SOCCER/English FA Premiership:The unrelenting pressures of the Premiership led to two managers parting ways with their clubs yesterday - Stuart Pearce was sacked by Manchester City and Paul Jewell resigned at Wigan.
Pearce's sacking at Manchester City will usher in a multi-million-pound revolution that will see the deposed Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, seize control of the club and a replacement manager appointed from abroad. While Pearce was packing his belongings yesterday, Thaksin was secretly visiting the stadium for the first time and has made it clear he does not want to appoint another British manager.
Thaksin's takeover bid has progressed more quickly than had been anticipated and there could be an official announcement about the next stage of the process within 48 hours.
Gerard Houllier, the former Liverpool manager now in charge of Lyon, will be among those considered to replace Pearce, along with the PSV manager, Ronald Koeman, and the former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri. Sven-Goran Eriksson, however, has already been discounted.
It is clear Thaksin, who was yesterday given a VIP tour of the City of Manchester Stadium, and his international team of advisers were consulted about Pearce's sacking in advance. City's chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, and the chairman, John Wardle, had decided several weeks ago Pearce would have to go. Thaksin, who will retain Mackintosh in his present position, took advice from his English representatives and agreed.
Pearce was informed in a lunchtime meeting with Mackintosh and Wardle yesterday but he had been aware the news was coming for several days. His intention is to get another job as quickly as possible, ideally in the south to be nearer his family home, but his reputation has been tarnished after City finished only four points above the relegation zone.
Thaksin, in a period of due diligence, has a personal fortune estimated at around £2 billion and will make significant funds available for players, possibly as much as £50 million. His financial muscle could also be critical in terms of hiring a manager who would normally be seen as out of the club's scope.
However, the Thai's approach does not come without baggage. Human rights campaigners accused Thaksin's administration of various offences, especially in relation to a hardline anti-drugs campaign. The pressure group Human Rights Watch claims this led to more than 2,000 extra-judicial killings in Thailand in 2003.
The following year Thaksin launched a bid to buy Liverpool but the deal collapsed amid suspicions about his motives and funding. Eight months ago he was overthrown by a military junta and warned against returning to Thailand. If the deal is closed it will put City on a financial level that has seemed unimaginable during the Pearce era. The former England captain has had to work to a tight budget since replacing Kevin Keegan in March 2005 and his lack of success in the transfer market - most notably, the £6 million Georgios Samaras - was key to his departure.
The club are resigned to losing Sylvain Distin on a free transfer this summer. Joey Barton will be another one to leave, though City have postponed a disciplinary hearing into Barton's training-ground attack on Ousmane Dabo that was due to be held today. The club intend to announce several more departures today.
Jewell tendered his resignation at Wigan yesterday after six years at the club with the chairman Dave Whelan admitting he had feared for his manager's "health and mind" in recent months as the team battled to avoid relegation back to the Championship.
Wigan's nerve shredding 2-1 win at Sheffield United on Sunday preserved their top flight status at their hosts' expense on goal difference. Jewell was in tears as he departed the club's training ground yesterday having informed the players of his decision, with Whelan seeking to retain some stability by appointing his number two Chris Hutchings - whose managerial experience is limited to 137 days at Bradford City in 2000 - as successor on a 12-month contract.
Jewell is taking a break from the game because, he said, "the intensity of football at the highest level, although completely addictive, is also very draining".
The Wigan chairman said: "It wasn't a surprise. I've seen his health deteriorate and he's not been the same man. I know he's been falling out with his wife and family. The pressure has told on him, no question, and I've been concerned for his health and mind. He's put a brave front on but he's been suffering behind that. It's a sign of the pressure."
Guardian Service
