Port Vale part company with chairman Peter Miller
BBCDecember 29, 2011Port Vale have parted company with chairman Peter Miller after two-and-a-half months in charge.
Vale's board of directors carried out a review of Miller's fixed-term role, which he took up in October, and decided his tenure should cease.
Miller was appointed to raise new investment in the League Two club following the collapse of a previous takeover deal.
His departure comes five days after chief executive Perry Deakin resigned.
Miller and Deakin came under increasing pressure from supporters after the failure of their investment deal with American sports construction firm Blue Sky International.
Prior to the 2-1 victory at Hereford on Boxing Day, the club announced that they had taken out a short-term loan to help with the day-to-day running of the club.
A club statement read: "Mr Miller's specific brief was to raise new investment in Port Vale to replace investment which had not been fulfilled by the Blue Sky deal.
"It was agreed that Mr Miller's chairmanship would be reviewed at the end of December 2011, to assess the outcome of those efforts.
"At a meeting on 28 December the three other directors decided that Mr Miller's chairmanship will cease at the end of December."
The news follows complaints by the Valiants manager Micky Adams that he had not been kept informed of decisions being made by the club's board.
Following the news of the chief executive's resignation Adams told BBC Radio Stoke: "It takes me to chase people to get an answer from the people that are running the football club
"As the manager, I feel I deserve the respect of people letting me know what's happening at the club."
Port Vale: Board unhappy with £277,000 mortgage
The SentinelDecember 30, 2011MIKE Lloyd has refused to reveal why Port Vale ended Peter Miller's term as chairman, but admits the board was unhappy at the club being saddled with a £277,000 mortgage.
Lloyd, plus fellow directors Perry Deakin and Glenn Oliver, voted to oust Miller on Wednesday, claiming his short-term appointment was up for review at the end of the year anyway.
A club statement also stated Miller was only appointed on a fixed-term basis in October, when he was handed the task of finding new investment in the wake of the collapsed Blue Sky International investment deal.
Miller, who is currently in the U.S., is due to step down at the end of the week after an assessment of his performance as Vale chairman, not that his deputy was revealing the reasons for his exit.
"I can't comment any further. We have run this past the club's lawyer and it could be subject to legal ramifications," insisted Lloyd, who has also been criticised by fans for his role in Miller's arrival at the club and election to the board without investing a penny in cash-strapped Vale.
However, Lloyd says he did not sanction or agree with Miller's decision to take out a £277,000 loan with Gibraltar-based company Continental Solutions, which was registered on December 6.
"The board were not aware that Peter arranged for the loan," added Lloyd.
"If the board wanted to take out a loan it would talk to the club's bankers about extending our overdraft facility.
"The first time the rest of the board heard about the loan was on December 16 – I was shocked as it had not been discussed at board level. The loan did not require signatures from four directors.
"A full board mandate was required to take out a loan or extend the club's overdraft facility, but it wasn't mentioned to me.
"Peter's remit was to replace the Blue Sky investment – a loan is not an investment."
A letter dated September 5 and signed by Deakin confirmed Miller's appointment as chairman on a three-year fixed term on an annual salary of £100,000, plus other lucrative perks including eight return business class flights to the UK per annum.
Lloyd claims the terms of Miller's appointment were later changed to the shorter end-of-year arrangement, although this was not mentioned when fans were in uproar on learning of his lucrative package last month.
Lloyd insists the board did nothing wrong, explaining: "The original deal involved a permanent appointment, but that was amended at a later date by the full board, including Peter, after the Blue Sky deal collapsed.
"Peter was appointed. We shouldn't have to discuss people's deals with the public.
"If a manager changes a player's agreement, you don't announce it to shareholders."
Miller's salary and perks will end with his position as chairman, but he will remain as a director until further talks with the board, Vale said.
They will not appoint a new chairman yet, with Lloyd set to preside for the time being.
And a defiant Lloyd insisted he would not step down, despite criticism of his role as acting chairman when the Blue Sky deal was negotiated and Miller was brought into the club. "I'm not due for re-election at the AGM so I'll continue as a director," he said. "My position is tenable."
