Pearson article.

[Fox You Forest]

Didn't he have a falling out with their chairman? and with the way Mattock left maybe it was West Brom he had a problem with today and not the media.

Either way I couldn't care a less, I love the man.

[C.J]

Who gives a sh*t what hes like with the media?? So would you rather have a manager like Holloway, jovial with the media but no results on the pitch (yes I know that scenario has already happened).

I know you gotta keep people informed but somtimes they can be too intrusive (Fergie at half time yesterday still being interviewed by ITV when the 2nd half kicks off for example, if I was him i'd of declined that interwiew and got back to the duggout).

I've got no problems with Pearson, hes focused on the job (which is going well) and he comes accross that way in interviews which I havn't got a problem with.

Some managers seem to get distracted with the media and what they think and Pearson isn't one of those.

[Guest Bilo]

Nigel Pearson is a great bloke in person, dry sense of humour and a friendly guy. So what if he doesn't brown-nose the media? He obviously has the dressing room's respect, has a great working relationship with Milan and we fans love him. As the man himself said, that's what will keep his job, not a mildly amusing column in a newspaper.

[davieG]

Rob Tanner would do well to read articles already printed by his paper to get a handle on Pearson's approach and why he;s doing it that way.

Matt Oakley wants Leicester City to be best-kept secret in the Championship

Thursday, November 05, 2009, 08:00

Leicester City may be only three points off top spot in the Championship but many pundits are still refusing talking about them as promotion contenders.

Despite their promising start to the season, City have been largely ignored as Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion have dominated the Championship headlines.

Back to back wins over Reading and Queens Park Rangers have certainly raised the profile of Nigel Pearson's side and victory over Albion at the Walkers Stadium on Saturday would make sure the rest of the Championship takes City seriously as promotion contenders.

However, captain Matt Oakley would rather City remained the best-kept secret in the Championship and continue to operate beneath the media radar.

"I am happy for that to continue for three quarters of the season and if then, if everyone starts talking about us as contenders for the promotion, then great," said Oakley.

"If they start talking about us in that way in the next couple of months then I won't be happy because the pressure starts to build on us.

"It is much easier for us to work under the radar. But I want that pressure at the end of the season because it will be a sign we are doing well and doing the right things on the pitch.

"Watching Nigel Pearson with the press, he doesn't give much away.

"He likes to keep a closed house on the press and is very strict on that.

"Things then don't get out of hand and comments don't get into the papers that don't need to be there. Players aren't saying the wrong things and it does help.

"I have been at clubs where management have been quite loose on it and, before you know, you have to deal with things that have got out and it does affect the team.

"You just want to be concentrating on the football so, in one way, he has got that right."

Oakley said he is satisfied with the progress City had made so far, although he admitted they could have been in an even better place in the table had they managed to turn some good performances into victories.

"We are a quarter of the way in and I am satisfied with how it has gone so far," he said.

"Before the season started I would have taken where we are now, definitely. Coming up from a lower division you just don't know how you are going to fare.

"Three strong teams have come down, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Brom, and you would expect them to be strong. After that you still have some strong teams like Cardiff, Sheffield United and we are up there with them.

"But, in the games we have played, we have probably dropped points at Sheffield United and Ipswich.

"We were also 2-0 up at Watford and should have won that quite comfortably and almost ended up losing it."

[CosbehFox]

Couldn't give a flyer about his approach to the media. It's actually refreshing to have one manager in the game who doesn't want to extend his career in the media or try and use the media as a tool. Is it better to hear a post match interview with a honest opinion rather than needless moaning?

[Captain...]

I think he has a point though. Football is an entertainment business,. People pay a lot of money to see them play and I think the least Pearson can do is give a little bit of info for the game even if it is only sound bytes. I also think it is good to have some one who will say what is what rather than Blanderson who toed the party line for 30+ years. Fair play to him I say.

