Since the start of March there have been twenty four Emergency Loans that I can count in the Football League.  That’s an average of six per day where registrations have been allowed.  The Emergency Loan system has become an important part of every club’s strategy, either from a first team perspective or a youth player development one. 

A quick review of the loan system; there are two main types of loan, a standard loan which can only be done when a transfer window is open and the player’s registration is given to a club.  That registration can only then go back when a transfer window is open again.  These standard loans are half season or full season only.  Emergency Loans are shorter loans that happen outside of a transfer window and vary in length up to a maximum of 93 days.  Premier League teams are not allowed to do Emergency Loans nor are clubs across country borders.  Technically the club taking the player have to lodge an ‘Emergency’ reason why they need the player - injury, suspension etc.

For the larger teams, it allows them to manage their squads, send players out on loan who may not be getting enough games either to put them in the shop window for a possible future permanent transfer or just as a confidence and fitness exercise.  They also can use it to send their younger players out for a taste of first team football, to improve as a player in an environment a step up from the reserve teams (that are less and less now) and the development squads that are replacing them. 

For the Football League teams, loan players now make up an important part of sound financial planning and being competitive.  Fans may not take to loan players as much as their own, and long term they offer no chance for cash injections through the development and sale of their own players.  However they are usually players with good CVs who may be able to come in on low wages, or if the wages are high then the risk is lower as if it doesn’t work out the contract length is only a month or two. 

Agents get as involved in the loan system just as much as we do the transfers and contract re-negotiations.  It is usually us agents that discuss the possibility of our clients going out on loan, and then make sure we are looking around the market place for possible opportunities.  The downside is that I don’t think I have ever been paid to do this part of the job, so it’s just becomes part of the service that they get for the fees we earn when we do a transfer or a new deal.    When we get the green light from a club to do a loan, I treat it like any other deal, I put together a shortlist of interested clubs simply by spending time on the phone talking to managers and then when my client and I decide a direction we would like to move in, we get the clubs talking and hopefully conclude a deal.  The clubs need to agree what percentage of wages the loan club are going to pay, sometimes its all the wages, sometimes half, sometimes even more than the wages to include a loan fee of some kind.  Then I will have a quick chat trying to get my client some good bonuses and away they go.  There isn’t normally a medical for an emergency loan.

Something that has passed a lot of people by this season is it has been decided by FIFA that the Emergency Loan system will cease completely after the 2012/13 season.   So clubs at every level, from Premier League down to Conference will have to do all their business in the transfer windows and that will be it.  This will make Agents and scouts lives a bit quieter outside of the windows, but could lead to clubs struggling financially, players getting very frustrated not getting games, clubs struggling with injury crisis having to use youth players or clubs going the other way and hoarding a lot of loan players just in case. 

I am not a fan of this decision myself as I see the flexibility of the Emergency Loan system a vital part of the modern game.  Big clubs are spending money buying up all of the best young Football League talent but then how will they get games if the Emergency Loan system is scrapped?  I understand that they want to go back to the days of clubs producing their own players and making profit on them.  A dream I can buy into but Managers don’t get enough time to do the same. 

Someone told me that the system will be scrapped following Arsenal loaning Aaron Ramsey to Cardiff outside of the transfer window on an Emergency Loan.  It seems that someone at the clubs, or the Football League, failed to realize that Cardiff was in-fact not in England and so was a cross-border loan, hence breaking the rules.  FIFA were not impressed.

 Take care

FA46

­Footballers are professional athletes.  By definition they live privileged lives, even if the earning level can vary greatly.  My clients get up most mornings and their work for the day is to play football.  How hard can that be?  The answer – very. 

I experienced it when I left school post-GCSE’s to begin an apprenticeship at a Football League club.  Until that point in my life it was easy to say football was everything because it wasn’t, it was a dream, school was everything and football was what I did around that.  Suddenly  it wasn’t fun any more,  it was a ruthless pressure cooker that left me as mentally drained at the end of the day as it did physically.  Two weeks into my first year as a Trainee, I remember it was pouring with rain and I went to the stadium and sat in the dugout for an hour or so after training.  Looking around the empty seats and the perfect new pitch, just thinking did I want this life?  The best way I can describe my experience of the pressure is to think of a ‘normal’ work environment where you are judged on what you produce, what you sell or profit made.  As a professional footballer, you are judged on how you sit in your seat, hold your pen, how you type or write, the spelling, the grammar and is it exactly how your boss wants it.  Add to that pressure that there are 20 other people around you competing to make themselves look better than you.  That’s just how it felt for a youth team player let alone someone at the top of the game.

