Mathews gone

[gael353]

Surprised this isnt up yet or maybe its been taken down. Mathews gone from Cork with Morley lol and caulfield lol takiing over.

[Magicme]

It was mentioned in the Transfer Rumours thread as it hasnt been officially announced anywhere to my knowledge.

[yiddo]

It was mentioned in the Transfer Rumours thread as it hasnt been officially announced anywhere to my knowledge.

Nothing official yet though the story looks to have some basis. Have to wait and see.

[Scooby1983]

Statement on club website

Cork City Football Club today announced that it has suspended discussions and withdrawn all recent offers to its Club Manager Mr Alan Mathews on offering him a new contract.

Cork City FC has recently come out of Examinership and needs to bring the salary structures within the Club to sustainable levels to ensure the long term survival of the club.

Cork City FC Chairman Tom Coughlan said “Alan has been a tremendous leader throughout the Examinership process and is a very talented football manager and I would like to thank him for efforts in this difficult time for the Club. I have no doubt he will have a great future in football. The challenge facing Cork City FC for the foreseeable future is to operate on tight financial restraints to avoid has happened in the past 12 months to ensure the club has a sustainable future. The opportunity for all of us is to attract the best squad of players to ensure we are challenging for the league title next season.”

Gerry Nagle CEO of Cork City FC said” For the club to survive long term it must be at the heart of the sporting community in Cork. We want to bring back volunteers to Cork City FC and deliver top class football to our supporters, fans and our sponsors who we are very grateful to for their ongoing support. Following recent discussions we are looking forward to working closely with Foras as recently announced with the new Cork City FC club committee structures. We are all operating in a tough economic environment and everybody has a role to play to ensure the survival of top class football in Cork. Realistic cost structures are a key component in terms of our long term plans for the Club. In this challenging economic environment we must deliver extra value for a sustainable future for the club”

Cork City FC would like to thank Alan and his players for their contribution over what was a very difficult financial year for the club and wish Alan well with his future plans.

[Dodge]

Laughable statement. Manager going to work on a volunteer basis now?

[Longfordian]

A very strange decision. Whatever about his merits as a manager and I rate him highly, the man has two years left on his contract, at a higher rate than he'd agreed to come down to and if were he I'd be looking for the two years to be paid up in full. What are they going to save by getting rid of him?. Are they going to get a volunteer to manage the team?, maybe they'll take turns!.

[tiktok]

I wouldn't have been Mathews biggest fan, but I'm absolutely stunned by that news.
Our second season in a row to get rid of a cup winning manager.
Our second season in a row to burden ourselves with paying compensation.

The statement is ridiculous as well. FORAS aren't going to manage the team ffs.

[Longfordian]

It just makes no sense. At least with Arkaga ye thought rightly or wrongly that they knew what they were doing and had money behind them to pay the compensation. Tom Coughlan clearly doesn't.

[Rory H]

if they can afford to sign the players they have given contracts to, they can afford a manager.......

[A face]

It just makes no sense. At least with Arkaga ye thought rightly or wrongly that they knew what they were doing and had money behind them to pay the compensation. Tom Coughlan clearly doesn't.

But the club doesn't have the money to pay Matthews now so what can we do?

[Dodge]

But the club doesn't have the money to pay Matthews now so what can we do?

You're going to have to pay him anyway.

[Rovers1]

Is this just a poor excuse for getting rid of Matthews? Maybe Coughlan wants him out anyway?

[A face]

You're going to have to pay him anyway.

With what?

[Buile Shuibhne]

How can you sign new players or announce new contracts with existing players when you haven't / can't honour current contracts with other players and now your manager.

Has Delaney promised you a franchise licence for 2009 regardless?

[Mr A]

With what?

With what the club have been signing contracts with players with presumably?

[Longfordian]

You'll pay him or you shouldn't get a licence. I would normally say won't get a licence but nothing surprises me any more.

[pineapple stu]

With what?
If you've effectively sacked him with two years on his contract, "with what?" is your problem; he has to get paid up in full surely?

In that case, you've now got a case where you'll have to pay two managers instead of one.

[micls]

With what?

Irrelevant, he has a contract we have to honour, end of story.

****ing ridiculous unless he's walking for free

[tiktok]

How can you sign new players or announce new contracts with existing players when you haven't / can't honour current contracts with other players and now your manager.

The new contracts announced for existing players involved ALL those players taking a suibstantial paycut on what they were paid last season, there's back pay due to some players still after examinership, but I've seen no suggestion that we aren't honouring current contracts. The two new players are rumoured to be part-time on small contracts.

If (and I'm guessing) Mathews won't take a similar paycut to the players, then he may cost more than the club sees his worth and therefore out he goes. If it results in our being able to afford a new manager and 2/3 players more, hard to argue with it.

If it means that we have to pay Mathews a huge amount of money, then I don't see any sense to it.

Our only hope is that Mathews has walked or the club have negotiated a small severance package already.

