Alan D
23 Dec 2005, 09:12 AM
Pearce blasts moaning bosses
By Adam Marshall - Created on 23 Dec 2005
Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce has blasted his fellow Premiership bosses for complaining about the festive fixture pile-up.
The forthright City chief insists that the Christmas calendar has always been overloaded and so this year's busy programme is nothing new.
Blackburn Rovers' Mark Hughes, Newcastle United manager Graeme Souness and Charlton Athletic boss Alan Curbishley have all protested about the number of games scheduled over the holiday period.
"I, and probably the rest of the playing squad, have done this," Pearce told Sky Sports News. "Andy Cole has probably played all these amount of games at Christmas for the last 20 years possibly.
"25 years you play football, in non-league I used to go to Barnet every Boxing Day.
"That's just the nature of football and you just get used to it.
"We play a lot of games in a short period of time. I can't remember in the seventies, eighties, even the early nineties, that people moaned about it.
"They just got on and done it.
"We'll do the same again and won't complain. People want to watch football on Boxing Day and the day after. We'll get on with that.
"I think if our mentality is strong, we'll get some decent results.
"My mentality is they are the fixtures, we're aware of that and must try and prepare for each game individually," he stressed.
"I think it's a crucial time in between matches, how we regenerate the players.
"Some managers might play one team one day, another two days later - that's their choice.
"In preference, I'll look at the players and, if their form is good enough, I can't see a problem to leave players out.
"That's how it is.
"The more excuses you give yourself in any profession, the more you'll convince yourself that you're hard done by."
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http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=347756&cpid=8&CLID=43&lid=&title=Pearce+blasts+moaning+bosses&channel=premiership
By Adam Marshall - Created on 23 Dec 2005
Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce has blasted his fellow Premiership bosses for complaining about the festive fixture pile-up.
The forthright City chief insists that the Christmas calendar has always been overloaded and so this year's busy programme is nothing new.
Blackburn Rovers' Mark Hughes, Newcastle United manager Graeme Souness and Charlton Athletic boss Alan Curbishley have all protested about the number of games scheduled over the holiday period.
"I, and probably the rest of the playing squad, have done this," Pearce told Sky Sports News. "Andy Cole has probably played all these amount of games at Christmas for the last 20 years possibly.
"25 years you play football, in non-league I used to go to Barnet every Boxing Day.
"That's just the nature of football and you just get used to it.
"We play a lot of games in a short period of time. I can't remember in the seventies, eighties, even the early nineties, that people moaned about it.
"They just got on and done it.
"We'll do the same again and won't complain. People want to watch football on Boxing Day and the day after. We'll get on with that.
"I think if our mentality is strong, we'll get some decent results.
"My mentality is they are the fixtures, we're aware of that and must try and prepare for each game individually," he stressed.
"I think it's a crucial time in between matches, how we regenerate the players.
"Some managers might play one team one day, another two days later - that's their choice.
"In preference, I'll look at the players and, if their form is good enough, I can't see a problem to leave players out.
"That's how it is.
"The more excuses you give yourself in any profession, the more you'll convince yourself that you're hard done by."
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http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=347756&cpid=8&CLID=43&lid=&title=Pearce+blasts+moaning+bosses&channel=premiership