Many football agents are scum

[Silent Blade]

do you feel the same about agents even though every manager in the football league has one?
Do you think Charlton Athetic were chuffed with Wilders agent when he came to us late in the day......

As pointed out, you would not sell a house without an agent, it's all part of the game.

Wilder wanted guarantees that he would have total control on which players he wanted to sign or sell. Charlton hesitated and then we gave him what he wanted

 

[8lade]

With the agent in question, there wasn't a problem with his fee, it had been agreed (and oral agreements are binding, proving them is the problem) it was that the agent doubled his fee late in the day, which seemed to be his way of just getting more. Now some people may find that acceptable but not our Chris, he could have said ok I'll give it you (if it was in his budget), he could have gone back to the owners for more money (which I think he would have got) but he said you're not doing that to me or this club. And that is where we stand.

 

[Rob86]

As mentioned above, would Dave the gas fitter be in any better position to negotiate a multi-million pound contract for his 18-year old son?

An agent acting as they should would just makes sure the player isn't getting the piss taken out of him.

What seems to be happening is that the agents are now meddeling and setting the price.

How can a loan deal fuck up really. I don't understand this loan fee. Is it a fee to the club or player ? From how I read it, Sinclair (or his agent) just wanted a bigger payment for us to loan him. Why (obviously greed on both parts) ? He's getting his full salary anyway surely ?

The Cole business is less clear. Did the agent tell Fleetwood he would 'get a fee' and then arrange a percentage with them ? or did Fleetwood just up the price themselves ?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Football is no longer about football at the top level. I would rather the cash rich fuck off and play in a boring elite league and leave the rest to the real football people.

 

[larkymasher]

You didn't answer my question "why do you think the PFA wouldn't be able to cope". There are players and agents who manage themselves.
Why are you talking about Estate Agents? They don't do the same as football agents?

The PFA could not look after 90% of players. If they looked after player A and B and player A was going to be signed to replace B, how could they keep that deal confidential when they know it would be to the detriment to player B? That is a clear conflict of interest.

How could the PFA handle 90% of pro footballers when they come on the phone asking about contracts, their personal issues, what sponsorship deals to accept, moaning about being left out of the team, asking what to do if their club want to sell them, asking about financial matters with earning thousands of pounds a week, asking what to do if you have been caught pissing in a glass at the races, and the list goes on.

Clubs only moan about agents when they don't get the players they want.

As in life you will always get greedy people. It is not just agents, it can be in any walk of life.

Estate Agents walk people through the minefield of selling a house, and they make money out of doing so. A football agent does exactly the same in the football industry.

We have signed 18 players over a year with little or no issues. Now we have one agent that reportedly gets greedy and all agents are wank. Lets get real.

 

[larkymasher]

An agent acting as they should would just makes sure the player isn't getting the piss taken out of him.

What seems to be happening is that the agents are now meddeling and setting the price.

How can a loan deal fuck up really. I don't understand this loan fee. Is it a fee to the club or player ? From how I read it, Sinclair (or his agent) just wanted a bigger payment for us to loan him. Why (obviously greed on both parts) ? He's getting his full salary anyway surely ?

The Cole business is less clear. Did the agent tell Fleetwood he would 'get a fee' and then arrange a percentage with them ? or did Fleetwood just up the price themselves ?

A loan deal can get fucked up if the parent club demands the other club pays all the players wages. It could be that the parent club puts financial penalties in place if their player does not play a certain percentage of games.
The parent club could demand their player plays in a certain position. The list goes on.

There seems to be a myth that agents set a transfer fee. It is the selling club that sets a fee and the buying club that agrees to it. Normally the fee is agreed before the agent is even involved.

 

[Rob86]

The PFA could not look after 90% of players. If they looked after player A and B and player A was going to be signed to replace B, how could they keep that deal confidential when they know it would be to the detriment to player B? That is a clear conflict of interest.

How could the PFA handle 90% of pro footballers when they come on the phone asking about contracts, their personal issues, what sponsorship deals to accept, moaning about being left out of the team, asking what to do if their club want to sell them, asking about financial matters with earning thousands of pounds a week, asking what to do if you have been caught pissing in a glass at the races, and the list goes on.

Clubs only moan about agents when they don't get the players they want.

As in life you will always get greedy people. It is not just agents, it can be in any walk of life.

Estate Agents walk people through the minefield of selling a house, and they make money out of doing so. A football agent does exactly the same in the football industry.

We have signed 18 players over a year with little or no issues. Now we have one agent that reportedly gets greedy and all agents are wank. Lets get real.

