Rigg on thin ice

[J.Perkins]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/05/10/fulham-could-lose-ross-mccormack-for-12-million-if-aston-villa-o/

Tbh, wouldn't be too fussed if he did go. Been a nightmare for him so far in his tenure.

[LBNo11]

...Rigg's been the architect of the team building, with poor foundations & materials the structure nearly collapsed...


:028:  051

[TheManOnTheBus]

I think it is time he went.  He oversaw the rebuild last summer and was in charge of "all footballing matters".  We then failed with Kit at the helm (relatively speaking, of course, Kit was a major success against all the odds in comparison to what followed). Rigg failed to replace Kit quickly.  And look where we are now.  The buck must stop with him .

[AnEssexFan]

I think this is a tricky one.

Last summer we signed players who, at the time, most of us thought were very good signings in Stearman, Richards, Ream, Cairney, O'Hara, Garbutt, Husband and so on. Now these players were highly rated championship players when we signed them and I wonder how much Rigg was involved in getting these deals done?

The fact that the team failed to perform with supposedly good players is perhaps not Rigg's fault, but it is his fault that we kept Kit for so long before going a long while without a manager. But, when he appointed that new manager it was a highly rated manager with championship winning experience, so again, has he done a good job?

If Rigg is able to do similar deals this summer for the players that Slavisa wants brought in, then you have to say he's done his part?

Is it in fact the managers, coached and players who have failed in their roles this season rather than Rigg?

[BalDrick]

He's got to go, asap in my view.

For not having a replacement lined up for Kit if nothing else...

[H4usuallysitting]

I understood all the above players were Rigg's decision

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

I understood all the above players were Rigg's decision

What does "Rigg's decision" mean?

Does it mean that Rigg bought them without consultation with others, particularly Kit? Or does it mean that he suggested them and these are ones that Kit agreed to? These subtleties make a difference.

Anyway most posters thought it a good transfer window until the players failed to live up to expectations on the pitch.

[Fulham76]

Excellent news about Rigg, if true.

The buck has to stop somewhere & he seems to be the most responsible. He could barely keep his mouth shut in one of the pre season interviews, wanting to take credit for most things.

The whole saga of replacing Kit was absolutely ridiculous & as Rigg appeared to be suggesting he was Kit's boss, then surely he's responsible for that mess too.

[Berserker]

Wasn't he at QPR as i thought i'd read some negative comments from their fans

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Rhys Lightning 63]

If he is responsible for selling Ross, then he'll have some explaining to do. Both to me AND my hamster (who I called Ross)

[BalDrick]

Wasn't he at QPR as i thought i'd read some negative comments from their fans

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Yep, there was quite an amusing quote on him from a Rangers fan. Something along the lines of the type of person who brings in lots of change but always f***s off before it's realised it was all a dreadful mistake.

Most annoying thing, for me anyway, is I was really excited about his appointment. Obviously I knew next to nothing about him at the time, bar the fact he came across very well in Michael Calvin's The Nowhere Men, but the appointment did suggest an awareness that things weren't working and needed a shake-up.

[cookieg]

Maybe the buy out clause went into the new contract to stop Ross from leaving in January - a sort of if you stay until the end of the season if anyone triggerts the clause you can go. Assuming that is that Ross would want to sign for Villa and they are prepared to pay that money.

[filham]

Ross to Villa or Norwich - sounds like out of the frying pan into the fire.
Rigg getting the sack is I suppose a possibility.

We really need a period of stability and these are not the type of things we want at the beginning of a transfer window but if there is any truth in it then best we get it all over and done with sooner rather than later. We want our ship in good order well before the new season starts.

[BalDrick]

Maybe the buy out clause went into the new contract to stop Ross from leaving in January - a sort of if you stay until the end of the season if anyone triggerts the clause you can go. Assuming that is that Ross would want to sign for Villa and they are prepared to pay that money.

I'm sure that's exactly what it was. Is he worth £12M?