[Longfordian]

If he was walking for free I'm sure the statement would have said something about coming to terms with him for his departue instead of saying they've withdrawn any contract offer. Wonder what the players who've signed up again are thinking?. I'm pretty sure he's already said he'd take a pay cut and had agreed a new deal. Sounds like they wanted to cut that even further.

[gufct]

Isnt there also a certain matter of Gareth Farrellys wages lurking over Cork too. Looks like Mr. Coughlan might have bitten off more than he can chew.

[micls]

On our forum that we may not be liable for compensation because of examinership.

If so then this makes sense as he is on big money we probably cant afford. Although very harsh on Alan

[adamd164]

No compensation due cos we're a company exiting examinership, not legally obliged to honour contracts offered by previous owners.

[Dodge]

hmmm, you might wanna check that one out

[Longfordian]

I dont think that's the case to be honest especially as you honoured the contract post exmainership and evidently tried to renegotiate it. Why do that if you weren't bound by it?. It could have Licencing consequences too. It's defintely an arguable case from Mathews' point of view. If you intend to pay your players their back money you're going to have to pay him too.

[Dodge]

AFAIk if he was being paid post examinership, there's sucha thing called "implied contract" which basically menas that although he didn't sign anything he could reasonably expect that a contract was in place. Nearly certain this came up with another manager in the last couple of years

[Real ale Madrid]

i thought he had only one year left on his contract?

Re-negotiating his old contract was surely being done in order to come to some agreement on what the club could realistically afford. There's no way the club will be able to pay his existing contract and im sure under the terms of the examinership they won't be obliged to pay the terms of the old contract either. Why should Coughlan have to pay for a contract he did not negotiate?

Feel desperatly sorry for Matthews but on the upside he should have no problem getting another job fairly quickly.

[Longfordian]

Yep, spot on Dodge. An employment contract doesn't have to be in writing either. It's not cut and dried from Cork's point of view at all as far as I can see.

[pineapple stu]

there's sucha thing called "implied contract" which basically menas that although he didn't sign anything he could reasonably expect that a contract was in place.
I'd imagine Bohs could fill you in on it.

[Real ale Madrid]

AFAIk if he was being paid post examinership, there's sucha thing called "implied contract" which basically menas that although he didn't sign anything he could reasonably expect that a contract was in place. Nearly certain this came up with another manager in the last couple of years


He was being paid, but not fully in terms of the contract he originally signed afaik. All employees were being paid 30% at one stage and im sure Mathews was the same.

[Longfordian]

Have they not been on full pay since Coughlan took over?. Anyhow, Mathews would have plenty of connections in the legal business, I'd expect to be hearing from some of them shortly if I were Cork City.

[Dodge]

Why should Coughlan have to pay for a contract he did not negotiate?

Why is he allowed pick and choose which of Cork's responsibilities he wishes to fulfill

[Real ale Madrid]

Why is he allowed pick and choose which of Cork's responsibilities he wishes to fulfill

He isn't doing that as far as i know - all contracts are being negotiated to come up with a deal that is affordable and sustainable to everyone going forward. He is not picking and choosing. No one is getting paid the same money as of when Arkaga was in charge. Not Matthews, not anyone.

[tiktok]

I dont think that's the case to be honest especially as you honoured the contract post exmainership and evidently tried to renegotiate it. Why do that if you weren't bound by it?

I'd imagine the club's position would be that they were in the process of negotiating a contract with AM, not re-negotiating an old one, hence the wording on the statement. I hope the club looked into this carefully if that's the route we're going down.

[wexfordned]

He isn't doing that as far as i know - all contracts are being negotiated to come up with a deal that is affordable and sustainable to everyone going forward. He is not picking and choosing. No one is getting paid the same money as of when Arkaga was in charge. Not Matthews, not anyone.

I'd imagine he probably tried to screw Matthews in terms of money. I KNOW FOR A FACT all the backroom team where promised approx 2/3rds of what was outstanding. Then without so much as a warning they get a cheque for just over 5% of outstanding wages in the post. Not surprisingly this did not go down well.

Probably tried to do the same to Matthews who told them where to go

[Longfordian]

They'd want to have been very careful with their conduct all along and not just in the last couple of weeks. If it's found that he has an express or implied contract he'll be owed compensation. And such things as telling public meetings and radio interviewers that he's agreed a new two year contract won't help the club's cause. This could get messy.

[Real ale Madrid]

I'd imagine he probably tried to screw Matthews in terms of money. I KNOW FOR A FACT all the backroom team where promised approx 2/3rds of what was outstanding. Then without so much as a warning they get a cheque for just over 5% of outstanding wages in the post. Not surprisingly this did not go down well.

Probably tried to do the same to Matthews who told them where to go

what YOU KNOW FOR A FACT really doesn't matter, nor does it matter what was promised. 5% was the terms of the examinership and was binding by the process.

