Post Match Leicester City 0 Cardiff City 1

[camberwell fox]

Except if we don't go up this season Pearson will almost definitely get the chop, so your argument is rendered somewhat inaccurate.

We are in a position where our owners have invested tens of millions of pounds and have been let down by their managers. Time is something we don't have I'm afraid.

 

[Profondo Rosso]

You'd sooner play Moore I assume?

Knockaert gave the ball away as much as anyone yesterday, he certainly wasn't outstanding. I agree that hitting the ball long and high wasn't working but this constant clamouring for Futacs is also baffling; he has done little to impress me when he has come on before.

While I agree Knockaert wasn't outstanding, he was certainly our best player yesterday and the one who looked most likely to make something happen. I was also a little surprised to see him go off.

Like Camberwell, I'm a Pearson fan, but his substitutions were all a bit bizarre yesterday, very reminiscent of the non-nonsensical substitutions Holloway used to make here.

 

[Matt_B]

Except if we don't go up this season Pearson will almost definitely get the chop, so your argument is rendered somewhat inaccurate.

We are in a position where our owners have invested tens of millions of pounds and have been let down by their managers. Time is something we don't have I'm afraid.

I don't care about the owners. I see no benefit to me for us going up this season. If you think being in or around the playoffs at this point of the season is being let down then it just highlights what ridiculous (IMO) expectations some fans have.

 

[LeeCovFox]

This season we are a lot better than last in a lot of areas. Another season of improvement might see us more prepared. If we go up this season we will come straight back regardless of who is the manager.

Norwich fans probably thought the same. I dare say Stoke fans did, too. We can worry about that if and when we get up.

With the money spent we should already have a decent base. We don't and that's a big failing on Pearson's part.

 

[Matt_B]

Norwich fans probably thought the same. I dare say Stoke fans did, too. We can worry about that if and when we get up.

With the money spent we should already have a decent base. We don't and that's a big failing on Pearson's part.

Could you break down this 10million for me, just so I know where it has gone.

 

[LeeCovFox]

I don't care about the owners. I see no benefit to me for us going up this season. If you think being in or around the playoffs at this point of the season is being let down then it just highlights what ridiculous (IMO) expectations some fans have.

I disagree. I think to expect otherwise highlights how used to being crap some fans have become. Our 'natural' position is to be a promotion challenging second tier/relegation battling top tier club. We are currently at the lower end of that range and the lower end of where a club of our size should expect to be. Every season at this level should be viewed as an opportunity to win it.

I hear the fans being moaned at for expecting too much a lot and I think it's rubbish. We've spent about £20m in eighteen months and our owners and successive management teams tell us that a top two finish is the aim. Of course the fans should expect better. The people in charge fuel the expectations and the unquestioning local media do nothing to question them.

 

[LeeCovFox]

Could you break down this 10million for me, just so I know where it has gone.

Morgan £1m
Drinkwater £1m
Marshall £1m
De Laet £1m
James £1m
Vardy £1m
Knockaert £2.4m

So a little over £8m in reality, based on reported figures which is the best any of us outside the club can do. If you want to pick on the difference between that and my own estimate or argue the fees then that's fine, but it is indisputable that Pearson has spent an awful lot of money by Championship standards in the past year.

 

[Matt_B]

Morgan £1m
Drinkwater £1m
Marshall £1m
De Laet £1m
James £1m
Vardy £1m
Knockaert £2.4m

So a little over £8m in reality, based on reported figures which is the best any of us outside the club can do. If you want to pick on the difference between that and my own estimate or argue the fees then that's fine, but it is indisputable that Pearson has spent an awful lot of money by Championship standards in the past year.

Don't forget he also recouped a couple of million from Mills and Bamba. We have spent a fair whack, but so have Cardiff, Middlesbrough, Watford, Forest, Bolton etc. What we ha've spent isn't exceptional any more.

 

[Matt_B]

I disagree. I think to expect otherwise highlights how used to being crap some fans have become. Our 'natural' position is to be a promotion challenging second tier/relegation battling top tier club. We are currently at the lower end of that range and the lower end of where a club of our size should expect to be. Every season at this level should be viewed as an opportunity to win it.

I hear the fans being moaned at for expecting too much a lot and I think it's rubbish. We've spent about £20m in eighteen months and our owners and successive management teams tell us that a top two finish is the aim. Of course the fans should expect better. The people in charge fuel the expectations and the unquestioning local media do nothing to question them.

For the record, I realise it is important from a club and managerial position to get promoted, it's just not the end of the world to me if we don't.

 

[LeeCovFox]

For the record, I realise it is important from a club and managerial position to get promoted, it's just not the end of the world to me if we don't.

Nor me, not least because football isn't anywhere the top of the list of what's important in my life. I just think it's unfair to criticise the fans for expecting us to do well at this level.

 

[Profondo Rosso]

I get what you are both saying, but it's far too simplistic to boil it down to transfer fees.

