It's being reported this morning that Roy was dismissed by e-mail. If that is the case then I'm sorry, but that is a shoddy way to sack the manager of Liverpool Football Club. What a contrast to the dignified way Gerard Houllier was dismissed when David Moores and Rick Parry ran the club. It's not a pleasant thing to happen but there are ways of treating people and that just wasn't right.
Was it beyond the capabilities of the owners to fly over and do it face-to-face and then take in the game today?
To be fair that sounds like a load of nonsense aimed at stirring up trouble.
If they were based here they'd have face-to-face conversations followed-up by an exchange of letters to put it all in writing.
They'd talk first, probably to indicate that they needed to sort something out. Then there'd be more talks, probably through lawyers, agents or someone from the LMA, because if Roy resigned he'd lose all the money left on his contract, if the club fired him they'd have to pay him the full amount of his contract.
The only difference with them being overseas is that some of that face-to-face stuff will be done by phone, and some of it will be done by - perhaps - Ian Ayre or Damien Comolli on their behalf. And where a letter would be typed up and handed to Roy under old-fashioned protocol, a letter will be typed up and emailed over instead - as an attachment.
I'm not saying the owners have 100% acted appropriately, but I doubt they've acted too shoddily.
