Word is that Levy approached WBA three months ago, and that Peace refused to give Levy a price. The indications appear to be that Peace never intended to sell Berahino unless Levy paid real silly money - way above the £25 million that has been mentioned - which Levy simply wasn't prepared to do. Levy will get Berahino, even if he has to wait for Berahino's contract to run out, and we pick him up for nothing. It seems clear that Berahino will not be signing another contract with WBA, so I cannot see that Peace is acting in any way that makes financial sense for WBA. It's tough, but this kind of thing happens. It's happened to us on more than several occasions. When you have a player that wants to play for a specific club and that club refuses to pay your valuation of the player, you are left with two very stark choices: (1) keep the player, knowing full well that you have a disgruntled player who will, eventually, leave you for nothing (because he will refuse to go and play for the team that you will try, desperately, to palm him off with in order to try to recoup some of his fee, or (2) given in, and let him go to the club of his choice for the price that the other club is prepared to pay, and simply mark it all down to experience. It's all well and good taking a principled stand, but principles cost money!
I think he's very much done this and I don't think it's a bad thing, players have had it all their own way for too long and love to **** on the clubs we all love. I applaud the stance JP has taken, yes he will eventually go and maybe for less money but it's on the clubs terms not the players and that's a good thing.
It's Levy's standard way of doing business, agitate a player into asking for a transfer by offering his agent a lump fee if gets the transfer completed, he tried the same with Wanyama. It's unprofessional and I hope that WBA follow up on there threat of reporting Spurs for dodgy business practices. If I was JP i'd offer him to Arsenal on the cheap.
Or 3) Tell the player that they are under contract and to sort their ****ing head out and if they knuckle down then they'll get their move next Summer to a bigger club than Spurs ala Morgan Schneiderlin As for your number 2 pretty sure you won't be saying that you should back down to the buying clubs price when it comes to Kane & Lloris.
Firstly, Spurs have had more than their fair share of aggressive targetting from other clubs, such as Real, Chelsea and United. Secondly, the fact of the matter is that, regardless of contractual commitment, if a player no longer wants to play for you, at this level, there is absolutely no point in trying to hold on to him. Berahino wants to come to Spurs to link up with his U21 strike partner, and to join a team that has grown used to playing in Europe and challenging for top 4, season in and season out. I know that you don't like that, but that's the world we live in. Deal with it.
Players and agents are ****s. Happy to sign a contract extension to get a pay rise but livid when the club points at that contract when the player wants a move to another club.
I think what Levy seriously miscalculated was the effect the additional TV money would have. It means that all Premiership clubs are now far better off. You can't just go in with low ball bids now and expect the smaller club to capitulate because they need the money. Plus, of course, Peace is as pig headed as Levy.
You cannot force any one to work in a job or at a firm that they no longer want to be at. Pointing to a contract only makes things worse, especially in sport at the highest levels, where motivation and commitment are the diffierence between winning and losing.
I know you have, doesn't make it right though As for 2nd paragraph I would partially agree but I point again to Morgan last Summer, so you're saying we would of been better off selling him to you for £8-10m (Still can't get over that offer ) than keeping him for another year, getting a great season out of him, then selling him from £25m? How would us caving in in that situation be the best for the club? As for me not liking it, ummm I'm a Saints fan? I'm very much used to all this **** by now , but it's refreshing to see Pearce stand up to your underhand tactics and player power. They make me a loss, but it's a stand being taken and sends a message out to others in the squad.
In most industries a contract has a notice period. Back in the days when I was working for other people I had to overcome notice period issues twice. Once I resigned to go to a competitor and my employer basically chucked me out of the building and stopped paying me. He paid up my notice period after he got a letter from my solicitor. Another time I had to see out an excruciating three month notice period. I was bored to tears and demotivated but I did what was expected of me. In both instances the letter of the contract was adhered to (eventually). Footballers don't have notice periods, they sign contracts for a fixed period of time in order to protect both them and the club. When they sign a contract it is usually to get an increase in salary. The club pays them the higher salary as per the terms of the contract and in return the player should respect the fact that they are tied into the club for an agreed period of time. If they play **** and are dropped during their contracted period they don't waive their salaries!
But, if you take away the agents, we'll be back to the days when clubs exploited players. Let's all try not to get too evangelical about this, lads! Let's not forget, for example, that clubs are run for profit, which they earn by exploiting the talents of players. Agents ensure that the very best players get the very best deals. And I see absolutely nothing wrong with a player (through his agent) seeking to negotiate better terms in a contract, year in and year out. A player will sign a 5 year contract, which will have terms that are set at the time the player signs those terms. The player's terms are set at a rate in line with the expectations of that player. However, if, during the contract, the player develops to a point where he is clearly exceeding the expectations that have been set, what is so wrong with him demanding better terms? If the club holding the contract cannot or will not better the terms, and another club comes in and says we'll buy out that contract, I see nothing morally wrong in the player forcing the issue.
Of course, any club wants to get the maximum for any player they sell. In Berahino's case, he will go. If not in Jan, next summer. It's pointless trying to hang on to somebody who doesn't want to be there, whose head is elsewhere. Once the bond is broken, the transfer request made, it's just a matter of how long and how much.
Surely, it comes down to the player? I'll give you a couple of examples with Spurs. Berbatov did "a Berahino" and threatened to go on strike if Levy didn't sell him to United. We didn't want to sell Berbatov, but his head had clearly been turned by United, and he was going to be a problem for the manager. Levy took the commercial view and sold a player that he had previously said was not for sale "at any price." Sure, we got a lot of money for him, but the player was worth far more to us, had he stayed, and Levy would not have sold him for any price, if Berbatov had not threatened to go on strike. Now, look at the case with Modric. He made it clear that he wanted to join Chelsea, but Levy convinced him to stay for another season, and eventually brokered a better deal for Modric, who eventually joined Real Madrid. Modric didn't threaten to go on strike, and he gave us one more superb season. If a player doesn't want to play for you, there is absolutely no point in trying keep him. Levy knows that, Peace doesn't, yet.
I doubt it. Levy will have known that Berahino's contract expires in June 2017. If Peace doesn't sell him in the January window, for the price that Levy wants to pay, then WBA are going to lose a shed load of cash in next Summer's window. Levy is playing the game. Peace is a mug.
Spurs will have moved on to other targets by then. Your transfer policy has been haphazard for years, I can't see that changing soon. United aren't much better nowadays.
Yeah it does come down to the player - that was kind of my point in the first place! Your last line is very definitive and matter-of-fact when really it's not as clear cut as that as I showed with Morgan and you did with Modric. Just because he wants to leave doesn't mean that Pearce should bow down to your 'derisory' offers as he saw them.
Perhaps. I think that will come down to Berahino, himself. Someone needs to have a quiet word with the lad and say, "Look, son, we all know you're disappointed that you didn't get your move to Spurs; but keep your head down, keep scoring those goals, and Spurs (and possibly other big clubs) will be back for you in the January window, because Peace won't dare let this run into the Summer. If you really want to **** Peace where it hurts, just keep quietly going about your job and let your contract run down, until you can walk away for free, and then you'll be able to take £10m as a sign-on fee, rather than line that ****er's pockets with it!" **** me! I'd make a superb agent!
