Any player who acts in a manner that is deemed serious enough to be disciplined by the club clearly hasn’t got an ounce of respect for team mates, the club or those fans who support it.
From what I gather this situation has arisen due to threatening behaviour towards a colleague at the club that was completely unprovoked.
I think the club had to act swiftly to try and ensure that the problem wasn’t allowed to fester.
Yes gards has been one of our most consistent performers over the years but no one player is bigger than the club.
Rather than be frustrated with the board I think we all need to pull together, realise that perhaps the board was backed into a no win situation (again) and get behind the lads - starting today at Trafford.
The club has a code of conduct, a charter as to how it expects it’s paid players to behave. I’ve seen it and there’s nothing on there which isn’t attainable.
The basis of this code is professionalism and respect. It is fairly standard and nothing more than I would expect in any workplace. Quite often fines are given for minor breaches. In conjunction with this we have a number of players who are contracted to the club. They are employees. And as such certain things are expected of them as they will be paid regardless of their squad status.
The only thing that a player needs to do is act professionally. Not too much to ask in my opinion.
When these two things are breached I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the club to act. Nobody grumbled when the same punishment was given to another player this season Who eventually went on to leave us. This situation is no different. Replace Gardner with any player and the outcome would have been the same apart from if it had been a non contract player I’m fairly sure they would have been gone.
We can argue the toss about this another day today we need to focus on getting a win, a loss or draw is no good today against a side who haven’t won a game in 2015!
UTA
At the time I heard the club say Bakkor was indisciplined was he ? and Swift has not been given much of a chance has he, so of all the keepers brought in none were better than Sanna I thought they would be, and I had more faith in our new manager then so supported him. This town is a small one and the stories and rumours travel fast ex players talk also to fans- so despite the club not wanting to share things we find out, Gards has been a very loyal and great performing player for this club nearly 200 games his only issue is under this manager strange that !
Also and Finally No Manager is bigger than the club.
Sanna was roundly criticised as not being value for money when he was here, so odd to see he appears to have become a better player since Sheenz released him. Porter was arguably a better option, but was unfortunate to be injured.
Bakkor was a player who was causing innumerable issues in the dressing room (ask some of the players) and 3 managers and 1 coach had problems dealing with him. Not sure what his scoring ratio is like at Skem? Better than Rainford’s?
Ben missed 3 deadlines to commit to Witton under Pritch over the summer, before agreeing to sign non-contract terms and making it clear he was leaving if he got an appropriate offer elsewhere.
Moyo has moved clubs again since leaving us, so was that one Sully’s fault too?
So regardless of whether Sully is everyone’s cup of tea or not, he actually had nothing to do with any of the above, and he should be applauded if anything for having the balls to do what nobody else did in regards to getting Bakkor out of the club.
In regards to Gards, if he really would run through brick walls for this club maybe he will now do absolutely everything in his power to undo the wrongs here?
If we want a team of players who are allowed to threaten physical abuse to one another without any recompense then fair enough. But I know if it happened to me in my place or work i would expect the offender to be punished.
My concern is that we now have no recognised left or right backs and inconsistency in the goalkeeping position together with the fact that we have never really replaced Ben at centre back. Rumours are flying round on the terraces of both former and current players falling out with the manager and its a big concern. We need stability and we are a long long way off that at the moment. 3 points today is a must.
Don’t believe this instance that is correct or helpful in this situation, it seems it’s a moment of a person seeing red and acting irrational in my opinion.
To be fair CJ Pritch was pretty big 
Don’t believe this instance that is correct or helpful in this situation[/quote]
Personally i think it is 100% correct.
From what i can see, the people without the facts are all speculating here, whereas the people in possession of all the facts have made an informed decision.
I trust their judgement.
You can say what you like the managers reputation is getting lower all the time and this one does not help, Tuck committed a really serious breach and was given a second chance not transfer listed
I could put another spin on your answers in defending the manager and player relationships ! we were told this manager got rid of Sanna and others not Sheehan ! Porter was well over weight not just injured also !
Johno said it too many ex players appear to have had issues with the manager and it is these issues that are reported back so to try and spin it that it’s never this managers problem or fault is over spinning the real issues.
Cj, who signed the lad Ramsbottom? Sully or Sheenz?
EX players…who are ex players for a reason.
Who disciplined Gards, Sully or the board?
You can say what you like, but the facts speak for themselves.
If you’ve read recent interviews in the Guardian with John Shaw and John Dawson, they both said the atmosphere in the dressing room is the best they have known it.
As mentioned several times, no player is bigger than the club. Witton Albion existed for 124 years before Anthony Gardner and as fantastic a servant he’s been, Witton Albion will exist long after Anthony Gardner.
Roar the lads on today.
Viva Sullivan, Viva Witton Albion.
I think everybody agrees that the Tuck situation was handled badly, and in hindsight perhaps the club wouldn’t have given him that second chance?
Perhaps the lessons learned have informed the board’s decision in this instance?
The difference with Gards’ offense is that it is threats made directly to somebody within the dressing room rather than via social media. It was a personal threat. Would you want to share a dressing room with somebody who had made threats of physical violence towards you? How does that help the dressing room unity at a time when we need it most?
The board have sat down and discussed this after a long process of investigation. It has gone to a vote, and a democratic decision has been made.
So if you want to blame it on Sully, then that’s your prerogative, but i’m not sure how manager-bashing helps us out now this decision has been made?
Personally i would rather get behind the players who are lined up in Witton colours today, as they are the guys that have the power to get us out of this.
Yes I will be there today albeit with a bitter taste in my mouth- I wish I could share your faith in the management but I frankly don’t and this latest event only makes it worse and yes I do blame the manager on this he drives the board to action he should have sorted it out with the player given the position we are in and based on Gards previous good record.
Faith in the management doesn’t even come into this.
And how do you know that the manager didn’t try to sort this out…?
Did the manager not fall out with Gards at Cammel Laird or did he leave by mutual consent???
He left Lairds to sign for us. As did Danny Andrews and Carl Clampitt.
Sully made Gards captain. If there were personal issues between them i expect Sully would have made somebody else captain? I would also expect Gards would have declined the captaincy if he was unable to get along with the manager?
John Dawson is another good example of a player who left, but he was very quick to return, I expect if Sully caused issues with his players then Dawson wouldn’t have come back?
Well yes if you believe Noodle whoever that is he predicted this the moment This Manager was appointed, and if he did try to sort it he didnt do very well did he and for left pegger yes Witton will survive without Gards and they will survive after this manager goes also He is completely unproven at this level and so far is not impressing at all ! For me he is or should be on his final warning !