Typical Ross, when he isn't trying to get Harbaugh behind Tony's back and play Tony for a fool in the national media - he fires the guy just before Christmas. What's the matter Ross, firing Tony when he was 0-7 and he was expecting it make too much sense, you have to wait and fire him just before Christmas? I sincerely think I am going to hate this new owner. I don't know if I am more shocked by his ignorance or his arrogance. Could you imagine the scene? "Thanks for all of your hard work Tony, Merry Christmas - you're fired - security will escort you out" Tony might not be employed right now but he's got something Ross will never have - Class. It's a shame the fans can't fire Ross, now that would be a merry Christmas indeed.
So if he fired him last month would it be poor taste to fire him around thanksgiving? I guess employers shouldn't fire their workers during the holidays.
What a scumbag Ross is. Firing Tony before Christmas. Does he really expect Tony to be able to afford Christmas presents for his family with all the millions he stole, plus all the millions he's still owed since he was fired? Not sure how Tony is ever going to live knowing he had to spend more time with his family at Christmas than he would of had he not been fired.
Your massively stretching to find something to ***** about. My boss can fire me on Christmas Day if he wants...he still owes $6 million.
By this post I take it you've never been in a supervisory position. Please let us know when the good time to fire somene is. If a owner/supervisor does not feel an employee is doing their job it is their responsibilty to let that person go regardless of time of year. Why would you let the rest of your employess or business be affected by someone you've deemed to be a problem? And yes I let a guy go at Christmas and kept his bonus pay. He didn't deserve the job or pay. Tony got the pay.
There was a reason for it. Given what other teams had done with their coaches, we had to get started on our coaching search so other teams would not get a head start on us, and so that quality candidates with a certain level of class wouldn't object to being approached while Tony is still the coach. Besides, he has paychecks coming far beyond Christmas. The loss to Philly blew up the hope that maybe this team had turned the corner under Tony, and exposed the fact that it wouldn't as presently constituted and coached. Tony simply ran out of time to produce a winner. Fortunately, whatever his motives, Ross cares about putting a winning product on the field. So merry Christmas, Tony. Thanks for working yourself to the bone, doing your best to be a head coach. Sorry it didn't work out. Your checks will keep coming, and the pressure is off. Go enjoy Christmas at home with your family and rest assured that before your checks stop coming, you will have an assistant job without the suffering that comes with having reached your Peter Principle level of incompetence. What is wrong with that? Isn't that class?
Poor Sparano. Cobra, since you are so offended, why don't you setup a fund for Sparano? Start out by donating $100 to him so he can feed his family during this holiday season. I suggest you name it the "Cobra Foundation to Feed Sparano"
There's plenty to ***** about with Stephen Ross, but this is not a valid reason. It's never convenient to be fired. But if you don't perform, that's what inevitably happens.
Tony has plenty of money, will get the rest of his 2011 salary and his entire 2012 salary to boot. He's a great guy, but lets not make more of this than it is. It's not like the head coach at Akron, who was fired over the phone last month while driving to his mother's funeral.
Based on what? If anything, Wayne is the villian here who set Ross up for failure with his 1 year plan to bring in Parcells and his shady contract.
This thread is beyond bad. I still have yet to see anyone come up with a concrete reason to dislike Ross. Most people ignore the question when asked.
Look in your closet. If you have at least 3 button down shirts that permanently flare open at around the top 3 buttons due to them always being worn open, your argument is invalid.
I fail to see the resemblance. Ross's most distinctive features are his HUGE ears and nose. The Grinch doesn't even have ears and his nose is tiny. You suck.
you can both go F*** a goat! edit: its a figure of speech kingmo...don't actually go do it you freakin buggerer.
Wait...wasn't Ross the guy who gave Sparano an extension AFTER two straight 7-9 seasons? Not sure if that was him or not.
What was he supposed to do? Try and find coaches and players to work for a guy who most assuredly would be fired? A lame duck head coach? Pretty sure he wouldn't even have coached to any acceptable level under those circumstances.
I still contend that Ross fired Sparano last January...he just didn't bother to tell the man to clear out his office. This is the same guy that asked the league to take away our only 'home field advantage' by moving the Sept games to something other than 1:00pm, the same guy that insists on name-brand owners that he feels will draw butts into the seats (you know, as opposed to putting a better product on the field), the same owner that hedged his bets by going behind the existing staff to find a replacement and when it went public told us he "had a business meeting planned and happen to meet with Harbaugh", the same owner that fired Sparano a month too late and the same owner who insists on sticking his real estate nose into football business, the same owner that has a BFF that is a former GM who, whether or not is involved in anything Fins, will always be suspected of such... Class ?? The guy had no class long before he had Tony escorted out the doors of Davie.... However, the firing of Sparano had to be done at some point. It was necessary when Haley was fired so that he could 'NFL morally' go about the search for a replacement knowing that KC has ties to the guy he wants as well...
While I am happy Rob Ianello was let go (his results were simply terrible, even by Akron's football standards), I was unaware of the way he was let go. Unless there are extreme circumstances, I think it's wrong to not let someone (a dedicated employee at least) go face to face.
I dislike Ross for trying to get more people to come to the home games, and trying to find ways to have leftover tickets purchased so that games are on TV. I want blackouts damnit.
Not sure what relevance it has that Ross fired Sparano 14 days before Christmas. He did the right thing for the team. The biggest mistake Steve Ross has made as an owner was not getting Harbaugh. That mistake is a lot bigger than talking to Harbaugh while Tony was still employed, which is a minor (but overblown) point of order. He didn't get Harbaugh because he refused to fire Jeff Ireland.
I get the feeling that no matter if we fired Ireland or not, Harbaugh wasn't leaving the San Fran area no matter what.
You know, a huge amount of credibility is being given one statement by Lombardi, which, IIRC, was not explicit, but has been made implicit that the reason Harbaugh is not here was the presence of Ireland. Do we know that the real meaning was not the current wisdom d'jour, (i.e, the presence of Ireland) or rather that it was the absence of someone else - (Peterson?) And all of this is coming from one person, as far as I know - Lombardi. What is it about this that makes Lombardi's credibility impeccable?