Who next after Brendan?

[Fox92]

1 hour ago, Phenom said:

I mean, I don’t know if I want him but all those seem like decent signings besides Rodrigo and potentially James, although he’s been better than I though. You also forgot Raphinha.

I was just including the highest fees.

 

I missed the likes of Barry Douglas and loads more.

[Fox92]

1 hour ago, Mr Weller said:

No agenda and this is about interpretations not facts.

 

Plenty of managers have built a decent team on a limited budget and got us promoted to the top division but in the post war period only Gilles and O Neil then went on to sustain it.

 

Thai money really changed the club, nothing else.

Sorry but Pearson changed the club and he did it twice.

 

If they didn't go behind his back during the 2010 play off campaign then he would have got us promoted much earlier.

 

The position the club is in now, on and off field, was built on the back of Pearson's second time here, even the likes of Kasper and Morgan have said it.

 

If throwing money at a club worked then we'd have gone up under Sousa.

Edited 27 February 2022 by Fox92

[Bourbon Fox]

20 hours ago, Unabomber said:

No Leicester fan would say Pearson is a twat. 

That's exactly what I said when he almost ran me over in the car park at Gloucester Services

[Chrysalis]

I dont see Sven as a failure or at least not a complete failure.

 

We were heading for league one when he took over, for a big part of the season we had top 2 form, and if it wasnt for the first 10 games that first season could have been promotion.

 

Of course Pearson moved us forwards when he came back so was still the right move to bring him in.

[Raw Dykes]

18 hours ago, Mr Weller said:

He didn’t get it right at Leicester for sure but O Neil, Little, Milne, Wallace and Gillies all got us promoted and apart from Little they did much better than Pearson in their first season.

 

Sven tried to buy his way out and it didn’t quite work. Pearson did which was great, but at the higher level he was found out tactically. 
 

In the end Thai money bought the infrastructure, good administration helped immensely and some great recruitment after Pearson left set us up for a magic season.

Other posters have said all I wanted to say, really. This is bewildering rewriting of history.

 

Did Pearson buy his way out of the Championship? I don't think he spent much more than £1m on any single player. Vardy £1m, Morgan £1m, Mahrez £450k, Drinkwater £700k, etc. We spent £5m on Mills and £3m on Beckford under Sven. Promotion was down to good management far more than it was money. The Sven era illustrates this perfectly by contrast. In Pearson's first spell, we won League 1 at a canter, and reached the Championship play-offs in the first season back up after we had been struggling at the wrong end of that table for years before finally going down to the third tier. That was all before a penny of Thai money had been spent. Doesn't that suggest he should be given more credit than you are giving him?

 

You seem to be using his season in the PL as a stick to beat him with, which is weird. Newly promoted clubs are always favourites to be relegated, and yet we finished 14th. It was a success, not a failure.

 

What infrastructure and good admin are you talking about?

 

The great recruitment you mention was down to Pearson. Ranieri had to be pestered every day by Pearson's staff about signing Kante as he wasn't keen.

[Raw Dykes]

29 minutes ago, Chrysalis said:

I dont see Sven as a failure or at least not a complete failure.

 

We were heading for league one when he took over, for a big part of the season we had top 2 form, and if it wasnt for the first 10 games that first season could have been promotion.

 

Of course Pearson moved us forwards when he came back so was still the right move to bring him in.

Should have easily reached the play-offs with that squad, at least. Poor start to the next season, as well. A disaster considering the money spent.

[Jimmy]

23 hours ago, Unabomber said:

Personally I would say he is our best and I’m not a massive Pearson fan. My point was no fan would call him a twat though. 

then I suggest you actually read what I posted as I didn't suggest they would ...

[Mr Weller]

10 hours ago, Raw Dykes said:

Other posters have said all I wanted to say, really. This is bewildering rewriting of history.

