bcfctim

Really good article by Stuart James of the Athletic this morning:

https://theathletic.com/4742626/2023/08/03/nigel-pearson-bristol-city/

 

“It calms your brain,” Nigel Pearson says, smiling. “You can’t rush life here.”

 

The Bristol City manager is talking in a quaint and quirky pub across the road from his home in Somerset, where the homemade sausage rolls go down as well as a pint and the absence of a mobile phone signal feels like a blessing.

 

It is a haven for the cyclists who regularly pass through on the winding country lanes and a meeting place for the locals whose animals are part of Pearson’s everyday life, by the sound of things.

 

According to Sophie, who popped her head around the door with her dog to say how much the neighbours (farmers) enjoyed last week’s pre-season friendly in Cheltenham, Pearson likes to talk to the horses grazing in the field outside his house.

 

As for the cows, they have been known to make the manager’s journey to work take twice as long as it should — not that he would ever complain.

 

This is the West Country at its rural best and Pearson, who celebrates his 60th birthday later this month, could not be happier.

 

The world of professional football has consumed him for more than four decades, first as a player and now as a manager, and you can hear the excitement in his voice when he talks about Bristol City’s prospects in the Championship this season. “We feel that we’ve got a really good chance of being in with the promotion race,” he says.

 

But work-life balance matters to Pearson too.

 

When he opened his front door earlier in the afternoon, wearing shorts and a T-shirt and offering a cup of tea in an Alex Scott mug (was that a hint that Bristol City’s £25million-rated star is staying?), there was never any likelihood of Sky Sports News being on the TV.

 

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Pearson says. “I might have had a little look at the cricket, just because I’m a big cricket fan. But no, that’s not something which… I’m not being critical of them. I just don’t really want to listen to all the tittle-tattle that’s going on out there. There’s a lot of background noise in sport these days.”

 

Pearson prefers a different soundtrack to his life away from football. Since taking over at Bristol City two and a half years ago and immersing himself in the club and the area, he has bought several acres of woodland in the middle of nowhere. Planning permission is a non-starter but there is plenty of opportunity to lose himself and unwind.

 

“My wife and kids, initially their reaction was: ‘What?!’” Pearson says, laughing. “But they know that I like to escape. And it’s nice to have somewhere to go, and somewhere to manage as well, and I’m interested in nature anyway.

 

“I feel a bit more connected down here too,” he adds, looking around the house. “I bought this place to commit to being here because I think that’s really important. Geographically, I’m still close to the training ground and stadium. But I have the ability to change how I can, if you like, behave. That sounds a bit weird and hippy, but it doesn’t matter. It allows me to separate work from home to a certain extent.”

 

Pearson is such an intriguing character. The public perception of him — largely shaped by how he comes across in press conferences — is that he is some sort of gruff sergeant major. But there is another side to him too — a side that the public rarely gets to see.

 

For example, plenty of football supporters would know that Pearson grabbed James McArthur around the throat when he was Leicester City manager. But few would be aware that Pearson took part in the farewell video that Crystal Palace produced for McArthur when he left the club in the summer.

 

Pearson smiles. “Mark Bright (a former Sheffield Wednesday team-mate and Palace ambassador) got in touch with me and said: ‘Will you do a message for me?’ And I went: ‘Yeah, of course I will’. So I was out walking in the park actually, in Sheffield. I sat down on the bench, did a couple of recordings and sent one.”

 

The clip was short but sweet.

 

“I’d love to be able to shake you by the hand instead of the neck,” Pearson said on the video.

 

“Well, you’ve got to laugh at yourself, haven’t you?” Pearson reflects.

 

Self-deprecation comes easy to Pearson, who is good company. An introspective, deep thinker, he talks about himself with a mixture of candour and humour, delivering answers that occasionally take you by surprise. A conversation about his thoughts on leadership, and his own style of management, is a case in point.

