Watford’s increasingly acrimonious dispute with Everton over Marco Silva could go to a Premier League arbitration panel, as the Goodison Park club are refusing to pay compensation to their Premier League rivals and have accused them of having made an illegal approach to the Portuguese coach when he was manager of Hull City last year.
Everton claim to have evidence that Watford sent Silva a draft contract to become their manager when he was still working for Hull, which, if proven, could be a breach of Premier League rules. Watford contend that there was a release clause in Silva’s contract at Hull allowing him to speak to other clubs following their relegation to the Championship last season so are confident of their position.
Watford made a formal complaint to the Premier League last month about Everton’s approach for Silva last November, which they claim destabilised their season and ironically led to his sacking two months later.
Everton’s attempt to appoint Silva as manager is being complicated by their legal dispute with WatfordPA
ress Association
Everton are attempting to appoint Silva for a second time, having sacked Sam Allardyce earlier this week, a process that is being complicated by their legal dispute with Watford.
At the instigation of the Premier League, the two clubs met for mediation last month, with Everton offering to pay Watford £1 million in compensation, which was rejected. Everton have since withdrawn that offer and have accused Watford of attempting to distract from the fact that, in a separate dispute, the club have yet to pay compensation to Silva, who was sacked with 18 months left on his contract.
Watford’s position is that Silva’s negotiations with Everton constituted a breach of contract.
If the two clubs fail to reach a negotiated settlement, the only recourse for Watford would be to apply to the Premier League to facilitate a formal arbitration process, which would be legally binding. Both clubs would be permitted to nominate an independent legal expert, with the Premier League appointing a QC to chair the three-person panel.
Warnock award row
The League Managers’ Association’s decision to give Neil Warnock a Special Achievement Award this week following his record eighth promotion with Cardiff City has caused ructions among the organisation’s own executive board.
Dave Bassett, a committee member, is slightly peeved that he has never received such an honour despite comparable achievements. Bassett won seven promotions and is one of just four managers to have led the same club — in his case Wimbledon — from the bottom division of the Football League to the top flight.
Sam Allardyce’s use of his acceptance speech after being inducted into the LMA’s Hall of Fame for having taken charge of 1,000 matches to call for more funding for the organisation from the clubs received short shrift from the Premier League, with the executive chairman Richard Scudamore taking him to task later in the evening. The LMA’s annual membership fee is just £100, for which current and former managers receive a litany of legal, medical and psychological support, in addition to access to numerous coaching and career development courses.
Mourinho lost for words
One of the many qualities that José Mourinho will miss when his 17-year partnership with Rui Faria ends after today’s FA Cup final against their old club Chelsea will be his departing assistant’s talent as a speech-writer and gift for producing cutting soundbites. In addition to his various roles as a fitness coach, tactician and general sounding board, the fiercely loyal Faria often took it upon himself to help Mourinho prepare for press conferences and was responsible for some of the manager’s most infamous insults, including his description of Arsène Wenger as “a specialist in failure”. Faria and Mourinho also came up with some even more colourful phrases to mock Premier League rivals, which never made it into the public arena.
Allardyce goes missing
Everton’s decision to sack Allardyce has not surprised many of the club’s players, who on several occasions last season were left questioning his approach to the job.
After one away defeat, the squad were hauled in for an extra training session on a Sunday morning which began with a pep talk from the assistant manager Sammy Lee, who urged them all to stick together during a difficult period.
Following the speech, which was well received one player, inquired as to the whereabouts of Allardyce, with Lee informing a stunned squad that the manager was at his house in Spain.
In addition to Manuel Pellegrini and Rafael Benítez, West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has also recommended that the club speak to Burnley’s Sean Dyche about their managerial vacancy.
The fact that Brady’s husband, the former Fulham striker Paul Peschisolido, works for the agency which manages Dyche is no doubt entirely coincidental.
