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Mike Ashley still refusing to pay full Sheffield Wednesday compensation – Has offered £3m : The Times

5 years ago
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A late Tuesday night update on the Steve Bruce compensation debacle.

Paul Joyce works for The Times as their Northern Football Correspondent and he has been following the saga closely.

The man from The Times has been spot on so far and it was he who first with the news yesterday, that Steve Bruce and his staff had put in written letters of resignation (see below).

A clear attempt to try and force the issue. Resigning makes no difference legally as you can’t break a contract and walk away without consequences, compensation would still be payable but to so publicly resign, instead it means that surely there is no realistic way they could continue at Hillsborough – leaving the onus on the two club owners to get it sorted ASAP for both their sakes.

However, Paul Joyce says that so far Mike Ashley has only offered £3m compensation for Steve Bruce.  The Times man saying that this is a figure which falls short of what Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri is asking for and he is not willing to drop his asking price.

Tuesday night saw Sheffield Wednesday play their latest pre-season friendly, running out 4-0 winners at Northampton. Coach Lee Bullen was in charge with no sign of Steve Bruce, various media reporting that the Sheff Wed owner had ordered that no management or players would be available for interviews after the final whistle.

On the compensation front, a figure of £5m has been regularly reported as Dejphon Chansiri’s asking price.

I personally don’t know a single person who thinks Steve Bruce is a good choice BUT if Mike Ashley is insisting on him, then it is crazy that he has started off this whole thing with no willingness to bring it to a conclusion ASAP, particularly considering the state of the club with just over three weeks until the PL season starts.

Mike Ashley has shown in the past how important it is for him to ‘win’ in deals/confrontations, even if it ends up with Newcastle United being the losers.

With the Sheffield Wednesday owner renowned as somebody who drives a hard bargain and doesn’t let people take advantage, I wonder if there is a small possibility of both owners refusing to back down, Mike Ashley then going for some other patsy, with then Delphon Chansiri bringing in a new manager and leaving Steve Bruce out of work due to his letter of resignation…

A scenario that would be welcomed by many fans from both Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United.

The Mag – Monday 15 July 2019:

Monday morning brings news that Steve Bruce has resigned as manager of Sheffield Wednesday.

Paul Joyce is Northern Football Correspondent for The Times and he has been covering the story closely, with the Sheff Wed boss expected to take over at Newcastle United.

The man from The Times has been on the ball with previous updates and now he says his information is that Steve Bruce has now formally resigned.

Joyce says that Bruce and his assistants at Hillsborough, Stephen Clemence and Steve Agnew have all put their resignations in writing.

Reporting on this action, Paul Joyce says that Mike Ashley has made an offer of compensation but that Sheffield Wednesday are still yet to accept this.

It has been previously reported that Newcastle are looking to pay as little as £1m to get Steve Bruce, with claims that the South Yorkshire club are demanding £5m or more to allow Bruce and his assistants to move to St James Park.

A quite incredible situation with the vast majority of Newcastle fans not wanting Steve Bruce at the club, whilst a similar majority of Sheff Wed fans were desperate for him to stay. If indeed Bruce has resigned, a lot of Owls fans will be having second thoughts.

Obviously, just like a manager can’t be sacked without consequences, neither can a manager simply walk away scot-free from a contract.

There will be compensation to be paid regardless but this looks very much like a move being made to force the issue and help get over this current impasse of arguing over compensation.

Interesting to see if the two clubs do now come to some agreement or whether it simply aggravates the situation further.

Newcastle fans no doubt incredulous that Mike Ashley was happy to force Rafa Benitez out of the club, yet is now willing to go to these lengths to get Steve Bruce, somebody who has one of the most disastrous Premier League records of any long serving manager.

Paul Joyce of The Times via Twitter:

“Steve Bruce is understood to have resigned as Sheffield Wednesday manager this morning, along with assistants Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence.

“All three put resignations in writing.

Newcastle have made an offer of compensation to Sheffield Wed – but it is still to be accepted.”

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