 

Did Pearson buy his way out of the Championship? I don't think he spent much more than £1m on any single player. Vardy £1m, Morgan £1m, Mahrez £450k, Drinkwater £700k, etc. We spent £5m on Mills and £3m on Beckford under Sven. Promotion was down to good management far more than it was money. The Sven era illustrates this perfectly by contrast. In Pearson's first spell, we won League 1 at a canter, and reached the Championship play-offs in the first season back up after we had been struggling at the wrong end of that table for years before finally going down to the third tier. That was all before a penny of Thai money had been spent. Doesn't that suggest he should be given more credit than you are giving him?

 

You seem to be using his season in the PL as a stick to beat him with, which is weird. Newly promoted clubs are always favourites to be relegated, and yet we finished 14th. It was a success, not a failure.

 

What infrastructure and good admin are you talking about?

 

The great recruitment you mention was down to Pearson. Ranieri had to be pestered every day by Pearson's staff about signing Kante as he wasn't keen.

The worship Pearson brigade rewrite history on Putin like levels!

 

The infrastructure I am talking about is making us debt free, owning our own stadium, investing huge sums in back room staff and ensuring we could pay premier league wages for players in the championship. But apart from that…yes what have the Romans, err I mean Thai’s, done for us.

 

So a poor first season in the premier, remembered for a miraculous last few games should somehow be explained away with an ‘it was to be expected anyway’ line. By whom? Certainly not the thousands who watched us storm the championship the season before. Pearson’s tactical naivety was sending us down like a lead weight before stumbling by accident on a style he had stubbornly resisted all season until it was forced on him chance.

 

Unless, of course, you maintain he planned all along to have a record losing streak for three quarters of the season followed by a miraculous last quarter?

 

To ignore or downplay the instrumental role the Thai owners have played in our rise to prominence is not only pure fantasy it’s rather ungrateful, if not downright disrespectful.

[Dan LCFC]

Sven was a failure. He got us all excited in his first season with the calibre of players that came in, I was gobsmacked when we actually pulled off Yakubu. We were a shadow of the side in the early 2011/12 days though, loads of money spent, far less exciting players, no real positive about the team. Schmeichel is his only real legacy of which I will give him credit.

 

Pearson was transformative no matter what anyone says. You can make every argument you want about King Power, which most of them are correct, but Pearson and his team brought us three world class players from nowhere of which the performances / money received for them have propelled us beyond where any of us could've imagined. Just imagine the hundreds of millions clubs like Villa, Everton, West Ham etc... have spent trying and failing to buy a Vardy. Pearson created a brilliant culture here and it's why I think for any tactical limitations he has (and I do think he has them) he will lay great foundations at a club if given time to implement what he wants. His judge of character was his biggest strength and look what a lot of those he brought in went onto actually achieve even if it wasn't under him.

 

King Power made some great moves, and it probably shouldn't be overlooked that Vichai helped to a degree to get Vardy back on track (did he not?) but Pearson's set up yielded us genuine legends and some of the greatest we'll ever have.

[The Year Of The Fox]

5 hours ago, Mr Weller said:

The worship Pearson brigade rewrite history on Putin like levels!

 

The infrastructure I am talking about is making us debt free, owning our own stadium, investing huge sums in back room staff and ensuring we could pay premier league wages for players in the championship. But apart from that…yes what have the Romans, err I mean Thai’s, done for us.

 

So a poor first season in the premier, remembered for a miraculous last few games should somehow be explained away with an ‘it was to be expected anyway’ line. By whom? Certainly not the thousands who watched us storm the championship the season before. Pearson’s tactical naivety was sending us down like a lead weight before stumbling by accident on a style he had stubbornly resisted all season until it was forced on him chance.

 

Unless, of course, you maintain

he planned all along to have a record losing streak for three quarters of the season followed by a miraculous last quarter?

 

To ignore or downplay the instrumental role the Thai owners have played in our rise to prominence is not only pure fantasy it’s rather ungrateful, if not downright disrespectful.

Well it’s currently looking like we could finish lower than 14th under Rodgers this season. 
 

How would you define that? 
 

For what it’s worth, regarding the ‘poor season’ you refer to- I’d give anything right now to have the 14/15 fight, spirit, and unity and dare I say leadership this season. 
 