No it's not it's a sport, if you want entertainment go to the cinema, if you want to combine the 2 try sports entertainment, such as WWF Wrestling.

Pearson doesn't have to do anything other than get results on the pitch.

[davieG]

I think he has a point though. Football is an entertainment business,. People pay a lot of money to see them play and I think the least Pearson can do is give a little bit of info for the game even if it is only sound bytes. I also think it is good to have some one who will say what is what rather than Blanderson who toed the party line for 30+ years. Fair play to him I say.

It only has to be entertaining on the pitch for those that pay to see it. There's no compulsion on Pearson to provide 'free' entertainment for the mercury readers.

Besides when did the Mercury become the voice of the fans, for years they've treated us with contempt and been down right dishonest at times, admittedly the key man responsible has gone but he was supported in that for 30 odd years by the Mercury management.

It'll take more than a couple of articles to get me back on their side.

[Steven]

But Leicester City just doesn’t feel like a club that is enjoying itself.

I am enjoying being fourth three points off the lead. This guy is Alan from Long Eaton in disguise. <_<

[Thracian]

I think he has a point though. Football is an entertainment business,. People pay a lot of money to see them play and I think the least Pearson can do is give a little bit of info for the game even if it is only sound bytes. I also think it is good to have some one who will say what is what rather than Blanderson who toed the party line for 30+ years. Fair play to him I say.

Dealing with the Press is part of Pearson's job and the least he can do is to tackle the "chore" to the best of his ability just as he would expect his players to give of their best.

He should take a leaf out of Sir Bobby Robson's book or Bill Shankly. They stood taller in the game than Pearson probably ever will if he continues with his seemingly grudging attitude to the very people - the media - who are responsible for the size of his wage packet and the obscene amounts of money that swish around within the game.

Robson and Shankly must have had difficult days too - and must have felt they'd had enough on their plate that they could do without media interviews on top.

But they were the most accommodating people you could ever meet, forever eager to help and to expand on this point or that in relation to players, the next game or the club.

What's more they did it with a smile and with rare humour - as if they knew they were bloody lucky to be in the game at all and have anyone wish to interview them at all.

I've always thought that really good bosses make everyone's jobs easier... the caterers, cleaners, groundstaff, everyone.

The media represents just another group of people in the everyday life of a manager who also have a job to do.

Faced with the prospect of Pearson's stonewalling I'd doubt that many journos really relish having to ask him questions any more than he wants to hang around answering them. But they have to be there, doing their best, just as he does.

The real way to deal with the media is to give them as much copy and as many good story lines as they can cope with.

That's all they want and care about. Copy inches. Feed em well and they'll not bite you nearly as quickly when results go wrong as they would the unco-operative types.

What goes around...

[Corky]

Couldn't Craig Shakespeare do the media conferences if the Mercury desperately need soundbites?

I'm sure he'd pretty much say what Pearson would.

[Nationwider]

No it's not it's a sport, if you want entertainment go to the cinema, if you want to combine the 2 try sports entertainment, such as WWF Wrestling.

Pearson doesn't have to do anything other than get results on the pitch.

Spot on.

I love football, but I couldn't give a shit what any manager or player or ex-player thinks about anything to do with the game. Surely we're all intelligent enough to watch a game and form our own opinions? 99% of all interviews with football professionals are utterly pointless exercises in stating the obvious. They repeat the same chichés and trite analyses over and over again. The football media an industry of sycophants. Even a first-rate football writer like Martin Samuel will write for used-bogroll like the Daily Mail when they show him enough money.

Pearson is quite right to stick two fingers up to the media if he so chooses. Why should he give a fúck about them, and what good does speaking to them actually do? Good on him. He strikes me as being a first-rate bloke who doesn't need to justify himself to anyone.

[Thracian]

As the man himself said, that's what will keep his job, not a mildly amusing column in a newspaper.

