The Football Industry Encourages Bad Agents

The industry often advocates bad agents unknowingly by making the environment of doing business tricky. Let's take typical recruitment agency work for example, a fee for helping a company secure a new employee is agreed at the beginning before work commences. That recruitment agent will submit candidates they've sourced for the job, if one of those candidates gets the job (barring any rebates) that recruitment agent is paid - simple.

In football however, despite the fact it shares similar characteristics to that of recruitment apart from it may be more complex at times, it can be a battle even to agree a fee from the start. Some clubs may even try to agree an agents fee once the player's terms are agreed and then play you around on that fee or dispute it all together. Some may even agree to that fee up front, do the deal and then not pay at all. I'm afraid to say this is just a few examples of what is pretty much common practice in the industry.

A significant issue in football as it stands, let's say at least in the UK, is found in how people working in the industry find it hard to distinguish between the emotional elements of football management and the reality that it is a business where agents are in-fact a key element of revenue generation and player sourcing for clubs. As a result, business is happening, sometimes very big business, but it's far from the professionalism you'd find in other industries.

In this industry, the best way to agree a fee or get paid is simply to have a top player. A top player that everyone wants and then the agent would just tell clubs if you don't agree a great fee from the start and pay a significant portion of it up-front as an agents fee when the deal is done then simply that agent will refuse to negotiate and agree player terms with the club.

If you have a less in-demand player then clubs often want you to fight for your fee; thus we often see agents contacting other clubs trying to create a dutch auction for the player until one club agrees to pay a basic fee. Sometimes for an out-of-contract or a youth player who is even less desirable to the eyes of most, some clubs will just try not to pay an agents fee at all, despite the fact you may have helped that club source a player that does increase player asset value at the club or has distinct potential. There are even clubs that will refuse to take a standard % from a players salary to pay the agent as a matter of accountancy on request of a player - because they don't want to pay an agents fee in principal.

So if you revert back to the recruitment agency concept - do you see those agents not agree a fee or not be paid simply because they're bringing in a £12,000 per year low demand employee rather than a £200,000 per year executive? The answer is no. Likewise, the variety of manipulations of players agent' transactions, including the debate of whether the player or club should pay and what that truly means, is murky, not needed and unhealthy as an insider and looks even worse from the outside.

What I am trying to show in the above primarily is how there is a broad sense that there is no standard way of operating as an agent and each deal with each club can be very different. Where this encourages bad agents is the ones who, regardless of the player' level or demand, are prepared to do anything they can to force agreed terms and payment through any means necessary because they feel it may be the only way they get paid for their work. That's where you see agents offering players to as many clubs as possible or touting them in the press or agents who are keen to manipulate players to hide them from all offers and only disclose offers to them if suitable agents fees are agreed or manipulate families or even step into the realm of corruption all in order to secure their living. It's exactly what the industry says it doesn't want but here it is making agents feel they have to fight all the time.

The industry has allowed itself to manifest poor professionalism and low standards in business in various transactions. As a result, good professionals will harbour away from an industry where you don't know if you'll be able to structure a fee as you'd expect or even be paid from one client or club to the next. Then in turn, the ones who will thrive will be those who enjoy the dark arts and are prepared to needlessly fight for deals and as a result tarnish the name of agents, which could be good one in the right circumstances, and ultimately football.

To reduce the role of 'bad agents' that are corrupting the game in more ways than just morally, the FA and other footballing bodies need to take a firmer role first by giving more acceptance and acknowledgement to the role of agency work and begin to define transactions that safeguard agents and I can guarantee you all out there, cynic of agents or not, that you will begin to see those who are good professionals strive and the image of agents improve. Until that point and agents have to remain in a consistent dog fight to agree fees or even get paid once agreed, the bad agents will continue to operate and the industry will continue to unknowingly encourage it.

Sometimes not being allowed to do the right thing

Hi all,

Just a quick update of my musings of the industry at the moment. Rather than discuss the transfer window I'll give you a little insight into an occurrence recently as we tried to sign to represent a young talented international representative player.

As you will know if you follow or are involved with us, Simply Sport has a code of conduct where we try to as much as we can to inform any club before we make an approach for an 18 or under youth player player at their club. As like any industry, some clubs/companies you have closer relationships with than others, even if we have relationships with most.

