Cortese settles compensation case with Adkins

[norwaysaint]

This time last year people were describing Adkins as the new Ferguson, the next great England manager and the best manager we've very had. Now people seem to be justifying his treatment and dismissing it as something that had to be done, what short memories and lack of morals some of you have.

This post only really makes sense if it was the same people making the comments both times. There are quite a few different people on here with different opinions. You can't call one group of posters immoral or short of memory with reference to what other people said a year ago. Drawing the conclusions you have is like me now taking you to task for the actions of the people you're moaning about now.

 

You are one of the most regular posters on this site, which makes you typical of the sort of person posting here, do you take responsibility for how other people reacted to Adkins' sacking?

[Turkish]

This post only really makes sense if it was the same people making the comments both times. There are quite a few different people on here with different opinions. You can't call one group of posters immoral or short of memory with reference to what other people said a year ago. Drawing the conclusions you have is like me now taking you to task for the actions of the people you're moaning about now.

 

You are one of the most regular posters on this site, which makes you typical of the sort of person posting here, do you take responsibility for how other people reacted to Adkins' sacking?

 

Well on this thread alone Jamie and Kelvinsrightglove went into meltdown on the day Adkins was sacked, yet now describe it as "par the course" and "that's football" so yes, those two do have short memories. They won't be alone as 99% of the people who posted on the day he was fired were outraged and said it was a disgrace.

[Saint George]

Very prescient of you to think that at the time. Other posters appeared to think differently. Some could even argue that they had an emotional over reaction.....

 

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?42459-Nigel-Adkins-Sacked&p=1587878#post1587878

 

LOL..that thread's a laugh a second .....

 

Saint George nails it yet again though.....even the bit about the new bus

 

My initial reaction was much the same as most on here...But on reflection and all things considered (GK **** up, huge transfer funds, good players not getting a game, weak defense, strange subs/tactics etc) I recon overall it's for the best.....Sometimes the 'right' decisions can be the hardest to make.

 

Loyalty is an honorable motive....But if you see something as a roadblock to your end goal, you have to remove it, or you'll never reach your destination.....Anyone doubting NC will reach his stated destination with Southampton, doesn't understand true drive and ambition.

 

I'm sure Nigel will have been very well compensated and won't be out of a job for long..........Another Chapter has closed and a new one has just opened.....The old bus has been parked up and we're about to continue our journey in a shiny new limo.

Good luck Nigel and Geaux Saints!

[trousers]

Stand by my reaction.

 

Me too:

 

"I also admit that a part of me is excited by this appointment. Yes, I'm as disappointed as anyone with Adkins going - I wanted him to stay - but life goes on and this appointment COULD take us to a higher level quicker than Nigel could. We'll ultimately never know but, yes, I do admit an element of excitement about what the future now holds. Shoot me down."

[norwaysaint]

Well on this thread alone Jamie and Kelvinsrightglove went into meltdown on the day Adkins was sacked, yet now describe it as "par the course" and "that's football" so yes, those two do have short memories. They won't be alone as 99% of the people who posted on the day he was fired were outraged and said it was a disgrace.

 

Fair enough with that actually.

 

the thing about ferguson was a bit silly and detracted from a decent point you're making. I think it's about right that most fans felt he was treated a bit shabbily at the time, but as they've been happy with the end result, the bitter pill has been nicely sugar coated. I suppose the question is, if you could go back and decide, sack Adkins in the apparently poor way we did and move on as we have, or keep him, which would you choose? I don't know if you can compare people's immediate and emotional reaction, to their later more pragmatic stance when they're able to look at it a bit more calmly.

 

This is a football forum, we get emotional highs and lows from watching grown men kick a ball around on some grass, it's not the place to look for people giving rational and reflected views as a first reaction. I can see why some people's views now aren't what they were in the first week of the sacking and it's not all down to recent success.

[melmacian_saint]

I respect him for what he did, and for being a manager that really got a nice vibe going to our climb through the divisions.

 

However, I have no illusions, his level is little more than mid-table CCC, and what he achieved with us was more down to the squad we had rather than his very own ability. Proof of that is that some of our crucial line-up members in league one are still starting in the PL and offering a good level. Whenever we needed to be more tactically and strategically astute, I'm afraid Nigel got found out, like in the title run-in with Reading (who as was proven a few months later had a much worse squad than ours). I remember in this forum a number of us criticized his substitutions, sometimes even in games we won, and that 2nd-half tactical implosion of a game we had under control v. Fulham in October last year was the end for him really. After that it was just a matter of time before Cortese found a replacement and started nurturing him to take over in January.

