The Curious Case Of Nigel Pearson
It was a sight that hadn’t been seen for some time.
Leicester City had just secured their fourth consecutive Premier League win
with a dogged and determined display in deepest Lancashire. Up at Turf Moor,
Burnley, scenes of twelve months prior - when this had been a Championship
title-deciding ‘six pointer’ - repeated. Rough round the edges but full of
substance, Leicester were victorious.
Striding across the turf, and wearing the
expression of a proud father, Nigel Pearson congratulated his players. One by
one as they made their way off the field Pearson embraced them - a handshake
here, a hug there, a playful headlock thrown in for good measure. It was an
insight into the man, the manager, that has seldom been seen this season. And
to it, to him, the players responded.
Grown men buried bashful smiles into his shoulder.
Pearson is a man they are eager to please. Having tried so valiantly to do so
for so much of the season, galvanized they are finally doing it.
Fast forward four days and Pearson was once again playing
protector to his players. This time in a battle fought not on the pitch but
instead in the pressroom.
There’s no getting away from the fact that at
times this season, Pearson’s conduct has been bizarre. When the BBC’s Pat
Murphy turned up armed with what he referred to as a ‘charge sheet’ the list
compiled swearing at a fan, abusing a journalist and ‘that McArthur incident’.
The latest addition? Calling a reporter an
ostrich.
It was the kind of incident which garnered far
more attention and received far more interest because of who was involved and
not what was actually said. Whilst he talked of the journalist burying his head
in the sand, Pearson has already drawn his line in that same sand. The man he
presents to the media is not the same man who has inspired such a remarkable
upturn in Leicester’s fortunes.
Players, supporters and even members of the media
testify of a Nigel Pearson disparate from the one that has presented in front
of the cameras and microphones this season. Somewhere there is method in the
apparent madness.
Pearson is a man of principle. A man who sets out
his stall and refuses to err from it, reluctant to call a spade a shovel. At
times he is resistant to the point of nausea, steadfast to the point of being
surly.
Those who know him are acutely aware that there is
certain terrain that Pearson will not tread in interviews. Criticism of his
players is a path he will never take and those who try to lead him down it
receive a sizeable dollop of disdain. At times this season the helpings have
been a little too forthcoming – questions can be raised about who holds to
account the father of this Leicester City family.
At first glance, Pearson’s latest indiscretion
could be interpreted as an uncontrolled outburst but there is also an argument
to be made that it was an overzealous effort at media management which
over-stepped a line. Attempting to create a siege mentality that could
ultimately see his tight-knit group of players over the line in their bid for
Premier League survival, what started as something jovial turned more sinister
in his attempt to launch a defence of his players as resolute as theirs at Burnley.
That passion so admirable on the Turf Moor pitch suddenly so abominable in 60
seconds at the King Power Stadium.
The context to this story is wider than a Chelsea
post-match press conference. Pearson has waged a war that he cannot win, even
with the complete support of his players. He is taking on the media and is
doing so with the assuredness of a man who is king of his empire at Leicester
City.
The incident when he told a fan – the term applied
loosely given that no rational supporter of The Foxes would have directed such abuse
to the man who brought them back from the brink - to go to a place where a vast
majority of fans would have directed him as well, first saw sympathisers. If
not for what he said, for his reaction to such unwarranted abuse.
The McArthur incident, so clearly good-humoured in
the first instance, was covered in a sensationalist manner so out of sorts with
Pearson’s matter-of-fact style that it irked him. A mixture of stubbornness and
embarrassment resulted in an attempt at face-saving that only endeavoured to
make things worse. Pearson’s assertions that he could “look after himself” cast
upon his character a harshness which saw a man who should be so well-respected
for what he has achieved in recent years instead ridiculed.
The story rumbled on. Taking exception to a
question about Leicester’s season ‘waning’ – subsequently vindicated it could
be argued – Pearson replied with the colourful response of a man with total
belief in his players. The press pack closed ranks and the battle lines were
drawn.
In the wake of ‘Ostrich Gate’, Kasper Schmeichel spoke of a
manager who: “Takes the hits necessary
for the greater good. Someone who is
willing to do whatever it takes to make sure his players are ready to perform”.
Were this Messrs Mourinho or Ferguson, the molehill would remain a mound. That
it is Nigel Pearson, a man who refuses to pander to the media, has seen a media
storm over one man calling another man at best ‘an ostrich’ and at worst ‘stupid’.
And so to
the headlines the following day. Nothing about the end of Leicester City’s
winning streak. Nothing about the fact that his players are still deep in the
midst of a high pressure relegation battle. Nothing about the fact that
Leicester city have a huge game this weekend against Newcastle United.
Taking the hits
for his players to perform.
The
following day also brought a visit to Pearson’s pre-match press conference from
Pat Murphy, self-appointed spokesperson for the press pack. Amidst a barrage of
questions intended only to rile Pearson, some of which over-stepped the line of
professionalism in the same way Pearson had done just hours before, he kept his
cool. Under siege he answered calmly.
Pearson may
win the media battles by keeping Leicester City up but he has made numerous
enemies in a media war who will be waiting for a revenge that they will be
happy to devour cold. Previous incidents have already been pulled together into
a collective ‘charge sheet’.
There is no
doubt that a question needs to be raised about who can advise Nigel Pearson,
about who can question a man who has rebuilt the club from top to bottom and
earned the freedom of it. The saga that saw Pearson sacked and re-instated again
within a matter of hours points to an ambiguity in the chain of command above
Pearson, but it is a question that can await an answer for now.
For now, the
matter at hand is Premier League survival and if Pearson’s players can keep
their cool in the same way that their manager did under pressure from Murphy then
Nigel Pearson will be in the glare of the Premier League spotlight for a little
longer yet. Refusing to pander to a media with knives at the ready and taking
those hits for those players who so clearly adore him.