But as someone else mentioned. We are now starting to deal with agents who have more valuable clients. League 1, League 2 and Scottish premier players, no problems. Try an buy a Championship striker and loan 2 Premier League players = problems. The former did come though in the end, but not smoothly

 

[Hodgyman]

I just wonder if the recent issues with agents can be (at least) attributable to people spouting off that we can afford more expensive players now that we have the bountiful monies from sell-on clauses of past players. I think that I predicted on a few occasions that the realisation that we had all this fortuitous income come by selling clubs and agents would push up purchase prices of players we wanted, particularly if our contributors on social media kept reminding them.

POST SCRIPT
Well done Chris for telling them we will not pay their inflated and unscrupulous demands.

 

[larkymasher]

I have watched the 9 minute film regarding our final day in the transfer window.

I think the agent dealing with Sinclair and Quina looks like an arse. Looking at the players and the amount of moves they have had at such a young age it is clear he has another agenda.

Contrast that to Donaldsons agent and you see a decent fells who wants the best for his client, as does Heneghans.

 

[mosbolad]

Maybe yes.
Dave the gas fitter gets a PFA rep for his son, reads the contract on offer and asks PFA rep to explain.
Then after having it all explained to him and son they talk over the contract and make a decision on whether it's right for the lad. Counter offer any areas they aren't happy with!

The alternative is an agent doing everything and saying "now you can sign here"

I know which option I would prefer.

But look at areas of the foreign market. Agents making millions and often defrauding players from countries who have had little education. Huge chunks of transfer fees going "missing"...clubs paying £x millions but selling club receiving much less!! And all because of agents

Betting syndicates fix matches, ref take bribes, club officials take bribes, players take bribes. The foreign market as you call it is rife with it. I think a little rich just to single out agents, although of course I'm sure there are many who are unscrupulous.

 

[fuerstenberger]

Europe is heavily regulated, in lots of areas, more so than the UK. The same applies to football agents. Anyone can set themselves up as a football agent in the UK, without any training. There are very few checks and balances, if any. Football is meant to police itself. In contrast, Europe, definitely Germany, agents require training and are regulated, not just by football but by govt too. As in all areas of business, people get away with what they can. When there are the huge sums involved, as in football, it's no surprise it's populated by spivs, bounders and cads. Personally, I call them twattingcuntingleeches. No time for them.

 

[Fanny magnet]

Agents are only a problem if you can't financially compete at your level

We got the piss taken out of us over 2 under23 players ffs

 

[Silent Blade]

The PFA could not look after 90% of players. If they looked after player A and B and player A was going to be signed to replace B, how could they keep that deal confidential when they know it would be to the detriment to player B? That is a clear conflict of interest.

How could the PFA handle 90% of pro footballers when they come on the phone asking about contracts, their personal issues, what sponsorship deals to accept, moaning about being left out of the team, asking what to do if their club want to sell them, asking about financial matters with earning thousands of pounds a week, asking what to do if you have been caught pissing in a glass at the races, and the list goes on.

Clubs only moan about agents when they don't get the players they want.

As in life you will always get greedy people. It is not just agents, it can be in any walk of life.

Estate Agents walk people through the minefield of selling a house, and they make money out of doing so. A football agent does exactly the same in the football industry.

We have signed 18 players over a year with little or no issues. Now we have one agent that reportedly gets greedy and all agents are wank. Lets get real.

Are you a football agent.?

 

[Balham]

Agents are only a problem if you can't financially compete at your level

We got the piss taken out of us over 2 under23 players ffs

If you chose to buy a car and the seller doubled the price at the last minute I presume you'd just pay up?

 

[larkymasher]

Are you a football agent.?

No i am not, but i can see both sides of the argument.

You have not replied to my point of why the PFA could not represent most pro footballers.

 

[mosbolad]

What could be more simple than Chris Wilder sorting out his own contract extension with United?

Yet he chose to be represented by an agent.....

I am sure Wilder's agent will have driven a hard bargain and sure that his agent would have told United to 'do one' if they had not come up with an acceptable package.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/foot...on-to-offer-chris-wilder-a-new-deal-1-8611290

 

[Silent Blade]

No i am not, but i can see both sides of the argument.

You have not replied to my point of why the PFA could not represent most pro footballers.

Wasn't sure if your reply about the PFA was mostly guesswork or that you have a lot of knowledge about how football agents work

 

[Fanny magnet]

If you chose to buy a car and the seller doubled the price at the last minute I presume you'd just pay up?

Not if I didn't have the money no and if I did I'd probably buy a better car

Know your marketplace

 

[Blade in Cordoba]

If greedy agents have their way then football will eat itself.

 

[larkymasher]

Not really guess work but more related to what i know about what an agent does for a player.

If an agent has two centre backs on their books he is not going to place them at the same club as he wants both his players to be playing first team football.

Its like saying all Scottish people drink Irn Bru and eat haggis. Some do but most don't. Just as there are some very good agents and some wank ones that are purely self motivated.