[hutch]

If the press article is right, Nigel was suing us for unfair dismissal. Financially that means he would claim damages to put him back into the same financial position that he would have been in if he had not been dismissed.

 

So that is what he would have earned at Saints up to the end of his contract in 2015 less what he will earn at Reading in the same period. If he won his unfair dismissal claim he would get the difference plus his legal costs.

[Guided Missile]

Ahem...

 

If you were going to get a new manager in, it had to be before the transfer window closes. Adkins has gone as far as his talent will take us. Cortese is simply more ambitious than our fan base. Either it will turn out to be an inspired decision or a bad one. We will find out soon enough, but I am all for it. I certainly wasn't one of the "One Nigel Adkins" brigade. Underachievement on nearly a QPR scale, to be 15th.

[Guided Missile]

...and....

I'll make it easy. Adkins was sacked because he was given the 7th largest transfer fund in Europe and still managed to be one of the least successful Southampton Premiership managers in history and Cortese has taken a punt with a promising young manager who played a decent level of football and probably has a better grasp of tactics and developing young players than an ex-Bangor City goalkeeper. This before the transfer window shuts and we still have an opportunity to push forward...

[alpine_saint]

Happy he is doing well at Reading. Did a great job for us and want him to prove NC wrong by getting Reading up and keeping them there.

 

He knew during the summer he was on borrowed time; the comments after the Coventry match clearly indicate this. There is nothing to suggest that NC has been anything but straight with him, which makes the whole legal action rather odd.

[Wes Tender]

Ahem.....Underachievement on nearly a QPR scale, to be 15th. .

 

And with 16 matches of the season remaining, his replacement began his mission to take us to the next level; a massive leap upwards of one whole place.

[buctootim]

Happy he is doing well at Reading. Did a great job for us and want him to prove NC wrong by getting Reading up and keeping them there.

 

He knew during the summer he was on borrowed time; the comments after the Coventry match clearly indicate this. There is nothing to suggest that NC has been anything but straight with him, which makes the whole legal action rather odd.

I too am glad he is doing well at Reading. I'm not sure scouting around for replacements for your manager without telling him counts as "being straight".

[alpine_saint]

I too am glad he is doing well at Reading. I'm not sure scouting around for replacements for your manager without telling him counts as "being straight".

 

I was under the impression that NC told him he felt he wasnt good enough and was looking for a replacement.

 

How else can you explain the odd post-Coventry interview with the BBC ?

[buctootim]

I was under the impression that NC told him he felt he wasnt good enough and was looking for a replacement.

 

How else can you explain the odd post-Coventry interview with the BBC ?

Mines only an impression too. I think NC had started to cut him out of contract renewal decisions and approaching other managers about taking over - making his position nearly untenable.

[Whitey Grandad]

And with 16 matches of the season remaining, his replacement began his mission to take us to the next level; a massive leap upwards of one whole place.

 

A journey of a thousand miles...

[Guided Missile]

And with 16 matches of the season remaining, his replacement began his mission to take us to the next level; a massive leap upwards of one whole place.

 

Time for another trip down memory lane, Wes:

 

Pep Guardiola I could see the merit in. There is a guy with a track record of success at the very highest level.

 

Surely you're not trying to bracket him with this relative nobody to prove a point, are you Frank?

 

Well, I'm flabbergasted.

 

Mid table for me under Adkins, but now I'll revise that forecast to relegation.

 

Adkins was also a promising young manager, skilled in man-management, intelligent and articulate, honest and decent too. There was the prospect that we could grow together with a loyal manager, and replicate the success that stability brought us under Lawrie over many years to come.

