Managerial career Nigel Pearson

1 managerial career

1.1 career
1.2 southampton
1.3 leicester city
1.4 hull city
1.5 leicester city (second spell)
1.6 derby county
1.7 oh leuven

managerial career
early career

as manager of carlisle united, pearson helped keep club in football league @ end of 1998–99 season. signed goalkeeper jimmy glass on loan, scored injury-time goal against plymouth argyle, saving club relegation football conference @ expense of scarborough. match pearson s last in charge of brunton park outfit.

in 1999, recruited stoke city s first team coach gary megson. although megson sacked later year club s icelandic consortium, pearson kept on further 2 years under gudjon thordarson, before being sacked in 2001.

pearson moved west bromwich albion in november 2004 assistant manager bryan robson, , took on caretaker manager when robson left club in september 2006. albion won 3 , drew 1 of matches in charge, before stepping down role in preparation arrival of new manager tony mowbray.

pearson assistant manager of newcastle united in 2006

on 19 october 2006, linked sheffield wednesday manager s position instead took on assistant manager of newcastle united, replacing kevin bond, dismissed following allegations prepared take bungs players whilst @ portsmouth.

on 1 february 2007, pearson confirmed assistant coach stuart pearce, england u21 team manager, until after 2007 uefa european under-21 championship. pearce s contract limited him involvement in 1 friendly before championship, pearson led under-21s in 3–3 draw against italy on 24 march 2007, first game @ new wembley stadium.

when newcastle manager glenn roeder resigned on 6 may 2007, pearson took charge of remaining game of season, away watford. pearson stayed on @ newcastle coach following arrival of sam allardyce manager @ club. on 9 january, following departure of allardyce, re-appointed caretaker manager newcastle s trip manchester united. newcastle lost 6–0, after cristiano ronaldo hat-trick, brace carlos tevez , rio ferdinand goal. on 16 january 2008, after kevin keegan had been announced next permanent manager of club, pearson took charge of team 3rd round fa cup replay against stoke city, newcastle won 4–1. on 8 february, pearson left club.

southampton

on 18 february 2008, pearson appointed manager of southampton on rolling contract. on 19 february 2008, career @ southampton got off poor start, losing 2–0 @ home plymouth argyle in front of 17,806, lowest recorded crowd @ st mary s stadium. on 22 february 2008, southampton gained first point under managership drawing 1-1 away @ scunthorpe united.

on 4 may 2008, 1 game go, @ home sheffield united, saints in 22nd place , facing relegation league one. after going 1–0 down, pearson s side pulled-off comeback win game 3–2, goals scored marek saganowski , 2 stern john sent-off. southampton secured championship status season, @ expense of leicester city, manage 0–0 draw premier league bound stoke city, , relegated third tier of english football first time in 124-year history . on 30 may 2008, pearson replaced dutch coach jan poortvliet after 3 months in charge.

leicester city

pearson (right) , milan mandarić after winning league 1 title in 2009

on 20 june 2008, pearson appointed manager of leicester city. craig shakespeare became club s first team coach , co-assistant manager alongside steve walsh (a former chelsea chief scout, , not former leicester city player of same name). having worked on west bromwich albion coaching staff, 2 had played @ sheffield wednesday. shakespeare once said pearson best captain had ever played under. pearson named league 1 manager of month august 2008 after leicester won 3 of first 4 games, scoring 9 goals , conceding once. after disappointing defeat of losing 3–2 away brighton & hove albion despite being 2–0 @ half-time, leicester bounced club record 23 match unbeaten run in league between 1 november 2008 , 7 march 2009, before being beaten 2–0 tranmere rovers. again named league 1 manager of month during run in december 2008. on 18 april 2009, leicester won 2–0 @ southend united, confirming promotion championship league 1 champions. season finished club racking highest ever point tally of 96 points lost 4 of 46 league games.

veteran full-back chris powell joined pearson s coaching staff player/coach in summer of 2009, leicester continued upsurge in form under pearson following season in championship, leicester completed full calendar year of being undefeated @ home before 2–1 defeat against preston north end on 26 september 2009 ended longest unbeaten home run in country. leicester spent entire season in play-off positions , impressive month of february saw pearson pick championship manager of month award. leicester finished in 5th place in first season in championship, earning place in championship play-offs , chance of back-to-back promotions. defeated cardiff city following penalty shoot-out in play-off semi final, despite fighting 2-goal aggregate deficit in second leg briefly lead 3–2.

at end of season, pearson took hard line on controversial leicester defender wayne brown, had publicly admitted in front of teammates – including of ethnic minority backgrounds – had voted far-right british national party in general election on 6 may. dropped brown side play-offs. during close season, brown left club sign preston north end.

despite relative success in 2 years @ leicester, had strained relationship chairman milan mandaric , chief executive lee hoos. in summer of 2010, mandaric showed consortium of potential club buyers round club without pearson s permission , invited paulo sousa second leg of play-off semi final. club allowed hull city speak him. pearson claimed doesn t take rocket scientist work out s happening claiming club didn t want keep him. left leicester take job @ hull city , paulo sousa later appointed successor.