 

[The Year Of The Fox]

3 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

Sven was a failure. He got us all excited in his first season with the calibre of players that came in, I was gobsmacked when we actually pulled off Yakubu. We were a shadow of the side in the early 2011/12 days though, loads of money spent, far less exciting players, no real positive about the team. Schmeichel is his only real legacy of which I will give him credit.

 

Pearson was transformative no matter what anyone says. You can make every argument you want about King Power, which most of them are correct, but Pearson and his team brought us three world class players from nowhere of which the performances / money received for them have propelled us beyond where any of us could've imagined. Just imagine the hundreds of millions clubs like Villa, Everton, West Ham etc... have spent trying and failing to buy a Vardy. Pearson created a brilliant culture here and it's why I think for any tactical limitations he has (and I do think he has them) he will lay great foundations at a club if given time to implement what he wants. His judge of character was his biggest strength and look what a lot of those he brought in went onto actually achieve even if it wasn't under him.

 

King Power made some great moves, and it probably shouldn't be overlooked that Vichai helped to a degree to get Vardy back on track (did he not?) but Pearson's set up yielded us genuine legends and some of the greatest we'll ever have.

I’d give Sven Nugent too in terms of important signings 

[gerblod]

5 hours ago, Mr Weller said:

The worship Pearson brigade rewrite history on Putin like levels!

 

The infrastructure I am talking about is making us debt free, owning our own stadium, investing huge sums in back room staff and ensuring we could pay premier league wages for players in the championship. But apart from that…yes what have the Romans, err I mean Thai’s, done for us.

 

So a poor first season in the premier, remembered for a miraculous last few games should somehow be explained away with an ‘it was to be expected anyway’ line. By whom? Certainly not the thousands who watched us storm the championship the season before. Pearson’s tactical naivety was sending us down like a lead weight before stumbling by accident on a style he had stubbornly resisted all season until it was forced on him chance.

 

Unless, of course, you maintain he planned all along to have a record losing streak for three quarters of the season followed by a miraculous last quarter?

 

To ignore or downplay the instrumental role the Thai owners have played in our rise to prominence is not only pure fantasy it’s rather ungrateful, if not downright disrespectful.

You appear to be fighting an imaginary foe here.

No one with any knowledge of City's recent history could have any criticism of the Srivaddhanaprabhas - what errors they could have conceivably be criticised for were down to the difficult learning curve encountered by all fresh owners of football clubs operating in the English leagues.

But you give Pearson little gratitude or respect for his challenge of transitioning City from a third tier side to the Premier. The squad was constantly in transition - winning League 1 and the Championship in quick succession could be viewed as highly destabilising, with players asked to adapt (or leave) to very different circumstances.

It could be said that all three title-winning seasons were unusual, while the near relegation season was far more 'expectable'. Many managers fail to find a relegation avoiding formula - three every season. That Pearson did 'stumble' across the means to avoid the drop is reason for giving him kudos - not brickbats.

Rodgers' is the first stable managership since Pearson, although Puel didn't commit any major blunder. To make light of Pearson's achievement could be seen as rather mean-spirited.

And that "poor first season" will be remembered also for the thrashing of Manchester United - which immeasurably warmed the hearts of most of us supporters.

[Daggers]

On 27/02/2022 at 17:47, Unabomber said:

Exactly that’s why every Leicester fan between the age of 23 and 43 ****ing loves him. When I see any anti Nige slander I assume they’re a grandad or TPH.

I assume they were either busy sucking on their mother’s nipple, knocking out seven loads per episode of Countdown, or involved in a serious accident that permanently damaged their brain while Peason was here. Note, age and gender irrelevant - but they are all male.

[Sampson]

I tried googling TPH and got toilet paper holder, texts per hour, total petroleum hydrocarbons, tiny pink hole and trailer park ho. But still none the wiser on what it means to be either a granddad or TPH.

Edited 1 March 2022 by Sampson

[Kinowe Soorie]

23 minutes ago, Sampson said:

I tried googling TPH and got toilet paper holder, texts per hour, total petroleum hydrocarbons, tiny pink hole and trailer park ho. But still none the wiser on what it means to be either a granddad or TPH.

