After two and a half years at Bristol City, Nigel Pearson has left his position as manager, having succumbed to 5 defeats in the side’s last 7 games. Despite grabbing a win against Coventry after the International break, successive losses to Ipswich Town and then Cardiff City led the club to make the announcement just a few days ago. So what went wrong for Pearson?
After the £25m sale of midfielder Alex Scott to Bournemouth this summer, perhaps it was naively expected that new blood might be brought in, but alas that never materialised, with only a few new names coming through and nothing surefire to replace Scott. One would think that owner Lansdown, with a networth of over $2bn would be the one to face the questions, but it seems that their 14th place finish in the Championship last season was enough for them not to try and splash out in the summer transfer window. So that left Nigel Pearson, beloved by fans and players alike, to try and take an under-funded team to the top of the Championship, a feat that appears to have been too much for him, although according to media, the fans and players have reached out to thank him for everything he’s done.
So who are the Bristol City next manager odds identifying as a possible replacement? At the time of writing, BetVictor have 5 unique candidates all under 10/1* odds. At 8/1* in joint 4th are Nathan Jones and Steve Cotterill, while John Eustace sits 3rd favourite at 4/1*, meaning a £10 bet would return £50, but it’s the top two names who have attracted the most attention. In second, sits Gary Rowett at 3/1* – a £40 payout from a £10 bet, having been released by Millwall just recently, his Championship experience could be a deciding factor in who becomes the next Bristol City manager. In the lead currently, however, is Dean Smith at 2/1* – a £30 return on a £10 wager, who’s short stint at Leicester earlier this year could not keep them in the Premier League unfortunately, but who’s top flight management experience could offer a huge level of insight when it comes to competing for qualification.
One thing is for certain, whether Bristol City’s management opt to go for one of the five names in contention above, or whether a dark horse will appear and be given charge of The Robins, the fans will be looking for someone who can drive the team forwards and close the 5 point current gap between them and the Playoff places. Maybe then, the board will finally open up the purse strings that have been so tightly closed for the last few years, and replenish the likes of Alex Scott and others who have gone in the last few seasons. For more football betting updates and next manager odds, be sure to check out the rest of our site.
*All odds are correct at time of writing and are subject to change
