Should Nicholson be sacked

hector · Post by **hector** » 06 Mar 2017, 06:54

Stewart, on TFF, has provided an interesting set of statistics where he has compared results v top half of the table and those against bottom half of the table.

Against the top: P 18 W 6 D 7 L 5 Pts 25
Against the bottom: P 17 W 3 D 1 L 13 Pts 10

What would that lead one to conclude?

Is that a team that isn't good enough? Or a team that are complacent against the lower teams? A team that, despite the macho promptings of a bodybuilder from Winners Gym, are not especially well managed if they cannot be motivated to perform against the lesser lights of the division and teams they are capable of beating? Perhaps a new voice would ensure they are.

Bert · Post by **Bert** » 06 Mar 2017, 08:05

A quick thought
Nico was a pretty good full back
The present back 4 are all his players and presumably coached by him and RH another defender
Yet they are arguably the worst back 4 that the club has had for some years
Explain

merse btpir · Post by **merse btpir** » 06 Mar 2017, 08:29

hector wrote: ↑06 Mar 2017, 06:54 Stewart, on TFF, has provided an interesting set of statistics where he has compared results v top half of the table and those against bottom half of the table.
Against the top: P 18 W 6 D 7 L 5 Pts 25
Against the bottom: P 17 W 3 D 1 L 13 Pts 10
What would that lead one to conclude?
Is that a team that isn't good enough? Or a team that are complacent against the lower teams?

Or a team that 'chokes' as soon as their is adversity in the extra pressure 'six pointers'?
From my experience I'd say it was more likely that than complacency.

merse btpir · Post by **merse btpir** » 06 Mar 2017, 09:02

Good managers and those with experience of either playing in or managing crisis (relegation) threatened teams compartmentalise their seasons into 'mini seasons' and Nicholson will now have done this with the last twelve matches upon him.

The two precious keys remain tightening up the defence and cutting out the killer errors such as Moore's tendency to commit howlers through bad decision making ~ another one on Saturday which resulted in the first Guiseley goal which knocked the team's fragile confidence like bath water disappearing down a plughole; and extracting some goals from a midfield which has been dreadful in that department all season.

Verma answered that call on Saturday with an excellent strike but the error in goal undid all that and we know what followed. It's then that a manager has to stand there and see his job going down the toilet. Moore was a decent goalie when he came in a year ago; now with no other goalie or goalkeeping coach to work with, his performances have unravelled to crisis levels and will relegate the club as much as anything else that is wrong. I don't hear or read of anyone else calling it this way but it's glaringly obvious to me.

Assuming a new manager will come in this week he needs to bring a big, commanding goalkeeper with him!

United must show their growing band of critics that they still have enough of the spirit that hauled last season's team back from the jaws of the drop but this squad is very different from last season's in that the more abrasive characters like Racchi and MacDonald are not there any more and the 'good character and team ethic' personalities that Nicholson set such store on in his signings since have proved to be wanting when the chips are down particularly in the 'nasty' six pointers which shows in their dreadful record against sides scrapping to survive as against those more measured and cultured sides who are looking upwards rather than down.......lower league football is always like that and even promotion contenders struggle to contain those degrees of commitment and stubbornness that sides at the bottom usually show at this stage of the season.

Limited in attacking options as he undoubtedly is; Nicholson is under big pressure to change the 4-1-4-1 formation he has used recently and go for two up front, especially at home from fans who clearly do not fully appreciate the nuances of professional football........played properly; a more populated midfield supporting a lone man up front will score goals and will prevent goals ~ United are doing neither particularly well.

Fans always always like playing two up front ~ Jesus I come from an age when any less than four invited scorn and my father always reckoned it should be five, old codger that he was! ~ but the formation Nicholson has been been playing suits what he's had available and that's all any coach or manager can and should do. To try to put the best eleven players out there, and play to their strengths and try to minimise their weaknesses is the essential modus operandi.

The coach of the u16 side I was club manager of until Christmas always preferred to play a back line of three behind a 'diamond' of five supporting two others up front but whenever injuries/suspensions or departures robbed him of any of that back three then a back four would be utilised at the expense of getting more advanced down the flanks and the subsequent loss of fluidity; but that's football and that's football management. At that much lower (development) level MY job was sourcing and providing the replacements he needed for the frequent departures for the professional game from within that squad, and to do so in such a manner that the preferred playing style was not compromised. Until the much too late arrival of Dave Hedges, I don't think Nicholson has had that support and it shows with a procession of loanees arriving who were not fit for purpose.

....it's no way to run a professional football club!

northlondongull · Post by **northlondongull** » 06 Mar 2017, 10:20

The answer depends on what or who will replace him.

With a heavy heart I would say that yes he probably should be sacked now if the right person replaces him but I would not blame him for our current situation. He has made mistakes but these are the types of mistakes that a rookie manager should be allowed to make and should have the leeway to make and learn from. He has worked about 7 jobs at the club, put his heart and soul into it and he has received very little support. The current plight of the club is not KN's responsibility.

