Thetownend.com

Shit the bed.

Cardiff City's new signing was on board a plane which has gone missing over the channel islands.

Presumed dead.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-46954922

Thats absolutely shocking.

Very, very sad.

Just heard it on the news,  terrible news.

Sad to read

Poor fella, shocking stuff.

Its the sort of thing that happens to STFC.

What do you mean? How is the (expected) death of a player in a plane crash "the sort of thing that happens" to us?

Is it?

Horrible news.

Not speaking for him but I think Horlock may have meant "It's the sort of thing that WOULD happen to us".

In light, probably not the best angle to have on the matter regardless.

We've already had one huge flight tragedy, surrounding football. This looks like another. First reported at around 8pm last night so unfortunately it looks pretty conclusive. I know  lot may have the opinion of "don't be negative" (yeah me, negative...) but an aircraft goes down in a sea, unexpectedly it usually ends up only one way.

Thoughts should be directed towards all families and friends, linked to all who were travelling in the aircraft.

Still makes no sense whatsoever.

Well it does in the sense that in our history, if things seem to be going great for us then  something happens. I think that's the reference Horlock is touching on, even if as I already said not quite the right timing.

This isn't the thread to be debating trivial shit and piss though, when there is an aircraft in bits in the Channel somewhere, with likely the bodies of all that were on board.

Very sad.

Jim White being an absolute cock as per usual ‘its my understanding the plane was not owned by Vincent Tan or Mehmet Dalman’

Who gives a fuck who owned the plane? There is two people missing here!

I can’t fucking stand that bloke, really is a cunt.

Who is Jim White?

Hate him as much as that prick ‘The Moose’

I'm assuming he means the Bill Power crash. No one really knows how that changed everyone on the flight, even though they all survived.

Sky Sports News presenter.

Similar thing happened to Bristol City way back when, with Dean Horrix, though I seem to remember he played a few games for them having just joined from Millwall?

Search called off

the only hope they had was to be in the life raft :(

Guessing if it landed intact on the ocean it would eventually sink without a trace and being so small there would be next to no debris. Very sad.

yeah, but there was a life raft on board apparently, so if they landed in tact they'd have used that.

yes very sad.

Depends whether they managed to get out of it. Hopefully something turns up one day so the family get some closure.

I flew from Jersey to Guernsey on business once... 4 seater plane. The hood poppednupnand you got in.

Safety talk....there are lifejackets under your seats but if this baby hits the sea there will be nothing left.

Had a similar one from Darwin to Alice Springs, basically Up/Down everything else is a mystery. I've never been to the channel islands, any chance the plane veered off and landed somewhere desolate on land?

I think that was one of the options they were looking into, I've never been either but I don't think they are that remote and desolate as to not have been flown and spotted over during the search?

What I don't get with aircraft, and this also relates to that plane that disappeared in the southern oceans a couple of years back is how they can just disappear without any tracking device to find them, even if it clatters in the sea one would expect any tracker to just stop working or become stationary at a certain point with a certain degree of watertightness for the GPS unit, Christ when I go out on my bike with my GPS unit on my missus can log on to the interweb and track where I am if she so chooses?

heartbreaking stuff for the family not knowing, the presser with the guys sister was not nice, the inane questions from journalists not really helping,

I guess its a cost compared to risk thing Horlock.

Most planes go missing on a flight corridor, mostly in radar contact. Well, from the many "Air Crash Investigates" I've watched it seems to be the case anyway.

Then its a case of working out where, can still a big search area but the black box beacon is a help.

With the MH370 they did use telemetry to work out probable location. But for constant location contact they'd need (multiple) satellite comms, and there are an average of 10K flights in the air.

A plane that small hitting the sea would have been obliterated. Very, very sad. Listening to the whatsapp message was heartbreaking

I stand corrected. Looks like they've found the plane and a body

Grim.

But in another way maybe the best of a bad situation if the body(s) can be recovered.

Absolutely, give the family closure.

Absolutely fucking shocking.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47146614

As much as I dislike them you can't blame Cardiff, he's not officially been found yet and there's still an investigation underway so of course you aren't going to pay yet. If legal action is really being threatened then it's poor all round.

It just seems massively disrespectful by both parties, so soon after the event and still with no body found.

yeah the timing sucks

It’s a ‘BBC understands’ story, isn’t it? Therefore it’s only leaked because somebody wanted it public.

Cleary it shouldn’t have made the public domain just yet but I dare say that the question was raised as soon as it was confirmed that Sala was onboard that flight.

Taking the emotion out of it what difference does it make if they haven’t found the body yet? Cardiff owe Nantes the transfer fee, end of.

