David Moyes' Contract

ThirdMan wrote: »

If David Moyes gets sacked by Manchester United is he entitled to a large pay out? Can performance targets be considered terms of a contract? For instance, if he doesn't qualify for the Champions League will he have failed to perform his side of the contract, and

As we have seen, it appears that the manager is every bit as important, if not more important, than anyone else in soccer. The performance of the business, in whatever measure is critically dependent on the manager's performance. That said, it isn't solely dependent on the manager's performance. Indeed, in sport (and similar endeavours lotteries, exams, etc.), even the team / club isn't the master of its own fate, although it will contribute a lot to it.

Notably, an employment contract shouldn't 'penalise' a employee. However, it can provide performance bonuses.

can Manchester United then simply 'walk away'?

Likely yes, the issue will how much they have to pay though. Note that their lawyers will be very well paid.

The likely pay structure of any such contract is likely to be:
* a monthly salary;
* performance based pay dependent on each league, championship, etc.;
* performance based pay dependent on the financial performance of the club;
* personal terms - house, car, staff (professional and personal), etc., local to the stadium;
* a sign-up fee;
* payment of agent's fee;
* health insurance, life insurance, life assurance (as much to benefit the employer as the employee / their family);
* a golden hand-cuff clause;
* a golden hand-shake clause;

The last two bits are important

A golden hand-cuff clause keeps the employee with the employer for the duration of the contract and prevents them running off to a competitor mid-way through. However, such a clause may be harsh, so there might be a requirement that if the employer leaves mid-way, they must take 'gardening leave' for X amount of time before joining a competitor.

A golden hand-shake clause allows the employer to get rid of the employee by paying X amount, which may be dependent on how much time the contract has left to run.