 

[mosbolad]

If you chose to buy a car and the seller doubled the price at the last minute I presume you'd just pay up?

Of course you wouldn't buy it and the car salesman wouldn't sell any cars and would be out of business.

Same with agents. The successful ones keeps the players happy and complete deals otherwise they would quickly not be agents.

 

[Rob86]

A loan deal can get fucked up if the parent club demands the other club pays all the players wages. It could be that the parent club puts financial penalties in place if their player does not play a certain percentage of games.
The parent club could demand their player plays in a certain position. The list goes on.

There seems to be a myth that agents set a transfer fee. It is the selling club that sets a fee and the buying club that agrees to it. Normally the fee is agreed before the agent is even involved.

A loan deal can get fucked up if the parent club demands the other club pays all the players wages. It could be that the parent club puts financial penalties in place if their player does not play a certain percentage of games.
The parent club could demand their player plays in a certain position. The list goes on.

Yes I agree with general loan terms, they can get complicated, but in this instance the terms of the deal were not in question, otherwise I'm sure the report (Wilder would have said) would have picked up on that. It was purely a fee issue. But to whom ?

Maybe Watford moved the goal posts, but why do clubs not get in touch with each other ? That's the wierd part. Like 'Arry sorting the Donaldson deal. Manager to manager and it's done. The Fleetwood finance man at the 11th hour saying it's a goer, why has the agent named several prices prior to this ?

I didn't think the agent did anything other than source work for the player and then agree a salary for the player. But, in a loan deal, the players salary is sorted between the clubs. So what the fuck has it got to do with the agent ! Other than if he thinks it's a bad move. In this case, the player was still contracted to the parent club. It is just over complicated now.

 

[larkymasher]

Yes I agree with general loan terms, they can get complicated, but in this instance the terms of the deal were not in question. Otherwise the report (I'm sure Wilder would have said) would have picked up on that. It was purely a fee issue. But to whom ? Maybe Watford moved the goal posts, but why do clubs not get in touch with each other ? That's the wierd part. Like 'Arry sorting the Donaldson deal. Manager to manager and it's done. The Fleetwood finance man at the 11th hour saying it's a goer, why has the agent named several prices prior to this ? I just didn't think the agent did anything other than source work for the player and then agree a salary for the player. But, in a loan deal, the players salary is sorted between the clubs. So what the fuck has it got to do with the agent ! Other than if he thinks it's a bad move. In this case, the player was still contracted to the parent club. It is just over complicated now.

An agent that has moved Quina 3 times and the kid is only 17 years old comes across as someone with financial motives. The same guy has moved Sinclair 3 times and he is only 20 years old.
It can't be a coincidence both deals fell through

 

[Grizzly blade]

The PFA could not look after 90% of players. If they looked after player A and B and player A was going to be signed to replace B, how could they keep that deal confidential when they know it would be to the detriment to player B? That is a clear conflict of interest.

How could the PFA handle 90% of pro footballers when they come on the phone asking about contracts, their personal issues, what sponsorship deals to accept, moaning about being left out of the team, asking what to do if their club want to sell them, asking about financial matters with earning thousands of pounds a week, asking what to do if you have been caught pissing in a glass at the races, and the list goes on.

Clubs only moan about agents when they don't get the players they want.

As in life you will always get greedy people. It is not just agents, it can be in any walk of life.

Estate Agents walk people through the minefield of selling a house, and they make money out of doing so. A football agent does exactly the same in the football industry.

We have signed 18 players over a year with little or no issues. Now we have one agent that reportedly gets greedy and all agents are wank. Lets get real.

The PFA will take several months just to sign up the first year scholars at all the professional clubs in the land, so in its current format yes, it would be impossible for the PFA to handle all the transfers.

However....if it were the case that agents had to be working for the PFA, and were paid on a scale according to experience, or perhaps according to what the player wanted to pay, then the PFA would then have plenty of agents to do the job. A player could get an agent from the PFA and be happy, then request them in future, just e same as their own agent.
Also, agents currently represent numerous players at once, what's to stop that happening if the PFA controlled it?

As for the player having their gripes as you mentioned, then I would say the player grows a pair and speaks to the club or manager themselves! Like they did in the old days. They are adults...grown men. They should have or develop if not the skills to communicate on an adult level.

As for the conflict of interest, I don't see it. They represent a players single interests in negotiating their individual contract. They also can help settle conflicts or disputes etc etc.

Agents are one part of the problem that is killing the game. It's main aim is money, and football has become lost. Agents are one of the biggest architects of this. They are making it a sport to get more and more money for their players, and it's now at a level where the top players are receiving sums that are way over the top. It's like a challenge to them...and don't forget in their interests to get their contract more money as it makes them more.
It's unethical to me.

