Saint Victor!

Give them an inch.......

It's a slippery slope.

 

They probably put a call in to Fat Sam and said, "Hey, you just paid that lump 100l a week, got a spare 120k for our player?"

 

I get the overwhelming feeling that this deal is now dead in the water. Let's hope we can still bring in a decent centre midfielder - one of the same pedegree.

Fact of the matter is, if players don't want to come here for whatever reason, so be it. Come the 2nd September, we will have players that want to be here and that's all that matters.

 

Not necessarily. I like the idea of removing agents (or at least limiting the amount they can be paid) but until and unless FIFA or someone bring in those restrictions agent fees are part of football. If Cortese wants to start a campaign to get agent payments restricted then fine. Great idea in fact. But, as I said earlier, if other clubs are willing and able to pay agents these fees then Southampton refusing to do so does nothing but hamper the club in the transfer market.

 

Does it? If the reports are true that we have offered more money to Celtic than anyone else, then Wanyama's agent has a choice: to accept the terms we offer or get nothing. Of course it might make him keen to attract other bids, but unless anyone else has a bid accepted by the selling club the agent's options are pretty limited.

 

And what if we continue to pursue players who are not interested in joining the club for whatever reason and on the 2nd September we end up with Lovren and no one else? I'm not saying that will happen but!

 

So because the deal wasn't done in 3 days it's off?

 

I agree with your last part, but that doesn't mean my post is not necessarily so. I have said several times now, that I would have admiration for the club IF they were really trying to reduce agents fees during this. Great to support the club that is taking a stand. The downfall as you say is missing out on players.

how much would you sell your Grandmother for?

 

We will find out how much better a coach Pochettino is compared to Nigel as he'd have all but the same squad.

 

But potentially everyone else will have improved....!

 

I hesitate to discuss the principle too much in terms of this this transfer because we don't know the details. Having said that, let's assume it's the agent fee that's the problem.

Yes it does hamper us.

In the short term, if the club paid the agent his fee we'd have the player signed. They could tick "strengthen central midfield" off our hypothetical to do list and focus on the rest of the to do list. As it is we have a stand off and need to identify and pursue other options in case this deal doesn't happen. That can lead to other complications. If we have the opportunity to sign a less impressive player in the same position do we take it or stall to see if we can get Wanyama after all?

Of course we may still sign Wanyama but that doesn't mean we aren't hampered in the longer term. I don't know how many clients Wanyama's agent has but it may be a lot and he may be less willing to do business with us in future, advising his clients to join other clubs.

Away from Wanyama I'm sure by now most agents have got the message that Southampton don't pay big agent fees. At some point we will have a bid for a player accepted at the same time as another club, perhaps a club who ARE prepared to pay the agent a big fee. In that situation the other club have an advantage.

 

I hate the idea of paying agents' fees. If players wants agents, then they should pay them. Its no good us being the only ones to take a stand though it needs to be all for one (same with the whole wages issue).

I suspect that if we really want to be top 4 then we'll just have to play the game on the current terms, as much as it hurts.

 

Your last sentence would pretty much be my answer to FLT actually.

The idea of players paying the agents themselves sounds good but realistically it would just mean players raising their wage demands.

When Carroll left Liverpool apparently he wanted a £1m "golden goodbye". Liverpool agreed to pay him but made West Ham pay an extra £1m on the transfer fee. Same principle would apply here.

 

i think footballers should have a brain and be their own agent. but then again some of them are so thick, they need instructions to wipe their own arse, so i think negotiating a contract for themselves might be a bit difficult.

 

If they didn't have agents, then clubs would take the piss in some of the less obvious terms of contracts. It's important for players to get proper representation, it's just a shame that it's gone as far as it has.

 

At last, a bit of common sense.

 

not if the players are clued up. ignorance is not an excuse if football is your line of business.

gary neville did it.

 

Even if they don't do the negotiating by themselves you'd think having someone like a PFA representative advising them could stop the clubs taking the piss.

 

So did Tony Adams. Never took an agent in to negotiations with him, never even read the contracts George Graham or Arsene Wenger put in front of him. Just signed on the dotted line, grateful to be playing professional football at the club he loved.

 

Well it ties back into what you said about players needing instructions to wipe their own arse, they can't help but be ignorant.

Wonder if there's any correlation between Tony Adams and Gary Neville not using agents and also never moving clubs.