Interview with Milan Mandaric

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Filthy Rich

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As it appears a lot of people are not aware of or have not read this interview with MM done by the Leicester Mercury, I thought it ought to be reproduced here before the meeting with him on Thursday evening so that anyone attending knows his views beforehand....


"For the first time since I became involved with Leicester City Football Club, I sat with my head in my hands and wondered what on earth I was doing this week. It happened during the game against Forest at the City Ground on Tuesday.

It was a strange match in many ways: a replayed cup tie, a local derby, Gary Megson's first real game in charge here and back at his old club.

On top of all that, there was the fact that we allowed Forest to walk through and score (more of which, below).

It wasn't the football which confused me and made me angry. It was the section of fans singing for Martin Allen.

It is not up to me to tell the fans what to sing. But do these people think, in all seriousness, that Allen is somehow a more important issue than the club they have supported for years?

I don't. I don't understand why they sang it and I'm finding it hard to forget.

I have always felt, since I first started negotiating with Leicester City almost a year ago, that this is a good, friendly, family club.

I still believe that. This is your family and you have taken me in and made me feel welcome and, for that, I am grateful.

Maybe now we need one of those "clear-the-air'' family chats. So that's what I propose. If you're one of the fans who would rather sing for Martin Allen than Leicester City, then come and see me.

Please, come down to the Walkers Stadium at 7pm on Thursday, September 27, and tell me why you sang it. I'll meet you, face to face, and I'll listen to what you have to say. Then I'll tell you why I think you were wrong.

For 45 minutes, maybe the Walkers Stadium will become the OK Corral on Thursday night. I am prepared for that.

If you don't want to come, if you don't trust me, if you don't think I've bought this club to make it a success, if you don't think I am trying my very best to keep my pledge to you that we will be promoted inside three seasons, and if you think Martin Allen is the best manager in the world... then, please, give me your season tickets and go and follow Allen wherever he goes.

I can't say as much as I would like to on this matter. There is a confidentiality clause in place which prevents me going into the kind of detail I think you deserve. Unfortunately, I think this clause benefits one man. That man is not me.

The relationship with Allen did not work. Which is a great shame, because I genuinely hoped it would.

Do you think I wanted to sack a manager I had hired, a man I had asked the fans to support, a man who spent the money I offered him on new players?

Of course I didn't. I believed that, in Martin, I had found the right man, the right kind of character, to take us forward.

Unfortunately, it didn't take me long to realise that it wasn't working out as I envisaged. If I thought Allen was the man to take this club forward, believe me, he'd still be here.

Did I make a mistake? You know, I don't think I did. When I interviewed him for the job, he was impressive. I spoke to him two or three times. Each time, he was brilliant. He said every-thing I wanted to hear.

I want to be open and truthful and to tell you why I had to let him go and how I came to that decision. I think it would clear up a lot of confusion.

People are calling me all sorts of names. I was listening to a radio station a few days ago and someone called in and called me a "barbarian".

A barbarian? Really? I am glad my wife and daughters were not in this country to hear that. I have to hang on to the hope that my definition of barbarian is different to yours.

I do accept that the fans don't know all the details. Maybe one day, you will know why I did what I did.

But ask yourself this: do you think I wanted to do this?

Do you think I planned to hire Allen, ask the supporters to back him, let him buy players to strengthen the squad - and then sack him after just four games?

Does it not suggest that by doing this that maybe there was something seriously wrong?

It wasn't the easy thing to do. I could have sat back and watched the team suffer - and my firm opinion is that we would have struggled - and let the fans start singing: "Martin Allen Out.''

That would have been easy. The decision would have been made for me. It happens at football clubs all over the world. But it wouldn't have been right.

Let me tell you this. I had made my mind up before the Watford game to let go of Allen.

But then after that game, which we managed to win 4-1, I changed my mind.

Even though I knew it wasn't right, I had a moment of doubt. So I slept on it, thought about it, mulled it over and then the first half against Forest made my mind up.

Perhaps I was wrong there. I wonder whether I should have stuck to my gut instinct and done it after the Watford game. Maybe it would have been more drastic, but maybe people would have understood - maybe they would have said: 'Something must be amiss here for the chairman to sack a manager after we won a game 4-1.''

I know that letting Allen go has not boosted my popularity. It has damaged my reputation. It cost me, personally, a lot of money. It has cost the club money, damaged the club's reputation, hampered our progress and, I can see, upset some fans more than I imagined.

But I hope we can move forward now. If you feel that we can't move forward, you're still unhappy and you want to see me, the invitation is there.

Please come to the Walkers Stadium next Thursday and we'll discuss things.

I want to bring in discipline and a positive attitude to this club.

To be honest, the chanting on Tuesday night did shock me.

