After refusing permission for Bolton to talk to Gary Megson, Milan Mandaric has let the wanted manager leave Leicester and hold talks with Bolton.
A statement on the Leicester official site explains.
It is with disappointment and great reluctance that I have today agreed to allow Gary Megson to open talks with Bolton Wanderers regarding their vacant managerial position.
Despite my best efforts to retain his services and turning down two formal approaches from Bolton, Gary left me with no choice last night when he informed me he wanted to leave Leicester and talk to the Premiership club.
I made it abundantly clear that Bolton's interest was neither welcome or invited but it was evident to me that following a meeting requested by Gary following last night's home defeat by Sheffield United that his loyalties and heart lay elsewhere.
Naturally, I am very disappointed. My objectives were to stand firm in the face of mounting interest from Bolton and intense media speculation over Gary's future, but in the end these completely undermined my firm determination to retain his services.
In point of fact it was abundantly clear to me that if I stood in Gary's way it would have a detrimental effect on the club and I was not prepared to allow that to happen.
Needless to say our objectives to win promotion this season remain the same. The search for a new manager begins in earnest.
In the meantime assistant manager Frank Burrows and Gerry Taggart will assume temporary control of first-team affairs until we are in a position to announce a significant appointment.
While a compensation package has been agreed between the clubs, it is not certain that Megson will be appointed Bolton manager, and he could be left out of work again after a year and a half layoff before joining Leicester .
Bolton fans calling up national sports station Talk Sport were mostly unimpressed with their potential new manager, while most Leicester fans were glad to see the back of him.
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