By Chris Wright
#NFFC have announced Stuart Pearce will become their new manager. http://t.co/xAKtCo3Rqq pic.twitter.com/nP571u9vnB
— Nottingham Forest FC (@Official_NFFC) April 3, 2014
Well then, it’s official. After meeting with owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi at the City Ground this morning for the second time this week, it has been announced on Nottingham Forest’s official site that Stuart Pearce will return to the club to take over as manager from July 1st, 2014.
After many teased returns in the recent past, Psycho’s finally back! A bona fide Forest legend returning to the City Ground with the club at a low ebb and in desperate need of positive news – but, in truth I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Pearce’s imminent appointment.
It should be simple. Of course, the ex-Junior Red who watched Psycho chopping down wingers for fun in me is crying spasmodic rainbows of joy, but the worn-out Forest-jaded realist is politely suggesting that the most agreeable course of action would’ve been to have brought Pearce back right now in order to give the whole place an instant ‘pop’ and hopefully re-jig a visibly ailing side for one last ditch tilt at the play-offs and hopefully prevent our season from fizzling out faster than Poseidon’s barbecue.
Who knows, maybe he was simply unwilling to wade in at this juncture just to stage a surely futile salvage operation? Perfectly understandable.
However I must, with heavy, heavy heart, admit that getting Pearce signed up on a long-term deal from the start of next season isn’t quite such an exciting prospect. The man’s managerial record is hardly glittering, bar his amicable slog at junior level with the England U21s.
After all, this is a man who once not only played David James as an auxiliary striker, but also had a special “James No.1” outfield jersey printed up for him to change into beforehand. It was pre-meditated.
I ask you: is that the tactical nous of a sane man?
Pearce is an old-school English manager who demands passion and grunt before anything else. True, that can get you a long way in the Championship and Forest are definitely crying out for more steel – but not in lieu of quality.
Truth is, as mentioned, I just don’t really know how I feel at the moment. Any of the Reds fans out there going through the same thing?