Pearson Interview

[eddie]

29 minutes ago, rynny said:

It is a written piece 

Thanks. That'll teach me not to make assumptions.

(no it won't)

[SaintRam]

SN Interview with NP in DET:

Quote

 

RELENTLESS, tough, demanding. Those are the three words offered by Derby County manager Nigel Pearson when asked to sum up the Championship.

Discussion then turned to the challenge ahead for Derby this season as they prepare to launch a fourth consecutive crack at winning promotion.

"It is a challenge I think we should be looking forward to," Pearson said.

"If you are at a club where you have a realistic chance of succeeding then you should never be afraid of accepting that challenge.

"I see us in that situation," he added, looking me straight in the eye. He is spot on.

Derby are rightly seen as one of the big hitters in the Championship and they should embrace the challenge and the expectation, not fear it.

They should enjoy being viewed among the favourites in the latest race to reach the Premier League.

"I don't think there is anything wrong in talking openly about what we aspire to achieve and that is to get promotion," Pearson continued.

"I don't see anything wrong with being very open about trying to do that otherwise you are sort of skirting around the issue."

Play-off finalists and semi-finalists in two of the last three seasons means Derby have seen the finish line, only to fall short.

The task now is to get over the line.

"Let's be very clear," Pearson added. "We are a football club who have been close on a number of occasions and we have a group of players who have been close over the last few years. Time will tell whether we are capable of making that next step. To do that, there needs to be a very focused mindset.

"We may need to make changes to get there but, hopefully, that won't be the case. Hopefully, this group of players will be able to put together a challenge which allows us to take that next step but there is no short cut."

Short cuts tend to lead to dead ends in the Championship. There has to be a foundation, there has to be commitment and consistency.

Pearson knows what it takes to win promotion.

He did so as a player with Sheffield Wednesday and with Middlesbrough (twice), and he guided Leicester City to the League One title and the Championship title with a total of 102 points.

Talk turned to what it takes. What is the foundation of success?

"No matter how talented the group of players is, they have got to be prepared to work hard for themselves and for each other," said Pearson.

"We have to find different ways of winning football matches.

"And I didn't say good performances, I said winning performances because you have to find ways of winning games when you are not playing well.

"The sides that do well, historically, in the Championship are those sides."

Promoted trio Burnley, Middlesbrough and Hull City proved as much last season, while Derby's form tended to fluctuate too much. The gaps between their good performances and their poor ones were too wide.
 

Take the second half of last season.

A run of eight games without a win in the League was followed only weeks later by a sequence of just one defeat in nine!

On their off days – at Wolves, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City – Derby lost matches that should have yielded some reward. If you cannot win, don't lose, but a record of three draws in the final 16 League games goes some way to highlighting how it tended to be one or the other.

But this is a time to look forward, and this is very much a part of Pearson's approach.

"I tend not to look back too much. I am not somebody who spends a lot of time thinking about what has happened, I look very much forward to what the next step is," he said.

Pearson is tasked with finding that little extra that has been missing for Derby to reach the top flight for the first time since 2008.

Will they make it this season? Time will tell.

It might take longer but what Derby have in Pearson is a proven leader and winner.

The 52-year-old's CV also features spells as manager at Southampton, Hull City and Carlisle United as well as stints as a caretaker boss at West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United. He also enjoyed a long and successful playing career as a defender.

Sacked by Leicester, he had been out of work a year when Derby called at the end of May and I wrote at the time of his appointment that he would seem to be the right man at the right time.

There appear to be no frills, no fuss, no beating about the bush with him. If it needs saying, you get the feeling he will say it and that can be key at certain times in management.

He has the experience and it was important that Derby turned to know-how after going down the route of appointing an untested head coach in Paul Clement.

Clement had never before been in a frontline management role at senior level, having previously served as a number two under Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Paris Saint Germain and Real Madrid. He is now assisting Ancelotti at Bayern Munich.

The axe fell on Clement after eight months and Academy Director Darren Wassall was asked to take the first-team team reins for the rest of the season.

