Fresh Prince of Chesh-air wrote:
As Martinez resigned at Wigan anyone know why Everton have to pay a compensation fee? If he's resigned then he's surely not under contract at Wigan so why is there a fee?
He didn't technically resign. He just had a gentleman's agreement with Whelan that he could leave when he wanted to. Rather than resigning, he gave Whelan the nod that he wanted out, so Whelan gave him permission to talk to Everton, but the remainder of his contract stood and therefore compensation was payable.
It would have got quite complicated if Everton hadn't employed him straight away, as Whelan said he wasn't able to interview any candidates for the Wigan job before Martinez had left, as technically he was still in the role and could have sued for constructive dismissal if they had. I don't think personally there has ever been anyone else in the running for the Everton job. I think all the smoke blowing has been purely so Martinez had less bargaining power in the contract negotiations.