ClaphamFox

It might be true that Martin turned us down and it might not be true. But Pete O’Rourke calling it either way gives us precisely no indication of which.

On what basis?

Nobody is saying it's ideal. In an ideal world we'd have had the finances to sack RVN and recruit our new manager weeks ago. But that is not our situation. The fact is, we're probably sailing close to the wind re: PSR again. The EFL and PL already breathing down our neck about past breaches and would love to get their claws into us if we breach again. So if we can avoid breaching PSR for 2024/25 by avoiding spending any money for the next three weeks, then obviously that's what we should do. If the club's number one target for the job is currently in work (meaning it will require compensation to obtain him), there are basically two choices, neither of which are ideal: first, prioritize getting somebody in early even if they're not the strongest candidate (as we did with Steve Cooper last summer); or second, prioritize getting the number one target and accept that he won't be joining until early July, around the time the players report for preseason training. All I'm saying I regard the latter as the lesser of two evils. The prospect of rushing to make another poor managerial appointment isn't worth contemplating.

Spurs are likely less constrained by financial considerations than we are, so you’re probably right.

The last time we made a summer managerial change before 8 June was Martin Allen in 2007, and before that it was Brian Little in 1991. The large majority of our summer appointments have come after today‘s date. So the fact that we haven’t appointed anybody yet this summer is very much business as usual for us. Edited to add: according to ChatGPT, the median date for summer managerial appointments across all English clubs is 1 July.

Genuinely surprised to see so many people apparently desperate for us to make another mistake like the appointment of Cooper last season.

Our problems with PSR are largely as a result of incompetence in spending decisions a few seasons ago. I don’t know what our current situation is, but IF waiting until July meant we could recruit a decent manager and avoid a PSR breach, what would be ridiculous about that? Surely it would be more ridiculous to knowingly breach PSR again given that we know the authorities will show us absolutely no mercy? The alternative would be to get someone inferior in on the cheap rather than wait a few weeks, which strikes me as the most ridiculous option of all.

Or it would indicate that the club is finally being serious about breaking free from our exhausting cycle of PSR issues.

We should if the alternative to waiting until 1st July is recruiting an inferior candidate just because they’re available for free.

I think we all need to accept that it’s 7 June.

But even if such a clause exists, the club still needs to be able to afford to pay it. What if things are so tight with PSR that we don’t even have the funds to pay a reduced pay out during this accounting period?

I'm curious to know how common such clauses are (ie, lower compensation upon officially becoming a Championship club rather than at the point relegation is confirmed). Have there been previous examples of managers of relegated PL sides being kept on for a few weeks after the end of the season but then sacked as soon as the club's shares are transferred to the EFL?

That may not be settled until nearly Christmas - and that's before any appeal process.

If our preferred candidate is currently out of contract, of course we should get him in as soon as possible. All I'm saying is that IF our top candidate is currently with a club and we can't afford to pay the compensation until July, I'd prefer we do that than appoint somebody inferior simply because they're available now and for free.

This is exactly the kind of thinking that led to Cooper being appointed.

1 July is a much more significant date than 4 June. It was always just a theory (and a fairly implausible one) that we'd be able to sack RVN more cheaply when we officially became a Championship club. The beginning of the new accounting period is a much more important milestone.

The end of the accounting period was always likely to be more important than officially becoming a Championship club. Unfortunately that means that RVN isn't likely to sacked until a couple of days before pre-season training is due to start. I'm trying to tell myself that this may be a good thing because it will mean that they've learned from last summer (when they recruited Steve Cooper on 20 June rather than wait a few weeks to pay compensation for Corberan) and will announce a genuinely exciting name on 1 July. However, deep down I suspect that Top is just enjoying his leisure time and they have probably scarcely begun discussing what they're going to do yet...

He didn't do well in his brief stint at Greece but he did ok at Monaco, which was his last club side before joining us. Also, I'd say his body of work over his whole career meant that his stock was still reasonably high (and I speak as somebody who was not happy when he was appointed). Not really comparable to Martin.

"If you want to buy an ageing, overpaid player in decline and are willing to meet our unrealistically high price for him, please press four."

Sure, but since the Thais have been in charge, how many times have we recruited a manager whose previous job ended in spectacular failure? I can't think of one off the top of my head. People were talking as if recruiting Martin would have been a typical King Power move, but it would have gone completely against the grain. They've always gone for either well-known managers whose stock is still pretty high or novices whose reputations haven't even been established yet. On the managerial rumour mill more generally, Rob Tanner had some interesting comments the other day. He confirmed what most of us have long suspected: when somebody is being interviewed for a manager's job, their agents routinely put out false stories of interest from other clubs to make their man seem in demand. The media outlets that regurgitate these stories (Football Insider, TalkSport, etc) tend to be those that heavily pressure their journalists to land scoops (and therefore publish stories on the flimsiest of evidence). Hence the Russell Martin stories. Tanner also commented that only two people - Top and Rudkin - will have any idea what our plans are for recruiting a manager, and neither of them speak to the media. So if we wake up tomorrow and there is a strong rumour linking us with another name, it's very likely to have come from an agent unless the journalist reporting it is highly credible.

His abject failure with a club of a similar size to ourselves in the PL last season. Our reported interest was a fiction created by Russell Martin’s agent to pressure Rangers to move quickly.

Very unlikely we ever had much interest in Martin.

I'm mentally preparing myself to read posts that say pretty much same thing every day for the rest of June.

Presumably it's because managers generally don't have any resale value. Nonetheless, it still seems like a massive false economy if it means choosing an inferior candidate who isn't up to the job. Obviously we'll never know what would have happened last season had we forked out £3-5m for Corberan, but the way he completely transformed Valencia suggests he may well have kept us up. And apparently he wanted the job, too - such a missed opportunity.