The former Villa striker and pundit says he would happily drive the suspended Derby County boss to Villa Park.
Former striker and Aston Villa fan Stan Collymore has written in his column in the Mirror that suspended Derby County manager Nigel Pearson is exactly what his old side need right now.
Pearson has been banished by the Rams after a bitter argument with owner Mel Morris on the club’s training ground, and it appears as though his time in charge of the East Midlands club has come to an end.
Pearson was widely thought to have been a major target for Villa at the start of the summer as they looked for a permanent replacement for former boss Remi Garde after their relegation.
The 53-year-old claimed back in June that he had been in talks with the Villa hierarchy over potentially taking the role before deciding against it, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.
Now it appears as though he is about to become available again, and Collymore, another man who splits opinion within the game, has suggested that Villa should be keeping their eyes on how the situation plays out.
The striker-turned-pundit wrote in the Mirror: “I’ll gladly drive round to Nigel Pearson’s house this minute, pick him up and deliver him from East to West Midlands. Specifically, to the B6 postcode in which Villa Park sits.
“Derby boss Pearson was suspended earlier this week after a fallout with owner Mel Morris, but for my money he’s exactly the sort of old-school football man Aston Villa need. I spent a bit of time in his company not too long ago over dinner and we swapped a few stories about the way the game should be played and all that goes with it, both on and off the field.
“He doesn’t care much for all the extra stuff you get these days days, but his ideas and the channelled aggression he brings would suit Villa down to the ground.”
Certainly, speculation has already begun to gather pace that current Villa boss Roberto di Matteo could already be facing a race against time to keep his job after the relegated club won just one of their first 10 Championship games.
Conversely, that talk has been dismissed as premature by some, but Pearson’s availability could provide an interesting dilemma for owner Tony Xia.
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