However, 5 months ago we rang up one particular club to ask if we may approach a player and whilst it rarely is a question that gets Academy Manager's singing and dancing he appreciated our call and affirmed. However, as of late that same Academy Manager has informed the parents that he has never spoken to us on this subject - and this has upset the parents. Is it merely bad memory, specifically chosen memory or politics? You can decide for yourselves.

Ultimately, I am sure with a conversation with the Academy Manager later today, I can try to get this resolved, but this isn't the first time this occurrence has happened and it really concerns the parents rightly of any young player - albeit I must state it is is a very rare occurrence. Obviously if this occurrence happens it is typically with clubs we have a less close relationship than with others, but it goes to show that even if you try to do the right thing by clubs sometimes, they may appreciate it externally but internally it will be dealt with a different manner. It's disappointing but it won't change the way we are trying to operate at Simply Sport but you if you're reading it as an outsider you can understand how so many unscrupulous agents would happily try never to let the club know they are approaching the player until they turn up for professional contract negotiations because their fearful of how academies may deal with that approach internally and perhaps that club may even gear that player and his family towards 'preferred agents' who may only serve the interests of the club.

Simply Sport will continue to do things the right way - even if it hurts sometimes. And it does hurt.

UK Immigration for Talented Footballers

I am not the first and I will not be the last to petition against a change to the FA and UK government's stance that clubs here may only sign a Non-EU passport holder player if he has played over 75% of competitive games for his national team in the past 2 years, if they are in the top 70 countries in the FIFA rankings.

For example, over the past decade I have observed as South American, African and Asian markets have been plundered by countries without such immigration restrictions, such as Germany, France, Spain and Belgium, who pick up players cheaply with good potential, build them into superstars, they then go onto play heavily for their national teams then they are sold at a premium to clubs in the English Premier League. For example, Papiss Cisse and Sergio Aguero.

Then on top of that, UK teams are now, like the rest of Europe, told to fit into the UEFA Fair Play Rules restricting the way finances may be spent.

Well, if this is to occur - has anyone realised that the playing field does not become more fair if the UK still have these restrictions based upon them? In-fact it hits UK clubs hardest.

Quite simply if a UK club has to wait until a Non-EU passport holder has played over 75% of competitive games for his national team - you would expect them to pay the premium as they will be mature, established internationals by that stage. Let's put it this way, for example, the immigration rules here as it stood meant Man City couldn't have competed to sign Sergio Aguero easily when Atletico Madrid moved to sign him in 2006 as he hadn't played the required amount for Argentina's senior team. And then when the time comes when Man City could sign Aguero they're also going to be impeded by paying the best premium to beat any other club because of concerns of fitting within fair play rules. So both hands are tied.

Whilst the FA does make the odd exception for outstanding youth talent, it is often only for players from the top 10 FIFA ranked countries and it then goes to a subjective panel - then who is actually to say if one 17 year old is better than another for example ? Surely it's the further development that's equally as important to the raw talent adjudged on that day for a visa and that development happens after the exception is made not before.

Truly, if we were to be fair and a totally free market, all clubs in Europe should share the same immigration rules in football and same financial regulations. This is fictitious I know but I still believe the UK's approach to player immigration could be more competitive. What do you think?

Another Transfer Window Closes...

So here we again, at the end of another transfer window in the United Kingdom and across many countries.

This doesn't mean that all transfer activity is over however as of course some players that are out of contract may still be signed freely by clubs after the window has closed. Two more higher profile players I will be assisting in that position include former Leicester City left back/winger Jordan Stewart and German central midfielder, Michael Fink but in the greater scheme of things most player movement is now done until January.

Any of you who followed the sports news yesterday will see a host of deals being rushed to completion, forming a sense of the surreal as an industry completes perhaps 20% of all it's business in one day. What other industry does this? It is yet another reason I do not believe in the transfer window and still believe if truly contested would not stand up to the rigour of EU Law as is quite clearly a restraint on trade and possibly even forms a restriction on the free movement of workers. None the less, here we are.

