league, play very decent footy, have won the league previously & get the best out of a young players..

Thanks Neil, but this is a little longer term project.. NP & CS are the duo we need.. imho..
 
BobUpnDown said:
If Pearson & Shakespeare were interested in taking over, they would, again, be my #1 choice.. outstanding candidates, know the league, play very decent footy, have won the league previously & get the best out of a young players..

Thanks Neil, but this is a little longer term project.. NP & CS are the duo we need.. imho..
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That sums up my worry re: Warnock: However you wrap it up, he is only going to be around for a season or 2 at a stretch. Pearson/Shakespeare would definitely be a tasty longer term project.
 
Frozen Horse said:
"I used to work in the Derby area and what I heard from a couple of mates I'm still in touch with, who know people working at the club then, was that Pearson was widely regarded as a bit of an unhinged nutter who would completely lose it whenever he didn't get his way"

The problem was there was only room for one of them at Derby, and the chairman wasn't budging.
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Last time we had a unhinged nutter in charge who would lose it every time he didn't get his way we got promoted.
 
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