Managers need a thick skin to counter fan abuse

The customer isn’t always right but they have to be treated with the greatest of respect and that’s true in football as well as other areas of life.

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson has been charged by the FA after his row with a fan when he snapped back at some abusive comments.

It’s an unusual case because Pearson doesn’t normally show much emotion.

He’s a very controlled individual and rarely loses his cool.

It was his ability to make calm, assured decisions that brought the Foxes up to the Premier League.

I was hugely surprised that he didn’t allow the comments to bounce off him.

Managers have to develop an incredibly thick skin to counter some quite awful abuse that comes their way.

We’re now in a situation where some supporters seem to think the normal rules of society are suspended for 90 minutes.

Some of the stuff shouted in the heat of the minute is way out of order.

That’s probably one of the reasons why Pearson normally chooses to take a seat in the stand.

The language he used in answering back to a fan during the recent defeat by Liverpool wasn’t acceptable and he must know that.

It was a situation where, even if he was seething inside, his professionalism should have kicked in.

To compound that, he then told supporters to stay at home if they weren’t prepared to support the club.

That sort of comment will put any boss on a sticky wicket with his chairman.

You can’t start telling the paying customers not to turn up. Without the supporters you have nothing. They pay the wages.

Getting stick from the terraces is nothing new. I used to get pelters when I was a player, but the trick was to fire back in the right way and at the right time.

Some supporters would be sneaky and wait until there was a lull in the crowd noise to shout something personal.

Of course you’d be annoyed, but I’d wait until I’d scored a goal and celebrate in their direction. They got the message!

That’s not really an option for a manager but it just shows why management doesn’t suit everyone. This is a case where there’s fault on both sides.

Pearson shouldn’t be hounded and given a lengthy ban, but he has to accept he went over the top.

He could have taken the heat out of the situation by apologising for his industrial language.

That wouldn’t have removed his right to answer somebody back, just an acknowledgement that certain standards must be adhered to by people in football.

I hope it’s not too late for that common-sense approach to bring an end to the affair.