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One of only two managers to manage Leicester City Twice
Credited with laying the foundations for Leicester City's Premier League Title success, Nigel Pearson is the ultimate Marmite manager.
The Good 
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The Bad 
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The Ugly 
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Peter Hodge (1919-26 & 1932-34) is the only other manager to have managed Leicester City over 2 spells and like Peter Hodge before him, Nigel Pearson went on to win the 2nd Tier of English Football for Leicester City
- Managerial statistics
22 June 2008 - 29 June 2010
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15 November 2011 - 30 June 2015
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Nigel Pearson's first stint in charge saw a win percentage of 51.4%, the best ever by any Leicester City Manager, while his second stint win percentage of 46.7% is the the 4th
Football League Championship: 2013/14
Football League One: 2008/09
LMA Championship Manager of the Year: 2013–1
Premier League Manager of the Month: April 2015
Football League Championship Manager of the Month:
February 2010, January 2013, January 2014, March 2014 Football League One Manager of the Month: August 2008, December 2008
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- 20 June 2008 - June 2010
On 20 June 2008, Pearson was appointed as manager of Leicester City. Craig Shakespeare became the club's first team coach and co-assistant manager alongside Steve Walsh (a former Chelsea chief scout, and not the former Leicester City player of the same name). As well as having worked together on the West Bromwich Albion coaching staff, the two had also played together at Sheffield Wednesday. Shakespeare once said that Pearson was the best captain he had ever played under. Pearson was named League One Manager of the Month for August 2008 after Leicester won three of their first four games, scoring nine goals and conceding only once.
After the disappointing defeat of losing 3–2 away to Brighton & Hove Albion despite being 2–0 up at half-time, Leicester bounced back with a club record 23 match unbeaten run in the league between 1 November 2008 and 7 March 2009, before finally being beaten 2–0 by Tranmere Rovers. He was again named the League One Manager of the Month during that run in December 2008. On 18 April 2009, Leicester won 2–0 at Southend United, confirming their promotion back to the Championship as League One champions. The season finished with the club racking up their highest ever point tally of 96 points as they lost just four of their 46 league games.
Veteran full-back Chris Powell also joined Pearson's coaching staff as a player/coach in the summer of 2009, as Leicester continued their upsurge in form under Pearson the following season in the Championship, Leicester completed a full calendar year of being undefeated at home before a 2–1 defeat against Preston North End on 26 September 2009 ended the longest unbeaten home run in the country.Leicester spent almost the entire season in the play-off positions and an impressive month of February saw Pearson pick up the Championship Manager of the Month award.Leicester finished in 5th place in their first season back in the Championship, earning a place in the Championship play-offs and a chance of back-to-back promotions.They were defeated by Cardiff City following a penalty shoot-out in the play-off semi final, despite fighting back from a 2-goal aggregate deficit in the second leg to briefly lead 3–2.
At the end of the season, Pearson took a hard line on Leicester defender Wayne Brown, who had publicly said in front of his teammates – including some of ethnic minority backgrounds – that he had voted for the far-right British National Party in the general election on 6 May. He dropped Brown from the side for the play-offs. During the close season, Brown left the club to sign for Preston North End.
Despite his relative success in his two years at Leicester, he often had a very strained relationship with chairman Milan Mandaric and chief executive Lee Hoos. In the summer of 2010, Mandaric showed a consortium of potential club buyers round the club without Pearson's permission and invited Paulo Sousa to the second leg of the play-off semi final. The club then allowed Hull City to speak to him. Pearson said: "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what's happening" – suggesting the club did not want to keep him. He then left Leicester to take the job at Hull City and Paulo Sousa was later appointed as his successor. (courtesy of wikipedia)
After the disappointing defeat of losing 3–2 away to Brighton & Hove Albion despite being 2–0 up at half-time, Leicester bounced back with a club record 23 match unbeaten run in the league between 1 November 2008 and 7 March 2009, before finally being beaten 2–0 by Tranmere Rovers. He was again named the League One Manager of the Month during that run in December 2008. On 18 April 2009, Leicester won 2–0 at Southend United, confirming their promotion back to the Championship as League One champions. The season finished with the club racking up their highest ever point tally of 96 points as they lost just four of their 46 league games.