 

“I can still be (intense), and I think if you spoke to the staff that I work with, they recognise when I’m not in my best space in my head,” Pearson says. “But I feel more comfortable now. When you’re able to delegate responsibility and able to trust people that you work with, I can take myself out of it. Sometimes being there could be more detrimental and more damaging than taking yourself away.”

 

Did he take himself away in the past?

 

“Not enough,” Pearson replies, shaking his head. “Not enough.”

 

He pauses for a moment.

 

“You probably do the same — most people do — internalise some of the shit that you deal with because you feel it’s more relevant than being able to share difficult things with other people. And that’s quite damaging,” he explains.

 

“Management can feel quite lonely a lot of the time just because of the demands of the job. It’s a complex thing to talk about for somebody like me who, in many ways, shouldn’t really be managing in football. But I do and I have done for a long time.”

 

 

Pearson said he would like to shake McArthur by the hand, rather than his neck, in a Palace farewell video (Photo: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

Why does he say that he shouldn’t be managing in football?

 

“Because in terms of personality-wise, I don’t fit with what people want outside. I fit with what happens inside.”

 

But he’s been managing for 25 years. “Yeah, I know I have,” Pearson replies. “But it’s how I feel.

 

“There are some people who just preen themselves being a leader. For me, it’s something that’s a bit different. I’m proud to lead, but there are aspects of leadership that don’t sit easy with me. So that’s an element of my personality that I have to come to terms with, and I do come to terms with it.

 

“I think I’m good at what I do. I think I’m very competent at what I do. I think I’m a better leader now than I’ve ever been. I think I’m a lot more flexible in terms of methodology than I’ve ever been. All those things together, I think, matter. How other people perceive what you are can sometimes be either irritating or it can feel frustrating. What really matters is how I work and how people who work with me feel about it.

 

“I suppose, like most things in life, it comes down to the basics, and that is trust and belief. It’s not always about being liked. Although I like to like people, and I prefer to like people and be liked, as most humans do. But respect’s huge for me as well. When I work with people who I find it difficult to respect, I find it really hard.

 

“So all those things together are an insight into the complexities of a) what the job is and b) what a fruit bat I can be. It’s as simple as that.”

 

Cue much laughter.

 

“No, but it’s true,” Pearson says, the expression on his face deadly serious.

 

Appointed at Ashton Gate in February 2021, Pearson is the third-longest serving manager in the Championship.

 

“I don’t know how!” he shoots back, smiling.

 

What does he mean by that?

 

“There’s two things,” he says. “Firstly, you don’t know what the threshold is going to be to get you the sack. Our fanbase has been, generally speaking, patient. As have our owners too. But what surprises me is that I’ve been here for less than three years and you’re the third-longest (in the league). That tells you the fragility of the game and what the expectations are.”

 

The Championship is a chaotic division. Before the end of last season, 15 of the 24 clubs had changed their manager, and six of those clubs had changed their manager twice. Pearson is a survivor in that respect.

 

“I ask myself sometimes: ‘Why should you still work in a developmental way, where you’re trying to build something, when the reality is that you might not last very long?’” he says. “The answer that I always tell myself is, even the clubs where I have not lasted very long, like the Derby situation (Pearson left after five months), I still think I’ve had a touch on the place that I don’t think has been negative.

 

“For instance, I’m in the last year of my contract here and I intend to honour my contract. The club may or may not decide to offer me a new contract, and I may or may not decide to accept it. I might get sacked in the season. Whatever the scenario is, I know I will still have had a positive effect on the club and that I’ll leave it in a better situation than I found it. But it’s not just about what I do, it’s about how everybody shapes it together.”

 

Managing Bristol City has been a challenge for Pearson — and perhaps it was always going to be. This, after all, is a club that has been outside the top flight for 43 years and spent an awful lot of money in recent times — the owner Steve Lansdown’s money — trying to get there.

 

Chasing the Premier League dream that way didn’t work. By the time Pearson arrived, the wage bill had spiralled out of control and Bristol City were in danger of breaking financial fair play rules. Identifying the players that needed to be moved on was one thing. Finding clubs willing to take them quite another.

