Wallace

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/jonas-gutierrez-tribunal-examine-key-11190810#rlabs=16%20rt$sitewide%20p$4 I think the following is pretty conclusive. The panel heard Charnley emailed Newcastle United secretary Richard Hines, inquiring about the clause and how it was affected by the players loan move to Norwich City. It said: “Please can you check the wording of his extension clause. I just want to be sure that it is Premier League matches for us that count. I don’t want him making 8 starts for Norwich and him triggering the clause. I’m 99% sure it is fine - just double checking” The tribunal said if the contract clause had not been an issue, Charnley would have had no reason to check on it.

It's no surprise that the squad is a mess when the man responsible for buying the players hasn't got a clue about the ones already at the club.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/newcastle-united-md-lee-charnley-11188752? On Thursday the panel released its 64-page findings in which it expressed “concerns” with Charnley’s evidence, which at times “appeared to be evasive and lacking in credibility.” The report said Charnley “could not say” how many internationals were in the Newcastle squad, which the panel found “rather surprising” and was unaware of Gutierrez’s international record with Argentina. The report said: “Our assessment of his credibility was relevant to the way in which we resolved disputed facts between the parties. By way of example he would not accept in cross examination that the claimant was an established international player when it was not disputed that the claimant has played for Argentina 22 times including playing in the 2010 World Cup. “When asked whether he agreed the claimant was an established international player he responded that he did not have the claimant’s international record. He appeared reluctant to agree that the claimant had played in the World Cup – saying that “he thought the claimant had played some part” and when asked how many other international players were in the squad as at September 2011 his response was that “he could not say”. Given that Mr Charnley (along with other members of the Board) was responsible for decisions as to the composition of the squad this seemed a rather surprising answer.”

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/newcastle-united-md-lee-charnley-11188752? Pardew claimed he had told Gutierrez that his time at the club was ending and in evidence to the panel said he “didn’t really fit into the mould I wanted to make”. But the midfielder said that discussion never took place, and in its findings of fact the panel agreed with Gutierrez, calling Pardew’s account of the alleged conversation “inconsistent”. The panel said: “This inconsistency to an extent undermined his (Mr Pardew’s) credibility. The claimant we found to be credible. “Ultimately, on the balance of probabilities and taking into account our assessment of the respective credibility of the claimant and Mr Pardew, we preferred the evidence of the claimant.”

Well maybe if Charnley and co had not come across as vague and evasive, they might have succeeded. They are just amateurish on every level.

It makes you wonder if the board had any other influence on potential selections into the team based on player clauses etc. I'm not saying I had total trust in them, but it now brings serious questions about the leadership behind the club and that morals lie beneath finances. I don't disagree that Jonas performances could be infuriating and I wasn't that bothered when he went to Norwich as I felt we had better players, but you couldn't fault his effort. Given the situation he faced to still deliver some of the performances he did highlights his professionalism and the type of guy he is. With the benefit of hindsight you have to wonder how much his performances were affected by his illness before it was diagnosed.

If I'm honest; I feel like everyone has it in for Ashley at present and each little story such as this is another chink in his armour. Had this been at a club like Norwich he probably wouldn't have won. It seems the details above probably weren't considered and / or weren't sufficient to question his availability or selection. It is a dangerous precedent but I'm chuffed he won. He was a top professional and is a top bloke. A player I was proud to have representing us as fans, as he quite clearly gets it. Far more than 99% of the current shower. You only have to see the stories coming out of SD HQ about how he treats his staff there to see that it is quite credible that NUFC under his ownership would behave in this way. The club certainly don't promote themselves as caring club. Compare their treatment of Jonas to that of Petrov at Villa.