It's not always been that way. When I was there as a trainee journalist the Mercury circulation was a much heralded 180,000 a night and was a paper to be proud of.

We had a Saturday night Sports Buff which was printed immediately the Saturday evening scores were known and the Leicester City writer the late Lawrie Simpkin was widely read, knowledgable, outspoken, respected and hugely influential.

Today's Mercury circulation is 73,634 and falling. Sad really. But still no reason its staff shouldn't be helped properly in doing their job.

[maddog]

Pearson's a God

[Thracian]

Spot on.

I love football, but I couldn't give a shit what any manager or player or ex-player thinks about anything to do with the game. Surely we're all intelligent enough to watch a game and form our own opinions? 99% of all interviews with football professionals are utterly pointless exercises in stating the obvious. They repeat the same chichés and trite analyses over and over again. The football media an industry of sycophants. Even a first-rate football writer like Martin Samuel will write for used-bogroll like the Daily Mail when they show him enough money.

Pearson is quite right to stick two fingers up to the media if he so chooses. Why should he give a fúck about them, and what good does speaking to them actually do? Good on him. He strikes me as being a first-rate bloke who doesn't need to justify himself to anyone.

How bitter you sound. Not like your normal self at all.

Journalists don't really write or broadcast for the ticket-buying fans, their audience is the people in hospital or in care homes and people who are working or unable to get to the game for a multitude of reasons including lack of money.

It's as respectable a service as any other and probably does quite a lot to keep people in touch with a club they were once able to follow more closely or to give people a little excitement or enjoyment.

More broadly the media, while making its share of catastrophic mistakes, also does a huge amount of good in countless ways both locally, nationally and internationally too.

Besides, whether the media does the club any good or not, graciousness costs nothing.

[Guest Basildon Fox]

No it's not it's a sport, if you want entertainment go to the cinema, if you want to combine the 2 try sports entertainment, such as WWF Wrestling.

Pearson doesn't have to do anything other than get results on the pitch.

So people do not go to be entertained then no?

[Bugg]

Couldn't give a flyer about his approach to the media. It's actually refreshing to have one manager in the game who doesn't want to extend his career in the media or try and use the media as a tool. Is it better to hear a post match interview with a honest opinion rather than needless moaning?

Neil Warnock springs to mind.

[Nationwider]

How bitter you sound. Not like your normal self at all.

Journalists don't really write or broadcast for the ticket-buying fans, their audience is the people in hospital or in care homes and people who are working or unable to get to the game for a multitude of reasons including lack of money.

It's as respectable a service as any other and probably does quite a lot to keep people in touch with a club they were once able to follow more closely or to give people a little excitement or enjoyment.

More broadly the media, while making its share of catastrophic mistakes, also does a huge amount of good in countless ways both locally, nationally and internationally too.

Besides, whether the media does the club any good or not, graciousness costs nothing.

I'm being a bit harsh. A TV 'interview' with Ashley Cole (who I always reserve the greatest level of contempt for) did it for me this week. I'm not trying to belittle every hack who writes about the sport for those of us that enjoy good, informed football writing - in print and online.

My problem is less to do with the more traditional printed media (having a dig at Martin Samuel was a cheap shot, ok) but the proliferation of guff that blows forth from TV and radio. Player interviews, for me, are a waste of time. Those that have something to say are gagged from speaking openly by clubs, sponsors and the FA. The rest are a bunch of knuckle-draggers who cannot get past 'player-speak' and and a mono-syllabic stream of 'errs', 'umms' and 'y'knows'.

Sky Sports are the worse culprits, with the others not far behind. Sky generates this whole nonsense itself for a gaggle of overpaid, failed journalism graduates and mentally-retarded, gin-soaked suits like Phil Thompson and Paul Merson.

I can't stand Sralex, but I can see his point when he rails at the microphone wielding rabble in front of him before every game. I'm sure he'd have time to sit down with a proper journalist like Patrick Barclay or Henry Winter. The problem is that 90% of the sports media ensemble are idiots and wasters. Pearson knows it. Sralex knows it.