Veteran full-back Chris Powell also joined Pearson's coaching staff as a player/coach in the summer of 2009, as Leicester continued their upsurge in form under Pearson the following season in the Championship, Leicester completed a full calendar year of being undefeated at home before a 2–1 defeat against Preston North End on 26 September 2009 ended the longest unbeaten home run in the country.Leicester spent almost the entire season in the play-off positions and an impressive month of February saw Pearson pick up the Championship Manager of the Month award.Leicester finished in 5th place in their first season back in the Championship, earning a place in the Championship play-offs and a chance of back-to-back promotions.They were defeated by Cardiff City following a penalty shoot-out in the play-off semi final, despite fighting back from a 2-goal aggregate deficit in the second leg to briefly lead 3–2.
At the end of the season, Pearson took a hard line on Leicester defender Wayne Brown, who had publicly said in front of his teammates – including some of ethnic minority backgrounds – that he had voted for the far-right British National Party in the general election on 6 May. He dropped Brown from the side for the play-offs. During the close season, Brown left the club to sign for Preston North End.
Despite his relative success in his two years at Leicester, he often had a very strained relationship with chairman Milan Mandaric and chief executive Lee Hoos. In the summer of 2010, Mandaric showed a consortium of potential club buyers round the club without Pearson's permission and invited Paulo Sousa to the second leg of the play-off semi final. The club then allowed Hull City to speak to him. Pearson said: "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what's happening" – suggesting the club did not want to keep him. He then left Leicester to take the job at Hull City and Paulo Sousa was later appointed as his successor. (courtesy of wikipedia)
- The Ostrich Incident
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15 November 2011 - June 2015
After Mandaric and Hoos had departed the club, Pearson was persuaded to rejoin Leicester City under their new ownership by chairman Vichai Raksriaksorn and after days of negotiations he was finally re-appointed as manager on 15 November 2011 with Leicester sitting 12th in the Championship. Pearson started well, taking seven points from his first three games which took Leicester into the top six for the first time since he had last been at the club, over 18 months previously, before Leicester faced the Hull City side Pearson had left just 18 days earlier. Leicester lost the game 2–1 thanks to a late Robert Koren strike, as Pearson was greeted with chants of "Judas" from the Hull fans.
That result also signalled a downturn in form, beginning a run which saw Leicester fail to win for 5 consecutive games.However, after the new year, Pearson rang the changes for the trip to Crystal Palace in an attempt to get back to winning ways, recalling Aleksander Tunchev to play his first match of the season and bringing in reserve team player Tom Kennedy and 18-year-old youth academy graduate Liam Moore to make his first team debut for the club. His inexperienced team selection paid off as Leicester earnt a 2–1 victory to end their winless run.
Pearson was sent to the stands in a 2–2 draw against his former club Middlesbrough, after the referee had allegedly "barged" into Leicester's dressing room unannounced, to which Pearson reacted angrily. The referee then left it to the fourth official to tell him he had been sent off. Pearson then appealed his sending off saying, "I was giving my players instructions and there is no chance I will tolerate anyone coming in there who has nothing to do with my team. I'm within my rights to tell him to get out – he was telling me to hurry up. I can't wait to see the fall-out and I can't wait to appeal." Pearson's appeal was successful,and he faced no disciplinary action from the Football Association (FA). After an inconsistent season, Leicester ended the season ninth in the Championship.
Leicester made a slow start to the 2012–13 season, losing three of their first five league games and suffering a surprising defeat in the second round of the League Cup to the hands of League Two side Burton Albion; however, a run of five straight victories saw Leicester sitting top of the table after 12 games and also earnt Pearson a nomination for Championship Manager of the Month in September. However, a drop in form in mid season saw Leicester fall to fifth. The signing of Chris Wood, though, saw a rejuvenated Leicester go on another run of five consecutive wins, with Leicester reprising 2nd place in the Championship table, behind leaders Cardiff City, and Pearson this time won the Championship Manager of the Month award for January 2013.