Remember when he played Cisse against the doctor's advice and Cisse scored to win the game, and Pardew was so pleased with himself telling all and sundry in the post-match interviews how he ignored the doctor.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36044285 Jonas Gutierrez wins Newcastle United discrimination tribunal case Midfielder Jonas Gutierrez was dropped by Newcastle United because of his cancer diagnosis, an employment tribunal has found. The 32-year-old was suing the Magpies for in the region of £2m on the grounds of disability discrimination. The tribunal also ruled the club made it impossible for Gutierrez to trigger an appearance-based contract extension. Claims of unfavourable treatment and another of harassment related to disability were dismissed. A further remedy hearing will be held in due course, in which compensation will be addressed. Gutierrez's claims Gutierrez, who joined Newcastle from Real Mallorca in 2008, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in October 2013. He had been a regular at St James' Park before that time, scoring 10 goals in 177 appearances at the time of the return of the illness and subsequent treatment. The Argentina international sued Newcastle over the way he was treated following his diagnosis and claimed the Premier League club saw him as a liability after he returned from treatment. Gutierrez, now playing for Deportivo La Coruna in Spain, also alleged that he was not selected for some of the second half of the 2014-15 season, when the Magpies avoided relegation on the final day of the campaign, so the club would not trigger an automatic one-year contract extension. The findings The tribunal found that Gutierrez was discriminated against following his diagnosis and subsequent return to fitness as it deemed he was considered part of the club's plans right up to the point of his absence. The ruling stated: Gutierrez "had maintained his place in the starting line-up without difficulty for five years." "Just over two weeks after the claimant returned to the club in November 2013 following his diagnosis and treatment, and at a point when he was match fit and returning to action he was told that he no longer featured in the club's future plans. We conclude that the decision to drop the claimant was because of the claimant's cancer." The tribunal also concluded that Gutierrez was not considered for selection following his return to fitness until he could not achieve the 80 Premier League starts required over the length of his four-year contract to trigger the extension. As a result of his absence because of cancer, Gutierrez had only 121 games instead of 152 to earn his extended deal and the club had discriminated against him by failing to make reasonable adjustments. The ruling stated: "It was in essence more difficult for the claimant to achieve the required number of games because in the periods of time that he was not absent for treatment or rehabilitation he had to be more frequently selected as a proportion of the total number of games available than his non disabled counterparts. We conclude that this was a substantial (more than minor or trivial) disadvantage." "Had the possibility of a triggering of the clause not been an issue then Mr Charnley [Newcastle managing director Lee] would not have needed to discuss it at all with Mr Carver [former manager John] and would not have needed to double check how close the claimant was to triggering the clause." Claims of unfavourable treatment were rejected, as his move to Norwich City on loan in January 2014 was consensual. A claim of harassment which related to Gutierrez training and playing with the under-21s was also dismissed as the tribunal ruled that many players, such as "Davide Santon, Siem de Jong and Gabriel Obertan" were required to do so to gain match fitness after injury. The witnesses Gutierrez was found to be a "credible and convincing witness". Former Newcastle boss Alan Pardew "was able to deliver his evidence in a confident, convincing and articulate way". However, "the detail of what was said was not necessarily as credible as the manner in which the evidence was delivered". Some of Pardew's evidence was deemed to be contradictory and "inconsistent". Managing director Charnley's evidence was described as "evasive and lacking in credibility". Parts of former Newcastle boss John Carver's evidence were "vague" and were "rejected". Newcastle's unconvincing evidence In August 2013, Newcastle's doctor club advised that Gutierrez, who was recovering from a hamstring injury, should be picked as a substitute "at the very most". Pardew had picked Gutierrez to play and told the hearing that he "did not understand" the doctor's advice, a claim the tribunal considered "improbable". Pardew was dismissive of the doctor's notes in Gutierrez's medical record, which read: "Somehow managed to start game against Manchester City. Managers decision, against medical advice." Charnley would not accept that Gutierrez was an established international player, despite winning 22 caps and playing at the 2010 World Cup for Argentina. Charnley "could not say" how many international players Newcastle had in their squad in September 2011. Charley said that Gutierrez's 71 starts in 76 games in 2011-12 and 2012-13 only "demonstrated someone who plays for the first team" and not consistent performance. Carver told the tribunal that Gutierrez "had a certain clause in his contract that if he reached a certain criteria". He later said there was no discussion about the clause and denied knowing what the "certain criteria" might be.

If Mike Ashley does not recognise that nothing at the club is working other than the exposure for his shop (which will now be much reduced) then he never will. Having Rafa here gives the club a huge opportunity to stop the rot and turn themselves into a proper football club again and they would be stupid to ignore it. I don't think any of the other suggested managerial options have the same potential to rebuild a club from top to bottom. Obviously his wages would be a problem with the Fair Play restrictions in the Championship but I would rather we sold a player purely to fund those wages than lose Rafa. I just hope that if Rafa leaves that it is his decision rather than the club's. it would be heartbreaking if he wanted to stay and the club decided not to keep him.

I wonder how many club staff will lose their jobs this time round seeing as the club operates on a skeletal staff anyway.

