Big Nige in the Guardian

[HybridFox]

Can't wait for his autobiography as well one day. Would love to meet the guy and thank him in person

[HighPeakFox]

3 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

Yeah no problem.

Saw a fair amount of it in the stand. Cucko or similar was a name branded about on him on a certain other forum.

Well, anyone using such terminology loses my respect rapidly, regardless of the target. 

 

I wonder though how representative that other forum is, but that is another matter perhaps. 

[Ric Flair]

There will always be differences of opinion even when it seems so baffling or completely at odds with the majority. 

 

I loved Pearson by and large but there was a couple of periods that he really disappointed me but when you measure what he did here twice after many years on our arse, then he is such an important part of our history.

 

Got absolutely no problem with the fondness and obsession some have of him, every fan ought to have a manager that they identified the most with or it was part of a significant era in their life that it doesn't matter what happens since.

 

That's O'Neill for many and Pearson for others. There'll be other managers that other fans cherish in such regard.

 

Like O'Neill, we've had managers since Pearson who have won things we'd never ever won before and we've been absolutely spoilt in that regard. This is the best period any Leicester fan has ever experienced, except that's ignoring the beauty and magic of being a football fan where everything is personal and subjective and who are we to be told who should be regarded as the best or favourite manager over the years?

 

One things for sure, Nigel Pearson will never be forgotten. His persona will be burned in to our club and fans retinas. I like that sort of impact, me.

[CosbehFox]

Reads as though he’s moved down there as well. This article is just utter porn for me 

[RumbleFox]

The fact he mentioned Half Man Half Biscuit just made me love him even more. My favourite manager ever. 

[Pliskin]

I thought we weren’t allowed to talk positively about Nigel? It upsets some folk? 
 

 

 

All jokes aside it’s great to see him doing a steady job at Bristol. I’ve got a tonne of respect for the guy, regardless of what anyone says, in my opinion he laid the foundations which then led to the club being able to grow into what it has become (until Rodgers ****ed it all up)… absolute Legend. 

Edited 28 February 2023 by Pliskin

[CosbehFox]

26 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Do they? I wasn't aware of this, hand on heart.

I know someone who was punched for defending Pearson at a game in 14/15, just before the Great Escape clicked into gear 

[HighPeakFox]

2 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

I know someone who was punched for defending Pearson at a game in 14/15, just before the Great Escape clicked into gear 

I don't doubt it, but I am sure you recognise that that still doesn't necessarily represent the vast majority of our fanbase.

[VLC86]

6 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

I know someone who was punched for defending Pearson at a game in 14/15, just before the Great Escape clicked into gear 

Wasn’t Nigel himself that punched them was it?

[davieG]

May as well post this here

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/leicester-city-riyad-mahrez-pearson-8194911

 

Nigel Pearson lifts the lid on 'special' Leicester City transfer
The latest Leicester City news as the ex-Foxes manager recalls signing Riyad Mahrez for the club almost a decade ago

SPORT
BySte McGovern
20:11, 27 FEB 2023UPDATED20:12, 27 FEB 2023

Nigel Pearson and Riyad Mahrez during their time at Leicester City. (Image: Northcliffe Media Ltd.)
Former Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson has revealed that he never saw Riyad Mahrez play in the flesh before signing him for the club.

The mesmeric winger joined Leicester City from French side Le Havre in 2014 for just £450,000. He went on to make 179 appearances for the club, winning both the Premier League and the Championship during his stint in the East Midlands.

Pearson believes it is his best ever signing as a manager, although he admits that City's recruitment chiefs at the time, Steve Walsh and Rob Mackenzie, were the ones who convinced him it was the right move. He said it was obvious from early on that the Algerian was going to be an excellent player.

 

“Steve and Rob Mackenzie went over to watch him together on a Friday night," the Bristol City head coach told The Telegraph. "I was supposed to go as well but couldn’t because we were playing QPR on Saturday with an early kick-off.

“I’d seen the clips but hadn’t seen him live, so I said ‘if you two are in agreement at the money we’re spending, then it’s a no-brainer’. It wasn’t a massive punt, was it?

“At his first training session you could see how special he was. The acid test is always when the players go ‘ooh, he’s a bit tasty’.

“He didn’t speak English at first and was very shy and quiet. He soon livened up, don’t worry about that.

“It really is a good story, and gives fans of other clubs something to dream about. It shows there are different routes to being successful.”

Mahrez left the club in 2018 to join Manchester City, with whom he has won another three Premier League titles as well as the FA Cup once and the EFL Cup three times.

Pearson will be reunited with the 32-year-old on Tuesday night when his Robins side take on Premier League champions Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round. The game kicks off at 8pm at Ashton Gate.

[SemperEadem]

12 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Reads as though he’s moved down there as well. This article is just utter porn for me 

I believe he still has his place in Sheffield as well as one in Devon.

[foxsake]

My Caesar 👑

 

In the words of the Bard: Cry Ostrich! let slip the Dogs of War and marvel as big Nige pokes them all in the eye with his walking stick

Edited 28 February 2023 by foxsake
sp

[kingkisnorbo]

Build the statue. 

[Guest Manini]

9 minutes ago, davieG said:

Pearson will be reunited with the 32-year-old

Blimey. Riyad’s age completely passed me by. Thought he was still about 29. 

