"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown"

“Alan Curbishley's resignation from West Ham saved him from the sack”

The Mirror headline read yesterday

It is now emerging that “The Sword of Damocles” was poised just prior to the walk out of Alan Curbishley, had he stayed he would have been gone, sacked, 48 hours later

Allegedly there were sinister plans afoot by the then owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson to rid West Ham of Curbs and his dire brand of football before he quit; according to the Mirror yesterday

Curbishley was celebrating last week after winning his case for constructive dismissal against West Ham and stands to win anywhere between £1.5 and £3.2 million (depending on which report you read) when the arbitration board convene to set his compensation figure in January.

Curbishley must now understand why there was no attempt to persuade him to stay when he handed in his notice in September last year. He in fact played right into their hands by walking out saving the club a massive payout - they thought,  had they got rid of him – how wrong can you be eh?

Apparently there had been widespread complaints about him at the club from various quarters and even, the Mirror claims, six players went to senior management about him, staff questioned his training methods and fans had direct towards the club’s governing body many questions re his continued employment and numerous requests of the club demanding his head.

Two points spring to my mind, assuming the Mirror story is true of course –

1. Why has the story come out now and not before, because if it had come out prior to the tribunal’s decision it would have meant that Curbishley was right all along?: and
2. Are they stupid at West Ham why didn’t they just pay him off and get rid of him by “mutual agreement” when he handed in his notice, thereby saving themselves all this grief, public ridicule and humiliation? He maybe a lot of things Curbishley but fool he ain't.