TakingStock - Nick and Kev are the City supremos.

It’s news to TS, but apparently Nick Leeson, the boy from Watford made bad, is now a Manchester City supporter.

Before you mention frying pans and fire listen to this moderately interesting tale.

At a City game last season, Leeson was overheard talking to a relatively well-known occupational psychologist.

Unable to avoid the subject of his career, Leeson was apparently heard to say that the cause of his plight was his inability to put in place adequate coping mechanisms.

So when his bets in Singapore failed to pay off, he would bet again in an attempt to recoup his – and Barings’ – losses.

And so on. The rest, of course, is history. Now, of course, Manchester City has a new manager … one Kevin Keegan, a man who is not known for his coping strategies.

Should the pressure of the City job become too great will Kevin ‘cope’ by walking away? After all, he did from the England job.

While in the post he was famously quoted as saying: ‘For some it’s the ultimate job, for the others it’s the last job,’ – sentiments Leeson must surely recognise. The only difference this time is that he might find a sympathetic shoulder to cry on easier to come by.