Football can be a cut-throat business at the best of times, but it still has the ability to shock, even when you think that you’ve seen and heard it all.
After a run of six straight defeats, it was perhaps inevitable that Cardiff City would part company with their manager, Neil Harris, and his assistant, David Livermore.
However, there are ways and means of doing things, and via using the proper channels.
Harris himself surely won’t have enjoyed being told his time at the Welsh club was up, little more than a year after taking the post, though his players would’ve liked it even less because, according to the Daily Mirror, they didn’t even know!
Owner, Vincent Tan, had put a message on the official club website thanking Harris for his service but suggesting recent results had left them with little choice.
An hour or so later, broadcaster, Ian Abrahams, tweeted that he was sorry to see Harris go, prompting a response from Cardiff player, Lee Tomlin.
Is this true ? We ain’t even been told a thing ?
— Lee Tomlin (@Leetomlin10) January 21, 2021
‘Is this true?’ Tomlin asked. ‘We ain’t been told a thing.’
There’s bound to be a backlash from the playing staff not just because of Harris being relieved of his duties, but also because of the way that the news had come out before, seemingly, any of the players knew.