So, another few million down the swannee. Alan Curbishley has won his case against West Ham for unfair dismissal. This is the statement just issued by the League Managers Association.
The Managers’ Arbitration Tribunal of the FA Premier League has unanimously upheld Alan Curbishley’s claim of wrongful dismissal against West Ham United Football Club. He resigned at the beginning of the 2008/09 Season after the Club sold Anton Ferdinand and subsequently George McCartney to Sunderland against his wishes.
The Tribunal upheld Alan Curbishley’s right to have ultimate sole authority in relation to the sale and purchase of players, found that the conduct of
the Club amounted to a fundamental breach of contract and that Alan Curbishley was therefore entitled to resign. The Tribunal also dismissed the
Club’s Counterclaim relating to the cost of employing Gianfranco Zola and his assistant, Steve Clarke. Compensation will now be assessed.Commenting after the outcome was published, Alan Curbishley said “I am obviously delighted with this result. I very much enjoyed my time at West
Ham and never wanted to leave, but on joining the Club I insisted that my contract contained a clause confirming that I would have final say on the
selection of players to be transferred to and from the Club. The Club completely ignored my contract when selling Anton Ferdinand, and when George
McCartney was then sold, the Club having given me assurances that no players would be leaving the Club after the sale of Anton Ferdinand, I had no
alternative but to resign. My authority and integrity were undermined and my position was made untenable. I now wish to put this entire matter behind me.
I would like to thank the LMA, my lawyers, Mike Morrison of Hill Dickinson, and Paul Gilroy QC, for all of their support and for the hard work they put
in on my behalf in order to help me achieve this outcome”.Chief Executive of the League Managers Association, Richard Bevan, commented “Naturally we are delighted with the outcome for Alan but, at the same time,
sorry that he wasn’t able to continue at West Ham United, a club that has played such a prominent part in his professional career both as a player and
manager. The findings of the Tribunal demonstrate the critical importance of respecting contracts which need to set out the roles and responsibilities
of the parties in clear and unequivocal terms”.
I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, although by the law of averages I suppose West Ham will actually win a hearing at some point – or maybe even a game 
The reserves are now playing against ten men so we all know how thats going to end!
Yet again we are the laughing stock of football and the blame, again, has Duxbury's finger prints all over it.
As WH fans we see conspiracy and dirty deals everywhere, but sooner or later we will all (yes CH and Matty even you diehards) have to accept that we are being run by probably the most inept management team in British football.
The Curbishley case is as simple as it gets in any business. No room for debate so room for mis-interpretation, no room for second guessing. His contract gave him the final say on ALL deals both in and out.
It's the same contract that 75 per cent of all Prem managers have.
Only the idiots at WH could fail to negotiate there way out of this one.
I hate Curbishley but I hate inept, piss poor administrators more.
We are amateur with a capital A. We were played like two-bob fiddles throughout the Tevez-Mascherano saga, and we have walked headlong into another almight own goal.
I love West Ham, but if I had the chance to walk away with two million quid through the ineptitude of our back-office staff then so be it.
For Christ sake somebody buy us and clear out the lamentable Duxbury and his advisers as quick as you like.
PS:
Curbishley's QC Paul Gilroy is probably one of the best out there. I was represented by him about 18 months ago and the guy is **** hot. Even I believed I was in the right by the end of the case.
You know Celtic and Digger of course you are entitled to your opinions but when words like filth etc are used the line is crossed between an opinion and enciting hatred towards someone who doesn’t deserve that. Curbishley wasn’t going to do it at west ham but he had a contract of employment and that was broken;he is right to bring those responsible for breaking the contract to account otherwise contracts will not be worth the paper they are written on and clubs will be able to do what the hell they like with no form of redress available. The plight of the club is not his issue or of his doing, the way in which his tenure came to an end is. The ones we should be getting really angry at are the senior mgt team and board, that is where the betrayal has come from not Curbishley. Don’t leave the site because you might disagree with me Digger, we do support the same team and want the same things but we do all have a responsibility in the way we communicate and the effect that might have.
Good post, imo Jman.
Many subjects in football engender tremendous passion and whilst it pains me to see a supposed Hammer suing his supposed club, I can appreciate that he was shat on from a great height. It doesn't make him the words one or two posters have used, but I can appreicate their frustration and disappointment. Appreciate, not excuse.
