Is Nigel Pearson Brian Little?

[Deucalion]

Back in the days when I first started to go to watch City, we were languishing at the wrong end of the then Second Division and had just registered our lowest ever finish, finishing third bottom and only not being relegated due to a rearrangement in the leagues meaning four were promoted and only two relegated.

 

There was much anxiety around that summer until hope was restored with the arrival of up and coming new manager Brian Little.  This hope was realised when we began the season by going several games without conceding a goal and installed ourselves with not just renewed pride, but a place in the top 6 of the table.

 

Little had virtually no budget to work with, but created a minor miracle by finishing the season in the playoffs.  Three successive playoff seasons ensued with Leicester finally winning promotion at the third time of asking, deliciously against Derby County, who had heavy financial backing and were amongst the favourites around that time.

 

In Leicester's first season back in the top flight of English football, and their first ever in the Premier League, we were pretty disappointing.  It was around six games until our first point, at home against QPR.  Even though we were not getting battered every week, only losing by the odd goal, we were still not picking up points and finished the season relegated after only winning six games.

 

Little left acrimoniously after around half of the season to go to Villa, a club he had a connection with.  I, for one, expected Little to be a success at Villa.  After all, how could a manager who had totally turned our club around in only three seasons be anything other than a great manager?  I was wrong, Little did nothing at Villa and his successor and coach while at Leicester, John Gregory, probably turned out to be the better top flight manager.  Little is now a perennial sacking at a whole host of lower league clubs.

 

This leads me to two points.

 

The first is, it often seems forgotten that our great run in the PL in the 90s and early 00s was preceded by a dismal season in which we totally failed to compete.  If history is repeating itself, then we may have to be relegated again before we can become established in the top flight.  If we are relegated, and I can't see much beyond relegation at this point, we will go down with parachute payments, more experienced young players and a hopefully better base from which to launch another challenge.

 

The second is, maybe it wouldn't be a total disaster if Pearson was to leave.  Many had great faith in Little in the 90s and it turned out he wasn't capable of doing the job at a higher level.  Little leaving ultimately led on to the O'Neill years.  

 

At the point of Little's departure, who could've predicted the legend of a manager who would follow?

 

This isn't intended as another Pearson out post, just a reminder to myself to be open minded about the possibility of change and a reminder to remain hopeful, as who at this point can predict what is around the corner?

[hairy]

Is Pearson 'retiring from football' then appearing at Villa 7 days later too?

[Deucalion]

Is Pearson 'retiring from football' then appearing at Villa 7 days later too?

 

We don't have to fear having him poached at the minute, do we.

[RowZ]

I think the main difference is that BL was likable.

[indierich06]

They don't even look alike. I don't think Brian Little would resort to plastic surgery in order to get another go at Leicester.

[Silverdaz]

We don't have to fear having him poached at the minute, do we.

I guess a lot of teams in the bottom half of the premiership and top of the championship would look at him if we did get rid of him

[Deucalion]

I guess a lot of teams in the bottom half of the premiership and top of the championship would look at him if we did get rid of him

 

And I don't think for one minute he is a bad manager, and he would probably go on to be a success somewhere else.

 

But, blind devotion to him could prevent the club from moving on.  

 

I'm not even saying I think he should go, just that people should be open to all the possibilities.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

Brian Little learnt lots of things along the road, but Pearson is just stagnating, and appears to learnt have nothing, except what it feels like to be beaten, week in, week out. The guy picks up a massive salary for this!

[MPH]

Back in the days when I first started to go to watch City, we were languishing at the wrong end of the then Second Division and had just registered our lowest ever finish, finishing third bottom and only not being relegated due to a rearrangement in the leagues meaning four were promoted and only two relegated.

 

There was much anxiety around that summer until hope was restored with the arrival of up and coming new manager Brian Little.  This hope was realised when we began the season by going several games without conceding a goal and installed ourselves with not just renewed pride, but a place in the top 6 of the table.

 

Little had virtually no budget to work with, but created a minor miracle by finishing the season in the playoffs.  Three successive playoff seasons ensued with Leicester finally winning promotion at the third time of asking, deliciously against Derby County, who had heavy financial backing and were amongst the favourites around that time.

 

In Leicester's first season back in the top flight of English football, and their first ever in the Premier League, we were pretty disappointing.  It was around six games until our first point, at home against QPR.  Even though we were not getting battered every week, only losing by the odd goal, we were still not picking up points and finished the season relegated after only winning six games.

 

Little left acrimoniously after around half of the season to go to Villa, a club he had a connection with.  I, for one, expected Little to be a success at Villa.  After all, how could a manager who had totally turned our club around in only three seasons be anything other than a great manager?  I was wrong, Little did nothing at Villa and his successor and coach while at Leicester, John Gregory, probably turned out to be the better top flight manager.  Little is now a perennial sacking at a whole host of lower league clubs.

 

This leads me to two points.

 

The first is, it often seems forgotten that our great run in the PL in the 90s and early 00s was preceded by a dismal season in which we totally failed to compete.  If history is repeating itself, then we may have to be relegated again before we can become established in the top flight.  If we are relegated, and I can't see much beyond relegation at this point, we will go down with parachute payments, more experienced young players and a hopefully better base from which to launch another challenge.

 

The second is, maybe it wouldn't be a total disaster if Pearson was to leave.  Many had great faith in Little in the 90s and it turned out he wasn't capable of doing the job at a higher level.  Little leaving ultimately led on to the O'Neill years.  

 

At the point of Little's departure, who could've predicted the legend of a manager who would follow?