Pressure on players comes from all angles; from coaches, team-mates, press, family, friends, fans but most of all from the individuals themselves.  Players are acutely aware of how short their careers are, how quickly things can change and how many other players are out there either competing for their position or progressing at other clubs where they feel they should be achieving more.  To become a professional footballer, you will have lived a life of achievement and success.  The best player at school, the best in the area, the best in the academy, the best in the reserves.   To even play in the first team a player can probably tick all of those boxes at some stage.  That’s a lot of people telling them they are going to ‘make it’ from a very early age.  This kind of pressure a player can get used to handling usually quite easily. 

The real test for a player, and what has drawn me to this topic this week, is how hard it is for a player to handle things when their career hits a bump.  Suddenly a manager may decide to change the team, or a manager gets the sack, or a player loses form.  Suddenly they aren’t the success everyone has built them to be.  Panic sets in remarkably quickly.  When you are an agent looking after a group of players, there are always going to be some of your clients absolutely flying, some just cruising along, but always a few that are finding things very frustrating.  For a good agent this is where you really have to not only be a psychologist but work hard with no financial reward.

Friday afternoon when team shape gets set up,  or at midday of a match day when a starting eleven is confirmed or a bench is named, these are the high pressure moments of the week where I don’t want the phone to ring because it is never good news.  Experience has taught me the best thing I can do for a client here is be positive because the time for constructive thought will come on Monday, right now it’s about defusing a bomb that is what a player gets like when they have trained all week to express themselves on a Saturday afternoon.

Once this is achieved, and I have stopped the client from disappearing from the stadium altogether as is often the case if they are in the stands, I will often then spend the rest of the weekend thinking how to ‘fix’ things.  Sometimes the player needs some harsh reality, to simply look at their faults and fix them, sometimes no matter what they do they simply won’t get a chance which is where an Agent needs a positive working relationship with the Manager and Chief-Exec of a club to evaluate if it is better to begin work ahead of the next transfer window, or to look at a short term loan option to get the player in a more positive frame of mind and playing games. 

Flicking through the Sunday papers it is easy to forget the names that haven’t played, the Subs Unused or the ones not even named.  When you look at a squad list for a Premier League or Championship club, the numbers of players you will have forgotten about will surprise you.  You have to hope that their Agents haven’t otherwise they could be stuck there for a while. 

PS.  If you wondered, I didn’t really convince myself that afternoon in the dugout that I wanted it.  I walked away thinking to myself “I’m sixteen years old, I think too much”. 

 Take Care

FA46

It may seem strange to many to sack a manager of a team currently sitting fourth in the table, after a narrow 1-0 loss to the team in second.  It also may not seem that strange to sack a manager who has guided his team to third from bottom.  Yet there has been plenty of debate about the removals of both Lee Clark and Mick McCarthy this week. 

I have dealt with both over a number of years, including deals we have got over the line as well as various others that didn’t work out.  Whatever the fans think, they are both hard working and dedicated professionals, passionate for success and keeping a personality about them that I would always be happy to share a coffee with them.   It may surprise you that I think that Mick can probably feel harder done by than Lee.  Wolves had settled into the Championship when he arrived.  His tenure has seen him turn around an ageing squad into a young team that won promotion,  survived into their third season in the Premier League having proven last year that McCarthy can motivate a similar group of players to squeeze themselves over the line.   This season it seems to be three from a newly built side in QPR, a fractious Blackburn, Wolves,  Bolton and Wigan.  I would have backed Wolves and the squad that Mick built to at least finish fourth bottom of that group.    I still think that it will be the case.   Huddersfield on the other hand have spent big, both on salaries and transfer fees, on players during Lee Clarks reign.  He has assembled a very expensive backroom staff also on high salaries to get the most out of probably the best squad in the division.  The loss this week made the task of automatic promotion a very task, seemingly too tough for the Huddersfield owners who must have set that as the must-achieve target of the season.  Which you would have to say is fair enough.   I wish them both well and am sure that their phones will not be quiet of enquiries from agents and clubs in the very near future.

