Tony Pulis’s reputation has been "shredded in a High Court judgment against him in which he stands accused of acting fraudulently in engineering his departure from Crystal Palace" immediately after receiving a £2M ($2.5M) bonus. In a "damning judgement" by Michael Burton, Pulis has been ordered to pay Crystal Palace a total of £3.78M ($4.7M) -- £2.28M ($2.8M) "for the repayment of the bonus plus liquidated damages" of £1.5M ($1.8M). It is understood that costs "could push that figure" to more than £5M ($6.2M). In a 32-page ruling, the judge concluded there "was no evidence to support Pulis," who challenged the findings of an independent mediation tribunal which had declared that "his conduct ... has been shown to be disgraceful" and he had "deliberately misled" Crystal Palace Chair Steve Parish so he could eventually find a better job (London TELEGRAPH, 11/28).
League Championship side Newcastle United Manager Rafa Benitez has hit out at Hull City "for not letting more Newcastle fans into their half-empty ground." The Tigers have been "struggling to sell even discounted tickets" for Tuesday night’s EFL Cup quarterfinal clash with the Championship leaders. Newcastle’s allocation of 2,474 "was quickly sold out" but Hull refused its request for extra tickets, so the club is instead "beaming the game back for free to 5,000 supporters at St James’ Park" (THE SUN, 11/28).
