Leading the fans and the board along until you got the move you desperately wanted? Stay classy, Ron.
I think it's got lost in translation a bit. My take is: his first choice was to just finish his contract by managing us for one more season, but Les said no and told him to 'sign or go' which fits information which has filtered out.
Which is still odd. Why would he sign himself up at another club for 3 years and not us for another 2 and wait for a bigger club?
Maybe, just maybe, Ronald felt that it would be a lot harder to push Saints onwards from 6th than it would Everton from 11th. Go there, repeat what he did there and he'll be maintaining and improving on his high standing.
Basically, it sounds like he doesn't have enough self-belief. For all the talk of him getting Barca or Arsenal jobs, he never will because his ego isn't big enough. The best sportsmen & women believe they can do anything (that's why they so often come over as arrogant).
If he was willing to finish his contract, but Les said no...puts a different light on the man. However, he had a third year on his contract....Saints would have to sack him to get rid of him. If they arrived at a decision suitable for everyone, I think our goodbye message on the website would have been nicer. My guess would be that Les thought he had promised to extend his contract and was pissed off when he backtracked. What is in no doubt is that RK doesn't agree with our plans for the future....plans that have suited us for years...hence the OS comment that we are looking for someone who matches our values. Boils down to Ron not being the man for us and time to move on.
"I had a meeting with the board - the first option was to go into the third year of my contract, and I said that was not possible."
You may be right, Tobes....though that interpretation makes him look bad....but you will find out (and I don't mean this in a derogatory way at all) that his English can be convoluted and takes interpretation.
Okay, fine. He then goes on to say he wouldn't sign a new deal. So what we've got now is a man with a three-year deal saying he won't do more than three years, and hell, he won't even do year three. You must be absolutely chuffed to have landed someone with such commitment. Enjoy.
