Having led Leicester City to four successive Premier League wins – dragging them clear of the relegation zone in the process – things were looking up for Nigel Pearson. Even last night's 3-1 defeat to champions-elect Chelsea wasn't too damaging; the Foxes showed enough in the game to suggest they can remain out of the bottom three for the final few weeks of the season.
But apparently Pearson isn't happy. Cutting a figure somewhere between embittered ex-soldier and a rugby union coach who's lost on a B road but won't ask for directions, he rarely does. And last night things got particularly sour as he laid into a seemingly innocent reporter.During his post-match press conference Pearson noted that his players had suffered plenty of criticism and "come out with an awful lot of credit for dealing with setbacks." Asked specifically what criticism he was referring to, Pearson lost his head in a spectacularly middle-class English manner: never raising his voice, using fairly mild insults, and then walking off in a huff.It was weird. And unnecessary. You might even call it cruel. Still, you'll be listening to what he has to say after this weekend's ridiculously tasty-looking clash with Newcastle.