In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why Gareth Southgate’s coaching team are the issue with England, what the Saudi Pro League has planned, what transfers could happen this summer – and more! 

—

Southgate’s coaching set up is a real problem for England

I like Gareth Southgate a lot, and I used to work with him years ago. He’s a super human being and a great manager. Over the years you see the other great managers, but now it’s always a management team.

In days gone by, when I was working with people like Fergie, he wasn’t the greatest tactician, but he acknowledged that and hired the best tacticians, managing them from an overall capacity and in his case, very personally.

I’m sadly of the view that the coaching set up around Gareth Southgate at the moment just isn’t right. It doesn’t play to the strengths of the players that he’s got.

Look at the way the team played last week and the week before… and eight of those players are in teams that play a high press, very quick movement of the ball, inverted wingbacks on occasion, all the kind of modern jargon that you want to throw in there, but they play it well because they’re well coached.

Gareth could do worse than just say, ‘play like you play at your team and let’s coordinate what you do in a collective,’ rather than ‘let’s play it safe here, keep it there.’

Everything’s a bit old fashioned in this setup. It’s a bit 10 years ago, it’s showing and I’m fearful.

I mean, I want England to win it, but I’m very fearful that coaching has moved on, and England haven’t in coaching terms. I’d like to see us use the wonderful players we’ve got in the ways that they’re used to being used.

Gareth is a really good man manager, I’m just not quite sure what’s happening below him in the tactical management set-up.

Spain or Germany will win the Euros

I can’t see beyond the Spain vs Germany game for the winners of Euro 2024. I just think it’s going to be one of those two.

I’d like England to be in the final but if it’s not to be, then Spain vs Germany is the final I’d like to have seen.

Expect a last-minute rush in the transfer window

There are certain players that I think are going to move this summer, with Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz being one.

I can’t see much beyond Bayern as far as he’s concerned, because they need to do something big and he will be a great pleaser for the crowd in Munich.

I’m also looking at Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, which is an obvious one to Chelsea, but, as we’ve talked about previously, the way it’s set up at the moment means that the Blues will have to sell before they can buy.

Some of their best homegrown talent like Gallagher and Santos may have to be sold because of the financial implications, rather than the consequence of their positive talent. I think that’s a really strange situation that has to be addressed in how financial fair play is reconfigured.

There will be a lot of money spent in this window but it’ll be quite late. I think everyone will be looking to see what everybody else is doing.

Salah will probably end up in Saudi and Ivan Toney will leave Brentford now, but will he go to Arsenal? Will it be Spurs? Not quite sure, but something’s going to happen with him.

Serious discussions around player welfare need to be had

As a former senior agent, and certainly one that kicks around with a lot of players and agents these days, player welfare is a big topic but one that’s just passed everybody by.

The money’s so big people don’t want to miss out, and there’s always a fear of ‘this can’t go on forever.’

I think there’s a there’s a worry that at the top of the game that there needs to be more competition, more of what the paying public want. However, there’s only so many players to go around and I think player welfare is a serious discussion which hasn’t really been had.

It’s a bit like when Covid happened and the clubs made all the players have the vaccination without really thinking about the potential consequences. ‘Let’s get the game on’ was the attitude, which I think was the right thing to do, but you’re beginning to see the medical kickbacks from the effects of those vaccinations now.

I mean, I’m not medically qualified enough, but there’s too many serious medical conditions, many of them through heart issues, which can’t be pure coincidence.

There’s a moment in time where the finger begins to point to a specific time frame when player ‘congenital heart failures’ actually rose dramatically. At that time, player welfare was second to the welfare of the game, and that’s happening all over the place now.

Players need physical rest and recuperation.

At the end of the season players are beginning to realise how tired they are and how difficult it is for them to keep themselves fit during the close season – and that’s when these conversations must take place. I think that is symptomatic.

One of the reasons given in the past as to why England have performed so poorly at international tournaments is the tiredness in the legs of the players from the Premier League. It’s a more strenuous, more physically taxing league than all of the others, but that’s the price you pay for having the greatest league in the world.

Saudi Pro League bigwigs happy with progress so far; focus remains on 2034

I didn’t have specific conversations when I met with Saudi Pro League representatives recently, I just had general conversations, but they have a long term goal with their project, running into the World Cup in 2034.

So, as far as they’re concerned, the conversations that we had were all about how we can promote the Saudi league outside of Saudi.

Having said that, inside Saudi, when two of the top teams were playing each other, every coffee lounge and every restaurant had the game on. They weren’t featuring overseas games. They were featuring Saudi Pro League games and the crowd were really, really energised.

So, something good is happening in Saudi football, and I think they’re happy that what they’re creating appears to be working locally. I think their big concern is ‘how do we get international acceptance’? That’s where they’re going to focus their attention.

I think there’ll be a few more deals this summer but nothing sensational. They’re not going to buy the top six players in the world but they’ll buy another two or three reasonably high-profile names. Then the focus is on what happens next. How can they promote what’s happening in Saudi abroad?

The post Agent’s column: Southgate’s poor coaching set-up, Spain or Germany for the Euros and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why Chelsea are at the last chance saloon with Enzo Maresca, why West Ham will be sold within three years, why VAR won’t be scrapped – and more! 

—

Chelsea at the last chance saloon with Enzo Maresca

Hiring Enzo Maresca is a really brave decision you have to say from Paul Winstanley, who’s the sporting director at Chelsea, and it’s probably the last chance saloon.

I like Paul, he did a great job at Brighton and he has a highly intellectual footballing brain, but it is definitely a risky proposition.

Having said all of that, the fashionable and loud voices all say that you need young, new, innovative coaches from the Pep school of how to do things in 2024 and that’s where he comes from.