A lot of people have asked me this week about what happens when a manager gets the sack.  I have done some contracts for managers in the past so can give a little insight into it without it being a regular part of my job. 

Firstly, like most things in employment, what happens is largely set out in the contract of employment.  This is where the actual way that the relationship ends is all important.  If a manager resigns, then they are due nothing from their current club.  They have effectively broken the terms of their employment contract.  If they go straight into another job, then the former employer will seek retrospective compensation from that manager and/or the club that the manager goes to.   If a manager leaves ‘by mutual consent’ it is often where a sacking is on the cards but a good relationship remains between Manager and Owner, then a small amount of compensation will be offered and the chance to save themselves the indignity of being fired.  If however a club decide to sack a manager, then they themselves are breaking the terms of an employment contract unless there is good reason.  The manager will be offered compensation as set out in his contract.  This is usually 6 months, or maybe a season.  It is rare that a manager will have been able to negotiate a full pay out.  The manager is also entitled to claim wrongful dismissal if they have been sacked for no good reason.  Whilst all of the above means that a manager is ok when sacked in the short term, it is worth mentioning that his backroom staff are usually on rolling contracts where they will get a month or two of pay and that’s it.  These are the people that suffer the most when a manager loses his job. 

With a manager doing well to survive two seasons, it is no surprise that they and their staff find it more and more of a need to have agents themselves.  This then begs a question for another day, can an agent represent a player and manager at one club and act for that both fairly?

Take care

FA46

Being a football agent really is an enigma. If someone says they are a policeman, a Chartered Surveyor, a street sweeper, an EA, PA, CEO or generally most things, letters or titles, people seem to have a good grasp of what they do. Either that or they care so little that it comes and goes out of their conscious mind like the cold breeze that passed through this week. Being a football agent for some reason just causes people to snag. They want to know what one does, who you work for, who your clients are, who you know in football, how you got into it or a multitude of other questions. I am fully used to this with guys, as no matter what their interest, football has played some part in their life and even if they aren’t into it, there is a coherent understanding of it. I rattle off a standard list of answers and quickly switch to how they got into being a Management Consultant or what beers are available on tap.

Ladies on the other hand can be a lot trickier as they have nothing to frame the job by. Maybe I just prefer talking to girls sometime but these minds are blank canvases. To them I can talk less about the industry and more about what drove me to it, what inspires me about it, what I want to be able to do in the future and the things about being an agent that gets on my nerves. What I love about these conversations is that the answers back can be the most challenging you get, and really give a different perspective on the whole job that makes me think. Either that or maybe I really just do prefer talking to girls.

(To avoid any sexist shouts, the previous paragraph isn't a blanket on all women, plenty in my life know more than I do, however this is just the common scenario not the rule - FA46)

I recently realized, after parting ways with a client who had gone from the Premier League to League One, but more importantly to him had a similar drop in my attention level, that after working my way towards the top of the industry I had to let go to a number of values I started with. Some of them I wouldn’t have survived with but I had gone too far.

So for the past month or two I have re-moulded how I work and what I want to achieve. I want to take the things that have made me a success - the experience, the drive, the skills, the contacts. However add a closer alignment to what I set out in this world to do in the first place; to guide footballers in such a way together we work better than them on their own or with anyone else. Spend more time working with clubs to get the best out of clients, spend more time with the clients and their family to make sure what I’m advising, the clubs I am speaking to and where their career is going is actually what they want to do, what they want to achieve, and not just chasing the pound notes. I want to look at everything that surrounds my clients, and how they can help themselves to be better on the pitch. All this may seem like common sense to you the reader however any agents or players reading this may be all too familiar with the practice of helping clients only if they let you know they need help. I have become a successful agent following others example but now I feel brave enough, and believe me it is a very daunting prospect, to do things my own way.

