Football / Bristol City
Nigel Pearson confirmed as new Bristol City manager
He will be Bristol City manager until the end of the season but Nigel Pearson will watch Tuesday’s match against Middlesbrough from the stands before taking charge of the first team the following day.
The 57-year-old has twice managed Leicester City, including leading them to the 2013/14 Championship title, as well as most recently being manager of Watford in the Premier League, where he led them to a famous victory against Liverpool in 2019 before being sacked just two games before the end of the season.
Pearson will join former Watford player Adrian Mariappa at Ashton Gate and work with the current assistant head coaches Keith Downing and Paul Simpson.
His job clearly to stop the Robins plunging any further down the table, with the team having lost six league games in a row.
“I sincerely hope that this will be the start of a positive journey for us all,” said Pearson.
City chairman Jon Lansdown said: “Nigel gives us the leadership and direction we need to lift the players’ confidence and to turn our form around.
“The initial appointment is until the end of the season, when we will re-assess the situation, hopefully with a view to the long term. However, the immediate priority for Nigel and the coaching team is to stop the current bad run and move us back up the table.”
Chief executive Mark Ashton added: “Nigel is a highly respected and experienced manager with a proven track record of success and we are looking forward to welcoming him to the club.”
As Watford manager, Pearson could be credited for being the catalyst of Liverpool’s current downward spiral, with his team beating Jurgen Klopp’s reds 3-0 at Vicarage Road in February 2020 ending Liverpool’s 44-game unbeaten run in the Premier League.
Main photo: Watford FC
Read more: ‘Bristol’s football clubs are serial failures, but they shouldn’t be’
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