Fenn Announces his Retirement

[dfx-]

I really don't see what ire is aimed at Rovers, but that's often the case here. Fashionable I suppose..ho hum.

Glad we've signed a player who isn't a midfielder, but I don't see him playing too many games.

[The Lep]

Dundalk have been well and truly stiched up by Fenn unless Dundalk told him they didnt want him back after he had a change of heart. I would have thought that any player that retires mid season wouldnt become a free agent until the following season because if you retire you would come off any list of players who are available to sign .
Did Rovers knew all along that he was going to them ? Are they guilty in aiding the deception of Dundalk ?
If both Rovers and Fenn are gulity of deception then Fenn should be banned for the rest of the season and Rovers given a fine or compo to Dundalk.

[PartySaint]

If Rovers have tapped him up before he left Dundalk then they are in the wrong if he left Dundalk and then for whatever reason decided he wanted to keep playing and Rovers offered him a contract then they have done nothing wring, simple as...

[osarusan]

This whole 'you're only commenting because it's Rovers' thing is getting pretty tiring, just as the sniping at Rovers is.

Definitely there are some posters who always have something to say about Rovers, but there are a few Rovers fans who want to portray EVERYTHING as a vindictive attack on Rovers rather than accept legitimate criticism on certain issues.

The situation is (as I understand it) that a player has told his club he just doesn't have it anymore, and wants to retire. His club, being both decent and seemingly naive, let him retire and release his registration (if that's the right term). The player then realises he won't get his tax back for another six months, decides he does still have it after all, and goes looking for clubs, and is signed just a few days after retiring.

I very much doubt that Rovers had any part to play in getting him to retire. All they did was decide to sign a player who was a free agent. At the moment, we don't know (or at least I don't know) whether he tried to go back to Dundalk, but the fact that they are apparently 'fuming' suggests he didn't.

As I see it, Dundalk are guily of naivete, Rovers haven't done anything wrong really, and Fenn has acted like a complete *****.

From the league's perspective, if the transfer is allowed, it allows this kind of process to become a loophole to get around transfer regulations. That's why it's important for the league in general to know what's going on. Are the FAI going to allow it to happen? If they can't stop the Fenn transfer, are they going to ensure it can't happen again?

[prodsc]

I can't believe there isn't a FAI/UEFA clause that protects a club acting in good faith. Were Dundalk happy to get rid of him for financial reasons? I don't hear to many official statements from them, but maybe they are consulting Legals and not commenting but I'd be well angry with Mr Fenn if some of his quotes are true.

[Charlie Darwin]

There is.

The following provisions apply if a contract is terminated without just cause:

1. In all cases, the party in breach shall pay compensation. Subject to the
provisions of article 20 and Annexe 4 in relation to training compensation,
and unless otherwise provided for in the contract, compensation for the
breach shall be calculated with due consideration for the law of the country
concerned, the specificity of sport, and any other objective criteria. These
criteria shall include, in particular, the remuneration and other benefits due
to the player under the existing contract and/or the new contract, the time
remaining on the existing contract up to a maximum of five years, the fees
and expenses paid or incurred by the former club (amortised over the term
of the contract) and whether the contractual breach falls within a protected
period.

2. Entitlement to compensation cannot be assigned to a third party. If a
professional is required to pay compensation, the professional and his new
club shall be jointly and severally liable for its payment. The amount may be
stipulated in the contract or agreed between the parties.

3. In addition to the obligation to pay compensation, sporting sanctions shall
also be imposed on any player found to be in breach of contract during the
protected period. This sanction shall be a four-month restriction on playing in
official matches. In the case of aggravating circumstances, the restriction shall
last six months. These sporting sanctions shall take effect immediately once
the player has been notified of the relevant decision. The sporting sanctions
shall remain suspended in the period between the last official match of the
season and the first official match of the next season, in both cases including
national cups and international championships for clubs. This suspension
of the sporting sanctions shall, however, not be applicable if the player is
an established member of the representative team of the association he is
eligible to represent, and the association concerned is participating in the
final competition of an international tournament in the period between the
last match and the first match of the next season. Unilateral breach without
iv. Maintenance of contractual stability between professionals and clubs 17
just cause or sporting just cause after the protected period shall not result in
sporting sanctions. Disciplinary measures may, however, be imposed outside
the protected period for failure to give notice of termination within 15
days of the last official match of the season (including national cups) of the
club with which the player is registered. The protected period starts again
when, while renewing the contract, the duration of the previous contract is
extended.

