Pearson - two minds

[Alpine White]

I'm in two minds about Pearson.

On the one hand, he is certainly one of our better players and is one of the few players we've got I consider to be Premier League standard.

On the other hand, he's also a liability due to his terrible discipline. His behavior is exactly the type that I don't want PNE to be associated with and he singly handedly sets referees against us in almost every match he plays (which are all the ones he's not suspended for).

There's a matter of pragmatism here, but also one of heart. How we feel about PNE matters. Watching Pearson kicking people and play acting and back chatting to the ref is not what I want to see from PNE. I am not naïve on this - but there is a line and Pearson doesn't only cross it, he ignores it.

My conclusion : he needs training on dealing with his anger etc. Give him that and give him until the January window to show he can behave himself. If not, he's got to go. If he does, reward him with a better contract.

 

[SF]

He's our best player by a mile and i'd rather have him for 32 games a season than none.

At no point would I consider pushing him out of the club, just got to hope he learns, which he probably won't.

 

[Retfordpete]

Whilst he frustrates the hell out of me he is our best player and when he is available makes a big difference. From the OP though I can't remember him play acting. I'll not dispute kicking or backchat though!

 

[Joanpne]

He's our best player by a mile and i'd rather have him for 32 games a season than none.

At no point would I consider pushing him out of the club, just got to hope he learns, which he probably won't.

100% agree with this. I just don’t get why people would think any different.

 

[Walton]

Just enjoy him while he’s on the pitch and let others worry about his miss timed tackles, back chatting the ref will be a bit more difficult with the sort of refs we seem to get, like Pete I don’t recall much in the play acting department, I know he gets the shit kicked out of him and just gets on with it.

If he could be the player people want him to be he would probably still been at MUFC?

 

[No Danger]

He's our best player by a mile and i'd rather have him for 32 games a season than none.

At no point would I consider pushing him out of the club, just got to hope he learns, which he probably won't.

It's a tricky dilemma. Clearly a very important player for us. The trouble is if he believes he's indispensable he hasn't the same motivation to change.
He has an obligation to all at the club to eliminate the bookings for dissent. I wonder if he is getting fined by the club for such bookings.
The more games he plays the better the chance of a top six finish. I think robust challenges (but not leg breakers) we can live with but missing matches due to excessive dissent is a waste.

 

[Retfordpete]

It's a tricky dilemma. Clearly a very important player for us. The trouble is if he believes he's indispensable he hasn't the same motivation to change.
He has an obligation to all at the club to eliminate the bookings for dissent. I wonder if he is getting fined by the club for such bookings.
The more games he plays the better the chance of a top six finish. I think robust challenges (but not leg breakers) we can live with but missing matches due to excessive dissent is a waste.

Yep I agree - I have less of an issue with him flying into tackles and getting booked than I do with getting booked for mouthing off, or moving a free kick, or sent off for after-match headbutting. Who knows, if he didn't do those things he may get a bit more latitude with the actual tackling too...

 

[Jack Daniels]

Could do worse than get Gregan in over the summer to show Pearson how to be physical and boss that area of the pitch without accumulating the silly bookings.

 

[California_PNE]

i think the problem is his hair

 

[anotherstaffor_]

Reminds me a lot of joey Barton in his way, has a short fuse that goes off at unexpected times and hits the self destruct button.

Instrumental in a couple of promotions from this league though.

Counselling worthwhile but I think that fuse will always be there and managing ie pulling out of the game before he gets a second. Downside is Refs look for players with that reputation, which whatever way you look at it is earned by the player concerned.

 

[utw]

What a ridiculous post. He's by far our best player.

 

[BPIG]

Reminds me a lot of joey Barton in his way, has a short fuse that goes off at unexpected times and hits the self destruct button.

Instrumental in a couple of promotions from this league though.

Counselling worthwhile but I think that fuse will always be there and managing ie pulling out of the game before he gets a second. Downside is Refs look for players with that reputation, which whatever way you look at it is earned by the player concerned.

Yeah, on the pitch I agree but I think Pearson is better than Barton. Off the pitch they are complete opposites.

 

[black prince]

I'm in two minds about Pearson.

On the one hand, he is certainly one of our better players and is one of the few players we've got I consider to be Premier League standard.

On the other hand, he's also a liability due to his terrible discipline. His behavior is exactly the type that I don't want PNE to be associated with and he singly handedly sets referees against us in almost every match he plays (which are all the ones he's not suspended for).

