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Off Topic Nigel Pearson speaks out about his time at City.

Discussion in 'Hull City' started by John Ex Aberdeen now E.R., May 26, 2019.

  1. John Ex Aberdeen now E.R.

    John Ex Aberdeen now E.R. Well-Known Member

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    Former Hull City boss Nigel Pearson lifts the lid on his exit from the KCOM Stadium

    Pearson spent 17 months in charge of the Tigers before opting for a return to Leicester City
    By
    Jonty Colman
    SPORT

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    Nigel Pearson alongside Jack Hobbs following Hull City's 2-1 win away to Watford in April 2011


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    Former Hull City manager Nigel Pearson has described his exit from the club for a return to Leicester City in 2011 as an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.
    The 55-year-old spent 17 months at the KCOM Stadium, inheriting a side in June 2010 that had recently been relegated from the Premier League under Iain Dowie.
    Much of his time with the club was spent cutting down the wage bill, as well as attempting to re-build the team following their return to the Championship.
    Under Pearson, City finished 11th in the Championship during his sole full season in charge of the club, a 2010-11 campaign that saw the Tigers end 10 points behind the top six, despite being in the bottom three in November.
    Progress that had been made during the back end of that season continued at the start of the following term, but in November 2011 Pearson exited East Yorkshire for a return to the King Power Stadium with the Foxes.
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    Nigel Pearson and Craig Shakespeare watch on at Hull City training

    At the time, Pearson’s side were in eighth in the table, a point off the play-offs and with a game in hand over their top-six chasing rivals, but for Pearson the chance to return to Leicester was one that hard to ignore.
    “It was something I couldn’t turn down, it was as simple as that,” admitted Pearson.
    “It’s difficult for people to understand and I don’t expect Hull fans to either forgive me or understand it, but it was just something that I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to.
    “At least I was honest about it, I didn’t play one off the other, and I just said I can’t turn the opportunity down and I was never anything other than brutally honest about it sometimes, honesty unnerves people because it is not what they want to hear.
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    “If it had been another Championship club come in and do the same thing, I don’t think I would’ve gone. I was not unhappy there and this is what people don’t really get about is, it wouldn’t have just happened because I had the chance to go to another club, it wasn’t that at all, it was because it was Leicester.
    “It was an emotional attachment, Adam [Pearson]’s face was a bit shocked when I told him, but it is what it is.”
    His 64 games in charge across his time with the club was a period of his managerial career that Pearson looks back at with many happy memories, despite exiting a third of the way into his second season in charge.
    “People don’t necessarily understand this or believe it, but I really enjoyed my time there, there was quite a few of us, staff wise and the five of us who went, we really, really enjoyed it,” Pearson explained.
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    Nigel Pearson shares a joke with assistant Craig Shakespeare during the 2011-12 season team picture

    “It was a chance to do things a bit differently, we had a difficult set of circumstances because we inherited a squad that was not going anywhere and it was top heavy with players who had probably done enough there.
    “We had to offload a number of players, bring the wage bill down, so it was a challenge and we didn’t have a brilliant first third of the season, but by the end of the season, I think we were functioning pretty well as a team.
    “There was an element of dealing with a really tough situation, not being particularly popular as a manager, which seems to be the case wherever I go; it was an interesting time for us.
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    “The second season, we started pretty well and the Leicester thing came out of the blue, so it wasn’t something that I was particularly looking for.
    “I would like to think that I left the club in a much better, healthier position than I found it, not just through what I had done, but through the work of the football club and it was a team effort to try and stabilise a very difficult situation.
    “I just felt that when we went there and when the job started, it was very complex, but by the time we left, the players that we had bought in, there was some value to the squad, which there really wasn’t when we inherited it. Even though players had cost a lot of money, there was not a lot of value to the squad.”
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    Hull City Chairman Adam Pearson speaks to the crowd before kick-off at the first game