[Carborundum]

Classic silly season article.  Someone has to come in and actually buy RMcC for there to be a news story.  Can't see it happening.  If it's really going to be Villa, then a better piece of journalism would focus these not-quite-facts into a story about how Mr Lerner has reversed his position on spending little and selling his club and will be investing 12m for one player.

As for Norwich being "keen to sign a proven forward", well that will be just them and 23 other Championship teams then. 

This is a Mr Rigg thread, so I better get back on topic.  It sounds like he is going to have an annual performance review.  Him and practically every other employee in the land.  But here's the thing. If he has really fathomed out a way to make a profit on a player arriving at age 27 and leaving two years later, then perhaps he's cleverer than given credit for.

Similarly, if the £12m clause exists, the main beneficiary might be the club.  A bid of anything less and the club can tell his agent "there's nothing to discuss". No uncertainty, no debate.  A recent contract was signed on these terms, so they are to be respected.

[Adi-ffc]

Surely Rigg should go based simply on his shocking failure to tie Dembele down to a longterm contract early enough.

Not to mention the manager search debacle and 20th płace..

Abysmal performance.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Surely Rigg should go based simply on his shocking failure to tie Dembele down to a longterm contract early enough.

Not to mention the manager search debacle and 20th płace..

Abysmal performance.

How do you know this?

Might it just be, like with a lot of other young players, that his agent was asking too much or told Dembele to look to go to a big club like Roberts and nothing would have persuaded Dembele to sign?

[Adi-ffc]

Surely Rigg should go based simply on his shocking failure to tie Dembele down to a longterm contract early enough.

Not to mention the manager search debacle and 20th płace..

Abysmal performance.

How do you know this?

Might it just be, like with a lot of other young players, that his agent was asking too much or told Dembele to look to go to a big club like Roberts and nothing would have persuaded Dembele to sign?

Would it have been that difficult to sort out a contract with him at the start of the season? How much had he done for his agent to play hardball at that point?

We should have pushed the boat out for him based on his potential in my opinion.

[westcliff white]

Surely Rigg should go based simply on his shocking failure to tie Dembele down to a longterm contract early enough.

Not to mention the manager search debacle and 20th płace..

Abysmal performance.

How do you know this?

Might it just be, like with a lot of other young players, that his agent was asking too much or told Dembele to look to go to a big club like Roberts and nothing would have persuaded Dembele to sign?

Would it have been that difficult to sort out a contract with him at the start of the season? How much had he done for his agent to play hardball at that point?

We should have pushed the boat out for him based on his potential in my opinion.

I believe there are rules to what you can offer youngsters in terms of length of contract and when you can speak to them. I am not an expert but I think MJG mentioned this on a few other posts.

[MJG]

Surely Rigg should go based simply on his shocking failure to tie Dembele down to a longterm contract early enough.

Not to mention the manager search debacle and 20th płace..

Abysmal performance.

How do you know this?

Might it just be, like with a lot of other young players, that his agent was asking too much or told Dembele to look to go to a big club like Roberts and nothing would have persuaded Dembele to sign?

Would it have been that difficult to sort out a contract with him at the start of the season? How much had he done for his agent to play hardball at that point?

We should have pushed the boat out for him based on his potential in my opinion.

I believe there are rules to what you can offer youngsters in terms of length of contract and when you can speak to them. I am not an expert but I think MJG mentioned this on a few other posts.

Dembele was given a two year contract till July 2015 with an extension option (3 years is the max allowed at 17, be it 3 years and no option or 2 and an option) on his 17th birthday.
We then took up the option for the extra year in Dec 2014 (End July 2016) . Since early 2015 we have offered him various contracts and from his pov he has decided not to sign, no matter what we have offered.

Players have the power in these circumstances and he is being linked/wanted/talked to by many clubs.

So yes it would have been great for the club to get him to sign, but I dont believe its for the lack of trying from their position.