Leicester boss Nigel Pearson apologises for 'ostrich' rant

Leicester manager Nigel Pearson has issued a direct apology for his sensational rant at a journalist on Wednesday night in which he called the man an "ostrich".

The 51-year-old launched a scathing assessment of Ian Baker from the Wardle Whittle Agency following a seemingly innocuous question about "criticism" that has been levelled at his players this season.

Pearson branded the journalist "stupid" and "silly" before storming out of his post-match press conference following the 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea, live on Sky Sports.

And ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash at home to Newcastle, Pearson apologised directly to Baker for his actions, which the journalist accepted.

Pearson said: "Ian, I apologise for last night and hope it doesn't ruin our relationship.

"I react. That's it. It's emotion as much as anything and I'm not afraid of showing those. I get labelled with certain titles, and it's people's prerogative to do that, but I'll apologise when I step out of line and it's the right thing for me to do today.

"It might be pressure but I don't think it is. I don't like losing and I felt for the players - they worked exceptionally hard again.

"I think at times there has been criticism of my players; opinions by people who've not seen a large enough portion of our season. Poor observations."

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Journalist Baker, who also thanked Pearson for his apology on camera, subsequently tweeted: "Nigel Pearson has offered me a public apology at the #lcfc press conference. I have accepted the apology. Fair play to him for being big enough to apologise."

The orginal incident occured after Baker asked Pearson to elaborate on a mention of previous criticism of his players this season, which the journalist appeared to be unaware of. 

Pearson responded: “Have you been on holiday for six months? I think you must have had your head in the clouds or on holiday, or you've been reporting on a different team, because if you don’t know the answer to that then I think your question is absolutely unbelievable. 

“If you don’t understand that question then I think you are an ostrich – your head must be in the sand. Is your head in the sand? Are you flexible enough to get your head in the sand? My suspicion would be no.

"You’ve been here often enough. To ask that question you’re either being very silly or you’re being absolutely stupid. One of the two. For you to ask that question, I’m sorry son, but you are daft."

Pearson's Leicester are still battling against relegation, just a point above the drop zone with four games left ahead of Newcastle's visit to the King Power Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.