I like the Sheens response for two reasons...
1) It was quick, immediate an unequivocal which in turn has seemed to shut it down. The hacks drop off because of the cold water that's been poured on what was probably just a hack throwing something out there based on nothing solid. Take the heat out of it and they move on looking to "create" as opposed to report on the next issue.
2) It puts the club in a stronger (future) bargaining position if or should anything eventuate on (in this case) a club looking to snare Luke Brooks (i.e. we still want him, he is imperative to our future plans, we're not paying a cent of his contract and / or we need a like for like player swap). We would have the superior bargaining power based on Sheens' statement. This case has been better handled than Lee / Aloiai / Mowing Lawns etc, which made that situation untenable for the player, or at least gave the appearance of such and of course we lost control of the situation.
It's a good sign, it's better leadership, it's stronger leadership, it's calm, it's clever!