Days after being placed on gardening leave, former Sunderland sporting director Lee Congerton has completely unbalanced his garden with inappropriate seedlings.
Congerton was removed from his role at the Stadium of Light after he masterminded a series of unsuccessful transfers, including spending £8m on Jozy Altidore, £10m on Jack Rodwell, and £14m on Emanuele Giaccherini’s hair product.
Now, his latest efforts to turn around a struggling garden have come to naught, with a row of expensively assembled gnomes offering no protection to a lopsided vegetable patch.
Stadium of grow-light
“He’s splashed the cash around, but he’s only made the existing problems worse,” said Congerton’s neighbour Anna Davies. “He’s got in some brand new lavender, but the garden’s north-facing and they’re never going to get enough sun over there by the fence.
“The dill was just starting to turn it around under the previous gardener, but Lee’s gone and overloaded the space with carrots, which makes me think he’s just making it up as he goes along.”
Friends of Congerton insist that his long-term investment in hardy perennials will eventually pay dividends, but many experts believe the former Hamburg man is out of his depth in the herbaceous border.
“New cuttings are not always the answer," said experienced gardener Alan Curbishley, 58. “I’d recommend Lee focuses on improving the plants he’s got. If he’s going to rip out the beetroot after one disappointing salad, how’s he going to react when the honeysuckle doesn’t flower for six years?”
Congerton refused to comment on rumours that he was close to leaving his role in the garden and being put on watching-the-cassoulet-doesn’t-overcook leave.
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