Will Neil be sacked this weekend??

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,023]

Baldyboy, I am open for debate, Pearson is not a bad shout, your question re Ranieri is a good one, I would be interested why he chose Leicester, perhaps the fact they survived in the Prem?, the fact they were in the Prem?, they offered him a very good contract?, a combination of all of these. With regard to Moyes, he is Scottish so he may be interested in managing a team made up of a number of his compatriots, I am not convinced that he has the ability to turn things round in 9 games which is what we need. My feeling on Brendan Rodgers is that he will us as a step back after managing at Liverpool.

The 100% comment was tongue in cheek, however I do believe if we are to change the manager now we need to replace AN with somebody who will give you confidence that there is a high probability that they will turn things around in the 9 games that remain, so 75% chance seem reasonable to me.

So, Pearson is not a bad shout.......

[littleyellowbirdie 2,548]

1)We''re not down yet

2)We''re on an awful run at the mo, but the team''s tail doesn''t seem to have dropped.

3)If we get relegated, AN is a proven Championship manager, so sacking has no purpose. Upon another promotion, he will have had the experience to have a better go the next time round.

4)Given that AN has been through just about every permutation imaginable of this squad, I''m not sure what a new manager could add.

5)I''m not sure any manager would want to come at the moment.

Stick with it, support them, hope for the best and prepare for the worst is my view. Definitely not in favour of the ''in or out'' argument starting frankly, the histrionics did more damage to the chances of the team the last relegation than anything Hughton did.

[Baldyboy 0]

How the hell is Neil a "proven" Championship manager? He inherited a team in seventh and managed them for 4 months! What an unbelievable statement that is?

[littleyellowbirdie 2,548]

Came when we weren''t in promotion spots, finished up in playoff spots and getting promoted is not proven? Are you for real?

[City 2nd 191]

LYB

How is Alex Neil a proven championship manager? Because of a promotion he oversaw with the strongest squad in the league? He took a side that were already in 9th place under the guidance of Adams to third place and won a cup final! He is not a proven championship manager at all.

His all too obvious weaknesses are certainly showing now.

[nutty nigel 7,533]

Strongest squad in the league is a sweeping statement with absolutely nothing to back it up. The same people are saying we have the weakest squad in the league now. I know there''s a gap between the two leagues but those two statements can''t both be right.

[Molly Windley 76]

At this stage last season the now much vaunted (by some, not me) Pearson`s Leicester had 19 points from 28 games.At one point they took 2 points from a possible 39 in an 13 game win less run.Is he just a "great shout" for the last 10 games of a season and poor choice for the first 28?I`m open to persuasion for hiring him if someone can tell me exactly what he did right (not vague waffle) to get Leicester winning for the last 10 games that he did so wrong for the first 28 and why it took him so long for him to realise what he was doing wrong.

[Yellowbeagle 0]

People forget just what an idiot Pearson looked and just how badly he behaved last season. I don''t want hm anywhere near our club. Grabbing opponents players by the neck, fronting up to them, getting into spats with his own clubs fans, insulting journalist if they dared ask questions about his then under performing team, not to mention he only got fired after his son got in trouble with the Racist sex tape. It''d be Roeder mk500.

[Katie Borkins 1]

[quote user="Baldyboy"]How the hell is Neil a "proven" Championship manager? He inherited a team in seventh and managed them for 4 months! What an unbelievable statement that is?[/quote]

P21 W14 D3 L4

Play off 2 wins, 1 draw, so 

P24 W16 D4 L4

Half a season is enough to judge, surely?

That record over a whole season would be something like P46 W32 D7 L7.  Let''s be negative about it, as per this forum, and say

P46 W30 D8 L8 = 98 points

Or if you want to be really miserable:

P46 W28 D9 L9 = 93 points

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,023]

For the record Molly I said "not a bad shout". I think it is right that we have a debate about this, 1 point from 27 is very poor, we are running out of road (only 9 games left) and we need to start getting three points rather than having post match interviews along the line of "we did not deserve to lose". For me there are enough games left where we should be getting three points, but I am not convinced we will, based on what happened at Villa and yesterday at Swansea. In the interest of debate I think what Molly says about Pearson is correct, great last ten games but the previous 28?, there is a big difference to turning around a club you have managed all season against trying to turn around a team you have no idea about in 9 games.

