Kasper Schmeichel has reiterated the importance of Nigel Pearson's influence at Leicester City as it was revealed his superb man-management skills turned him into a "winning goalkeeper".
Pearson replaced Sven Goran Eriksson in the dugout at the Foxes in 2011, his second spell at the club, after he was convinced to make a return under the new ownership of chairman Vichai Raksriaksorn.
His arrival initially didn't fill Schmeichel with confidence over his position as No1 as father Peter revealed in the ITV documentary 'Against The Odds'. The Manchester United hero recalled: "Another manager comes in thinking Kasper's not the guy he wants in his team."
It took Schmeichel less than a month to change Pearson's opinion, following two clean sheets in his first three matches.
"When Nige became the manager I didn't know what to expect. I had to convince Nigel and he told me three weeks after arriving at the club. He says to me 'I wasn't sure about you, but you've convinced me," says Schmeichel.
Once his position between the sticks was cemented, the Dane went from strength to strength under the guidance of Pearson.
Pearson, a brilliant captain and leader in the dressing room back in his playing days, would later hand Schmeichel the captain's armband as the duo helped take Leicester to the Premier League.
A decision that has proven entirely justified and Bristol City supporters were hoping the stroke of genius would have been replicated when Pearson handed the armband to keeper Dan Bentley this summer.
Pearson then engineered one of football's greatest escapes to ensure top-flight survival in the 2014/15 campaign, winning seven of their remaining nine matches on the back of eight games without a win.
Leicester appeared doomed, until a slight tactical tweak that saw Pearson switch to a back three, gave the players more freedom to express their football on the pitch.
Schmeichel said: "The manager just said release the handbrake, if we go down, we go down. If we're going to go down, go down fighting. Every game now is a cup final, enjoy it and that's exactly what we did."
Pearson's time at Leicester came to an abrupt end in 2015 following a breakdown in relationship with the board before the club went on to create that 5000-1 footballing miracle when they sauntered to a shock Premier League title under Claudio Ranieri just 12 months later.
Schmeichel's stock in football has continued to rise following Leicester's success and he is now widely regarded as one of the most competent stoppers in Europe. The 35-year-old owes his own personal and club success down to one man as he highlights the importance Pearson played on his career.
"He's such an important figure in Leicester's history. Without Nigel, none of this would have been possible," emphasised Kasper during the documentary.
His father Peter added: "He was absolutely fantastic for Kasper, he was probably responsible for most of his development, taking him from a really good goalkeeper to a winning goalkeeper."
Schmeichel, who has remained as club captain under both Ranieri and current manager Brendan Rodgers, has often been vocal about Pearson's ability, not just as a manager but specifically his man-management skills.
Speaking on the BBC's That Peter Crouch Podcast, he revealed: "I've always thought that the most underrated quality, and for some reason, it doesn't really exist that much in football anymore, is man-management.
"Treating people as people and not just a player or a number and Nigel just doesn't do that, he gets invested in people. You see a massive difference in us when players feel appreciated, feel valued, you've got 11 players that are playing, but the rest aren't playing, that's such a hard situation to manage and Nigel's brilliant at managing that.
"He treats every single player like his own kids."
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