Sunderland chief exec resigns over Johnson affair.

[Pete]

Maybe I'm missing something but what has she done wrong?

He was charged with a crime and intended to plead not guilty so why are people saying Sunderland should have suspended him? Surely he is innocent until proven guilty. What if they had suspended him and he was found not guilty? It would have been months of sitting out for no reason.

Again, maybe I'm missing some info but it appears that those with PhD's in hindsight have forced this.

[CropleyWasGod]

Maybe I'm missing something but what has she done wrong?

He was charged with a crime and intended to plead not guilty so why are people saying Sunderland should have suspended him? Surely he is innocent until proven guilty. What if they had suspended him and he was found not guilty? It would have been months of sitting out for no reason.

Again, maybe I'm missing some info but it appears that those with PhD's in hindsight have forced this.
I think it's more about what she knew, and when she knew it.

That's what will become apparent in due course.

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[Hannah_hfc]

I think the idea is she had seen messages / knew exactly what Johnson had done and apparently never discussed it with the board as to whether he should have continued to represent the club.

It's reflected quite poorly on Sunderland imo, they suspended him for about 16 days and lifted it. He should have remained suspended till the court case.

I can imagine if similar happened with Hibs, many fans would be annoyed.

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[Pete]

I think it's more about what she knew, and when she knew it.

That's what will become apparent in due course.

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What could she have actually "known" though? I heard that she had seen some note suggesting something but he's hardly bang to rights over that.

Seems odd from the outside.

[Scouse Hibee]

Her own conscience has made her resign no one can question that decision.

[Pete]

I think the idea is she had seen messages / knew exactly what Johnson had done and apparently never discussed it with the board as to whether he should have continued to represent the club.

It's reflected quite poorly on Sunderland imo, they suspended him for about 16 days and lifted it. He should have remained suspended till the court case.

I can imagine if similar happened with Hibs, many fans would be annoyed.

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It's not up to her to suggest guilt by suspending him though.

Imagine allegations were made against some of our players and we suspended them for months only for them to be found not guilty. I'd be annoyed about that.

[Pete]

Her own conscience has made her resign no one can question that decision.

Good point but I can't help feel that Sunderland and their chef exec have been tricked too.

[Peevemor]

It's not up to her to suggest guilt by suspending him though.

Imagine allegations were made against some of our players and we suspended them for months only for them to be found not guilty. I'd be annoyed about that.

That was the huns' gripe when Duncan Ferguson was given a hearing and a ban by the Scottish League for the head butt thing before his criminal case was heard. IMO they didn't have a choice given the 40k witnesses and TV cameras in attendance.

[s.a.m]

I think I heard on the radio the other day that his legal team had said that Sunderland had been told that he had admitted that he had kissed the girl, and so when I heard Sunderland's statement after the trial, I wondered if they were playing with technicalities: they didn't deny that he'd admitted to them what he'd done, but did say they were upset that he'd lied about his plea. I heard it as a kind of, "we might have known he did it, but he promised us he was going to say in court that he didn't." I might have picked that up wrong but, if I haven't, then I think she was right to go, because that would be a case of them knowing he had committed an offence that would be morally unacceptable to the support and to society in general, but hoping to get away with it.

[Smartie]

Innocent until proven guilty.

He should not have been suspended unless the club thought that he was an imminent danger to anyone or unless he had intimated that he intended to plead guilty.

Although… if they had access to ALL of the snap chats that have since been leaked to the media then they may well have considered him to be a danger and would have been justified in suspending him.

We don't really know what this person or Sunderland knew but the fact that her conscience has led her to resign speaks volumes IMO.

[CropleyWasGod]

Innocent until proven guilty.

He should not have been suspended unless the club thought that he was an imminent danger to anyone or unless he had intimated that he intended to plead guilty.

Although… if they had access to ALL of the snap chats that have since been leaked to the media then they may well have considered him to be a danger and would have been justified in suspending him.

We don't really know what this person or Sunderland knew but the fact that her conscience has led her to resign speaks volumes IMO.

According to the BBC, we do.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35757828

[Steve-O]

I think I heard on the radio the other day that his legal team had said that Sunderland had been told that he had admitted that he had kissed the girl, and so when I heard Sunderland's statement after the trial, I wondered if they were playing with technicalities: they didn't deny that he'd admitted to them what he'd done, but did say they were upset that he'd lied about his plea. I heard it as a kind of, "we might have known he did it, but he promised us he was going to say in court that he didn't." I might have picked that up wrong but, if I haven't, then I think she was right to go, because that would be a case of them knowing he had committed an offence that would be morally unacceptable to the support and to society in general, but hoping to get away with it.

Perhaps she did not believe that 'only' a kiss was actually an offence likely to result in conviction? That is possibly why he pled not guilty - i.e. Did not view a kiss as 'sexual activity'?

[Steve-O]

Surprised to read Byrne is a solicitor and former criminal lawyer! So perhaps that rules out my theory.

It is possible that she saw the Police summary of facts and Johnson denied these facts. It's not clear where this "note" originated?

It certainly seems it could've been dealt with better and the buck stops with her unfortunately.

[silverhibee]

Maybe I'm missing something but what has she done wrong?

He was charged with a crime and intended to plead not guilty so why are people saying Sunderland should have suspended him? Surely he is innocent until proven guilty. What if they had suspended him and he was found not guilty? It would have been months of sitting out for no reason.

Again, maybe I'm missing some info but it appears that those with PhD's in hindsight have forced this.

Sure I read somewhere that Johnson admitted to kissing the girl to the Director of Sunderland after he was charged by the police.

[CropleyWasGod]

Sure I read somewhere that Johnson admitted to kissing the girl to the Director of Sunderland after he was charged by the police.

It was in her own statement:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35757828

[Steve-O]

It was in her own statement:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35757828

No, she said she saw a "note". Nowhere does it say Johnson wrote this note or confessed anything to her.