Now the January Transfer Window has ended is the time to put it all into action. We shall see in the coming months how things are coming together. I will be sure to keep you posted.

(This could be the closest thing you ever get to a Jerry Maguire “Things we think but do not say” memo, which could be a good thing considering what it did to his short term career at SMI.)

Take care

FA46

Transfer deadline day is upon us once more, only this time unless there is a flurry of activity as Swanson's stopwatch counts down, the amount of deals done and money spent has taken a drastic downturn from twelve months ago.

Surely there must be logical reasons for this. The headline makers may point to the economic climate, that football is finally feeling the pinch like the rest of the world. A credible argument at first inspection; clubs are owned by businessmen, or consortiums of businessmen or businesses themselves. It's hard to think of any sector that has escaped financial re-alignment in the past three years and with no sign of a brighter future ahead, these moneymen may have simply cut budgets or put money aside to ride out the tough times. The counter to this is where in history is there any evidence of sound business practice being applied to football? Many a fortune has been lost through football ownership by very savvy people so to say that a sudden industry-wide 'sensible pill' has been swallowed seems too farfetched to me.

A more likely reason would be that slowly and surely clubs are actually buying better. Have you noticed that throughout all of the continental leagues who have the January window, hardly any clubs do anything, let alone anything dramatic. I work with players who wanted to go abroad, but there simply isn't the demand. Prices too high, risks too great, and lack of time to blend are all quoted by Technical Directors from around Europe. Maybe the increasing number of people employed in that Technical Director role in the English game are bringing this way of thinking to us. Normally their job is to work for the owner, protect the club and build for the future working side-by-side with current management. Instead of thinking who can improve them in the short term, their job is to plan two, three, four windows ahead. Buying players who fit a certain criteria such as age, salary, future transfer value and if they can't find those players then doing nothing at all rather than taking risks. A transfer system is a lot like a waterfall. Once a club at the top do a deal then deals trickle down through football as the bigger clubs take from the small. All of the bigger clubs employing Technical Directors have all shut up shop this window, so the waterfall has stopped flowing.

The development of the Loan Market as a standalone way of bringing players to a club has also changed the game. Tottenham have a Man City striker helping them battle Man City for the title. Go figure that out. Then we have the latest craze, the MLS loan. Loaning Robbie Keane for a few months saves Villa from taking a few million pounds risk on a striker. Works for Keane, works for Villa, works for MLS, just doesn't help the striker busting his gut in a smaller team looking for that big move.

It's Sunday night, the deadline is Tuesday at 11pm, the phone is still relatively quiet. Who knows maybe tomorrow I'll be woken by Harry on Sky Sports News announcing to the waiting media outside Southwark Court that Spurs have done a deal to bring Kaka from Madrid, suddenly £200million is spent and all is good in the world.

Or maybe the phone calls will continue just to be journalists hungry for a story... any story...

Take care

FA46

As my first blog of 2012 I’d like to wish everyone out there a very happy, successful and healthy New Year.  The festive period seems to have flown by as it always does as a grown-up.  A blur of food, drink and a lot of football games.    The question is are the football games too many?  Would it not be better for everyone to have a winter break like they do on the continent?

I can understand that the majority of fans are probably against having a winter break.  Festive football is part of British tradition much like the Thanksgiving game of American football in the States.   Having worked in the industry now for a number of years, I have to say I am leaning towards being an advocate for a winter break.  Firstly players would benefit from a break no matter how much they get paid.  They started pre-season training six months ago and been through anywhere up to thirty tough games already.  Training most days outdoors in a British winter can be harsh no matter where you hail from and a few days of sunshine can help recharge batteries.  This then helps players stay fit, be refreshed and keep standards higher for the remainder of the season.  How many major championships in the summer are England going into it seems with at least one main player out injured or struggling to be back?

A break would also change the live of managers at this time of year.  With the January Transfer Window looming, it would allow more time to dedicate to decision making on contracts and transfers.  January is a hard window to do good business in anyway, add to the mix having to train players, play matches, juggle family commitments and field calls from agents, a manager can be very fatigued.  A break would give them a clear time to plan the window ahead. 