 

So I mourn the brutal ending of that dream, realising that Cortese felt that he was not prepared to build gradually, that his ambition meant that he had to have instant results in our upward development, or he would gamble on another throw of the dice and bring in somebody who he felt had the credentials to achieve this quicker transition. But it is a massive gamble. We now have a young dynamic manager, but one who has no experience of English football management, let alone Premiership experience. Added to that, he hardly speaks any English. So how will he be able to employ man-management skills (if he has them), via an interpreter? How will his tactical plans translate themselves? I worry having read about the man, that his tactics are to play hard and in the oppositions face. His team had a very high count of cards, contrasting to our good disciplinary record. How long will that take to work through the system and do we have the cover for suspended or injured players that will follow such a policy? Do we in fact have the type of players to play that way anyway?

 

"I mourn the brutal ending of that dream...."

 

I think this calls for another boycott, Wes...

[Wes Tender]

Time for another trip down memory lane, Wes:

 

" So I mourn the brutal ending of that dream, realising that Cortese felt that he was not prepared to build gradually, that his ambition meant that he had to have instant results in our upward development, or he would gamble on another throw of the dice and bring in somebody who he felt had the credentials to achieve this quicker transition. But it is a massive gamble. We now have a young dynamic manager, but one who has no experience of English football management, let alone Premiership experience. Added to that, he hardly speaks any English. So how will he be able to employ man-management skills (if he has them), via an interpreter? How will his tactical plans translate themselves? I worry having read about the man, that his tactics are to play hard and in the oppositions face. His team had a very high count of cards, contrasting to our good disciplinary record. How long will that take to work through the system and do we have the cover for suspended or injured players that will follow such a policy? Do we in fact have the type of players to play that way anyway?...." I think this calls for another boycott, Wes...

 

Feeling a bit sore having gloated at about what you said when Adkins was sacked and having it exposed as a load of tosh, Misguided? So we ended the season one whole place higher than the position which you considered to be underachievement on nearly a QPR scale. Big deal.

 

Reading back through that last paragraph I wrote, I don't see anything in it that wasn't fair comment at the time. Perhaps you'll kindly point out the responses you made to it at the time where you argued against anything I said there. All I can find is some ridiculous table comparing the chalk and cheese records of other Saints managers in a vain effort to belittle Adkins' achievements and a brilliant assessment of Cortese's actions in replacing him summarised as "taking a punt :lol:" on Pochettino. Is my comprehension of that expression correct, that it was an action comprising a significant element of risk, a gamble? Isn't that what I had inferred in my post that you kindly reposted?

 

Just for the record, I'm relatively content with where we are now, but not entirely convinced that we are anywhere yet that we wouldn't have been had Adkins remained and received the additional funds given to Pochettino. We have a tighter defence, but then again it was showing signs of improvement at that time. But I feel that we are playing less entertaining football currently. I'm still reasonably optimistic that with the additional expenditure this season and the development of our youngsters, we could still end the season as high as 6th. Clear?

[Dellman]

It was a shock all round when NA was sacked and some over reaction by us and by national press and pundits, remember Laurie Mac saying the new guy was some unheard of person who couldn't speak English, well he was unheard of by him, which just shows how much of a dinosaur he has become. NA was a really nice man and I felt comfortable with him but I can see the difference now and reckon NC is proved bold and right

[Window Cleaner]

It was a shock all round when NA was sacked and some over reaction by us and by national press and pundits, remember Laurie Mac saying the new guy was some unheard of person who couldn't speak English, well he was unheard of by him, which just shows how much of a dinosaur he has become. NA was a really nice man and I felt comfortable with him but I can see the difference now and reckon NC is proved bold and right

 

 

In fact MPo (which is what he has marked on his training kit) is one of just 3 PL managers to have played at a WC final tournament so why Lawrie Mac had never heard of him I just couldn't say, even if it was only for bringing down Owen. Just kind of shows how far football management is getting from the sharp end of the game.

[david in sweden]

now where's the thread that will state that Nigel Adkins would have been more successful ...(than Pottechino)... had he been allowed to stay .....?

[Chez]

I think its a real shame that it has taken this long to sort out an agreeable compensation package for Adkins. Do all clubs handle it this way or just Saints? For a fella that did such a cracking job for us, you'd think it would have been settled almost immediately and without question. Perhaps these contracts need to be written a little better to avoid any ambiguity.

[Olallana]

now where's the thread that will state that Nigel Adkins would have been more successful ...(than Pottechino)... had he been allowed to stay .....?

