Sport 09-10-2001 Sacked Smith Tipped To Take On Foxes who: Derby County what: Appoint assistant manager Colin Todd as successor to Jim Smith where: Pride Park, DERBY when: Yesterday snippet: Jim Smith said it was "a really sad day" yesterday as he was sacked after six years as manager of Derby County and replaced by his assistant manager Colin Todd. Chairman Lionel Pickering has warned that Todd must cut the club`s overdraft by the end of the year, says The Telegraph. That almost certainly means selling midfielder Seth Johnson, defender Chris Riggott and striker Malcolm Christie. "The bank have been quite reasonable," says Pickering. "But they are losing patience after two years. We are getting towards a deadline and we are talking about this year." Smith was offered a role as director of football at Pride Park but in a statement he told the press "I didn`t feel a sideways move was appropriate. I felt I had more to offer." With that in mind, The Mirror`s David Moore thinks that Smith might hop from 19th-place Derby to a job at bottom-of-the-table Leicester City. "The 60-year-old Bald Eagle could land just 40 miles away to carry on fighting for Premiership survival with the Foxes," he reckons. [... more]

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