Did I think about my position here? No, not seriously. It made me angry and I was confused by it but I didn't think about quitting.

I've put too much time, money, energy and enthusiasm into this club to walk away.

I'm not going to be put off by a few people who, I don't think, know the full story, or prefer to wallow in the doom and gloom.

They will not put me off.

Do you think this job is easy? Do you think it's a walk in the park? Come and have a go if that is what you think. Please.

I'd be happy to hand it over to you if you think you can do a better job."

* Milan Mandaric was speaking to Lee Marlow
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Please, come down to the Walkers Stadium at 7pm on Thursday, September 27, and tell me why you sang it. I'll meet you, face to face, and I'll listen to what you have to say. Then I'll tell you why I think you were wrong.

:icon_lol:
 
As it appears a lot of people are not aware of or have not read this interview with MM done by the Leicester Mercury, I thought it ought to be reproduced here before the meeting with him on Thursday evening so that anyone attending knows his views beforehand....


"For the first time since I became involved with Leicester City Football Club, I sat with my head in my hands and wondered what on earth I was doing this week. It happened during the game against Forest at the City Ground on Tuesday.

It was a strange match in many ways: a replayed cup tie, a local derby, Gary Megson's first real game in charge here and back at his old club.

On top of all that, there was the fact that we allowed Forest to walk through and score (more of which, below).

It wasn't the football which confused me and made me angry. It was the section of fans singing for Martin Allen.

It is not up to me to tell the fans what to sing. But do these people think, in all seriousness, that Allen is somehow a more important issue than the club they have supported for years?

I don't. I don't understand why they sang it and I'm finding it hard to forget.

I have always felt, since I first started negotiating with Leicester City almost a year ago, that this is a good, friendly, family club.

I still believe that. This is your family and you have taken me in and made me feel welcome and, for that, I am grateful.

Maybe now we need one of those "clear-the-air'' family chats. So that's what I propose. If you're one of the fans who would rather sing for Martin Allen than Leicester City, then come and see me.

Please, come down to the Walkers Stadium at 7pm on Thursday, September 27, and tell me why you sang it. I'll meet you, face to face, and I'll listen to what you have to say. Then I'll tell you why I think you were wrong.

For 45 minutes, maybe the Walkers Stadium will become the OK Corral on Thursday night. I am prepared for that.

If you don't want to come, if you don't trust me, if you don't think I've bought this club to make it a success, if you don't think I am trying my very best to keep my pledge to you that we will be promoted inside three seasons, and if you think Martin Allen is the best manager in the world... then, please, give me your season tickets and go and follow Allen wherever he goes.

I can't say as much as I would like to on this matter. There is a confidentiality clause in place which prevents me going into the kind of detail I think you deserve. Unfortunately, I think this clause benefits one man. That man is not me.

The relationship with Allen did not work. Which is a great shame, because I genuinely hoped it would.

Do you think I wanted to sack a manager I had hired, a man I had asked the fans to support, a man who spent the money I offered him on new players?

Of course I didn't. I believed that, in Martin, I had found the right man, the right kind of character, to take us forward.

Unfortunately, it didn't take me long to realise that it wasn't working out as I envisaged. If I thought Allen was the man to take this club forward, believe me, he'd still be here.

Did I make a mistake? You know, I don't think I did. When I interviewed him for the job, he was impressive. I spoke to him two or three times. Each time, he was brilliant. He said every-thing I wanted to hear.

I want to be open and truthful and to tell you why I had to let him go and how I came to that decision. I think it would clear up a lot of confusion.

People are calling me all sorts of names. I was listening to a radio station a few days ago and someone called in and called me a "barbarian".

A barbarian? Really? I am glad my wife and daughters were not in this country to hear that. I have to hang on to the hope that my definition of barbarian is different to yours.

I do accept that the fans don't know all the details. Maybe one day, you will know why I did what I did.

But ask yourself this: do you think I wanted to do this?

Do you think I planned to hire Allen, ask the supporters to back him, let him buy players to strengthen the squad - and then sack him after just four games?

Does it not suggest that by doing this that maybe there was something seriously wrong?

It wasn't the easy thing to do. I could have sat back and watched the team suffer - and my firm opinion is that we would have struggled - and let the fans start singing: "Martin Allen Out.''

That would have been easy. The decision would have been made for me. It happens at football clubs all over the world. But it wouldn't have been right.

Let me tell you this. I had made my mind up before the Watford game to let go of Allen.

But then after that game, which we managed to win 4-1, I changed my mind.

Even though I knew it wasn't right, I had a moment of doubt. So I slept on it, thought about it, mulled it over and then the first half against Forest made my mind up.

