‘Wasn’t for me’: 65-year-old admits he rejected Watford job before Pearson’s arrival

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Nigel Pearson has made a big impact at Watford – but the Premier League strugglers also approached Sam Allardyce about taking the Vicarage Road job.

Sam Allardyce has admitted to The Mail that he turned down the chance to make a Premier League return with Watford before Nigel Pearson took over at Vicarage Road.

By the time we were opening the first door of our advent calendar, one of England’s top flight clubs was already on to their third manager of the season.

Javi Gracia paid the price for a miserable start to the 2019/20 campaign while Quique Sanchez Flores’s unexpected return to Hertfordshire quickly fell flat.

And with Watford’s dressing room, namely goalkeeper Ben Foster, making it clear that they wanted an Englishman barking orders from the touchline, The Hornets turned to a man who pulled off a Houdini-esque act of escapology with Leicester City in 2014/15.

But not before they made contact with football’s famed firefighter.

“Approached yes, but it wasn’t one for me,” said Allardyce, who also turned down offers from Newcastle United and clubs in China. “Nigel Pearson has done a great job. He’s come back with a vengeance and shown everybody what a good manager he’s always been.”

“Recently for me, it has been more about crisis management. That’s what people have labelled me as.

“’All Sam can do is crisis management. He can get a club out of trouble.’

“I’m proud that I’ve never been relegated. And if that’s what’s available to you then that’s what you do. But I’ve always thought I was about much more and sometimes you’d like the opportunity to do a bit more than that.”

Pearson, the wolf-fighting, ostrich-accusing tactician who resembles something akin to football’s answer to Liam Neeson, certainly had the desired effect at Vicarage Road.

Watford have been much-improved since the former Hull and Derby boss took charge although three successive defeats have raised concerns amongst the fanbase again. The Hornets conceded stoppage-time winners against Aston Villa and Everton, while flopping in the FA Cup against third-tier Tranmere Rovers.