Again, a drop in form followed Leicester City's rise to second spot, and they only made the Championship play-offs on goal difference following their last gasp 3–2 win against neighbours Nottingham Forest on the last day of the season. After winning the first leg against third-placed Watford 1–0, Pearson's Leicester City narrowly lost the second leg of the play-offs 3–1, after Anthony Knockaert missed a last-minute penalty which would have sent them to Wembley.
The 2013–14 season saw Leicester recover from their play-off defeat of the previous season, starting well and sitting in first place at Christmas. It was during this time that the club started a club-record run of consecutive league victories, winning nine games from 21 December 2013 – 1 February 2014, which saw the club pull 10 points clear at the top of the Championship and earnt Pearson the Championship Manager of the Month award for January 2014. Continuing good results, which saw Leicester play 20 league games unbeaten until the end of March, also earned Pearson the award again in March 2014. Leicester ended the season as champions, winning promotion to the Premier League
In February 2015, following a home defeat by Crystal Palace in a game in which, at one point, Pearson put his hands around Palace's James McArthur's neck, while on the ground, the press reported that Pearson had been sacked. In a "night of confusion," it was reported by The Guardian that club staff, and even Pearson himself had been told that he was sacked. However, the same evening, the club issued a statement stating that such claims were "inaccurate and without foundation."
Following victories against, West Ham United, West Brom, Swansea City and Burnley, with just one defeat, against Chelsea, during the month of April 2015, Pearson won the Premier League Manager of the Month for the first time. On 29 April 2015, following a 3–1 defeat to Chelsea, Pearson was again embroiled in controversy, when he called a journalist an "ostrich", "stupid" and "daft" during a post-match news conference. He apologised for his comments the following day.
On 16 May 2015, Leicester City confirmed their Premier League status following a goalless draw with Sunderland, becoming only the third team to escape relegation having been bottom at Christmas. Leicester finished the season in 14th place.
On 30 June 2015, however, Pearson was sacked, with the club stating that "the working relationship between Nigel and the Board was no longer viable." The sacking was linked to his son James' role in an alleged racist sex tape made by three Leicester City reserve players in Thailand during a post-season tour. He was replaced at Leicester City by Claudio Ranieri, who took Leicester to the Premier League title the following year as 5000–1 outsiders. Sports journalists gave Pearson credit for building the team that won the title, as did player Riyad Mahrez. (courtesy of wikipedia)
That result also signalled a downturn in form, beginning a run which saw Leicester fail to win for 5 consecutive games.However, after the new year, Pearson rang the changes for the trip to Crystal Palace in an attempt to get back to winning ways, recalling Aleksander Tunchev to play his first match of the season and bringing in reserve team player Tom Kennedy and 18-year-old youth academy graduate Liam Moore to make his first team debut for the club. His inexperienced team selection paid off as Leicester earnt a 2–1 victory to end their winless run.
Pearson was sent to the stands in a 2–2 draw against his former club Middlesbrough, after the referee had allegedly "barged" into Leicester's dressing room unannounced, to which Pearson reacted angrily. The referee then left it to the fourth official to tell him he had been sent off. Pearson then appealed his sending off saying, "I was giving my players instructions and there is no chance I will tolerate anyone coming in there who has nothing to do with my team. I'm within my rights to tell him to get out – he was telling me to hurry up. I can't wait to see the fall-out and I can't wait to appeal." Pearson's appeal was successful,and he faced no disciplinary action from the Football Association (FA). After an inconsistent season, Leicester ended the season ninth in the Championship.
Leicester made a slow start to the 2012–13 season, losing three of their first five league games and suffering a surprising defeat in the second round of the League Cup to the hands of League Two side Burton Albion; however, a run of five straight victories saw Leicester sitting top of the table after 12 games and also earnt Pearson a nomination for Championship Manager of the Month in September. However, a drop in form in mid season saw Leicester fall to fifth. The signing of Chris Wood, though, saw a rejuvenated Leicester go on another run of five consecutive wins, with Leicester reprising 2nd place in the Championship table, behind leaders Cardiff City, and Pearson this time won the Championship Manager of the Month award for January 2013.
