No no no no no, utter rubbish.
The club statement was untrue, standard fayre maybe, but It airbrushes the reality of events. People on here moan about politics and lies and shabby behaviour of politicians and cry out for honesty, but when they are given it about their football club, they don’t seemingly like it. I applaud the honesty we have had from Karanka in the past and more recently Warnock, yes even Southgate, as opposed to the smoke and mirrors from the likes of Monk, Pulis and the club itself.
Neil maybe a marmite manager, but i guarantee you one thing he is honest and tells it as it is. He is no fool and does not suffer fools gladly, he was let down on recruitment and for years we have seen procrastination over transfer dealings, I know most of the players will be gutted he has gone, but they are in part culpable, their on field decisions and errors have cost Warnock his job more than his own mistakes. We were top six 8 days ago, Wilder coming will have been ongoing even then, the timing was more likely due the international break than the Birmingham and Luton results.
That aside, to be told in a phone call (not even to his face) on the morning before his last game was shabby, nay cowardly. I wonder who leaked it to the Daily Mail, It will have been a club official or a Wilder representative imho, either way it was uncalled for. He deserved better than that, whatever peoples feelings are about him. To still take the game and get the result he did against a possible top 2 challenging team was quite remarkable and shows the mark of the man and his staff. It showed the players believed in him and were together too. He had every right to speak out, tell the truth and defend his reputation, i applaud his honesty. I could say a lot more, the club must always come first, but it needs to be more dignified in its operations in my opinion
I have spouted on here for years that managers are given gifts, from the Southgate days onwards rather than the players they always wanted. Of course there are some reasons beyond the clubs control why the managers picks can’t all be delivered, but when recruitment brings in players the manager did not want it is no wonder they eventually lash out when it is they that lose their job for others choices. I like Wilder, he will take forward Neils work, how he will fit in with Scott and the ‘new direction’ is another matter once his honeymoon period is over, he likes to manage, not just coach.