LINFIELD manager David Healy did not ask for or receive a pay rise when negotiating a new contract extension at Windsor Park last weekend.
Moreover, the successful Blues boss has agreed to take a cut in salary next year if his team does not win the league this season.
Healy had been lined up to become manager of Scottish Championship club Raith Rovers last Friday when the Fife club approached Linfield to ask for permission to speak to the Killyleagh man.
This was granted and personal terms were agreed, however the matter of compensation to Linfield was only mentioned and not agreed between the two clubs.
This was because the move stalled after Linfield Chairman Roy McGivern said he would fight to keep Healy and held internal discussions with both board members and the manager over the weekend.
These talks proved successful as Healy announced on Monday that he was staying at Linfield and had agreed a new one-year extension on his current deal that will keep him at Windsor until 2026.
“I am pleased that the club was prepared to extend my contract at Linfield and I am thankful to the Board for the support they have given me”, said the former Manchester United and Rangers player.
“Everyone knows that I am passionate about this club and I am totally focused on achieving further success during the remainder of my contract.”
However, some Linfield fans were left feeling Healy had ‘played the club like a fiddle’ in order to secure a pay rise in South Belfast.
Not true, insist Windsor Park sources who are keen to nip the misinformation in the bud in order to negate rumour and ill feeling after making a bright start to the new season.
While reigning Champions Larne have yet to play in the league due to European commitments, the Blues have raced to the top of the Sports Direct Premiership with maximum points from four games.
The Irish News has learned that a pay rise was neither requested or offered in talks last weekend, it simply wasn’t an issue.
In fact, Healy agreed to take a pay cut next season if he does not win the league title in this campaign.
Larne have won it for the last two years in a row and three years without a title for a Linfield manager would bring pressure on both manager and club.
There is an acceptance within the corridors of power at Windsor that Kenny Bruce’s financial muscle at Larne has changed the landscape of the local game.
But the club’s fathers are happy with the start to the campaign and hopeful of being serious title contenders next year.
In the wake of Healy’s decision to stay at Linfield, Rovers’ Chief Executive Andy Barrowman expressed his disappointment at both the outcome and the handling of the matter.
“We had agreed a deal” said Barrowman. “But between Saturday night and Sunday morning he changed his mind.
“I don’t know whether that’s because he’s been offered a new contract, because I know he’s signed a new contract.
“That wasn’t the reason David gave to me and to us, but who knows? Only David will know the truth on that one.
“There’s a compensation figure within David’s contract and it was pretty straight forward, we were prepared to meet that.
“Everything was going forward. It was a fairly significant fee within his contract to get him out of that contract, and we were prepared to meet that clause.
“Everything was agreed, it was happening, and then David changed his mind.
“He took cold feet, as he says. That’s where we are with David Healy.
“It wasn’t made public from our side, that’s probably the disappointing fact.”