Again, a drop in form followed Leicester City's rise to second spot, and they only made the Championship play-offs on goal difference following their last gasp 3–2 win against neighbours Nottingham Forest on the last day of the season. After winning the first leg against third-placed Watford 1–0, Pearson's Leicester City narrowly lost the second leg of the play-offs 3–1, after Anthony Knockaert missed a last-minute penalty which would have sent them to Wembley.
The 2013–14 season saw Leicester recover from their play-off defeat of the previous season, starting well and sitting in first place at Christmas. It was during this time that the club started a club-record run of consecutive league victories, winning nine games from 21 December 2013 – 1 February 2014, which saw the club pull 10 points clear at the top of the Championship and earnt Pearson the Championship Manager of the Month award for January 2014. Continuing good results, which saw Leicester play 20 league games unbeaten until the end of March, also earned Pearson the award again in March 2014. Leicester ended the season as champions, winning promotion to the Premier League
In February 2015, following a home defeat by Crystal Palace in a game in which, at one point, Pearson put his hands around Palace's James McArthur's neck, while on the ground, the press reported that Pearson had been sacked. In a "night of confusion," it was reported by The Guardian that club staff, and even Pearson himself had been told that he was sacked. However, the same evening, the club issued a statement stating that such claims were "inaccurate and without foundation."
Following victories against, West Ham United, West Brom, Swansea City and Burnley, with just one defeat, against Chelsea, during the month of April 2015, Pearson won the Premier League Manager of the Month for the first time. On 29 April 2015, following a 3–1 defeat to Chelsea, Pearson was again embroiled in controversy, when he called a journalist an "ostrich", "stupid" and "daft" during a post-match news conference. He apologised for his comments the following day.
On 16 May 2015, Leicester City confirmed their Premier League status following a goalless draw with Sunderland, becoming only the third team to escape relegation having been bottom at Christmas. Leicester finished the season in 14th place.
On 30 June 2015, however, Pearson was sacked, with the club stating that "the working relationship between Nigel and the Board was no longer viable." The sacking was linked to his son James' role in an alleged racist sex tape made by three Leicester City reserve players in Thailand during a post-season tour. He was replaced at Leicester City by Claudio Ranieri, who took Leicester to the Premier League title the following year as 5000–1 outsiders. Sports journalists gave Pearson credit for building the team that won the title, as did player Riyad Mahrez. (courtesy of wikipedia)
Never far away from controversy
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- Nigel Pearson reflects on time at Leicester City with the Leicester Mercury
Nigel Pearson reclines on his comfortable cushioned wicker furniture in his peaceful garden on the outskirts of Sheffield.
The birds chirp in the trees while church bells chime in the distance. It is a peaceful scene far removed from the hurly-burly of football management. The 55-year-old seems relaxed and content. You would think it would be the perfect environment for a spot of reflection, the tranquillity aiding the process of reminiscing over his five-and-a-half seasons as Leicester City manager.
The two spells he was in charge were certainly eventful and memorable enough. Two league titles, two promotions, two play-off semi-finals, two different owners, two departures (three if you believe everything you hear) and one incredible great escape season in the Premier League. It was never dull at City.
However, Pearson looks back at his time reluctantly, but fondly. Pearson isn’t one to dwell too much on the past. Even now he is looking forward to his next challenge, a third go at the Three Peaks Challenge he completed twice as City boss with several of his staff. Pearson is tackling Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon within 24 hours with his wife’s sister-in-law Julie Williams, who is doing this in memory of her father who passed away in 2011, and their friend Gareth Challinor, who was involved in a serious motorbike accident whilst racing at a track in Wales, breaking his pelvis, his leg (tibia and fibula) and his arm in the incident.
The group is raising money for three charities; the Welsh Air Ambulance Charitable Trust, who airlifted Gareth from the remote track on the coast and took him to the Royal Stoke University Hospital, the University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity, as the critical care unit at the hospital cared for Gareth, and the Wolverhampton and District MS Therapy Centre. Even as he sits with journalists and is asked to reflect on his career as a player and manager, his thoughts turn to a long walk in the nearby Peak District later that day, part of his training for the gruelling challenge.
