Pearson sacking related to son’s exit

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The Foxes confirmed late on Tuesday that they had relieved the 51-year-old of his duties, stating that ‘fundamental differences in perspective exist’ between the board and manager.

Despite leading Leicester on a remarkable run which saw them rise from the bottom of the table at mid-April to 14th come the end of the season, Pearson had courted controversy on more than one occasion last campaign.

After a defeat to Liverpool in December, the Englishman was banned for one match by the FA for telling a supporter to ‘f*** off and die’, before a bizarre choking incident with Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur in February.

Pearson then memorably branded a journalist an ‘ostrich’ during an outburst at a press conference in May.

But it is the latest controversy surrounding the club which appears to have played the biggest part in Pearson’s demise, with his son’s role in a racist sex tape in the club owner’s homeland of Thailand understood to have caused the biggest rift between manager and board.

Pearson’s son James was one of three players dismissed by the club last month in the aftermath of the scandal, which the BBC claim was ‘the straw broke the camel’s back’ for the club’s owners, Vichai and Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha.

“I’ve had a long chat with sources close to Pearson overnight and it appears he was sacked by telephone and had no idea it was coming,” said Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett.

“We know there have been issues between him and the board over the last year and, in fact, they sacked him in February – the chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha deciding he’d had enough, only for his son and vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha to reinstate him hours later.

“It appears the final straw was the situation with Pearson’s son and two other Leicester players in which they were filmed with Thai prostitutes in Thailand, which led to his son being sacked.”

Pearson’s assistant Steve Walsh has taken temporary charge of the team and it is understood Leicester will not rush to appoint a full-time successor.