He held court at the King Power stadium, but no longer after Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha dethroned Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson.
Srivaddhanaprabha, who runs the English Premier League club along with his son, Aiyawatt, sacked Pearson Tuesday, citing “fundamental differences in perspective” between the manager and owners.
“Regrettably, the Club believes that the working relationship between Nigel and the Board is no longer viable,” said a statement on the club’s website.
Pearson was not immediately available for comment after CNN contacted the League Managers Association asking for a statement.
After guiding Leicester to seven victories in its final nine games to saved the team from relegation, Pearson endured a difficult season with a number of off-field incidents proving embarrassing for the club and left him open to criticism.
During the recent post-season tour to Thailand a video surfaced of three Leicester players, including Pearson’s son, James, apparently participating in a racist orgy.
Snippets of the tape published by the Sunday Mirror showed the three players, naked, in what appears to be a hotel room.
One of the players says a woman is “an absolute one out of 10.” A woman is later called a “slit eye.”
The newspaper reported that the footage was shared by at least one of the players with friends back in the United Kingdom.
That episode was just one of several unsavory incidents which plagued Pearson’s time in charge of the club.
In December, he was fined around $15,500 and given a one-match touchline suspension after telling a fan who had been abusing him to “f*** off and die” during the 3-1 defeat by Liverpool at the King Power stadium.
A couple of months later, Pearson was in trouble again after a touchline bust-up with Crystal Palace’s James McArthur which led to the Leicester manager appearing to place his hands around the midfielder’s throat of the midfielder.
That incident led to wild speculation surrounding Pearson’s future with several reports being aired which suggested he had been sacked.
Those reports proved incorrect but Pearson was soon back in the headlines after calling one journalist an “ostrich” at a post-match media conference.
The Leicester manager made a full and public apology to the reporter the day after.
Leicester finished the season in 14th position and allowed Pearson to make signings following the conclusion of the season.
But the club has now put Steve Walsh and Craig Shakespeare, the joint assistant managers, in temporary charge of first-team duties while they search for Pearson’s replacement.
