NIGEL PEARSON
Nigel Pearson may have once fought off a pack of angry dogs baying for his blood – but not even he could beat the threat of coronavirus in 2020. The 57-year-old was caught up among a number of cases at Watford when the country entered lockdown in March, shortly before his sudden sacking at Vicarage Road was greeted by national derision.
Several months later, as FourFourTwo catches up with the former Leicester boss to present him with our readers’ posers, Pearson is thankfully on the mend. “It’s been mixed – mainly not too good over the last few months,” he admits. “But I’m making progress. It’s been a test, like it has for many of us.”
Luckily, Pearson has never been one to shirk a fight. He’s been part of four great relegation escapes as a manager or assistant alone – the first at Carlisle, when goalkeeper Jimmy Glass’ fabled goal kept them in the Football League, to the epic recovery which preceded Leicester’s Premier League title glory.
From a successful playing career at Shrewsbury, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough, to masterminding the remarkable rises of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, there’s plenty to chew over with a gaffer in terrific form and looking forward to his next challenge.
“All those stories saying I’m a really miserable bugger? You can dispel them in one fell swoop,” he smiles.
So, off we go then...
You reached the Football League and Shrewsbury the hard way via Heanor. How realistic a prospect was turning professional when you were a kid?
Andrew Booth, Bristol
Living in Nottingham during the 1970s, all we ever did as youngsters was play football in the winter and cricket in the summer. I played for a club side called Parkhead, and in that same team was Chris Fairclough, who went on to have a fantastic career; Steve Hodge as well. I didn’t get an apprenticeship at Forest like many lads I played with, so went to college. Thinking back to that now, non-league was a very good pathway in. I first played in midfield, and scored an awful lot of goals, too. I started out in the middle at Heanor, then moved to right-back. When Shrewsbury showed interest and I played in a couple of trial games, they said they’d like to develop me as a centre-back. That’s where the story started.
One of your hobbies is backpacking on long-distance walks. Where does that love come from?
Elise Dean, Chesterfield
I’ve always been an outdoors person. I started the Pennine Way with a friend when I was 15. We got as far as Horton in Ribblesdale, Yorkshire, when