The right person - is an experience manager who is given authority by the board to bring in 3-4 serious players with grit and experience. The right person is not Harrop.

If GI has any desire to have a club at TQ1 then they need to pull their finger out now.

Terry Henry · Post by **Terry Henry** » 06 Mar 2017, 10:23

If GI allowed 3-4 serious players to come in, do people think Nicho would then be up to the job? Personally, I do. Which is why I don't think he should be sacked.

northlondongull · Post by **northlondongull** » 06 Mar 2017, 11:13

I think he would be up to the job (add MacDonald, Racchi, Butler and Bliss to our current team) but I don't think that GI would give him the players...

Terry Henry · Post by **Terry Henry** » 06 Mar 2017, 12:31

northlondon, I agree with you about GI not giving him the players. Will GI give any manager the players they want though? Personally, I don't think so. Yes, Nicho has made mistakes, but with the current squad I don't know if anyone could do better. Barring a couple of exceptions, I just don't think the current squad have got what it takes and using Nicho as the scapegoat won't change that. Sad, but true.

tomogull · Post by **tomogull** » 06 Mar 2017, 12:41

northlondongull wrote: ↑06 Mar 2017, 10:20 The answer depends on what or who will replace him.

With a heavy heart I would say that yes he probably should be sacked now if the right person replaces him but I would not blame him for our current situation. He has made mistakes but these are the types of mistakes that a rookie manager should be allowed to make and should have the leeway to make and learn from. He has worked about 7 jobs at the club, put his heart and soul into it and he has received very little support. The current plight of the club is not KN's responsibility.

The right person - is an experience manager who is given authority by the board to bring in 3-4 serious players with grit and experience. The right person is not Harrop.

If GI has any desire to have a club at TQ1 then they need to pull their finger out now.

I have been thinking about what to post on this thread, but wasn't sure how to put into words what I was thinking. You have saved me the job because your post is exactly my thoughts. I keep going back to prophetic words of Brucie which have been true almost since Nicholson's appointment. "He is trying to manage with two hands tied behind his back". With very little backing from those in charge of the club, he has faced a virtually impossible task.

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 06 Mar 2017, 12:56

I agree, the real problem lies with those who run, and have been running, the club. Whether KN stays or is replaced by somebody new, the situation will not improve unless the club makes funds available to whoever is manager to strengthen the team. Unfortunately, Osborne has admitted that he knows practically nothing about professional football, and gave little indication in his interview that he understands what is urgently required. He should, for now, forget his dream of a new stadium, and focus on saving the team. Because with an unsuccessful team, there will be no football, no supporters, no club, and no stadium. Without a successful team, a new stadium and its associated revenue streams will never be sustainable.

cider-gull · Post by **cider-gull** » 06 Mar 2017, 15:45

Surely time for Osbourne to back Nico or sack him! I feel the former option is the best way forward now but who knows what wheels are turning somewhere or of more concern if any are at all. We'll certainly be able to divine the true character of the Riviera Stadium outfit by the end of this week.
Let's hope the new Director of Recruitment is working round the clock to improve the on-field situation and a realistic measure of investment in the team is made available. Two or three players of the right stuff would lift the abysmal confidence of the whole Club which will underpin everything else that we have been promised recently. Here's hoping!

gateman49 · Post by **gateman49** » 06 Mar 2017, 16:28

Well put, Cidergull.

nickbrod · Post by **nickbrod** » 06 Mar 2017, 16:38

Well let's hope Dave Hedges understands the seriousness of this situation rather more than Geoff Harrop who, in my conversation with him before the Sutton loss, was totally confident (complacent?) that we would not be relegated. Two defeats later maybe he's changed his mind.
Hopefully he's been on his phone today to Clarke Osborne to tell him there's a bit of a problem at TQ1.

desperado · Post by **desperado** » 06 Mar 2017, 17:02

Yes, there seems to be unbelievable complacency, Nicholson said in the paper before saturday, 'this is nowhere near the dire situation of last season' if he still thinks that the bloke is deluded, all the other teams bar maybe Southport are
picking up points, if we dont beat them next saturday its all over bearing in mind we have to go to Wrexham, Lincoln, Aldershot, Dover, and Tranmere at home

desperado · Post by **desperado** » 06 Mar 2017, 18:05

In reply to Merses comment on the goalkeeper, agree he was partly to blame though Anderson should have dealt with the long ball, but Moore is the least of our problems.Not sure how many games you have seen this season but Moore comes out and takes crosses better than any keeper I have seen at Plainmoor for years. OK he makes a few howlers but nothing compared to calamity Rice, who couldnt catch a cold. The one thing he is not doing so much is throwing the ball out , I presume he is being told to do this pointless ballooning the ball down the field to our one striker
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