ENIGMATIC to the very end, Ivano Bonetti stood outside the front door of what will shortly be his former work place and claimed he had resigned from Dundee rather than been sacked.
Jumped before he was pushed was the subtext of a most bemusing spiel. While club officials remained stony-silent on a parting of ways shrouded in mystery and intrigue - only a few months after mutterings of five-year contracts being handed out to the Bonetti brothers - Ivano emerged from pay-off negotiations with the other brothers in the family feud, the Marrs, expressing disappointment ''for the fans'' before attempting to explain his reasons behind the decision.
''We have a verbal agreement but nothing is signed yet. I have not been sacked,'' he began.
Now, as the Scottish Football Association will attest, Bonetti has never been slow to air a grievance but while the compensation cheque remains unsigned, he was cautious last night.
''It looks as though it's going to be done from lawyer to lawyer,'' he said, ''but nothing is official yet. The reasons for me terminating my contract are normal, a lot of things have changed in the club; the politics are changing. The financial side of things is a big problem, but it is only one point, there are other points. I have no problem with the Marrs, though, this is my decision.''
Whoever took the decision, the end result would have been the same. Back in March, when the club's form collapsed under the considerable burden of injuries to key players, the Dens Park chief executive, Peter Marr, first raised concern about the length of time his manager spent in Italy, apparently on scouting missions though signings didn't happen.
Their failure to finish in the top half of the table and, thus, justify the considerable outlay on players such as Temuri Ketsbaia and Fabian Caballero, put even more pressure on the manager and the continued uncertainty surrounding a television deal for the new SPL season forced the club's owners to make contingency plans for the lack of income by disposing of the goalkeeping coach, Claudio Bozzini, and physiotherapist, Giovanni Grazzi, much to the dismay of the management duo.
Furthermore, disagreements over this summer's transfer budget and failure to glean assurances from Bonetti, who recently married, that the frequent flying visits to his homeland would end, did irreperable damage to the relationship.
Reports yesterday suggest that the manager is entitled to only (pounds) 20,000 in compensation but the likelihood is that he will be paid for the last year of his contract, understood to be around (pounds) 70,000, on the proviso that he agrees to a confidentiality clause, thereby preventing him from telling the whole story.
The Marrs refused to make any comment on the issue last night and instead the club issued a statement which informed of the cancellation of a press conference organised at a Dundee hotel for yesterday at 2pm.
''Dundee Football Club and Ivano Bonetti would like to stress that Mr Bonetti and the club have parted ways through mutual agreement,'' it read predictably. ''Both parties are now working towards a resolution.''
Bonetti and his brother, Dario, left the stadium yesterday afternoon with a suitcase in the back seat of their car and while both are expected to return home by the weekend, they refused to rule out the possibility of finding employment elsewhere in Europe.
While they prepare to fly out, Jim Duffy, who left the club in 1996 to take over as manager of Hibernian, returned from holiday in Cyprus last night and was immediately tipped to take over once agreement has been reached with Bonetti.
Duffy has spent several years in England, first with Chelsea before joining Graham Rix at Portsmouth, but since leaving Fratton Park has returned home in search of employment. He is understood to have been offered the chance to head Dundee United's youth development operation but a return to first-team management is a more attractive proposition.
There were a few crumbs of comfort for the fans who had taken the Bonettis to their hearts, some of whom tooted horns and gave their own renditions of the popular ''Ivano, Dario'' ditty as they drove past the ground yesterday.
Goalkeeper Julian Speroni, one of the few highlights of a miserable last campaign, has signed a new three-year contract, while the club also completed the transfer of Nacho Novo from Raith Rovers. Neither player, understandably, was keen to become involved in any thorny issues before the ink had dried and preferred instead to look ahead to the dawn of a new era.
''I do not know the Ivano Bonetti situation,'' said Novo, who will play against his old team in a friendly in less than a fortnight. ''For me, any manager is good,'' offered Speroni diplomatically. ''I will speak with Ivano and wish him well but I am happy to be staying.''
It was a marriage destined to end in tears but whatever the reasons for their departure, the Bonettis will be missed. Flair, fashion, 'flippin' ecks' et al . . .
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