Kasper Schmeichel has been fortunate to work with plenty of excellent managers at Leicester City.
Schmeichel was signed by Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2011, not long after Leicester’s owners King Power had purchased the club.
Throughout his 11-year stint, the 38-year-old played for plenty of other names such as Claude Puel and Brendan Rodgers, who he has since reunited with at Celtic at the start of this season.
His time at the Foxes also coincided with the most successful period in the club’s history, winning the Premier League, Championship, FA Cup and League Cup.
Claudio Ranieri was at the helm for the title-winning season in the 15/16 campaign, but it was another manager who Schmeichel believes played the biggest role in Leicester’s success.
Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images
Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images
Kasper Schmeichel praises Nigel Pearson for Leicester City impact
Ask many Leicester fans who their favourite manager of all time is and Nigel Pearson will be the name that comes up more often than anyone else.
Pearson had two brilliant periods at the King Power Stadium, winning the League One title and Championship crown before being the brains behind an incredible survival push that saw the Foxes win seven of their last nine games to stay up.
“Nigel was the guy who put the foundations in,” he told The Overlap. “He stripped everything back to basics.
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“He had Steve Walsh and Craig Shakespeare, Mike Stowell and got the right coaching group. They really did their homework on the players. That core group was really important.”
“That team and that club was built on people and characters.”
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Kasper Schmeichel said in 2015 Nigel Pearson is the ‘best manager’ he’s worked on
Pearson and Schmeichel are symbols of the Leicester spirit that saw them achieve so much.
In the end, Pearson was sacked for an off-field issue at the end of the 2014/15 season before being replaced by Ranieri
His legacy has never been dented and Pearson has always remained a popular figure in the East Midlands, so much so that Schmeichel admitted in 2015 that he is the best manager he’s worked with.
“I think the Nigel Pearson, on the outside in the media seat, is very, very different to the guy that we see on a daily basis,” he said to Sky Sports.
“I’ve said many times that he’s the best manager that I’ve ever played under and creates a great atmosphere and platform for his players to start to perform.
“If he needs to shout he’ll definitely shout but he can also be very calm. He’s very charismatic, got a great sense of humour as well and he creates a good atmosphere.”