Going back to other analogies used....
If someone asked a copper "how many years will I get for armed robbery" and got the answer "actually it will only be 6 months"
1)Should that conversation be any kind of defence?
2)The copper is guilty of nothing more than stupidity at worst and certainly hasnt commited any offence
I think the Poless will argue they are paying for 5 days a week.The contracts are stipulating availability for promotional work and practice etc as required as well as matches.
The renumeration reflects this and is why they believe they are correct to expect full compliance.
Perhaps no news is good news.
I always remember an old adage told to me when I first started work about lending propositions - The customer can have an answer when the decision is ready and it may well be Yes but if they insist on an answer immediately and the decision isnt ready then the answer is No.