Perhaps I was wrong there. I wonder whether I should have stuck to my gut instinct and done it after the Watford game. Maybe it would have been more drastic, but maybe people would have understood - maybe they would have said: 'Something must be amiss here for the chairman to sack a manager after we won a game 4-1.''

I know that letting Allen go has not boosted my popularity. It has damaged my reputation. It cost me, personally, a lot of money. It has cost the club money, damaged the club's reputation, hampered our progress and, I can see, upset some fans more than I imagined.

But I hope we can move forward now. If you feel that we can't move forward, you're still unhappy and you want to see me, the invitation is there.

Please come to the Walkers Stadium next Thursday and we'll discuss things.

I want to bring in discipline and a positive attitude to this club.

To be honest, the chanting on Tuesday night did shock me.

Did I think about my position here? No, not seriously. It made me angry and I was confused by it but I didn't think about quitting.

I've put too much time, money, energy and enthusiasm into this club to walk away.

I'm not going to be put off by a few people who, I don't think, know the full story, or prefer to wallow in the doom and gloom.

They will not put me off.

Do you think this job is easy? Do you think it's a walk in the park? Come and have a go if that is what you think. Please.

I'd be happy to hand it over to you if you think you can do a better job."

* Milan Mandaric was speaking to Lee Marlow

FFS he's trying to give the club away now :icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol:

i mite give it a go if i can spend his money ;)
 
Please, come down to the Walkers Stadium at 7pm on Thursday, September 27, and tell me why you sang it. I'll meet you, face to face, and I'll listen to what you have to say. Then I'll tell you why I think you were wrong.

:icon_lol:



It sounds a bit like the great Brian Clough.

I still laugh now when i read his quotes

He was well-loved and respected, not least for his straight talking and sense of humour.
In tribute to the tremendous character that was Cloughie, here are some reminders of "Old Big Ead's" forthright opinions and wit.
"I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one" - On his own success.
"If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there" - On the importance of passing the ball to feet.
"I only ever hit Roy the once. He got up so I couldn't have hit him very hard" - On dealing with Roy Keane.
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - On dealing with players who disagree with him.
"At last England have appointed a manager who speaks English better than the players" - On the appointment of Sven-Goran Eriksson.
"I'm sure the England selectors thought if they took me on and gave me the job, I'd want to run the show. They were shrewd because that's exactly what I would have done" - On not getting the England manager's job.
"Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes" - On England's exit from Euro 2000.
"The Derby players have seen more of his balls than the one they're meant to be playing with" - On a streaker who once interrupted a Derby County-Manchester United match.
_39967614_fergie203.jpg
In a champion's league: Cloughie 2-1 Ferguson


"Manchester United in Brazil? I hope they all get bloody diarrhoea" - On Manchester United's decision to opt out of the FA Cup to play in the World Club Championship in 2000.
"For all his horses, knighthoods and championships, he hasn't got two of what I've got. And I don't mean balls" - Referring to Sir Alex Ferguson's failure to win two successive European Cups.
"I can't even spell spaghetti never mind talk Italian. How could I tell an Italian to get the ball? He might grab mine" - On the influx of foreign players.
"I like my women to be feminine, not sliding into tackles and covered in mud" - On women and football.
"Anybody who can do anything in Leicester but make a jumper has got to be a genius" - His tribute to Martin O'Neill, who used to manage Leicester City.
"That Seaman is a handsome young man but he spends too much time looking in his mirror rather than at the ball. You can't keep goal with hair like that" - On the pony-tailed former England goalkeeper David Seaman.
"If a chairman sacks the manager he initially appointed, he should go as well" - Saying that too many managers lose their jobs.
"I thought it was my next-door neighbour because I think she felt that if I got something like that I would have to move" - Guessing who nominated him for a knighthood.
"Who the hell wants 14 pairs of shoes when you go on holiday? I haven't had 14 pairs in my life" - On the contents of Victoria Beckham's missing luggage.
"He should guide Posh in the direction of a singing coach because she's nowhere near as good at her job as her husband" - Advice for David Beckham.
"Don't send me flowers when I'm dead. If you like me, send them while I'm alive" - After the liver transplant which saved his life. "I want no epitaphs of profound history and all that type of thing. I contributed. I would hope they would say that, and I would hope somebody liked me." - On being remembered

Lovely stuff:biggrin:
 
I can't say as much as I would like to on this matter. There is a confidentiality clause in place which prevents me going into the kind of detail I think you deserve. Unfortunately, I think this clause benefits one man. That man is not me.

This is bull! there is no way that Allen could have forced Milan into that clause. Never! This was done to protect Milan.
 
This is bull! there is no way that Allen could have forced Milan into that clause. Never! This was done to protect Milan.



No doubt you'll be going along on Thursday and strongly putting that point to him face to face.......