Derby is too big a club to be somebody's "first job" as the man at the helm but it is a very different story with Pearson.

He has stood at the helm many times and has steered a winning course.

Read more at http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/kick-off-derby-county-boss-nigel-pearson-sees-challenge-as-one-to-relish-as-he-targets-premier-goal/story-29573747-detail/story.html#tj7wPlu5JLFCQJ8w.99

 

Save you all the need to go on that awful site. 

SN refers to this on twitter as "Part One" of this NP interview. Will post any other parts if they come up. 

[cannable]

2 hours ago, nfb said:

They seemed to, but some square pegs were put in round holes i believe. I said i was pleased to hear about horses for courses because personally dont think 1 system should be applied throughout a season against all teams we meet, do you ?

Jack of all trades, master of none springs to mind.

(Most of) this crop of players showed under McClaren, and to an extent Wassall, that we can impose our game on anybody in this division (except an Uwe Rossler side). We shouldn't worry about them, they should worry about us.

99% of teams that achieve anything in football have an identity. 

[Animal is a Ram]

Pearson's impressing me with the way he comes across.

The grabbing the player around the throat, the go forth and multiply towards a fan, and the infamous ostrich interview had all created, in my opinion, a sense of fear.

All very extreme examples, but very memorable.

In reality, he's just a straight talking, no nonsense chap. Just what this team needed, firm but fair. From what players have said, neither McClaren, Clement or Wassall have been. 

[Van der MoodHoover]

10 hours ago, nfb said:

They seemed to, but some square pegs were put in round holes i believe. I said i was pleased to hear about horses for courses because personally dont think 1 system should be applied throughout a season against all teams we meet, do you ?

I'd like to see us have one we're really good at first. I think like many things there are degrees of variation then that could adjust with varying degrees of risk. To illustrate by way of example i think it is quite an ask to have centrebacks equally at home in a back 4 or a back 3. Each are quite different in terms of demand and need considerable experience to implement well. However,  dropping one fullback deep whilst the other marauds forward should be easier to successfully implement. 

But I think some of the changes put in play with what seemed only a couple of day's training last season looked too profound, poorly practised and hence failed.

[nfb]

9 hours ago, cannable said:

Jack of all trades, master of none springs to mind.

(Most of) this crop of players showed under McClaren, and to an extent Wassall, that we can impose our game on anybody in this division (except an Uwe Rossler side). We shouldn't worry about them, they should worry about us.

99% of teams that achieve anything in football have an identity. 

As you are quoting me..  your point is ? that we should play one formation and stick to it to form this 'identity' ? or ? 

If not one formation then what are u eluding to ?

[sage]

5 minutes ago, nfb said:

As you are quoting me..  your point is ? that we should play one formation and stick to it to form this 'identity' ? or ? 

If not one formation then what are u eluding to ?

His point obviously escapes you. 

[archied]

Would love somebody to have the time to research the myth that our players can only function in 4 3 3 formation,, how many of these players have spent their careers from youth level till now playing in a 4 3 3 formation and are hoping that 4 3 3 is never outlawed as they would no longer have a career in the game ,, we have some good players and with the right coaching and organising most should be able to play roles well in other formations ,, I'm not saying the goalkeeper can play on the wing but you get my drift 

[nfb]

1 hour ago, HantsRam said:

I'd like to see us have one we're really good at first. I think like many things there are degrees of variation then that could adjust with varying degrees of risk. To illustrate by way of example i think it is quite an ask to have centrebacks equally at home in a back 4 or a back 3. Each are quite different in terms of demand and need considerable experience to implement well. However,  dropping one fullback deep whilst the other marauds forward should be easier to successfully implement. 

But I think some of the changes put in play with what seemed only a couple of day's training last season looked too profound, poorly practised and hence failed.

I agree, and It all depends on ones team selection,e.g. - the 4-4-1-1 thats been eluded to as NP's prefered formation, depending on choice of full backs  can be quite defensive or very attacking, but for me the manager must prepare the entire team for variations (sometimes refered to as plan B or C)

[Alph]

10 hours ago, cannable said:

Jack of all trades, master of none springs to mind.

