If You Think Your Day's Bad, At Least You Weren't Just Fired Over Twitter Like Kris Meeke...

The sensationalist headline on this article is a lie/clickbait. Actual motorsport websites with real journalists are reporting that Kris was told over the phone by team boss Pierre Budar before the twitter announcement.
 
GOTMAXPOWER
The sensationalist headline on this article is a lie/clickbait. Actual motorsport websites with real journalists are reporting that Kris was told over the phone by team boss Pierre Budar before the twitter announcement.
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Actually they're reporting that Citroen are saying that they told Kris over the phone. I read them too, you see:
Asked about criticism of the style of the communication, which hinted Meeke might not have been told before, Budar said: "You can expect we did this properly.

"I had Kris on the phone before the press release was sent. I can understand it's difficult for him to accept this decision and I can understand he is angry."
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The only independently verifiable facts here are that Kris posted to Facebook how much he was looking forward to Sardinia (we linked to the post in the article) and, under 20 minutes later, Citroen posted to Twitter that his contract was terminated.

Meanwhile Kris doesn't seem to have made any comments that suggest he is angry either... or any comments at all.

Love from,

Real Journalist.
 
Famine
The only independently verifiable facts here are that Kris posted to Facebook how much he was looking forward to Sardinia (we linked to the post in the article) and, under 20 minutes later, Citroen posted to Twitter that his contract was terminated.
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So him being fired by tweet is a guess based on the assumptions that: a) Kris/his management team hadn't scheduled a Facebook post in advance b) Nobody had bothered to phone him in those 20 minutes before the official announcement.

Meanwhile Kris doesn't seem to have made any comments that suggest he is angry either... or any comments at all.
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I would guess that he wasn't too chuffed when he picked up the phone.
 
GOTMAXPOWER
So him being fired by tweet is a guess based on the assumptions that: a) Kris/his management team hadn't scheduled a Facebook post in advance b) Nobody had bothered to phone him in those 20 minutes before the official announcement.
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Whoever's scheduling his social media posts isn't doing a very good job, given that the Facebook post at 5.11pm (who schedules stuff at 11 minutes past the hour?) was followed a minute later at 5.12pm by a Twitter post. That looks rather manual, and suggests that Meeke - or his social media team in Andorra - were unaware of the decision 19 and 18 minutes before the press release.

Citroen's comments also suggest that this has been in discussion since Monday and involved the CEOs of both major brands at PSA, as well as Citroen Racing. As a real journalist who's also worked for a real press agency, I've also written press releases similar to the one Citroen put out. They don't take 18 minutes to write, sub and then get onto social. Hell, marshalling the people required for the soundbites takes longer than that.

That alone suggests that the decision itself at least was reached some hours before Meeke's social media articles and everyone down to the staff writer who put the press release together knew about it... except Meeke. Nobody outside Meeke and Citroen knows how this was then communicated to Meeke, but the timings of the social media posts above give a very short window for it to be communicated to him before the world.
GOTMAXPOWER
I would guess that he wasn't too chuffed when he picked up the phone.
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That would be a guess and an assumption (probably correct though), as Meeke has made no public comments since his post 18 minutes before his contract termination was announced stating that he was looking forward to the next race.

Edit: Actually, he posted this on his Instagram about 3 hours after Citroen's Twitter post (8.25pm BST, to be precise). Doesn't seem too angry there, although he certainly seems to know about his firing this time...
 
Famine
Whoever's scheduling his social media posts isn't doing a very good job, given that the Facebook post at 5.11pm (who schedules stuff at 11 minutes past the hour?) was followed a minute later at 5.12pm by a Twitter post. That looks rather manual, and suggests that Meeke - or his social media team in Andorra - were unaware of the decision 19 and 18 minutes before the press release.

Citroen's comments also suggest that this has been in discussion since Monday and involved the CEOs of both major brands at PSA, as well as Citroen Racing. As a real journalist who's also worked for a real press agency, I've also written press releases similar to the one Citroen put out. They don't take 18 minutes to write, sub and then get onto social. Hell, marshalling the people required for the soundbites takes longer than that.

That alone suggests that the decision itself at least was reached some hours before Meeke's social media articles and everyone down to the staff writer who put the press release together knew about it... except Meeke. Nobody outside Meeke and Citroen knows how this was then communicated to Meeke, but the timings of the social media posts above give a very short window for it to be communicated to him before the world.