I could not agree more JMan. Some of the comments here about Curbs are bang out of order. No matter what we think of his management, he had a contract (with the club We and HE loves), and they broke that contract. Simple as that. Everyone on the site who calls him all sorts of names would of done exactly the same thing.
IWAL.
Personally I think we got off lightly. Curbishley wanted to sell Collison to Peterborough for £350,000.
Keeping Collison and losing Curbishley was by far the better outcome.
We have to wait for the pay out amount and I wonder if curbs was pushed or the senior management team tried to deminish his powers on player trades and he reacted accordingly. But, I think we are generally in agreement he was not a great manager (too negative) and did not try to get our team playing the way we would like. If we had agreed a payout for the remainder of his contract and brought in Zola/Clarke we may have seen it as good business. As it was Duxberry tried to bully Curbishley and lost. So now we pay some more and it looks bad on the club. We should have handled this behind closed doors, that way Curbishley could have got his pay out and we would not have to suffer more negative press. I agree Duxberry comes out worst in all this.
Just watched Mr Clarke's interview on the Ilunga incident and the media coverage/Bruce's comments. Go Stevie – he doesn't sit on the fence does he? For those who haven't seen it, he points out that Ilunga has just come back from a multiple jaw fracture and that he may have been clutching his face in anticipation of a punch following the shove. He then said that he doesn't understand why the victim of a foul is being abused and that if other managers want to have a go at our players then he will have a go back. Well said that man.
Here here! Haven't heard it yet but will have a hunt around 'tinternet for it.
I've seen it on the Sky Website now and, gotta say, I'm very glad that Steve Clarke is our First Team Coach – the bloke is tremendous.
I've been dismayed at people's comments about our Team management of late. Zola and Clarke are VERY, VERY good for our club.
I agree with you Goatygav but shhhh – don't tell Chris!
It's great to see someone in the club come out fighting and give some stick back for a change, especially against that plonker Bruce. Too often it seems in the last few years we've been on the receiving end of this kind of abuse and stayed silent. Way to go Steve Clarke!
oh ok thanks for the advise headmaster, lol, on the curbishley situation, he is not even a west ham, asking compensation if he knows we got financial probs, get a life curbs, he never brought attractive football to the irons, zola did,
Mustaqim – he had a contract and the club broke it. It's a legal situation – as simple as that. What we think about him as a manager is a totla irrelevance in this situation.
Celtic – just home and catching up on comments. I see on club website Quashie has squad number now which I don't think he had before. He certainly has never been listed in programme this season. Standby for return tomorrow night! He can't do worse than Kovac!!
Wanna bet? I know it's hard to imagine but this is, after all, Nigel Quashie.
Oh yes he can!
but he did also save our arses from relegation so gotta give him a little credit, but the compensation, forget it m8.
i thought Quashie was gone, blimey got a lot of catching up to do with west ham, lol
Just a very quick thought. I know that Alan Curbishley is an honourable man – the kind of man that wouldn't break a binding contract in fairness to him. He's also not someone who has a track record of selfishness or dis-honourable behaviour. I also know that he tends to find ways of using funds in a very positive way. I, for one, will be watching very closely to what he does with any funds that he gains from this ruling. It wouldn't surprise me if we end up finding out that he finds a way of giving something back in some way.
I wonder if curbs brief will represent me in relation to my upcoming lawsuit relating to the ” red hot balti pie burns mouth” scandal ??? anyway enough of this curbs rubbish tomorrows game is the main thing on my mind now. COYI’ s !!!
I hope this is true,
I have just been told, the consortium led by Jim Bowe are to contact Rothschilds [the selling agents] tomorrow [Wednesday].
One of the main investors is the guy who owns the New york jets [didn't get his name]
The guy you are talking about is Woody Johnson, one of the heirs to the Johnson&Johnson fortune. Have no idea if he is involved or if there is any validity to the reported meeting tomorrow.
Will have to wait and see what happens
Sorry we could not get The Melbourne Cup winner but my hangover in 100 degree heat is murder.Tonight let us redeem ourselves and play with freedom and just go at em for 90 mins and if we take care of Everton we will grow.
For anyone trying to take on theEast End may they sleep well cos there are millions around the globe who will stand up for the Mighty Hammers!
Curbs ,350 grand,peterborough that sums up the judgement of the man,a fool who wants a piece of us but he loves West Ham ,so did that idiot Terry Brown,rest easy boys!
Apparently, West Ham are planning to hand Collison a bumper new 5 year contract! The deal is due to be completed within the next two weeks.