You could also make the point that it is mainly in the UK that leave all their deals to the last day, whilst in comparison in Germany most deals were concluded far earlier in the window. Revealing a compelling and bizarre cultural approach to transfer market business we have here.

For Simply Sport ourselves it has been an interesting 2 months. As a recently formed business our client list whilst of high quality is still fairly small, it also highly geared strategically for the long-term towards youth who will have high future market value but aren't to be moved at this stage and from a transaction stand point that is not always ideal. Such is the case that I'd say 65% of our transfer window meant utilising my relationships with other agencies abroad to present clubs domestically where we have strong relationships with player opportunities. This often presents it's own challenges in various forms, none less so than when the other agent has his own method of negotiating (or agenda) when a deal is presented that does not fit in with our own. You also have less control and influence over the player, we for example could bring an offer to the table from England but without a worldwide mandate, we cannot stop a better offer coming in for the player from abroad scuppering all the hard work we've done here to bring an offer to the table - and so on.

In any case, I am personally glad that the window is over for another summer whilst remaining keen to help some of the out of contract players secure contracts in the next month. I can now return with my colleagues to focus on signing further leading talents that will ensure the long-term future of Simply Sport and move us away from a reliance on other agencies during these transfer windows. I know with the young talent we have already alongside some of our elite professionals playing in the Premier League and La Liga that we have we are well on course to reducing that reliance.

A Game of Opinions

Here's a little insight into my transfer window so far... for the same player; one Manager of a Championship side who finished mid-table last season barked at me for even suggesting he'd be good enough for them. Whilst on a call to another Manager, this time from a Premier League side that finished in the top 10 last season regarding the same player, he talked of his utmost admiration for the player and his achievements.

This is why football shall always remain - a game of opinions.

The best thing about football is that, everyones opinion is valid. It diverts beyond class, creed, religion or any other theoretical segregation of society anyone may throw at us. Football is purely a game of opinions and that is why it makes it such an interesting conversation starter and enthralling for anyone who enjoys the game. However, when it comes to promoting a player's interest in the transfer window there's only so much "debating" you can do with a Manager...

I recall recommending Luke O'Neill, a young defender released from Leicester City a year ago to lower placed clubs in the SPL. This, merely on the basis that I believed in his quality having seen him play in the u18s and after actively asking Jon Rudkin (the Leicester Academy Manager) about him. However, those SPL clubs then were saying he's too young, he's unproven and wouldn't cut it. Luke spent a short time with Mansfield before transferring to Burnley after being pursued by several Championship clubs this summer and is truly kicking on. Had he moved from a lower SPL club to the Championship this could have made a very good profit for that club - and they recognize this now... this among 100 other examples you could discuss per season, shows even from the highest to the lowest levels, football is a game of opinions.

For me, this is a reason why you should never give up on a player and players themselves should never give up either. It's also a reason why I've never understood agents who say they're "waiting for the phone to ring" during the transfer windows. You can only wait for the phone to ring when someone or a lot of people have a favourable 'opinion' of your player. It's great when I get a call about one of my players. But equally I get a buzz when I'm on the phone or at meetings promoting my players who perhaps have less active admirers but could find just the one Manager and team willing to take my lad to the next level - where he deserves to be, because he never gave up.

Should we not call ourselves 'Agents'?

There appears to be a stigma attached to the word 'agent' in football. What do you think of, when you think of an 'agent'? If your thoughts are mainly positive..you are an odd one out.

However, what do you think of when you hear 'lawyer', 'personal adviser', 'management team', 'management company' OR 'personal assistant' when it comes to football? My assumption is that, whilst not all are at far better levels, that your thoughts are more positive to those titles than the title of 'agent' in football.

I recall reading Mel Stein's 'How to become a football agent' when I was first setting out along the path of becoming a football agent. I recall reading how because he as a qualified lawyer would do anything not to be referred as an 'agent' and instead ensured people considered him a 'lawyer' because of the stigma attached to being referred to as an agent.

Now, I fully understand Mel's point of view. It's a testament to those of us who are so desperate to separated from the perception that comes with being called an 'agent'. That's why so many will call themselves personal advisers or managers or full package management companies.