That would be a guess and an assumption (probably correct though), as Meeke has made no public comments since his post 18 minutes before his contract termination was announced stating that he was looking forward to the next race.
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I'm not arguing that Citroen have handled this badly, because they most certainly have they should've met face to face with the driver to explain why he was being fired (and they have valid reasons, its a team on a tight budget which has a driver damaging cars far too often). But we have to assume that the only quote from an insider (Budar's comment that Kris was called 'shortly' before the announcement) is correct simply because nobody else has said otherwise.

To run an article on the blog with the title "At Least You Weren’t Just Fired Over Twitter Like Kris Meeke…" without any evidence or quotes to back it up seems a bit misleading.
 
Is all a bit sad. A good bloke, nobody can say he wasn't trying but at the same time you can understand Citroen's point of view, despite the fact that they are half the problem with their difficult car.
I wonder if Loeb will come back and save their ass.
 
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Seems like a lot of assumptions taking place and making a story, without really knowing the facts, or kind of ignoring what is known to make a more interesting story. Especially the part where they say they told him over the phone, before the announcement, that he was fired. Famine, did you try reaching out to the parties involved to get a comment to verify any of this? And shouldn't that quote be included in the story?
 
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MrCrynox
Is all a bit sad. A good bloke, nobody can say he wasn't trying but at the same time you can understand Citroen's point of view.
I wonder if Loeb will come back and save their ass.
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Doubtful. Isnt he doing rallyx now though?
Anyway, i wonder if his legacy was part of Meeke's issues. Thise were some huge shoes to fill. I cant imagine the pressure he would be under to bring even half the victories to the table as Loeb.
 
It's been a long time coming really but so savage to bluntly come out and say it's all because he crashes too much.
Usually they would use pr mumbo jumbo that doesn't give too much away but damn citreon went straight for the jugular. And not such a good time to be looking for a team, maybe someone will pick him up for next year? No doubt he is quick but then of course he does crash a lot
 
Rallywagon
Doubtful. Isnt he doing rallyx now though?
Anyway, i wonder if his legacy was part of Meeke's issues. Thise were some huge shoes to fill. I cant imagine the pressure he would be under to bring even half the victories to the table as Loeb.
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Yes he is. But he said he enjoyed the the two rally's he has done so far for Citroen this year & suprised everyone including himself with how quick he still is. You never know. Yeah it must have been awful trying to fill his boots.
 
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Pedinhuh
I'm out of the loop in the Rally world, so by reading at this guy's career on the sport, it's safe to say he's like a Maldonado of WRC?
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No, I would say he is the only guy with the talent and balls to push that garbage car from a toxic team to its limits.
 
Wile I understand Citroens position, it seems kinda screwy to fire your one driver that actually has a full schedule for the year, especially since (glancing at Wikipedia) he's their best performing driver so far.
 
Pfei
No, I would say he is the only guy with the talent and balls to push that garbage car from a toxic team to its limits.
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Really??? Loeb gets in the car for two rounds after not driving for some time, has less experience with the current reg cars than Meeke and nearly equals him in a round that is arguably Meeke's best (Mexico). End the rally a minute behind Meeke if I remember correctly. Then comes Corsica, the car wasn't very strong, Loeb has an off early in the event yet still ends the rally 10 minutes behind Meeke who also had issues but not nearly as bad.

Sweden Breen shows that the car isn't nearly as bad as the "arm chair engineers" of the internet would have you believe in mixed conditions. Mads also showed that in the first leg of the same rally. So what gets me is that you have a list of drivers that could keep growing, showing up the main driver, and then the main driver seemingly does stuff like he did in the last rally. And you wonder why people are quick to judge him who actually are paying attention to the situation. Not the biased Meeke fans claiming injustice?

Aphelion
This vould be a valid argument if he was only endangering his own life, but he isnt.
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And even if he was, that still doesn't look good for Citroen and obviously they don't want that on their image or minds as a team trying to be competitive but also win in a safe manner. He pulled the same crap last year, was given time to cool off and recollect for this year, and he goes and does the same thing. I would think that if I were given a second chance with a major outfit like them, who pay me a hefty sum, that I'd try to honor that as best possible, and not pretend to be the second coming of McRae.
 
@LMSCorvetteGT2 Loeb is Loeb. No one can even dream of his ability to read road conditions and react. Just remember that he also binned the C3 in Corsica.

Breen and Østberg were OK in Sweden because of road position and the odd and unique way the event was set up.

The C3 has fundamental chassis issues and the team is not managed in a way to favorably develop and nurture drivers. Citroën will be less competitive than ever in 2018 without Meeke. And that's coming from a Citroën owner and fan who was hoping for the driver and team to turn things around.

