sport news 'Quitting West Ham was one of my toughest decisions' - Stuart Pearce on walking ... trends now

Stuart Pearce will sit down in front of the television on Sunday afternoon and do his best to remain, as he puts it, ‘nicely neutral’.

For in the red corner are Nottingham Forest, hosting their first Premier League game at the City Ground for 23 years, the club with whom Pearce spent 12 years of his career, most of it as captain, and led them to two League Cup triumphs and an FA Cup final.

And in the other corner, the away end decked in claret and blue, are West Ham, where Pearce spent two years as a player at the turn of the millennium but, more recently, formed part of the coaching staff under David Moyes and helped turn the club from relegation battlers to European semi-finalists.

‘I’ll be glued to the television,’ says Pearce, who left his position at the club at the end of the season in May. ‘That’s the beauty of it.’

So, whatever the result, the 60-year-old will enjoy the rest of his Sunday.

‘The one thing I do want, though, is for Forest to stay in the Premier League,’ he says. ‘Forest enhance the Premier League with their reputation, with their history, their style of play, their manager. They have a great fan base. 

'I was at the play-off final and to see the dads and grandfathers and grandmothers wearing the shirts that I used to wear more than 30 years ago, stood next to their children and grandchildren in the modern kit that had never seen the team play in the Premier League. It’s such an exciting time.

‘I just want them to have a good run at it. They have shown in the transfer market they are willing to put their hand in their pocket and have a go. Good home form is vital. The mix between the old and new players. Injuries will play a big part, too. 

'But they took on the likes of Arsenal and Leicester last season [in the FA Cup] and did well, so I don’t think they should fear anything. I’m not sure West Ham will be rubbing their hands together that they’ve got Forest as their first away game.’

It is 12 new signings and counting for Forest. Nearly £100million spent. And that is just so far. They are reportedly close to four more, including Watford striker Emmanuel Dennis and Brighton’s Neal Maupay. A possible 16 new faces, yet it was a flat 2-0 defeat at Newcastle that welcomed them back to the big time.

Among all the arrivals, though, it has been that of Jesse Lingard which has caused the biggest noise. Lingard snubbed a permanent move to West Ham, where he impressed on loan from Manchester United in a five-month loan from January 2021, to join Forest on a deal worth £120,000 a week.

West Ham fans plan to throw bundles of fake bank notes at Lingard on Sunday afternoon. Other rival supporters mock Lingard for his use of social media.

‘The one thing I do know from working with Jesse is that he’s an outstanding player and will bring a good personality into the dressing room,’ says Pearce. ‘He’s an inspired signing. If he can replicate the form he showed when we had him at West Ham, they’ve got a great addition.

‘He’s a modern-day footballer. I don’t think there’s anything to be derisory about. It’s part and parcel of modern-day footballers and modern-day society in many ways.’

Perhaps it is surprising to see Pearce, with his old-school, hardman ‘Psycho’ reputation, shrug his shoulders when it comes to Lingard and the TikTok generation. It was Pearce, after all, while playing for West Ham who broke his leg and tried to run it off. You might think he would get riled up by players perceived to spend more time on their brand than honing their skills.

But it was behind the popping veins and fierce roars that Pearce the cultural man read Oscar Wilde or went to the opera. Pearce knows what it is like to have spent a career being misperceived. More well-known is

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