David McNally re Burnley comments

[Row D Seat 7 0]

Not that I''m having a dig at David McNally, he''s done a great job since joining the football club, but I listened to his comments regarding Burnley going public with their interest in Paul Lambert.

He called them ''very unprofessional''. I think if any Colchester United fans heard that interview, they would have listened with a rye smile. Pot calling the kettle black came to mind.

Whilst Burnley shouldn''t have done what they did, McNally should remember how he got Lambert in the first place.

Not that I disagree with how we got Lambert, it showed that finally NCFC have some backbone.

[Muddy funster 0]

On the contrary - we were given permission to speak to Paul Lambert - they weren''t.

[Row D Seat 7 0]

I thought permission was refused but we took him anyway. Hence the FA hearing and subsequent fine.

[Muddy funster 0]

No, we were given permission. We spoke to him, he said he wanted to leave and we said we wanted him, we were haggling over compensation, they wanted more, he resigned, we signed him. They got their arses in their hands. We paid a tribunals verdict on compensation.

Job done.

[Lord Horn 0]

[quote user="Row D Seat 7"]Not that I''m having a dig at David McNally, he''s done a great job since joining the football club, but I listened to his comments regarding Burnley going public with their interest in Paul Lambert.

He called them ''very unprofessional''. I think if any Colchester United fans heard that interview, they would have listened with a rye smile. Pot calling the kettle black came to mind.

Whilst Burnley shouldn''t have done what they did, McNally should remember how he got Lambert in the first place.

Not that I disagree with how we got Lambert, it showed that finally NCFC have some backbone.[/quote]I loved the fact that McNally referred to Burnley as ''a much smaller club''. [:D]

[Heresyourfathersgun 0]

McNally does business with a dagger behind his back. We made an illegal approach for Lambert, Burnley didn''t. We got done by the FA for it. I''m just pleased McNallys skin is thick enough to say what he did about Burnley. Anyone who thinks illegal approaches don''t happen all the time needs to wake up.

I don''t doubt Burnleys agents are out tapping up all over the place - its just that they aren''t a big enough temptation for Lambert right now. Believe me, when the time is right for Lambert (hopefully not soon!), any club that needs to know will be told in advance - thats football

 

 

 

 

[ca 1]

[quote user="Muddy funster"]On the contrary - we were given permission to speak to Paul Lambert - they weren''t.[/quote]

I don''t think we did tbh.

[Duffman 0]

So you''re calling Paul Lambert a liar ?

[NorwichCasual 0]

Who gives a toss anyway. I think the "small club" comment is brilliant and will have ruffled some burnley feathers

[xxxx 0]

[quote user="NorwichCasual"]Who gives a toss anyway. I think the "small club" comment is brilliant and will have ruffled some burnley feathers[/quote]It will certainly make them raise their game a notch or to when we play them .

[Harry 0]

[quote user="cityangel"]

[quote user="Muddy funster"]On the contrary - we were given permission to speak to Paul Lambert - they weren''t.[/quote]

I don''t think we did tbh.

[/quote]This is from the statement released on the Colchester Site at the time:Colchester United chairman Robbie Cowling has issued the following statement on Tuesday morning, with regards to the manager''s position at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.I can confirm that First Team Manager Paul Lambert, Assistant Manager Ian Culverhouse and Football Operations Manager Gary Karsa have all left the U''s to take up positions at Norwich City.I received a call from Norwich''s Chairman, Alan Bowkett on Saturday, about 30 minutes after our win against Yeovil.Alan asked me for permission to appoint Paul Lambert as their manager. I was in our boardroom entertaining the Yeovil directors at the time so I told Alan that I would call him back later.I was a bit taken aback because it was a strange request at a strange time. We had just finished our game, I was just enjoying our status as league leaders and clubs normally ask permission to interview managers first.All over the weekend and for most of yesterday I have had many conversations with Paul Lambert regarding the Norwich request.Although I was extremely disappointed that he wanted my permission to accept their offer I could also understand his desire to progress to what most would perceive as a bigger club. For that reason I agreed to talk with Norwich to see if we could agree reasonable compensation for a manager of Paul''s ability.I had a number of conversations with Norwich CEO Dave McNally which resulted in me turning down Norwich''s request for permission to appoint Paul Lambert as their manager.The Norwich offer was strange because they insisted that they had decided to offer Paul the position without conducting an interview.On Monday morning, Paul was understandably frustrated by the failure of the clubs to reach an agreement and he informed me that he was finding it difficult to focus on his role at Colchester United.For that reason I agreed that Norwich could interview Paul but could not offer him employment or in any other way directly or indirectly induce him to breach his contract with Colchester United until they had agreed compensation with us.I met again with Paul last night and he handed me his resignation. This morning both Ian and Gary have also provided the club with written notice.