[Daggers]

Football is an entertainment business

No it's not it's a sport

No, he was right.

It's an entertainment business based around sport, and just because it has a large cultural dimension does not detract from this simple fact.

[Guest]

Today's Mercury circulation is 73,634 and falling. Sad really.

Just out of interest, how many of those 'lost' readers now read the Mockery online instead of in print?

[Guest ttfn]

I disagree with Pearson's attitude - funny as it is - because I feel he has a duty to keep people informed about what's going on - it's part of his job description. People are always moaning about the club never providing info so you can't have it both ways.

But I also think Tanner's a tool. 'Leicester City doesn't seem to be a club that's enjoying itself'. Listen Tanner, you pompous ****, if you want to know if the club's enjoying itself, just come on this message board and read one of maddog's posts or go to the ground on Saturday when there will probably be 27-28,000 fans, more than your precious Baggies could muster. If he loved it so much at West Brom, maybe he should just sod off back there and leave the City journalism to some good, solid Leicester-bred journalists like Bill Anderson

[CosbehFox]

Neil Warnock springs to mind.

Billy Davies is another and comes across a fool to everyone.

[Kilworthfox]

3 points on Saturday = Pearson can say what he likes & Tanner can write what he likes, the latter 2 do not matter!

[teblin]

People don't like pearson because he tells the truth and likes people to ask him straight questions not underhand questions.

When someone asks him a round a bout question he takes exception to it, if you want to know something ask him out right is what i have gathered.

As for the mercury guy if he enjoyed West Brom so much go back to report on them then. I noticed that the comment section on that article was not working.

[leftsideoverhere]

I reckon most people on here (except Thracian) have got this spot on.

I thought the first article was actually lazy journalism. Laughing at how no-one noticed Leicester's sport science obsession when we were being relegated kind of misses the point that Pearson wasn't here then.

And the idea that journalists ever see their job as helping out a manager who is struggling is laughable. The media thrive on controversy and conflict, cos people doing their jobs well and quietly is mostly not news-worthy.

Listening to some of the recent press conference / interview clips with Stringer asking a hundred fooking questions about Edgar bloody Davids I'm surprised the club even agrees to hold press conferences.

And if I was NP, or a player, I wouldn't want the media anywhere near the training ground. I don't want them looking over my shoulder while I'm trying to work now, why should I expect them to do it to anyone else?

Of course as a fan I have a voracious apetitie for news and gossip about the club. But I respect the fact that it can be destabuilising, and I don't have a God-given right to it. Neither does the Merc, or any other journo.

If you can't get a good answer out of Pearson maybe its time to ask yourself if you're asking the right questions.

Everything about this just confirms my view of both NP and the media. I can't imagine the Mercury in the days of Martin Johnson printing such a whine, and certainly not about the sports he covered. He knew how to do his job. Since then? Meh!

The journos need to know just two things: 1 we are enjoying ourselves immensely, and 2 they're not invited. End of.

[Foxhateram]

one of the youth players told me he was boring and stern. Suppose its just a way of going about managing a team though and hes doing a great job so far.

A friend of mine used to be a physio at England U21's while Pearson was involved in that aspect. My friend said that Pearson is bloody stern with his players but is always the man to help you out.

My friend said about a time one of the U21's got into a fight, Pearson called him over and sat him down, then Nige said nothing and just stared deepl,y into this boys eyes. The boy burst into tears and dished the dirt on everything that had happened. Nige replied with "You stupid *rick, but atleast you have now told me the truth, now i can help you out!"

Weeksy (my friend) said nige is stern but by being that way he gets the best out of most people. Weeksy holds him massively high regard and being a budding manager myself i take my hat off to the way Nige works.

As for the media, pah waste of time and paper tbh i dont blame Pearson for telling them to stick there heads back in the sand.