Pearson in the Telegraph

[davieG]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/01/12/discovering-real-nigel-pearson-cartoon-drawing-nurturing-individual/

 

Discovering the real Nigel Pearson: The cartoon-drawing and nurturing individual at odds with the prickly public persona

 

 Oliver Brown, chief sports feature writer

12 JANUARY 2020 • 8:30AM

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No one will ever know what possessed Nigel Pearson to issue his infamous slur on flightless birds, deriding a journalist at Leicester City as an “ostrich”. But a little-known postscript to this incident is that the very next day, the club chef offered up ostrich burgers as his daily special. And that 20 of Pearson’s staff arrived at work wearing black T-shirts with pictures of ostriches on the front. Set against the manager’s caricature as a stern sergeant major, whose public persona is at best an acquired taste, these details come as quite a jolt.

“We would never have done it if we weren’t sure that Nige would take the joke for that mini-fiasco upon himself,” says Ken Way, the former Leicester psychologist, and one of those involved in the send-up. “None of us asked, ‘Is this a good idea?’ He’s a very funny guy. I see some of his interviews on TV, and they’re at odds with the person I know. For example, he’s a real cartoonist on the quiet. Often you would go into the office and find a pocket cartoon pinned above your desk.”

At Watford, where he has been given another precious chance in the Premier League, it is Pearson’s challenge to showcase the softer side to his nature to a wider audience. During his second, tempestuous spell at Leicester, there were too many moments that gave rise to perceptions of a tyrant: calling a reporter a “p---k” for posing a question to which he took exception, telling a supporter to “f--- off and die”, and one bizarre touchline incident in which he appeared to throttle Crystal Palace’s James McArthur.

So far, Pearson has seized his platform for reinvention, propelling Watford to three wins from their last four and offering a reminder that he belongs at this level. In 2015, the last time he managed in the top flight, he laughed in the face of relegation talk, leading Leicester from bottom of the table at Christmas to 14th by May, laying the platform for the Premier League’s greatest miracle the very next season. His regret is that he never stayed long enough for his role to be appreciated, with Leicester’s board deciding that his all-too-frequent PR gaffes rendered him a liability.

Way, who went on to play a part in Leicester’s title-winning campaign, argues that Pearson has been unfairly airbrushed from the record. “Nige just never received credit for what he achieved,” he says. “You have to remember that, back in 2009, he had taken the club to win League One by seven points. Then, in 2014, they won the Championship by nine. He also created the culture and team spirit that led to them winning the Premier League. And yet he has all but disappeared from history.”

While at Leicester City, Pearson famously described a journalist as an “ostrich” CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

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Under the remorseless scrutiny of the Premier League, Pearson sometimes did not help his own image. He could be needlessly belligerent with journalists, while trying too hard to burnish his tough-guy credentials, not least when regaling the story of how he had outrun a pack of wild dogs in the Carpathian Mountains. “He fits the mould of ‘what you see is what you get,’” Way explains. “It can lead to a mismatch between the public persona and what the Watford team will be experiencing. That will be seeing a caring, considerate side to his character that you just don’t pick up from outside.”

Pearson, a fearsome centre-back in his day for Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough, endured a tough baptism into the coaching life. When he started out at Carlisle in the late Nineties, his assistant John Halpin would have to ring around local playing fields just to make sure the team had somewhere to train. Although he had harboured a childhood ambition to join the Royal Air Force, he quickly found his metier in the more regimental aspects of management. But for all Pearson has been portrayed a man of iron, Way, who has worked for him at Leicester, Southampton and Hull, suggests that his most effective attribute is a soft touch.

The caring nature of Pearson is a trait that often gets overlooked CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

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“What he is so good at is building relationships. Sure, he has a very demanding style, but so long as you are doing your utmost to improve your performance, he is very warm and caring towards you. The real key to what’s going on at Watford now is that Nigel and Craig Shakespeare are building, just as at their previous clubs, a culture that demands the very best from everyone. The bottom line is that he cares about the players and staff. That means you go the extra mile to please him.”

While Watford’s appointment of Pearson last month might have looked an improbable gamble, given he had spent much of the past two years in the boondocks of Belgium’s second tier, his qualities are far from forgotten. Riyad Mahrez, no less, thanked him for his influence on shaping Leicester into the force they subsequently became, the Algerian noting how Pearson had personally assisted in improving his English when he first arrived from Le Havre.

