Reply With QuoteIt's fairly obvious at this point that someone at Cardiff City has upset someone at the Daily Mail.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...Sala-died.html
First thing I'd say about the article is that it is effective and hits the target often, he asks pertinent questions regarding some of City's dealings in the past and the charge that it is all about the money with the club is a hard one to argue against.
However, a major flaw in Samuel's argument for me is the way he claims that none of this would be happening if Emiliano Sala were still alive. He brings attention to the Vincent Tan/ Malky Mackay/Iain Moody situation while making particular reference to the Andreas Cornelius transfer, but doesn't our owner's use of the legal system in that case show that there is at least the possibility that City would be acting in exactly the same way if Emiliano was still with us? My own view is that City's off field management were reactive, rather than proactive, when it came to the Cornelius transfer and the same may be true about Sala as well, but I think Samuel is misjudging Vincent Tan when it comes to when he would turn to litigation.
While reading the article, I also had a vague memory of Neil Warnock mentioning Martin Samuel, and not in a complimentary way, by name in one of his press conference as City manager, so I did some checking and I think it's fair to say that there is a bit of history between the two men;-
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...lace-boss.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/w...el-b6rqmbt5zk5
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...ek-433835.html
http://archive.onetouchfootball.com/...1;t=010196;p=3
Samuel also wrote a piece on last season's FA Cup match with Man City which had the subtitle "Guardiola masterclass gives Cardiff cloggers the boot".
it's a powerful piece by Samuel and I believe he makes a number of valid points, but he is hardly an impartial bystander in all of this and I find it hard to avoid the feeling that the article might have read differently if Neil Warnock was not our manager.
It's fairly obvious at this point that someone at Cardiff City has upset someone at the Daily Mail.
Uncomfortable questions, though.
My first reaction within hours of early reports about Sala's last flight was along the lines: if Mrs Choo or Mrs Dalman made it known to their spouses they had the offer of a flight home in a light aircraft, would their husbands merely say "ok, sweetheart, see you when you get back".
I don't believe Vincent Tan is anyone's mug. I wonder what he thinks to himself about all this.
And also; if we're fortunate enough to scrap it out for another season in the Premier League... then the club really needs an experienced Director of Football (or whatever title you want), someone with wide connections and long experience in life at the top.
Originally Posted by Cowbridge Blue
I'm no aviation expert, however, I'm sure Dalman and Choo would never have imagined it would have been a single engine plane that was built 35 years ago. They would have probably been accustomed to travelling in Learjets or twin turbo prop' planes themselves and would no doubt have expected the same for Emiliano at the very least.
The relevant question here for me is what is the "norm" in the Premier League? Do other clubs at this level make all of the arrangements for the sort of trip Sala made themselves? Neil Warnock often says that we got promoted earlier than expected, so it could be that we are out of step with the rest on many levels when it comes to administration and off field management or are we the club that has just happened to be found out so to speak for practices that are/were prevalent at Premier League clubs?
Also, I agree with Cowbridge Blue about uncomfortable questions being asked by the article, but I'd be very surprised if the current manager would ever agree to a Director of Football type being introduced while he was at the club - even though I feel one is needed.
Exactly, I doubt either would have got on such a plane. Emi probably wouldn’t have had much idea about private jets I’d imagine.
Whoever arranged it and the pilot definitely has important questions to answer
I think it’s pretty spot on to be honest.
Samuel hasn't got any time for the City. He did a real hatchet job on us following the Leeds Cup game
Interesting comments about the Bamba signing. When you see it like that in black and white it does seem a little...odd.
Signing of the Mckay twins is just embarrassing.
I don't see how City could be criticised for the Bamba signing though - he was released by Leeds while Paul Trollope was manager and he only became a target of ours after Neil Warnock was appointed.
Agree about the McKay twins.
I have to say that the legal line City are taking has echoes of their naive and ill-advised actions during the Malky fiasco.
Simon Jordan was in Talksport a couple of weeks ago. Said as soon as the player is out of the club travel arrangements are normally sorted by the player or more likely his agent.
Well it would seem we offered a commercial flight. I can't see clubs forking out on private jets everytime one of their foreign players wants to pop home for a few days. I read the other week that Liverpool's Wijnaldum was on a commercial flight, only made news as there was interaction with a fan on the plane whilst he was tweeting about him.
Bamba left Leeds on September 1 2016 citing personal reasons (which as far as I know were never disclosed).
One month and four days later Warnock arrives at CCFC. Think it’s fair to say the writing was on the wall for Trollope before that.
Bamba’s agent - big Willie McKay.
Have other clubs got a relationship with McKay? Undoubtedly - but we’re the ones who were lumbered with his sons (signed under Warnock) so it’s safe to assume our/Warnock’s relationship with McKay is closer than others.
Begs the question why Martin Samuel didn’t apparently care about the Bamba and McKay transfer dealings before Emiliano’s death created a worldwide news story. Not jumping to the clubs defence about anything here, just a bit ironic given the theme of the article.
Easy target at the moment.
I'm sure you could look into most transfers in the PL and find fault with something.
It’s not just who arranged it, I feel that the club should be doing more to ensure the welfare of their staff, especially when it involves a player doing things connected to their work i.e relocating because of a job. Ken Choo said that they didn’t want to control the player, or wanted to give him his feedom, or something to that effect. I can understand that, but it doesn’t mean that the club can’t ask to be informed about the details of the arrangements beforehand. It just seems like an obvious professional standard.
The bellend who stuck him on a light aircraft, in winter, at night, with an underqualified pilot will obviously have questions to answer too.
It was a tragic accident , but the risks can be minimised.
He claims Jack McKay 'helped broker' the Sala deal. Rubbish. Jack and Paul McKay may not be worth professional player contracts with Cardiff (and they are evidence I think of an unhealthy backscratching relationship with the McKay empire), but the twins are not agents. All Jack did was pass on to Emiliano Sala a free flight offer from his father/brother.
The references to Sol Bamba leaving Leeds - whatever agents were involved - are pathetic. Sol publicly criticised the Leeds owner at the time and was shown the door via the bench and the reserves. Garry Monk got some temporary brownie points for it, but I haven't seen any suggestion that Willie McKay engineered the situation to benefit Cardiff a year later!
Samuel is right in some of his claims, and I doubt our club would be questioning so many elements of the deal if the plane had landed safely in Cardiff that night - but he seems to wilfully ignore the way McKay has put his dishonesty and full role into the public domain since the tragedy. I think the club may have gone after too many targets - and invited hostile press coverage and comment as a result - but I'm glad they haven't ignored it.
Shouldn't that be the bankrupt McKay?
Must admit it's a well written argument with some pretty pertinent points. I don't think there is much suspicion over Bamba leaving Leeds, for some reason they never seemed to rate him, but the rest is pretty spot on and we wouldn't be questioning the role of agents etc if Sala was now playing for us
You've misread the bit about Jack McKay, he said Willie McKay 'helped broker' the deal.
I think you're right about Bamba though, Monk admitted at the time that he was responsible for his exit.
https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co....monk-1-8114966
The article makes very uncomfortable reading but is rather premature as most of the information about the pilot and the plane is to some extent the tittle tattle which Martin Samuel decries. An article after the soon expected AAIB interim report would be a more accurate reflection of events surrounding the flight and would allow more realistic conclusions to be drawn. I must say however that, on the face of it, the culpability of Nantes in all this is particularly baffling and I agree with the article in that respect. However, the suggestion that the club, or any club, would ask about the age and ownership of a plane or to effectively examine the licensing credentials of a pilot is a stretch too far.
However, if I was a neutral, I would say the article asked some pertinent questions which expose failings within the club that only come to light when deals go wrong which in this particular case ended in a tragic loss of life.
Although I believe that he's got the basis of his argument right - in an attempt to completely destroy the clubs credibility Samuels has resorted to throwing all of the straws he's clutching at the article. The Bamba stuff is nonsense and it also stinks of poor research to mention 3 players linked with Warnock's son's agency who were signed years before Warnock arrived at the club.
As TOBW also points out, Samuel says that the club wouldn't have taken action if Sala were still alive but then references the Cornelius saga which feels pretty similar in certain aspects e.g. the club being spun some lies in regards to the player... so there's a precedent there.
It's also a bit harsh to make out City were the villains for seeking appropriate action regarding 'Spygate'.
Samuel definitely has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to us and what could have been a well written article just comes across as character assassination for the people involved.
Cardiff may have insurance cover for Sala, in which case the insurers would only pay out anything Cardiff are obliged to pay. The directors of the club have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the club. If I were a director of the club, I would want to know absolutely everything about the transfer, who gets what, whether there is an obligation to pay and whether any party has the opportunity to mitigate their losses, so I know exactly what I am obliged to pay when I ask the insurers to cough up.
So yes, everything changes as a result of the death of Sala.
Secondly, the Crystal Palace thing. Given that Leeds have just been fined for spying, if Cardiff thought something like that was going on, they have every right to kick up.
Hatchet job to sell that crappy rag.
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