(Most of) this crop of players showed under McClaren, and to an extent Wassall, that we can impose our game on anybody in this division (except an Uwe Rossler side). We shouldn't worry about them, they should worry about us.

99% of teams that achieve anything in football have an identity. 

great post 

x 

[jagerbob]

Early days I know but looks more like a balanced style of play as seen under Clement (on his good spell)

Should make us much more solid defensively and perhaps also a little more direct at times.

Despitr every other rams fans view, I was nver a fan of the McClaren / walsall style which too often came unstuck, and above all else when we didnt play well it meant we had no chance of winning.

Of course Pearson is spot on when he says you need to find different ways to win, derby pretty much had only one way to win in recent seasons. I think the high pressing game might be a thing of the past, and can see Martin featuring less this season, and when he does feature can see it being in a slightly different role.

[Highgate]

On 7/30/2016 at 20:04, Ewe Ram said:

I noticed he said we don't want to be 'a team that is good on its day but not at other times'. That's exactly how the last few seasons have gone - a brilliantly entertaining game followed by a flat performance. He's spotted that 

Unfortunately for Pearson i think he'll find that pretty much sums up all teams.  Every team has good days and bad.  I think some managers and fans waste their time longing for a level of consistency that is unrealistic in competitive sport.  Variability is unavoidable.  The key is getting the average level of performance up, so when you are good you are great, and when you are bad...you are still tough to beat.  Merely coming in and saying we need to be more consistent doesn't mean much. 

[Van der MoodHoover]

2 hours ago, nfb said:

I agree, and It all depends on ones team selection,e.g. - the 4-4-1-1 thats been eluded to as NP's prefered formation, depending on choice of full backs  can be quite defensive or very attacking, but for me the manager must prepare the entire team for variations (sometimes refered to as plan B or C)

Think we're violently agreeing mate. 

I just believe that we were trying to be too infinitely flexible with inadequate preparation. 

But in principle I agree with the premise that we need sufficient flexibility both within the squad and each team that's selected to adapt to the opposition - both in terms of how we think that they will play and also how they do play.

[Grimbeard]

On 30/07/2016 at 21:42, Seth's left foot said:

With the talent in our squad he just needs to pick the right players so that each player does their job and wins their individual battle. Be brave on the ball and ensure that they embrace playing for a big club with large crowds.

Easy,hey...

I see that you've got a copy of this years 'The Big Boys Bumper Book of Football Cliches'.

[eddie]

4 hours ago, Grimbeard said:

I see that you've got a copy of this years 'The Big Boys Bumper Book of Football Cliches'.

And he's over the moon with it.

[Phoenix]

...and I'm sick as a parrot.

[Robbie Ram]

On ‎02‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 11:41, cannable said:

Jack of all trades, master of none springs to mind.

(Most of) this crop of players showed under McClaren, and to an extent Wassall, that we can impose our game on anybody in this division (except an Uwe Rossler side). We shouldn't worry about them, they should worry about us.

99% of teams that achieve anything in football have an identity. 

Dead right. Especially the last sentence.

Leicester last season anyone?

Maybe NP has finally learned to:

1. Reflect before reacting.
2. Having the cream on top of the cake, aka CP then NP. 
3. A bit more dilly dong, perhaps?
4. But still be a killer diller.

This would then make us LCFC Mark 2, IMO.

If so, standby by for action!!
We finally have lift off!!!

Seriously though folks, if we are going to comfortably survive in  the fabled PL, we need to absolutely storm this division.

BC' s team easily finished as champions in Division Two, then we went on to finish 4th in the First Division, before winning our first League Title just a few seasons later.

That's the way to go up, boys!!

Don't forget, since we were last there, the PL has become the most watched league in the whole wide world!!

Like never before in their entire history, Derby could be the next in line after LCFC to become a global brand.

The world awaits.

Let's go you Rams !!!

Remember, you read it here first.