Last season, Nigel Pearson swore at a fan, choked an opposing player, survived reports that he’d been fired, insulted a journalist, then took his team from last place to Premier League safety before his son was filmed racially abusing a prostitute. On Tuesday, he was fired by Leicester City. Usually, managers who have been with their clubs for three-plus seasons like Pearson are allowed to save face and “leave by mutual consent,” but Leicester just outright sacked Pearson.
Leicester City finally fire noted jerk Nigel Pearson
Probably. We think. We think they actually fired him this time.
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If you’re unfamiliar with all these incidents, let’s recap!
Back in December, Pearson was suspended one game for telling a fan to “f--- off and die,” but this incident did not affect his employment status. During a loss to Crystal Palace in February, which left the Foxes bottom of the table, he put his hands around the throat of midfielder James MacArthur. It was widely reported that he’d been fired, but Leicester confirmed he’d remain in his job. After Leicester climbed off the bottom, Pearson constructed a strawman argument about insults directed at his players, got called out for it by a journalist, and Pearson responded by calling him an ostrich.
After Pearson kept Leicester in the Premier League, his son James was filmed insulting prostitutes that he was having sex with in Thailand. James Pearson, along with the other two players filmed, was let go by the club. Two weeks later, Nigel Pearson was fired due to “fundamental differences in perspective” between him and the board. Regrettably, the Club believes that the working relationship between Nigel and the Board is no longer viable,” the club said in a statement. According to a report at the BBC, Pearson disagreed with the higher-ups about his son’s dismissal.
Curiously, Pearson’s sacking comes one day after Guus Hiddink was let go by the Netherlands. It’s possible the two events are entirely unrelated, but it’s easy to envision a reality in which Leicester were only willing to put up with Pearson’s antics as long as they thought they couldn’t do any better. On Monday, a much more professional candidate became available.
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