Nigel Pearson: I did not leave Hull for money

[davieG]

Merc

Nigel Pearson has said it is a misconception that he walked out on Hull City to return to Leicester City because of the financial backing of the club's ambitious owners.

Pearson comes up against his former club tomorrow less than a year after he swapped the KC Stadium for the King Power Stadium, but he said his move was not motivated by money.

• 
  ​
  Nigel Pearson
  

The new Financial Fair Play regulations will curtail the amount of loans City's Thai owners can make to help Pearson strengthen his squad.

Pearson admits his transfer policy has been done with FFP in mind, but he said money was not the main motivation when he decided to come back to Leicester.

"That is a perception that is assumed," he said.

"I came back to Leicester for my own reasons.

"We still have invested money into the squad. I think we have invested it more wisely. But also the timescale for FFP means clubs have to formulate a workable business plan.

"The owners have been very supportive in how we have constructed the squad but, by the same score, there are areas we have had to look at as well. I am under no illusions about that. The margins are very small."

Compared to his predecessor, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Pearson has adopted a completely different approach.

While Eriksson spent heavily on recruiting mainly established and experienced names on wages that matched their reputations, Pearson has noticeably gone for young, up-and-coming talent, and has trimmed his squad of many of the higher wage earners.

The impending introduction of the FFP regulations, designed to control clubs' spiralling, and at times reckless, spending, has been a factor in Pearson's approach.

But he said he still believes it is the best way to bring long-term success to City.

However, Pearson also recognises he must bring short-term success as well.

"The FFP will be something that will affect an awful lot of clubs," Pearson said.

"It is something that will be introduced to try and make football function in a slightly more responsible manner.

"I will always construct my sides in a similar way, but I do believe now we have players with an awful lot more residual value.

"We have made investments and we have got a decent squad. I know it is smaller but it is decent and there are an awful lot of good players.

"There will be a lot of clubs out there who will be thinking about how they manage themselves better. We have a responsibility to do that but also to deliver success.

"At the moment, we have not achieved what we would have liked in terms of points tally. I could argue we have been unfortunate on occasions and days like the defeat to Wolves we have been a little bit careless. That is the dynamics a lot of managers have to deal with.

"There isn't an awful lot wrong but we have to start producing winning situations more often, and we will do because we have the nucleus of a good side.

"It is better to have a short, medium and long-term plan if you are to be a success in any business.

"Football is slightly different in that, for managers, results in the short-term are exceptionally important."

[theessexfox]

"There will be a lot of clubs out there who will be thinking about how they manage themselves better. We have a responsibility to do that but also to deliver success.

"]At the moment, we have not achieved what we would have liked in terms of points tally. I could argue we have been unfortunate on occasions and days like the defeat to Wolves we have been a little bit careless. That is the dynamics a lot of managers have to deal with.

"There isn't an awful lot wrong but we have to start producing winning situations more often, and we will do because we have the nucleus of a good side.

"It is better to have a short, medium and long-term plan if you are to be a success in any business.

"Football is slightly different in that, for managers, results in the short-term are exceptionally important."

Many on here would disagree with that, given the difficulty of our first 6. Is that pressure from the Thais?

[marty78]

Many on here would disagree with that, given the difficulty of our first 6. Is that pressure from the Thais?

I think opinion would be divided on the points tally to be honest. There is undoubtedly going to be pressure on Nige to cement a place in the top six but I'd like to think that the pressure the manager and the coaching team put on themselves and their team would be the same anyway.

With just six games played it shows the fine margins in football and I think six points would have been seen as poor, nine points would be seen as average and twelve points would have been seen as very good.

[Harry - LCFC]

Many on here would disagree with that, given the difficulty of our first 6. Is that pressure from the Thais?

I think it's more the fact that we played pretty well and lost games, he has said himself a few times that he felt we had done enough to win against Blackburn and draw at Charlton. I think that's the reason for his disappointment, he believes we've actually deserved more from our performances rather than just saying "this is how many points we should have regardless of the opposition."

[burni]

I think its overlooked that were actually playing a very young squad which is more exciting than we perhaps realise. Who out of vardy, marshall, knocky, kasper, RDL, Moore, Drinkwater, King, James are going to be less than their original purchase? Nearly all will be worth more in a year or two especially as a few have come through the academy. i can see the medium to long term plan looking great (providing we hold onto them) and we have a decent chance of short term success. I think this is a squad we should be cheering on through thick and thin because alot of our players could bring us great success here.

[MGLCFC]

I think its overlooked that were actually playing a very young squad which is more exciting than we perhaps realise. Who out of vardy, marshall, knocky, kasper, RDL, Moore, Drinkwater, King, James are going to be less than their original purchase? Nearly all will be worth more in a year or two especially as a few have come through the academy. i can see the medium to long term plan looking great (providing we hold onto them) and we have a decent chance of short term success. I think this is a squad we should be cheering on through thick and thin because alot of our players could bring us great success here.

