Barry Fry has branded Nottingham Forest's owners a "disgrace to the game" after George Boyd's proposed move from Peterborough to the City Ground fell through because of an eye problem.
Fry, Peterborough's director of football, launched a scathing attack on the Al-Hasawi family, Forest's Kuwaiti owners, amid rumours that Alex McLeish, the Forest manager, was so furious with the lack of transfer activity at the Championship club that he had resigned. Forest on Thursday night insisted that McLeish remains in charge.
Boyd was one of three players that McLeish had targeted on deadline day. The Scot, who replaced Sean O'Driscoll as manager at the City Ground on 27 December, had also hoped to bring in Stephen Ward from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chris Burke from Birmingham City but all three transfers failed to materialise.
Body was expected to join Forest after a medical on Thursday morning but the deal collapsed at 9pm due to the player having an eye defect. It is understood that McLeish still wanted to press ahead with a permanent transfer but the Hasawi family refused and were willing only to sanction a loan deal. Fry made it clear that Peterborough are disgusted with the whole episode.
"Alex has been a gentleman over this, it was the owners who pulled out and they are a disgrace to the game," Fry said. "I don't know how they can call themselves fit and proper. Alex has been having rows with them for a couple of days about transfer targets like Chris Burke.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he walked over this. I can't understand why they called it off 12 hours after his medical and after Alex spent three weeks trying to get the player. We've never had any problems with George and he's in bits. Alex still wanted to do the deal but the owners said no."