In Pearson's last match in charge of the team, Glass scored an injury-time goal against Plymouth Argyle, saving the club from relegation to the Football Conference at the expense of Scarborough.

[13] Albion won three and drew one of his matches in charge, before stepping down from the role in preparation for the arrival of new manager Tony Mowbray.

[15] On 1 February 2007, Pearson was confirmed as assistant coach to Stuart Pearce, the England U21 team manager, until after the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

[16] As Pearce's contract limited him to involvement in only one friendly before the Championship, Pearson led the under-21s in their 3–3 draw against Italy on 24 March 2007, the first game at the new Wembley Stadium.

[22] On 16 January 2008, after Kevin Keegan had been announced as the next permanent manager of the club, Pearson took charge of the team for the 3rd round FA Cup replay against Stoke City, which Newcastle won 4–1.

[25] On 19 February 2008, his career at Southampton got off to a poor start, losing 2–0 at home to Plymouth Argyle in front of 17,806, the lowest recorded crowd at St Mary's Stadium.

[28] After going 1–0 down, Pearson's side pulled off a comeback to win the game 3–2, with two goals scored by Stern John (who was also sent off) and one by Marek Saganowski.

[32] Craig Shakespeare became the club's first team coach and co-assistant manager alongside Steve Walsh (a former Chelsea chief scout, and not the former Leicester City player of the same name).

[34] Pearson was named League One Manager of the Month for August 2008 after Leicester won three of their first four games, scoring nine goals and conceding only once.

[35][36][37] After the disappointing defeat of losing 3–2 away to Brighton & Hove Albion despite being 2–0 up at half-time, Leicester bounced back with a club-record 23-match unbeaten run in the league between 1 November 2008 and 7 March 2009, before finally being beaten 2–0 by Tranmere Rovers.

[citation needed] On 18 April 2009, Leicester won 2–0 at Southend United, confirming their promotion back to the Championship as League One champions.

[41] They were defeated by Cardiff City following a penalty shoot-out in the play-off semifinal, despite fighting back from a 2-goal aggregate deficit in the second leg to briefly lead 3–2.

[5] At the end of the season, Pearson took a hard line on Leicester defender Wayne Brown, who had publicly said in front of his teammates – including some of ethnic minority backgrounds – that he had voted for the far-right British National Party in the general election on 6 May.

[43] Despite his relative success in his two years at Leicester, he often had a very strained relationship with chairman Milan Mandaric and chief executive Lee Hoos.

[46] Despite financial difficulties following relegation from the Premier League, Pearson was still able to enter the transfer market, bringing in players such as Nolberto Solano, James Harper, Liam Rosenior, Robert Koren and Jay Simpson.

Leicester lost the game 2–1 thanks to a late Robert Koren strike, as Pearson was greeted with chants of "Judas" from the Hull fans.

[58] However, after the new year, Pearson rang the changes for the trip to Crystal Palace in an attempt to get back to winning ways, recalling Aleksander Tunchev to play his first match of the season and bringing in reserve team player Tom Kennedy and 18-year-old youth academy graduate Liam Moore to make his first team debut for the club.

[66] Again, a drop in form followed Leicester City's rise to second spot, and they only made the Championship play-offs on goal difference following their last gasp 3–2 win against neighbours Nottingham Forest on the last day of the season.

[74] On 29 April 2015, following a 3–1 defeat to Chelsea, Pearson was again embroiled in controversy, when he called a journalist an "ostrich", "stupid" and "daft" during a post-match news conference.

[75][76] On 16 May 2015, Leicester City confirmed their Premier League status following a goalless draw with Sunderland, becoming only the third team to escape relegation having been bottom at Christmas.

The sacking was linked to his son James's role in an alleged racist sex tape made by three Leicester City reserve players in Thailand during a post-season tour.

Sports journalists gave Pearson credit for building the team that won the title, as did player Riyad Mahrez.

[82] After a year out of football, Pearson was appointed manager of Championship team Derby County on a three-year contract on 27 May 2016.

[87] After losing out on the managerial role at his former club Middlesbrough to Garry Monk,[88] Pearson was appointed as the manager of Belgian First Division B side Oud-Heverlee Leuven on 22 September 2017.

[99] Pearson's mother died on 3 January 2020 at the age of 84, but he took charge of Watford's FA Cup game against Tranmere Rovers the following day.

While still at Watford he suffered from secondary symptoms, including an irregular heartbeat, high resting pulse and swollen lips that saw him miss a press conference, although he only informed a small number of staff at the club of his condition.

In August and September 2020, after his departure from Watford, Pearson endured a bout of rheumatoid arthritis that saw him suffer with swollen joints.

[103][109] In October 2023 just before Pearson left his last managerial appointment at Bristol City, it was reported he was suffering from a neurological condition, and had been using the assistance of crutches to walk.