If the Hammers are as financially unstable as some would have us believe, could they afford to do that? Of course not. clubs in that state struggle to pay their existing wage bill!
Hopefully, Hines, Upson and Green are also in line for new contracts and we can dismiss the ‘fire sale’ in January nonsense once and for all!
What is done is done! To be honest I am more concerned with getting results against Villa and Everton.
The Times, and other papers, may rush in to print suggesting that this will put significant financial pressure on the club, but that is just a journalistic knee jerk reaction! Indeed,they are still expounding the fiction that we are £100m in debt, a figure freely bounded around without providing any evidence to back it up. Even if we have to pay out £3m, including legal costs, to Curbishley it is not going to make that much difference to our overall financial position!
On the plus side, think of the remarkable figure of £12.5m raised from the sale of Ferdinand and McCartney and, as others have pointed out, the benefits of not effectively giving Collison away to Peterborough for £350,000! That would have ended up another Carrick deal, with Peterborough getting a multi-million pound transfer fee from the likes of Man Utd or Arsenal!
Why is Clarke on the offensive against Steve Bruce and not Zola perhaps zola will eventually find someone his own size!
good cop, bad cop!
I see Marouane Chamakh put Bordeaux through to the next stages of the Champions League last night. Looks useful. I wonder if we'll be in for him in January?
Him & KIm Kong Killstrom so I hear perhaps if MC does come in january we can be assured of CL football next season . Ha Ha!!!!
Just seen the Steve Clarke talk on the club website I hope his grit, determination and straight forward talking is a good motivation in the dressing room tonight. The game has the making of a lively affair. I hope Collins has a bad game! I have to say selling him was a real shame. I would have rather seen us accept lower fees for Gabbidon and Faubert than loose Ginge. I just feel £5 million is a real snip. If he would have played more games throughout his time he would be worth £10 million. Lets hope there is appearances and sell on clauses.
As with everything at West Ham, our business management is appalling, the facts are they bent the rules of a contract and thought they could get away with it. Curbishley was undermined and as such was a victim of constructive dismissal. West Ham were wrong, Curbishley proved through the courts he was right. Good luck to him, our club is a shambles and will continue to be so until a new broom sweeps through from top to bottom.
Roshi, I think you are wrong about 'appalling' business management. Let's face it, all of the people associated with the Curbs era and decisions made at the time have gone. They must have played a significant part in all this, so it's wrong to blame the current management for past decisions. The best thing for every true West Ham fan is to get behind the team, make Upton Park the intimidating ground it can be on night matches – and hope we stuff the Villa! COYI!!!!!!
Paulo…Scott Duxbury has been at the club since 2001 and has overseen our catalogue of mis-management car crashes.
It was his legal advice that successfully put us at the centre of the Tevez-Masherano debacle and he was head of legal matters when we expertly allowed Curbishley to walk out with a cast-iron case again us.
This guy was nothing more than a moderately experiences sports legal lawyer before he got the gig at West Ham. I'm all for on the job training, but everything her touches appears to turn to poo.
Believe me Paul, the business management is appalling.
Paulo…Scott Duxbury has been at the club since 2001 and has overseen our catalogue of mis-management car crashes.
It was his legal advice that successfully put us at the centre of the Tevez-Masherano debacle and he was head of legal matters when we expertly allowed Curbishley to walk out with a cast-iron case again us.
This guy was nothing more than a moderately experienced sports legal lawyer before he got the gig at West Ham. I'm all for on the job training, but everything he touches appears to turn to poo. It would be tough to dump him though. I bet he has a brilliant water-tight contract that gives him half the Booby Moore stand if he is fired.
I don't know what really happened with Curbishley, nor does anyone else on this site. Who can say if it was cock up or conspiracy? We all have our own views. Thing is, no debate can change anything that's past. At the end of the day Curbishley has gone with the money, which is clearly not going to bankrupt us. I believe continual criticism of the club undermines it. Let's move on and beat the Villa!
Of course we want to move on and beat the Villa, but if we are discussing Curbishley the facts are as the court found in favour of.
I can remember at the time posting that it would appear to be a constructive dismissal and nothing has changed my mind. Sure he could have been sacked but the club were trying to avoid paying up his contract and thought they had had found the perfect solution, pathetic really. Again a total managerial shambles, when will Duxberry be shown the door, oh! of course not, he has a project to see through….rubbish spin for the media.