Pearson, for his part, insists that he has absorbed the lessons from his past misjudgments, but indicates that he will stay true to himself. “Authenticity,” he said, when asked to name the most important virtue in a dressing room. As Watford seek to sustain their revival at Bournemouth on Sunday, Way is in little doubt that Pearson’s message is resonating with the players. “You can see that they seem galvanised, to an extent that we don’t normally with a change of manager. There was a lovely quote from Christian Fuchs at Leicester: ‘We were just friends, having fun on the pitch.’ I can detect the essence of that already at Watford.”

[davieG]

....... and the Mirror

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7877307/The-great-escape-artist-Watford-manager-Nigel-Pearson-guiding-Hornets-survival-Premier-League.html

[Tuna]

Legend. Can't be said enough times.

 

Don't really like Watford but want him to keep them up. And I think he'll do it.

[ScouseFox]

my hero. my mate. 

[HybridFox]

Doesn't get the credit he deserves. Genuinely one of the best English managers you'll find.

 

Bit of an insult when people put him in the same bracket as the likes of Allardyce and Bruce. He's a class above.

[Alf Bentley]

Good articles, @davieG, particularly the Mail one, surprisingly.

 

Looks like he's on a media rebranding image to ensure his career stays on track this time & is not derailed by negative media stories.

I hope he continues to make a success of things as, while not flawless, he clearly offers qualities that not many managers can offer....though maybe he needs to be in tandem with Shakey.

 

The 2 Birch stories were amusing and quite moving, respectively.

 

For anyone who can't be bothered to read the whole article, I liked this bit below. Clearly a man who likes to do things his own way....

 

"Before taking the job at Watford, Pearson was midway through a history degree at the Open University. That's currently on hold. He spent some of the summer up in Scotland living alone in a bothy, with only a local fisherman to ferry him from the pub and back. He gave talks to university students. Had he not been summoned to Vicarage Road, he planned to fly to India to drive 9,000 miles across the country in a rickshaw".

[Freeman's Wharfer]

Still baffles me that some fans judge him on that same media persona when we, as Leicester fans, were close enough to hear that this wasn't the real him and to see what he was trying to do in creating an us-against-the-world mentality. Not to mention that he provided such success on the pitch after the bleakest period in our history.

[KingsX]

3 hours ago, davieG said:

Way argues that Pearson has been unfairly airbrushed from the record. “Nige just never received credit for what he achieved,” he says. “He also created the culture and team spirit that led to them winning the Premier League. And yet he has all but disappeared from history.”

 

I will confidently bet my house that Ken Way has never spent one moment on FT.

[LanguedocFox]

3 hours ago, KingsX said:

 

I will confidently bet my house that Ken Way has never spent one moment on FT.

I agree, although a lot of people were regularly slagged off when they said how good he was - I certainly was, on FT and elsewhere. He's easily the best manager we've had in my time as a City supporter. Quite apart from the quality of player that he, Shakey and Steve Walsh brought to the club, he also brought a different ethic, and - along with Khun Vichai and Top, of course - made us a club to be proud of.

 

Got another win for Watford today, and you can already see them staying up by quite a distance.

 

 

[KingsX]

31 minutes ago, LanguedocFox said:

I agree, although a lot of people were regularly slagged off when they said how good he was - I certainly was, on FT and elsewhere. He's easily the best manager we've had in my time as a City supporter. Quite apart from the quality of player that he, Shakey and Steve Walsh brought to the club, he also brought a different ethic, and - along with Khun Vichai and Top, of course - made us a club to be proud of.

 

Got another win for Watford today, and you can already see them staying up by quite a distance.

 

14th place finish I reckon. 

 

Followed by a goodwill trip to Italy  

 

Who knows, the Pozzos may even keep a manager for once.

 

[LanguedocFox]

1 minute ago, KingsX said:

 

14th place finish I reckon. 

 

Followed by a goodwill trip to Italy  

 

Who knows, the Pozzos may even keep a manager for once.

 

They would be mugs if they didn't try. 14th is very achievable for Watford, and they might even go further. But as you say, maybe no goodwiill trips, eh.