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Why Pearce had to go

Premiership Manchester City

by Chris Bevan - BBC Sport (U1647891) 14 May 2007

Let's be honest, the sacking of Stuart Pearce is hardly a surprise.

Ask any Manchester City fan about his time in charge at Eastlands and you are unlikely to garner a positive response.

Since his admittedly impressive start, when he succeeded Kevin Keegan in March 2005, things have gone quickly downhill for Pearce in each of his two full seasons in charge - and he has shown no sign of being able to stop the rot.

Some abysmal signings, like Georgios Samaras and Bernardo Corradi, have not helped his cause.

And his side's dreadful scoring record at home - no Premiership goals at home since New Year's Day and only 10 at Eastlands all season - was arguably enough of a reason alone to sack him.

As a Blue I can speak from first-hand experience about how painful it has been to watch City this season.

Defensively we have been sound but there has been no creativity in our midfield and zero cutting edge up front. I am used to being frustrated watching City but it has rarely been as bad as this.

Even when we did score goals and win games it was through a war of attrition and that seems to be the only way Pearce knows.

Alarmingly poor season ticket sales for next season showed that few fans shared his vision.

Add a surprising lack of discipline from his team and some well-publicised rifts in the dressing room and, sadly, Pearce's departure was inevitable.

Sad because you cannot fail to like Pearce as a man - his open attitude and passion for the game ensures that.

But as a manager he has fallen short.

In his defence, Pearce was never given the sort of money to spend that Keegan enjoyed.

It was maybe a consequence of having so little cash that he had to turn to youth and he successfully blooded several graduates of the club's academy in the first team.

Their progress bought Pearce time but, ultimately, it was not enough to save him from the sack.

Amazingly, it is only 12 months since he was touted as Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor as England boss.

The Football Association were impressed enough to offer Pearce the England Under-21 manager's job in February and his acceptance may have hindered his prospects at City.

Now he no longer has to worry about any club-versus-country rows as he prepares for the Under-21 European Championships in June.

As for City? Well, the talk of a boardroom takeover rumbles on, with prospective owners apparently waiting in Thailand and America.

One thing is for sure, there will be a new manager in charge next season.

Lyon boss Gerard Houllier, former Bolton manager Sam Allardyce and Paul Jewell, who has just left Wigan, have all been mentioned but Derby's Billy Davies is a man I would like to see in the frame.

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comment by Olivavu (U8369742)

posted May 15, 2007

Stuart Pearce made Manchester City an incredibly boring side. THE most boring side I have ever watched in the Premiership.

No flair, no style, no grace...no chance.

The defence is fine, there's nothing wrong with a back five that concede so few goals. It's the pathetic frontline of Samaras, Corradi, Vassell and Dickov that meant they finished so bloody low down the table. Mpenza probably saved them from serious relegation troubles with his timely arrival and goals.

And Pearce FINALLY playing Isaksson and Hamann will have made a big difference also. Weaver and Dabo are poor.

I'm a Liverpool fan myself, and the reason I've had the misfortune to see so much of City this season is my girlfriend and her family being City fans. They've had such a boring season. It's harsh.

Koeman or van Gaal would be superb choices to succeed the tactically inept Pearce. I would favour Koeman as his stock is definitely rising. Wouldn't have thought they'd be able to hold on to him for long were he a success though.

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comment by MU_Andy_58 (U7567848)

posted May 15, 2007

Pierce was just too inexperienced for a big club like City, they deserved better.
Why people mention Koeman is beyond me, I live in Eindhoven and pretty well all PSV fans want him gone. They only just scraped the Title after being 11 points in front.
He is tactically naive, get van Gaal, he is a pratt but he plays the right style of football, just look at AZ.

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comment by ciderman73 (U8160539)

posted May 16, 2007

im a forest man and i know pycho is a very good manager,ive also noticed man city are always sacking managers,we at forest always said theres something wrong at man city we couldnt put the finger on who runs the club except some one who sits up there in the boardroom who knows nothing about football

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comment by freeman14!!! (U5448128)

posted May 16, 2007

nah stuart pearce wa alright,
it went wrong, he needed guidance
some tactical knowledge
samaras is a bag of.. who has the ability
but is just lazy, that was a spanner in the works.
if its koeman, then its goin against England
hes a cheatin douchebag who cost us a final
and there is only one man who i think would be alright, coleman!
x

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comment by coolsaleblue (U8380981)

posted May 16, 2007

typical rag response, beware theres a Blue Moon rising

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comment by coolsaleblue (U8380981)

posted May 16, 2007

Learn to spell mate

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comment by coolsaleblue (U8380981)

posted May 16, 2007

people would of thought the same of Chealsea pre Roman

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comment by stephenhuish (U7147864)

posted May 16, 2007

apparentally Malcolm Allison said he would help out if the club are on a tight budget ! ahaaaahahahahaah

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comment by Houseworker (U8228814)

posted May 16, 2007

I believe Les Reed is still available, and might be persuaded to at least consider the position if Man City went down on both knees and doubled the salary. He's certainly the best of the remaining contenders.

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comment by visciousvic (U3371947)

posted May 22, 2007

No Mpenza, no premiership - thank goodness for him!
Sad about Barton's fragile self-control, he's got to go.
Distin never really committed himself, even though he's hung around a while.
New manager? Bring in the 'tinkerman' - if he'll come!

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