Anyway that's of no consequence. Matthews probably told him where to go and rightly so. But the club simply can't pay what they can't afford. Tough luck and all as it is on Matthews. Not sure what type of legal case he will be able to give. He is only entitled to 5% as per the examinership process.

What id like to know is, as Longfordian says, why the blazes did Tom Coughlan say (to my face, at the last CCOSC meeting i might add) that a two year deal was done with Mathews when evidently that was not the case?

[Longfordian]

Did the players and staff agree to take 7.5% only and write off their back money? I don't think so. It's going to be genuinely interesting to see what happens at Licencing time if Tom Coughlan decides they're not getting any more money or can't pay them any more money.

[Lim till i die]

Looks like Cork have a spoofer on their hands.

And even more dangerous than your run of the mill LoI spoofer, he's a stupid spoofer to boot.

[Mr A]

Looks like Cork have a spoofer on their hands.

And even more dangerous than your run of the mill LoI spoofer, he's a stupid spoofer to boot.

On a slightly related topic: THIS LEAGUE RULES! :)

Always something going on with it.

[tiktok]

On a slightly related topic: THIS LEAGUE RULES! :)

Always something going on with it.

Stop it will you.
We've only just come out of trouble, I don't have the energy to dive straight back in.

[Lim till i die]

On a slightly related topic: THIS LEAGUE RULES! :)

Always something going on with it.

We'll have to come up with something in Limerick soon.

Time was we were easily the biggest jokeshop in the league, now we're struggling to compete.

Don't worry I'm sure something to restore the natural order is just around the corner though.............

[wexfordned]

Looks like Cork have a spoofer on their hands.

And even more dangerous than your run of the mill LoI spoofer, he's a stupid spoofer to boot.

I'm no legal eagle but if Cork City have come out of examinership, then surely all current contracts must be valid. Whether they can afford to pay the contract is irrelevant.

I would expect Matthews to demand the two years left on his contract be paid in full. He offered to take a pay cut but was told he was not wanted.

With the s**t off the pitch last season I would imagine he will be determined to get compensation as he has certainly earned it.

[tiktok]

He offered to take a pay cut but was told he was not wanted.

That's not what happened.

The only issue to CCFC is whether it can be interpreted that compensation is due to Mathews, if it's not, then it's probably the best deal for the club given his reported wages. If compensation is due, it's a daft move and unlikely to add up.

[sadloserkid]

Cork have their own Danny Drew now. I'd be a little amused if our own wasn't waking from his torpor and casting his eye for a local football club to consume...

[Lim till i die]

Cork have their own Danny Drew now. I'd be a little amused if our own wasn't waking from his torpor and casting his eye for a local football club to consume...

I still find it very amusing.

[charliesboots]

Cork have their own Danny Drew now. I'd be a little amused if our own wasn't waking from his torpor and casting his eye for a local football club to consume...

Difference is that the new Cork Spoofer has Delaney on his side

[Louth4sam]

But the club simply can't pay what they can't afford. T

But they can afford to re-sign players on full time contracts?

[timmy]

This could get messy. Just taken this from RTE website:


Cork City have sacked manager Alan Mathews after just one season in charge.

Alan Mathews reveals exclusively to Drivetime Sport that he was sacked.

A statement on the club's website confirmed that they had suspended discussions and withdrawn all recent offers to Mathews regarding a new contract at Turner's Cross.

And Mathews has since confirmed that he was relieved of his duties as manager during a phone call with club Chairman Tom Coughlan this morning and that he will consult with his legal team to investigate the avenues open to him.

Speaking exclusively to Des Cahill on RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime Sport, the former Longford Town boss revealed: 'Unfortunately Des, I received a phone call this morning from the chairman Tom Coughlan advising me that I was no longer the manager, and having got over the initial shock, it set in a little bit and I realise now that I am finished and it's deeply upsetting.'

The club had earlier posted an ambiguous statement on their website which suggested that Mathews had left the club, without laying out the particular details of his departure.

But Mathews insisted: 'I refute what was said on the club website, that's going to be a matter for my legal team to take issue with, but the situation is Des that I had fully intended on fulfilling the remaining two years on my contract with the club, and what's most disappointing is that the opportunity to work with a terrific bunch of players has been denied to me.'

Despite the abruptness of his departure, Mathews believes his tenure has been relatively successful given the club's off-field problems, and also paid tribute to the club's many fans who made his move to Cork enjoyable from day one.

He added: 'I'm disappointed but one thing I would like to say to the people of Cork who received me down there, and my family, I'd like to thank them because I was made to feel very, very welcome and I thoroughly enjoyed my 12 months there, or 11 months as it happened to be.'

[wexfordned]

That's not what happened.

The only issue to CCFC is whether it can be interpreted that compensation is due to Mathews, if it's not, then it's probably the best deal for the club given his reported wages. If compensation is due, it's a daft move and unlikely to add up.

So who should Cork fans believe. Matthews or the new chairman. Hmmmmmm I think a poll is needed.