[Muddy funster 0]

"I agreed that Norwich could interview Paul"

Was I correct then? I know I''m getting older but my memory isn''t that bad!

[YankeeCanary 0]

[quote user="Muddy funster"]"I agreed that Norwich could interview Paul" Was I correct then? I know I''m getting older but my memory isn''t that bad![/quote]

Muddy, if you were Cowling and you received a telephone call from Bowkett on the Saturday asking for permission to appoint Lambert as Norwich manager ( as included in the statement you supplied here ) would you have believed that a conversation had already taken place between Norwich and Paul Lambert? Further, ( still assuming you were in Cowling''s position ) if you believed that it was an unusual request  would you have asked Bowkett on the Saturday to confirm if discussions had already taken place between Norwich and Lambert? Of course, I don''t know what occurred but I personally find it difficult to believe that a conversation had not already taken place before Cowling gave Norwich permission on the following Monday to interview Lambert ( with conditions as stated ).

[priceyrice 124]

[quote user="YankeeCanary"]

[quote user="Muddy funster"]"I agreed that Norwich could interview Paul" Was I correct then? I know I''m getting older but my memory isn''t that bad![/quote]

Muddy, if you were Cowling and you received a telephone call from Bowkett on the Saturday asking for permission to appoint Lambert as Norwich manager ( as included in the statement you supplied here ) would you have believed that a conversation had already taken place between Norwich and Paul Lambert? Further, ( still assuming you were in Cowling''s position ) if you believed that it was an unusual request  would you have asked Bowkett on the Saturday to confirm if discussions had already taken place between Norwich and Lambert? Of course, I don''t know what occurred but I personally find it difficult to believe that a conversation had not already taken place before Cowling gave Norwich permission on the following Monday to interview Lambert ( with conditions as stated ).

[/quote]Conversations obviously went on, McNally and Lambert are old pals. But permission seems like it was granted to speak to lambo too. However according to the statement it says no interview was conducted, so Lambert was obviously a sure''un for the job and it had all been arranged before hand. Lambert handed his resignation in so we didn''t have to pay the rest of his contract in full and the breach of contract fees, that''s where there argument was i think, we ended up having to pay preety hefty fine in the end ''cos it was preety obvious there had been discusions among norwich and lambert for him to cancel his contract with colchester. thats football though, tapping up everywhere

[Muddy funster 0]

Yes - but the question was whether we did or didn''t have permisssion to talk to him, not whether we did anything illegal. We obviously were illegal with our approach because we were fined, but I was trying to state that we WERE given permission to talk to Lambert as stated by Cowling. That''s all.

[YankeeCanary 0]

[quote user="Muddy funster"]Yes - but the question was whether we did or didn''t have permisssion to talk to him, not whether we did anything illegal. We obviously were illegal with our approach because we were fined, but I was trying to state that we WERE given permission to talk to Lambert as stated by Cowling. That''s all.[/quote]

I know what you were trying to state Muddy but I would have appreciated an answer to the questions I asked you, the primary one being, do you think Norwich spoke to Lambert about the position before Cowling gave us permission to do so?

[Muddy funster 0]

Apologies YC - Calm down - I thought I had answered the burning issue by stating that it was obviously an illegal approach.

So just for you YC, yes I do think McNally spoke to Lambert prior to being given permission - hence the fine. However, I don''t believe Cowling knew that before allowing us permission to speak to him.

I hope I have answered the question you posed suitably.