Stan's 5-Point Stance: Pearson Should Ignore Press, Klopp Question at Liverpool?

In this week's five-point stance, Stan Collymore visits topics related to Nigel Pearson's post-match spat with a journalist, Brendan Rodgers' future at Liverpool, Manchester United and the rise of "smaller" names to the top flight

1. Nigel Pearson should forget media and focus on successfully keeping Leicester in top flight

I was at Nigel Pearson's press conference on Wednesday night. I like him a lot as a manager and know how much hard work he's put into Leicester City.

Having spoken to them on Wednesday, I know the players are motivated under him, are disciplined and understand their roles. If he keeps Leicester up, he should be considered as a challenger for Manager of the Year. 

From the perspective of a friend, though, Nigel should leave these spats with journalists alone. I just wouldn't get involved.

Having played professional football for a long time, I know journalists will have a pop at managers and players and, over the course of a season, it can get quite wearing. If I was Nigel, I would do the cursory comments about the game and just move on.

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His press conference on Wednesday night detracted from a very good Leicester performance, one which they can take a lot of pride and heart from. And in little soundbites for television, it can make managers look quite petty.

Virtually every manager I played under had run-ins with the media. Martin O'Neill was always knocking heads with journalists, while Jose Mourinho can get away with it because he has trophies to back it up. But Nigel still has work to do at the foot of the table.

Maybe Nigel, who has since apologised to the journalist in question, was taking pressure off his players, and if that works, it is very clever, but I think he does let one or two characters get under his skin, and I don't think he should.

He is a bloody good manager, and if he keeps Leicester up this season, that will be a minor miracle.

They still have a couple of home games coming up, and it is very much in their own hands.

2. Liverpool owners face possible Jurgen Klopp conundrum, but I'd stand by Brendan

Jon Flanagan is going to be a big miss for Liverpool after further bad injury news on Thursday, via BBC Sport.

Brendan Rodgers cannot afford to have players out of form—virtually all of his signings aren't in form—and the long-term injuries to Daniel Sturridge and Flanagan don't help.

Rodgers now needs a couple of confidence-boosting wins before the end of the season, starting with Queens Park Rangers on Saturday. And if he gets to the end of the campaign with a few good wins, he will buy himself another season.

But he needs to identify his first XI, their system of play, his Plan B and get rid of the deadwood quickly.

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I feel for him at the moment with all the "Rodgers Out" comments. There are two clubs who can realistically reach the Champions League—Liverpool and Manchester United.

United get Falcao and Angel Di Maria, Liverpool get Mario Balotelli and Lazar Markovic. Who are the two better players in each side? And still United can afford to have those two as passengers in the season. Rodgers cannot afford passengers.

If Jurgen Klopp is available in the summer, at least ask the question behind the scenes—and this happens a lot in football—if he is interested in Liverpool.

If he is, the Liverpool board will have a decision to make: Do they let a very promising 42-year-old go and bring in a man with no Premier League experience but has name recognition or stick with Brendan?

I would be tempted to stick with Brendan, but he needs a striker and to get rid of the deadwood. If he does that, he has a chance of the top four next.

Liverpool aren't a sacking club, and I would be astounded if they got rid of someone before the January transfer window. Unless they're in the bottom five or something as bad, they should give him next year. He has earned that with what he's done to date.

But the question is, will Liverpool give Klopp that call behind the scenes?

3. Manchester United need major summer spend to make impact next season

After the defeats to Chelsea and Everton, Louis van Gaal will recognise that Manchester United still need a big, strong defensive midfielder to play alongside Michael Carrick.

Daley Blind is not a defensive midfielder and, against Everton, he was better in the attacking positions.

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At centre-back, Mats Hummels and Ron Vlaar have been mentioned. I don't think either is truly world-class, but United may well get one of them.

They need a specialist right-back, and that, for me, would be Nathaniel Clyne of Southampton. They also need to get rid of Falcao and bring in a younger forward such as Christian Benteke with his best years ahead of him for £15-£20 million.

United will have to spend big money to get one of world football's best central midfielders, like Geoffrey Kondogbia of Monaco or Paul Pogba from Juventus. But it was obvious at Goodison Park that is what they need.

And it will become even more obvious in the Champions League next season.

4. Give Premier League clubs a choice over Europa League participation

I was talking to a number of Everton supporters after the game against United on Sunday who told me the Europa League had killed them this season.

I think clubs should be able to make a choice over whether they want to compete in the Europa League, and if not, the place should be given to the next team down in the Premier League.

As a player, I would want to play in the UEFA Cup as it used to be. I want to be drawn out of the hat against the likes of Ajax and then play a two-legged match to progress.

Andrew Medichini/Associated Press

Trying to make the Europa League a poor man's Champions League is ridiculous. You travel to Russia and then come back with three injuries.

Don't forget the squads at Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Southampton are not as big as the ones at Manchester City and Chelsea.

So some teams would only have to take a hit on three players with injury or loss of form and it derails your Premier League campaign.

I played in the UEFA Cup for Aston Villa and we were up against Atletico Madrid in the quarter-final. We had two games, one at the Vicente Calderon and one at Villa Park. It was great. There was no league bull where grounds are half-empty.

We need to get back to the sole knockout style of the UEFA Cup.

5. Promotion of 'smaller' clubs leaves potential Premier League conundrum for future

Congratulations to Bournemouth and Watford for their promotion to the Premier League.

But their arrival in the top flight is an indication that the Premier League will have to answer some questions in a few years' time about how it treats "bigger" clubs and if it wants a meritocracy? Furthermore, would it want to make the playing field more level for smaller clubs?

Think about it. If you and I bought Leeds United, it would cost us quite a bit of money because they are a big club. We take them into the Premier League and we're sitting in the directors box with 40,000 fans praising you to the hilt.

But there's a problem, because it costs a lot of money to keep a club that size running and if you get it wrong, you have 40,000 people screaming, "sack the board!"

Clive Rose/Getty Images

So people with huge amounts of money are now looking to the likes of Bournemouth, Brentford and Rotherham United to buy because it costs very little to run them.

Then they get them into the Premier League, where the money makes the club 10 or 20 times more than what it actually is. They are feted for reaching the top flight, nobody will hate them and it's a big ego trip, which has cost them relatively little money to do.

I think, in around 15 years' time, we are going to see a Premier League with more Bournemouths and less Leeds Uniteds. The bigger question is, if you are a television broadcaster, are you going to want to pay the same money for Bournemouth vs. Wigan Athletic as you do for traditional powerhouses?

I think we may see the balance shift and the Premier League will have to answer some questions over whether it can sell the TV rights for those new, smaller clubs.

Hull City, Swansea City, Wigan and Bournemouth are clubs who have arrived in the Premier League from League Two in recent years.

It is going to be an interesting question for the Premier League to answer. Do they create a Premier League Two to accommodate these clubs?

It is a valid question Richard Scudamore and the Premier League will have to answer at some point, and it is going to be interesting to see how it develops in the coming years.