Sounds harsh and not suggesting Cardiff are trying to pull a fast one but a deal’s a deal with regard to financial side of this tragedy

Knew the money side of things would raise its head, no need for either club to go public about it

Agree with the above. If you bought a house, signed contract etc, and it caught fire or something like that before you moved in, you are still obliged to pay aren’t you.

But yes, the timing sucks.

Let's make no mistake. I think Cardiff are more than willing to pay but Nantes maybe should have a little bedside manner in what is an absolute tragedy. It's an abnormal event, whereby the players family should be the top of concern. The business side will of course be settled in due course. It could be something as simple as Cardiff awaiting for the insurance paying out.

That isn't Nantes problem but being French, you would think they might take reference from their own National slogan;


Especially the 'fraternité' part. "Friendship and mutual support in a group."

It may have been better if they simply released a statement along the lines of "We're assisting Cardiff City with the settlement of the transfer fee and liaising with the family of Emiliano in what is a very difficult time. As football is a world family, we offer and extend our help to our football family. Liberté, egalité, fraternité."

A smidge of empathy goes a long way. Business or not.

tbf, Cardiff have said they recognise they owe the money and have no intention of not paying it, they're just questioning the timing of Nantes' request

Whilst they check they have insurance...

No.

We have ‘bought’ a house before. Exchanged contracts, had a completion date and even a move in date. Never got the keys. Sellers were in negative equity and couldn’t pay the mortgage off.

presumably they got whacked with financial penalties

Nope. Decided not to go down that route. If they didn’t have the money to pay off the mortgage what chance of getting any money off them...

How would they not know they wouldnt have been able to pay the mortgage off?

sod that, I'd have at least pursued all costs in lieu of wherever % (ours was 30%). it's not like you exchange contracts then suddenly realise ...

Thing is their announcement when they signed him said 'subject to international clearance' and it seems there is confusion over whether he'd officially been registered with Cardiff yet. They've probably been instructed by lawyers not to pay until the investigation is complete which is a fairly sensible position if you take emotion out of it.  This must be unprecedented with the player having never even trained with his new team and would merit going through things slow and cautiously in my opinion.

Bordeaux are owed 50% of it anyway and have said they won't be chasing the money imminently and to be honest it's pretty poor money is even being discussed whilst the AAIB are currently in the process of recovering a body.

Poor form from Nantes, and unprofessional for this to have come out now in public if they had any hand it becoming public. The payment was inevitably going to be disputed. Even if Cardiff end up paying, you would have thought they’d be insured anyway.

Agreed.  What is shocking is the fact that this has leaked at this time to the media. Likely to have come from Nantes.

Bamboo, I'd be surprised if you have any grounds for thinking Cardiff are "perfectly willing to pay".  They will surely be going over everything with a very fine toothcomb.  (Don't tell me you have heard it through the Cardiff Chairman's Dad  ;)).

I understand a transfer is only effective once the player's contract with his new employer has been registered with FIFA.  Assuming that was duly carried out, then there may be several contracts to be reviewed.  I believe French based footballers often need the permission of their club to fly outside of training and matches.

If the first instalment is already due (at least on the face of it), then Nantes will naturally be invoicing it and following it up like any other 5 m. euro debt.  Even more vigorously if they fear Cardiff will be looking for loopholes.

My expectation would be that no payment by Cardiff City will be made for months -just possibly even for years or at all.  The completely unexpected nature of the tragic circumstances will inevitably lead to an extremely contentious and protracted legal "pass the parcel" situation between numerous parties.

As for "fraternity" and money actually being parted with to date, several France Internationals and Nantes players have contributed to the online fund raising to extend the aborted search, notably Kylian Mbappe who weighed in with 30,000 euros.

God knows. Dodgy solicitor maybe? But our solicitor said it wasn't worth it.

I understand that there is also a sell on fee of 50%? payable to another French club (cannot recall who, Bordeaux rings a bell) so that might be rumbling in the background as well (relating to Sala not Sippo's mortgage problems).

Ultimately the guy will be insured, I can understand why the co might delay paying out until salvage is a little further forward, as for the source of the leak who knows, it could equally be Cardiff trying to divert the attention or be shitty about things? 

He was insured, apparently
"Sala was insured by Cardiff after signing for the club on 19 January, two days before his ill-fated flight back from Nantes, where he had returned to say goodbye to his former teammates. It is believed that Cardiff have a player insurance policy of £16m per individual and that Sala was registered under those terms on the morning of 21 January."

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/feb/06/nantes-demand-transfer-fee-from-cardiff-city-for-emiliano-sala

Nice of Cardiff's PR people to write a piece for the Guardian... at least my recollection about Bordeaux was correct. I note the BBC are now confirming that the body has been extracted from the wreckage so some sort of closure is at least forthcoming for one family?