Groundsmen would be grateful to not have their pitches churned up for a couple of weeks that’s for sure.   Fans want to see slick passing but no matter what the ability of the players or attitude of the manager, if the pitch is cut up and bobbly then it will be hard to play on it. 

It is possible to open up a whole social debate about a winter break.  Should families be split up over the holiday period with people off to watch the match, sometimes travelling hundreds of miles.  Or conversely is this bringing generations together that may not otherwise spend time with each other. 

It is a debate that will rumble on and on.  Agents won’t ever decide the outcome but if there was a ballot I know where I would put my vote.  No matter what your opinion, it is fair to say that FIFA and UEFA have to have a universal rule that governs everyone. It is wrong to have some players resting and some playing over Christmas and New Year.  With the importance of European competition, everyone needs to play by the same rules to make it as fair as possible. 

Take care

FA46

It was planes, trains and automobiles for me this weekend as I caught an SPL game in Glasgow on Saturday before a double header on Sunday of watching the South Coast derby on TV whilst at White Hart Lane before their win against Sunderland.  The one common denominator was I was wearing my entire wardrobe to each game to combat the cold.  Flying into Glasgow airport was like going for an alpine skiing holiday with snow covered hills all around.

The period we are entering this week is definitely the quiet before the storm.  Between now and January 1^st, the clubs management are focused on a very hectic game schedule juggling injuries, illness, players wanting to see their families and deciding in their minds what players may be moved on in January.  In times of budget cuts, owners tightening their belts and thrifty Financial Directors, the emphasis for the first part of the transfer window will definitely be what deadwood clubs can move out, freeing up money to bring fresh faces in during the closing stages of the window.

It is a very busy time for scouts as they are flying all over the world doing match reports to feed into the recruitment team and Manager about who they should and shouldn’t be looking at next month.  Spare a thought this Christmas for the families of these guys dedicating their life to talent spotting, often for not a lot of money all for the love of spotting that diamond in the rough.   Theirs is a life of motorway service stations, notebooks and big warm jackets. 

I have a feeling that at least one Premier League manager will be able to go on an extended holiday in January as owners to change things and get that lift around a club that a new manager brings.  Sunderland have played their card with Martin O’Neill.  Steve Bruce however just is another name that adds pressure to the current guys in management as a big name out of work.

Have a great festive week everyone and a Merry Christmas next weekend.  Don’t go too mad on the credit cards shopping and if you do make a fool of yourself at the Christmas party, don’t let anyone take pictures!

Take care

FA46

To Bosman or not to Bosman?  That is the question.  It really is the question facing a number of players and agents in the next six weeks.  Coming to the final six months of a contract means different things to different players.  For some it is very stressful, with no guarantee of where the next contract will come from, where it may take their family, how much they will earn compared to what they are used to or will there even be a full time contract offer at all. 

To others it is a rare situation that provides them with the ultimate career control by being in demand and without a transfer fee.  In these situations, agents are worth their weight in gold as players can only make these decisions with good information.  When the current club offers them a big contract to stay, far in advance of their current salary, then every week that the contract isn’t signed is money being gambled.  This lost money can be quite significant; if a player turns down a new contract with a year to go that offers him a £10,000 a week rise, by the time they are on a Bosman they are £520,000 down.  Who is to say they couldn’t have signed that deal and earned that money and got a bigger move anyway by playing well during the season?

So sitting tight until May and seeing what happens simply cannot happen unless the player and agent know the odds that there will be a better situation elsewhere for him.  The term ‘better’ could be in reference to career opportunities, finances or usually both.  The only way an agent can do that is by constantly talking to Management and recruitment staff at clubs about the players he represents.  The contact book opens the doors but it’s your quality of relationships that mean you get good information out of these people and not just lip service.

It is a very testing time for the player and agent relationship.  The usual first shout from the current club is to pull the player to one side and criticise the advice being given by the agent.  This conversation will usually paint the club or manager as being looking after the player, the agent just wanting an inflated fee, and that the player can sign this deal to get more money and still be in the shop window.  If the player and agent remain strong, then usually these private conversations turn aggressive and fingers of loyalty and being mercenary are pointed. 