Yeah, right....
 
No doubt you'll be going along on Thursday and strongly putting that point to him face to face.......

Yeah, right....

Can't make thursday unfortunately, might be interesting.

For the record if we are picking sides, i'm with milan.

Do you believe Milan that the contract is to protect allen?

If so, can you explain how a manager, of no great reputation, with only four games under his belt, is able to commit a milionaire chairman with a huge ego to a contract requiring silence? And if milan felt so strongly to sack him after 4 games why would he want to do him such a favor. Makes no sense at all.

Milan could easily buy Allens silence though.
 
I just hope it doesn't take him too many more games to realise that Smegson is going to take us nowhere!

I also think Milan is being a bit sensitive. You get rid of a manager that has done pretty well against the league leaders, keep it quiet, appoint a complete twat and expect everyone to throw you a party...

come on. Lets get real Milan. I might drive down on thursday to give you the toys back that you threw out of your pram. I also don't buy into this 'I have thrown a lot of money into this club' talk. Yeah you have but I am sure that you expect to get it back. You did not get rich by being a footballing philanthropist...there are many many fans who throw what is a large proportion of their modest wealth into the club. The only thing they have got now is a crap manager who tries to defend a 2-0 loss.

Use your loaf Milan. I respect your achievements in football and I think you are a good bloke and we can get it right together but you can't go around demanding respect and trust...you like everyone else have to earn that!
 
Can't make thursday unfortunately, might be interesting.

For the record if we are picking sides, i'm with milan.

Do you believe Milan that the contract is to protect allen?

If so, can you explain how a manager, of no great reputation, with only four games under his belt, is able to commit a milionaire chairman with a huge ego to a contract requiring silence? And if milan felt so strongly to sack him after 4 games why would he want to do him such a favor. Makes no sense at all.

Milan could easily buy Allens silence though.

Have you thought if the real reason MA went was due to something he did, this agreement stops LCFC from revealing the facts and therefore does not hinder the cockney twat from getting employment elsewhere. I just hope chairmen talk to one another.
 
I just hope it doesn't take him too many more games to realise that Smegson is going to take us nowhere!

I also think Milan is being a bit sensitive. You get rid of a manager that has done pretty well against the league leaders, keep it quiet, appoint a complete twat and expect everyone to throw you a party...

come on. Lets get real Milan. I might drive down on thursday to give you the toys back that you threw out of your pram. I also don't buy into this 'I have thrown a lot of money into this club' talk. Yeah you have but I am sure that you expect to get it back. You did not get rich by being a footballing philanthropist...there are many many fans who throw what is a large proportion of their modest wealth into the club. The only thing they have got now is a crap manager who tries to defend a 2-0 loss.

Use your loaf Milan. I respect your achievements in football and I think you are a good bloke and we can get it right together but you can't go around demanding respect and trust...you like everyone else have to earn that!

I Think Megson was the only person that would take the job, so if i am right, we are stuck with him, whether milan thinks he will take us up or not, because there is no pottential replacements
 
Have you thought if the real reason MA went was due to something he did, this agreement stops LCFC from revealing the facts and therefore does not hinder the cockney twat from getting employment elsewhere. I just hope chairmen talk to one another.

Yes, that is what Milan is suggesting, but why would milan agree to that?
 
I Think Megson was the only person that would take the job, so if i am right, we are stuck with him, whether milan thinks he will take us up or not, because there is no pottential replacements

So you dont think we could almost have our pick of managers from league 2 and 1. lets face it they can't be worse than megson.
 
So you dont think we could almost have our pick of managers from league 2 and 1. lets face it they can't be worse than megson.

I think the decent ones might be reluctant to risk their careers knowing they won't get a fair chance.

At the moment, Milan has to give Megson a substantial period of time, to show that any new manager will be given time.
 
I Think Megson was the only person that would take the job, so if i am right, we are stuck with him, whether milan thinks he will take us up or not, because there is no pottential replacements

Absolutely - unless MM wants to trawl around the bottom end of Div 4, the Conference, and Bulgarian and Slovenian 2nd division managers. Which isn't impossible, of course.

So I think Megson is probably here for the season unless it gets shockingly bad. It's a little surprising he has been so negative right from the start given the time he probably has to put his mark on the team.
 
If so, can you explain how a manager, of no great reputation, with only four games under his belt, is able to commit a milionaire chairman with a huge ego to a contract requiring silence? And if milan felt so strongly to sack him after 4 games why would he want to do him such a favor. Makes no sense at all.

I can imagine a couple of scenarios.
One involves underage rentboys and a hundred weight of liquorice allsorts.
The other one a Turkish gang of coke traffickers and a Serbian arms dealer.
 
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