Firstly Nick's perceived lack of playing ability. Let's be honest - a lot of this is subjective in the first place. Not many people really know how good a player Nick Rhodes truly is, and the ones that have the best and most educated idea, aren't venturing their opinions any time soon (well not if they want to work with Duran in the future at least).
But perception is reality, and you hear a lot more rumours that Nick is not a great player, rather than that he has impressive keyboard skills.
Here's the thing - Nick himself doesn't care too much about what he can and can't play; to him it's about ideas, rather than performance. If he needs something complicated played, he'll hire somebody to do it.
To some people - that's fine. They have the attitude "if that's good enough for Nick Rhodes, then that's good enough for me". But to others - that is lazy. They have the attitude "oh come on, Nick Rhodes has been playing this instrument for over 40 years, you telling me he hasn't had the time to come up with these great ideas, plus also learn how to play them himself, rather than hiring other musicians to do it for him"?
And you know what - both of those points of view are valid, but it will mean the proponents of each will be critical of each other, and disagree on internet forums
Secondly it is reported that Nick Rhodes owns the Duran Duran name. Not Nick and John, who started the band, not Nick, John, Simon, Andy, and Roger who made it famous, and not Nick, John, Simon, and Roger who chronologically have been the longest serving unit. Just Nick himself.
For some people - that's cool, how Duran Duran organise their "business" is their business. If it works - great! But for other people - this gives Nick too much control and influence. Perhaps they worry that he'll always get his own way in band discussions, and that the others may be scared to stick up for themselves? Maybe they prefer to think of Duran as being four (or however many members it has at the time) equal members, rather than thinking there's a legal "boss of the group"?
Who knows what adversaries to that idea think? But what it does mean is that the two different groups are going to be arguing again at various times.
And now the "elephant in the room" at number three - some Andy fans, or maybe just guitarist fans in general, blame Nick for Andy leaving the band twice. The "pro-Nick" group will point out that Andy is not a team player, and put himself before the band twice. While the "pro-guitarist" group will say that on both Seven & The Ragged Tiger, and Astronaut, that Andy was not given as much licence to thrill, plus was quite low in the mix at the expense of the keyboards, and this was intentional to diminish the role of the guitar on those albums.
Once again both of those views are correct - for various reasons it appears Andy does not always play well with others (depending on whom the "others" are), plus Duran has slowly been diminishing the importance of the lead guitar for some time.
Nick has great ideas, is a very good song-writer, and is intelligent and forthright. He is an asset to Duran Duran. But it appears he can also be stubborn. Quite simply - he can be divisive. I actually think Duran Duran made better music earlier on when Nick was learning his craft; the better Nick has gotten, the more keyboard layers he has added, and the (just slightly) worse the music has gotten as a result.
Compare Nick to Roger. Roger is quiet and unassuming - the "everyday" man of the band. What negatives can you say about Rog? Not many. Funnily enough, like Nick, I don't think Roger's drumming skills over the past 40 years have advanced as much as they should have either. But for some reason Roger gets a free pass on this, while Nick gets crucified.
In terms of divisive band members in Duran Duran, it goes Nick then Simon, then a large gap to John then Roger. When it comes to personalities you wouldn't want four Nicks in the band, as they would constantly be at each other's hypothetical throats. But you wouldn't want four Rogers either, as not enough hard and fast decisions would be made when required.
I actually think the personalities in Duran match each other well, and the band obviously agrees as they have been together for most of this century.
So there you have it - the reasons why there is dislike for Nick Rhodes on a Duran Duran forum. Thankfully there is also love for him as well
Anybody else have questions to the universe they need answered? No it's not 42. If so, PM me and I'll let you know the answer plus my bank account details.