The fired football coach Frank Wormuth demands more than one million euros from FC Groningen. This became apparent on Thursday evening during an arbitration case in the Zeister woods.
The management of FC Groningen and trainer Frank Wormuth reported to the KNVB training center on Thursday for an arbitration case about the settlement of the contract of the German coach, who was fired by the premier league player on November 14, 2022. Wormuth had only been employed for four months at the time he was fired and still had a contract until mid-2025.
Both parties discussed the possible consequences of an early dismissal prior to the employment relationship between the trainer and the club. The agreements on this were laid down in article fourteen of the employment contract. This provided for the payment of twelve months’ salary, in the case of Wormuth an amount of 272,500 euros gross. The coach received that amount into his account a few days after his dismissal, but the trainer later refunded the money after he and his lawyers had commented on the relevant article fourteen in his contract.
Through the straw
Wormuth’s lawyers argued before the arbitration committee of the KNVB that the article is contrary to Dutch labor law and that it has been forced down Wormuth’s throat. According to the trainer and his agent, FC Groningen insisted on including the predetermined severance payment in the contract, otherwise it would not have been an employment contract. Expecting it to be a good marriage, Wormuth chose eggs for his money. ,,FC Groningen pushed through the provision, it was swallow or choke”, Wormuth’s lawyer Arne Al indicated.
Because of this way of acting, FC Groningen rode a crooked skate, according to the councilor. Labor law protects an employee against the power of an employer, but this would have been affected by the way FC Groningen acted. “Wormuth was an employee of the club and in that sense subordinate to employer FC Groningen. If Wormuth had not agreed to article fourteen, there would not have been a contract,” said Al, who demanded that the article in question be declared null and void.
Elephant through china shop
He wasn’t there yet. Wormuth’s lawyers also accused FC Groningen of being a poor employer, because insufficient discussions were held with the trainer about his performance, no improvement plan was agreed and Wormuth was not given enough opportunity to improve. ,,FC Groningen went through the china shop like an elephant with the dismissal”, Al claimed.
The lawyer also submitted figures, with which he believed he could show that Wormuth was not performing that badly and that it was mainly due to the quality of the selection composed by technical director Mark-Jan Fledderus that the performance lagged behind. Al: ,,Still, with twelve points from fourteen games, Wormuth managed to score 0.86 points per game. After his dismissal, FC Groningen did not win a single game and two points were taken from eight games, or only 0.25 points per game.”
A million
According to Al, Wormuth has become the scapegoat for the club’s technical mismanagement. The trainer demands payment of the entire remainder of his three-year contract, which amounts to around 700,000 euros. The trainer also wants compensation for missed bonuses and suffered image damage, as a result of which he says he will not be able to work anywhere for the time being. For example, Roda JC would have passed his door. The latter damage item would amount to approximately three tons, bringing the total claim to more than one million euros.
FC Groningen, assisted by lawyer Daan Kuijken, completely disagreed with the story of Wormuth and his lawyers. According to the club, the parties have negotiated on the basis of equality and in good consultation about the offending article fourteen and that provision leaves nothing to be desired for clarity. The club also believes that it has not gone through the china shop like an elephant, argued Kuijken.
Mismatch
According to the lawyer, there was a mismatch, which surfaced after only a week. Kuijken: ,,They suspected that they had brought in someone who suited the circumstances of the club and the team. In practice, it soon became clear that it didn’t work.
According to the counsel, discussions have also been held with Wormuth about this. ,,The common thread was always: adapt”, says Kuijken. ,,Do it differently than you do now, because this will not work.” There was no change in the working method. According to FC Groningen, Wormuth has received the amount to which he was entitled.
Wormuth himself was also allowed to have his say. The trainer indicated that he feels unfairly treated by FC Groningen and that he has prepared a twelve-page epistle for himself with his truth. According to Wormuth, there was a great distance between him and Fledderus, while there was none between Fledderus and director Wouter Gudde.
Question marks
The coach felt lonely within the club and did not feel heard when he indicated that at least seven players would have to be replaced in order to achieve the target of European football within three years. He placed big question marks on three more players. “But no one was behind me. They didn’t listen to me, while the problems got bigger and bigger. I have never experienced what I experienced at FC Groningen before.” The verdict is expected within four weeks.