Simply Sport are in essence a full package management company but what I don't want to avoid is being called an 'agent' or an 'agency'. It's what we are, it's what I am. However, what we want to achieve at Simply Sport is to try and turn the role of an agent into a profession. It's a key part of our differentiating strategy along with investing in player support. I want in the future for an 'agent' in football to become a profession, not just a fly by night ("I have a phone book and know a few people") kind of role that some fulfill for perhaps at most a decade then fade away. I want people to aspire to be agents at a young age and to train, to intern, to develop skills to properly advise players. Hence our association to the Nottingham Law School, hence to our open policy to intern applications and for shadowing experiences here and more.

Ultimately, in order for the term 'agent' to rid of its stigma in football, it's so so imperative that the good agents of the industry stand up and announce they are 'agents' as much as they are management companies or lawyers or advisors or managers. So for my part, I just want to confirm, I am most certainly an agent...co-running, I believe, one of the most innovative companies in the industry at this moment in time.

Scouts: are some identifying talent with their ears?

Most in the football industry, let alone fans themselves, will find it hard to dispute that often once one club publicly courts/shows interest in a player it alerts other clubs to the player and a snowballing effect seems to occur.

Unfortunately, the problem is this desire to hear on the grapevine about other clubs and other scout' targets (even between scouts at one club) creates a situation which I term 'scouting with their ears, not their eyes'. I'd stand by the belief that 75% of scouts, particularly at youth level, are not keen to truly push a player forward until they hear another club is interested OR even if pushed, that club he/she scouts for won't actively pursue the player until they hear there is interest from other clubs...

This is the scouting with ears phenomenon of the industry.

Now I understand the theory from a Chief Scout or Academy Recruitment Director perspective, there are simply too many players and listening out to word of mouth is a good way of narrowing down who are the truly top players, likewise listening out could be simply 'intelligence gathering', however those in the industry will recognise that it is not often that sophisticated or planned to be that way. Often it simply does come to the fact that clubs are reactive to what other clubs are doing.

So from a fan's perspective or even a parent of a young player' perspective, if you ever look at a player in a team and think how have they had a chance to play for this team? It may well come down to the fact they may not have even been properly scouted and somewhere at some point there was a rush for the player because of scouts and clubs listening out for what's "hot" in the market from other clubs rather than identifying talent themselves and truly backing the scouts they utilize or getting rid of those scouts that do not have the eye but perhaps scout with their ears only.

Nutritional Advice Still Not Good Enough

It’s becoming quite apparent that regardless of whether it’s a seasoned professional footballer or a young up and coming scholar at a top Premier League club or otherwise, that these players still lack fundamental knowledge regarding nutrition. This despite clubs believing they offer some of the best advice in the world to their players.

There could be many reasons for this. It could be clubs simply offer bad advice or the advice may not be comprehensive enough. Or it could also be that some players simply do not want to listen or take in all the advice they can get. Whatever the reason, and I tend to believe it leans toward the advice given by clubs not being comprehensive enough, every week I hear new examples of a lack of nutritional knowledge from players because we explore this as part of our support plan to our clients.  

After club advice, many players seemingly can differentiate between what they think are ‘good’ foods/drinks and what are ‘bad’ foods/drinks. For example, some players may believe good foods for protein are many of the white meats such as chicken and turkey and the bad to be the red meats like lamb. Some players may also be told the good foods are fruit and vegetables. They won’t know why exactly these foods are considered good or bad, they are just told they are. The problem with differentiating and setting out nutritional advice like this simply is ineffective and at worst, wrong.

The problem with many clubs’ advice, but not all I must stress, is that the theory behind what constitutes good foods and bad foods (if they can be set out like this at all) and the timing of consuming such foods in relation to its positive or negative impact on the body is rarely explained. In-fact having a knowledge of what you believe is good foods/drinks or bad foods/drinks without knowing when is best to consume them with some foods can be as bad as not knowing.

I’d say 50% of players I’ve spoken to at least believe bananas are simply a ‘good’ food. If I asked them for when? They find it very hard to answer. Most wouldn’t even recognise the, in essence high sugar content of a banana, even if its sugar content is another one defined ‘good’ as compared to ‘bad’, means a large banana or two is not exactly efficient for your body whilst lazing around the house during the summer period, whilst however it may be good at some point nearer to a work out if you want to maximise your energy levels and to gain the bananas natural benefits then. However, the typical player may just think a ‘good’ food is a ‘good’ food and not consider what would makes it ‘good’ in relation to sports performance and body development relates also to when you eat it and for what bodily purpose.  