You would be surprised, therefore, that he says he will probably write an autobiography at some stage, although he admits his take on his time at City may differ to other people’s. “People always want you to have this list of things that are your favourites, and quite frankly I can’t remember most of them, because once you achieve one thing you move onto the next thing,” says Pearson, who has just moved back home after his time managing City's sister club, OH Leuven, in Belgium.
“It is like any group of friends sitting around the table telling stories about a great night, but you will all remember it differently. That is to do with your role in that experience.
“I tend to just live my life. I don’t spend time dwelling on good things and bad things, although you do think more about the bad things because they can come and hit you when you don’t want them too.
“I don’t spend a lot of time reminiscing. I will write a book someday, probably. It is not about reminiscing, it is about telling a story. Reminiscing is normally not very accurate.”
Mention the fact that it was the squad that he built, give or take a couple of additions, that won the Premier League title and Pearson is even more reluctant to discuss it.
“I always say I know my part in the story and that is it,” he said. “I am not interested in revisiting that.
“Nobody would envisage they would win it, but in some ways it didn’t surprise me.
continued below...
The birds chirp in the trees while church bells chime in the distance. It is a peaceful scene far removed from the hurly-burly of football management. The 55-year-old seems relaxed and content. You would think it would be the perfect environment for a spot of reflection, the tranquillity aiding the process of reminiscing over his five-and-a-half seasons as Leicester City manager.
The two spells he was in charge were certainly eventful and memorable enough. Two league titles, two promotions, two play-off semi-finals, two different owners, two departures (three if you believe everything you hear) and one incredible great escape season in the Premier League. It was never dull at City.
However, Pearson looks back at his time reluctantly, but fondly. Pearson isn’t one to dwell too much on the past. Even now he is looking forward to his next challenge, a third go at the Three Peaks Challenge he completed twice as City boss with several of his staff. Pearson is tackling Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon within 24 hours with his wife’s sister-in-law Julie Williams, who is doing this in memory of her father who passed away in 2011, and their friend Gareth Challinor, who was involved in a serious motorbike accident whilst racing at a track in Wales, breaking his pelvis, his leg (tibia and fibula) and his arm in the incident.
The group is raising money for three charities; the Welsh Air Ambulance Charitable Trust, who airlifted Gareth from the remote track on the coast and took him to the Royal Stoke University Hospital, the University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity, as the critical care unit at the hospital cared for Gareth, and the Wolverhampton and District MS Therapy Centre. Even as he sits with journalists and is asked to reflect on his career as a player and manager, his thoughts turn to a long walk in the nearby Peak District later that day, part of his training for the gruelling challenge.
You would be surprised, therefore, that he says he will probably write an autobiography at some stage, although he admits his take on his time at City may differ to other people’s. “People always want you to have this list of things that are your favourites, and quite frankly I can’t remember most of them, because once you achieve one thing you move onto the next thing,” says Pearson, who has just moved back home after his time managing City's sister club, OH Leuven, in Belgium.
“It is like any group of friends sitting around the table telling stories about a great night, but you will all remember it differently. That is to do with your role in that experience.
“I tend to just live my life. I don’t spend time dwelling on good things and bad things, although you do think more about the bad things because they can come and hit you when you don’t want them too.
“I don’t spend a lot of time reminiscing. I will write a book someday, probably. It is not about reminiscing, it is about telling a story. Reminiscing is normally not very accurate.”
Mention the fact that it was the squad that he built, give or take a couple of additions, that won the Premier League title and Pearson is even more reluctant to discuss it.
“I always say I know my part in the story and that is it,” he said. “I am not interested in revisiting that.
“Nobody would envisage they would win it, but in some ways it didn’t surprise me.
continued below...
- The Thailand Incident
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....continued
“You have all the big boys having bad years and you know what the Leicester mentality is. The self confidence.
“They would never have worried about anyone else. They would have just gone: ‘Let’s do it.' That tells you about what has been developed there over a period of time, a mentality that is confident and assured, and happy about what they are themselves.
“They are not bothered about anyone else. There you go. There is the key to success. “The collective was more than important than the individuals, although there were some incredible individuals in that squad, but those individuals couldn’t have achieved success without the culture at the club being what it was.”
