26th October 2004: It may be slightly
arrogant of me to suggest that Mr Peace was waiting for me to comment,
but no sooner had my earlier post hit the 'net that Albion issued
a statement that Megson was being "relieved of his duties" with immediate
effect.
The wording may be crucial in that the club have not admitted to sacking
him. There may be more legal wranglings with regard to the remainder
of Megson's contract before this matter is completely closed. If the
club are unable to treat Megson's earlier statement as a resignation,
they could opt to force him into "gardening leave" until the end of
the season.
It seems clear that Megson has engineered his own dismissal, which
could suggest he has another job lined up. Peace will be unwilling
to pay him off and let him go quickly if that is the case.
And so to the successor. Does Strachan want the easy life that would
come with the Scotland job? Is there scope for a Robson/Robson partnership?
Or is Hoddle reformed enough in his man-management skills to make
a Hoddle/Gorman combination attractive? Then there's Micky Adams,
or even Gerard Houllier! My personal favourite would be Strachan,
but we will have to wait and see - not too long, please Jeremy.
A final word for Gary Megson. In four and a half years, he has helped
transform this club that means so much to us all from a struggling
First Division outfit to one that has a real chance of establishing
itself in the Premiership. I don't like the way Megson has cynically
engineered today's events, but I am grateful for what he has done
for West Bromwich Albion over the years.
So long Lord Gary, and thanks.
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