Whatever the age, whether 16 or 32 years, clubs who don’t already, who are the majority, need to start educating their players about the theory behind nutrition – so that they can start thinking independently about what drinks and foods are right for their body and when, even when it comes to exotic foods they haven’t encountered before so they can make logical decisions on their nutrition and needs to be beyond just pre and post game preparation and recovery drinks and foods. Additionally, players of all ages should make concerted efforts to learn about nutrition. It doesn’t matter how much time you’re putting in on the training pitch or in the gym, if you don’t know the difference, as one example,  between whey protein and creatine protein and when it’s best to consume, and as another example, know about protein quality and amino acids, different types of fats and more you'll find it difficult to achieve your targets. Simply you can’t achieve your targets as athletes without knowing how to fuel properly.

In conclusion, players and clubs need to think beyond the simplicity of what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’ when it comes to nutrition and more along the lines of ‘why’, 'what' and ‘when’, but until then in professional football we’ll remain years behind other countries and sports in the way this is delivered and understood by its participates at all playing levels. 

The Premier League Home-Grown Players Rule

There are two significant adverse effects of the home-grown players rule particularly at the highest level; 1) the artificial inflation of the value of domestic based players and 2) the earlier purchase of foreign youth players.

For those of you not accustom to the home-grown players rule it is a UEFA creation that has been implemented with only slight adaption for the Premier League. In a 25-man squad, 8 players must be ‘home grown’, this can be defined as a player (of any nationality) trained for 3 years by a club in the English or Welsh FA under the age of 21. The aim of it is as stated by Richard Scudamore of the Premier League is:

...it will give clubs an extra incentive to invest in youth. We think that one of the benefits will be that it will help the England team.

Intrinsically, there is a propensity for a home grown player to be English or Welsh, and therefore this requirement obviously increases the value of these players to Premier League clubs, artificially inflating the asset value of these typical domestic players against typical foreign ones. For this reason a club may be inclined to ensure they fulfill their quota of these ‘home grown players’ and as soon as achieved then change their transfer strategy entirely to foreign players to seek real value for money.

Interestingly, on implementation of this rule the Premier League club most affected, aka the club with the least amount of 'home grown players' already was Liverpool. Did they not recently spend £35m on Andy Carroll, £20m on Stewart Downing and £20m on Jordan Henderson? Were they redressing their balance in accordance with this rule? Does anyone else think these values may have been artificially inflated because of Liverpool’s need to adapt to the rule or is it a coincidence?

Also, anyone heavily involved in academy football, like Simply Sport is, can observe there has been no let up in the amount of foreign youth footballers joining Premier League academies. There is now an actual reason to buy a foreign player aged 16 or 17 than to continue to scout them and perhaps purchase them aged 20 – and that reason is if a club can sign him before he is 18 he could count as a ‘home-grown player’ when he turns 21. This will help that club fulfill its home grown quota in the future and also know that being a home grown player will add to his value in the future if and when they are to sell. Therefore there is more of an incentive to bring in foreign players at a younger age than ever before. 

Now, I’m not against the rule – I think it serves a purpose and it does force clubs to focus more on what they’re doing at youth level. However, I just wanted to use this blog to highlight the problems the rule can also create and that there should be open dialogue going forward as to how the rule could be adapted for improvement.  

Expect More of Your Agent

I often recall the thoughts I had whilst studying for my law master degree and pondering a career in sports management...

I envisaged a steady career ladder, where you’d apply to a sports agency, possibly gain the opportunity to become an intern or join on a graduate scheme. Alternatively at least, you’d start in the post room, or perhaps you’d shadow an established agent within the business and/or be an assistant to the agent for a while. In honesty, I was ready to graft and work my way up – mainly because I understood that’s how large sports, film agencies and so on in America operate so surely it’d be the same here in England??

I was wrong.

