Gone

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Maybe he wanted to work nearer his family. I don't know and I won't act as though I do, unlike some people.

I've never assumed any knowledge. Quite the contrary. But nor do I assume that because it is my club, we do everything right.
 
Contracts are worthless, if a manager/player insists he wants to go, he usually goes.

Yes. But if they are written in a certain, normal, way, another club would be either deterred from poaching, or pay a heavy price.

Maybe a one year rolling contract with a leave when you want clause is normal. I've just never heard of it before. It's not as if we'd bagged Klopp or Guardiola for a quick spell

Bug he's gone and another one gets a go. He'll get my backing for as long as he's here.
 
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That's my point.

We couldn't pay Neil so much it would be impossible for Stoke to top it.

Fair enough then. We couldn't afford to pay him. But my point is that it is the job of the man running the club to really sort the club's position out before the season started. And if that meant getting some criticisms so be it. It was his job to sort it out.
 
Perhaps you should avoid random guesswork and giving your opinion by saying 'these are the facts' in that case ...

... just confuses people.

No guesswork from me.

Unless I misunderstood the club's stated position. It was they , Speakman , who confirmed that Neil was in a rolling one year deal, with permission to talk to any other club whenever he wanted.
 
No guesswork from me.

Unless I misunderstood the club's stated position. It was they , Speakman , who confirmed that Neil was in a rolling one year deal, with permission to talk to any other club whenever he wanted.

But we've no idea if that contract was a stipulation of the club or Neil.

If it was Neil would you still have employed him?
 
But we've no idea if that contract was a stipulation of the club or Neil.

No we don't.

But, if it was from Neil, my opinion is that Speakman should have resisted it then, and really dealt with it then, as Neil's leaving under such a condition was very likely.

If it was from us, it was acknowledging that we were in some way desperate to keep a decent Championship manager. I expect it was some sort of mixture.

Either way, I think Speakman has handled it badly, and that Neil has been a twat.
 
No we don't.

But, if it was from Neil, my opinion is that Speakman should have resisted it then, and really dealt with it then, as Neil's leaving under such a condition was very likely.

If it was from us, it was acknowledging that we were in some way desperate to keep a decent Championship manager. I expect it was some sort of mixture.

Either way, I think Speakman has handled it badly, and that Neil has been a twat.

So, to be clear, you'd have given Neil a long contract in the hope he got the team up when Johnson had failed?

Or told Neil he wouldn't get the job if he insisted on a rolling contract?
 
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So, to be clear, you'd have given Neil a long contract in the hope he got the team up when Johnson had failed?

Or told Neil he wouldn't get the job if he insisted on a rolling contract?

No.

The problem emerged in the summer IMO. A rolling contract might have suited both parties earlier, but by the summer, the contract situation should have been cemented. Changes were obviously made anyway.

But maybe one year contracts are the coming thing. Maybe there will be more clubs seeking to do it. Maybe we didn't want one. Who knows?

I'm not convinced, but you never know. We'll see what the new guy signs.
 
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The point, as you put it, was to protect the club's interests.

It doesn't matter what situation we were in, that was Speakman's job. He allowed a flimsy contract situation to endure. It was almost bound to come to this given what we now know, and yet we don't look prepared. Possibly even because he didn't want to deal with it decisively. Possibly because he didnt rate Neil.

But it is on him. He is the man in charge of all these things.

And we currently have ;

No first team manager.
No U23 manager.
No Academy manager.

He's not doing his job properly, and it doesn't matter what enyone thinks of Neil, that is still the case. Apart from recruitment, at which he clearly excells, chaos follows this bloke around.
Absolutely rubbish. The first sentence is correct, the rest is bollocks