Toe Poke Hero?

[Fox92]

10 hours ago, Mr Weller said:

The worship Pearson brigade rewrite history on Putin like levels!

 

The infrastructure I am talking about is making us debt free, owning our own stadium, investing huge sums in back room staff and ensuring we could pay premier league wages for players in the championship. But apart from that…yes what have the Romans, err I mean Thai’s, done for us.

 

So a poor first season in the premier, remembered for a miraculous last few games should somehow be explained away with an ‘it was to be expected anyway’ line. By whom? Certainly not the thousands who watched us storm the championship the season before. Pearson’s tactical naivety was sending us down like a lead weight before stumbling by accident on a style he had stubbornly resisted all season until it was forced on him chance.

 

Unless, of course, you maintain he planned all along to have a record losing streak for three quarters of the season followed by a miraculous last quarter?

 

To ignore or downplay the instrumental role the Thai owners have played in our rise to prominence is not only pure fantasy it’s rather ungrateful, if not downright disrespectful.

"Downright disrespectful"  

You try and dismiss one of our greatest managers time and time again. Proper weird.

 

Without Pearson we wouldn't even be in the Premier League.

 

Almost all owners buy a club and make it debt free, it's not just something our owners have done.

Ensuring we could pay PL money in the Championship nearly then cost Pearson with FFP and we ended up paying a stupid bill because of it. He did well to ship out these PL wages, which probably included the likes of Beckford and Mills.

 

I'm glad you remember Pearson as "tactical naivety" because nearly all the seasons he was here was so good to watch. We were good and the team was together. I feel sorry for you that you can't enjoy this and instead have to re write it all for your own sake. 

Pearson was naive that season, he has even admitted that, it was his first season in the Premier League and it offers so much difference to being in the football league.

Edited 1 March 2022 by Fox92

[Footballwipe]

On 27/02/2022 at 17:47, Unabomber said:

Exactly that’s why every Leicester fan between the age of 23 and 43 ****ing loves him. When I see any anti Nige slander I assume they’re a grandad or TPH.

 

Agree. Don't get why some oldies have such a dislike of Pearson. Was it because he had a go at the West Stand and insulted their old mates when he told them to FOAD? Was it because they're intensely jealous that his achievements are being lauded more than the heyday they remember of Bloomfield/Gillies etc?

 

Whatever the case lobbing in "PUTIN REWRITE" is so typical of what we come to expect from them. Failure to acknowledge that on two (not one, two) separate occasions this man managed to transform the club.

 

There's no point getting into the "would he have won the title" because it's hypothetical. What we do know is that from 2008-2010 Pearson pulled us up from our lowest ebb to a very fun 2008/09 blitz of League One, and then an intense 2009/10 which led to a heartbreaking penalty defeat. In doing this he spent very little money. Once again, it had pretty much all gone after Mandaric went wappy in 07/08.

 

He then comes back and steadies the ship in 11/12 after Sven and the owners gamble on going big was clearly backfiring. He weeds out the ego and overpaid crap and starts to mould his own team thanks to his own backroom staff and stability. A playoff campaign in 12/13 ends in the worst way possible, and despite hysteria from all of us about 13/14 we stroll it. He, once again, gave us a fun season to enjoy. Brilliant away trips, memorable moments. Don't forget we only paid a transfer fee for two players in 13/14, all of our foundation work had been done in the remainder of 11/12 and 12/13 to get us to this point.

 

As difficult as 2014/15 was at times, the point has been made here before, but weren't you mostly insanely proud of the team? The opening day comeback against Everton, Man Utd, the win away at Stoke. I nearly lost all faith in the Villa cup defeat, it felt very bleak around then but from that close 4-3 loss to Spurs at the end of March to West Ham and onwards I was so insanely proud. He created a tight-knit unit you felt was your team. Even that season, which seemed so lost, gave us incredible memories and made us so effin proud to be a Leicester fan.

