Re: The gamble that didn’t pay off

Quote
QBBC2
Are you really that naive?

Not in the slightest. Read the article. It states (bolded by me) -

"It didn't help either that Rowett's star was on the rise. Predators, with bigger budgets, if not intrinsically bigger clubs in themselves, started to appear on the periphery. Twelve months ago, the manager was pursued by Fulham. Acting chief executive Panos Pavlakis pulled off a coup in persuading Rowett's backroom staff to stay. And then the manager himself, increasing his relatively low wages three-fold with a new contract. But the deal had left a nasty taste in Pavlakis's mouth. He didn't much like the way the situation had been handled. More of that, later. Meanwhile, the club had been taken over and, with the green light given from Hong Kong, the purse-strings were loosened a little. Rowett was able to make moves in the transfer market.

[snip]

The owners were present at a 0-3 home defeat by Barnsley. It was followed by a trip to a rampant Newcastle United who showed the benefits of a huge transfer spent that had been made wisely as they tore Birmingham to shreds last weekend. It is not what the Chinese needed to see. Rowett was not, after all, their man. In their eye, the investment wasn't paying off. Money is available in the New Year. Would they allow Rowett to spend it? We now know the answer. The fact is, in Championship terms, Birmingham City were still not able to compete with the likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Wolves, Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Derby County – to name but six.

[snip]

So the pressure was being ramped up on Rowett. The defeat at St James' Park was the final straw. But clearly with Pavlakis's relationship with his manager strained and the new owners not convinced a decision was made to remove him."

It's got nothing to do with blackmail and everything to do with the new owners being overly-ambitious and unrealistic and deciding that Zola would take Blues to the next level, in 'a new direction'. They decided to give Rowett a new, better contract just as many clubs do when the manager is doing well. They got it horribly wrong and they are still getting it horribly wrong, which just proves the point. If any of this blackmail had taken place, they would have taken a different approach to him, they wouldn't have covered up for his illegal behaviour and taken the blame themselves.