Stuart Pearce
Stuart ‘Psycho’ Pearce – a true playing legend of the game is slowly, but surely showing the managerial world the way to do it. By combining his massive commitment to whatever he does (remember that penalty against Spain in Euro 96) and his playing experiences (he was managed by Brian Clough, Terry Venables, Sir Bobby Robson, and played with Roy Keane in his Notts Forest days), it is perhaps little surprise that he has turned the fortunes of Manchester City. He began his playing career at Wealdstone in 1982, before a transfer to the big time, spending two years at Coventry City. However it was at Nottingham Forest that Pearce spent most of his time, becoming a legend for club and country. By the last count his playing career took in 570 games (scoring 72 goals) at club level and an incredible 78 caps for England. Those figures however, don’t tell the story of England’s most committed left back in their history. His time at Forest came to an end after the 1996/97 season, which also included his first managerial post (more if which later) – he had spent 12 years with the club, making more than 500 appearances. From there he moved to Newcastle United (playing 37 games) before a spell at West Ham (42 games over 2 years). His final club, in terms of playing was Manchester City where he became a crowd favourite. He joined the club in the summer of 2001 and spent a season combining his playing role with that of defensive coach before hanging up his boots.
Following that taster coupled with his early forage into management it was obvious where Pearce’s ambitions lay, and he began his journey as coach at City under Kevin Keegan. As mentioned earlier, there was a brief 23 game spell in charge of Nottingham Forest during the last 5 months of the 1996/7 season – one that ultimately ended in relative failure as they were relegated. It was not without its own limited success as Pearce picked up his first ever Manager of the month award - it was enough to show Stuart the way forward, and it was not until 8 years later when he finally got a big opportunity of his own. When Kevin Keegan left the Manchester City in March 2005, Pearce was appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. This time his time in charge was a massive success, as he guided the blue half of Manchester to 4 wins, 4 draws and only 1 defeat – meaning safety in the top League, with City only just missing out on a place in the UEFA Cup when Robbie Fowler missed an injury time penalty against Middlesbrough in the last game.
It was a done deal – the players wanted him, the fans wanted, the pundits wanted him, but most importantly the board wanted him, and he was given the job full-time. His first full season in charge was a mixed bag with him having an immediate impact leading the club to fourth place after finishing the first five games unbeaten. Despite some good publicity thanks to Pearce's eccentricities on the touchline - he was even touted for the full England job, but it was not to be as City lost nine of their last ten games of the season to finish 15th.
As a man of ambition, he was looking further a field and when the England Under-21 job came up he grabbed it with both hands taking over on 1st February 2007 in a part time role. He led the team into the Under-21 European Championships in Holland. He is in short a manager on the move, a young English manager whose stock is rising, and one that could go all the way to the top.
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