eL Clubs bullied in Transfer Market

[A face]

eL Clubs bullied in Transfer Market .... we all know its true but what can be done to stop it .... the FAI obviously wont do anything to help, preventing their own staff from making a few quid on the side.

Do clubs have to manage players contracts centrally ala IRFU to prevent anyone selling the league out and devalue eL players by selling them for a packet of magic beans.

Barr the "send a few petrol bombs through the windows of merrion square to wake the fúckers up" tactic (in responce to this question in the pub recently) What should the FAI*/League Clubs/PFAI/Tooth Fairy be doing to pull this farcical situation out of the fire ??



* It was pointed out in a recent conversation on the said topic that the FAI are as useful as a glass hammer when it comes to advising/assisting/doing anything regards eL clubs managing their primary assets (players) so they dont come into it (unless their staff are making a few quid)


If this were to be made into a poll, what should the options be?

[Celdrog]

Anyone else understand what the hell A Face is on about?

[dcfcsteve]

The answer is so simple, even the kids of Grange Hill got it.

"Just say no".

If an Irish club has a player under contract and they then get "bullied" into selling that player on the cheap, then they have no-one to blame but themselves.

Growing some balls and sending key Board members of all clubs on a negoitiation course would be of more use than any notion of giving the FAI central control over contracts etc. They'd only make things worse....

Clubs have to face up to their own responsibilities here. Not everything in Irish football is soemone else's fault.

[OneRedArmy]

Face its up to the clubs and club administrators to sort this out.

The sad truth is that EL clubs, generally, whilst purporting to be "professional" in terms of wages, training and the like have not been managed in a manner anywhere near what would pass for professionalism in any other multi-million euro business (which the bigger EL clubs are).

Until the quality of football administrators improves (as opposed to decent "football men" doing their best in their spare time which is generally the approach to running a club) we are going to continue to be taken for a ride by foreign clubs.

The salary cap should address this as clubs in their search for short-term success tend to pile money into players pockets whilst running the rest of the operation on a shoestring, which is a recipe for long-term failure.

Bottom line is that this is one area where the EL clubs can't really blame anyone else as the labour market, even for footballers, is subject to free market rules.

[A face]

Not everything in Irish football is soemone else's fault.

I understand that but .... ..... does something radical not have to happen? I'm only putting the question out there.

Eamon Zayed .... that Norway thing
Wel Hoolihan .... joke
Kevin Doyle .... Pat "the joker" Dolan
Daryl Murphy
And more in recent times

but

Jason Byrne .... Shels telling someone where to go

Was a small bit of positivity (sp?) on this side of things.

I know clubs are at fault but what the fook can be done about it? I mean clubs are willingly selling their souls, should there be some sort of policy implemented??

I dunno ... i dont have the answers lads .... debate it, well everyone barr Celdrog !!

[Jerry The Saint]

Not sure what specific cases of 'bullying' are happening at the moment People may have different opinions on the fair value of certain players depending on various factors. We all know Reading took advantage of the terms of Doyle's contract with Cork, the same way Cork did when buying him off Pats.

Shels turned down offers of several hundred thousand euro for Jason Byrne from overseas clubs at a time when they were unable to pay wages and taxes. Now THAT'S 'unprofessional' as far as I'm concerned.

[dcfcsteve]

I understand that but .... ..... does something radical not have to happen?
I know clubs are at fault but what the fook can be done about it? I mean clubs are willingly selling their souls, should there be some sort of policy implemented??

But the answer is simple. Just say no !

It's a radically simple concept. Clubs don't have to sell contracted players to anyone for anything. It's their call. As clubs get less starry-eyed and excited at the smell of a bundle of cash, they'll feel better able to say no. the price paid for Irish players will rise, encoirage other clubs to do likewise.

But unlike the Virgin Credit Card ads, it all starts with a "no"

[Student Mullet]

A key thing to take into account is wheather the player wants to move. The three UCD lads in england want to leave to play full time. You might say that if we take 50,000 or whatever we're undervaluing them (and you'd probably be right) but no eL club will likely pay more and they want to go so chances are that they will go for a lot less than an english club would get for the same player.

[A face]

Right .... we have the bones of the problem and Steve i hear ya fella ... Say NO .... but is there anything else.

Lads i am bring this up because its been ringing in my ear for years. Its eL clubs kicking themselves in the árse but its actually a very serious problem if the league ever hopes to progress.