 

probably one loss away

[Gemmel]

I think its a real shame that it has taken this long to sort out an agreeable compensation package for Adkins. Do all clubs handle it this way or just Saints? For a fella that did such a cracking job for us, you'd think it would have been settled almost immediately and without question. Perhaps these contracts need to be written a little better to avoid any ambiguity.

 

I remember when Adkins joined us, he said his ocntract was the size of a book and that his old one was only two pages. I don't think the issue here is ambiguity.

 

I am glad it is resolved and I am glad things are going well for him.

 

My understanding of the situation was more a case Cortese challenging historical practices within the game. Typically when a manger leaves and has for example two years left on his contract, he will negociate a sum for which he walks away (Pure guess work, but if a manager had two years left at 5k a week, the total of that would be 260k, he would probably take a lump sum of 140k or so).

 

Cortese played it slightly differently and we were still paying Atkins and were contractually meeting the obligations, but for Adkins to get another job, he would have to quit (And therefore sacrifice his payoff) He then had to launch his legal action to free him up from the deadlock and able to get another job.

 

That is my understanding based on what was reported etc, so i fully accept it could be well off the mark. Nigel earnt every bit of his 500k payoff or whatever amount it was and I think every Saints fan, wishes him well, but I also like the way Cortese seems to question the rules if he can see a different way that has a benefit for Saints.

 

The legal action and subsequent payoff is done. The Adkins chapter is now closed, but not forgotten.

[St Marco]

Deserves every penny of it. It doesn't matter if sacking him was right or not it was the way we went about it that ****ed me off. Deserved to be treated better for what he had done here.

 

But we now move on.

[Whitey Grandad]

'Legal action' is a heavy-handed description. Wasn't it 'Premier League managers' arbitration tribunal'? Chaired by a QC, I'll grant you.

[Guided Missile]

Is my comprehension of that expression correct, that it was an action comprising a significant element of risk, a gamble? Isn't that what I had inferred in my post that you kindly reposted?

Thanks for yet again exposing what a clueless windbag you are and in particular doing it in writing. I think what you are suggesting is that you were right about your managerial hero Adkins (ex-goalkeeper forTranmere Rovers,Wigan Athletic and Bangor City) being sacked and being replaced by a "relative nobody" Mauricio Pochettino (ex-Espanyol, Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux player, who represented Argentina for four years playing in the 1999 Copa Américaand the 2002 World Cup) and I was wrong.

Since you gave Adkins your internet blow-job, he has taken Reading down into the Championship and they sit barely in the playoff positions on goal difference. Meanwhile we are in a European place.

 

"I mourn the brutal ending of that dream...."

[The Kraken]

"Windbag" is a term that doesn't get used enough in common parlance, IMO.

[Guided Missile]

"Windbag" is a term that doesn't get used enough in common parlance, IMO.

It was "clueless windbag", TBF...

[The Kraken]

It was "clueless windbag", TBF...

 

Yep, that does scan better actually. I may have to build that term into my daily vocabulary.

[KelvinsRightGlove]

Well on this thread alone Jamie and Kelvinsrightglove went into meltdown on the day Adkins was sacked, yet now describe it as "par the course" and "that's football" so yes, those two do have short memories. They won't be alone as 99% of the people who posted on the day he was fired were outraged and said it was a disgrace.

 

You're clearly incapable of reading anything other than what you want to.

 

Missing, or deliberately ignoring every post I've made saying how crappily the I think the club treated Adkins, and my wishes it had all been handled better.

 

Nice to see you proving me right though, here you are acting all jimminy cricket, telling everyone how awful they are, and even having the audacity to label them holier than thou.

 

You couldn't make it up.

[Guided Missile]

Yep, that does scan better actually. I may have to build that term into my daily vocabulary.

 

If Wes continues to **** me off, I am still able to resort to:

 

The man's an absolute (rotter, scoundrel, stinker, louse, cad, swine, bounder, blighter, cur, bad lot, blackguard, scrote)* !

*delete as appropriate

 

All similarly underused terms....

[KelvinsRightGlove]

Yep, that does scan better actually. I may have to build that term into my daily vocabulary.

 

I think you coined one of my favourite insults ever on here. I have started using it, only to close friends, as it is probably quite offensive. For that reason I shan't repeat it.

[Bearsy]

I think you coined one of my favourite insults ever on here. I have started using it, only to close friends, as it is probably quite offensive. For that reason I shan't repeat it.