 

In fact, Pearson has found it extremely testing at times and admits there were points “where, if I was honest, I’d look at it and think: ‘I’m not sure where we go from here’.”

 

 

Pearson says Scott is probably worth closer to £30m than the £25m asking price (Getty Images)

Bristol City finished 17th in his first full campaign in charge and 14th last season, when they went on a 12-match unbeaten run on the back of a defeat against West Brom on Boxing Day that prompted a section of supporters to call for Pearson to be sacked.

 

“There’s been a few low moments, of course,” Pearson says. “But I think there’s been a lot of moments where… a lot of false dawns and I think that’s something that Bristol City have had quite a bit of, and that is a few too many moments where people think we’re on the cusp of doing something and it’s not appeared.”

 

Pearson is determined this season won’t be another. In a league with so many of his former employers — he has managed Hull, Leicester, Southampton and Watford, coached Stoke and West Brom, and played for Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday — Pearson believes Bristol City have a squad capable of competing for promotion.

 

“We’ve already talked about it in pre-season, so it’s not something that’s going to take anybody (in the club) by surprise,” he says. “There’ll be a lot of people out there saying: ‘Pffft. No chance’. But it doesn’t matter what other people think.

 

“We’ve got an exciting group of players that has a very clear identity as to what we are as a team. We have a club where there is a genuine feeling of positivity in terms of where people sit within it. We’ve got an academy now that know what they’re trying to produce. There is a good atmosphere and culture.

 

“That doesn’t guarantee success, of course, because if you lose the first game of the season against Preston, people go: ‘Well, what’s all the bluster?’ It’s not that. We’ve moved forward in ways which are never easy to quantify. But the best way for me to quantify it would be that we have a squad of players which has a genuine value now. Other people would like our players.”

 

Exhibit A is 19-year-old Scott. Born in Guernsey, released by Southampton at the age of 12 and signed by Bristol City four years later, the midfielder is an exceptional talent. Or, in the words of Pep Guardiola, “an unbelievable player” — that was how the Manchester City manager described Scott after February’s FA Cup tie against Bristol City.

 

“I’ve seen reports in some parts of the media where people are suggesting we are overvaluing him,” Pearson says. “But I’ve seen him since the start of pre-season — I think we probably should make it 30 (million pounds) rather than 25. And that’s how I see it.

 

“Our stance as a club is we want to keep our best players. He’s been an outstanding performer for us and it’s no surprise that he’s been courted by a number of clubs. He’s a very talented boy and he will play for England. We have a better chance of being successful if he’s here. But, of course, it will depend on whether clubs meet our valuation.”

 

Pearson puffs out his cheeks as he contemplates a question about turning 60 in a few weeks’ time.

 

“How do I feel about that? I don’t know if I’m honest,” he says. “The last couple of months have been quite difficult because there have been four people who have died who I’ve worked with and known pretty well. One of them being 10 years younger than me, Chris Bart-Williams. Dave Wilkes, who was my assistant at Carlisle, was the same age as me. Trevor Francis the other day, and Gordon McQueen.

 

“I suppose the thing that comes home to you is that life is important. And I, like everyone else, need to make the most of the time that you have.”

 

The cards to “Pops” in the kitchen are a reminder that Pearson is a grandparent now. His daughter Hannah recently had her second child and Pearson is clearly enjoying that new chapter of his life.

 

But he is not ready to close another. The fire still burns fiercely when it comes to succeeding in football management and Pearson would love to have another crack at the Premier League — with Bristol City.

 

“I don’t really think in terms of what the end point is for me. It’s about how I work and whether how I work is either enjoyable or it stimulates me,” he says.

 

“I know I’ve got a lot to offer. I’m not going to try to copy anybody else. I’ll do it my own way. I expect a lot from people who work for me. But, by the same score, I expect a lot from myself. It’s about commitment to the job that you do. And I know that, when I work, I give it everything.”

 

Giving it everything doesn’t mean trying to do everything. Pearson explains he is “not a control freak”. He is also not a head coach. He is a manager and in his mind there is a clear distinction between the two roles.

