Looking at recent events: Cardiff and Aston Villa's management appointments and fight for Modric etc, what are contracts worth? They seem very one-sided in the player/managers favour. Of course a player's contract should be honoured if he is injured, but what about when the players form drop or the club is in financial difficulty. It can be very hard to shift a high earner e.g. Ripley. And yet, the player/manager can somehow break the contract. Everyone says you can't hold a player who doesn't want to play. Watching the Modric situation with interest.
This side of things needs to be addressed. They should bring in a clause in the contracts that should say something of the order if you do not finish the agreed contract and resign They should not be allowed to register with another club for at least 4 months. If the club sack you then they have to pay up the full contract! Would stop the kind of antics seen in the midlands.
Very little loyalty I'm todays game. Hope Lallana and Chambo prove me wrong. The way to address it would be to go back to weighted salaries. It won't happen, but in the good old days when players would get a basic and then huge bonuses based on getting in the first team and then winning.
Actually I was talking about the managers contracts, that was my understanding of the intitial post. Could be I'm wrong.........
As it happens, I know someone who works for the taxman, and who has seen pro-footballers contracts, and he says they are full of bonuses for wins, clean-sheets, etc.
Actually, it would be a very stupid club who pays up the full contract when they sack a manager. Most will have a six or twelve month notice period, so the most a club should be paying to a sacked manager is a years salary. A contract is mainly there so that clubs have some control over transfer fee nowadays.
A lot of sales jobs come with contracts that don't allow you to move to a competitor straight away. In regards to the McLeish story. I think it's only fair that a manager and a club should honour their contracts. So, if the club sack the manager...then he is compensated. If the manager moves to another club then that club should pay compensation. If a manager quits for whatever reason, then he should not be allowed to manage another club for say 3 months. I think that this could be introduced provided the club allow other clubs to approach. I think it's unfair in this case that Birmingham refused Villa in making an approach. Had the approach of been allowed then they would have been properly compensated. Sometimes clubs have to accept no matter how difficult it is, that other clubs are a better proposition for a manager and that manager will leave. In regards to players contracts, it's more complicated as a transfer fee and a price tag is associated with them. This is when the tribunal system needs to have more bite
I haven't driven a bus for five years can I have a go? Promise not to go under any low bridges like someone did recently in London when taking a wrong turning.