The Naivety of Jamille Matt
It was just after lunchtime yesterday afternoon that the news crept out that the Harriers striker,
Jamille Matt, was up North having a trial with League 1 club Sheffield Utd. It had suddenly been tweeted on one of their fansites that he was playing in a game up there that morning along with a defender from Fulham named Jack Dean.
Immediately I re-tweeted the news and within minutes it was exclusively on the message board,
Harriers Chatter, not in some other news media as they were claiming.
As we all know Jamma had been stopped playing for us mid-way through last season because of a legal problem with his presence in this country. He had been due to play in an England C game but a problem with his passport and registration papers had arisen and quietly he was dropped from the side with mentions of a minor injury being given as the reason.
The real reason eventually transpired that there was a problem with his residency in this country even though he had been here since the age of seven and had gone through the education and employment system without any problems. He had even been issued a NI number by the DHSS at sometime so someone must have thought there was no problem. Turns out that wasn't the case.
So we then had the situation of our leading scorer, at the time, suddenly being unable to play while legal enquiries were being made by the Border Agency Control and the club prepared to stand by the young man and help in any way they could. We appear to have kept our side of the bargain and had even gone so far as extending his contract for a further year even though it was accepted that his case may not be heard until this coming September at the earliest.
It could also be said that we wanted him on an extended contract just in case a League club came in for him but that would be unlikely before he was able to play again. It's a form of insurance and who would blame the club for that.
The story that came out yesterday was astonishing in many so ways with the main one being that he wasn't allowed to play football for any club until his case had been heard and a verdict reached. That also included playing in pre-season games although he would have been able to train with the Harriers to keep his fitness levels up. It's doubtful wether it would include having a trial with another club though.
The other astonishing aspect to this is the role his agent has played in all this. Surely he must know exactly what the terms of his suspension were and should not even be considering touting damaged goods as available around other clubs knowing full well that he can't possibly sign for anyone else while he's on contract to us and that the investigations conclusion was still a good two months away from being concluded. Even then it could easily be a negative conclusion and the agent wouldn't have this particular footballer available to tout around anyway.
There's also the part that Sheffield Utd have played in all of this. Didn't they first check the paperwork of this 'available triallist' that had been offered to them or do they take any Tom Dick or Harry off the street and give them a game without actually knowing who they are?
Then Jamille comes out with some story that he went along for the ride with a mate who was also having a trial at Utd. Lucky he remembered his boots and trackie bottoms then.
Sorry Jamma, you've been very naive in all of this and one begins to wonder if you knew all along that you were in this country illegally and that is the reason why you never signed a contract with Sutton Coldfield FC in all the five years that you were playing for them. Lets not get onto the part that Sutton have possibly played illegally in all this too.
As for your dodgy agent he's been totally irresponsible and you'd be well advised to get shot of him asap.
Where do the club go from here? It seems to have originally been handled well by KHFC and any response had been considered and correct. Even after this latest news came out they have acted correctly and thought about the response carefully although the bit about the apology from Sheffield Utd didn't really stand up due to some contradictory statements from the Utd boss Danny Wilson.
Strange there's no official apology on the Utd website, just ours in defence of Mr Matt.
Where does Jamma go from here? I've already suggested he sack his agent tomorrow morning but the only real answer he can give is to stand by the club that has stood by him and wait patiently until the time comes that he can pull on our red shirt once more, hit the back of the net as many times he can and let his football do the talking. Not his mixed up mind and what his agent tells him.
