i honestly think this has been coming since he got the job, the impression i got was that he was not happy to have become 'second choice' after the keane fiasco, recent interviews have shown a wee bit of an unhappy side (knocking on the door comment for one).
i do not think he was ever fully settled here despite being happy with the club and area (again, me presuming) but if this had been liverpool or man utd it would make sense for any manager to at least give them a call, unfortunately we will most likely never know the full truth behind this rolling contract bollox apart from the understanding that he was offered different terms but was happy to keep the rolling one, that in itself should have set a few alarm bells ringing if true.
not often a manager is 'poached' from another club but this 'contractually obliged' line is quite telling i feel as it suggests he had it written in from the start, if he is not happy about something(s) then best if he leaves i just hope the club have names in place and are already looking because as far as i am concerned at this moment in time AN has burned his bridges and if by some chance he stays then he is going to have to work damn hard to win fans back.
we need players in, hopefully they are happy to play under anyone and are not too choosy about the manager as well as the ones already here/lined up, at the very least both clubs could/should have waited till the window closed if nothing more than a courtesy to each other as in all honesty it is far too late for stoke to try to plan recruitment and it could ruin our closing deals.
also...ffs why always us eh?.... many unemployed managers, some with better records than AN and 90 odd other teams with managers why was ours the one they needed?