James Oliver-Pearce harbours no ill feelings towards Hull City after losing his job at the Championship club last month following the sacking of Ruben Selles.
Selles, along with Oliver-Pearce and Toby Loveland, left the MKM Stadium almost two weeks after guiding the Tigers to safety on the final day with a point at Portsmouth, though he admits it could have been a more convincing journey to securing their Championship status.
Securing City’s safety on goal difference was not enough to keep Selles and two assistants in a job, with owner Acun Ilicali deciding to make a change and instead opting to bring in Kayserispor chief Sergej Jakirovic.
Despite leaving alongside Selles, Oliver-Pearce was philosophical about his MKM Stadium departure as he waits to see what happens next.
“It’s football. When you work in this industry, they are the potential pitfalls,” Oliver-Pearce said in conversation with the Reading Chronicle. “I can’t speak for Ruben or Toby (Loveland), but for myself, I am grateful for the experience there. There are always different obstacles and challenges at football clubs. We would like to have been more convincing in how we did it, but ultimately, we kept the team in the division which is a positive.”
As for what happens next, Oliver-Pearce says he will take stock and enjoy some time with his family, having been separated from them for the six months he was in East Yorkshire.
He said: “I’m not 100 per cent certain right now. I’d like to think they work we have done has put us in a good position and people will recognise that, but you never know in football.
“It’s the off season and you need a chance to spend time with family. My family didn’t move up to Hull with me. I’ve got young children and to take them out in the middle of a school year would have been incredibly difficult, so I hadn’t seen them for the best part of six months because if you want to do a job properly, you have to commit. It was only right that I was able to stay up there and give my all for Hull City as my employer.”
Oliver-Pearce admits leaving Reading for the MKM Stadium in December was a particularly difficult decision, given the close personal ties he and his family had with the Royals.
“It was extremely tough [to go],” he continued. “It wasn’t the first time that people had enquired. We were really committed. There were lots of situations that we experienced, and when you go through things together, it’s like friends and family. We were one big family.
“When you go through ownership issues, people not being paid, people’s life experiences and the whole training ground debacle. You build a real attachment, and the fans came together to make sure we were being seen and heard. My kids loved coming to Reading, they could be mascots, and they have a really big affiliation to the football club. It was extremely tough.”
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