Nigel Pearson was relieved of his duties as Bristol City manager yesterday, Sunday October 29th, afternoon following Saturday’s Severnside Derby defeat to Cardiff City.
In a statement released at 3pm yesterday the club revealed that Pearson had been sacked following a two and a half year stint in the West Country. One of the standout quotes from chairman Jon Lansdown read “We all wanted Nigel to achieve our ambition to be promoted but, with our recent results, feel that now is the time to make a change to give the club the best possible chance of success.” which many fans have deemed to be slightly out of pocket as the board didn’t seem willing to back Pearson financially this Summer following the £25m sale of star-man Alex Scott to AFC Bournemouth.
What followed that lack of financial backing were a few spiky comments from Pearson in press interviews towards the Board of Directors as well as a recent injury crisis within the first-team squad. Roughly 12 first team players currently find themselves out injured including key figures such as Zak Vyner and Matty James who have been almost ever-present during Pearson’s tenure. The lack of funds made available to Pearson in the second-half of the summer transfer window meant that The Robins don’t have the strength in depth to deal with the crisis and instead had to turn to untried youth products such as Joseph James to start the Severnside Derby last weekend as well as being forced to put square pegs in round holes with the likes of Cameron Pring at centre-half and Mark Sykes at left-back.
The vast majority of fans do not agree with the decision to let Pearson go and feel as though promotion is an equally unattainable goal for the club at this current time. First Team Coach Jason Euall and Head of Medical Performance David Rennie have also left the club as part of this decision with Assistant Manager Curtis Fleming set to take on the role of Interim Head Coach alongside Ali Hines and Kalifa Cisse.
It remains to be seen who Steve and Jon Lansdown will look towards to guide the club towards their ambition of promotion but the early names in the hat are those of Gary Rowett, Nathan Jones, Michael Beale and John Eustace, all of whom are currently out of work.