 

This isn't intended as another Pearson out post, just a reminder to myself to be open minded about the possibility of change and a reminder to remain hopeful, as who at this point can predict what is around the corner?

 

 

 

Intelligent Post. And it might also be worth noting that at the age of 51  i think Nigel is, that this is his first full season of being a premier elague manager.

 

. Will he learn from this first season or sink?

[Webbo]

Didn't Brian Little win the league cup at Villa? He didn't do too bad at villa as I recall.

[Manwell Pablo]

I can tell you Nigel Pearson is not Brian Little.

 

I don't have an official source but an ITK told me that Nigel Pearson IS ACTUALLY Nigel Pearson and Brian Little IS IN FACT......Brian Little. 

[Fox Ulike]

I can tell you Nigel Pearson is not Brian Little.

 

I don't have an official source but an ITK told me that Nigel Pearson IS ACTUALLY Nigel Pearson and Brian Little IS IN FACT......Brian Little. 

 

Source?

[dayday]

There is a lot in common between the managers.

Both rewarded players who were never good enough and also signed very little quality

That summer we got promoted,Brian Little only bought the fantastic under-rated Mark Draper and a cart horse called Nicky Mohan

Though we looked good in some games,overall we lacked the quality,pretty similar to now.

[MPH]

There is a lot in common between the managers.

Both rewarded players who were never good enough and also signed very little quality

That summer we got promoted,Brian Little only bought the fantastic under-rated Mark Draper and a cart horse called Nicky Mohan

Though we looked good in some games,overall we lacked the quality,pretty similar to now.

 

 

And also a lot that is different.

 

 

 

One of them is Loyal, never wanted to leave and has of course come back.

 

One of them has a career thats progressed as he got older and isnt languishing in non league football still getting the sack

 

One of them looks like he could bitch slap a bear the other looks like he could of been beaten up by a 10 year old.

[LJS]

Brian Little did very well at Villa. In his two full seasons in charge he finished 4th, 5th and won the League Cup.

Very good post mind you. I agree that relegation would be no disaster and should certainly not be feared as an impediment to future success. I also agree that Pearson going would not be anything to cry over, but I'd much rather he stay and be given the opportunity to learn from some of the mistakes he's making this season.

[LJS]

One of them is Loyal, never wanted to leave and has of course come back.

Come off it. Pearson didn't want to stay all that much otherwise he would have done. And he didn't return here because he had romantic notions of confronting unfinished business at a club he loved. He was offered loads of money.

I like Pearson a lot but let's not make him something he isn't.

[Leicester_Numan]

Come off it. Pearson didn't want to stay all that much otherwise he would have done. And he didn't return here because he had romantic notions of confronting unfinished business at a club he loved. He was offered loads of money.

I like Pearson a lot but let's not make him something he isn't.

You don't stay at a club when your position has been completely undermined and it's current and future owners are inviting the next manager to the play-off semi-final. Despite that, he would have stayed if someone had said they didn't want him to leave.

Let's not also make him out to be a disloyal money grabber.

[Rob1742]

Little left acrimoniously after around half of the season to go to Villa, a club he had a connection with. I, for one, expected Little to be a success at Villa. After all, how could a manager who had totally turned our club around in only three seasons be anything other than a great manager? I was wrong, Little did nothing at Villa and his successor and coach while at Leicester, John Gregory, probably turned out to be the better top flight manager. Little is now a perennial sacking at a whole host of lower league clubs.

?

Two points - Little was a success for Villa. They were near the bottom of the Premier League, in a very bad state and he guided the to the top half of the table and to Wembley where they won the league cup.

My second point is that you say after Little we got ONeill which were our best years. Well we got McGhee first, but I know what you are trying to say. Just because we have done it one way before, several years ago, it no way means history will repeat itself. If it did, football would've easy as we would all know the solution.

[Guest Col city fan]

The comparison between Little and Pearson is crazy really. I was brought up as a City fan in the Little era.

He basically started everything off thats been good (on and off) since. He rebuilt our squad from just about scratch and brought back the glory days to the club.

People seem to forget sometimes..this time round, Pearson retained a number of Sven's signings..Nugent and Schmeichel being possibly the best examples. He's also spent (relatively) a decent sum of money.

Little also did pretty much Ok at Villa and left us with a good squad of players.

[Corky]

The comparison between Little and Pearson is crazy really. I was brought up as a City fan in the Little era.

He basically started everything off thats been good (on and off) since. He rebuilt our squad from just about scratch and brought back the glory days to the club.

People seem to forget sometimes..this time round, Pearson retained a number of Sven's signings..Nugent and Schmeichel being possibly the best examples. He's also spent (relatively) a decent sum of money.

Little also did pretty much Ok at Villa and left us with a good squad of players.

 

Why? Little took over a side that nearly went down to the third tier, Pearson unfortunately had to. Both delivered immediate improvement and ultimately promotion. Both took three full years in the Championship to deliver it.

[Guest Col city fan]

Why? Little took over a side that nearly went down to the third tier, Pearson unfortunately had to. Both delivered immediate improvement and ultimately promotion. Both took three full years in the Championship to deliver it.

You're right..

Scrub my previous post..

[Deucalion]

I think Villa probably did better with Little than I remember them doing.

 

The original post is based on my memory which can be a bit shaky at times, so fair points.

[Stadt]

[Captain...]

There are similarities in their careers at Leicester, but the biggest difference is after a poor start in our first season in the top flight for a long time Little had universal support from the fans, expectations were realistic and we were gutted when he left.

Whereas now a growing minority of fans want Pearson out despite the fact he has lead us to our best league finishes in a decade and restored pride to this great club.

[Raj]

I thought he was Sousa??