The arrogance of the club is astonishing at times. Not putting relegation clauses into player's contracts bought to ward off relegation especially after the club has already suffered one relegation and they are obsessed with the balance sheet. Maybe players would not sign if that was the case but Sunderland's players supposedly have a relegation clause and it would provide some motivation for players wanting to avoid a pay cut at least. It should be one of those things that are automatically inserted into all player's contracts whether you play for Manchester City or Bournemouth.

I may be wrong but im sure he's been doing well since taking over hasn't he? Seems a odd one. I think the owner and board members want more influence in team affairs.

http://www.football365.com/news/no-sam-allardyce-you-couldnt-do-a-leicester Busting the Allardyce myth.

When did Nigel Pearson suddenly gain this reputation of guaranteeing survival or promotion that he is now touted for every job going? He has been promoted once and narrowly escaped relegation once. He struggled for most of last season, was sacked and then re-instated, behaved appallingly in press conferences and wrestled with opposition players but somehow managed to get it together for the last few games. It can only be because he is English because he certainly doesn't court the media. I don't think Pearson is the right fit for us. I just hope that the fact that he has already worked here would mean that the club would realise that. Why can only a "Championship" manager manage in the Championship? Karanka has done OK at Boro and no doubt there are plenty of other examples. An established "Championship" manager would probably struggle if we were promoted. We need a manager who is best suited to Newcastle United.

A draw would be bad wouldn't it? We'd need 3 wins more than Norwich rather than 2 and a jammy draw in one of the games we'd not expect anything. Watford and Stoke will probably already be on the beach. And Everton are all over the place - especially at home. If the Sunderland and Norwich players are up for those games, then they could get points.

Out of curiosity, what is his "injury"? Is it genuine? How can you get injured in a warm down for a friendly game you didn't play and then not be seen for the next 2 months?

Well it's the promotion to manager that I've got issues with. I don't have any problems with his coaching, although it doesn't seem to have worked here. Wasn't there some talk that he was disillusioned under McClaren and felt he was being sidelined? He would probably be perfect for the U21s or Academy but it sounds as if he very ambitious and probably would see that as a step back.

The club desperately need someone like Rafa though as it needs to be overhauled from top to bottom. None of the previous incumbents have shown any interest in the rest of the club beyond the first team (maybe it was not in the job description) but the club is failing at every level and although they have often talked up the Academy and U21s, they are massively underachieving as well. I wouldn't be surprised to see them go for a quick fix as usual rather than seeing the bigger picture. Keeping Rafa on would be a sign that they are serious about change for once. However it would be just like us to have Rafa say he would stay and then for us to turn him down. If he really wants to work in this country, then he has very limited options so if he is given carte blanche to run the club as he sees fit then maybe ....

They have a review at the end of every season and the conclusion is usually that there is no point at looking at what has gone before but to concentrate on the future. And so the cycle continues.

The Championship seems stronger than last time and with Villa, Sunderland or Norwich likely rivals, then the competition will be much harder. Sunderland and Norwich have players who will be able to cope in that league and their managers both have recent promotions and their squads will largely remain intact. It depends on who Villa and us get as managers. I think we would both be the biggest draws for potential signings but I can see other clubs asking for silly money for their players and will we decide to "walk away" as usual. I can see us getting to August and struggling to get signings over the line because we refuse to pay the asking price. Villa look like they are already preparing for the Championship and may well know who their next manager will be whereas I would not be surprised if we get to the end of the season and then start to think about what we need to do so will be a long way behind everyone else.

Exactly. Also, the club are incapable of making decisions and faff about forever so will they move quick enough to prepare for the Championship? They will need a new manager and fast and will have to buy almost an entire new squad as they will lose so many players. Have we even been scouting the lower leagues? We will be looking for entirely different players to what they have been scouting in recent years. No doubt selling clubs will inflate their fees because they think we can afford it so will we waste time haggling and then walking away before buying a 10th choice midfielder? At least Villa look like they are able to start planning for next season now and I think Sunderland/Norwich would keep most of their squads.

I hope not but ... Pulis? Strong hints that he will be leaving West Brom this Summer. All the likely candidates just depress me even further.

That's some next level dysfunction. A bit similar to what our lot were doing to Keegan when he was here. Weren't they deliberating underbidding for players he was interested in so they wouldn't come - or something along those lines.

I'm past the point of caring whether players stay or go (probably the attitude the clubs wants so there is no fan unrest when a player moves on). The most important person now is Rafa and not any one player. I just hope he is still here next season.