Nigel Pearson agrees three-year contract to lead Bristol City rebuild
Nigel Pearson is expected to sign a three-year contract as Bristol City manager. The former Leicester manager was appointed until the end of the season in February and has agreed an extension at the Championship club.
Pearson guided Leicester to the Premier League in 2014 and is understood to be excited by the project and the potential of Bristol City, who have not played in the top flight since 1980.
The 57-year-old manager flew to Guernsey last week to meet City’s owner, Steve Lansdown, and has since held productive talks with the chairman, Jon Lansdown. The club hope the permanent arrangement will bring much-needed stability.
City face a rebuild following a disappointing season, with 13 players, including the Senegal striker Famara
Diedhiou, out of contract at the end of the campaign. After the defeat by Luton on Sunday, Pearson said: “We need to have a robust competitive squad which has some moral fibre to it. There’s a lot of work to be done both on the field and off the field.”
Pearson’s stay could trigger key departmental changes. City’s head of performance, Andy Rolls, departed on Tuesday after almost three years in the role. The chief executive, Mark Ashton, who sits on the English Football League board, is leaving for Ipswich at the end of the season.
Confirmation of Pearson’s extension could be announced before City’s game at Millwall on Saturday. The assistant managers Paul Simpson and Keith Downing are set to remain on his staff.