TIME HE NEEDS HIT THE PREM’
trusts them. I remember the first day I met Nigel, I had an interview when I turned up to the training ground.
“I sat down and he said ‘Listen, you’ll do for me’ - or words to that effect. He said ‘I’ve got respect for what you’ve done, I trust what the goalkeeping coaches say, you’re going to be my No.1’ for the season.
“I just thought ‘Wow, that’s brilliant’. It gave me all the confidence and assurance I needed to go out and play.
Confidence
“Of course, you know he has got that side to him where he demands high standards, and that he can bang a few heads together. But it’s always done in the right way and at the right time. It’s never ranting and raving.
“And it’s always, always respectful. That’s the key. He treats you properly and that’s how he earns his own respect. Not through fear, but by being someone you admire and want to follow. In my experience, he’s an absolute pleasure to work under.”
With that endorsement, however, comes a warning that Pearson - who won promotion with Leicester at the fourth attempt will need time and trust to work his magic. That was something he didn’t get during an ill-fated stint at Derby in 2016, when a falling out with owner Mel Morris ended his reign after 14 games.
Succeed
“For Nigel to succeed, everything needs to slot into place,” says Weale, who was Derby’s back-up keeper throughout Pearson’s tenure at Pride Park.
“If there are a few cogs in the system that aren’t working, it affects the whole thing. At Derby, for example, there were a number of situations that would have been difficult for anybody to manage. It needed time to sort those things out and Nigel didn’t get it.
“At Leicester, he was given breathing space to resolve any issues, get the right people around him and you saw what happened. He needs time, and he needs the trust of the people above him. “That’s something - looking from the outside - that he’s maybe had difficulties with in the past. But if Bristol City do that, then I firmly believe it’s a great marriage - the right man at the right time.”