The bloodletting at the Eels continues after Parramatta Leagues Club boss Bob Bentley was sensationally sacked by the wooden-spooners. Bentley, who was also the chief executive of the NRL club for about a year, was summarily dismissed after a board meeting on Saturday.
Peter McEvoy has been installed in an interim role. Just weeks after a dozen players were told to pack their bags, Bentley was frogmarched over alleged misconduct. Leagues Club operations manager Tony Cinque was also punted. Bentley is considering his legal options amid concerns the move was politically motivated. His departure follows that of football club CEO Ken Edwards since the ParraFirst ticket swept to power at the board elections in May.
''My contract has been terminated by the board without any compensation,'' Bentley said. ''Given the circumstances, I'll be considering my legal options going forward.'' The bottom line of the leagues club has continued to improve during Bentley's tenure, growing a profit of about $1.3 million to about $5.3m in his three years at the helm. ''It's a great club and I've been honoured to be the CEO,'' Bentley said. ''It's been a privilege to have been able to make a substantial contribution to the financial results of the club; to put it on a platform for success in the future.'' The ParraFirst ticket came to power promising a swift change in fortunes for long-suffering supporters, but the Eels have lost all eight matches since they held the numbers on the board. A group of disaffected supporters have already put together a petition calling for an extraordinary general meeting with a view to passing a no-confidence motion in the new board. They have gathered the 100 signatures required for that to happen and have threatened to storm Eels headquarters next weekend if new chairman Steve Sharp doesn't stand down. It's understood Parramatta legend Ray Price is considering lending his support. Sharp told Crikey in May: ''There will be no mass sackings as has occurred previously.'' Some politically active fans brought Parra4Ever placards, backing the previous regime, to Friday night's loss to Canterbury. Even the Bulldogs mascot was spotted brandishing the sign.
Now as can be seen above it's clear that the 100 or so supporters are not the majority. The majority voted in Sharp. Why should he step down? Do they want Spagnolo back? I think it was poor form taking political signs to the match. Parra First never promised a Premiership in their election promises. If Sharp was to step down we'd be taking a huge step backwards.
I think it's time these 3P supporters pulled their heads in, got behind their club and stop trying to bring down a Board that has been in for less than 6 months. 3P was given a full term to get things right and they couldn't. Since the new board came to power we have signed Corey Norman, Gareth Hock, Lee Mossop and Nathan Peats. We have re-signed a number of juniors and gained financial support from the State Government to upgrade the Stadium.
I posted the above paragraph on the Blue and Gold Facebook page yesterday after one of their admins attacked Parra First. Their post, along with my comment, was swiftly deleted. And I have also been blocked from the group. I fail to see how a Board in less than 6 months can turn around an entire club. It finally seemed that things were settling down at Board level and now this has blown up. More 3P political maneuvering. And I think it laughable that Bentley can say it was a purely political move and he's considering his legal options given how the Board that he was installed by sacked Daniel Anderson in a similar manner.
Replies
Come back after you've had English lessons and know how to use grammar.
It's our own supporters who've come up with this petition. As if we didn't have enough problems at the moment they go and do this.
The article says Bentley was sacked for misconduct...I wonder what that was. As for the 3p fans, do they realise it was THEIR mob that got us into this mess in the first place and will take a looong time to fix. Btw spy cams in the dressing sheds is disgusting.... who's idea was that...helllo!!!
another day in paradise
how i love being an eels fan right now
as the big bad wolf of incompetence and failure enters yet again.............i'll huff and i'll puff and i'll blow your house down
....and there it was........what used to be........strong, big, solid..........the rubble is scattered all around where the tumbleweeds roam..........and there was nothing left but memories and an unholy mess
and it was Parra supporters from here who constantly trashed the previous board. This made me sick. Blamed the board for forward passes and knock-on virtually and now are being hypocrits when the rolls are reversed.
I'm not aligned to any board, I support the Eels and just want to see them become a powerhouse again.
as for the signings above you claim were done under the new board I can assure you Peats is the only one, the others were courted during the previous reign.
Try and keep it real. All this ParraFirst v 3P makes me sick and thanks to everyone involved in this rubbish you have just made the club into a basketcase.
GROW UP!!!!!
To be fair, 3P did promise a Premiership during their first term. They also made a number of big mistakes including sacking Daniel Anderson and hiring Stephen Kearney. The reason we were blaming the former board for what was happening on the field was because they were interfering with the coaches. The current board is not.
I was on here and read all the comments.
3P were blamed for everything from the weather to the Global Financial Crisis. It made me sick reading it and embarrassed that these people call themselves supporters of the club. They didn't support the club, they supported their own agendas in getting ParraFirst on the Board.
Parramatta is a disfunctional club. Without UNITY we will get nowhere.
Of these recent departures I have no inside knowledge whatsoever but this is all fairly standard stuff when a Board changes. It happened at NRL level with Gallop when the Commission took over, it happened at the Storm when they were sold to new owners. Nothing to be surprised or shocked about.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 13 Next