No Pearce in our time

But Pearce's sacking at City yesterday came as a result of a combination of sporting failings that couldn't be more traditional. Poor performances, poor results and poor decisions.

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Frustrated: Pearce was floored by City's lack of cutting edge

An intelligent, candid and upfront man, Pearce will be missed by the Premiership community. But his football will not.

It has been a season of grinding tedium at City and the malaise stretches back further than that. Of the 50 Premiership games City have played since the start of March last year, they have won just 13.

Not a single goal in a home game since January 1 this year. The lowest number of home goals — 10 — in a single season since records began. It is a gruesome story.

It remains a matter of conjecture whether Thaksin Shinawatra has even heard of Pearce but too much should not be read in to the timing of his first visit to the City of the Manchester Stadium on Monday.

As Sportsmail first revealed in March, City's current board lost patience with their manager some time ago. He would have been sacked whether a takeover was imminent or not.

City chairman John Wardle hates sacking managers. Losing Kevin Keegan two-and-half years ago was hard enough and Monday's decision was one he had resisted in the face of mounting evidence.

However, Pearce began effectively to empty a reservoir of goodwill the moment he bulldozed his way to accepting the England Under 21 coach's job in January.

Wardle and, in particular, chief executive Alistair Mackintosh were furious at Pearce's public insistence that he would take charge of international friendly matches while fighting what threatened to become a relegation battle at City.

It was a mammoth error by Pearce and his board soon became further irritated by their manager's suggestions that the club were suffering from a lack of investment.

Had he not invested £12million of Wardle's money so terribly over the last two years then he may not be looking for fresh work today.

The names of Georgios Samaras, Bernardo Corradi, Ousmane Dabo, DaMarcus Beasley and Matthew Mills will hardly leave an impression in the history of this under-achieving club.

But sadly they will, as much as anything, prove to be Pearce's legacy. Pearce made a mistake familiar to many rookie managers in that he identified players who could play, rather than those who would be able to survive in the rarefied atmosphere of the Premiership.

Blessed with decent man-management skills and helped by a playing reputation second to none in the top flight, these advantages were nevertheless insufficient to compensate for his inability to sign the right players.

Greek striker Samaras, for example, was signed 17 months ago for £6m when Dean Ashton was desperate to make the switch to the club from Norwich. Nobody at City could understand their manager's logic then, even fewer can now.

Betrayed somewhat by the wild behaviour of his best player Joey Barton and not helped by doubts over the future of key defender Sylvain Distin, Pearce proved to be a loyal ally to his squad. They have certainly not repaid him in kind but such is the lot of the modern manager.

For City the coming weeks and months are critical. Set to jump into bed with a Thai political figure associated with controversy and human rights abuses, Wardle and his board nevertheless believe Thaksin's bid to be financially sound. The new manager will certainly have money to spend.

For Pearce, the future is less clear. The former England captain will take charge of his country's Under 21 side in next month's European Championships in Holland and will hope that the FA subsequently reverse their pledge not to offer the post on a full-time basis.

The 45-year-old will, however, take some time to get over this setback. He has grown up a lot since missing his famous penalty in the 1990 World Cup semi-final and as such there are unlikely to be any tears.

But how easy he will find it to get back in to management at club level is harder to judge. Behind his occasionally amusing touchline antics and quotable soundbites, Pearce has been found wanting as a coach and a tactician.

The reference he carries on his c.v. from City will not be good. He was once told by his Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough that he was not good enough to play for England. That insult served only to drive him on.

This latest slap in the face may sting for a while longer.