If he had a foreign last name, we would all be saying he is the Messiah.
Watford captain Troy Deeney perfectly captures an argument which has been gathering pace among football fans in this country.
The point isnt a simple one but it can probably be summed up as this: British coaches dont get the credit they deserve because, well, theyre British.
Watford have as many points under Pearson as they did in their previous 22 games
Following a run of six foreign managers, Nigel Pearson has revitalised Watford and dug them out of a hole the old-fashioned way.
Not only has the former Leicester manager claimed 13 points from his opening six matches with the Hornets, the 56-year-old now has 11 Premier League wins from his last 16 games, including his time at the King Power.
How does he do it, you ask? According to most, its just a matter of getting the basics right.
We just needed somebody to basically stick a rocket up us and that’s all it is. Simple as that, Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster said.
“You need somebody who will demand that just the minimum is working hard and getting stuck in.
That method of thinking sounds outdated in a world driven by sports science, endless statistics and tactical analysis.
The Hornets look totally revitalised under Pearson
Its what English football was built on, but in recent years, theres been a cultural shift away from managers with these values. The Sam Allardyces of this world, and all the other participants on the infamous managerial merry-go-round.
Theyve become figures of ridicule – dinosaurs stuck in a football world which has moved on from them.
But is it all a matter of perception? British pragmatist = dinosaur, foreign tactician = genius?
The best way to get a Premier League job if you are British is to change your name to a foreign name, Sam Allardyce told talkSPORT.
I have always said if I was Allardicio I could have managed Manchester United.
‘If my name was Allerdicio I could have managed Man United’ – Big Sam on talkSPORT
Although a tad over simplistic, Allardyce has a point. As a general rule, fans greet foreign appointments with excitement, while British managers are widely considered uninspiring these days.
Just look at the social media reaction to David Moyes getting the West Ham job, or Pearsons appointment at Vicarage Road, for that matter.
Out of the so-called big six, only one has a British manager. Even then, Chelsea’s Frank Lampard is very much a product of the post-Pep Guardiola world of coaching. His modern methods would be far removed from Pearsons, youd imagine.
Guardiola, you could argue, is the biggest influence behind England’s newly-found appreciation of attractive football.
It was the Spaniard who proved tippy-tappy football can succeed in the Premier League even when many mocked him for persisting with it.
Wilder has a similar reputation to Pearson – but is it fair?
And now that we know its possible, for the teams with the best players anyway, theres no excuse for playing boring football. The argument that its necessary has been proven false.
Even the national team plays good stuff now, after years of painfully dull football.
Foreign influence on the Premier League has undoubtedly been a good thing, but as a result, most British managers over 50 are negatively associated with the world before Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp the world of getting stuck in and winning the battle.
And thats such a reductive view, in light of what Pearsons Watford and Chris Wilders Sheffield Untied are doing this season.
These are two tactically astute managers, who are rarely spoken about in those terms because of their traditional attitudes.
While some would rather dress up a football match with words, these two straight-talking managers are winning them. I think that’s the argument.
Nigel Pearson, English manager, gets the basics right and builds a good team environment. To the airy fairy football people that think its all about new phrases and reinventing the wheel they would describe him as a dinosaur. To people that understand football hes very good
— Curtis Woodhouse (@curtiswoodhous8) January 13, 2020
And maybe, just maybe, they don’t get enough credit – because of the way football sees them these days.
Leicester ambassador Alan Birchenall, who has been at the club for 40 years, told the Daily Mail: “To the outside world, he [Pearson] is the ex-military guard: the stature, the haircut, the confrontational stuff.
“To the people who know him and those he trusts, he is a completely different person.”
Meanwhile, Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel told YouTube series Gloves: “As a person, he really cared about his players.
“He still does, he still cares. He treats them like his children.”
Pearson’s success perhaps serves as proof that football isn’t that complicated sometimes – and among the glitz and the glam, there is still room for traditional values in the Premier League.
Watford vs Tottenham is LIVE on talkSPORT as the first of our three exclusive commentaries this GameDay!