I guess we can all concur with that!!

The club have paid him almost all the money he wanted and released him from the remaining 2 years of his contract without compensation.

And the reasons for this are 'strictly confidential'?

With the best will in the world I think we deserve a bit better than this.

And you would (in all probability) have the club break an agreement they are likley to have signed, precluding them from so doing?

If it was you that was the subject of a compromise agreement, having sought to break your contract, and you had agreed terms with your employer that if made public could reflect very badly on you, as well as maybe showing that you did rather less well out of it than you would have people believe, and your ex-employer then proceeded to blab those confidential terms all over the media, what action would your lawyer take?

The arrangement may or may not bear any resemblance to that hypothetical scenario I just outlined, but surely it provides an example of why you may not in all fairness be entitled to any further explanation?

Orford has had the last laugh im afraid

Indeed.

In fact, with it being so "hush hush" it suggests to me that one, or both, of the parties have something to hide that with tarnish his/their image.

As I said, wait on Orfords book coming out and we will all find out what.

Alledgedly.

What evidence have you that MO 'did rather less well out of it than (he) would have people believe'? The piece of worthwhile evidence has come from Connor in the T and A. Not once but twice he has stated that Orford has been paid all or nearly all he demanded. Is he making it up or has someone broken the confidentiality agreement to tell him something untrue? Your thesis goes 'we'll hint to the local paper that we've paid you but we won't really'. Come on.

And yes. I do believe that as a long term season ticket holder I am entitled to some explanation as to why the club is not in a position to stand behind it's own contract. This is mine and your money and the club has a responsibility to us if they continue to ask for our support. They touted Orford as a marquee signing, not me!

Thirdly, people are saying on here with some justification 'let's move on'. The major question remains what are we moving onto? What can stop Heath, Brett from getting on the plane to Oz tomorrow because they are homesick? Even George Burgess with 2 years left on a contract appears able to tell the Bulls that he wants to go to Oz and guess what?

I'm sorry but this looks very weak.

Just glad to see the back of this saga. I doubt much is achieved by raking over the coals without access to what's really happened and as we know that's confidential.

As Eddie says we can wait for the books to come out.

When his book comes out, I think I'll pre-order it from Amazon.

Then a day before the release date, I'll cancel the order, quoting "personal issues" as the reason for changing my mind.

I really wish we could put this to bed.

Yes it frustrates me as much as you. I'd have been quite at ease seeing him stripped of everything he owned. But I'm trying to recognise the likely realities of the situation.

I have the same evidence that you have. None. Since what I floated was a hypothetical situation to demonstrate why there could be valid circumstances to prevent the full tale being told.

Connor actually does not say Toerag has "been paid all or nearly all he demanded". The reference was to money that was already owed to him, that would have had to be paid anyway. Do you know if he had to pay any sum TO the club or concede anything else, something that is confidential? No, and neither do I. And if he DID, we'll not get to know...because its confidential. At least until the autobiographies come out.

What if, for example, Toerag claimed that his physical or mental health had suffered because of how terrible he found the English weather to be? What if he claimed the club had a duty of care to protect him from the terrible environment that is England? Ridiculous? Absolutely! But this is the sort of nonsense we see claims of every day in the papers, where tribunals make awards that seem plain ridiculous to the likes of you and me. What if this was the sort of nonsense counterclaim he put up? I have no idea WHAT counter-argument he put up, but it seems clear from what PH said that he did indeed put one up. Doubtless not as ridiculous as not liking the weather, since PH seems to be striking a conciliatory tone over it. But everything I have read points to a compromise agreement where I suspect the club found itself with limited options and at risk of counterclaim of some sort.

And if an employer splashes the terms of a confidential compromise agreement all over the media, that employer will likely face a serious action for damages.

No other employer would be likely to explain itself in the way you ask, and that includes most of the public sector in which you and I have a much more direct interest. So why should Bulls?

What about this for a theory..................he signed for Macbanana, always wanted to play for him and now he's gone his (Orful's) situation becomes untenable ?? Or he has always had a poor relationship with Potter ???

I am purely speculating, but then again, so is everyone else. As has been said, we'll never know............

PS: Surely publishing an autobiography goes against the confidentiallity agreement, otherwise Bulls could publisha small book (flier to all season tkt holders) explaining the stuation.

Whatever, I think its been badly reported in the press and does look like we have been trodden over by that scumbag !!!

Rant Over

If Toerag has asked for it to be kept confidential, then decides to publish it in his own autobiography, that would be his perogative, wouldn't it? After all, who would he sue? Himself?

Good point, well made :-0

I would certainly buy a book released by the bulls on the goings on of players leaving and other big stories over the past few years. I couldn't see it happening though, unfortunately.

Not least because it would make "War and Peace" look like a short story!

Not if he had signed a confidentiality agreement. Then he would be open to being sued by the club. Although with what chance of material success...well I suspect we can all guess the answer?

I think what people are meaning is that, in a few years when all the fuss has dies down. Usually the books come out a bit down the track. If Toerag was to blab something fairly soon, then I'm sure the club WOULD take action. Especially if the agreement says, inter alia, that they will pay him £x only provided the terms remain confidential.

Its as believable - or preposterous - as any other!!!



Although the first point would probably make you wonder at his state of mind...?

Yeah, but its amazing what you can think up when there is a great big pot of cash at risk.............even with the risk of losing face about wanting to play for Macbanana, it'd be worth the financial reward !!!

The curious thing about Hood's statement is that what it says, if you break it down into chunks, is:

1. There are "valid reasons" why Awford cannot return to the UK
2. These reasons already existed before Awford left the UK to recuperate in Aus
3. These reasons were unknown to the club

I am therefore entitled to presume that these reasons WERE known to Awford before he departed.

So, there was already a reason, before he left, why he would not be able to return to the UK; and it is confidential.

I am not going to speculate on what sort of reasons could possibly fit that bill, firstly because it is fruitless, also because a fair few of the sort of scenarios which could be made to fit would involve something dodgy, but mainly because I don't buy it.

Not least because our CE Ryan Duckett was quoted a few weeks back as saying:

It is hard to imagine what outside thing was already in existence that neither we nor Awford knew about, barring serious illness of a close relative or some such, but even in such a scenario why would there be a need to keep the financials hush hush?

I also hate the fact that the supporters, who pay the money, are again being left totally in the dark as to how the money is being spent. And I understand confidentiality clauses, but given that this wasn't like a two-sided dispute - all the right and all the contractual terms were 100% on our side - I can't see what pressure there can have been on us to agree to stringent confidentialty terms on the finances side of things. What cards did Awford have, to play?

I too am glad that the whole sorry saga is at last over, but it leaves a very bitter taste.

Summed up perfectly. What we've been told simply doesn't make sense.

It should be remembered that not only supporters have been sacrificed over this fiasco. Who is to say that Mr Menzies and Mr Morrison would have had to leave had we not been desperate for a quota spot.

menzies is fair enough, but morrison was released long before we even knew orford was available and mainly due to his recurring injury problems rather than a desperate need for his quota spot iirc.

I think a name change for this forum is in order red amber and mushrooms fits more perfectly now.

Agree Mat. As much as I like Menzies I would rather have a young aggresive forward like Elima any day of the week.

Chesnutt?