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* Sacking of Barclays CEO mirrors Aviva overhaul
* McFarlane known to be 'dominant character'
* Seen as outstanding professional by peers
* McFarlane in no rush to appoint Jenkins' successor
By Matt Scuffham and Sinead Cruise
LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) - There is only one winner in apower struggle involving John McFarlane, the banking andinsurance veteran who became Barclays chairman in Apriland fired the bank's chief executive on Wednesday.
McFarlane, a 68-year-old Scot, has built a reputation as oneof the City's toughest chairmen, with the stomach to make toughdecisions and act quickly if a business is underperforming.
During CEO Antony Jenkins' three-year stint as chiefexecutive, the British bank's share price had lagged rivals.
Jenkins had made progress in restructuring the bank andrunning down 75 billion pounds ($115 billion) of assets it nolonger wants, but some shareholders had wanted faster change.
A senior executive at insurer Aviva, where McFarlanepreviously oversaw a major turnaround, said Jenkins' swiftdeparture was unsurprising given the Scot's track record.
"I think he had made his mind up about Jenkins before heeven joined, and the way he's started at Barclays is exactly inline with what happened at Aviva," the executive said.
At Aviva McFarlane played a central role in the removal ofChief Executive Andrew Moss, stepping in to take over theday-to-day running of the business after delivering a damningassessment of Moss's five years in charge.
McFarlane said on Wednesday he made the decision thatJenkins must leave in response to ongoing concerns over hismanagement style and that Jenkins had "acted professionally"when told of his fate last week.
Industry sources say the pair had failed to develop arapport.
"McFarlane is quite a dominant character and Jenkins isstubborn and doesn't play the internal game so I can wellunderstand why they haven't hit it off. The new CEO will have tobe more compliant," one Barclays' shareholder told Reuters.
McFarlane told reporters he was in no rush to appointJenkins' successor, setting his stall out to take day-to-daycontrol, just as he did at Aviva.
McFarlane, who began his career with the Ford Motor Company,was chief executive of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group for ten years until June 2007 and has also held seniorpositions at Standard Chartered and Citibank.
His decision not to appoint an acting chief executiveillustrates the confidence he has in his own ability to do thejob. Interviewed by Reuters in November 2013, he describedhimself as one of less than a dozen individuals globally thathave the skills to chair a major British bank.
His peers within the industry seem to share that assessment.
"I think John McFarlane is an outstanding professional and Ihave thought that for many years. He will impose discipline andclarity," said a senior executive at another major British bank.
Industry sources say that McFarlane has developed a strongrelationship with Finance Director Tushar Morzaria in recentweeks, and will work closely with him and other seniorexecutives such as Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Moulds.
"He takes time to get under the skin of things, to get toknow people and form opinions. As interim CEO, he'll have theperfect chance to get his head under the bonnet," the Avivaexecutive said.
McFarlane will need to quickly address some major challengesincluding a requirement for the bank to separate its UK retailbusiness from riskier activities to meet new regulations.
The bank must also resolve allegations over alleged pastmisconduct while bringing returns back above its cost of capitaland deciding how big to keep its investment banking operation.
($1 = 0.6520 pounds) (Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
