By Margin_Walker
#13647
Well Myler is definitely off if his social media is anything to go by.

Not a huge surprise. Good luck to him. Was a decent addition to the squad and certainly what we needed at ten at the time.
By GC89
#13651
Ambivalent about Myler to be fair. He was good for us this season, but as you point out, age is not on his side. Weirdly, he was probably better for us in the Premiership than in the Championship where his lack of creativity really held us back at times, compared to the more attacking Keatley.

Jackson needs to step up now and repay the faith the coaches have put in him. I am quite excited to see what he can do on that front.
By Ecksile
#13657
The strange thing on the financial side was that on the Zoom meeting when Brian Facer was speaking he was actually saying that we were the only debt free club in the Premiership. We were also in a much better position than other clubs.

How then can it have deteriorated to what we are hearing now?

Worried of Reading
User avatar
By MattM
#13663
Ecksile wrote:
Wed Jul 01, 2020 5:18 pm
The strange thing on the financial side was that on the Zoom meeting when Brian Facer was speaking he was actually saying that we were the only debt free club in the Premiership. We were also in a much better position than other clubs.

How then can it have deteriorated to what we are hearing now?

Worried of Reading
He was being a bit crafty. We don't have external debts (bank loans etc), but we really only have Mick Crossan for finance and his own business was hit by Covid as hard as the club was so he will be short of cash to put in.
By my understanding he has put millions in without return already and by the standards of other owners he doesn't have deep pockets so there will come a point he can't sustain the same level of funding.
By Florida
#13664
So the other board is reporting 24 players on the way out, if the list of 21 they posted previously is accurate plus Botha and Rossiter leaves one more. That's not as bad as I had been fearing.
#13669
That list of 21 wasn't that scary. I guess the fear for me is that it was a reasonably plausible list from a random source a month or so ago. There's been a fair bit of water under the bridge since then, especially in the last few days.

Gets a little bit more concerning if players like Botha, Tuisue, Hepetema, Kepu, OHC, Loader (for example) are added to it. And perhaps a few of the squad players that were on the list actually end up signing and staying.

Either way, some communication would be great, even if everything isn't firmed up. I think Tigers are doing a Q&A tonight.
By GHA
#13673
Margin_Walker wrote:
Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:47 pm
Well Myler is definitely off if his social media is anything to go by.

Not a huge surprise. Good luck to him. Was a decent addition to the squad and certainly what we needed at ten at the time.
King Carlos was released by the Hurricanes recently... I know he's 44 but he could still do a job as backup 10
#13674
GHA wrote:
Wed Jul 01, 2020 9:31 pm
Margin_Walker wrote:
Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:47 pm
Well Myler is definitely off if his social media is anything to go by.

Not a huge surprise. Good luck to him. Was a decent addition to the squad and certainly what we needed at ten at the time.
King Carlos was released by the Hurricanes recently... I know he's 44 but he could still do a job as backup 10
Still got it. Looks in good nick. Sign him up

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By Florida
#13684
This whole response to the pandemic has been attrocious. Daily Mail are reporting that any players that are unwilling to accept the new terms and leave would be able to accept a reduced salary elsewhere and then be entitled to claim the deficit from their previous club.
By GHA
#13687
I always thought one of things that separated rugby from football was that players weren't mercenarial idiots, and had a bit more common sense about them. Now I'm not so sure
User avatar
By MattM
#13696
GHA wrote:
Thu Jul 02, 2020 9:21 am
I always thought one of things that separated rugby from football was that players weren't mercenarial idiots, and had a bit more common sense about them. Now I'm not so sure
It's the inevitable end point of inflating salaries... When they don't continue to rise, or worse they fall, players feel entitled.
Agents trying to increase their take will be part of the problem too!
By GHA
#13748
Apparently Albert's latest Instagram story is of him at Hazelwood - I haven't seen it myself but he's someone we really do have to keep hold of IMO
By Hsmith18
#13811
Think we knew about pretty much all those leavers but nice to see the club confirm it. Fingers crossed they can get these ongoing contract negotiations sorted...

