PS deserved better!!

[Willie Coulson's Red Cheeks]

Whatever the rights and wrongs of Paul Sturrock leaving the club, the handling of this has done SUFC no favours at all. Even RM acknowledges the work done by Sturrock and, yes, his achievement at getting the club to Wembley for the first time.

Paul Sturrock is widely respected in the game - respect that has probably been in short supply for our club over the last few years - and his sacking days before the Wembley final will be perceived as crass and harsh in the extreme!! Would it not have boeen possible to announce after the final that Sturrock's contract was not going to be renewed at the end of the season and that a pre contract agreement had been made with whoever RM chose? That would have enabled PS to go to Wembley with some dignity intact and the process would have shown some humanity and consideration - and would have been no different to the way Bayern Munich handled their situation. Yes, the 2 clubs may be different but Bayern's process has some dignity and class about it.

RM's statement itself is an embarrassment. It is gramatically appalling and, again, does no favours to the standing of SUFC in the football - and local - community.

I will be forever grateful to PS for his dedicated, professional and courteous stewardship of our club. If he does lead the team out at Wembley, I for one will sing his name as loud as I can - and I hope 30,000 others will do the same. He deserves that respect from us. It's a shame RM could not offer it.

 

[Andyhsufc]

I completely agree with the sentiment of this post. I happen to think that it was probably the right decision to dismiss Sturrock but both the timing and the delivery of the decision were simply appalling. At the end of the day, Sturrock is a good man who has been professional in his time here. On that basis, Martin should have delayed the decision till post-Wembley. If he had sacked him a week after that, there would have still been 4 games plus the entire summer for a new manager to be installed and for him to build a team. The statement itself, whilst being factually pretty accurate, came across like a rant. Why he put the 3 single bullet points at the top of the statement and then compounded it with unstructured rambling is beyond me. If (and I have a feeling he won't) Sturrock does take charge of the final, it is going to be an embarrassing, cringe-worthy ninety minutes which will only have the effect of patronising him, spoiling the day for the fans and embarrassing the club in the eyes of football fans nationwide. Only Southend United could turn the sacking of a manager into such a huge, embarrassing charade!

 

[cambridge_branch]

:clap: well said

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

I completely agree with the sentiment of this post. I happen to think that it was probably the right decision to dismiss Sturrock but both the timing and the delivery of the decision were simply appalling. At the end of the day, Sturrock is a good man who has been professional in his time here. On that basis, Martin should have delayed the decision till post-Wembley. If he had sacked him a week after that, there would have still been 4 games plus the entire summer for a new manager to be installed and for him to build a team. The statement itself, whilst being factually pretty accurate, came across like a rant. Why he put the 3 single bullet points at the top of the statement and then compounded it with unstructured rambling is beyond me. If (and I have a feeling he won't) Sturrock does take charge of the final, it is going to be an embarrassing, cringe-worthy ninety minutes which will only have the effect of patronising him, spoiling the day for the fans and embarrassing the club in the eyes of football fans nationwide. Only Southend United could turn the sacking of a manager into such a huge, embarrassing charade!

Agreed. Right decision but done in a pathetic manner and poor timing. Thats Ronald for ya. No class

 

[Shrimpers are Magic]

Bollocks to all of the above - team is going nowhere and form for a very long time has made this change a must. No good way to sack Sturrock but by giving him his day at wembley shows our club in a very decent light. Sturrock by all accounts has agreed to lead the team at the final so I wait to see what he has to say.

 

[Tampa Blue]

No good way to sack Sturrock but by giving him his day at wembley shows our club in a very decent light.

Sadly I can't agree with that and imho it makes a mockery of running a club, and I think that the following comment made on the Daily Mail sports page just about sums up the latest conundrum that is 100% of RM's making.

"Have to say I doubt very much he will turn up and manage them at Wembley. What is the new manager going to do just stand back and say off you go? no he'll know what his best team is, if they have picked up any little niggles and say you can't pick him or him or him as his focus will be on getting into the play offs not a cup that he has no interest in. Congratulations Crewe on wining the JPS Trophy on a walk over!!
- Felix , Sherwood Park Canada, 24/3/2013 22:58"

 

[Shrimpers are Magic]

Sadly I can't agree with that and imho it makes a mockery of running a club, and I think that the following comment made on the Daily Mail sports page just about sums up the latest conundrum that is 100% of RM's making.