 

Our owners did overcome a steep learning curve, and Pearson was the reason for that. He came back, embedded a structure in the club from top to bottom and we are here because of him. Arguably, in a vaguely similar way to how the stability of Brian Little after a turbulent few seasons enabled us to ultimately get MON and enjoy an amazing end to the 1990's. His legacy in this era of the club will be up there as the most important. I simply do not understand where the irrational hatred of him comes from.

 

To disrespect Pearson is to highlight your severe lack of understanding of football, this club's recent history, and genuinely makes me question why you even support the club.

 

Anyway, who next after Brendan?

Edited 1 March 2022 by Footballwipe

[RowlattsFox]

I reckon we'd have a Claudio homecoming, even if temporary, if Rodgers was to be sacked.

[sacreblueits442]

8 hours ago, Mr Weller said:

The worship Pearson brigade rewrite history on Putin like levels!

 

The infrastructure I am talking about is making us debt free, owning our own stadium, investing huge sums in back room staff and ensuring we could pay premier league wages for players in the championship. But apart from that…yes what have the Romans, err I mean Thai’s, done for us.

 

So a poor first season in the premier, remembered for a miraculous last few games should somehow be explained away with an ‘it was to be expected anyway’ line. By whom? Certainly not the thousands who watched us storm the championship the season before. Pearson’s tactical naivety was sending us down like a lead weight before stumbling by accident on a style he had stubbornly resisted all season until it was forced on him chance.

 

Unless, of course, you maintain he planned all along to have a record losing streak for three quarters of the season followed by a miraculous last quarter?

 

To ignore or downplay the instrumental role the Thai owners have played in our rise to prominence is not only pure fantasy it’s rather ungrateful, if not downright disrespectful.

...it is hard to understand two people arguing about a topic which are both right, but are totally opposed to each others views!!!

 Pearson very much admitted he got it wrong with the way he went about playing that season. He did eventually let them off their leash, and as you know the rest is history. 

  @Raw Dykeswas not denigrating the input of our owners, just looking for specifics as the term, infrastructure and administration appeared quite a broad area.

 There are for me little to differentiate between you both, in what you have said, it is just the way you are saying it that appears to be rubbing each other up the wrong way.

[filbertway]

3 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

I reckon we'd have a Claudio homecoming, even if temporary, if Rodgers was to be sacked.

That's one way to send us down

 

[Raw Dykes]

9 hours ago, Mr Weller said:

The worship Pearson brigade rewrite history on Putin like levels!

 

The infrastructure I am talking about is making us debt free, owning our own stadium, investing huge sums in back room staff and ensuring we could pay premier league wages for players in the championship. But apart from that…yes what have the Romans, err I mean Thai’s, done for us.

 

So a poor first season in the premier, remembered for a miraculous last few games should somehow be explained away with an ‘it was to be expected anyway’ line. By whom? Certainly not the thousands who watched us storm the championship the season before. Pearson’s tactical naivety was sending us down like a lead weight before stumbling by accident on a style he had stubbornly resisted all season until it was forced on him chance.

 

Unless, of course, you maintain he planned all along to have a record losing streak for three quarters of the season followed by a miraculous last quarter?

 

To ignore or downplay the instrumental role the Thai owners have played in our rise to prominence is not only pure fantasy it’s rather ungrateful, if not downright disrespectful.

Apologies in advance for waffling on...

 

I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not saying the owners haven't done anything for the club. Far from it. I think we have the best owners any football club could ever wish for. I couldn't be any more grateful for what they've done for us. However, we were talking specifically about who deserves credit for promotion to the PL. You want to give them all the credit, and Pearson none, whereas I think Pearson clearly deserves the lion's share.

 

You said it was all down to Thai money, but if it was the case that money is the sole reason a club gets promoted, then surely we would have gone up when they spent big in their first season at the club with Sven in charge. Why is it that only after re-appointing Pearson, and considerably reining in the spending, did we achieve our goal? If money's the only factor, why is any league table not just a table of the richest clubs in order? How do you explain us winning the PL title with a team that cost a tenth of Man City's?