Players are the single most invested-in asset that clubs have .... they need to be protected or at least get ROI. There are practicing hazards etc. yeah but a change in attitude is screaming out to happen. But will it ??

[Pablo]

we'll we've Turned down a €120,000 bid for ROD from Southend so hopefully thats a sign of things to come?

[pete]

In all those transfers listed the clubs choose to accept bids from those foreign clubs.

The only future this league has is selling layers for decent money that can be re-invested in other players & then for the cycle to continue. Suggesting eL should not sell players is head in the sand stuff as its an important revenue source.

[Poor Student]

we'll we've Turned down a €120,000 bid for ROD from Southend so hopefully thats a sign of things to come?

It's a bit of a poker game. Shels refused a huge bid for Byrne and will never receive anything like it again. If you turn down too many bids they'll eventually stop coming in. ROD will eventually leave for nothing in a few years so Cork should sell him if a decent bid comes in. I agree that €120k is too low. But it'll take precedents to continue raising the bar. Currently the bar is set quite low with Kevin Doyle.

[dcfcsteve]

It's a bit of a poker game. Shels refused a huge bid for Byrne and will never receive anything like it again. If you turn down too many bids they'll eventually stop coming in. ROD will eventually leave for nothing in a few years so Cork should sell him if a decent bid comes in. I agree that €120k is too low. But it'll take precedents to continue raising the bar. Currently the bar is set quite low with Kevin Doyle.

Shelbourne's decision on Jason Byrne was just pure stupid.

Even if he had won them the league single-handedly this season, they'd still have made more money by selling him anyway.

[bigmac]

But what happens when a player wants to leave? A lot of players will be given assurances that if an English club comes in for them the club they're at "won't stand in their way". It's all about balance really. If you want to be able to turn down offers then you have to negotiate a contract that enables you to do that, without the chance of your player later leaving for nothing. This means that perhaps you have to pay them more to start with. It's a difficult situation, but effectively in the EL, if a player wants to leave, there's nothing that the clubs can do except attempt to maximise the money they get - a sell-on clause for example.

[GavinZac]

If you turn down too many bids they'll eventually stop coming in. ROD will eventually leave for nothing in a few years so Cork should sell him if a decent bid comes in.

once again, unlike your "club"/squad we have a reason for existing and can/want to/try to win stuff so if holding on to roy means potentially losing out on €300,000 but doing better in the league, perhaps we should hold on to him.

Suppose we sold roy now, and did nothing in the setanta cup. would it have been worth it? his goals alone could win us something similar to his transfer value.

[paudie]

ROD will eventually leave for nothing in a few years so Cork should sell him if a decent bid comes in. .

Before that even. I think his contract is up in July.

[GavinZac]

Before that even. I think his contract is up in July.

its not, that was spillage making stuff up as usual. why would his contract be up in july when he signed for us in january? they printed a correction a few days later after widespread panic.

[paudie]

its not, that was spillage making stuff up as usual. why would his contract be up in july when he signed for us in january? they printed a correction a few days later after widespread panic.

Fair enough. Hadn't seen the correction.

[Macy]

Eamon Zayed .... that Norway thing

That was actually great business A Face. Probably not ideal from a playing point of view, but the money was excellent business, and then they got him back and sold him again.

Jason Byrne .... Shels telling someone where to go

Was a small bit of positivity (sp?) on this side of things.

However, that was mainly because they were trying to bully Bray into a smaller cut than they were due, so it actually wasn't positive at all unless it's okay between eL clubs?

Bottom line is that most clubs are desperate for money, hence why they accept deals lower than the worth of the player in the UK market. €50k is a lot of money for most clubs in the league.

imo we're back to a properly implemented licencing system as the solution. If clubs weren't walking such a financial tightrope then they'd be in a position to play hardball. This is where the FAI come in, rather than interferring in transfer policies.

btw aren't the 3 UCD lads out of contract?

[pete]

its not, that was spillage making stuff up as usual. why would his contract be up in july when he signed for us in january? they printed a correction a few days later after widespread panic.

I believe the confusion probably arisen becaus ehe signhed an extension during the summer of 2005. Just because he signed in the summer does not mean the contract ends in the summer.

For whats its worth Roy O'Donovan has said he not leaving unless club wants him to leave. I think UK clubs still look down on the eL & severly undervalue players but hopefully it can change. Southend would not get a Conference player for 120k & Roy O'D is a B international! When accessing how eL players have done abroad you need to compare with similarly valued players.