My personal opinion is that we have left it to late, that said if there is a candidate out there who could come in and have a good chance of turning things around in 9 games I would be all for a change, however I am not sure there is such a candidate...........

[Herman 9,763]

[quote user="Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB"]For the record Molly I said "not a bad shout". I think it is right that we have a debate about this, 1 point from 27 is very poor, we are running out of road (only 9 games left) and we need to start getting three points rather than having post match interviews along the line of "we did not deserve to lose". For me there are enough games left where we should be getting three points, but I am not convinced we will, based on what happened at Villa and yesterday at Swansea. In the interest of debate I think what Molly says about Pearson is correct, great last ten games but the previous 28?, there is a big difference to turning around a club you have managed all season against trying to turn around a team you have no idea about in 9 games.

My personal opinion is that we have left it to late, that said if there is a candidate out there who could come in and have a good chance of turning things around in 9 games I would be all for a change, however I am not sure there is such a candidate...........[/quote]Fair post SOB.After the Villa debacle I would have been more than happy to see a change.It looked like a lost cause. Heads down, clueless application and a feeling of ''given up''. But from the West Ham game onwards I have seen there is fight in the team still and they haven''t given up on Alex. Yes he makes mistakes, but equally the players heve made mistakes that he can''t be blamed for. I feel that, like you, it is too late to replace him now and is probably in the best interests of the club to keep him and start getting rid of some of the overpaid and under achieving players.

[norfolkngood 1,087]

pearson got leicester into the hole in the first place last year yes he kept them up but like others have said he did some stupid things last year as well

i think moyes might come here he could build his team and settle for a number of years like he did everton

he has a eye for a bargain when he was at everton and brought some good youth through

well worth asking the question

[Guest]

To return to the original question, no, AN won''t be sacked this weekend.  It''s also highly unlikely that he''ll be removed before the end of the season, based on McNally''s unequivocal  support for Alex Neil in his recent interview.As it is, even if the Board were wanting to replace him, I don''t believe they have a Plan B or any viable candidates.

[Peanuts 150]

No chance he''ll be sacked as expectations are a lot lower this time around. It''s interesting to compare the noises McNally has been making this season with all the "worse than death" stuff last time.

The football is better than it was under Hughton and the players look like they are still fighting. My gut feeling is Newcastle are down with Villa and it''ll be us or Sunderland in 18th. We just might scrape it.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Peanuts"]No chance he''ll be sacked as expectations are a lot lower this time around. It''s interesting to compare the noises McNally has been making this season with all the "worse than death" stuff last time.

The football is better than it was under Hughton and the players look like they are still fighting. My gut feeling is Newcastle are down with Villa and it''ll be us or Sunderland in 18th. We just might scrape it.

[/quote][Y]

[norfolkngood 1,087]

i agree the football is better than hughton but its a results that matter

AN is not getting the results we need

if you want to stay up you have to do anything you can

its looking more likely AN is not going to get them results he hasnt in the last 10 games why should he in the next 9 games

nobody can say if you got someone new in that would change but with a new voice fresh ideas its worth a try

i dont buy this he will get us up next season we should throw everything at this season to stay up who wants to go down then give him 10 games and we are no better then sack him wouldnt that have wasted the chance of trying to stay up by sacking him now

the players are not fighting for him yes he hasnt lost the dressing room but are they bursting a gut leaving everything on the pitch for him ? i would say they are not

[Guest]

That''s a fair point about next season. It''s reasonable to assume Newcastle/Sunderland and Villa will outspend us again in the summer transfer window and will also bring in better managers than they currently have - which isn''t hard in Villa and Newcastle''s case, but still worth mentioning. Could well be a tougher league to get out of than last time around.

[Rivixter 0]

Stability at a club builds success, stick with him allow him to learn from this season whether we go down or not. Hes only 34 and has a bright future in the game ahead of him, let him build his reputation with us. I am not sure where people expected us to finish with a team of top 6 championship players that has only had a few quality additions to it.

[daly 501]

I expected to at least be in TP for one season, the fact you state only a few additions to the squad is down to the MANAGER, McNally said he is the one who decides who comes and who goes and what has come in apart from Brady are not exactly Premiership players

[Capt. Pants 4,234]

[quote user="Rivixter"]Stability at a club builds success, stick with him allow him to learn from this season whether we go down or not. Hes only 34 and has a bright future in the game ahead of him, let him build his reputation with us. I am not sure where people expected us to finish with a team of top 6 championship players that has only had a few quality additions to it.[/quote]Most of us expected a relegation fight but probably not our worst run since 1946. It''s been a shambles so far on and off the pitch, but I haven''t given up hope just yet!