"Have to say I doubt very much he will turn up and manage them at Wembley. What is the new manager going to do just stand back and say off you go? no he'll know what his best team is, if they have picked up any little niggles and say you can't pick him or him or him as his focus will be on getting into the play offs not a cup that he has no interest in. Congratulations Crewe on wining the JPS Trophy on a walk over!!
- Felix , Sherwood Park Canada, 24/3/2013 22:58"

Fair point but I see this as a moment for the fans to come together to give Sturrock a fantastic sending off. For the last two seasons we have bombed at pretty much the same time - he has been given players despite all the money problems off the field so really he has to fall by his sword. I like what we are doing by letting him walk out with head high - and yes I still say it shows us in very good light.

 

[Tampa Blue]

Fair point but I see this as a moment for the fans to come together to give Sturrock a fantastic sending off. For the last two seasons we have bombed at pretty much the same time - he has been given players despite all the money problems off the field so really he has to fall by his sword. I like what we are doing by letting him walk out with head high - and yes I still say it shows us in very good light.

I don't necessarily disagree with RM's decision and I do respect the fact that it is his decision to make - but personally I think it should have been a clean parting. How are the player's going to feel at Wembley? Who will they think is making the decisions? How will the new Manager feel?

It all feels a bit patronising to me - but I hope that you are correct and that it does show us in a good light - by goodness, we need it!

 

[Jam_Man]

I don't necessarily disagree with RM's decision and I do respect the fact that it is his decision to make - but personally I think it should have been a clean parting. How are the player's going to feel at Wembley? Who will they think is making the decisions? How will the new Manager feel?

It all feels a bit patronising to me - but I hope that you are correct and that it does show us in a good light - by goodness, we need it!

It is a bizarre one but it is only the JPT and getting to Wembley for me was more important than whether we actually win or not. Will be odd for him to manage the team after leaving but as RM said, he earnt the right to do so.

What will be amusing is if we lose the league games up to it and he wins. How uncomfortable will that be for the new man :smile:

 

[dan_mays]

It's a nice touch for Ron to allow PS to lead us out at Wembley however is that the right decision who knows, the new manager is going to come in and pick what he feels is our right team which could be completely different to PS so it's a strange one really.

I imagine it will also be uncomfortable for the players they want to stake a place in the team and impress the new guy they have 2 games to do it then PS comes back in again

 

[Willie Coulson's Red Cheeks]

I completely agree with the sentiment of this post. I happen to think that it was probably the right decision to dismiss Sturrock but both the timing and the delivery of the decision were simply appalling. At the end of the day, Sturrock is a good man who has been professional in his time here. On that basis, Martin should have delayed the decision till post-Wembley. If he had sacked him a week after that, there would have still been 4 games plus the entire summer for a new manager to be installed and for him to build a team. The statement itself, whilst being factually pretty accurate, came across like a rant. Why he put the 3 single bullet points at the top of the statement and then compounded it with unstructured rambling is beyond me. If (and I have a feeling he won't) Sturrock does take charge of the final, it is going to be an embarrassing, cringe-worthy ninety minutes which will only have the effect of patronising him, spoiling the day for the fans and embarrassing the club in the eyes of football fans nationwide. Only Southend United could turn the sacking of a manager into such a huge, embarrassing charade!

Glad someone else feels the same way!!

 

[thenobster]

PS wasnt sacked, just his contract not renewed, a big difference, he will/should still be paid upto the remainder of his contract. Good luck to him, I hold no malace, not unexpected though.

 

[Mick]

Whatever the rights and wrongs of Paul Sturrock leaving the club, the handling of this has done SUFC no favours at all. Even RM acknowledges the work done by Sturrock and, yes, his achievement at getting the club to Wembley for the first time.

Although it is great to be going to Wembley, in footballing terms it is no greater than what was achieved not once, but twice by the previous incumbent.

His great achievement was cobbling together a competitive side nearly three years ago. What has happened since has fallen short of the required standard (in one case agonisingly close, but short nevertheless).

Coming back to manage the team at Wembley seems very messy, although I wouldn't begrudge him that at all. The only way that would have worked with any semblence of credibility would have been for RM to announce a two week hand-over period culminating in the Wembley final. No-one would have needed to know how much "handing over" was actually done.