No longer a fox, but now a tiger...
Not too long ago, I wrote a blog regarding the six new teams that would be playing in the Championship next season via relegation and promotion. One of these teams is Hull City, a side that has had an adventurous past decade or so. My belief was that Hull wouldn’t be promoted straight back to the Premiership next season and I based this prediction on the heavy amount of debt they had accumulated when playing in the Premier League and their eagerness to move a lot of high earning players on. But two days ago, Hull managed to hire one of the top managers in the country today and all of a sudden, Hull really do have a good chance of showing bouncebackabillity and this appointment shows their ambition to establish themselves as a big hitter in England.
The man they have appointed of course is Nigel Pearson, who lead Leicester City to promotion from league one and a surprising play-off place last season in the Championship (in a sense of you don’t usually see promoted League One sides have that good a first season). The Foxes may be cursing their luck, as due to the fact Pearson has never had a chance to challenge in the top flight (despite two very brief stint as Newcastle United caretaker manager) he remains one of England’s best kept secrets and is a manager I’ve often thought is destined for greatness. Pearson himself (and I’m sure many Leicester fans) was surprised that he was given the chance to join Hull, as Milan Mandaric can often be stubborn and outspoken in his approach of issues. He is no stranger to tight budgets, and his record with previous clubs suggests that his main strength is creating unity in a club and he has a unique ability to instill confidence in any player.
The fact is, anyone who is familiar with Pearson will have a fondness towards him. He was appointed manager of a struggling Southampton side more than half way through the season on a rolling contract and managed to keep them in the Championship despite the many problems the club faced. Southampton conducted a poll asking the fans who they thought should be manager of the club for the next season, and more than 90% of the vote went to Pearson. Instead, Southampton appointed a Dutch manager no one had heard of and they were relegated next season. He then helped Leicester return to the Championship at the first time of asking and even managed to win League One with the side. Then came a dream first season back in the Championship, but Cardiff City ended their play off hopes on penalties.
What makes Pearson the perfect man for the job is that he is in a situation that he is all too familiar with. He’s managed Carlisle, Southampton and Leicester and what all these clubs had in common was that when he took charge, there was a sense of trouble in the squad and low morale. Carlisle and Southampton were fighting a relegation battle and Leicester had just been relegated, and Pearson managed to do the best job he could at each one of these clubs. When I look at Hull at the moment, I see quite a few players that are probably wanting out of the club, footballers who went there for the money – mercenaries. Pearson won’t have a massive transfer budget and he won’t be signing Premiership quality players, but instead he will be able to bring in the right players for the job, and can give Hull a real chance of going back to the Premier League. In truth, it’s one of those situations where there is no better man for the job.
It is a massive blow for Leicester and I was wondering how Pearson would manage in his second season with the Foxes, but they are now resigned to looking for a new manager to lead the club in the Championship. Paulo Sousa appears to be the overwhelming favourite and I believe that it would be a good appointment for the club, although whether he will want to leave Swansea where he is liked and established is another thing. The best for for Leicester is that they don’t have to rush the appointment and can take their time, they are a well organised team with fantastic support and are an important part in English football history. I’ve always had a soft spot for them!
As for Hull, I’m not going to exactly flip flop and say that now they will get promoted thanks to the appointment of Pearson, but I believe it is a very wise choice and in truth, promotion is now a possibility for the Tigers. This is a big season for the Yorkshire outfit and they could really do with promotion in order to ease their financial woes somewhat.
As a Leicester fan of many years I am very disappointed in losing Nigel Pearson.
Hi Paul
I’m not surprised, he did a great job at Leicester and I’m surprised that he left, as it seemed he was enjoying himself there, but I’m sure he was given a good contract and strategy at Hull.
Who is the Leicester fans preference to become manager?
Nice article! Thanks for the soft spot. We are obviously all gutted but I wish Nigel the best. Can see us doing well under Sousa, we have a very decent Championship squad to work with.
thanks Ross!
I think Sousa will enjoy Leicester, he knows how to keep discipline in the side and at Swansea he always lacked a real top goalscorer, but at Leicester he will have Fryatt.
I would think appointing Sousa would be better than Grayson, I know he’s been linked recently but after he almost lost it towards the second half of last season with Leeds I’m a bit unsure about him.
Rob and Ross, Sousa’s move to Leicester is just talk right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some discussions going on behind the scenes, but I’m not so sure Sousa would be able to do well at the Foxes. Reason being is that while he did well at Swansea last season, they played far too negatively and conservatively for my liking.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
sousa signed now!
Swansea were a bit frustrating to watch and relied upon scoring first so they could defend it, but at leicester he’ll have fryatt, he never had a striker like fryatt at swansea!
Yep, Sousa will be unveiled as the new Leicester boss in the morning. While a lot of people think he’ll be a big loss to Swansea, most Swansea City fans are glad to see the back of him. The Swans are known for playing attractive free-flowing football. Sousa is the antithesis of that.
The question now is who will take over from Sousa at the Liberty Stadium. Tough call.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
A Good piece, as a Tigers fan for over 50 years I have seen some brilliant and some awful football. I was apprehensive at the majority of the names being touted for the Hull Managers job and worried that they seemed desperate to engage a “marque ” manager. With Nigel Pearson I have a gut feeling that he just could be the right man at the right time.I feverentley hope so
I was greatley dissapointed that Phil Parkinson did not enjoy success at Hull a few years back,and I still think he has massive potential. Overall I am not a fan of foreign managers they atrracted overpaid foreign mecernary players Very pleased to see Roy Hodgson go to Liverpool and wish him every success.
Agree! I was looking at an article on EPL talk about hdogson and can’t get some of these Liverpool fans that are disappointed with Hodgson, I can’t see why they get more of a look in than the English ones when many of them don’t actually manage to achieve much.
I’m all for it if it is the right man for the job, but people can hardly complain about our national team if at the same time they are demanding a foreign manager and foriegn players in their team.
Agree with the overall sentiment regarding Pearson. It took everyone by surprise, but can’t help but think that he is just the steady hand that Hull need on the tiller right now. (thetwounfortunates is carrying a post by yours truly exploring the reasons behind Pearson’s move, if you’re interested.)
Sadly for Leicester, I don’t think that Sousa is the man to take them on. His friendship with Mandaric is probably more to do with his appointment than his previous efforts at this level. The miserly nature of Swansea’s defence last year suggests he’s learnt from Lippi while playing at Juve, but their lack of punch upfront will worry Foxes fans. Also Matty Fryatt, despite undoubted ability, failed to deliver before Pearson came along. Will those key men be able to match their efforts from last season?
I think Fryatt might be one of those players that has got confidence from Pearson, it’s clear he has the abillity and he will definetley be spearheading the foxes attack next season, although I agree, Sousa may need to maintain that confidence to get the best out of him.
I had a read of your article – i enjoyed it and agree with your closing comments regarding the way finances can often dictate important decisions in football! I’m a big believer in regulating finances (not only in football – but I won’t get into that one!)
Leicester may well have a few bids in for their players, but I imagine that Sousa has took the job under the assurance that there won’t be cuts unless an offer too good to refuse comes in.
In the case of swansea manager, Gary Speed is the favourite and that doesn’t seem too unlikely, although at this stage it could be anyone!