For example, 3 of ther top 6: Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough and Watford have success which is built on a spine of youth graduates and then Watford have a plethora of loans they've got through their relationship with a very strong European club.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not excusing that, as personally I feel our academy is shocking and our record of producing players compared to other clubs (such as those 3 and the likes of Southampton and to a lesser extent Cardiff, Swansea etc. not to mention Crewe) is quite frankly embarrassing. However that's hardly something that can be blamed on the current manager or previous managers when they've only been at the club a year or two, you can't build a good academy overnight. Quite frankly that's been a fundamental problem at the club for years and has been something that's meant we've had to buy in more than the likes of Boro, Palace and Watford have. Jon Rudkin has been here a decade now and I'm still not sure he's been good for the club.

That said, the jury's still out on Pearson's signings. I think Pearsob's biggest problem is that he's bought for the long-term not the short-term. It's difficult to tell whether Marshall, Knockaert and Drinkwater are value for money yet because they're just potential at this point. Morgan I'd say has definitely been worth the money so far, but De Laet and James I think we overpaid for.

 

[Matt_B]

I get what you are both saying, but it's far too simplistic to boil it down to transfer fees.

For example, 3 of ther top 6: Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough and Watford have success which is built on a spine of youth graduates and then Watford have a plethora of loans they've got through their relationship with a very strong European club.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not excusing that, as personally I feel our academy is shocking and our record of producing players compared to other clubs (such as those 3 and the likes of Southampton and to a lesser extent Cardiff, Swansea etc. not to mention Crewe) is quite frankly embarrassing. However that's hardly something that can be blamed on the current manager or previous managers when they've only been at the club a year or two, you can't build a good academy overnight. Quite frankly that's been a fundamental problem at the club for years and has been something that's meant we've had to buy in more than the likes of Boro, Palace and Watford have. Jon Rudkin has been here a decade now and I'm still not sure he's been good for the club.

That said, the jury's still out on Pearson's signings. I think Pearsob's biggest problem is that he's bought for the long-term not the short-term. It's difficult to tell whether Marshall, Knockaert and Drinkwater are value for money yet because they're just potential at this point. Morgan I'd say has definitely been worth the money so far, but De Laet and James I think we overpaid for.

I'd agree with all that except I quite like De Laet.

 

[Profondo Rosso]

I'm not saying I think De Laet is poor, I just think he's a pretty standard Championship full-back and we could've probably got similar for cheaper. I think he's a definite improvement on Peltier but nowhere near as good as Naughton.

 

[LeeCovFox]

That said, the jury's still out on Pearson's signings. I think Pearsob's biggest problem is that he's bought for the long-term not the short-term. It's difficult to tell whether Marshall, Knockaert and Drinkwater are value for money yet because they're just potential at this point. Morgan I'd say has definitely been worth the money so far, but De Laet and James I think we overpaid for.

This is the important bit. Pearson has bought for the long term which is lovely if there is a long term plan. But everything that comes out of the club, including from Pearson, suggests that it's all about promotion this season. If that's the case then buying for the long term makes little sense and it's probably fair to say that Pearson was never the man for that job. If Pearson's transfer policy is indeed part of a plan to build over time then the owners (and Pearson) need to say so. I'd be more than happy with that as, I'm sure, would most fans. It's certainly preferable to mortgaging the future of the club on an annual gamble on spending our way to promotion.

 

[Lako42]

Yes Matt I think you might be. What is the point then?

To argue the toss with every slightly negative post anyone ever makes, I think thats his point.

Oh you mean to football......

 

[Matt_B]

To argue the toss with every slightly negative post anyone ever makes, I think thats his point.

Oh you mean to football......

Nah I reserve it just for you laky-pants. At least you balance yourself out when we win...oh wait...

 

[step]

We could have one that game until Pearson took off Dyer and Knockaert.

 

[Siouxsie]

While I agree Knockaert wasn't outstanding, he was certainly our best player yesterday and the one who looked most likely to make something happen. I was also a little surprised to see him go off.

Like Camberwell, I'm a Pearson fan, but his substitutions were all a bit bizarre yesterday, very reminiscent of the non-nonsensical substitutions Holloway used to make here.

I agree the substitutions were not what any of the people around me had predicted.
I thought Waghorn in particular had a shocker and shold have stayed in the bench.

 

[Mawsley]

I must be the only one who wouldn't be bothered if we don't go up.

And I'm the only one who hankers for another season in Division III. Affordable tickets, terraces and new pubs.

At some point the owners will **** off, leaving their debt accumulated on top of Mandaric's and the club will go tits again. For what? For a couple of seasons where we spent millions of pounds we don't have on average squads to achieve **** all at prices most people can no longer afford. Brilliant.

 

[Graz]

I must be the only one who wouldn't be bothered if we don't go up. I can do without a huge increase on my season ticket to watch us lose week in week out to over paid prima donnas or boring as luck Stoke. Reading and QPR fans must be having the times of their lives right now.

Or... we could do a Swansea?

All about getting to the Premier League. I can never comprehend fans who don't want to see their team competing at the top.