http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ture-before-penn-warning-20150411-1miz04.html
Manly Sea Eagles CEO Joe Kelly guaranteed Geoff Toovey's future before Penn warning
Date
April 11, 2015
Adrian Proszenko
Chief Rugby League Reporter
"I have no intentions of doing anything otherwise than seeing Geoff [Toovey, pictured] honour that two-year contract"
Manly CEO Joe Kelly publicly guaranteed Geoff Toovey will see out his contract just days before chairman Scott Penn revealed his job is under threat.
In an interview with News Corp, Penn said that Toovey was "under pressure" after the team claimed just one victory in the opening five rounds. "If we don't have a good outcome this year, then we will be having some serious discussions," Penn said.
However, that was in stark contrast with the message Kelly delivered less than a week earlier, to the Manly-Warringah Travelling Supporters Group just hours before the loss to Canberra in Albury.
In an address to members, which was filmed by one of them with Kelly's permission, the former South Sydney executive promised Toovey would remain until at least the expiration of his contract in 2017.
"I've been consistent from the day I started at the club, and I got asked the question before I started at the club about Geoff's tenure as head coach – Geoff's got a two-year contract. I absolutely expect to honour that two-year contract," Kelly said last Saturday.
"I have no intentions of doing anything otherwise than seeing Geoff honour that two-year contract. Any media, and I've pulled back from it in the last few weeks because this keeps coming at us, if you read anything or Google anything, you'll always find that I've always said I [was] fully supportive of Geoff. And I am.
"We've thrown another half a million dollars at the football department this year. Would I do that if I wasn't supporting Geoff? I want to see him succeed, I want to see our club succeed, our team succeed … we're giving Geoff every support possible."
Fairfax Media revealed the Sea Eagles, in a last-ditch attempt to retain star halves Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans, had approached Parramatta's Brad Arthur about the prospect of returning to Brookvale.
Speaking before Penn's statements, Kelly appeared bemused about rumours Toovey was on thin ice.
"For me, I don't know where the noise is coming from, but there's a lot of noise out there. It's not coming from me," Kelly said.
"I want to be fair and reasonable to anyone. As an employee, would I expect to be measured over the first four weeks of the competition, the first four weeks of employment? No. Not at all.
"You've got to give everyone an opportunity and Geoff has already had success over the last three years as a head coach at the club. There's nothing further from the truth but there are people out there obviously who are trying to divide and conquer. I've had enough of it, to be honest."
Toovey and Kelly were involved in a heated argument about a push by the latter to recruit Luke Burgess. The chief executive got his way, but that incident, along with the fact Toovey appeared to be out of the loop in negotiations with the halves, further fuelled suspicions the pair don't get on.
"It made it look like Geoff and I aren't communicating, which is far from the truth," Kelly said. "Geoff and I have had one disagreement since I started at the club and that has been the most documented disagreement in the history of mankind.
"Geoff and I had a conversation about it last week – 'Can you believe this, that they're talking about it still?' Let's be honest, it's about dividing and conquering. I've got a good relationship with Geoff and the fact is if everyone says 'yes' in a two-way conversation you get nothing done.
"We had what you call a robust discussion about player recruitment. Geoff is the ex-international, the expert, all of that sort of stuff and I've got to come in as the new CEO to put my point across and he's putting his point across."