In other news, phipps and rona can be seen on social media training down at hazlewood which is hopefully a good sign.
By Florida
#13846
On the plus side previously that would have been "London Irish Players in revolt" at least we've got stars now. Although maybe not for much longer :/

I think I'm taking a bit of heart / hope from the Tiggers situation. It was all Doom and gloom there according to the press in the bug build up, but turned out to be 5 or 6 players.
Margin_Walker liked this
#13848
Well I've just read it. It's actually pretty low on detail and clear Fissler doesn't have a list of players that are actually refusing to sign.

- Mentions that we could lose big money internationals
- As many as 10 could leave
- Mentions Rona, Phipps, Coleman, Naholo, SOB, Kepu and Jackson by name as big money signings, but doesn't actually confirm if all of them are actually hold outs.
- Confirms no deadline set for the players to sign
- Says it's a 25% pay cut for the length of contracts (where as Leicester were offering the opportunity to claw some back after a year)
- Says Coleman is attracting interest from Japanese clubs (on an unrelated note he is clearly injured going by the post op Instagram story posted yesterday)

TRP also has Dodge to Gloucester as attack coach. He had taken up a role at Cranleigh School.
Last edited by Margin_Walker on Sun Jul 05, 2020 6:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
GHA liked this
#13852
The bigger problem wouldn't even be losing a few high profile players. It would be a real pain, but you can always rebuild.

The issue would be if players on big salaries held out and were effectively stood down still recieving full pay. Without a club to go to, actually dismissing players could get very messy legally.

Hopefully a compromise can be reached.
By GHA
#13853
Cheers M_W, hopefully as I'm sure everyone agrees negotiations are ongoing and compromise can be reached, perhaps performance related or something.
By Florida
#13855
I don't think we'll see a situation where players are sitting around doing nothing but picking up a salary, they all want to play after all.

Although Fissler claims there's no deadline the club has stated later in July for the next squad update, which would suggest a mid / late July deadline.

Interestingly Fissler claims these claw back repayments some are talking about might be a bit more complex as they would count towards salary caps.
#13857
Hope you're right Florida. Would be interesting though if most of the squad agreed and there were players holding out.

If they don't have the opportunity or inclination to move it could be a really difficult situation. Not an employment law expert, but assume forcing them out is problematic given they have fixed term contracts in place. But then having them play alongside players who have accepted the cuts isn't ideal either from a fairness perspective.

I give up though. Will just wait until we're told something. There are actually very few facts in the public domain, so probably not worth speculating too much (although appreciate I have been!).
By Florida
#13858
You're right, there's very little information right now and we'll know when we'll know.

On the plus side training seems to be happening and a bunch of players seem to be trucking along.

Oh, I will add a further piece of speculation. While these "10" contract negotiations could well be contracted players we're trying to reduce salaries, it could also be those at the end of their contract we're looking to extend (with a reduction).
By GHA
#13906
The man on the inside said this on the other board:
think that all reports are missing some info. The Ownership of Irish presented a non negotiable 25% pay cut for the length of the players current contracts, which in some cases is another three years. No other Prem club tried to pull something as draconian as that with some taking a 25% cut for the next year with an open review at the end of that time. Yes times are tough and yes people are loosing their jobs but to treat any employee with such disregard is just poor management. The players are not revolting and have come back with a fair response based on what most other clubs are doing and it is now back in the hands of the owners. No player threatened any industrial action nor refuse to carry on with the best interests of the club at heart but to be presented with a fait accompli is just terrible management skills or just arrogance.

Yes, a few of the players, such as Botha, are trying to escape contracts based on breach to head to Japan etc but the majority are proud of the club and love being there but being treated like chattels, regardless of the situation, is not the way forward.
By GC89
#13913
Probably a more positive message than the last one and hopefully it will all be resolved soon. Good that the majority of players just want to crack on.

Botha would be a big loss, especially if Coleman is out until December. Hopefully there are some semi-decent locks available somewhere.

I do wonder if given all of this whether we will have had to put a pin in any newcomers joining.
#14007
Yeah, it's nice to see most of the players involved.

Whatever is going on behind the scenes, it's clearly not an open rebellion. Play still at training (mostly) and liking the club's social media posts (seems trivial, but you wouldn't do that if things had completely broken down).

We'll see what the next week or two brings. Hopefully the positive Covid tests announced today weren't ours.
MattM liked this
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