I'm sorry i just dont buy into some of the vindictive rubbish written on here about agents (including our former CEO)
Agents are their to represent footballers - often young and invariably uneducated - in deals which are often multi million pound deals negotiated with multi millionaires/billionaires or by their million pound a year earning lackies.
Football is a multi billion pound business which unfortunately in recent years we have been shit at. You pay players a lot of money and sign long term contracts with them. If they turn out to be less good than expected you suck it up and pay their contract for the duration. If they turn out to be better than expected you sell them - like chattels or pieces of meat - for a fee.
Our problem is that we have not been very good at the business of football - significantly worse than we have been at the business of playing football (which we have been poor at).
Our new owners - who i have a lot of time for - are being slightly disingenuous when they hang Paddy McNair out to dry. Could we afford to keep his maybe - but the truth is it does not make business sense to have a £20k a week player in the third tier if we could sell him for £5m. The unpatetable truth is if N'dong, Khasri, Oviedo, McNair, catts etc said tomorrow we are all staying and committed to the fight we would be financially f**ked.
The personal abuse levelled at Catts and Rodwell or Bent or even at time Phillips or Hutchinson on here is pathetic. Football is a simple business you contract with a player - you are making a punt on his future performances and value. If someone else wants to pay more you match it or cash in. If no one wants to sign him and his form deteriorates you suck it up. Some clubs eg Benfica and Porto are brilliant at this - we are pathetic.
Under Poyet and at times Dick for me Catts was our best performer - hence why he got a good contract. He is entitled to see out that contract. Rodwell was on a good deal at City (he could of stayed but he wanted football) he is entitled to his contract. As for M Byrne she is entitled to earn a living and she sounds like she is better at representing players than a CEO - so what shes moved on so should we.
One final point. In a couple of years we will hopefully be a buyer of players again. These agents we are publicly abusing - the club will be schmoozing to get them to sell their players to us.
Agents are their to represent footballers - often young and invariably uneducated - in deals which are often multi million pound deals negotiated with multi millionaires/billionaires or by their million pound a year earning lackies.
Football is a multi billion pound business which unfortunately in recent years we have been shit at. You pay players a lot of money and sign long term contracts with them. If they turn out to be less good than expected you suck it up and pay their contract for the duration. If they turn out to be better than expected you sell them - like chattels or pieces of meat - for a fee.
Our problem is that we have not been very good at the business of football - significantly worse than we have been at the business of playing football (which we have been poor at).
Our new owners - who i have a lot of time for - are being slightly disingenuous when they hang Paddy McNair out to dry. Could we afford to keep his maybe - but the truth is it does not make business sense to have a £20k a week player in the third tier if we could sell him for £5m. The unpatetable truth is if N'dong, Khasri, Oviedo, McNair, catts etc said tomorrow we are all staying and committed to the fight we would be financially f**ked.
The personal abuse levelled at Catts and Rodwell or Bent or even at time Phillips or Hutchinson on here is pathetic. Football is a simple business you contract with a player - you are making a punt on his future performances and value. If someone else wants to pay more you match it or cash in. If no one wants to sign him and his form deteriorates you suck it up. Some clubs eg Benfica and Porto are brilliant at this - we are pathetic.
Under Poyet and at times Dick for me Catts was our best performer - hence why he got a good contract. He is entitled to see out that contract. Rodwell was on a good deal at City (he could of stayed but he wanted football) he is entitled to his contract. As for M Byrne she is entitled to earn a living and she sounds like she is better at representing players than a CEO - so what shes moved on so should we.
One final point. In a couple of years we will hopefully be a buyer of players again. These agents we are publicly abusing - the club will be schmoozing to get them to sell their players to us.
