'Foundations' - How Nigel Pearson's Leicester City rebuild can be replicated at Bristol City The Foxes have gone from strength to strength after Pearson's transformative work in the Midlands. Can the 57-year-old do a similar job in the South West? please log in to view this image SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - MAY 16: Leicester manager Nigel Pearson celebrates with Robert Huth after the Barclays Premier League match between Sunderland and Leicester City at Stadium of Light on May 16, 2015 in Sunderland, England Kasper Schmeichel's saves late in the game were a major contribution to something special last weekend. The 34-year-old turned former Leicester City defender Ben Chilwell's header on to a post then producing a brilliant fingertip stop to turn Mason Mount's powerful shot wide. To reach the stars you need a rocket. And the 6ft2 Denmark international goalkeeper was but one of the well-oiled cogs helping to propel the Foxes skyward for the club's first ever FA Cup win, as they won the 2021 edition of the competition. That Leciester City side now has a Premier League title and FA Cup win - and many, including Schmeichel, cite Nigel Pearson as laying the foundations that then led to future success. "Nigel is one of those guys who is a very important figure in my career,” Schmeichel said in 2019 on Joe Hart’s Youtube series, Gloved. "He pulled me aside after about a week [after joining Leicester City] and after a brief conversation, he said: ‘By the way, I’ve known about you for a long time and I was never too sure. But I’m having you.’ “That made me feel a million dollars, that it took me a week to turn someone’s opinion. We had a great relationship from there on in. He was fantastic. But the guy is brutally honest," said the goalkeeper, who went on to explain that after after returning from an injury he was not granted an instant return to the first XI. Perhaps City's Tomas Kalas, Zak Vyner, Chris Martin and others need to take note as Pearson just stared Schmeichel down to settle that occasion. "I knew that I had to shut up then. I wasn’t going to win that argument." But the Dane is one of those who recognises the influence that Pearson had on that club, even after the manager was sacked in 2015. “He [Pearson] built the infrastructure of the club,” Schmeichel said. “He built an amazing atmosphere. A lot of the people that he brought in are still there. “He deserves huge credit for what Leicester is today and what Leicester achieved from what he put in place and how he built the club up." Outstanding, and Premier League PFA Players Player of the Year for 2016, Riyad Mahrez is another to point to the role Pearson played in setting the culture and building the squad that helped lead to that unforgettable 2016 Premier League title. "Does he [Pearson] deserve credit for where we are now? I think so, yeah. He brought all the players to the team, apart from maybe a few. Even if we finish sixth or seventh now, he deserves credit because he built this team. He didn’t have the luck to carry on," said the now Manchester City forward back in 2016. With another rebuilding job on Pearson's hands then, and given Leicester's latest exploits, we spoke to long-term Leicester City correspondent Jordan Blackwell for more from the Midlands on the work that Pearson did there. Are those comments from Schmeichel and co a couple of years on still valid today? "He probably did reshape the club, that would be fair to say," Blackwell says. "Certainly him and his staff. And certainly in his first spell. He was given licence to do that because he had just dropped into League One for the first time in their history so it was literally the lowest point that the club had ever been, after being relegated from the Championship. "So there was a natural need to reshape the club," he adds. He also points to those comments above. "They would certainly say that Pearson put the foundations in place for that title win. "The groundwork was done for Ranieri. He didn't have to change anything. Ranieri's best attribute was the way he charmed the media and managed to take the pressure off the players. I'm not sure Pearson would have been quite so good at that," added Leicester Live's Foxes correspondent. It's mentioned that the addition of N'Golo Kante and a new counter-attacking style were major factors on the way to the Premier League title win. please log in to view this image Leicester City's Manager, Nigel Pearson and Charlton Athletic's Manager, Chris Powell in 2014. "Robert Huth's said before that they obviously went on this amazing winning run in the season before to stay up [seven wins from nine] and essentially what they did in the title-winning season was just a continuation of that," says Blackwell. "They were slightly more counter-attacking but they had Kante under Ranieri that made them a little more effective at it. But it's not like they wouldn't have bought Kante if Pearson hadn't have been there. "Steve Walsh was the recruitment chief under Pearson and he remained the recruitment chief under Ranieri and he was responsible for the Kante signing. "So I think it's fair to say that [Pearson] definitely put the foundations in place. That's probably seen by both players at the club and fans as well." It bodes well, Bristol City fans - with a big summer ahead and Dave Rennie already confirmed as reuniting with his former manager at Ashton Gate. Another former Fox now moving over to the West Country. A reshaping of the Leicester squad took place in 2008 as key defenders Richard Stearman and Gareth McAuley left, with Joe Mattock out injured for much of the coming season and sold the summer after, with the Foxes raising money for a rebuild. The Foxes had been relegated from the Championship the year before but had gone down conceding the second fewest goals in the English second tier, resulting in their defenders being picked off in the summer that Pearson arrived. No matter. A new defence was rebuilt. Pearson promoted youth talent Andy King from bit part player to mainstay, as a mix of lower league pick-ups - Lloyd Dyer and Michael Morrison - and incoming loans, such as Jack Hobbs from Liverpool, helped Leicester go straight back up as League One champions. please log in to view this image Nigel Pearson and Danny Simpson pictured together during their time at Leicester City "In terms of the players he bought, they weren't the same, as in the bigger names. And maybe that's the same when he came back in charge in the Championship after