How Twitter Reacted to Leicester Manager Nigel Pearson's Non-Sacking

Suffice it to say, Nigel Pearson is not afraid of a physical confrontation. Take, for example, when the Leicester manager successfully fended off a pack of feral dogs on a hiking holiday by stabbing at them with a walking pole and seeking refuge in a bed of stinging nettles. 

On Saturday, while watching his side lose 1-0 to Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium, Pearson showed the whites of his eyes—which were previously reserved only for dangerous dogs—to James McArthur. When the Crystal Palace midfielder appeared to accidentally knock the 51-year-old over, Pearson appeared to wrap his hands around the Scotsman's throat:

After the game, Pearson assured us he could "look after himself," but his actions were met with dismay by Twitter users. Many called for his head, and not because his rock-bottom side had just lost their 15th league game of the season:

"

I hope the FA throw the book at Nigel Pearson. The bloke is mental. "I can look after myself" when asked about incident. #idiot

— Jason (@beardyjase) February 9, 2015"

"

Nasty Nigel Pearson showing his true colours and his more suited profession: a PE teacher at my scary old secondary school #MOTD

— Paul Millar (@pauliticz) February 8, 2015"

In the hours proceeding the game, speculation grew that Pearson would soon have a lot more time to battle wild animals on walking holidays. Then on Sunday, several major news outlets reported that the Foxes frontman had been relieved of his duties:  

Evidently, Pearson isn't the most popular man in world football, and his departure was celebrated with glee:

However, to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumours of Pearson's sacking were greatly exaggerated.

On Sunday evening, Leicester denied that they had parted company with their manager. Foxes legend Gary Lineker helped spread the word:

Then, on Monday, Leicester staged a press conference for Pearson to clear the air:

Pearson confirmed that he is still in charge of the club, but he refused to let the press pack know if he had actually been sacked or not. There was confusion, and there was banter: 

Rather than actually take any responsibility for placing his hands around the throat of a professional footballer in front of an audience of millions, Pearson chose to blame the Match of the Day team for exacerbating the incident:

When Lineker defended Match of the Day's reputation, he was challenged by former News of the World sports editor Paul McCarthy. Curiously, the former Leicester striker inferred that he had the inside track on the confusion surrounding Pearson's employment status:

In the wake of Pearson's apparent non-sacking, many fans remained displeased:

"

How the hell is Nigel Pearson still in a job if that had been Redfearn Elland Road would have been shut down and the key posted to cellinio

— John Evans (@evans1951) February 9, 2015"

"

Two words about Nigel Pearson. Total plonker. Oh, and another one - yob. #lcfc

— Neil Carlile (@NeilCarlile) February 9, 2015"

Pearson's future is unclear, but the club appear to be ignoring the news with a Stalin-esque approach to retelling events. The Foxes have given just a terse statement on their website and carried on as if nothing had happened on their official Twitter feed:

It's been a strange few days in Leicestershire, but if we are to take something positive away from all of this, then we may say it has inspired art. The folks at The Set Pieces launched a "Draw a Picture of Nigel Pearson That Would Scare the Kids" competition, and the results were compelling:   

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