 

Please bear with me on this, but it's extremely likely that the owners actually delayed our promotion to the PL. They made the mistake of getting rid of the manager responsible for an astronomical climb up the tables. I know this will sound disrespectful to the owners to you, but I do not blame them for it - I'm sure I would have done the same if I was in their shoes at the time - new to the game, lots of money to spend on my new plaything, wanting to put my stamp on the club, etc. What you seem to be failing to acknowledge is that Pearson joined us at the nadir of our entire history and oversaw a root and branch rebuild of the club. The league tables clearly show its success. At the first time of asking, we'd blitzed our one and only season in the third tier, and reached the Championship play-offs straight after. This was all done on a shoestring budget. Compare that to the Sousa/Sven debacle - millions pissed down the drain all for a measly 10th place finish. This is why I'm not having it that money is the sole reason we were promoted. It's as clear as day. We were heading for promotion before a penny of the owners' money was spent, and after they'd blown an absolute fortune in Championship terms, we ended up mid-table. The owners deserve huge credit for re-hiring Pearson and backing him, but I think Pearson himself is a much bigger factor re: promotion than money was.

 

Making us debt free is fantastic, but I'm not sure how much it helped directly re: promotion. I believe King Power, and not the club, own the stadium - it makes little difference to us if so. Also, not much to do with promotion, anyway. The back room staff were people that NP brought in, and many, if not most, were appointed during Pearson's first spell - two years prior to the current owners buying the club.. I'd argue the person responsible for spotting talent probably deserves more credit than the person paying for it. You can easily spend big money on useless staff, after all.

 

Was NP's season in the PL poor, though? You're speaking as though the winning streak at the end can just be dismissed as if it didn't happen. It can't. Would you have regarded it a good season if those wins had been spread more evenly over the season, despite it making absolutely zero difference to the end result of a 14th place finish? (Actually, it probably would have made a difference - it would have meant we didn't finish on great form that we carried into the next season to win the PL title with)

 

I think relegation has to be a realistic expectation for any newly-promoted PL club, no matter how good you look in the Championship, such is the financial divide between the divisions. It's a gap that's constantly growing, as well. I was hopeful that we'd stay up, but I never expected it. You say NP escaped relegation by "stumbling by accident on a style he had stubbornly resisted all season until it was forced on him chance." I'm sorry, but this just reads as desperation to avoid giving credit where it is due. With time running out, he tried something different, and it paid off. He didn't have to do that. Other managers might not have, or they might have tried something else that wasn't so successful. NP's no master tactician, but he made the right change at that time. Pearson's remit for that season would have been to attempt to avoid relegation, and 14th place was an overachievement. That's all that matters. If you want to twist it to make it look like a failure, that's your prerogative.

 

Pearson rebuilt the club not once, but twice, took us from our lowest ebb, in the third tier, to safe in the PL, and assembled the players and backroom staff that won the Premier League. If you don't believe me about how much credit he's due, just ask Kasper, Mahrez, Huth, etc. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/nigel-pearson-bristol-city-leicester-5442793

 

To ignore or downplay the instrumental role Nigel Pearson has played in our rise to prominence is not only pure fantasy it’s rather ungrateful, if not downright disrespectful.

[foxfanazer]

2 minutes ago, Raw Dykes said:

Apologies in advance for waffling on...

 

I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not saying the owners haven't done anything for the club. Far from it. I think we have the best owners any football club could ever wish for. I couldn't be any more grateful for what they've done for us. However, we were talking specifically about who deserves credit for promotion to the PL. You want to give them all the credit, and Pearson none, whereas I think Pearson clearly deserves the lion's share.

 

You said it was all down to Thai money, but if it was the case that money is the sole reason a club gets promoted, then surely we would have gone up when they spent big in their first season at the club with Sven in charge. Why is it that only after re-appointing Pearson, and considerably reining in the spending, did we achieve our goal? If money's the only factor, why is any league table not just a table of the richest clubs in order? How do you explain us winning the PL title with a team that cost a tenth of Man City's?