Ahh that's a misquote. I said "I think Cardiff are more than willing to pay" not "perfectly willing". Meaning I think they will pay in time (as you state 'legal "pass the parcel" situation') but not as quickly as Nantes may like. Hence "more than" and not "perfectly".  :)

That's good to read. Although it should be an automatic response. I think SAR is something to be bestowed upon around the world. The amount of peril that many of these people put themselves in and potentially their own death too is staggeringly courageous. Whilst many voluntarily (you can't put a price on peril) offer their help, even with those that are paid, no pension or payment can ever really compensate the loss of a life.

Anounced today that the body on board was Sala. No sign of the Pilot.

Did he know something was wrong and jumped ship(or plane) in bit to not go down inside the plane?

Im sure there are 100's of possibilities.

more likely to have been thrown from the plane during the crash I'd have thought, but who knows

All the reports I've seen have said that the back of the plane was largely intact and guessing that was where sala was sat and belted in. If it went in nose first I'd imagine the front and therefore his body got detached from the back part. I'm sure the AAIB report in a month will reveal more.

Getting all a bit messy now.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47406109

The whole involvement with Willie McKay seems fishy, he has twin sons who are pro's but from their history to date seem no more than lower league players at best yet both are contracted to Cardiff having joined in Jan 2018 on 2.5 year contracts then disappeared out on loan?

Fucking hell. They probably should have arranged a flight for him, but it's hardly the human right's tragedy that that guy is making it out to be.

"The way they've acted so far, they've been a disgrace."

Behave.

S'cuse the source but the mud slinging continues.... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6758293/Leaked-WhatsApp-messages-Cardiff-offered-Emiliano-Sala-commercial-flight.html

It wouldn't matter if he wasn't offered a flight really, what a pathetic thing to go to the press about. It would just have been a bit tin-pot, but not much more than that.

This just smacks of attention seeking by the agent to me.

Or trying to set the narrative by getting ones story out first....

McKay is a fucking idiot, i dont think he is even a registered agent anymore

He's not, and so shouldn't have been anywhere near the deal, but was "just helping out his son" (who is a registered agent) according to him

He is also notoriously publicity shy which suggests something is going on to spook him into the open here.....

Cardiff refusing to pay now i see. Say it wasn’t ‘legally binding’

There's a surprise.

Should probably be in the What's wrong with football thread. Pretty shit behaviour

I thought he was "their beautiful bluebird who they would remember forevermore"
Bollocks

Quite!

turns out that's expensive

imho despicable, hypocritical and sums up everything that is wrong with football. They show bleeding hearts that one of their own is killed in the most tragic circumstances, and now clearly state he was not “one of their own”. Cunts

I saw someone comment on this by saying the true cultural values of a company are not displayed by their public actions, but by what they back their lawyers to argue.

Couldn't agree more with that summation and the general feeling expressed by others.

Presumably a chunk of that would go to the player or, in this instance, his family?

Very well put, applies well to Crewe's appalling behaviour in defending claims in the Bannell case too

It's a tough situation. If the insurance won't pay out because contracts were legally incomplete should Cardiff just write off £15 million plus out of sympathy for a tragic death? It's a horrible corner to be put in but you can see why this is happening. If proved the paperwork was all complete then they have to pay.

The question over who pays what was always going to happen in the aftermath. I'm not surprised or outraged by this in my opinion it was expected. You can't say that because they are challenging the player and the grief they had at the time doesn't exist.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47696561

On account of nothing really I have always thought that Cardiff were a pretty objectionable club and this is doing nothing to change this view.

The fact that all of this is leaking out of a 'Cardiff source' much as with McKay giving interviews does suggest that something is very smelly about the whole deal.

If the first instalment is already due (at least on the face of it), then Nantes will naturally be invoicing it and following it up like any other 5 m. euro debt.  Even more vigorously if they fear Cardiff will be looking for loopholes.

My expectation would be that no payment by Cardiff City will be made for months -just possibly even for years or at all.  The completely unexpected nature of the tragic circumstances will inevitably lead to an extremely contentious and protracted legal "pass the parcel" situation between numerous parties.



True 7 weeks ago and true now.

Putting the legal and moral aspects to one side, this seems very short-sighted by Cardiff.

They will want to buy again at some point, there will of course be clubs willing to take their money but Cardiff may have made it difficult for themselves here.

I don't see how. Will a club or player think twice about signing in case the player dies and they won't get paid? Contracts are huge, they cover every eventuality and some. What is the point in having a contract otherwise? There must be a part of it that Cardiff feel hasn't been completed. They can't just pay that much money out of sentiment. It's the horrible side to a tragedy that needs to get sorted and may not feel comfortable with many people

Cardiff been ordered to cough up the first installment at least....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49825166

Now ‘disappointed’ Cardiff say they are going to appeal it.

Couldnt make it up

You could, it was fairly predictable.

I thought they would "remember their beautiful bluebird forevermore"