Someone is going to end up getting killed in that car.
 
Pfei
@LMSCorvetteGT2 Loeb is Loeb. No one can even dream of his ability to read road conditions and react. Just remember that he also binned the C3 in Corsica.
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Be that as it may -and I took the consideration of him being a 9 time champion - he still hadn't drove the car, still was at a rally that should have always been a stomping ground for Meeke, and yet kept up with him and had he not had some issues later in the rally would have probably beat Meeke. He was ahead of him in the first and third leg, had he managed better in the second it would have been quite sad considering Meeke had more than a year in the car.

Breen and Østberg were OK in Sweden because of road position and the odd and unique way the event was set up.
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Meeke had the same conditions seen, no really an excuse nor does it change the fact Breen is 17 points behind and on two less events, arguably three had he not crashed early on in Argentina.

The C3 has fundamental chassis issues and the team is not managed in a way to favorably develop and nurture drivers. Citroën will be less competitive than ever in 2018 without Meeke. And that's coming from a Citroën owner and fan who was hoping for the driver and team to turn things around.

Someone is going to end up getting killed in that car.
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We don't know if they've been less competitive than ever, because unlike 2017, they're rotating drivers more often and seemingly have a primary driver who has the most experience to bring in the points while they further develop.

No one is going to get killed in the car because they've actually got rid of the one person who was a determent and potential risk of that. Again the car isn't the singular issue, the car has issues and it could be argued they all do. The Hyundai is the only one that seems to have no issues from any situation. However, it can be said the driver(s) also is a big issue in said car, and can easily make the issues worse, or simply just over drive a car when it's in its best situation. Which Meeke has done, some Rallies you can blame the car, but often times it seems to be he is more to blame.
 
Well thats sad but understandable but yet again very ****** since they don't take WRC seriously anymore.Well on a positive note its case was better than Francois Duval's lol.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Be that as it may -and I took the consideration of him being a 9 time champion - he still hadn't drove the car, still was at a rally that should have always been a stomping ground for Meeke, and yet kept up with him and had he not had some issues later in the rally would have probably beat Meeke. He was ahead of him in the first and third leg, had he managed better in the second it would have been quite sad considering Meeke had more than a year in the car.



Meeke had the same conditions seen, no really an excuse nor does it change the fact Breen is 17 points behind and on two less events, arguably three had he not crashed early on in Argentina.



We don't know if they've been less competitive than ever, because unlike 2017, they're rotating drivers more often and seemingly have a primary driver who has the most experience to bring in the points while they further develop.

No one is going to get killed in the car because they've actually got rid of the one person who was a determent and potential risk of that. Again the car isn't the singular issue, the car has issues and it could be argued they all do. The Hyundai is the only one that seems to have no issues from any situation. However, it can be said the driver(s) also is a big issue in said car, and can easily make the issues worse, or simply just over drive a car when it's in its best situation. Which Meeke has done, some Rallies you can blame the car, but often times it seems to be he is more to blame.
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I think time has shown that Citroen's cars have always had issues. They have been in the doldrums ever since Loeb left, which goes to show that the only reason for their success was Loeb.

The fact that he can turn up and be instantly on it is just because of who he is, ie the most successful rally driver of all time, 9 straight championships. The only person who can compete with his skills is Ogier.

Meekes problem is the he wasn't happy just taking part, he was there to win and was happy to over drive and take the risks.

Personally I don't they will win another round. They have been lost for years. I think they will give up and withdraw from WRC, the realisation must be there.
 
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MrCrynox
I think time has shown that Citroen's cars have always had issues. They have been in the doldrums ever since Loeb left, which goes to show that the only reason for their success was Loeb.

The fact that he can turn up and be instantly on it is just because of who he is, ie the most successful rally driver of all time, 9 straight championships. The only person who can compete with his skills is Ogier.

Meekes problem is the he wasn't happy just taking part, he was there to win and was happy to over drive and take the risks.

Personally I don't they will win another round. I think they will give up and withdraw from WRC, the realisation must be there.
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So what, there have been plenty of equally great drivers show back up after some time away and not be able to be on it, and in fact Loeb showed he's human by making errors in Corsica that you'd think he perhaps wouldn't make. Which all the more proves, that just because he has 9 championships doesn't mean he is automatically going to vie for wins. In fact it is more of a testament to the car because not only has Loeb got in it and been fast but so has Breen and Mads, I'm confused as to how the car is dangerous and noncompetitive. More so I'm confused as to how the manufacture wasn't all the strong in various years prior as you suggest, when it won manufacture championships based on both drivers not just Loeb.

