Plymouth Argyle boss Miron Muslic confirms new appointment at Schalke
Muslic was brought in off the back of Wayne Rooney 's departure in January but ultimately was unable to keep the side in the Championship. Their relegation to League One was officially confirmed on the final day of the season.
Muslic thanked the club, saying: "My thanks go first to Plymouth Argyle, who made it possible for me to hold talks with FC Schalke 04."
However, in a statement on the Argyle website, Chairman Simon Hallett said that the club was disappointed 'in the timing and the manner' of his departure.
He said that after hiring Miron, the club also hired staff he requested which included an assistant head coach, head of elite performance, performance analysis and a set-piece coach.
"After the season ended, and with rumours flying that Miron was attracting interest from other clubs, I called him personally and he assured me that he was 100% committed to Argyle. As a result, Miron continued to take part in all recruitment meetings and was involved with interviewing and recruiting players until just last week. His colleagues had no indication that he wanted to leave.
"Last Saturday, Miron informed the club that he wished to speak with Schalke with a view to joining them. Under his contract, a club wishing to speak with him needs Argyle's prior permission. We were unwilling to give such permission, but Miron informed us that under no circumstances was he going to return to Plymouth. Thus, we reluctantly gave the necessary permission." He added.
"By making clear his intention never to return, Miron gave us no choice but to move on. We could have insisted on the full compensation and gone to court to enforce his contract but would not have had his services as head coach, and progress on recruiting a replacement would have been blocked. "
"Rather than get mired in a protracted, and highly disruptive, process we settled for an amount of compensation that, while below the contracted sum, is a strong financial outcome for a League One head coach, enabling us to move on positively."
He also added that the club has been "actively engaged" in the process of recruiting a new head coach and it hopes an appointment will be in place as soon as possible.
Hallett also discussed the future of Argyle, confirming that ongoing talks with a potential new investor in the club have broken down after more than a year.
An application for approval of the investment was lodged with the EFL in February, however he said that negotiations took too long and "key information that both we and the EFL required to complete the deal has not been forthcoming."
He added, "I no longer believe that news of the new investor is imminent.
"As a result, existing shareholders (I, Argyle Green and the Holliday family) will provide the funds to ensure that we stay on course with our plans. This means making funds available to ensure we have a competitive football budget to aim to return us to the Championship as soon as possible, as well as continued investment in Foulston Park. Our budget next season will be twice that we had the last time we were in League One." He said.
Hallett confirmed that the additional funds provided by him and the existing shareholders eqaute to the same level of financial support that was written into the investor plan for year one.
He continued, saying: "I completely understand that this will be very frustrating for fans, as it is extremely frustrating for me and the rest of the Argyle Board. I have said constantly that my resources can enable us to be a sustainable Championship club, but that if we wish to aspire beyond that we would need new investment. I can provide some of that new investment, with the Holliday family's and Argyle Green's help, but not all.
"This current situation is disappointing, obviously, but honesty and transparency are important to us. It's been a long, ponderous process, but one we thought would come to a successful conclusion. It has not, but we remain in a very strong financial position."
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