At a modest training ground enclosed by woodland, Nigel Pearson is observing a recovery session in front of eight elderly men, one woman and a dog.

This is the home of OH-Leuven, a club playing in First Division B - Belgium’s second tier - and located 14 miles east of Brussels, far away from the noise and fireworks of the Premier League. And you sense Pearson could not be happier.

He is a former Leicester manager, widely perceived as the combustible character who made headlines off the field and was sacked the year before the club’s title win under Claudio Ranieri.

But as he reflects on a diverse range of subjects including Brexit, long-distance walks across the North Downs and an ostrich, Pearson is clearly at peace and relishing a new life in this scenic part of Belgium.

“If I was questioning whether I’d fallen out of love with the game, then maybe this has given me a bit of perspective back,” he says.

The modest surrounds of the OH Leuven training facility credit: Charlie Forgham-Bailey

“The Premier League, the power of it sometimes overtakes the people involved in it. Management brings the best and worst out of me, and I think you have to find a distinction between what is work and what isn't work, because football can take over your life.

“But this has been a very refreshing experience for me, there’s a humility and realism here. It’s got a different feel and I think it’s a stimulus that I need.

“People will have their opinions about the level of football – 'why there?' But there's more to it than just football and it was an opportunity which I didn't expect to happen.”

Pearson smiles when asked how his appointment came about in September. OH Leuven’s majority shareholders are King Power, the Thailand-based travel retail group who also own Leicester and dismissed Pearson in June 2015, claiming their relationship was “no longer viable” and that “fundamental differences in perspective exist between us”.

The phone call asking him to take the job from Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Leicester’s chairman, was the first time they had spoken since the split.

Pearson with Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in his Leicester days credit: Reuter

“It did come very much out of the blue. It was done in quite a low-key way because I think what was going to be important for myself and Vichai, especially with what had happened with the Leicester situation, was just to do it between us.

“There will be a number of people out there who might be slightly taken by surprise by the fact that we're working together again, albeit in different circumstances.

“But I think there was an element of that which made it even more attractive, and as you can probably tell I’m enjoying it.”

Pearson has fully embraced life in Leuven, a city renowned for its university and the Stella Artois brewery, moving into an apartment in nearby Ottenburg three weeks ago. Next week he plans to get his new home “wired up” to the internet.

His return to management, after a stormy four-month spell at Derby, has been impressive so far. He has lost only once in seven matches, a 2-1 defeat at Lierse last weekend which ended hopes of securing a play-off place.

It's not the most glamorous training pitch credit: Charlie Forgham-Bailey

Yet he has another chance to get OH-Leuven promoted, starting this Sunday, in a league which has an extremely complex format: eight teams play two separate halves in a season with the winners of each half facing each other in a play-off to determine promotion.

Confused? Pearson is still getting to grips with it, but intends to be here for the long-term. “I wouldn't be coming here to just work for a season and see how it goes,” he says.

“I'm here for the duration, I don't think you can do a job and flick backwards and forwards [from Belgium to England], I think you've got to get into it.

“We want this club to establish itself in the top league, but to get there we've got to get up, and to get up there is tough because of the system. It's not going to happen overnight.

“You always need enough results to buy you time to do things over a longer period of time.”

Sitting in a canteen at Leuven’s training base on a bright autumn afternoon, Pearson could not appear more relaxed. He is far from the irritable sergeant major that many people paint him as; in private he can often be a deep thinker, intelligent and reflective.

He still has the army haircut and lean physique but is genuinely good company, even making light of the “ostrich” question when it is put to him.

Pearson watches over training credit: Charlie Forgham-Bailey

It was that infamous confrontation with a journalist in April 2015 - which saw Pearson take exception to a question from a local east midlands reporter and accuse him of having his head buried in the sand - that many people still associate him with, even though he went on to secure Leicester’s safety with seven wins from the final nine games. The charge sheet that season also included him appearing to throttle Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur during a game.

“Look, I've been in a few tangles in my time, for sure. A lot of them have been of my own making because of how I feel I need to protect the people I'm working with – that’s the players,” he says.

“I can’t do anything about that [the ostrich exchange], so there’s no point in me worrying about it. And if that is how people remember me [starts laughing], then I've probably not done very much in the game have I?

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“I have to accept the trouble I've got into, a lot of it has been either decisions I've made or probably not thought long and hard enough about.

“I can't fundamentally change what I am. But if you said to me: 'Would you do one or two things differently?' Yeah, of course I would.”

Pearson’s part in Leicester history is assured, taking the club to the Premier League and keeping them there, also laying the foundations for Ranieri’s fairytale.

“I know what I've been a part of at Leicester over two spells and I'm proud of that. You talk about the Premier League but the first season there, in League One, was probably the most enjoyable one.

Pearson tangles with Crystal Palace's James McArthur credit: Getty images

“Then going back in 2011 and dismantling a side that didn’t function, with a group of players who at times wore away even our enthusiasm, to eventually get promoted was the best success we had.

“I spoke to Steve [Walsh, Everton’s director of football] on Tuesday morning and I said that whatever happens to all of us, we've all done pretty well out of it, we've all had some really good experiences.”

What about Craig Shakespeare, his former assistant who was sacked as Leicester manager last month? “I’ve spoken to him a couple of times and I'm really disappointed for him.

“He's been a huge part of what's happened at Leicester over a long period of time. There’s no damage done to his reputation, so he’ll be fine. I hope he’s been bitten by the management bug and wants to do it again.”

As Pearson leaves for lunch with his players, he is asked for his views on Brexit, as a Brit now abroad.

“I don’t agree with it and I think it’s a travesty, personally. I won't tell you how I vote at home but I was definitely a 'remain'.

“It's alright for the Scots and the Welsh to say that they're Scots and Welsh, but I'm an Englishman and I see myself as being European. I was bloody annoyed if I'm honest.”