Nigel Pearson: ‘I’m a lot more thoughtful, less confrontational than in the past’

“A n insight into my world,” Nigel Pearson says, stowing away his phone after digging out a video of him, Scott Murray, Bristol City’s universally loved kit man, and the player liaison officer, Matt Parsons, out in the sticks. The scene? Almost three acres of ancient woodland in the Somerset countryside which Pearson bought last year. For Pearson it is a welcome and picturesque sanctuary, full of biodiversity but clear of the turbulence and heat that come with life as a manager. “They went down to help me take a tree out,” he explains.

“Timber!” comes the call as the chainsaw bites. “My sister-in-law died two years ago of cancer so I have put a bench there,” Pearson says. “It would have been her birthday in October and her daughters have visited. I’ve built a footpath to the top – it is quite steep. The views are fantastic.”

Pearson spends odd afternoons camping on site. What does he get up to? “It doesn’t work like that,” he says, smiling. “It’s just about being there. I’ll manage it over a period of time.” Last year’s Christmas presents inevitably carried a theme. “I had a leather smock, some chisels, a wood splitter.”

An hour earlier Pearson, who last week celebrated two years and 100 games in charge of Bristol City, was admiring the view overlooking Brunel’s iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge, the skeleton of Ashton Gate visible in the background. In the distance rays of sunlight beat down on the horizon, perhaps a good omen before his team, unbeaten in 12 matches, host Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday? “I think that’s just rain,” Pearson says, laughing. “I saw their game against [Nottingham] Forest. They drew 1-1, but then you see the clips of it and you go: ‘Wow, that [result] could have been