    During his time with the club, he worked very closely with Adam Pearson, who had stepped down as chairman to become the head of football operations.
    Pearson, who was most recently managing Leuven in Belgium, said that his collaboration with the board allowed the Tigers to make the progression that they achieved.
    “As a group of staff, with Adam Pearson’s guidance as well, we had turned the ship around and I look back at that time and say I had learnt a lot, but also, enjoyed the process of trying to achieve some sort of level of success under difficult circumstances,” Nigel explained.
    “It’s not easy to work with embargoes over you where you can just give into it, or you can be creative and we were.
    “We had to offload players and were able to do that, we were clever with how we bought players into the club and there was some really good times there.
    “I went along and spoke with Adam and it just felt like a fresh start, a good opportunity. It was something that came out of nothing and it was enjoyable for all of us as staff, we all got a lot out of it.
    “I really enjoyed working with Adam Pearson, I thought he was excellent, really, really good and he introduced me to almost working with a director of football; he was really good to work with.
    His year and a half in charge has been parallel to the time that current head coach Nigel Adkins has spent with the club, both in length and with the financial constraints that both Nigels have had to manage.
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    Hull City head coach Nigel Adkins (right) consults with assistant Andy Crosby

    Pearson was full of praise for the current City manager and believes that his experience makes him a good fit at the KCOM.
    “He is someone I like a lot anyway and it’s dealing with expectation.
    “All I’d say is, I think there is a lot of value in being transparent with the fan base and saying look, these are the realistic expectations, they might not be what they want to hear, but actually, you can’t pull the wool over people’s eyes by trying to paint a picture that everything is great when it’s not.
    “Likewise, if you are too aggressive, you can’t afford to lose your players. If it’s a period of transition, you have still got to utilise the players that you have got.
    “I can’t know what [City fans] are experiencing because I don’t have finger on the pulse there, but what I will say is, I like Nigel, he’s got integrity, he’s got plenty of games experience and like any manager, they need support and time and whether they get it or not is another thing.”
    On Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 June, Pearson will be completing the Three Peaks Challenge alongside friend Gareth Challinor and Nigel’s sister-in-law, Julie Williams, raising money for the Welsh Air Ambulance Charitable Trust, the University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity and the Wolverhampton & District MS Therapy Centre.
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    Former Hull City boss Nigel Pearson relaxing at his home in Sheffield ahead of taking on the Three Peaks Challenge

    To make a donation via JustGiving, click the following links:

    Welsh Air Ambulance Charitable Trust


    University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity


    Wolverhampton & District MS Therapy Centre


    https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/former-hull-city-boss-nigel-2907505
     
    #1
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  2. hullborn

    hullborn Well-Known Member

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    Very interesting interview. Cant blame him for leaving at all.

    Under new owners id be more than happy to have him back as manager.
     
    #2
  3. TIGERSCAVE

    TIGERSCAVE Well-Known Member

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    When Nigel leaves.... just copy and paste and insert his name...
     
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  4. Quill

    Quill Bastard

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    In hindsight, he was lucky to get out when he did, though I imagine he wouldn't have taken any **** from the Allams and left pretty sharpish afterward.

    I get why he left, still peeved about it though. Hey, at least it resulted in one of the best recent games at the KCOM when he returned a few weeks later.

    I definitely appreciate the job he did stablising the team after relegation, we needed a manager like him after that. Brought in many players who would become some of our best ever in the years following.


    This needs to be posted though.
     
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  5. Barchullona

    Barchullona Well-Known Member

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    I liked Pearson. Enjoyed his responses to asinine questions from HDM’s and RH’s finest.
     
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  6. pudseytiger

    pudseytiger Well-Known Member

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    Don't think the radio blunderside would be all that keen on his return, his post match interviews where something else at time's, you could hear the fear in the voice's of those sent to interview him.
     
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  7. Asterix

    Asterix Well-Known Member

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    Cutting costs and wage bill, and then along came the Allams. Perchance a bit of a war chest, or some investment towards a promotion push?

    Only to find the public spat about extensions and council houses, and plans for a new stadium held aloft in a muudy field within the parish of Melton.

    Quite possibly the first person to see "the gift" for what it was.
     
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  8. Evington

    Evington Well-Known Member

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    Nice
     
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  9. City Man

    City Man Well-Known Member

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    Don't think we are getting the full story- nor why would we?

    People forget what a car crash team that 2010/2011 team was. Solano at full back, sick note Gardner at CB etc.

    Big job (as it usually is) when you get relegated, to sort out the dross, re-establish confidence and persuade new players to come. Factor in inexperienced and paranoid owners and ot becomes a mammoth task. I remember when we won at Norwich that Autumn, think it was our first win since Fulham 2009 (Manucho). Then we went on an unprecedented run of away form that lasted almost until the end of the season..

    A remarkable and rare turnaround of form, and the recruitment was spot on,



    Any excuse to post this Matty Fryatt winner, 18 month old unbeaten home record smashed to pieces by Matty Fryatt.
     
