El Tel: We were about to go on tour to Australia which was the first chance for me to take a good look at the squad I had inherited.
“But David told me he was frightened of flying and wanted to stay behind. I said it would be better if he came but he said no and he was absolutely adamant.
“OK, fine, stay behind' because there did not seem anything to gain from forcing the issue.
“But the result was I had to make up my mind about David without seeing him train, let alone play a competitive match.
“After watching those videos (last year’ games) I had to agree with my staff. In my opinion David could no longer operate effectively in the Premier League.
"Quite frankly I thought David's best days had gone and I told him that. It was not a nice thing to have to do but it had to be done and I thought he accepted the point.
"There's no plot. It simply boils down to my decision as manager of this football club."