ommy Elrod he knows is a stand-up character guy

From secret board meetings to a PR specialist in crisis management - how Newcastle replaced Steve McClaren with Rafa Benitez... With Newcastle facing relegation and the home crowd calling for McClaren to be dismissed after Saturdays 3-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth, the club have acted.Here, Sky Sports News HQ reporter Keith Downie lifts the lid on developments at the club over the past week which led to the former England boss being sacked and Newcastle appointing a man who was managing Real Madrid earlier this season… Five games which cost McClaren We look at five games which cost Steve McClaren his job Steve McClaren had been under pressure at Newcastle for some time and on Thursday night last week a source outside of the club told me he could potentially lose his job if Newcastle lost to Bournemouth at St James Park on Saturday.However, on the morning of the match, another source, from within the club, said that no matter the result against Bournemouth, hed keep his job. So there was conflicting information going into the game.More than the 3-1 defeat, though, it was perhaps the reaction of the fans which heightened the speculation around McClarens future. Half of the crowd were singing Steve McClaren, youre taking us down, and the other half were singing Youre getting sacked in the morning. Newcastle fans vented their anger at McClaren during the defeat to Bournemouth Interestingly, Keith Bishop was at the game. Hes owner Mike Ashleys PR man - a specialist in crisis management - and would have spoken with members of the board and fed that back to Ashley. Its not unusual to see Bishop around the club - but he is a more frequent visitor when there are problems to deal with.After the game, I was the first to interview McClaren. Stood there in the tunnel, he told me he absolutely would not walk away. I asked him whether he thought hed be in charge for the Leicester game on Monday Night Football on March 14, and he just said he hoped so. At that stage, he knew he was under pressure.Sunday was a day off for everyone at the club, and there were no developments. Previously, when Alan Pardew or John Carver were under pressure, Newcastle have issued statements or made press briefings indicating their support of the manager. There was no announcement made by the club in the wake of the Bournemouth game. McClaren says the negative chanting from the Newcastle fans in their 3-1 loss at home to Bournemouth was justified On Monday, there was a board meeting, attended by three of the four board members. The missing person was McClaren, who didnt even know the meeting was taking place.When McClaren was appointed Newcastle manager last summer, he became the first Premier League manager to be given a place on a clubs board. However, the first he knew about Mondays meeting would have been when he read the papers or turned on his TV.The meeting took place near York, with managing director Lee Charnley, the main decision maker at the club, joined by chief scout Graham Carr and club legend Bob Moncur. Its believed they discussed a number of managerial options, with Rafa Benitez and David Moyes the most high profile. McClaren continued to take training this week Injured players were the only ones at the club on Monday - the first-team and McClaren himself returned on Tuesday for training. The manager still hadnt heard anything about his future when he left at 4pm and headed straight for home.McClaren remained in the dark on Tuesday night and returned to the training ground at 8am on Wednesday morning. It was then that he was invited to a meeting with Charnley. That was the first time hed heard from the managing director since Saturdays defeat.However, McClaren left the training ground at 4pm and went straight home. Charnley had asked him to meet him at the stadium but McClaren refused. Instead, they had a quick chat over the phone. McClaren arrived for work as usual throughout the week On Thursday, McClaren came back in to take training and we later interviewed stand-in skipper Jonjo Shelvey, who said the players had let the manager down. Once again, McClaren left the training ground having not heard anything about his future at the club.It seems that on Thursday evening, the deal with Benitez was agreed in principle. Newcastle had been speaking with two English intermediaries about Benitez taking over from McClaren.Charnley phoned McClaren on Thursday evening, asking him to come to the club on Friday - his day off. McClaren told him that if he was only coming in to be sacked, hed rather do it over the phone and not mess around. Rafael Benitez arrives at the Newcastle training ground McClaren would have known he was at risk, given all the speculation around Benitez, and at 10.30am on Friday he received a call from Charnley telling him he had been sacked.Charnley had wanted the deal with Benitez to be all-but complete by the time he sacked McClaren and, at 2pm, Benitez arrived at St James Park to sign his contract. It was the first time Benitez had met Charnley face-to-face and, half an hour later he had become Newcastle manager. Benitez with Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley James Harden Jersey . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. 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Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. Wake Forest has concluded that team radio announcer Tommy Elrod -- a former player and assistant coach -- provided or attempted to provide confidential game preparations to opponents several times starting in 2014, the school said in a statement on Tuesday.The school began a programwide investigation last month after an equipment manager discovered documents inside Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium -- one day before Wake Forests Nov. 12 game in Louisville -- that showed specific Demon Deacons plays.Elrod has been fired from the IMG Radio Network and banned from Wake Forest athletics and its facilities.Elrod played for Wake Forest from 1993 to 1997 and was later hired as a graduate assistant under Jim Grobe. Elrod held multiple positions for 11 seasons but was not retained by current head coach Dave Clawson.Elrod joined IMG in 2014 as a football analyst after Clawson took over.Its incomprehensible that a former Wake Forest student-athlete, graduate-assistant, full-time football coach and current radio analyst for the school would betray his alma mater, Clawson said Tuesday in a statement.Athletic director Ron Wellman said he has known Elrod since his days as a player on Wakes football team.Im deeply disappointed that he would act against Wake Forest, our football team and our fans in such a harmful manner, Wellman said in a statement, by compromising confidential game-preparation information.Messages from ESPN.com to Elrod were not immediately returned.After the Wake Forest play sheet was brought to Clawsons attention, the coach turned the documents over to Wellman and the investigation began. Wake Forest alerted Louisville and the ACC that it was investigating a potential internal breach of confidentiality.In announcing the results of the investigation on Tuesday, the school cited emails, text messages and phone records in concluding that Elrod had tried to give out the confidenttial information.dddddddddddd?Wake Forest said it has taken steps to enhance security of game-preparation activities moving forward.I am extremely disappointed that our confidential and proprietary game preparation was compromised, Clawson said.We allowed [Elrod] to have full access to our players, team functions, film room and practices. He violated our trust, which negatively impacted our entire program. I am glad we have taken steps to ensure it will not happen in the future.Reached Tuesday by ESPN, Grobe had no comment. A Louisville spokesperson wouldnt comment other than to say: Coach [Bobby] Petrino doesnt have a comment in what appears to be a Wake Forest issue.Former Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner said the Tommy Elrod he knows is a stand-up character guy and one of the biggest reasons he went to Wake Forest. Skinner said he has talked to Elrod about once a month since leaving Wake Forest and that he put a Christmas card in the mail for Elrod two days ago.Im honestly shocked and blown away from what Ive been reading, Skinner said. Im praying that something has been blown out of proportion or theres some miscommunication, and I want to support him until I hear something from him. ... ?Alphonso Smith just called me, and all of my teammates -- everybody is just stunned and shocked, because the Tommy Elrod we know, he loved Wake Forest, he loved coaching. Its his alma mater. I just cant see him doing this. Strange doesnt even begin to describe the situation.Im still praying there is some gap in this story. Im hoping for the best for him and his family, because hes got three amazing kids and a great wife. ... Ive reached out to him, but hes probably turning every bit of communication off.ESPNs Heather Dinich contributed to this report.? ' ' '