 

Please bear with me on this, but it's extremely likely that the owners actually delayed our promotion to the PL. They made the mistake of getting rid of the manager responsible for an astronomical climb up the tables. I know this will sound disrespectful to the owners to you, but I do not blame them for it - I'm sure I would have done the same if I was in their shoes at the time - new to the game, lots of money to spend on my new plaything, wanting to put my stamp on the club, etc. What you seem to be failing to acknowledge is that Pearson joined us at the nadir of our entire history and oversaw a root and branch rebuild of the club. The league tables clearly show its success. At the first time of asking, we'd blitzed our one and only season in the third tier, and reached the Championship play-offs straight after. This was all done on a shoestring budget. Compare that to the Sousa/Sven debacle - millions pissed down the drain all for a measly 10th place finish. This is why I'm not having it that money is the sole reason we were promoted. It's as clear as day. We were heading for promotion before a penny of the owners' money was spent, and after they'd blown an absolute fortune in Championship terms, we ended up mid-table. The owners deserve huge credit for re-hiring Pearson and backing him, but I think Pearson himself is a much bigger factor re: promotion than money was.

 

Making us debt free is fantastic, but I'm not sure how much it helped directly re: promotion. I believe King Power, and not the club, own the stadium - it makes little difference to us if so. Also, not much to do with promotion, anyway. The back room staff were people that NP brought in, and many, if not most, were appointed during Pearson's first spell - two years prior to the current owners buying the club.. I'd argue the person responsible for spotting talent probably deserves more credit than the person paying for it. You can easily spend big money on useless staff, after all.

 

Was NP's season in the PL poor, though? You're speaking as though the winning streak at the end can just be dismissed as if it didn't happen. It can't. Would you have regarded it a good season if those wins had been spread more evenly over the season, despite it making absolutely zero difference to the end result of a 14th place finish? (Actually, it probably would have made a difference - it would have meant we didn't finish on great form that we carried into the next season to win the PL title with)

 

I think relegation has to be a realistic expectation for any newly-promoted PL club, no matter how good you look in the Championship, such is the financial divide between the divisions. It's a gap that's constantly growing, as well. I was hopeful that we'd stay up, but I never expected it. You say NP escaped relegation by "stumbling by accident on a style he had stubbornly resisted all season until it was forced on him chance." I'm sorry, but this just reads as desperation to avoid giving credit where it is due. With time running out, he tried something different, and it paid off. He didn't have to do that. Other managers might not have, or they might have tried something else that wasn't so successful. NP's no master tactician, but he made the right change at that time. Pearson's remit for that season would have been to attempt to avoid relegation, and 14th place was an overachievement. That's all that matters. If you want to twist it to make it look like a failure, that's your prerogative.

 

Pearson rebuilt the club not once, but twice, took us from our lowest ebb, in the third tier, to safe in the PL, and assembled the players and backroom staff that won the Premier League. If you don't believe me about how much credit he's due, just ask Kasper, Mahrez, Huth, etc. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/nigel-pearson-bristol-city-leicester-5442793

 

To ignore or downplay the instrumental role Nigel Pearson has played in our rise to prominence is not only pure fantasy it’s rather ungrateful, if not downright disrespectful.

 

 

[Ely fox]

Mark Bonner 

[foxfanazer]

7 minutes ago, Raw Dykes said:

Apologies in advance for waffling on...

 

I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not saying the owners haven't done anything for the club. Far from it. I think we have the best owners any football club could ever wish for. I couldn't be any more grateful for what they've done for us. However, we were talking specifically about who deserves credit for promotion to the PL. You want to give them all the credit, and Pearson none, whereas I think Pearson clearly deserves the lion's share.

 

You said it was all down to Thai money, but if it was the case that money is the sole reason a club gets promoted, then surely we would have gone up when they spent big in their first season at the club with Sven in charge. Why is it that only after re-appointing Pearson, and considerably reining in the spending, did we achieve our goal? If money's the only factor, why is any league table not just a table of the richest clubs in order? How do you explain us winning the PL title with a team that cost a tenth of Man City's?

