West Ham United assistant boss Stuart Pearce enjoyed a glittering career for club and country.
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The former West Ham star and two-time coach was once one of the most accomplished and fearsome left-backs of his generation in world football.
His 78 caps for his country are a testament to that.
Pearce would later make a successful transition into coaching and management.
As well as assisting David Moyes in both his stints at West Ham, Pearce has enjoyed a host of high profile roles.
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He led the Great Britain team at the London 2012 Olympic Games and has managed England Under 21s and the senior side as well as Nottingham Forest – the club where he made his name under the great Brian Clough – and Manchester City.
So it may come as something of a surprise that Pearce lists the last two months at West Ham – much of which was spent successfully scrapping for Premier League survival in unprecedented circumstance – among the best of his career.
But that was the West Ham assistant manager’s shock take on things in an interview with The Athletic this week.
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“I’ve probably enjoyed this time as much as any time in football,” he told The Athletic of the last two months at West Ham.
“Every day’s an education. I’m working with very knowledgeable staff and, even now, learning on the job.
“When you’ve been a manager, it helps so much (as an assistant) because you know what the manager is going through.
“I’m there to help David out and make his job a little bit easier, if possible, while giving my opinion.”
Pearce certainly has made Moyes’s job easier of late.
His knowledge and experience came into it’s own recently when Moyes was forced to miss four games after testing positive for Covid-19.
Conduit Pearce key to West Ham upturn?
Pearce was a real feature of Moyes managing the side remotely. Sat in the stands in continuous dialogue with Moyes, he was spotted by TV cameras taking instructions down to Alan Irvine in the touchline.
And it clearly worked.
West Ham beat Wolves 4-0 and followed it up with an arguably better performance in a 3-0 victory at Leicester.
In fact the combination has worked so well, talkSPORT duo Darren Gough and Adrian Durham genuinely believe West Ham could have stumbled upon a new formula for effective modern day management. Read the full story below.