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    Last edited: May 26, 2019
  10. Barchullona

    Barchullona Well-Known Member

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    The old adage about shooting through a defender’s legs making it difficult for a keeper.
    Compare the number of away fans and their exuberance to what years of the Allams and their daft ideas have brought us to.
     
    #10

  11. City Man

    City Man Well-Known Member

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    He just rolls it gently like a snooker player through the defenders' legs, like the defender is playing in slow motion. No power in it, just cunning and accuracy, all done after bamboozling said defender on a dribble.

    Almost Edwards-esque.
     
    #11
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  12. Citygirl

    Citygirl Well-Known Member

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    You really love this goal . Matty was a great dribbler though . Happy days and Happy fans .
     
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  13. City Man

    City Man Well-Known Member

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    I said snooker player but seeing it again, it's more like an expert golfer nonchalantly putting it to win the tournament.
     
    #13
  14. Tickton Tiger.

    Tickton Tiger. Well-Known Member

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    The local media didn't take to Nige's interview technique. Remember him once coldly crucifying RH's Mike White live on air after MW was overheard not being very complimentary to Pearson's tactical genius. Also that Fewings character who had the joke readers letters column in the HDM regularly referred to him as 'Boring, boring Nigel'
    Nigel Pearson did a top job at Hull City.
    He was also the mastermind behind keeping Leicester in the Premier League at our expense and it was his squad which won the Premier League the following season. Thus showing what a pratt HDM's Fewings was.
     
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  15. City Man

    City Man Well-Known Member

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    Pearson had Walsh and Shakespeare, and they formed a formidable team, able to root out the likes of Mahrez, Vardy amd Ngolo Kante.

    If only we had owners who took an interest in football, they'dunderstand what a special management team they let slip through their fingers.


    "Ah but Pearson wanted to go back to Leicester" bleat the doubters, but if the negatives outweigh the positives elsewhere , any manager will move.
     
    #15
  16. John Ex Aberdeen now E.R.

    John Ex Aberdeen now E.R. Well-Known Member

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    Continuation from opening story.

    https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/nigel-pearson-recalls-day-furious-2907524


    Nigel Pearson recalls the day he was 'furious' with his Hull City stars

    The Tigers finished the 2010-11 Championship season on a low note

    By
    Jonty Colman
    • 10:00, 26 MAY 2019
    SPORT
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    Nigel Pearson watches on as Hull City surrender a long unbeaten away record in defeat to Bristol City in May 2011

    Nigel Pearson says he was left furious by Hull City’s 3-0 defeat to Bristol City in May 2011 as a limp final day defeat ruined their lengthy unbeaten away run.

    After a turbulent start to the 2010-11 campaign for the Tigers under Pearson, results started to pick up, especially on the road.


    Pearson guided the Tigers to a club-record run of 14 consecutive away matches without falling to defeat, including a win at Norwich City, as well as draws away from home against Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City, the three teams that earned promotion to the Premier League at the end of that campaign.


    But on the final day of the season City lost 3-0 to the Robins at Ashton Gate, with Jon Stead, Brett Pitman and Jamal Campbell-Ryce all scoring.

    That ended a proud unbeaten away run dating back seven months and left Pearson angered by his team's sorry surrender.

    “I was furious on the last day of the season when we got beat at Bristol City 3-0 because I thought we had gave away a record,” admitted Pearson.




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    Former Hull City boss Nigel Pearson relaxing at his home in Sheffield ahead of taking on the Three Peaks Challenge
    “The record was there, 14 games unbeaten away from home. We gave up an opportunity of going from October to the following August or September unbeaten away from home and we gave it away on the final day of the season.

    “I was furious about that, really furious. I think that in itself gives you an indicator of how far I had thought we had come. You play a game that’s got no meaning in the outcome of the season in terms of what you can achieve in league positions, but had a lot of significance to me and the players and we just didn’t turn up on the day.

    Former Hull City boss Nigel Pearson lifts the lid on his exit from the KCOM Stadium
    “That gives you an idea of the challenges that we had met and overcome. It was an interesting season for sure.”

    On Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 June, Pearson will be completing the Three Peaks Challenge alongside friend Gareth Challinor and Nigel’s sister-in-law, Julie Williams, raising money for the Welsh Air Ambulance Charitable Trust, the University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity and the Wolverhampton & District MS Therapy Centre.
     
    #16
  17. GLP

    GLP Well-Known Member

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    Reinforcing just what a brilliant footballer Robert Koren was.
     
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