 

Please bear with me on this, but it's extremely likely that the owners actually delayed our promotion to the PL. They made the mistake of getting rid of the manager responsible for an astronomical climb up the tables. I know this will sound disrespectful to the owners to you, but I do not blame them for it - I'm sure I would have done the same if I was in their shoes at the time - new to the game, lots of money to spend on my new plaything, wanting to put my stamp on the club, etc. What you seem to be failing to acknowledge is that Pearson joined us at the nadir of our entire history and oversaw a root and branch rebuild of the club. The league tables clearly show its success. At the first time of asking, we'd blitzed our one and only season in the third tier, and reached the Championship play-offs straight after. This was all done on a shoestring budget. Compare that to the Sousa/Sven debacle - millions pissed down the drain all for a measly 10th place finish. This is why I'm not having it that money is the sole reason we were promoted. It's as clear as day. We were heading for promotion before a penny of the owners' money was spent, and after they'd blown an absolute fortune in Championship terms, we ended up mid-table. The owners deserve huge credit for re-hiring Pearson and backing him, but I think Pearson himself is a much bigger factor re: promotion than money was.

 

Making us debt free is fantastic, but I'm not sure how much it helped directly re: promotion. I believe King Power, and not the club, own the stadium - it makes little difference to us if so. Also, not much to do with promotion, anyway. The back room staff were people that NP brought in, and many, if not most, were appointed during Pearson's first spell - two years prior to the current owners buying the club.. I'd argue the person responsible for spotting talent probably deserves more credit than the person paying for it. You can easily spend big money on useless staff, after all.

 

Was NP's season in the PL poor, though? You're speaking as though the winning streak at the end can just be dismissed as if it didn't happen. It can't. Would you have regarded it a good season if those wins had been spread more evenly over the season, despite it making absolutely zero difference to the end result of a 14th place finish? (Actually, it probably would have made a difference - it would have meant we didn't finish on great form that we carried into the next season to win the PL title with)

 

I think relegation has to be a realistic expectation for any newly-promoted PL club, no matter how good you look in the Championship, such is the financial divide between the divisions. It's a gap that's constantly growing, as well. I was hopeful that we'd stay up, but I never expected it. You say NP escaped relegation by "stumbling by accident on a style he had stubbornly resisted all season until it was forced on him chance." I'm sorry, but this just reads as desperation to avoid giving credit where it is due. With time running out, he tried something different, and it paid off. He didn't have to do that. Other managers might not have, or they might have tried something else that wasn't so successful. NP's no master tactician, but he made the right change at that time. Pearson's remit for that season would have been to attempt to avoid relegation, and 14th place was an overachievement. That's all that matters. If you want to twist it to make it look like a failure, that's your prerogative.

 

Pearson rebuilt the club not once, but twice, took us from our lowest ebb, in the third tier, to safe in the PL, and assembled the players and backroom staff that won the Premier League. If you don't believe me about how much credit he's due, just ask Kasper, Mahrez, Huth, etc. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/nigel-pearson-bristol-city-leicester-5442793

 

To ignore or downplay the instrumental role Nigel Pearson has played in our rise to prominence is not only pure fantasy it’s rather ungrateful, if not downright disrespectful.

Great point and it's probably the same people that defend Rodgers finishing 5th twice despite us being in a great position to finish 4th on both occasions. The whole criticising Pearson thing will never make any sense to me. As you said it's downright disrespectful 

[Raw Dykes]

12 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

Great point and it's probably the same people that defend Rodgers finishing 5th twice despite us being in a great position to finish 4th on both occasions. The whole criticising Pearson thing will never make any sense to me. As you said it's downright disrespectful 

I find it very difficult to understand Leicester fans who can't see what Pearson achieved here. Perhaps they don't really know? Or choose to ignore it? Or just have a visceral dislike of the man? Don't know.

 

I may or may not think it's downright disrespectful. I just copy and pasted the OP's last paragraph, but substituted 'Nigel Pearson' for 'the owners.'