Top players now are getting deals they don't deserve. No player is worth more then the average yearly wage a week. And that should be the way legislation should step in.
The max is 30k a week. If they want more, go and earn it with their image rights and sponsorship. But 30k a week...£1.5m a year should be plenty for anyone.
If it's not, then educate themselves to learn how to invest, run another business....make that money grow. Rather than just demand more for nothing.

That's my rant over.

 

[Grizzly blade]

An agent that has moved Quina 3 times and the kid is only 17 years old comes across as someone with financial motives. The same guy has moved Sinclair 3 times and he is only 20 years old.
It can't be a coincidence both deals fell through

The same agent that represented Sterling....and makes 9k a week from Sterlings salary. The same agent who Berahino realised what was happening and fucked him off....remember all the shit he caused WBA, and they won that battle in the end by freezing him out. He realised his agent had created all the problems and him following his advice was clearly not in his interests but his agents. Well done him.
But these lads are ties to these crooks!

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

It has been predicted that the transfer market will go "pop" soon enough just like the housing market did,be great seeing players getting "repossessed" (sp)

 

[larkymasher]

The same agent that represented Sterling....and makes 9k a week from Sterlings salary. The same agent who Berahino realised what was happening and fucked him off....remember all the shit he caused WBA, and they won that battle in the end by freezing him out. He realised his agent had created all the problems and him following his advice was clearly not in his interests but his agents. Well done him.
But these lads are ties to these crooks!

I won't disagree with any of that Grizzly. I am of the opinion that they are part of the game these days.

It has to be said that Mangers have agents also. Even our very own CW has an agent who deals with his contract dealings.

For every dodgy agent out there that we hear about there is without question others that do a very good job for the players they look after.

 

[Grizzly blade]

I won't disagree with any of that Grizzly. I am of the opinion that they are part of the game these days.

It has to be said that Mangers have agents also. Even our very own CW has an agent who deals with his contract dealings.

For every dodgy agent out there that we hear about there is without question others that do a very good job for the players they look after.[/QUOTE


Agreed....and these ones could and should be licensed and legislated.
But I'm afraid they are working in the lower leagues, these agents with the premier league players seem to be the issue.
An agents job should extend no further than meeting the club in their clients behalf and thus save them from not doing their day job while it's negotiated. Feed back the developments to their client and advise if they feel it could be improved upon.
NOT getting in the ear of the client, unsettling them and bad mouthing they currently work so to engineer a move from the club and a nice little wedge their way.

I bet they wouldn't be interested if there was a flat fee for every job they took, regardless of the fees involved.

 

[Ihadadream]

As in modern day life some people are good some people are bad the world of agents is no different, a good agent works with players over a number of years as they realise he looks after their best interests both professionally and financially, it's a short career where if you are lucky you get paid 180 times at most so you have to maximise your earning potential during what is a short career, Agents receive 5% of the value of the deal paid over the length of the deal, a player earning £1m a year will pay his agent £50k so a 3 year deal earns the agent £150k but only if the player stays with him for the duration of the contract, players can only sign with an agent for 2 years after that they are free to change agents, however if they choose to change agents which if they do 9/10 leads to negotiating a new contract the previous agent would be compensated by the new agent to about 50/75% of what the previous contract was worth, Where the agent makes his money is in sponsorship deals and image rights where they can earn upto 20% of the contract value so a £1m Addidas contract makes the agent £200k....Think about buying a car if you can save money on the deal you try it on, club chief execs and chairman are no different if they can save a few quid they try it on that's where the agent comes in to make sure the player gets what he's worth or even better more!!!....phew hope that helps lol

 

[Hodgyman]

There is a genuine place for agents in the game to make sure that they get players their rightful earnings. I remember the story (I don't know if it is true or not) that when Tony Currie moved to Leeds his wages remained the same as he was on at United. He didn't have the business acumen to expect and negotiate a higher salary that he deserved as a regular full international at the time. He didn't have the help from an agent experienced in these matters. Some footballers seem to have brains in their boots but not in business matters.

It was the ground breaking work of Jimmy Hill who, as PFA head man broke through the £20 per week maximum wage, even for International players. He started the movement towards negotiating wages for players based on their worth. Certainly a move in the right direction, It would appear that in some cases the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction.

I'm not sure that full regulation will ever cure all of the ills of the greedy agents, probably only market forces such as more managers taking a leaf out of CW's book, refusing to give in to excessive demands, and players getting rid of agents that are not operating in the player's best interests. Berahino did just that after his mismanagement by his agent while he was at West Brom cost him more than a year out of football. Perhaps the PFA could withdraw agents licences if they operate in their own interest rather than the player's.