Despite his humility over the impact he has had on City, there is no question Pearson has been the most important manager the club has had since Martin O’Neill. But it wasn’t all fun for the former centre-half, particularly when he returned for his second spell, replacing Sven-Goran Eriksson in November 2011.
“I had one year – not a season, a year – and it ground both myself and the staff down. But for the most part it was a really enjoyable ride and we always achieved success of some sort,” he recalled. “Even the years in the play-offs that didn’t happen or the year I returned when we finished ninth (2011-12), which was a low finish for us, the success we had there was that, even though it wasn’t an enjoyable time, we knew which players we needed to get out and why we needed to get them out, and who we needed to get in.
“That year (11-12) took its toll. The year we were beaten by Watford in the play-offs (12-13) as well was an exhausting season because we were doing exceptionally well around Christmas and then we had a bad spell. "And that year, on a personal level, my job was being linked with a different manager every week. “Those sorts of times are not easy but I always had support from the players and staff, which was a help. “I look back at my time at Leicester and I admit there was always something that kept me going. I never felt like it was the end of the road. It was an enjoyable time.
“I had no regrets leaving (the first time, in 2010) when I did after my second season because I felt it was the right thing to do given the circumstances. Likewise I didn’t regret going back either because it felt like the right thing. It proved to be the right thing.” But there was one campaign that Pearson absolutely loved. “My first year was the most enjoyable I had in management,” he adds. “We had a great time.
“I didn’t know it was a tough job because I was inexperienced. A similar thing again, you go into these things with a gung-ho attitude. “We had a really good time working and evolving, making some really good friends who are still good friends now. “It was an enjoyable season in lots of ways, in terms of getting job satisfaction, having fun, doing something new.” Pearson, who said he was ready to return to work and was waiting for a job offer to come along that will excite him, doesn’t need recognition for the job he did at City, and he certainly wouldn’t ask for it.
“I remember my early time at Leicester and people always wanted to talk about Martin O’Neill, and quite rightly so,” he recalled. “Even up to my time of leaving there was probably more photos of Martin O’Neill on the walls at the club than there ever would be of me, but it didn’t bother me because I thought he was a brilliant man who did a fantastic job for the club. “What I am trying to say is, you can spend time talking about the past and reminiscing, but that is not for people at the club. They are there to create the next piece of history, whatever that it is.
“That is the philosophy you have to have in football at the sharp end because you can’t build for the future by always looking at the past.” And on that note Pearson’s thoughts quickly switch back to the present, and the challenge that awaits him a week on Saturday. “It is important to me because it is important to Gareth, his family, and for Julie as well for completely different reasons,” Pearson said.
“When you have got people who are family members or close to the family it is always gratifying to be able to help people achieve something they set out to achieve.
“I also enjoy going out on the hills. I wouldn’t necessarily choose to do something as difficult as this for the sake of it.
“Being on the fells is about just enjoying just being there, not necessarily to do something as difficult as this.
“Because of our reasons for doing it, I am kind of looking forward to doing it in a masochistic kind of way.”
(courtesy of Leicester Mercury)
“You have all the big boys having bad years and you know what the Leicester mentality is. The self confidence.
“They would never have worried about anyone else. They would have just gone: ‘Let’s do it.' That tells you about what has been developed there over a period of time, a mentality that is confident and assured, and happy about what they are themselves.
“They are not bothered about anyone else. There you go. There is the key to success. “The collective was more than important than the individuals, although there were some incredible individuals in that squad, but those individuals couldn’t have achieved success without the culture at the club being what it was.”
Despite his humility over the impact he has had on City, there is no question Pearson has been the most important manager the club has had since Martin O’Neill. But it wasn’t all fun for the former centre-half, particularly when he returned for his second spell, replacing Sven-Goran Eriksson in November 2011.
“I had one year – not a season, a year – and it ground both myself and the staff down. But for the most part it was a really enjoyable ride and we always achieved success of some sort,” he recalled. “Even the years in the play-offs that didn’t happen or the year I returned when we finished ninth (2011-12), which was a low finish for us, the success we had there was that, even though it wasn’t an enjoyable time, we knew which players we needed to get out and why we needed to get them out, and who we needed to get in.