 

Krakens coining "Relentless megaspastic" is part of saintsweb folklore.

 

Edit: Soz for repeating!

[Wes Tender]

Thanks for yet again exposing what a clueless windbag you are and in particular doing it in writing. I think what you are suggesting is that you were right about your managerial hero Adkins (ex-goalkeeper forTranmere Rovers,Wigan Athletic and Bangor City) being sacked and being replaced by a "relative nobody" Mauricio Pochettino (ex-Espanyol, Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux player, who represented Argentina for four years playing in the 1999 Copa Américaand the 2002 World Cup) and I was wrong.

Since you gave Adkins your internet blow-job, he has taken Reading down into the Championship and they sit barely in the playoff positions on goal difference. Meanwhile we are in a European place.

 

"I mourn the brutal ending of that dream...."

 

 

How else am I to contribute to an internet forum rather than in writing? And you call me clueless.

 

Then you respond "I think what you are suggesting...." and then you go on to ridicule it, not even being sure of what I was suggesting. Nice one, Misguided.

 

One only has to click on your quote to see that your knowledge comes from extensive research on Wikipedia and a quick cut and paste job. Frankly I'm amazed that somebody with your encyclopaedic grasp of football knowledge couldn't respond without such aids.

 

But just to clarify, because I really must have expressed myself badly for you to have misunderstood, when I called Pochettino a relative nobody, I meant that he was not well known in this country. Some with longer memories might have made the connection that he was the player that gave away a penalty to Owen before they realised that he managed Espanyol, unless they followed Spanish football and even then if you're going to knock Adkins' record since leaving, then also have a look at Pochettino's record before arriving. It wasn't exactly stellar towards the end, was it?

 

As there have been only 6 games played so far, I think that it is a bit premature for you to be putting too much credence on the relative positions of both managers at this stage. After all, you were made to look a bit of an idiot when we only improved one position on where Adkins left us last season having taken a "punt" on Pochettino.

[KelvinsRightGlove]

Krakens coining "Relentless megaspastic" is part of saintsweb folklore.

 

Edit: Soz for repeating!

 

It's Malcolm Tucker-esque in it's beauty.

[Village Saint]

I'm still far from convinced we've progressed at all. The Liverpool result was pretty impressive, but the other 5 matches we've been anything but. Solid defensively but 38 0-0 draws probably gets you relegated.

 

It's hard to see what the point is when people post nonsense like this. Is it just to wind people up? Do you really believe this? Are you just one of those people who always sees the dark side and is incapable of enjoying the up side of life? I was a great fan of Adkins; I think his sacking was unjustified and unneccesary but, if you really can't see the progress we have made under Pochettino, it is difficult to see how you are ever going to get any joy out of watching football!

[Bearsy]

It's hard to see what the point is when people post nonsense like this. Is it just to wind people up? Do you really believe this? Are you just one of those people who always sees the dark side and is incapable of enjoying the up side of life? I was a great fan of Adkins; I think his sacking was unjustified and unneccesary but, if you really can't see the progress we have made under Pochettino, it is difficult to see how you are ever going to get any joy out of watching football!

 

he only goes to look at the kit.

 

Only jokes. He has a point that we're a bit more boring to watch now tho. We're all solid and defensive and careful. We're Birmingham under McCleish. We're Everton under Moyes. We're England.

[Dig Dig]

We just set up to be defensively solid first and foremost and then know that we have good attacking players who will always be a threat. Just means that we are far harder to beat under pochettino even if the games are not as thrilling.

 

Many people were really critical of Adkins this time last year, wishing he was less naive and able to make us tigher and not just try and out score the opposition. Now that we have this under MP, we are now too boring for some people.

 

You can please some of the people some of the time and all that...

[Guided Missile]

How else am I to contribute to an internet forum rather than in writing? And you call me clueless

I made a mistake calling you a clueless windbag. I cannot read you posts now, without thinking of a relentless ***********...

 

Don't blame me, it's the Kraken's fault...

Edited 30 September, 2013 by Guided Missile

[hypochondriac]

How else am I to contribute to an internet forum rather than in writing? And you call me clueless.

 

Then you respond "I think what you are suggesting...." and then you go on to ridicule it, not even being sure of what I was suggesting. Nice one, Misguided.

