Who is to blame for this horrendous PR gaff ?

[joeinbrighton]

Well either Poyet genuinely didn't know of the outcome of his disciplinary hearing until the BBC's Floor Manager printed off the statement from the club's website, or he is an early candidate for next year's Academy Awards. Personally, I got the distinct impression he had no inkling.

Whatever way, whether the club put the press release up on their website before the BBC's transmission began or during it is irrelevant. What is of more relevance is whether they had ensured written communication had taken place to Poyet before the statement was released. If the PR Administrator didn't press 'send' on their email attaching his letter of dismissal until after the statement had gone out then they have caused the club some unnecessary collateral damage. The club will be vehemently ensuring there is a trail of evidence to the contrary.

 

[kevo]

Edit.

 

[Rookie]

His son's tweet makes it almost certain that he did know. I think he'd been told but hadn't received official confirmation.

That was sent after the statement. I was not on Twitter before the statement but that defiantly came up after the news broke

 

[Titanic]

His son's tweet makes it almost certain that he did know. I think he'd been told but hadn't received official confirmation.

This sounds most plausible.

 

[kevo]

That was sent after the statement. I was not on Twitter before the statement but that defiantly came up after the news broke

Yes, just saw that - he tweeted at 8pm apparently. I was taken in by someone who said it was 7pm. Perhaps his lawyers had been told but couldn't contact him because he was on TV.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Bingo - so Gus and his advisors spinning this into a pro-Gus story. You can't blame them and the BBC have got a great bit of apparent breaking news. Cheers Gus - time to go now.

 

[Triggaaar]

If they said nothing today he had nothing to say tonight. And the BBC LOVE him as you can see now.

He already knew, so he could have easily turned up with a shocked look and said 'I've just had a voice message that says I've been sacked '

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Whoever was in the right or wrong about who knew what, when and so on, the timing of the announcement was suicidal and just asking for trouble. Although never being directly involved in PR, I do have a Professional marketing Qualification and an MBA, both of which would tell you to think through what you are doing in every aspect. Releasing a controversial club statement a matter of minutes before the person who is mostly going to be affected by it is on national television (Even if it is only BBC3) is just plain stupid.

 

[fleet]

As I said on another thread - the correct way to handle this is for the club's lawyer to communicate with Gus' lawyers - from what Gus said live on BBC that had happened and Gus knew. He said he had not received a call or text directly from the club - that will be true and that is how it should be. In the interview he said his lawyer had received a letter but that he hadn't read it (i think that i what he said). When his lawyer said he had an email from the club are we to believe that it wasn't mentioned that the email was to say he was sacked?

 

[Richard_419]

If they can, then why haven't they? They refuted the LMA's claims last week by releasing a statement, yet are silent (so far) on this issue. Why don't they release a statement saying "We can confirm that Gus Poyet was informed of the decision earlier in the day". The silence is deafening.

My gut feeling is that the truth lies somewhere in between. Both parties had been talking during the day. The club probably informed Poyet's lawyers after he was in the TV studio and his phone was off. He may well have known it was coming, but I firmly believe the first he knew of the statement was when he was handed it by the BBC.

Why the club timed it for then is anyone's guess. But it sure ain't made them look good.

This

Well either Poyet genuinely didn't know of the outcome of his disciplinary hearing until the BBC's Floor Manager printed off the statement from the club's website, or he is an early candidate for next year's Academy Awards. Personally, I got the distinct impression he had no inkling.

Whatever way, whether the club put the press release up on their website before the BBC's transmission began or during it is irrelevant. What is of more relevance is whether they had ensured written communication had taken place to Poyet before the statement was released. If the PR Administrator didn't press 'send' on their email attaching his letter of dismissal until after the statement had gone out then they have caused the club some unnecessary collateral damage. The club will be vehemently ensuring there is a trail of evidence to the contrary.

And This...

Having seen the video that to me seems to be the reaction of someone who geninely didnt know he was unemployed.... had he been informed? almost certainly, but was it a letter or e-mail that he had not read yet, very possibly! therefore i think his reactions were genuine and that was absolutley horrendous mismanagement of the situation by the club to allow for a situation like this to arise whereby he essentially found out live on tv that he no longer had a job. Regardless of who is in the wrong or what has been done on either side, that is still i disgraceful way to communicate such an important piece of news and a poor way to treat a man who may be leaving under a cloud but has without denial done wonders for the club.

EDIT:
Official club statement just released: In relation to comments made by Gus Poyet on BBC Match of the Day last night, the club would like to point out that its disciplinary panel considered the matter on the afternoon of Friday 21st June and for most of Saturday 22nd June.

The club spent much of Sunday 23rd June in discussion with Gus and his representatives. For legal reasons we cannot say anything about the content of those discussions but Gus was well aware, before he appeared on the BBC last evening, that his dismissal was pending.