“That year (11-12) took its toll. The year we were beaten by Watford in the play-offs (12-13) as well was an exhausting season because we were doing exceptionally well around Christmas and then we had a bad spell. "And that year, on a personal level, my job was being linked with a different manager every week. “Those sorts of times are not easy but I always had support from the players and staff, which was a help. “I look back at my time at Leicester and I admit there was always something that kept me going. I never felt like it was the end of the road. It was an enjoyable time.
“I had no regrets leaving (the first time, in 2010) when I did after my second season because I felt it was the right thing to do given the circumstances. Likewise I didn’t regret going back either because it felt like the right thing. It proved to be the right thing.” But there was one campaign that Pearson absolutely loved. “My first year was the most enjoyable I had in management,” he adds. “We had a great time.
“I didn’t know it was a tough job because I was inexperienced. A similar thing again, you go into these things with a gung-ho attitude. “We had a really good time working and evolving, making some really good friends who are still good friends now. “It was an enjoyable season in lots of ways, in terms of getting job satisfaction, having fun, doing something new.” Pearson, who said he was ready to return to work and was waiting for a job offer to come along that will excite him, doesn’t need recognition for the job he did at City, and he certainly wouldn’t ask for it.
“I remember my early time at Leicester and people always wanted to talk about Martin O’Neill, and quite rightly so,” he recalled. “Even up to my time of leaving there was probably more photos of Martin O’Neill on the walls at the club than there ever would be of me, but it didn’t bother me because I thought he was a brilliant man who did a fantastic job for the club. “What I am trying to say is, you can spend time talking about the past and reminiscing, but that is not for people at the club. They are there to create the next piece of history, whatever that it is.
“That is the philosophy you have to have in football at the sharp end because you can’t build for the future by always looking at the past.” And on that note Pearson’s thoughts quickly switch back to the present, and the challenge that awaits him a week on Saturday. “It is important to me because it is important to Gareth, his family, and for Julie as well for completely different reasons,” Pearson said.
“When you have got people who are family members or close to the family it is always gratifying to be able to help people achieve something they set out to achieve.
“I also enjoy going out on the hills. I wouldn’t necessarily choose to do something as difficult as this for the sake of it.
“Being on the fells is about just enjoying just being there, not necessarily to do something as difficult as this.
“Because of our reasons for doing it, I am kind of looking forward to doing it in a masochistic kind of way.”
(courtesy of Leicester Mercury)
Remember the good times
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- Nigel Pearson is back in the Premier League after becoming the Watford boss
What is the first thing you think of when you hear Nigel Pearson's name. It's a large bird isn't it? But believe it or not, calling a journalist an ostrich isn't the only crazy thing to happen in the former Leicester manager's life. In fact, it just about makes the top five. The Daily Mail looks at the infamous moments in his life.
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'Ostrich' rant
It goes with the territory for managers and reporters to have strong words after a match when emotions are running high, but Pearson went one further. An ugly verbal exchange following a 3-1 defeat by Chelsea saw the Leicester City manager accuse a journalist of being an ostrich, before storming out of his press conference. Pearson's words speak for themselves: 'Have you been on holiday for six months? Have you? 'I think you must have had your head in the clouds, away or on holiday or reporting on a different team because if you don't know the answer to that question, then I think your question is absolutely unbelievable. 'The fact that you don't understand where I'm coming from. If you don't understand that question then I think you are an ostrich – your head must be in the sand. Is your head in the sand? 'Are you flexible enough to get your head in the sand? My suspicion would be no. I can. You can't.' Racist orgy
This did not involve Pearson but it did hurt his reputation. Leicester City players James Pearson - the son of Nigel, Adam Smith, and Tom Hopper, took part in a depraved sex session in Thailand on an end-of-season tour in 2015. Amid vile scenes which showed the naked footballers dishing out a tirade of abuse to the women prostitutes, one of the players can be heard shouting 'slit eye' while his friends laugh at the racist jibe. One of the young players taunted one of the women for being f***** minging' before saying: 'She's an absolute one out of ten.' The footage was a huge embarrassment for Nigel, who has been an outspoken ambassador for the Kick It Out scheme, the campaign to end racism in football. It was also a huge blow to the club's Thai owners Vichai and Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha who worked hard to form a partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, a club sponsor. The club at the time said the players 'would like to convey their sincere apologies for their behaviour - to the women involved in the incident, to the club and its owners, to the club's fans and to their families'. The video - which included a running commentary of the lewd sex acts - begins with the three players stripped naked and joking around as they engage in sex acts with the women. Amid a tirade of abuse, the stars make a series of degrading comments about the two women. After calling her 'minging', one of the players is heard shouting: 'Oi Hops, I'll swap you.' They also egged each other on as they shouted encouraging comments to the women such as 'Go on, love'. The players made several other vile comments which are too graphic to print. The men then watched as the woman engaged in sexual acts together before Hopper and Pearson give one another a celebratory high-five. The events unfolded while the players were touring Thailand after their sensational season climax in which they avoided relegation. The leaked video infuriated the Srivaddhanaprabha family, who are Buddhists and place great value on decency and manners, and the trio of players were sacked. Pearson was axed as Leicester boss less than two weeks later. 