hull city

on 29 june 2010, appointed hull city manager. despite severe financial difficulties following relegation premier league, pearson still able enter transfer market, bringing in players such nolberto solano, james harper, liam rosenior, robert koren , jay simpson. despite winning opening game against future play-off winners swansea city, hull city under pearson endured slow start campaign. things began turn better when club won first away game in on year @ norwich city in september. following victory, pearson led club breaking 66-year-old record 14 consecutive away games without defeat. season ended 11th-place finish.

hull started 2011–12 season well, club sitting 1 point outside play-offs game in hand in middle of november, during november international break clear spell @ hull coming end when on 7 november 2011 requested permission talk former club leicester.

leicester city (second spell)

after mandaric , hoos had departed club, pearson persuaded rejoin leicester city under new ownership chairman vichai raksriaksorn , after days of negotiations re-appointed manager on 15 november 2011 leicester sitting 12th in championship. pearson started well, taking 7 points first 3 games took leicester top 6 first time since had last been @ club, on 18 months previously, before leicester faced hull city side pearson had left 18 days earlier. leicester lost game 2–1 late robert koren strike, pearson greeted chants of judas hull fans. result signalled downturn in form, beginning run saw leicester fail win 5 consecutive games. however, after new year, pearson rang changes trip crystal palace in attempt winning ways, recalling aleksander tunchev play first match of season , bringing in reserve team player tom kennedy , 18-year-old youth academy graduate liam moore make first team debut club. inexperienced team selection paid off leicester earnt 2–1 victory end winless run.

pearson sent stands in 2–2 draw against former club middlesbrough, after referee had allegedly barged leicester s dressing room unannounced, pearson reacted angrily. referee left fourth official tell him had been sent off. pearson appealed sending off saying, giving players instructions , there no chance tolerate coming in there has nothing team. m within rights tell him out – telling me hurry up. can t wait see fall-out , can t wait appeal. pearson s appeal successful,and faced no disciplinary action football association (fa). after inconsistent season, leicester ended season ninth in championship.

leicester made slow start 2012–13 season, losing 3 of first 5 league games , suffering surprising defeat in second round of league cup hands of league 2 side burton albion; however, run of 5 straight victories saw leicester sitting top of table after 12 games , earnt pearson nomination championship manager of month in september. however, drop in form in mid season saw leicester fall fifth. signing of chris wood, though, saw rejuvenated leicester go on run of 5 consecutive wins, leicester reprising 2nd place in championship table, behind leaders cardiff city, , pearson time won championship manager of month award january 2013. again, drop in form followed leicester city s rise second spot, , made championship play-offs on goal difference following last gasp 3–2 win against neighbours nottingham forest on last day of season. after winning first leg against third-placed watford 1–0, pearson s leicester city narrowly lost second leg of play-offs 3–1, after anthony knockaert missed last-minute penalty have sent them wembley.

the 2013–14 season saw leicester recover play-off defeat of previous season, starting , sitting in first place @ christmas. during time club started club-record run of consecutive league victories, winning 9 games 21 december 2013 – 1 february 2014, saw club pull 10 points clear @ top of championship , earnt pearson championship manager of month award january 2014. continuing results, saw leicester play 20 league games unbeaten until end of march, earned pearson award again in march 2014. leicester ended season champions, winning promotion premier league.

in february 2015, following home defeat crystal palace in game in which, @ 1 point, pearson put hands around palace s james mcarthur s neck, while on ground, press reported pearson had been sacked. in night of confusion, reported guardian club staff, , pearson himself had been told sacked. however, same evening, club issued statement stating such claims inaccurate , without foundation. following victories against, west ham united, west brom, swansea city , burnley, 1 defeat, against chelsea, during month of april 2015, pearson won premier league manager of month first time. on 29 april 2015, following 3-1 defeat chelsea, pearson again embroiled in controversy, when called journalist ostrich , stupid , daft during post-match news conference. apologised comments following day.

on 16 may 2015, leicester city confirmed premier league status following goalless draw sunderland, becoming third team escape relegation having been bottom @ christmas. leicester finished season in 14th place.

on 30 june 2015, however, pearson sacked, club stating working relationship between nigel , board no longer viable. sacking linked son james role in racist sex tape made 3 leicester city reserve players in thailand during post-season tour. replaced @ leicester city claudio ranieri, took leicester premier league title following year 5000-1 outsiders. sports journalists gave pearson credit building team won title, did player riyad mahrez.

derby county

after year out of football, pearson appointed manager of championship team derby county on three-year contract on 27 may 2016. on 27 september 2016, pearson suspended club pending internal investigation following row owner mel morris. later claimed row originated following pearson s objection morris use of drones observe training sessions. pearson left club mutual consent on 8 october 2016, derby 20th in championship.

oh leuven

after losing out of managerial role @ former club middlesbrough garry monk, pearson appointed manager of belgian first division b side oud-heverlee leuven on 22 september 2017.