Quite unlike the maturity of the sports management company or agency in America, being a Sports Agent here in England appears typically to be more an occupation through manifestation, luck or opportunity – rather than an established career.

My first ‘job’ in sports was for an Australian company and whilst it was a superb opportunity in its own right, I had no training whatsoever and very little direction whilst there apart from access to contacts. Indeed, I’d go as far to say now after my years in the sport business in England, a stereotypical agent here is someone who merely has a few contacts in their phone, a car, gets to a few games picking up players and makes a few deals every month, large or small. This in comparison to how the large American sports management companies operate who move beyond just having a few contacts and players, to training their agents to be able to offer 360 degree advice from a legal perspective to a tax and financial perspective to nutritional and beyond. Now no one agent can be an expert in all, but training their agents to have a little bit of knowledge of all enables the agent to provide a better service – the type of service players should expect from their agent.

In essence, I believe it is time footballers and other sportspeople here in England and across Europe expect more from their agents. 

Football is the world’s number one sport and as a result you should expect a premium service from your agent, not just a wheeler dealer.

A move toward this type of ‘American professionalism’ as I call it, is a fundamental part of the strategy behind Simply Sport Management. There is an expectation that each and every person in this business continues to develop their broad spectrum of knowledge so that we can better advise our players. Likewise, it is why we are developing our collaboration with the Nottingham Law School so we can offer genuine internship and graduate opportunities to students. These will be genuine opportunities to see how we operate as a sports management company and whilst it is a grand vision as our company grows we hope we will be able to bring through a new generation of agents who are ultimately career agents. They have trained to do the best for you as a sportsperson – and they take pride in the total service. It’s exactly that ethos we have now and will install in all that operate for our company.

In conclusion, expect more from your agent, always ask them – what else can they do for you beyond just deal-making and boots?

Welcome to the Simply Sport Management blog

Late Developers

Hello everyone, welcome to the first ever Simply Sport Management blog entry, hopefully this will be one of many over the coming years.

Our aim with this blog is to give those in our management team a relaxed, open platform where we can share our musings on the industry and anything else that comes to mind. We hope it provides readers with an insight into the way we operate, the way we think and, in general, make for an interesting read.

Today I want to talk about football players who develop at a much later age than others – otherwise known as 'late developers'.

It comes to mind because of the success of Tomer Hemed, who played for Maccabi Haifa last season and is now in Spain with Real Mallorca.

A real professional

I met Tomer near Haifa, Israel in October 2010 as a result of my scout there saying that he felt Tomer had all the attributes to play in Europe. This despite the fact Maccabi Haifa had loaned him out for three consecutive seasons and he was rarely involved in the first team at 23.

On meeting Tomer, I knew I had met a real professional who recognised in himself a need to change. By change, I mean a change in his fitness regime and mindset.

I learnt from Tomer that he was beginning to use a psychologist and he was challenging himself mentally – he was assessing his own performance and setting objectives for the next game he was involved in. What I could see was a new-found mental strength, something that was probably always in him but he accessed it at a later stage than some other footballers.

Results of his hard work

We agreed to representation and the only advice I gave him was to avoid going on loan again and to stick at breaking into the first team – even if it meant less game time overall. He did and he finished top scorer to help Maccabi Haifa win the league.

I know Israel is seen as a small league internationally and that even if he scored dozens of goals for a smaller league side it wouldn’t be effectively recognised by good clubs in Europe – even if it should be.

Changes lead to success

In March 2011 a leading former Scottish international and ex-Premier League player told me that Tomer was a classic case of a 'late developer'.

Late development can occur in different ways; in some it may just be psychological, in others it may be physical. What Tomer's story over the past year and a half demonstrates is that even as a professional, late development can occur. However, if you’re prepared to make fundamental changes and accept support you can still achieve your goals.

Support when you need it

Of interest to our clients is that they too can have access to exactly the same psychologist and personal performance analysts that Tomer did when he decided to make that change.

At Simply Sport Management we also ensure any scholars or young professionals who are represented by us and are released by their clubs are given our full support in finding the next, right club.

It may well be a semi-professional team or a lower league team but I believe our help during this pivotal moment in their careers may result in one or two developing late and making a push for a full and long professional career.