Ellington on much-travelled career

I don't question that we could've spent the money better, Norway. But he wasn't in breach of contract, he just wasn't very good (OK, he was bloody awful). His contract didn't demand that he was good. Otherwise we could've sacked him! The contract was unrealistic. It's a results business, but the contracts don't really reflect that. That's the fault of the club(s), not the players.

 

baz makes a good point. It's a bit like when we sold Priskin to the Tractor Boys, we knew that was very good business, as the Baggies did. WHY did the management not research such a financial commitment better than they did (Watford and Ipswich)? Incompetence. For which our then Chairman paid himself £12000 per week .

 

With you on this SLB - we should have never been put in that position in the first place. Those in charge at the time were getting fat on the back of Watford and they were playing the "big football club" game. We had a number of equally poor footballers on stupidly high wages coming out of our season in the Prem - their contracts and wages should have reflected our status and not the directors pie-in-the-sky dreams (anyway NE ate them all!)
A curse on those in charge at the time...

 

Wasn't there a thing where the players' agents said that they would get all their players to leave the club, if the club stuck by the contracts' commitments to cut wages back on relegation to the Championship? So what did the 'big club' board do? Go back on the contracts and give way to the agents. Pay all the players Premiership wages in the Championship. That was worth £600,000, Mr S, and the £100,000s paid to other members of the management team over this time.
The agents (and any of their players) should have been told to 'do one'. The contracts have to cut two ways. If it meant a complete team rebuild, so be it. Our club wouldn't have been put at stake and equally importantly, Watford would have shown that when they sign a contract, they mean it to be stuck to, unless both parties agree to renegotiate.

 

Cant agree more slb, it would have been better to drop a league for a season with £20 mil in the bank. Look at the money wasted £4m from bouazza £4.5 m from sale of corners £8m borrowed against parachute payments. The players should have been told you want prem wages find a club willing to pay them, if the bad eggs had gone and those left had a lets get the good times back mentality our season might not have imploded. Bothys strength was the incredible team spirit he built once we caved to wage demands that was imposible