The Curious Case Of Nigel Pearson

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.