Simon Cohen

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tigerburnie
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Simon Cohen

Post by tigerburnie »

Taken from the unoffy

Saw this post on LinkedIn

'Time to say thanks

Well, my very long garden leave ( not the worst way to spend a pandemic) is over and with it nearly 17 years at Leicester Tigers.

It’s been, as ever in sport, an emotional roller coaster but one that I’ve enjoyed so very much and I wanted to thank those who’d made it so special. Cockers always said that , in sport, the fans and players mattered, the rest didn’t so much. So a thank you to the fans who were always passionate, who always cared and a special thanks to the many who I engaged with stood on the terrace or at motorway service stations to and from games or indeed anywhere in Leicester and beyond who were always friendly and welcoming.

The players have , without exception, been great to deal with. The “Be Kind” message didn’t resonate with all Tigers fans and all the players have gone through some difficult times but I’ve never come across one who didn’t give everything for the shirt and who didn’t try as hard as they possibly could. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed their company but a special word for those that I now consider friends such as Marcos, Julian, Boris and Geordan.

The coaches and support staff have, equally, all been great to work with but a special mention for Cockers with whom I spent so many good times.

On the board, Peter Wheeler ( who brought me to the club) and David Matthews were inspirational and others like Terry, David and Digby were always a huge support.

Finally a thank you to my colleagues who were constantly going the extra mile and who cared so much.

I look at the team now that Dusty,Ged and Jan put together and am so pleased that’s it’s going so well. I’m delighted that I was able to bring Steve Borthwick in to bring out the best in them.

Thanks , once again, to all'.
"If you want entertainment, go to the theatre," says Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill. "Rugby players play the game to win.15/1/21.
sapajo
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by sapajo »

tigerburnie wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 7:42 am
I’m delighted that I was able to bring Steve Borthwick in to bring out the best in them.
The great I am to the end and frankly I do not believe a word that eminates out of his mouth.
Last edited by sapajo on Mon Apr 25, 2022 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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TigerFeetSteve
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by TigerFeetSteve »

The "Be kind" message didn't seem to resonate with him towards the fans unless they were corporate fans with deep pockets.
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by Rugbygramps »

Not having a go at you Tigerburnie, but the man and his later period of the club should be consigned to the annals of history and kept there.
I have no desire to know anything further about him
Tiglon
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by Tiglon »

Ok, assumed this was from a year or two ago, but had a look on his LinkedIn profile... wait a minute - we've been paying him to be on Gardening Leave for TWO YEARS?!

Speechless. :smt011
longlivethecrumbie
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by longlivethecrumbie »

Tiglon wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 11:09 am Ok, assumed this was from a year or two ago, but had a look on his LinkedIn profile... wait a minute - we've been paying him to be on Gardening Leave for TWO YEARS?!

Speechless. :smt011
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TigerFeetSteve
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by TigerFeetSteve »

Tiglon wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 11:09 am Ok, assumed this was from a year or two ago, but had a look on his LinkedIn profile... wait a minute - we've been paying him to be on Gardening Leave for TWO YEARS?!

Speechless. :smt011
I think notice periods etc for people at that level is 12+ months, pretty much as std...
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Tiglon
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by Tiglon »

I don't know about professional rugby, but in my industry CEO notice periods range from 3 to 6 months.

Perhaps most professional sports club CEO's take payment in lieu of notice and don't brag about it on social media, so we never hear about it.

Two years gardening leave and he still wants to sue the club for being treated unfairly? There are words for that, but I'm not allowed to type them on here.
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by Tigerbeat »

Tiglon wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 12:04 pm I don't know about professional rugby, but in my industry CEO notice periods range from 3 to 6 months.

Perhaps most professional sports club CEO's take payment in lieu of notice and don't brag about it on social media, so we never hear about it.

Two years gardening leave and he still wants to sue the club for being treated unfairly? There are words for that, but I'm not allowed to type them on here.
I understand that a settlement has been made and a line has been drawn under it.
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Tiglon
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by Tiglon »

Tigerbeat wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 12:06 pm
Tiglon wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 12:04 pm I don't know about professional rugby, but in my industry CEO notice periods range from 3 to 6 months.

Perhaps most professional sports club CEO's take payment in lieu of notice and don't brag about it on social media, so we never hear about it.

Two years gardening leave and he still wants to sue the club for being treated unfairly? There are words for that, but I'm not allowed to type them on here.
I understand that a settlement has been made and a line has been drawn under it.
Sorry, I forgot that, so we gave him 2 years gardening leave, but still managed to mess that process up to the point that he was able to persuade us to pay him more money to avoid an employment tribunal.

Nice that there's a line drawn under it though and I assume that line was drawn by the people/person responsible for the incompetence?

Good work, Tigers :smt023
johnthegriff
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by johnthegriff »

I have no idea what the terms of Simon Cohen's severance pay was or how it is paid, neither do I know the outcome of his " unfair dismissal " case against Tigers. I will say that whilst at Tigers I always found him to be approachable and truthful in his conversations with me. I don't think he got every thing wrong nor do i think he got everything right, I do think there is a possibility that he was too involved in recruitment and retention and I think that during Simon's time in charge we paid too much of the cap to a few players leaving insufficient to give us the quality in depth that we needed when those stars were absent. Personally I liked Simon and I wish him all the best for the future.
mightymouse
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by mightymouse »

I thought 1 Years pay was about standard .. can’t believe we paid him for 2 years and then more again!
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by Wayne Richardson Fan Club »

mightymouse wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 3:52 pm I thought 1 Years pay was about standard .. can’t believe we paid him for 2 years and then more again!
Maybe he wasn't as guilty as charged.....

He was widely praised for his work at one point, but he also was "in charge" for some of the less clever things (although who had the last say on some is unclear).

The way things have happened the past 2 years you can make a case both ways on his tenure at Tigers.
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Tiglon
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by Tiglon »

My comments are not aimed at Cohen, I have very little evidence whether he was "good" or "bad". Other than presiding over the catastrophic decline of England's biggest rugby club. Oh and the fact that his statement claims that every single player he worked with always gave 100% - that's a bit of a fib, even Geordie admitted there were a fair few who were just there for the paycheque.

It's more a point that the club managed to give a contract to someone allowing them 2 years notice and then decided he was so useless that he needed to be sacked. And handled that in such a way that he was able to persuade the club that they should give him another pay out for being unfairly dismissed.

It's all very amateur, if nothing else just for the fact that so much has become public. If you're going to give someone a massive wedge of cash when you get rid of them, at least slap a confidentiality agreement in there for Christ's sake...
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Re: Simon Cohen

Post by BengalTiger »

Rugby is a results based business, he was an utter failure on the only metric that matters, under his tenure the club became a laughing stock and paid over the cap into the bargain, some people have no shame!
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