[OldRobert 38]

No.

[Making Plans 936]

[quote user="norfolkngood"]

the players are not fighting for him yes he hasnt lost the dressing room but are they bursting a gut leaving everything on the pitch for him ? i would say they are not[/quote]Sometimes they do (Leicester, Chelsea, Liverpool, W Ham) but sometimes, especially in crucial games (Villa, Swansea, Watford, Bournemouth), they don''t - after 80 minutes yesterday I was waiting for someone to chuck a towel on the pitch to save us from further punishment.Hard to figure why that is and I''m sure AN is equally puzzled.Given that we are generally poor against lesser teams, it doesn''t fill me with confidence for the games against Sunderland & Newcastle and we probably stand more chance of beating Man C and Man U than those two.

[westcoastcanary 0]

[quote user="Rivixter"]Stability at a club builds success, stick with him allow him to learn from this season whether we go down or not. Hes only 34 and has a bright future in the game ahead of him, let him build his reputation with us. I am not sure where people expected us to finish with a team of top 6 championship players that has only had a few quality additions to it.[/quote] [Y] If our development had followed the 7-Year plan hatched in our League One season, this season would have seen us return to the EPL with club and squad far better equipped to survive, with 4 years of steady building behind us. Not even a wealthy investor can circumvent that process totally, though it makes things a lot easier. Money can buy a degree of stability, but it is not a magic wand that produces instantly successful teams.

[Darth Canary1 91]

That is indeed the odd thing for me

[Jim Smith 2,317]

The amount of people who seem to have accepted relegation on the basis we will go straight back up next season is staggering. surely it''s far better to do everything possible to avoid going down in the first place, not stick with a failing manager because he might be able to get us back up again if we go down?

[smooth 114]

No we won''t but it is a terrible run, with many players he has brought in.

We know Conley needs to be improved but it is clear our back room staff need too. We also need new players.

But what can they do now is sort this out. It is a terrible run and there are too many players who were part of that 2 seasons ago and they will be remembered for that. Why because they proved there ability when the tough challenge comes that they cannot lift themselves or the group. This is under hughton, AN and Adams limited time here.

We want this group to grab the next few games. But they have to do what tey have not shown all season that they can control a game, be professional in order to bring wins, multiple wins.

I expected our group to be battling for 17th but I really feel we have been nervous, apprehensive, naive, poorly prepared for many games. I did not expect us to not of moved on, but we have felt like a team on loan for the year. Next season if we are on the champ does not guarantee promotion. At all.

I want us to stay in this league. It is easier to stay in this flipping league and I wish we went out looking like we wanted too. Hope we do but this sleep walk to relegation is infuriating. The players and manager has to prove that they want to be in the league

[Highland Canary 76]

One would have thought that the lost decade would have some resonance with those who think promotion next season is a certainty. Last throw of the dice must be to get Pearson in until the end of the season. After yet another awayday no show, it is self-evident we will be relegated under Neil. If there is even the slightest glimmer of hope that we could get an experienced manager in one would have thought, probably naively, that the board would wish to take it.

[nutty nigel 7,533]

Pearson and not Lennon. Interesting switch Highland...

[Highland Canary 76]

I would have built our championship team around Hooper. Lennon was the man for that task. Not Adams! But that boat has sailed. Tbh we could have done with Hooper in that final scramble at Swansea yesterday. The team failed to turn up again. There isn''t much hope I agree but there is none with the current set up.

[Donkey dangler 0]

[quote user="Highland Canary"]One would have thought that the lost decade would have some resonance with those who think promotion next season is a certainty. Last throw of the dice must be to get Pearson in until the end of the season. After yet another awayday no show, it is self-evident we will be relegated under Neil. If there is even the slightest glimmer of hope that we could get an experienced manager in one would have thought, probably naively, that the board would wish to take it.[/quote]

An experienced manager like Allardyce has given Sunderland a chance when a couple of months ago they looked a good bet for relegation. Unfortunately we have a naive manager and owners without the wealth to give this club a chance of establishing itself back in the Premiership.