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Wild dog clash
Which manager would you be most afraid of has always been a trivial football debate among fans. Pearson would probably be high up on people's list and after hearing his encounter with a pack of wild dogs whilst hiking alone in the Carpathian mountains, he might be bumped up to number one. 'There was five of them,' he recalled in a Sky Sports documentary, 'and what they do is that one goes for you and the others [circle] around until one of them can bring you down – what they essentially do is rip the throat out.' He said he had escaped them first time by throwing himself into a 'patch of brambles and nettles' where he knew the dogs would not follow. When they attacked a second time he had only his walking poles to defend himself. 'I backed myself against a tree,' Pearson said. 'I thought 'I don't want to get attacked from behind'. I was absolutely goosed by this point.' He did not go into details about how he survived, saying only that he 'managed to get rid of them'. The best part is he reflected on the incident as if he had just been knocked out of the Carabao Cup: 'It was not a nice experience.' Choking McArthur
Then there was that extraordinary moment involving James McArthur which started as a laugh and finished with a snarl. Pearson smilingly put his hands round McArthur's throat while the Palace man lay on the floor after he had accidentally sent Pearson flying in the final minutes of Palace's win at the King Power Stadium in 2015. Pearson then hauled the player to his feet before grabbing McArthur's shirt and refused to release him. A clearly rattled McArthur pulled away, mouthing 'get off me' and rival manager Alan Pardew came over to see what was happening. When Pearson said he was only playing around, McArthur is understood to have replied that the stranglehold was hurting his throat. Afterwards Pearson, who failed in an attempt to sign McArthur from Wigan last summer, only managed to muddy the waters even more. 'He said something to me,' said Pearson. 'I don't have to reveal anything, do I? I think I'm more than capable of looking after myself.' The then Leicester manager added: 'I have no problem with the lad. He's a likeable lad. I'm as disappointed as he was with how things (his transfer) panned out. 'But it's the other football club (Wigan) which was involved in it who take absolute responsibility for anything that wasn't quite right. And a certain manager (then Wigan boss Uwe Rosler), who opened his trap when he should have kept his mouth shut.' Pearson's tenure at Leicester City descended into farce the next day with the club forced to release a statement insisting they had not sacked him. Members of Pearson's backroom staff had been told he had left, 24 hours after he grabbed McArthur by the throat. But Leicester, after more than three hours of silence despite his 'sacking' being widely reported, eventually confirmed that he would be staying. 
'F*** off and die'
Even by the standards of the football terraces, this was an inflammatory jibe by Pearson. Video footage emerged in 2014 showing the manager of Leicester City telling one of his own team's supporters to 'f*** off and die'. The extraordinary incident came during a match in which Nigel Pearson's side lost to Liverpool. He exchanged abuse with the fan during the final few minutes of the game when both men were sitting in the main stand at the King Power Stadium in Leicester. It is understood that Pearson snapped after the fan called him an 'utter t***'. The manager admitted his part in the spat, saying after the game: 'I replied to one idiot in the stands – if he doesn't like what he sees, then don't bother coming. 'Maybe they ought to think about staying at home. We've worked hard and will continue to do so. I don't like the commitment of my players being questioned.' 
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