Jon Lansdown: Bristol City chief executive says the club not performing under Pearson
- Published
Jon Lansdown is chairman of Bristol City and his father Stephen is the club's owner
Bristol City chairman Jon Lansdown said the club were not doing "as well as they had hoped" under Nigel Pearson, who was sacked last weekend.
The Robins are 15th in the Championship and had lost five of their last seven games before Pearson left.
The 60-year-old had led the club for two and a half years and his three-year deal was due to expire next summer.
"We looked at it, and we're not doing as well as we'd hoped or want to do," Lansdown told BBC Radio Bristol.
"You've got a manager going out of contract; you're not performing to where you want to, and I think he [Pearson] would want to be doing better as well, and that's what the decision is based off."
Pearson was the second longest-serving manager in the Championship having taken over at Bristol City - initially temporarily - in February 2021.
The club finished 16th last season and have won five of their 14 league matches during this campaign, with three draws and six defeats.
"We've stuck through thick and thin and he's done a really good thing - the academy, he's been really good with the women's team," Lansdown said.
"We are in a better place on and off the pitch in that sense from when it started. But you've got a three-year contract, a three-year programme, and we're in the last bit of that.
"We're still a top-ten budget in the division, and we've got the facility, and we've got stability; we do give our managers opportunities, and we've got the ability to outperform that budget."
Pearson's departure has been met with anger among portions of the Robins fanbase, and Lansdown said the club has not done enough to engage with the fans.
"I'll freely admit our communication has not been as good as it could have been, and that's not just now, over the last twelve months or so, and that's something we need to address and look at doing," Lansdown said.
Lansdown refused to comment on names linked to the now vacant post but said the club knows what type of person they want to appoint.
"We know what we want to achieve in terms of how we want to play, what we want to do, and the level of coaching we're looking for," he added.
A 'tricky, emotional' week
Curtis Fleming will be in charge of Bristol City for Saturday's visit by Sheffield Wednesday
Assistant manager Curtis Fleming has been made interim head coach and will take charge of the team when they face bottom side Sheffield Wednesday at home on Saturday.
Fleming said the last week since Pearson's departure had been "tricky".
"Personally, it's quite emotional. It's something that happens quite a lot in the game: you get a lot of good friends, you work very hard to try to achieve something, and then maybe you don't get there and they end up losing their jobs. It is an emotional time.
"But at the end of the day, we're professional people," Fleming said.
City have been hit by a raft of injuries in recent weeks but Fleming said defenders Zak Vyner, George Tanner, and Kal Naismith are all in contention to return on Saturday which had brought a "huge lift".
Rob Atkinson and Ayman Benarous have also been training this week as they continue their recoveries from long-term injuries.