I really don't see how you can make the claims you've made, when the 2011 package is very different from the 2017 onward package, and thus a driver like Meeke with much more experience should be beating part time drivers of the same car. Again he's a driver that is on and off, when he's on he has the potential to easily win and beat champions, when he's off, it's dangerous to himself and others and costs too much financially.

The realization is there why? Breen has shown to be capable so had Mads, so has Loeb again all of this in the post you quoted. If you read it you wont have to see me retype the same stuff that is factual. So not certain why you claim what you have. I could understand if Meeke was the only one who brought results home, but then again Breen is only 17 points behind the guy with two less rallies this season under his belt.

It doesn't matter what reason Meeke thinks he's out there for, he knows the times at the end of each stage and I'm sure the engineers break down the realistic factors of their car winning. Yet as I figured after his crash and before the announcement, he had played the rally (Portugal) pretty silly. Some of his stronger opponents were out and all he had to do was drive sensible and bring home certain points for the team. He failed to do that. And took unjustified risk as the team boss put it, and I agree. I too wondered after the rally why not just play it smart when he was assured a great result. Rather he bins it arguably worse than the 14 flips he did last season.
 
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LMSCorvetteGT2
So what, there have been plenty of equally great drivers show back up after some time away and not be able to be on it, and in fact Loeb showed he's human by making errors in Corsica that you'd think he perhaps wouldn't make. Which all the more proves, that just because he has 9 championships doesn't mean he is automatically going to vie for wins. In fact it is more of a testament to the car because not only has Loeb got in it and been fast but so has Breen and Mads, I'm confused as to how the car is dangerous and noncompetitive. More so I'm confused as to how the manufacture wasn't all the strong in various years prior as you suggest, when it won manufacture championships based on both drivers not just Loeb.

I really don't see how you can make the claims you've made, when the 2011 package is very different from the 2017 onward package, and thus a driver like Meeke with much more experience should be beating part time drivers of the same car. Again he's a driver that is on and off, when he's on he has the potential to easily win and beat champions, when he's off, it's dangerous to himself and others and costs too much financially.

The realization is there why? Breen has shown to be capable so had Mads, so has Loeb again all of this in the post you quoted. If you read it you wont have to see me retype the same stuff that is factual. So not certain why you claim what you have. I could understand if Meeke was the only one who brought results home, but then again Breen is only 17 points behind the guy with two less rallies this season under his belt.

It doesn't matter what reason Meeke thinks he's out there for, he knows the times at the end of each stage and I'm sure the engineers break down the realistic factors of their car winning. Yet as I figured after his crash and before the announcement, he had played the rally (Portugal) pretty silly. Some of his stronger opponents were out and all he had to do was drive sensible and bring home certain points for the team. He failed to do that. And took unjustified risk as the team boss put it, and I agree. I too wondered after the rally why not just play it smart when he was assured a great result. Rather he bins it arguably worse than the 14 flips he did last season.
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Its just my personal feeling. I hope your right & they do continue to improve. I would hate to see the WRC down to 3 manufacturers.
 
MrCrynox
Its just my personal feeling. I hope your right & they do continue to improve. I would hate to see the WRC down to 3 manufacturers.
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That's fine personal feelings and all, but even still you have to have something to go off of rather than just "this is how I see it going down because of this decision." I don't see anything that suggest Citroen want to leave, and I think if they got a more consistent set of hands in the car they may in fact get more meaningful points. They're not that far off of Toyota with half the season remaining.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
That's fine personal feelings and all, but even still you have to have something to go off of rather than just "this is how I see it going down because of this decision." I don't see anything that suggest Citroen want to leave, and I think if they got a more consistent set of hands in the car they may in fact get more meaningful points. They're not that far off of Toyota with half the season remaining.
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Your right, here goes:

Since 2001 Citroen has been the only factory team to compete within the WRC. That's 17 years. The second longest serving factory team within that time period is Ford with 11 years. So to be in last place and not far off Toyota, (2 years in WRC), isnt positive for them.

And to say they could do better with a more consistent driver, perhaps but despite this Meeke has scored more points than any of his teammates so far.

With all their experience Citroen should be right at the top of the tree, the team to beat.
I agree it doesn't help but it's not all down to Meekes crashes.

Citroen as a manufacturer are used to dominating in the WRC so I'm sure the upper management are losing patience with the team which leads me to conclude they might be running out of lives.
 

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