4. In addition to the obligation to pay compensation, sporting sanctions
shall be imposed on any club found to be in breach of contract or found
to be inducing a breach of contract during the protected period. It shall
be presumed, unless established to the contrary, that any club signing a
professional who has terminated his contract without just cause has induced
that professional to commit a breach. The club shall be banned from registering
any new players, either nationally or internationally, for two registration
periods.

5. Any person subject to the FIFA Statutes and regulations (club officials,
players’ agents, players, etc.) who acts in a manner designed to induce a
breach of contract between a professional and a club in order to facilitate the
transfer of the player shall be sanctioned.

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affe...inhalt2010.pdf

[WoodquayBoy]

Poor form by Fenn, and by Rovers who also, according to Sean Connor (and we all know he always speaks the truth) tried to take Karl Sheppard from us in a less than ethical way.
That said, if I was a Dundalk fan I'd be worried for how the rest of the season will pan out with Mr Foster in charge. That is Melligan and Fenn gone now, two of their best players, and much like last season at Utd, Foster got his side off to a flying start, only for the wheels to start wobbling as the season progressed, and the players claiming when he left that they didn't like him. Whether or not they fall off altogether by the season is the question. I hope not for Dundalk's sake, but I'm not convinced

[Mario]

Poor form by Fenn, and by Rovers who also, according to Sean Connor (and we all know he always speaks the truth) tried to take Karl Sheppard from us in a less than ethical way.

Blackie reported that MON went to the GUFC chief executive rather than directly to him, surely a hanging offence that one ...

Mario

[Mario]

>He tried it with Raf last year too.

Carefully now, players in the final year of the contract are allowed to talk to other clubs before the end of the season.

Did Bohs pay a transfer fee? No! Why? Coz Cretaro was a free agent ...

Mario

[poster]

Carefully now, players in the final year of the contract are allowed to talk to other clubs before the end of the season.



Mario

Does that rule not only count if there's 6 months or less on his contract? This was at the start of last season, April time.

Me

[WoodquayBoy]

Blackie reported that MON went to the GUFC chief executive rather than directly to him, surely a hanging offence that one ...

Mario

Well Mario, that is what Connor was on about Mario, the mannerly thing to do Mario would surely to have gone to the manager, Mario, rather than going over his head

[DRDoc]

seeing as sheppard was probably a free agent at this point, ONeill could have just gone straight to the player

[MeathDrog]

[El-Pietro]

Ah he is well past his best. I think he'll do a job for Rovers because we lack creativity in the centre but he doesn't really have the legs anymore.

Fenn never had the legs! Hes been the slowest player in the league for years! Hes a genius on his day though. Magical touch and he sees passes other players can't imagine at times.

[Oldred]

The facts that Neale Fenn now has no credibility whatsoever, that Dundalk are without a very experienced player they may badly need on the run-in or that Shams. now have a player that might just swing the title race in their favour are probably irrelevant. What is relevant is that the FAI are seen to fully investigate what went on and ensure that Dundalk are fully compensated by whoever is guilty of whatever. If not player contracts and our league will become a joke. If Fenn deliberately ended his contract to get a new club he should be heavily fined and suspended. If Shams. are guilty of tapping up the player then a points deduction must happen. Otherwise there is nothing there to discourage other players and clubs from trying something similar.

[pineapple stu]

Can the Rovers fans (but mainly Sligo) please give their petty rivalry a rest? There's no need to drag every single thread into a píssing contest between the two sets of fans.

[Macy]

Otherwise there is nothing there to discourage other players and clubs from trying something similar.

There's one simple thing that stops clubs being done like this - holding on to the players registration! Happens all the time, when players decide they've had enough/ going to play gaa/ going travelling etc. And it specifically stops this kind of move and ensures they have first refusal if the player changes their mind.

People can moan at Fenn and Rovers all they want, demand compo etc but my understanding is if they also released his registration Dundalk don't have a case, whatever about the ethical arguments.

[marinobohs]

Maybe Dundalk wanted him off payroll, we'll have our answer in the next few days...

...and maybe shams identified a player they wanted and "encouraged" him to escape his contract to prevent them paying a fee (as was done with Chris Turner).
No doubt the League will investigate this with the same vigour they "investigate" all incidents involving shams

[pineapple stu]

In fairness, if what's been said before is true, there's no way Rovers could have encouraged Dundalk to give up his registration, so that theory simply doesn't add up.

[marinobohs]

In fairness, if what's been said before is true, there's no way Rovers could have encouraged Dundalk to give up his registration, so that theory simply doesn't add up.

but they could "encourage" Fenn to seek to have his contract dissolved. They did get Chris Turner to renege on an agreement to rejoin Sligo so there is form for this type of behaviour.