[kingkisnorbo]

This is where my grievances come to the fore most about my total lack of affinity for the manager. Worth its weight in gold, even if we’re a bit shït. 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

The man that turned me from following Leicester to being die hard, for that I'll be forever grateful to him. 

[Corky]

30 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

There will always be differences of opinion even when it seems so baffling or completely at odds with the majority. 

 

I loved Pearson by and large but there was a couple of periods that he really disappointed me but when you measure what he did here twice after many years on our arse, then he is such an important part of our history.

 

Got absolutely no problem with the fondness and obsession some have of him, every fan ought to have a manager that they identified the most with or it was part of a significant era in their life that it doesn't matter what happens since.

 

That's O'Neill for many and Pearson for others. There'll be other managers that other fans cherish in such regard.

 

Like O'Neill, we've had managers since Pearson who have won things we'd never ever won before and we've been absolutely spoilt in that regard. This is the best period any Leicester fan has ever experienced, except that's ignoring the beauty and magic of being a football fan where everything is personal and subjective and who are we to be told who should be regarded as the best or favourite manager over the years?

 

One things for sure, Nigel Pearson will never be forgotten. His persona will be burned in to our club and fans retinas. I like that sort of impact, me.

Exactly. Doesn't bother me who is the greatest and all that, they all make an impact in different ways. If a manager can make people feel close to the club and enjoy going then surely that is great?

 

I'll be honest, I think the worship is a little bit forced but still, fans should remember times they enjoyed fondly. I certainly felt with Pearson in charge and the set up he had that we were in very good hands and that is ultimately what you want.

 

Glad, too, that he had mellowed and acknowledged his past.

[Ric Flair]

Just now, Corky said:

Exactly. Doesn't bother me who is the greatest and all that, they all make an impact in different ways. If a manager can make people feel close to the club and enjoy going then surely that is great?

 

I'll be honest, I think the worship is a little bit forced but still, fans should remember times they enjoyed fondly. I certainly felt with Pearson in charge and the set up he had that we were in very good hands and that is ultimately what you want.

 

Glad, too, that he had mellowed and acknowledged his past.

Spot on. What you may tend to find with such influential managers is that they occur on the back of such a sustained period of desperation and failure that their success and work of rebuilding a club has so much more recognition and bond from the fanbase, and rightly fcukin so.

 

That's what it comes down to for me. The bloke turned us from a complete laughing stock to a proper club again and I will forever be grateful of that. Everything else is less relevant to me. I love him for that, I love that big square head and army haircut. 

[Strokes]

1 hour ago, Spudulike said:

An operation does not fix Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

Yeah but Nigel just told it to fúck off and die and it did.

[Guest]

Odd how the people who don't like reading the praise of Pearson always somehow end up in the threads dedicated to him, presumably by accident

[Gamble92]

8 minutes ago, Guest said:

Odd how the people who don't like reading the praise of Pearson always somehow end up in the threads dedicated to him, presumably by accident

Some of the west stand, cheese pickle sandwich in foil, flask drinkers berated him to such a degree when we went on bad runs that their own stubbornness wouldn't allow them to admit when he did great. It's just carried on from that.

 

[TrentFox]

2 hours ago, LanguedocFox said:

I know what you mean. Big Barney was an adorable old chap but sadly I had to say goodbye to him the week before Christmas. He was 12, so he got to a good age, but I still think about him every day. As I do Nige, of course.

That’s so sad. Had to leave mine behind to escape my last relationship. There’s never a day goes by that I don’t think of him 💔 ……. whereas I never think of her! 😂

[HankMarvin]

2 hours ago, Spudulike said:

An operation does not fix Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

It says fixed most of these in the next sentence 

[FoxyLeon]

Of those who have some 'issue' with him, I believe there's a minority who don't like him because of his Personality, whilst the majority simply undersell his achievements. I do find the criticism odd though, and would liken it to criticism of Fergie at Manchester United....I simply don't understand how you can discredit the man responsible for laying the foundations for our most successful period, ever. It's vital to remember he wasn't sacked for 'Footballing reasons', neither time he was removed from his position here. For his entire reign, I felt as though we were not only constantly progressing, but also that we could compete with anyone.

He was a leader and a winner. I think a lot of people confused these traits with 'Arrogance' and him having a considerable ego....You don't sign the players he did, with huge characters, if you have the ego that many believed. He also evolved as a Manager, and that's really really important, especially when we consider how Rodgers hasn't evolved in this 4 year period. I always recall him talking about his time as a player at Middlesboro, and how they didn't win enough because they lacked a balance between players of quality and players who would do the dirty hard graft. He corrected that here, as a Manager, and I think the first stage of that was signing Knockaert. It wasn't the type of signing we had made before, and it showed him changing his approach and like I said before, evolving. Compare that to Rodgers, and he's continuing to do what failed previous, by attempting to improve our Set Pieces by simply buying a big lump of a centre half, first it was Vestergaard and now it is Souttar. 

 

For me, he's our Sir Alex Ferguson, the most successful manager in our History, both on and off the pitch.

[notnow john]

2 hours ago, Spudulike said:

An operation does not fix Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

Yeah but that’s a fact!