There's a few at our club (and since departed) who need to carry the can here if it is proven he was treat like **** (as I suspect). http://sportsnewsireland.com/soccer/soccer_world/former-argentine-toon-sues-newcastle-for-2m/ Former Newcastle United and Argentina international Jonás Gutiérrez is suing the club for £2m over their treatment of him after his cancer diagnosis. The player was let go at the end of last season having scored one and set up another as Newcastle avoided relegation. BBC report the player insisted in court that they only decided to play the player after it was mathematically impossible for him to reach an 80-game target which would trigger a extra-year contract extension. He only made 78 appearances and was let go from the club. Gutiérrez also stated that two months after surgery to remove testicular cancer, then manager Alan Pardew told the player he had no future on Tyneside in December 2013. Despite not reaching the 80 game target, his contract worth £40k a week was guaranteed whether or not he played.
In my mind I'm unsure over whether it was a Pardew decision..... or if Pardew was simply the mouthpiece.
I suspect Pardew was doing the dirty work as did Carver when letting both Jonas and Ryan go over the phone. Just oozing class the pair of them.
I think he means his grounds for suing them. I think the guy was a good servant to the club but he was well paid for what he did and was paid throughout his illness. The club chose not to extend his contract. There was a clause that would have automatically extended it so they ensured that wasnt activated. I can imagine the complaints on here if he was still playing. Suspect there must be something else not made public otherwise can see he is just wasting his money.
No doubt the club treated him badly but I can't really see what grounds he has to sue them. Maybe there is a bit more to it.
He's claiming that they deliberately didn't play him so as not to trigger his contract extension. The last 5 games he WAS played in wouldn't have gotten him to the magical 80 games figure. It will be hard to prove by Jonas and I'm sure Carver and Pardew, when they give evidence will have footballing reasons lined up for not playing him. Remember, he was viewed by many as a spent force, including most fans.
Only because we weren't initally aware of his cancer! Knowing how stupid some of the people are at our club I can well believe that he was told this was the reason! He had more desire in his little toe than the rest of our squad put together and I would be happy for him to still be here. However, he won't win unless he has written proof or someone in the club backs him up
There must be hundreds of players who have had new contract triggers who have not been played because of it. Clubs are not obliged to play players in any game. His grounds must surely be on discrimination because he had cancer which they knew about. In that case if I were the club I would be using his contact clause as a defence if anything. The only thing I would have thought he would have any chance of winning is the cost of his medical bills although I assume the club is not responsible for a non-playing relayed illness? Maybe there is something that hasn't come out yet.
He'll be claiming unfair dismissal since non-renewal of a fixed term contract is classed as a 'dismissal' for legal purposes. I'm guessing that he is claiming unfair dismissal based on discrimination [his illness.] Without knowing the full facts, I'd be surprised if he was awarded judgement for this. He was a poor player in the last couple of seasons, and there are plenty that can testify that that was the real reason he wasn't played and didn't have his contract renewed.
I'm a big fan of the man. He loved the club. And it's VERY poor form of them to have not been much more supportive though his illness but on the face of it absolutely no grounds for a case here.
Sorry I like Jonas, he did a good job for us, but there is no case to answer. He looked finished long before he was told he had cancer or had no future. The fans o these boards and elsewhere were saying this. We clearly haven't handled it perfectly, but I don't think he has any sort of case.
Much as I like Jonas, I've had a hard time figuring out what his case is. From the papers it seems like it's that the club thought that his cancer had made him a liability and so didn't want to offer him/entitle him to another season. If you substitute "knee injury" or "having got old" for "cancer " the whole thing seems silly. Unless "not being able to play football very well" is defined as a disability, I don't understand the premise
Pardew has come out and said he told Jonas bedore he was diagnosed that he wasn't in his plans. Not looking good for JG's case. I personally think Jonas has a weak case here.
Makes you wonder how things would have turned out with a manager who showed a bit of honesty and compassion. Jonas seems a decent guy. If they'do kept in touch during his treatment and then told him they couldn't promise a new contract but would love him to come and fight for his place, he may or may not have played more games but he probably would have felt he'did been treated decently
Didn't Jonas say he paid for his own treatment in Argentina? He also stated no-one from the club contacted him during his time away getting treatment. Just seemed suspicious to me we only played him after his extension clause couldn't be met. I'll always remember his last game and the effort he put in and lets not forget despite being an International he didn't jump ship when we were last relegated, unlike other mercenaries.
Also people comment on that he was poor before his cancer but no-one will know how long he had it before it was actually diagnosed. My father had lung cancer and was diagnosed with it 3 months before he passed away yet the doctors believe that he must have had for almost 18 months prior to this and looking back at that time you can see some of the differences. The same may have applied to Jonas and this could have affected his game significantly. However, he won't ever win this. Was he paid for all of his contract, yes. If we choose not to play him no matter what the reason is is the clubs peregorative. It may have been they didn't like his Spiderman goal celebration, they may have not liked him, they may have not wanted the risk, they may have thought he was crap (now bearing in mind the amount of crap we have kept I find this one hard to believe), it may well have been down to his cancer - whatever the reason he was paid for the contract he had. Did the club treat him in a shockingly poor way - I would probably think the club did! But then we know how poor the club treats people.
He's claiming unfair dismissal based on his illness and has little chance of success. His contract was up [dismissal for legal purposes] and it wasn't renewed not because of his cancer, but because he simply was no longer good enough.
