Bristol City aren’t in a hurry to start contract negotiations with Nigel Pearson, with the Robins’ pre-season target of a play-off push seemingly the barometer by which the manager's future beyond 2023/24 will be assessed.
Pearson is entering the final 12 months of the three-year deal he signed in April 2021 with expectations heightened as to what City are capable of in 2023/24. Slow but incremental improvements over his previous two seasons - finishing 17th and then 14th - coupled with a developing squad full of young talent and encouraging start to the transfer window means optimism abides around the Robins once more being considered play-off challengers.
Having successfully rebuilt and restructured the squad amid challenging financial restrictions, admiration for Pearson within the fanbase is once again high, after the nadir of the defeat to West Brom on Boxing Day 2022, in which a group supporters chanted for him for him to be sacked.
Internally, it seems to a fluid situation, which will almost certainly be dependent on results and whether Pearson himself is willing to commit to another long-term deal having battled health problems during his first 12 months in the job.
The 59-year-old insisted in March that the subject wasn’t on his agenda as having been in the game for 25 years as a coach and 17 previous to that as a player, he’s more than aware of the bizarre nature of football management and the violent swings in popularity and appreciation that can occur.
Speaking to Bristol Live, CEO Phil Alexander confirmed, “That’ll be done at the right time,” when asked if it was something on the horizon, before adding everything will be constantly reviewed over the course of the season.
Alexander and Pearson have formed a strong working relationship since the former Crystal Palace chief executive took over from Richard Gould at the end of January. Alexander has previously honoured the manager as being like “football royalty” and he expanded on that definition at the HPC this week.
“He’s experienced, he knows the ins and outs of running football clubs,” he added. “He’s got lots of successes on his CV and I’ve been fortunate enough to deal with some pretty heavy and experienced managers over the years, some for short periods of time, some for longer periods - and he’s right up there in terms of his knowledge, the way he manages the training ground, his staff - he cares about people, genuinely - and he wants to do the right thing by the owner,” the CEO added.
“Ultimately, he wants success. We went through a very difficult period when he joined, contracts he had to see out, and we’ve kind of finally got to the end of that now and I think he’s genuinely excited about the future. Working with him, that enthusiasm, that experience shines through all the time. It’s been great.
“Obviously I’ve never worked with Nigel before. We didn’t really know each other so we were kind of thrown together and we have to get the job done. But there’s a general alignment of thinking and we all want the same thing.”
That “thing” is undoubtedly promotion and City being able to crack the glass ceiling of the top six which proved unachievable under Lee Johnson before a financial reset during Pearson's time in charge.
Having cut the wage bill to a more manageable figure, brought in enough characters he deemed right for the overall culture and environment of the dressing room and added quality, either through the transfer window or internally via the academy, it finally feels like his squad rather than one with remnants of his predecessors.
The Robins have been proactive in the summer transfer window so far with Pearson's request for greater defensive depth answered in the space of nine days earlier this month with Rob Dickie, Ross McCrorie and Haydon Roberts signing.
That carries its own pressure, with City wanting to look up the table and breaching the gap between lower mid-table security and the promotion conversation, having finished 20 and then 10 points below the final play-off position over the last two campaigns.
“We want to have a good go at top six this season,” Alexander added. “Okay, we might not get there but we are going to give it our absolute best.
“I don’t think we’re too far off. We had a fairly young squad last year that had limited number of appearances at first team level so all those players are a year older, Nigel’s got to know a little bit more in terms of strengths and weaknesses; it was clear we needed to add some depth in terms of defensive players and we’ve done exactly that. You can score goals to win games but keeping them out is equally as important.
“Nigel had a plan of what he wanted and we’ve delivered it for him so it’s really down to him to get all those players facing the right way and getting the best out of him he possibly can.
“Having depth in positions helps because we were a bit threadbare towards the end of the season, we realised that, having to pull players from different positions.
“It’s Nigel’s job to get the team motivated and get the best out of the squad and get them all firing and winning football matches. A good start would be great, to get everyone all excited and motivated.
“If you look at the odds, I don’t think anyone has really picked up on us - they have us mid-table, 16th/17th - we’re quite happy with that, at this particular point in time. But I think our expectations are a little bit higher than that.”
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