There's a matter of pragmatism here, but also one of heart. How we feel about PNE matters. Watching Pearson kicking people and play acting and back chatting to the ref is not what I want to see from PNE. I am not naïve on this - but there is a line and Pearson doesn't only cross it, he ignores it.

My conclusion : he needs training on dealing with his anger etc. Give him that and give him until the January window to show he can behave himself. If not, he's got to go. If he does, reward him with a better contract.

While hes on his anger management course get Fisher and Johnston along with him and see if they can improve on their backchatting and petulance on the pitch towards refs.Neither of them realises that Refs wont change decisions once made,then Pne would have a disciplinary record second to none

 

[BPIG]

While hes on his anger management course get Fisher and Johnston along with him and see if they can improve on their backchatting and petulance on the pitch towards refs.Neither of them realises that Refs wont change decisions once made,then Pne would have a disciplinary record second to none

It isn't about trying to get them to change their mind though. It's about getting in their heads and making them doubt themselves, which in turn makes them sub-consciously more likely to even it up. Every club in the country will have designated players who are instructed to get in the refs ear.

Pearson and Fisher probably aren't those people, it's more likely to be Gallagher or Johnson who tend to have a laugh and a joke with the ref and therefore are less likely to get booked for speaking to them.

 

[MrHodgeheg123]

The thread title is wrong.ot should say

Pearson - Out Of His Mind.

 

[STF72]

Push Pearson further up in midfield then he’s not having to make the tackles all the time, he’s often left to cover in front of the back 4 on his own. I’m sure he could press further up the pitch like Browne does, on a lighter note get Pearson to shave his head and change his shirt number. He’s a marked man with the referees before he gets out of the tunnel

 

[raefil]

Passion, take out of him and he wont be half the player he is.

Needs coaching how to channel that passion.

 

[Garden Gnome]

My second favourite player after Browne.
A big part ofPearsons problem is himself which, for the most part, I can accept as he is so good. But he must learn to pick his battles better.
However he is a marked man before matches start. This is down to opposing managers and players targeting him. Leeds at Deepdale were masters at this.

Also there is a problem of refs training. They are shown video clips of CURRENT players giving fouls, ..so when a ref is in charge of a match where one of the players highlighted by the FA in their courses, Pearson in this case, is playing, the ref is all too quick to presume the worst and dishes out cards accordingly.
The FA are culpable in this. Surely there are enough video examples from past matches of players who are no longer playing to teach referring standards. At present they are almost wilfully training refs to be prejudice..... and it shows.
Once again the FA should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute over this as it means that refs can in no way be concidered neutral.

 

[Delaney]

My second favourite player after Browne.
A big part ofPearsons problem is himself which, for the most part, I can accept as he is so good. But he must learn to pick his battles better.
However he is a marked man before matches start. This is down to opposing managers and players targeting him. Leeds at Deepdale were masters at this.

Also there is a problem of refs training. They are shown video clips of CURRENT players giving fouls, ..so when a ref is in charge of a match where one of the players highlighted by the FA in their courses, Pearson in this case, is playing, the ref is all too quick to presume the worst and dishes out cards accordingly.
The FA are culpable in this. Surely there are enough video examples from past matches of players who are no longer playing to teach referring standards. At present they are almost wilfully training refs to be prejudice..... and it shows.
Once again the FA should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute over this as it means that refs can in no way be concidered neutral.

Heard Peter Crouch mentioning that in a referees briefing before one World Cup they were all told specifically to watch out for Crouch's elbows when he jumped. I understand the FA telling refs to look out for certain kinds of fouls and even referees treating certain players more harshly based on what they've picked up about them over the season by associations encouraging certain players to be targeted doesn't seem on at all to me.

 

[PNEroulette]

Reminds me a lot of joey Barton in his way, has a short fuse that goes off at unexpected times and hits the self destruct button.

Instrumental in a couple of promotions from this league though.

Counselling worthwhile but I think that fuse will always be there and managing ie pulling out of the game before he gets a second. Downside is Refs look for players with that reputation, which whatever way you look at it is earned by the player concerned.

Agree there as element of self destruction involved , Dyche handled Barton very well , the top managers know how to handle different players needs ,Ferguson was a master at it. AN as the man in charge needs to work out how to get the best out of Pearson without him boiling over , that's part of his job.