Wigan chairman Dave Whelan insists Paul Jewell will not be heading for Manchester City but will instead take "six months off" after his shock resignation as manager.
Jewell resigned less than 24 hours after Wigan had escaped relegation with their dramatic 2-1 win at Sheffield United on Sunday, sending the Blades down instead.
But as Whelan was announcing Jewell's departure and the appointment of his assistant Chris Hutchings as replacement, the news came through to the JJB stadium that Manchester City had sacked Stuart Pearce.
Whelan took a second to reply, but said: "Stuart Pearce is unlucky, he is a good lad and a good manager. I don't know the reasons why he has been sacked and I don't want to know.
"If Manchester City were to go for Paul Jewell, I would be very surprised. I would say, 'don't waste your time' because Paul is a man of his word.
"I asked him a straightforward question: 'have you been tapped up by another club?' And his answer was: 'on my children's lives I have not been approached by another club, and I will not be going to another club. I love it at Wigan and I am sorry to be resigning. But for my health I have got to do it.'
"I could feel it, I could see it coming since Christmas. I have seen Paul's health deteriorate, and he needs a break."
Jewell said in a statement: "I have made this decision with a heavy heart, but I feel it is time for me to have a break from football.
"I have given everything I have as a person to bringing success here over the past six years and it is not an easy thing to walk away from somewhere and something which has been such a part of your life for so long.
"The intensity of football at the highest level, although completely addictive, is also very draining, and I feel I would be kidding the chairman, my players and the supporters if I was to carry on without being able to put in the energy and dedication I know is required to be successful at this level.
"I would like to thank Dave Whelan for all his help and support over the years, I could not have asked to work with a better with a better chairman.
"Our relationship has been a key factor in the success we've shared. He has never once put me under pressure, has always backed me to the hilt and I feel he is now as much a friend as he was a boss."
Hutchings, Jewell's deputy for six years at Wigan, will take over on a 12-month contract and has the job of re-structuring the club's playing staff and backroom.
Whelan said: "I want to thank Paul for his six years here, not only is he a fantastic, brilliant manager but he has also been a very good friend of mine and my wife.
"I am sorry to lose him, but I wish him a speedy recovery from his health problems.
"I offered him the option of going to my house in Barbados for a holiday, for a week, a month and then see how he felt. But he is very determined he wants six months out.
"There is no other club behind this, there is nobody coming in for him, and I know everyone suspects that. They will say, 'what happens in three or four weeks if a club short of a manager - Manchester City or Newcastle - comes for him?'
"There is no chance of that, he has given me his word and I accept that fully. He is going to take six months out. Then I do hope he will come back into football then.
"I have seen him suffering with the pressure since Christmas. We have been under pressure because we have not played well, we have signed players who have not performed to expectations and we have not had the run of the ball.
"We have had a few decisions from referees that have really got to him and I have seen his health go downhill. I was expecting this to have happened this morning, to be honest.
"After the match yesterday at Sheffield, he said he wanted a meeting with me this morning.
"Obviously he would have wanted that at the end of a season, it would be normal and natural. However, I had a sneaky feeling that Paul had had enough.
"His nerves and his will had gone to some degree. He told me today that he could not give me 100 per cent, his will had gone to manage football."
Whelan has promise Hutchins his full financial backing, saying: "We are going to get increased funds next season, £35-£40million, and he can have half of that to go into the market."
© 2007 Sporting Life UK Ltd, All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment