Ling Sacked

[taunton_gull]

Nick Gull - agree completely with what you say and was about to write something along those lines. There's no doubt Ling is not a 'bad' manager - certainly nowhere near the likes of some we have been subjected to in the past. But the fact is sometimes the circumstances just aren't right. I'm pretty sure had Ling been managing at somewhere like Dagenham many of the issues which prompted his illness may not have arisen - but we'll never know for sure. But to those who think this is a bad decision - put yourself in the board's shoes. For all of ML's achievements last year - it would have been a huge gamble to back him for another 12 months knowing how close we came to relegation this year. When someone goes off work with stress reasonable adjustments should be made to ensure the problem won't flare up again. There was no way this could happen in ML's case and if anything the pressure would have increased ten-fold from the first whistle of next season. Had we gone on to make a bad start where would we have been then?

I remember when Ling was appointed he said he discussed the situation with his family and it was agreed he should take it as there are only so many jobs in the league. In hindsight perhaps he underestimated just how hard it would be. I am glad the board has taken decisive action. There is no guarantee Knill or whoever is appointed will be successful but in my opinion the board had to make this call given how the season turned out. Overall I think ML was a typical lower league manager - clearly he wasn't outstanding or he would have been managing further up the pyramid - but he had his strengths which saw us playing good stuff for a time last season. He also had his weaknesses, I remember it took him such a long time to play O'Kane in his correct position, for ages he was sat in front of our back four which seemed bizarre. Despite not being backed appropriately by the board I also don't think he helped himself on the recruitment front. Without doubt he turned up some gems in Olejnik, Howe etc, but for so long we knew eventually Eunan OK would be on his way and the only player we saw brought into that area of the pitch was Craig Easton. I thank Martin for his efforts and I wish him well in the future, I am glad this decision was taken early and that we can now prepare for a fresh campaign.

[wodger of awabia]

I would guess that there is more to this than meets the eye, & Martin Ling could well have the last laugh. There is no doubt that a fully fit Martin Ling is a very good lower league manager, who has extensive contacts in England & Scotland. He was able to attract good players down to the footballing outpost that is Tqy, get the team into the play offs, & make mega bucks for the club in the transfer market. I would not be at all surprised if Club Chairmen are already trying to find out if he is in fact fully fit, & up to the task of managing their club. Rene Howe has I believe not signed a new contract. I would expect M.L. to take Howe, Downes & Saah with him if he gets another job, & could also see Lee Mansell going as well. Managers taking their best players with them is nothing new, remember Buckle took players from Torquay when he got the Bristol Rovers job.
I hope Mrs. Bristow is able to persuade Warnock to take a Director of Football / consultancy type job, & he will be able to get us a quality player manager, who he can train up.
I am not impressed with A.K. he had to bring in Chris Brass as he could not cope. Neither of them showed much interest in watching Taylor's pre-match warm up last Sat.

[Fonda]

I doubt Martin Ling did enough in his time with us to result in a queue of League clubs knocking his door down. Especially having missed a significant period of the last season with stress. He is evidently very rooted in the South East, so unless Dagenham are looking for a change, I can't think of any others that might be tempted.

[Jerry]

Statement from the LMA:

"We have been in close communication with the Club throughout Martin’s absence and there has never been any suggestion that he would not be welcomed back to resume his duties after making a full recovery. We now expect the Club to honour the provisions of the contract without delay and the LMA will be supporting Martin throughout the process.”

http://www.leaguemanagers.com/news/news-7196.html

[PlainmoorRoar]

Years salary pay off then

[wodger of awabia]

Statement from the LMA:

"We have been in close communication with the Club throughout Martin’s absence and there has never been any suggestion that he would not be welcomed back to resume his duties after making a full recovery. We now expect the Club to honour the provisions of the contract without delay and the LMA will be supporting Martin throughout the process.”

http://www.leaguemanagers.com/news/news-7196.html

Could this mean "big money"? Is that next seasons new player budget gone on compensation?

[AustrianAndyGull]

It needed to be done and we as a club need to do what is right and proper by Martin, if that decimates our player budget then so be it. I have no idea if it will or how much we will owe Martin but we need a fresh start and if this is the only way of ensuring that happens then so be it. It is hugely restrictive though in terms of enticing potential aqcuisitions down to Plainmoor but i'm sure it will all work out in the end.

[PlainmoorRoar]

Yep your right Andy, take the hit now and move on, heard hes on about 70K which will certainly be a whack to the budget

[bobby93]

Great way to make a "fresh start"

[wodger of awabia]

It needed to be done and we as a club need to do what is right and proper by Martin, if that decimates our player budget then so be it. I have no idea if it will or how much we will owe Martin but we need a fresh start and if this is the only way of ensuring that happens then so be it. It is hugely restrictive though in terms of enticing potential aqcuisitions down to Plainmoor but i'm sure it will all work out in the end.

Could be quite a large sum, especially if Taylor is also sacked, They would also still be entitled to their company car, pension contributions & other perks if this formed part of their contracts.

[Scott Brehaut]

The issue with compensation is that many on here have said we need a huge clear out of players, and they will obviously need to be replaced.

If we are paying off Ling and Taylor and it eats into the budget for the next season, we could find ourselves rather screwed....

[PlainmoorRoar]

*A facebook Link*

interesting to see what others think

[portugull]

The statement from the LMA is exactly what I expected. In my post at the bottom of page 8 I referred to the LMA.
I will be honest I have a number of reservations about stress related illnesses. Did TUFC ever ask Martin Ling if the club could have an independant opinion on the exact nature of the illness. After all the club was paying the salary in question.
In todays world when the heat in the kitchen gets too hot too many people opt for the " stress" option as a way out.
Thousands of civil servants are on sick leave because of stress.
In professional football it is unusual.I expect to be castigated for this post but think about it. There has been a complete lack of any information on the Ling illness. Sorry if this seems harsh but I think there are a lot of unanswered questions.

[Scott Brehaut]

Only unanswered questions from the fans.

How do you know that the Board didn't know anything about Lings illness?

[PlainmoorRoar]

, and