Pearce calls for calm
22 Sep 2006 - 12:30:47
Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce has played down talk of a crisis at the club and insists he will lift his team up the Premiership table in the next few weeks.
Pearce has been criticised for his side's lacklustre start to the current campaign and the pressure on him intensified after the midweek Carling Cup defeat at League One side Chesterfield.
City have taken only four points from their opening five Premiership matches of the campaign and face a crucial clash with West Ham United at Eastlands on Saturday.
"Chesterfield was a poor result for us, there's no doubt about that, but it was also a poor night for four or five other Premiership clubs," Pearce told City's official website.
"You have to learn lessons and make sure the squad stays tight, and I've seen that within the squad. We keep doing the same things we've done and don't get too excited, like when we beat Arsenal a few weeks ago I didn't shout it from the rooftops.
"Likewise when we lose I have to keep a full perspective on everything I'm doing, and I do that. I'm never going to get washed along with the highs and the lows of this profession.
"When you talk about being in a rut there are three teams underneath us in the Premiership. We are level on points with Tottenham, so are they in the same rut that we're in?
"West Ham probably have the strongest squad that they've ever had, and they are just one point ahead of us, so does that make them at the top of the same rut as us?
"I'm sure that Alan Pardew's not having to answer the kind of questions I am, and he's one point above me in the league having not won since the first day of the season. That's the nature of the game.
"Our chairman spoke with Blackburn's chairman last weekend, and they thought they were going into a board meeting this week rock-bottom of the league. They then beat us, and all of a sudden they're in mid-table. That's all by one game, that's how quickly it changes."