 

One only has to click on your quote to see that your knowledge comes from extensive research on Wikipedia and a quick cut and paste job. Frankly I'm amazed that somebody with your encyclopaedic grasp of football knowledge couldn't respond without such aids.

 

But just to clarify, because I really must have expressed myself badly for you to have misunderstood, when I called Pochettino a relative nobody, I meant that he was not well known in this country. Some with longer memories might have made the connection that he was the player that gave away a penalty to Owen before they realised that he managed Espanyol, unless they followed Spanish football and even then if you're going to knock Adkins' record since leaving, then also have a look at Pochettino's record before arriving. It wasn't exactly stellar towards the end, was it?

 

As there have been only 6 games played so far, I think that it is a bit premature for you to be putting too much credence on the relative positions of both managers at this stage. After all, you were made to look a bit of an idiot when we only improved one position on where Adkins left us last season having taken a "punt" on Pochettino.

 

Pictorially. Amusingly you just demonstrated another method of communication directly after that question...

[Wes Tender]

I made a mistake calling you a clueless windbag. I cannot read you posts now, without thinking of a relentless ***********...

 

Don't blame me, it's the Kraken's fault...

 

Little things please little minds.

[The9]

yep I can, whats your opinion on that record?

Relegation?

 

I didn't understand what you'd typed, to be honest.

[The9]

It's hard to see what the point is when people post nonsense like this. Is it just to wind people up? Do you really believe this? Are you just one of those people who always sees the dark side and is incapable of enjoying the up side of life? I was a great fan of Adkins; I think his sacking was unjustified and unneccesary but, if you really can't see the progress we have made under Pochettino, it is difficult to see how you are ever going to get any joy out of watching football!

 

Yes, I really believe this. I am struggling to see why people are so excited about us not being very interesting to watch and not really being much better, if at all, than when we were actually interesting to watch.

 

End of this season, if we're top 8, then we'll have progressed. At the moment, we're solid defensively and we had a good result at Liverpool, but the rest of it has been unimpressive and pretty much in line with the outright poor results of the last few weeks of last season, when we weren't playing for anything.

[Wes Tender]

Pictorially. Amusingly you just demonstrated another method of communication directly after that question...

 

Ah, I get you. Misguided says that he was pleased that I expressed myself in words, so presumably pictures are not favoured by him. But do you think that he would understand better if I did it in comic book style?

[Viking Warrior]

I was sad when Nigel Pearson left ,

 

But was a tad happier when Ian Branfoot left

[The9]

Well on this thread alone Jamie and Kelvinsrightglove went into meltdown on the day Adkins was sacked, yet now describe it as "par the course" and "that's football" so yes, those two do have short memories. They won't be alone as 99% of the people who posted on the day he was fired were outraged and said it was a disgrace.

 

I was as disillusioned with football when we sacked Adkins as I was watching us in the first half on Saturday.

[View From The Top]

Find myself agreeing with Turkish. Such a lack of respect and memory from some for all the work he did.

 

Some ***t saying he nearly blew our promotion - yeah the one we all thought was a certainty to happen and NA had nothing to do with it. f***** unbelievable!

 

This.

[KelvinsRightGlove]

Yes, I really believe this. I am struggling to see why people are so excited about us not being very interesting to watch and not really being much better, if at all, than when we were actually interesting to watch.

 

End of this season, if we're top 8, then we'll have progressed. At the moment, we're solid defensively and we had a good result at Liverpool, but the rest of it has been unimpressive and pretty much in line with the outright poor results of the last few weeks of last season, when we weren't playing for anything.

 

We've improved our points total at this stage last season, kept 4 clean sheets how long did that take last season?. And also improved our results year-on-year against WBA away, Sunderland home, Liverpool away, matched our result against WHU home and well we didn't play palace so it's hard to compare like-for-like. Not a single person anywhere seriously thinks we are in any danger of relegation. In fact pundits are tipping us for top-half and even dark horses for european places.

 

How can that not be viewed as progress?

[View From The Top]

Despite it working out fine for all concerned I still find the way he was sacked rather distasteful.

 

He deserved to be treated better than that.

[St Chalet]

Despite it working out fine for all concerned I still find the way he was sacked rather distasteful.

 

He deserved to be treated better than that.

 

The right decision (as it turned out) executed without any class or decency.