Bloody hell, it’s all been happening tonight hasn’t it? Two major stories, both in a way out of the blue but both entirely predictable. Confused? Read on…
The major one is of course the fact that we have finally sent Hartson to Coventry. At least the Melrose Place-esque saga is now over thank fuck and we can get on without having to fabricate excuses for him not playing. I’ve written an article on JH’s legacy, see Articles. But the main bone of contention is the fee, or rather lack of one. Coventry won’t reveal what they’ve paid but common assumption is that it’s £15k per game. However, it would not surprise me one bit if we haven’t had some upfront payment – you are allowed to have up to £1m without insurance, so I wouldn’t go around assuming that we’ve got nothing.
So, now what? Hopefully a bit of stability, and with luck we’ll keep Euell for a little while longer. I don’t doubt that morale has been vastly increased (I’ve heard from more than one source that JH was prone to fighting team-mates on the training ground), and I guess TB can now get on with his revolution. As for JH and Coventry, if they go down this year his career as far as the Prem goes is over. Speaking of which, JH was on the radio tonight and was claiming that he (a) always wanted to play for Coventry, (b) was glad that he doesn’t have the pressure of a fee on him [probably meaning that he knows his knee is fucked] and (c) he wasn’t “mentally prepared” for a move to Rangers. Hmm, methinks a few double standards are in operation here. Still, we’re rid of him now. Guess I ought to find another target….
The second one, not majorly reported but just as important for WFC is that BRG has stepped down as chairman and has become a director. CK is now the chairman at WFC, with Peter Lloyd Cooper as his deputy. Basically, this means that CK will do the day-to-day stuff full time. I think BRG realises that there is no way he could keep the old structure up at WFC by being an absent chairman, so he’s obviously persuaded CK to concentrate on WFC. So what does this mean? Well, firstly, we’ll now have a guy who we KNOW the buck will stop at. Part of the problem previously was that BRG wasn’t there long enough to see things through and CK didn’t have the authority, so to speak. This seems to have been rectified and we all now know for sure where to go to.
Secondly, I think BRG and KIR will be there mainly to attract investment for WFC and also to “help out” IYSWIM. Remember, the guys are joint owners – not CK. Thirdly, it’ll be interesting to see if the much needed internal restructuring of WFC is finally going to go ahead. In his meeting, BRG wanted CK to take more of an active role in the day-to-day stuff, this clearly is now happening. CK’s business acumen is unquestionable – witness PGPF – but some people still doubt whether he was entirely innocent with the MK stuff. He still doesn’t have the final decisions on major projects – the board decides that, and I’m sure R&G will put pressure on where necessary – but hopefully things will be a little bit clearer from now on. Also, I wonder if we’ll get to see Mr Hauger finally? He is after all CK’s main business partner…..
MH is wanted by OGEM at Luton. He’s got no role at WFC now JH has gone, certainly.