Exactly - Unfortunately instant success seems to be the modern trend. I don't think we'll go up this year (I'd be delighted if we did), but I do think we'll see progress.

[AyewJoking]

he says "awful" alot.

at least we have an honest boss.

[Deucalion]

I never thought he came back for the money, I thought he came back because he loved us!

I think the need for instant gratification from fans is because we were worked up into a frenzy by the owner's marketing. Think back to the League One season and we were winning praise from other clubs in that league for our reasonable and respectful fans. We were no Leeds or Forest, they said. A few years on and big money signings and promises of instant success have turned us into petulant children, throwing our season tickets out of the pram at every disappointment.

So how much we enjoy our exciting young team depends on how well we can individually manage restructuring our expectations to more realistic levels.

I know I'm finding it difficult!

[Jace]

Merc

Nigel Pearson has said it is a misconception that he walked out on Hull City to return to Leicester City because of the financial backing of the club's ambitious owners.

Pearson comes up against his former club tomorrow less than a year after he swapped the KC Stadium for the King Power Stadium, but he said his move was not motivated by money.

• 
  ​
  Nigel Pearson
  

at least we have an honest boss.

[foxfanazer]

he says "awful" alot.

at least we have an honest boss.

Awful post

[Captain...]

I think its overlooked that were actually playing a very young squad which is more exciting than we perhaps realise. Who out of vardy, marshall, knocky, kasper, RDL, Moore, Drinkwater, King, James are going to be less than their original purchase? Nearly all will be worth more in a year or two especially as a few have come through the academy. i can see the medium to long term plan looking great (providing we hold onto them) and we have a decent chance of short term success. I think this is a squad we should be cheering on through thick and thin because alot of our players could bring us great success here.

Not by everyone, I think a large number of fans can appreciate what Pearson is trying to achieve, unfortunately they vocal minority take every opportunity to get the knives out.

[Tielemans63]

Fair play to him to leaving Hull because it's a shithole. He doesn't say that in the article but we all know that's what he's really saying.

[ian the fox]

top man Nigel , someone has to sort Svens mess out , its not long ago when he led us out the third tier , kicking & screaming ( look at Coventry ha-ha )

[Collymore]

Fair play to him to leaving Hull because it's a shithole. He doesn't say that in the article but we all know that's what he's really saying.

Yeah because Leicester is the place to be.....

[Guest MattP]

Yeah because Leicester is the place to be.....

Was going to say the same thing

[Bilbo]

I never thought he came back for the money, I thought he came back because he loved us!

I think the need for instant gratification from fans is because we were worked up into a frenzy by the owner's marketing. Think back to the League One season and we were winning praise from other clubs in that league for our reasonable and respectful fans. We were no Leeds or Forest, they said. A few years on and big money signings and promises of instant success have turned us into petulant children, throwing our season tickets out of the pram at every disappointment.

So how much we enjoy our exciting young team depends on how well we can individually manage restructuring our expectations to more realistic levels.

I know I'm finding it difficult!

Great post.

[lavrentis]

Nah I believe him, jumped before he got pushed as apparently the Thai's wanted someone with a bit of a reputation and more established. They rocked the boat and it didn't work out, I just hope the Thai's learned from this ...

[Trav Le Bleu]

he says "awful" alot.

at least we have an honest boss.

An awful lot.

[foxes2011]

wounder what tempted him back, maybe an emotional connection with the fans...???

[Foxhateram]

Nige had and now has a job to finish here. He should never have been pushed out in the first place!

He has started again almost and yet again build an exciting team that in the long run, if given time, will be more than good enough to develop into a side that challenges the top of this league and then up to mid prem with a few additions of quality.

Pearson is a lot like our god Martin in many ways. He likes to get in players who are not only technically gifted but also have a good attitude towards the game and the club.

I will lose all faith in the game completely if we sack nige this season.

[Mack]

He denies that he came for money, then neglects to explain why he did come back.

[Babylon]

He denies that he came for money, then neglects to explain why he did come back.

Why does he have to? Perhaps he hated the owners, he definitely didn't like the fans. Perhaps he liked it here.

[Basingstoke Fox]

I think its overlooked that were actually playing a very young squad which is more exciting than we perhaps realise. Who out of vardy, marshall, knocky, kasper, RDL, Moore, Drinkwater, King, James are going to be less than their original purchase? Nearly all will be worth more in a year or two especially as a few have come through the academy. i can see the medium to long term plan looking great (providing we hold onto them) and we have a decent chance of short term success. I think this is a squad we should be cheering on through thick and thin because alot of our players could bring us great success here.

Completely agree with this. The thought of us sacking NP and bringing someone else in who could allow these players to leave for much less than they're worth is 'awful'.

he says "awful" alot.

And the word 'exceptional'.

Not like Big Wes with his 'Errmmm'

[Rincewind]

If NP left Hull because he did not like the owners he is hardly going to come out and say too much about it. A word out of place or a statement taken out of context could land him in trouble.

[DB11]

So what did he come back for then? He didn't say