 

“I spend a lot of my time managing people,” Pearson explains. “And when I’ve had jobs that have been as a head coach, I’ve still managed. At Watford, for instance, they don’t hire managers. But basically what I did was manage. I think it’s how you see yourself.

 

“I’m less hands-on with coaching now because I’m more observational. But when I do coach, I think it’s important to coach in a way where there is real clarity. I think it’s important that the players hear my voice at the right time. Not all the time.

 

“I think it’s important to be visible, but it’s not always important to be centre stage, because it’s important for me to see players in every situation. And when you’re coaching, you’ll see lots of it, but you won’t see all of it.

 

“It’s beneficial for me to see how people work and I don’t want the players to be bored of my voice. In pre-season, for instance, I hope what I have delivered has been beneficial, but I’ve made sure it’s done at the right time and not in great quantities.”

 

By Pearson’s own admission, he has changed as a manager over time, if not as a person. He has not gone soft — there are still things (“blaggers” in particular) that get his “bullshit sensor pinging”.

 

But there is a clear sense that Pearson is not as confrontational now and, as a result, less likely to get embroiled in the sort of press conference exchanges that made headlines when he was managing Leicester in the Premier League in 2014-15. The night he called a journalist an ostrich goes straight in at No 1 in that respect.

 

“The fact that people still talk to me about some of the interviews that I’ve done where I’ve been a bit off the wall, it tells you what people remember,” Pearson says, smiling.

 

“I suppose, in a way, it’s better to be remembered for something than nothing. Most people look at it with a wry sense of humour. It’s fine. You can think I should have done that differently or that was a bit stupid, but you can’t change it. It’s where you were at any given time. And I think what you’ve got to also reflect on is what you are feeling then and the pressures that you’re under.”

 

That pressure will be there at Bristol City this season, where Pearson can sense the increased levels of expectation amongst supporters.

 

But it was not there on a Thursday evening in late July, when we were enjoying a pint in deepest Somerset, watching the cyclists and the world go by and waiting for the cows to come home.

2 hours ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

Really? 
I’ve been watching City admittedly a little longer than you (50+ years), and I’ve seen some really dire crap over those years - in lower divisions too. 

The football under Johnson ‘stagnated’ and became boring, it was right that he went  (although the way his successor was appointed was a debacle that made us a laughing stock) - we were burning money and going nowhere, but there was good stuff too like our cup run - that night vs Man U was one of the most enjoyable in my 50+ years as a fan.

 

 

Not just the cup run either. 6-0 Vs Bolton, 4-0 Vs Sheff Wed, 4-0 Vs Huddersfield (twice!), 4-0 Vs Fulham away, 4-1 Vs Derby, 3-1 Vs Aston Villa....

Some of the pressing, front-foot football we played in his early years was a joy to watch, and as much as I'm happy and optimistic about the direction of the club at present, I don't think we've quite reached those heights under Pearson, yet.

And that's pretty much all before we started getting silly in the transfer market.

The team that beat Man Utd and was 2nd in the league ~2 years into his reign:

Steele

Wright Baker Flint Magnússon

Brownhill Smith Pack Bryan

Paterson

Reid

5 of those were already at the club when he joined (including Bobby Reid who was well on his way out the door before he arrived). Steele was a loan to cover the injured Fielding which would have made 6. Wright/Paterson/Brownhill signed for nominal fees, all were good value (and spectacular in brownhill's case) The only two signings for £1m+ were Baker and Magnússon, the latter being the only one you'd describe as poor or wasteful and even he had his moments.

People say LJ only had success because we threw money at him, I'd argue almost all of his success came before we started spending stupidly, and when we did it worked to our detriment on the pitch as well as off.

Obviously he's got to take his fair share of the blame for the way things stagnated and the lack of a coherent plan once the purse strings were loosened, but the way people talk about him on here sometimes you'd think he never got anything right to begin with - and that's just straight up not true.