White men speak with forked tongue

"The relationship between the (Yeovil Town) board and Russell Slade is very close to breaking down. There is an issue that exists between the manager and the board of directors. The League Managers' Association has been brought in to mediate and to try and find a way through it. I spoke to the Chairman John Fry this afternoon. He wouldn't comment on the rumours of the breakdown. I did ask him how it had come out, because it has been on the internet that they are considering making changes and he has said that they fear that a club employee is leaking things out onto the internet. It was almost an admittance that there is something going on behind the scenes at Huish Park. I did speak to Russell Slade today as he had his regular Thursday press conference. I did ask him whether there was a rift between him and the board, and he said that was a matter to be kept behind closed doors and wouldn't comment on that. I then asked him how he was coping with all these rumours on the internet, even suggesting names of people who may replace him, but at the moment he said that he is just battling on." - Chris Spittles, HTV News, 12th February 2009.

"I am not interested in rumours. I am interested in facts. There are 101 issues I have been working on and 50 might involve Russell. Russell hasn't been to speak to me. You should speak to Russell Slade. My chief executive (Martyn Starnes) deals with the football and he is not aware Russell has a problem. I am not prepared to comment on any issue until you speak to Russell Slade to find out what the issue is. I am not commenting on any issue. The board hasn't expressed any disappointment. We met on Saturday and there was no problem." - John Fry, Western Daily Press interview, 13th February 2009.

This morning's BBC Somerset sports bulletin reports that Yeovil Town Chief Executive Martyn Starnes has spoken to them in the light of yesterday's rumours suggesting that manager Russell Slade could be on his way out. The BBC didn't speak to Mr Starnes live on air, but said that they had talked to him about the situation and that he had claimed that the club had no issues and no problems with their first team manager. - Ciderspace news page, 13th February 2009.

"Our club depends upon the honesty and commitment of its staff working together on very limited resources. Trust and integrity are essential ingredients in the running of any business. This is now being tested in our football club at the highest level." - John Fry YTFC official website, 14th February 2009 (statement released at 3pm, the same time as the Glovers kick off at Peterborough).

Yeovil Town Football Club and Russell Slade have parted company with immediate effect. No further comment will be made at this time. - YTFC official website, 16th February 2009.

"I would very much like to be in a position to explain the reasons why it was necessary for Russell and the club to part company, but I am currently unable to do so for legal reasons. I'm positive that our fans would completely endorse the decision of the Board, if I was able to share full details of the circumstances, but for the moment I am, unfortunately, bound by confidentiality issues. I will make a further announcement as soon as I am able to do so." - John Fry, YTFC official website, 17th February 2009.

"It's just one of those things and it happened. It was mutual consent in the end and both of us move on to pastures new. I enjoyed my time there and I'm pleased with my work there. Yeovil is probably not the most fashionable club in the league, but I enjoyed my time there and we were reasonably successful and I was pleased with what I achieved there over the two and a half years. - Russell Slade, 7th March 2009.

"In recent weeks there has been a tremendous amount of speculation and rumour concerning the circumstances of Russell Slade's departure. On the advice of its legal representatives, the Board has to date taken a decision not to make further comment on the matter. However, in view of the continuing speculation the Club has decided to make this statement concerning the circumstances of Russell's departure.
Russell Slade's position as First Team Manager was terminated by the Club with immediate effect on 15 February 2009 following allegations of gross misconduct. This decision followed a disciplinary process which was carried out in accordance with the Club's Disciplinary Procedure following advice from the Club's professional advisers. Although Russell Slade had always denied the allegations, the outcome of the process, which had been ongoing since November 2008, was that the Club believed there were reasonable grounds to conclude that Russell Slade had committed gross misconduct and, based on this belief, the Club decided that the position warranted the summary termination of his employment." - John Fry, YTFC official website, 20th March 2009.

"I want to put the record straight following Yeovil Town's seriously inaccurate statement about me, released on their website last night. Firstly, I want to confirm that at no stage have I ever committed any misconduct at Yeovil Town or indeed at any time in my career. Throughout Yeovil's inquiry into this matter, which has been ongoing since November 2008, I have been assured by the LMA's legal team that I have no case to answer and am innocent of any misconduct. Having left Yeovil Town on 15th February, I attended an internal hearing with the club on 27 February 2009, during which they backed down and offered me a confidential compensation package with an agreed departure by mutual consent. I was pleased to reach an amicable resolution of the matter on that day and we all shook hands on the agreement. The agreement was also then confirmed in writing. I want to stress that I had no job to go to when the deal was done. I left Yeovil on 15th February and accepted the job of manager at Brighton & Hove Albion on 5th March, having met with Brighton chairman Dick Knight for the first time a few days previously. After accepting the job with Brighton, and following Yeovil's recent results, Yeovil Town have now tried to completely renege on our agreement. Even worse, they issued this inaccurate statement,which I am advised is seriously defamatory, and I am therefore obliged to set the record straight. Due to Yeovil's unfortunate actions, the matter is now with the LMA's lawyers, Russell Jones & Walker, and I am sure that full details will be made known in due course." - Russell Slade, Brighton official website, 21st March 2009

"On 20 March 2009 we posted a statement on this website regarding the departure from Yeovil Town FC about our then manager, Russell Slade. We are pleased to say that all issues between Russell and Yeovil Town Football Club have now been amicably resolved and we are pleased we can all draw a line under the matter for the benefit of both parties. We are grateful for the help of the League Managers Association through its Chief Executive Richard Bevan in dealing with this matter. We wish Russell well in his future career and thank him for his time at Yeovil Town." - Unattributed statement, YTFC official website, 1st March 2010.

The League Managers Association (LMA) can confirm that Russell Slade and Yeovil Town FC have amicably resolved all issues in relation to his departure from the club in February 2009. Slade joined Yeovil in 2006 and, during his time in charge, he won the Coca-Cola League One Manager of the Year award in his first full season after leading the club to their highest ever league position as well as the play-off final, just missing out on a place in the Coca-Cola Championship to Blackpool. Commenting on the issue, LMA Chief Executive, Richard Bevan, said; "All parties are delighted that the settlement has been agreed in a cordial and professional manner. I am sure that a manager of Russell’s experience, will be back in management in the not too distant future." - League Managers Association website, 2nd March 2010.

I don't suppose we'll ever know the full story behind the sacking of Russell Slade. What we can say without fear of much contradiction is that the whole affair was badly mismanaged right from the outset. Only the board and Slade himself will know how a charge of 'gross misconduct' could come to be 'amicably resolved', but the suspicion must be that the club will have paid and paid heavily for its somewhat haphazard and intemperate approach to Slade's dismissal. The shame of it is that the whole affair was so unnecessary, cost the club who knows what in compensation and that other blameless individuals - Steve Thompson and Hannah Manton, for example - lost their jobs through no fault of their own in the aftermath. Not Yeovil Town FC's finest hour.

Enough of the past. We are where we are, and actually 12th position under Skivo and Jonesy isn't a bad place to be. Tomorrow the Glovers travel to East Anglia for their first competitive game at Carrow Road, home of division 3 leaders Norwich City. It's one of those games where no-one will give us a hope in hell of winning, least of all the bookies who make the Canaries 4/11 favourites. The draw is priced at 7/2 and a Glovers win an astonishing 8/1. 8/1! I'll have some of that. My fiver's going on the away win. Running total: +£1.63p.