Sven-Göran Eriksson. "There was a similar vibe: the big name players he didn't want. It was all about building a team of lesser-known players who seemed to work better," says Blackwell. Walsh and Craig Shakespeare came in with Pearson in the third tier but other staff, such as former Bristol City man Mike Stowell turned goalkeeper coach, were kept in place. Stowell remains at the club even to this day. Talentspotter Rob Mackenzie - now at Aston Villa - arrived too to help on the recruitment side. What about transfers then? "The big thing for Pearson was the characters of the players being brought in. There was clearly a type that they liked," explains Blackwell. "When he [Pearson] came back to Leicester City in the Championship, Sven had spent all this money on bigger name signings and expensive loan deals for the likes of Yakubu and people like that, Jeffrey Bruma and Patrick van Aanholt from Chelsea. Those kinds of deals. "They were well established as players who were the next big things, plus Gelson Fernandes who Sven had worked with at Manchester City... Nigel Pearson wasn't interested in any of those types of players. Though he kept some of the bigger names signed under Sven, such as Schmeichel, David Nugent and Paul Konchesky. "And immediately in his first transfer window he bought Wes Morgan and Danny Drinkwater who had done well at Championship level previously. "They also bought Matty James and Ritchie De Laet from Manchester United's youth ranks as well. And that was the sort of signing he wanted. I think he felt that younger, talented players were perhaps players he could mould a bit more. Steve Walsh was finding them knowing the sort of players that Pearson wanted," he says. Hungry players were on the menu, with the occasional overseas player brought in, such as Anthony Knockaert, the 'one real flair player' that they had back then. The French winger complemented a highly talented strike force of Jamie Vardy, Chris Wood and David Nugent. Some firepower there. Can those exciting times there be replicated this way? Perhaps a hint as to what Bristol City fans should expect this summer? More steel than silk to arrive this summer? Given the right ingredients and time to bake, perhaps we may just see something special rising in the West Country as Nige reshapes the Robins. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport.../nigel-pearson-bristol-city-leicester-5442793
You can see a pattern beginning to be repeated here, out with the old slappers and overpaid OOC's brigade, gradual blooding in of the U'23's and academy boys, rumoured signings of promising lower league performers, who knows what big money boys will be coming in, plus backroom staff of known and trusted abilities, all looks good and much better planned than recent participants.
We need a blend of seasoned players along with the youth getting a good shot to develop the new look Bristol City. How many times before have we said that key player to bring in a would be a savvy midfielder that could control the defensive stance along with the added benefit of being a feeder for the forwards. They call those players "generals" because they have vision that can cover the entire battlefield with one glance and bring a calm disciplined mantra to the squad. Putting all the pieces back together can be done simply but only if you know which pieces you need and I think NP has a firm grip on that handle. The summer is looking brighter on many fronts and I would include our future in that statement.
We don't actually know that for sure. We have no idea what he will bring or whether a player that has been out for a year will ever gain the sort of form or fitness that brought him to ours and other clubs attention in the first place. We have no idea whether or not he will be the organiser that we need in midfield or whether he possesses the killer pass in and around the opponents box, because that is what we are lacking. Like most of the 'units' at our club we have no leaders, defensive unit, midfield unit or striking unit, Kalas might lead by example but does not organise his defence (and I am not even sure Kalas will be with us next season anyway) we normally have 10 outfield players who just play their own game and are constantly out of position and either not marking or losing the players they need to be marking. I think we still need another midfielder an organiser we know has a pedigree.
It won't be easy to replicate the success he had at Leicester. I hope he's given time here to turn things around.
I agree totally, however one or two on here seem to think that he is a magician and not a football manager and should get instant results.
I know, that is why I'm saying be cautious in our expectations here. I think NP is the guy to get us back to challenging for play off places as were 2-3 years ago, but it won't be easy.
This will be a massive rebuild for City and the task at hand will be a difficult one and that is why it was so important to employ a manager who knows the way upwards and onwards. The patience and footballing nous required to meet the issues head on is so important but the emphasis on the right players, combined with the positive attitudes they must have, might take a little longer to get completed. Exciting times ahead?
I don't think anyone is under any illusions about the size of the task ahead, and that's just to stabilise the club next season, after all the recent upheaval. I expect next year to be one of highs, lows and hopefully consolidation. But our Nige should have the contacts in the game, whether from previous clubs, or players he's previously managed, to be able to make some solid signings hopefully. They don't have to be spectacular world famous purchases, just players who will give 100% for 95 minutes of every game and get the job done.
Of course he will get the same stick, he will live or die by HIS decisions, just like ANY manager in the professional game, he will be given enough transfer windows to build HIS squad, again just like the previous TWO managers. Just remember he is a football coach/manager not a magician and he is sorting out a right royal mess. Let's hope his backroom staff don't let him down!. Mind you one or two on here have already been let's just say less than supportive already.
I'm with you completely on this one, we have got the right guy, at the right time to sort out the right bloody mess left by his 2 bloody predicessors and Mark Ashton,. LJ & DH had 10 or 11 windows combined I wonder how many NP will be given.
