John Doe

30 minutes ago, Mostyn6 said:

You didnt like any of the following Jewell signings?:-

Danny Mills, Robbie Savage, Laurent Robert, Alan Stubbs, Benny Feilhaber, Hossam Ghaly, Roy Carroll, Tito Villa (relegation fight signings)

Steve Davies, Martin Albrechtsen, Jordon Stewart, Rob Hulse, Kris Commons, Paul Green, Andreij Pereplotkins, Liam Dickenson, Premieslaw Kazmierczac, Tyrone Mears, Luke Varney, Nathan Ellington, Darren Powell

there is one more, he signed 22 players in 2008. I cannot think who it was. 

Mile Sterjovski was also signed in "that" season, though IIRC, Feilhaber was bought by Davies at the start of the season was he not?

Of the others you mention, Mears was part of the promotion season, so would have been bought by Davies.  Including loans, think Jewell also bought in Ruben Zadkovich, Paul Connolly, Nacer Barazite and James Tomkins?

I’m not a solicitor, but I have had some experience with contracts of employment – although, I’m far from being an expert in employment law.

In the vast majority of contracts, for jobs that rely on some level of physical “activity”, there will be stipulations around what would constitute dismissal based on injuring oneself.  It may/may not specifically be listed as “gross misconduct” and could, for example, fall under “gross negligence leading to an inability to perform the role assigned”.  This could, essentially, read as the same thing, but it is less ambiguous, as gross misconduct could cover a wide range of things outside of the ability to perform a role. 

Roles this would apply to would range from builders, to highway maintenance, to where driving is an essential part of the role, etc.

Now, there would be degrees of circumstance to what would constitute gross misconduct/negligence.  If you are a builder and were, for example, to break a leg playing football, whilst you would be unable to perform your role for a period of time, unless specifically listed in your contract, it would be unlikely to be judged as gross misconduct/negligence – although your contract terms may/may not see you receive a lower level of sick-pay.  However, if you were to break a leg (or worse) as a result of a drink driving incident (seems relevant!), then the likelihood is that this would fall under gross misconduct/negligence and there would be grounds for dismissal under the terms of your contract.

Without having access to the full detail of the relevant investigations, I can only base my thoughts on the topic at hand, from the information that is in the public domain.

Lawrence and Bennett, we are told, were fined the maximum allowable under the terms of their contract.  To me (and I may be wide of the mark!), that would suggest that they were not deemed to be guilty of gross misconduct, but simply a high level of misconduct under the rules of the club, and thus were fined and allowed to continue with their employment.  The fact that they were not injured in the incident probably (but not certainly) played a role in this, given they are still able to fulfill the primary role of their contract – i.e. available to play football as and when required.

Keogh, on the other hand, is clearly unable to fulfill the primary role of his contract.  The fact that this has occurred due to rank stupidity, is certainly acceptable as a means for gross misconduct.  Without having any knowledge of Keogh’s contract, or club rules/statutes on what constitutes gross misconduct, it is impossible to say if his inability to play is the primary reason?  I would be surprised, however, if it was not deemed to be a significant factor in any decision the club has made, alongside the fact that due to the nature of how the injuries occurred, it is highly unlikely that any insurance the club would have would cover any wages/cost. 

It would, in my opinion, go some way to explaining the difference in the outcomes of the 3 players disciplinary processes.