Pearce set to sign.

A couple of weeks ago Stuart Pearce announced:

"There is a contract there, but it's not signed. Bits of paper don't really mean a great deal to me.
To shake the chairman's hand and look him in the eye and get an honest answer from him means a hell of a lot more. To be fair, I am not overly interested in a new contract. I get paid enough as it is. The chairman has looked after me from day one and a word of agreement with him is fine by me."

According to several reports in the press today, it seems that he will after all sign a two year contract to his current rolling agreement, effectively ending speculation linking him to the soon to be vacant England post (according to the bookies at least).

As I have mentioned previously, although signing a new contract would not preclude him from taking the England job if offered, it is an important signal sent out to the club as a whole regarding the commitment to the club from both Pearce and the board. Hopefully this will then filter down to the summer contract negotiations for key (as yet unsigned) players Joey Barton and Sylvain Distin.

The short length of the deal (reported to be two years) is maybe a surprise, and suits the club more as despite his succesful first year in charge at the club Pearce is still very much learning the job and the board are maybe wise to be cautious at this stage and only offer a short term deal.