How Can Football Prevent the Agent Provocateur?

NOTHING YOU DIDNT KNOW ALREADY, BUT WORTH A READ.


It’s that time of year again. Soon football’s transfer silly season will be in full swing and player’s agents will be licking their lips in anticipation.

Fans may love the summer drama but does the involvement of agents affect the beautiful game in a negative way?

It’s important to understand that agents are not part of the football pantomime. They’re motivated by money and release stories about their clients to promote them, not to delight supporters.

Some argue their antics indirectly add to the soap opera but the truth is it’s not intentional. Comments that imply a player is unsettled do little but raise awareness about their availability.

This doesn’t promote football but instead lines the agent’s pockets.

Given the amount of transfers that are completed away from the public eye, why else would they publicise anything unless there was an ulterior motive?

Fans take most rumours with a pinch of salt. They love reading the stories but they know when it’s pure fantasy and many will not believe a thing until the player has signed on the dotted line.

The agents see it differently. If their client is wanted then they tell the world someone is interested in him so that other clubs double check his availability.

Even though fans find it exciting that their club is chasing new signings, it doesn’t always work out that way. They may love the drama but do they appreciate it when their best player is persuaded to leave?

Sunderland’s Asamoah Gyan isn’t popular in the North East at the moment but was it his idea to look elsewhere for more money?
His agent found him a deal worth four times what he was being paid so he jumped on a plane to UAE. With that in mind is Gyan disloyal or just a businessman?

Fans expect players to understand the club’s ethos and commit themselves to the cause so it’s saddens them to find some are more concerned with wages. Especially since that’s what makes it so easy for them to be persuaded the grass is greener elsewhere.

Naturally footballers can’t be trusted to put loyalty ahead of financial gain. That’s why agents need to be discouraged and a wage cap is only way to stop them destabilising clubs.

Players earn a lot of money, some say too much. Whether or not you believe it’s relative to how much they earn for their club, it’s still a huge amount when compared with the general public.

If football was brave enough to cap wages it would mean that the best players would reach the pinnacle of their earnings and have less reason to seek a move away.

If Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi can earn no more than £100,000 a week, the only reason they would leave their clubs would be for sporting reasons.

It would mean when players like Samir Nasri feel they’re more likely to win trophies at Manchester City than at Arsenal, they can make that move based on their ambitions and not their wallets.

Fans would even understand their motivations and perhaps not question their defection as vehemently.

The agent will still make his money but that’s unavoidable so at least the players would be in charge. They’d be earning their maximum allowance and would need more of an incentive to uproot their lives.

At the moment it’s far too easy for players to be persuaded to move elsewhere. When a player has a contract, his agent shouldn’t be allowed to speak with other clubs.

Teams have been fined for illegally tapping up players so why is an agent allowed to act as a middle man to facilitate these deals?


http://www.footballfancast.com/2012/05/football-blogs/how-can-football-prevent-the-agent-provocateur




It would mean when players like Samir Nasri feel they’re more likely to win trophies at Manchester City than at Arsenal, they can make that move based on their ambitions and not their wallets.

Fans would even understand their motivations and perhaps not question their defection as vehemently.

The agent will still make his money but that’s unavoidable so at least the players would be in charge. They’d be earning their maximum allowance and would need more of an incentive to uproot their lives.

At the moment it’s far too easy for players to be persuaded to move elsewhere. When a player has a contract, his agent shouldn’t be allowed to speak with other clubs.

Teams have been fined for illegally tapping up players so why is an agent allowed to act as a middle man to facilitate these deals?

Regulations need to be in place to stop situations like this.

The new Financial Fair Play rules should help ease the situation but only because clubs will have less freedom to spend. Agents will still find clubs willing to pay more for their client so the problem will remain.

If the authorities police every facet of the sport then why are agents allowed to disrupt it so freely?

The trouble is they’re hired by the players not the governing bodies. They‘re free to find the best deals for their client so if this is to stop then the powers that be must step in.

If they don’t then fans will be left with a sport so soulless that money grabbing disloyalty will be prevalent forever.

 

Loyalty is a misused word to describe "willing to stay - for a price". Hence Shearer's loyalty bonuses of 1m pounds paid every 2 years. Payment to be in full each time.

 

Loyaulte me lie which means loyalty binds me was Richard 111's motto. Look what happened to his reputation when Shakespeare messed it up.

 

WERE THEY GEORDIES ? by any chance?