Prince Buster wrote:
Well I am still trying to find out the identity of the players agent(s) because from what I know so far a great deal of this mess seems to be down to bad advice. These two young players have paid said agent(s) from their small earnings to look after their careers. It appears all they have got from their money is to be left high and dry.
This is exactly whats happened.
However before people start the endless moralising/saviour complex nonsense lets be right about this.
It has cost the club the best part of 30-40k a player to allow these two young lads to pursue their dreams. That money one way or another comes from YOU, the fan.
Players don't have to have agents and they certainly don't have to do what they say. The fact that Croft in particular was supported through an injury by the clubs suggests to me that loyalty is a bit of a one way street,
Even if the club hold out for compensation, it won't pay anything like back the investment WE have made.We are a business first, not a dream factory, that's fine for the 80 minutes of a game but for the rest of the time it's pure economics.
You can believe me or not, but as far as I'm led to believe by various sources both were offered deals, then improved deals and both via their agents refused. The reason they can't get a gig now is because they want too much money, nothing to do with compensation, and nobody it appears would bite then or now and now everybody is spent up including us.
The reason they are in limbo is because our offer is no longer there as far as I'm aware, it's gone on other youngsters. I suspect we would waive the comp on both players with maybe one club exception, problem is I don't think anyone has the budget left to splash out on these two very unproven players, with or without compensation to us.
Sadly I suspect it's part time championship for Croft. Shaw, might cobble a deal together to allow him to stay in our reserves, but on this bit I am purely speculating.
What's truly and appallingly cynical about this is that IMO the agent has clearly fed this story to the press, in an attempt to gain a sympathy vote, and thus cover up his own ineptitude. I sincerely hope this bloke either learns quickly or has a very short career, before he ruins the careers of any more players.
One final thing to all the TRINITY ARE EVIL TO YOUNGSTERS brigade. The money allocated for Shaw and Croft has now gone to two other youngsters who were happy with the terms on offer. So the promotion of youth in percentage terms to the first team remains exactly the same.
PB, I'll PM you his name.
