Actually the... the directors know my position statement refers to the fact that Morgan once said that if he ever wanted to leave he would never force in a transfer request because he owes the club too much. Bit like Shaw, Lallana, and Lambert then really.
We cannot sell him. Simple as that. I don't give a **** if God himself is in the ear of these players telling them they should leave, we simply cannot do this "they made a fair offer and the player wanted to go" thing anymore this summer. You want to talk about mercenary players? What the **** is going to happen when the remaining look at their now-former teammates and see how easily they can push their way to a bigger paycheque elsewhere. Give me a pissed off player or two any day over buying an entirely new ****ing squad while telling the world that we'll roll over and gut the team if they give an interview to the press and there are enough zeroes attached.
My feelings too. Cortese came in and there was pretty much nothing on the footballing side at senior level in 2009. He built a team, a spirit, promised our youngsters the world and made it clear no one was irreplaceable (sorry Alan and Nigel), but Cortese himself. We flew up the league and he delivered on every promise he made to them. They got to higher levels and became richer in the process. Mauricio makes the players believe more than ever before, they get into World Cup/national squads and make a big name for themselves at the top. Cortese goes and who do players trust? Well, Mauricio of course. But then he goes and what ties are there to keep them here with interest from those above? None, sadly.
Someone posted today that NC promised the players a bonus if they achieved a certain level, yet the board knew nothing of it. Couple of people mentioned it and suggested this made the players pissed off. No idea if any truth in it.
I'm definitely on board with this. I sympathise with the whole, "oh the board are doing their best and it's hard to keep players when they're asking to leave, you can't blame them", point of view, I really do, but there comes a point where you have to realise you're being bent over by everyone. It's not as easy as just reinvesting it all and everything will be fine. We're letting people **** us right now and someone needs to stand up and stop it - I said it earlier and I'll say it again, I wish we had Cortese around so he could tell people how hard they should **** off.
Remember as well, one of the greatest plaudits we continued to give this lot last season were that they were a tight-knit team. Well, they're acting exactly like a tight-knit group of people do when they feel they've been wronged, and all doing the same thing. What NC giveth with one hand.......
Gotta be bollox.surely the players are not gonna take nc at his word re bonuses? If it was written in the contracts then they are legaly binding no?
TSS - too right. As I posted when Poch left - NC was the man who sold the dream and what with Poch out the door first; the rest are ready to follow. The responsibility for all this rests with the board. They don't seem to have the situation under control and neither on the face of it has the new manager...
On a serious note, losing 2/3 wouldn't have been a big deal to me but 2/3 is soon turning into 5/6. Selling the spine of the team is complete suicide in my opinion. Koeman has no chance before he's even walked through the door.
Yeah, that's the rubber-meets-road in this with regard to our board, for me. There might be circumstances beyond their control that precipitated this. But standing strong doesn't mean holding out for an extra mil here and there...you want to show that we're not just a meat market for bigger clubs, come out and ****ing declare that not one more player departs, not for any rational sum. And do it really soon, because there are still two months of the transfer window and I'd rather not the three or four remaining players get ideas, because it goes without saying that the vultures are circling.
Lets be honest, if they were that far sold on NC and MP (which they appear to have been) - I don't think anyone could've stopped this. I genuinely think little blame can be attributed to the current board.
I think it's a little bit harsh on Big Ron to be blaming him just yet. Oh god, I wish I hadn't called him Big Ron.....
Oh I don't know mate. There was clearly a long standing situation at play here, that only an idiot would have been unaware of. Some SERIOUS moves should have been made to rectify and stabilise that. If the rumours regarding not picking up phones etc are true (and I get the distinct impression they are), then that's just bog-awful poor management of the situation.
