When managers get unexpectedly sacked it is very easy for fans to whinge and moan about the unfairness of football and the stupidity of chairmen.

Only last week we had the perfect example of this when Leicester City parted company with Nigel Pearson.

On the surface it seemed criminally unjust: Pearson not only got them promoted to the Premiership, he also kept them up last season by pulling off one of the greatest escapes in top flight history.

But instead of being rewarded with a 10-year contract and the keys to the city he is unceremoniously dismissed?

Something is seriously wrong with the world of football, was the general outcry, with Leicester fan Gary Lineker blasting the move as ‘stupid’ and other experts quick to follow his lead.

But the problem with this moral indignation is that in situations like this, very few people know the truth behind the decision. Had Leicester sacked Pearson just because they fancied a new man in charge then that would have been cruel and hard to justify.

However, since the announcement it has emerged that Pearson’s dismissal was a result of the incident involving his son – a Leicester player – who was caught on video taking part in a racist orgy while the team was touring Thailand.

The club’s billionaire owners are Thai, and the end-of-season tour was aimed at building ties with the country. Instead it turned into a damage limitation exercise thanks to the hugely offensive antics of Pearson Junior and his pals.

Of course, a father can’t be held responsible for the actions of his children when they are fully-grown adults, but it’s fairly safe to assume the incident – which saw James Pearson and two other players sacked – put immense strain on the relationship between manager and owners.

And, let’s face it, it’s not as if Pearson was a model manager last season either. He told one fan to ‘f*** off and die’ during a touchline spat, ended up with his hands around an opposing player’s throat during a game with Crystal Palace and fought with journalists on a regular basis.

It seems the orgy incident, which has undoubtedly done immense damage to Leicester’s reputation in Thailand, was the final straw for the owners who decided the negatives now outweigh the positives. In fact, in announcing the sacking, the club said the relationship between Pearson and the board ‘was no longer viable’.

Maybe Pearson was demanding his son be rehired. Maybe the owners were demanding Pearson makes a public apology to the people of Thailand. I doubt we will ever know the precise details of how the situation reached breaking point. The specifics of cases like this tend to get buried beneath non-disclosure agreements and lucrative pay-offs.

But the simple truth is that sometimes there may be more to a managerial sacking than meets the eye. Supporters, not to mention celebrities, might want to start giving owners a bit more benefit of the doubt.

Cinemadness

Sepp Blatter’s crumbling legacy has received another hammer blow, this time from the highly unlikely source of Hollywood.

The outgoing president of Fifa was the driving force behind United Passions, a feature film that outlines the history of the organisation and describes just how wonderful it was, is and ever shall be.

The movie stars Tim Roth as Blatter and Gerard Depardieu as Jules Rimet. It cost upwards of €27 million to make, with most of the money stumped up by Fifa.

But not only has the film been panned by the critics, it has also been resoundingly rejected by audiences. In fact, it has now been confirmed as the lowest grossing movie in US box office history after taking just $918 (€826).

Essentially this is further proof – although I don’t think we need any really – that Blatter and the plot went their separate ways long ago. €27 million on a pointless vanity project?

How many football pitches could that have built for underprivileged children? How many sporting scholarships would that have funded?

But why should Fifa spend its (our) money on deserving causes when it can, instead, flush it down the cinematic toilet in a blatant display of self-congratulatory nonsense.

It’s not as if Pearson was a model manager. He told one fan to ‘f*** off and die’ during a touchline spat, ended up with his hands around an opposing player’s throat and fought with journalists on a regular basis

One critic, The Guardian’s Jordan Hoffman, described the film as ‘excrement’, adding that “as proof of corporate insanity, it is a valuable case study”.

I have no idea if Hoffman is exaggerating its awfulness or being exceptionally kind. But, to be honest, as the thought of watching it makes me entirely queasy, I doubt I will ever find out…

Cech deserves thanks not threats

I find it hard to comprehend that some Chelsea fans saw fit to abuse and even send death threats to Petr Cech when he signed for Arsenal last week.

Given the choice he would probably have preferred to stay at Stamford Bridge for the remainder of his career. In fact, he himself said he always expected Chelsea to be the last club he played for.

But you can’t hold it against him if he moves on to seek first-team football. What did they expect him to do? Spend the next few years as a reserve team player, maybe getting the odd League Cup outing?

A lesser goalkeeper and a lesser man may have been prepared to do just that, cashing his huge paycheque every week without doing very much to earn it.

But Cech has won just about every honour in the game, and to expect a player of that calibre to be content with warming the bench is just ludicrous.

Just as Cech owes a lot to Chelsea, so the club owes him a lot for the major contribution he has made to their success over the past decade.

Having said that, I’m sure the vast, overwhelming majority of Chelsea fans will be wishing him all the success in the world – provided it doesn’t come against their club or at their club’s expense.

And that’s how it should be.

Talking of Chelsea, I have to say I very much like the proposed new designs for Stamford Bridge unveiled last week.

The main aim of the €700 million project will be to expand the ground’s capacity from 42,000 to 60,000, a vital part of Roman Abramovich’s vision of making the club a genuine European superpower.

But unlike many other clubs who are looking to redevelop or expand their grounds, Chelsea have gone for a bit of a retro theme with their proposals. The designers and architects have spent years studying Chelsea’s past, its traditions and even the history of the areas surrounding the ground.

Although what was put on display last week was little more than a public consultation and plans will no doubt change as the feedback comes in, the club’s approach is refreshing and its vision unique.

Different gender, same result

English national teams might not reach World Cup semi-finals very often but when they do the outcome is pretty predictable: at some point there will be tears.

In Italy 25 years ago, the men’s team fought their way through to within 90 minutes of the final, but eventually lost the semi to Germany on penalties in a match that will always be remembered for Paul Gascoigne’s tears. And quite a few of my own.

Last week it was the turn of England’s ladies, who lost their World Cup semi-final to Japan in what can only be described as heartbreaking circumstances – an own goal in injury time knocking them out of the tournament. Cue the crying.

From Chris Waddle’s missed penalty in 1990 to Laura Bassett’s freak own goal last week, it really does seem like the football gods have it in for England.

Still, if the Three Lions (or lionesses) do eventually reach a World Cup final at some point in my lifetime, it will be all the sweeter for this constant heartache.

At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade