Derby County won just three times under Pearson as his managerial reputation took a substantial hit.
Nigel Pearson has admitted that a disastrous four-month stint at Derby County has damaged his self-confidence, BBC 5Live reports, but he only has himself to blame for failing at the iPro.
The outspoken gaffer saved Leicester City from a seemingly inevitable relegation while laying the foundations for Claudio Ranieri’s remarkable title triumph in 2014/15 but, after a year out of the game, he suffered a nightmare return with Championship hopefuls Derby.
After winning just three of his 14 games in charge, the combustible Pearson left the club in October after a furious bust up with owner Mel Morris who, The Mirror reports, had sent a drone to observe training; behaviour the manager felt was intrusive.
And Pearson has now admitted to BBC 5Live that he has been tainted by arguably the most testing period of his managerial career.
“After the situation that I had at Derby I’m going to have to be really excited to come back into it,” said a surprisingly self-aware Pearson.
“I believe very strongly that you’ve got to commit totally to a job, if you’re asking that of players.
“When you go through a negative experience like I’ve been through, I think it does somewhat taint your perception of how you work sometimes.”
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And Pearson should not look for anyone else to blame after transforming Derby from perennial promotion challengers into potential relegation candidates.
After all, his ill-fated desire to alter the squad’s favoured 4-3-3 formation to a traditional 4-2-2 proved damaging, while the decision to let Chris Martin – top scorer in each of the last three seasons – leave on loan for Fulham continues to undermine Derby’s season.
And that is without mentioning Matej Vydra; the club record signing with just two goals to his name.
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If Pearson had been more attentive to the strengths of his squad, perhaps he would not have become the club’s shortest serving manager since 1984.
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