Given Gus has a right to appeal the decision to dismiss him, the club will not be making any further comment on this matter at this time.

Read more at http://www.seagulls.co.uk/news/artic...sUcsjzFf6H4.99

i think the keypoint there is the use of the phrase "Gus was well aware, before he appeared on the BBC last evening, that his dismissal was pending." Pending doesnt mean confirmed.... so although he knew it was coming he didnt know it had happened.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Some laughable comments on this thread.

US is spot on. This whole process has been total f**k up from start to finish, anybody who thinks the club hasn't made an utter mess of things is living in cloud cuckoo land!

I said it on a thread the other day, this is exactly why football clubs don't follow normal employment/disciplinary process - you either support the manager or sack him and swallow paying off his contract, as long as everyone keeps their mouth shut and the outside perception is that nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

As it is we are going to start the new season without a manager and everyone thinks the club is in turmoil. Nice one lads

 

[Pavilionaire]

Gus seemed pretty adamant on MOTD that he WOULD be appealing. When asked the question I was expecting Gus to have answered "it's possible but I'll have to consult with my legal team first", not "yes, I'll definitely be appealing".

It's quite possible that if an appeal goes legal it could also rule him out of the Autumn job market, not to mention cost him a large sum of money in legal fees. Lose and he's a now-poorer pariah, win and he may still be regarded as a pariah and have missed out on a load of job opportunities.

By being so sure he would appeal it makes it more likely he knew the decision to sack had already been made and it was purely a question of when, not if.

 

[Brian Fantana]

Personally, I think the most important aspect of this was to inform Gus directly that he had been sacked, before the statement was made public. Even if Gus had been the one to break this news to the rest of us on live TV, the club would have maintained the dignity of at least having told him first.

 

[MattBackHome]

As it is we are going to start the new season without a manager

I bet we won't.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

Whatever way you dress it up tonight has been a PR DISASTER for the club. To release a club statement just before Gus Poyet has an audience of a million or so on BBC is to be fair a " schoolboy " error. Now Gus maybe lying but why would he do this as it would be so easy to prove he lied ? It would be professional SUICIDE and no club would want to touch him if he lied , live on TV.

Surely he is not that deluded ? Whatever way he has the BBC on his side. The commentator made a swipe against BHAFC live on air , so we are being made complete mugs. The half time interview was an open goal for Poyet and he took it, smashed the ball in the back of the net and the studio appears to be 100% behind him. Who is responsible for releasing a club statement now ?

Surely tomorrow morning made more sense knowing Poyet was on live TV ? Wtf is going on ? The club has had more or less the whole country behind us and until recently, apart from CPFC the whole football community has been behind us. It is a fcking pr shambles and fans can be rightly very annoyed imo.

I think you owe Tony Bloom, Barber and the club a massive apology.
Gus clearly knew he was to be dismissed and was trying to court sympathy by lying on Match of the Day that he wasnt aware of it.
The club 's most recent statement proves this.
Gus has IMHO scored a massive own goal and this will surely have a bearing in his case for unfair dismissal.

 

[joeinbrighton]

I wouldn't be absolutely certain just yet that Poyet will go through with the appeal. His initial reaction is that he feels that the charges that have been brought against him are unjust and that these are harmful to his future career prospects. However, I think he will sit down and discuss the situation with his lawyers before confirming his appeal. Among the factors that will determine the decision will be his likelihood of winning the appeal, the likely timescale and of course the cost to him.

It could be a bit like the time when Margaret Thatcher was challenged as leader of the Conservative Party. Initially, she was adamant about putting her name forward for the second ballot, but after her advisors had time to speak with her in private and tell her she didn't have much chance of winning, she saved face and announced her resignation before the vote went against her. If Poyet's lawyers/advisors say to him that he has little chance of success in his appeal then he might not go through with it. If his people and most important he feels that he has a prima-facie case for appealing then he is more likely to pursue it, but he has to consider whether doing so and losing would be majorly damaging for his future job prospects. He might find that his best hope of landing his next job is to manage in another country.

 

[Bladders]

Always amuses me how many claim things to be a ''PR disaster' and ''total mess' when their real life experiences in these fields are zilch.

Makes fun reading though all the drama queens getting their knickers in a twist

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

"Gus was well aware, before he appeared on the BBC, that his dismissal was pending".

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Pure speculation but perhaps a newspaper had got hold of the story and were going to run with it, so the club's hand was forced.

Either that or they sack when they want, and announce it when they want, rather than working within the contours of Poyet's media career.

 

[Bladders]

Pure speculation but perhaps a newspaper had got hold of the story and were going to run with it, so the club's hand was forced.

Either that or they sack when they want, and announce it when they want, rather than working within the contours of Poyet's media career.

Mmm, I see a new chant in there somewhere.