In regards to Ashdown and all the others released - Surely it was just a formality? If any of them were going to be offered a new contract the club wouldn't wait until their current deal had expired, did they honestly believe that they were going to be offered new ones?? It doesn't work that way, you talk about new contracts with them and their agents in advance, feel Ashdown is making a meal of it all if I am honest.
If you signed a 3 year contract with your place of employment and there was nothing talked about towards the end of it wouldn't you assume you were going to be unemployed at the end of it, wouldn't you ask questions yourself, did Ashdown not say to those in charge do you need me next season, am I going to be given a new contract???? Common sense tells you at the end of your contract if you haven't agreed a new one you are unemployed and free to go on your way.
I agree wholeheartedly, Ristac. Players don't talk to anyone these days. Their agents do. And agents are not known for sitting back and letting things happen. Ashdown's agent would have been all over Leeds, and probably at some point made an ultimatum of "make an offer now or my lad's off". To which silence would have been the answer, making it clear he had no future at Leeds. Ashdown knew well in advance that he was off. He's just being a diva 'cos the formal letter was a day late in arriving. The letter didn't tell him anything he didn't know weeks or even months before. I had a lot of time & sympathy for him during his time here. Now, as far as I'm concerned, he can fcuk off & die.
£8m for Rossco? Nope, I want to keep him. Do you really think we'd get a lot of investment wonga out of the deal? I think not. There are a few significant deductions & payment schedules you have to take into consideration. Everyone seems to think that if you sell a player for £8m then you'll have £8m to spend. Not true - bigstyle!
Breakdown example (ok, guess) of an £8m deal:
VAT @ 20%: 1,332,000
Buying Agent Fee @ 15%: 1,000,000
Selling Agent Fee @ 15%: 1,000,000
Signon/Loyalty Payment: 1,000,000
etc. ............................_________
Non-LUFC total..............£4,332,000
That's more than half of it for starters. Then the rest of it is probably broken down along the lines of:
Initial payment to LUFC: 1,500,000
48 monthly payments of 45,166: 2,168,000
Ok, so my figures might be out a little, but they won't be that far away, and you could expect an £8m sale to only generate £1.5m or so to buy a player.
Not really worth it, is it? Only people to really benefit from a sale are the agents, player & HMRC.
Anyone want to contest this model?
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