As the advisor I always tell the player what route will give the most options and give them the best chance of ticking both boxes financially whilst moving their career forward.   A good agent not only knows the market but knows the client.  Can they handle the pressure from the club?  Can they handle not being a signed up part of the team?  Sometimes it can be to sign the deal and stay where they are.  If they have a family that’s settled, a special bond with the fans or simply are very happy at the club then why gamble these things for an extra 5% on their wage packet.  There are more important things than money but that sentiment comes with the caveat that there is a limit to how much you can stretch it. 

Take care

FA46

There is only one person to write about today. Like many my reaction to the news was total disbelief and dismissal. I do not claim to have been a friend of Gary’s, although I do know many who are and many who played with him or under him. The feeling of shock and loss is actually tangible tonight.

As an agent, there is always a time when you deal with a manager for the first time. These individuals are highly successful people, often with a glittering playing career behind them at the highest level adored by thousands leading a life of a very privileged few. To say that most of them are tough nuts to crack and with little time for anyone is an understatement. Add to this picture that in my industry, the sheer volume of shallow and lecherous people that you come across means that a call from an agent may not be high on a young manager’s list of things to look forward to or to get back to.

I still remember the first time I spoke with Gary. We never did business at Sheffield United however when he became Wales manager, a number of my Welsh clients who had played under John Toshack, and those who hadn’t, wanted to get a feel of what he thought of them and what their international chances were going forward.

Unsurprisingly I didn’t get hold of him in the early days of his tenure, his phone must have been off the hook let’s face it. However more surprising was that he did return the call, not only that he went through all of the lads one by one, discussing what he thought and insisted I pass them all his number, both the ones he fancied and those he didn’t, so that he could talk to them in person. He also wanted to know a bit about me, who I work with and offered up a coffee if ever I was in his area.

Unfortunately and sadly I never was and we didn’t share that drink. From my all too brief interaction with him, Gary came across as a very humble, decent and interesting guy. The football world will be in shock for some time mourning the loss of a talented young manager, father and husband.

Take Care

FA46

Talk of the terraces this week has been the stadium naming rights deal of St. James’ Park, ‘masterminded’ by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley to take on the name of his company Sports Direct. When a club move to a new stadium, it has become the norm that the new build has a brand attached to it as usually they have helped pay for it in return for securing the name. Fans have always seemed to take to this arrangement without fuss. Radio phone-ins this week have proven that if you try and apply the same approach to an existing stadium, then the opposite applies with fans of all clubs seemingly opposing the decision.

I cannot understand the flak that Mr Ashley has got for it to be honest. The timing is good, I’m sure he is in a stronger position with the team he financed at the top of the table, and the money from the deal should give the management some more room to be flexible in the transfer market in coming windows. Everyone who works in football knows that even in the Premier League, every last commercial pound must be squeezed from the club to give it the best possible chance of success on the pitch.

The financial regulation rules are being tightened up to link expenditure with revenue, in order to rightly prevent stories such as Leeds United and Portsmouth where Premier League teams have overspent chasing the dream. This means every club is exploring naming rights as a way to get some extra room to manoeuvre, whether they make it public or not is another matter. Branding is now part of modern sport, and fuels the development of sport going forward. We should embrace these things as evolutionary changes needed to take the sport we love forward. If we hold onto the past too tightly we end up getting buried with it.

In the office the work has already begun on the January transfer window. It is an extremely tricky window to predict what will happen but as an agent, you want to be sure that you are in the best position possible to create opportunities for your clients if that is what they need. The volume of work will ramp up as clubs will try and tie existing players down to new contracts before they enter the last six or even eighteen months of their current contract, as well as wanting to exploit those players whose deals are running down elsewhere. Knowledge is power in this industry so the more work you do, the more you know, and the better you can be at your job.

The players have to do their part on the pitch of course in the next couple of months if they want a move, as now is the time to hit form and catch the eye. It is a real test for the lads to handle the pressure of knowing the stands are full of scouts. Some flourish in it but some find it stressful which could explain what’s going on if your team’s star player for this season suddenly dips in form during December.