In terms of his managerial ability, he was bit poor at Parma, Leicester fans don’t seem overly upset, which is a slight concern, but when you look at what’s happened at Brighton, and it’s where Paul came from, they pick people out that they’ve done their research on and they’ve worked.

So, being bold and brave might not be the worst thing in the world… fingers crossed.

West Ham’s new set-up a pre-cursor to sale within three years

West Ham, as was over the last couple of years, have got away with their way of working because they didn’t have an obvious striker but they did have a decent coach.

Now it looks as if things will work slightly differently at the club with Tim Steidten driving transfers, and I think it’s a path that they have to tread to become a modern club.

I’ve grown up with a lot of the people running our game and have had good relationships with most of them, and I’m fond of David Sullivan who has been very kind to me.

I’ve watched him operate and he’s bloody good at what he does – but he’s in his 70s. He’s not ill at all, but he’s had medical issues and I just feel that he’s possibly setting the club up for the future.

When you look around the corner, the David Gold shareholding that’s for sale… the price has gone up and up and up, and the obvious taker was originally Daniel Kretinsky but he’s gone and bought the Post Office now, so he’s obviously not going to buy West Ham at the same time.

He’s still a major shareholder, however, so put all those computations together, and you get a club that needs to set itself up for a potential sale in the coming 36 months.

So for me, the new way of working is an obvious step for West Ham to take. It’s modern, it’s cool, it’s doing the things that the likes of Man United are going to have to do in future and I think it’s a bold move, but a necessary one.

I think there’s a real chance that West Ham will be sold in the next 36 months but it does depend, by the way, on who comes in and takes the Gold shareholding.

There’s some big players in that mix, and I think when you see the outcome of that, whoever comes in may be the prelude to what happens next.

EPL and EFL must evolve in complete harmony

I think everything has to evolve.

When I was there at the beginning of the Premier League with Rupert Murdoch, David Dein et al, people said to us, ‘what’s the necessity?’

The guys at the top of the English footballing pyramid were having to fund everyone at the bottom, and we’re not a million miles from that same position now, where the Premier League have offered sizeable sums of money to the Football League. The Football League in turn has said, ‘No, we want more.’

The government have got slightly more important things to do right now, so a regulator would need to sort it out.

The Football League is saying, well, when Labour get in, they’ll support us. The Premier League owners that I know are saying, ‘well, no one can tell us what to do with our money. They can try and regulate us but we’ll put it all on hold in a legal process for two years and see where that goes.’

So they need to try and be a bit creative, rather than litigious.

Ideally, League One and League Two need to be sustained, and there’s enough monies in the system to achieve that without negotiating much further than we are now. In other words, I think a deal between the Premier League and Leagues One and Two is probably not a million miles away.

I think the issue is the Championship, because what may work better, ultimately, is a Premier League One and Two.

The thing is, parachute payments – and I understand why they’re there – give the three relegated clubs an unfair advantage, because the EPL don’t do anything for the rest of the clubs.

I think what has to happen is if you just separate Leagues One and Two, and there were additional payments to the Championship for all the other clubs, that would make it all a little more balanced.

Effectively, the major financial reconstruction is in the Championship to allow everyone to compete with the clubs coming down.

Russians needed to keep Everton afloat as new buyer hunt begins

I think I said previously that if Everton went down, they would have to go into administration.

If 777 pulled out, which has now happened, and there was nobody else, then the Russians would have to step up and keep the club alive during the process.

There was a there was a rumour, and it is just rumour that 777 allegedly hadn’t loaned Everton money and that the Russians were allegedly continuing to fund the club.

At the moment, the only obvious potential buyer that I see is John Textor, but he has to get rid of his 45% share in Crystal Palace.

Now, I know he’s talking to the Premier League about becoming a silent partner, so he’ll have no voice and won’t be a part of the decision making process at Palace.

His plea to the Premier League, therefore, will be on the basis that he could be allowed to have conversations with Everton? I think that he’s waiting for that as a response.

It makes no sense for the very wealthy Russians behind Moshiri to let this go, because they’ll lose everything. They might as well keep it going and wait for a Textor or someone else – and there will be a someone else at some point.

If the Russians can’t, for whatever reason – politically or otherwise – keep it together, then they will have to seek some sort of administrative support, which would be disastrous for Everton Football Club.

VAR shouldn’t be scrapped… but the officials need to up their game

I don’t think VAR will be scrapped because I think there’s enough positive sentiment towards it.

I think the problem is all in the presentation, and the whole issue is the timeframe that it takes to make a decision.

In the World Cup it was a lot faster, and that’s the system that should be followed. The officials absolutely need to present what is happening on screen in the grounds, so that the fans become part of it rather than just a waiting audience.

They actually need to change it a bit where the lines that are drawn for the tightest decisions don’t determine whether the player is onside or offside.

I like that expression ‘clear and obvious,’ which was the entire premise of VAR in the first place.

Leicester could be hit with 15 point deduction… and they’d the first club of many

It looks like Leicester may possibly be hit with a 15-point deduction before the season starts, and things are certainly beginning to shape up that way.

What I’m hearing now may not happen, however, the news is coming from very good sources.

Forest have breached Financial Fair Play again whilst Chelsea may have also done so, therefore we could also see both clubs facing more charges.

More Stories / Latest News

Man United confident they’ll deal major transfer blow to Arsenal by winning race for goal machine

Jul 22 2024, 10:24

Euro giants working on deal to sign Arsenal star on loan with obligation to buy

Jul 22 2024, 10:02

Man City identify plan to replace Kevin De Bruyne amid Saudi Arabia rumours

Jul 22 2024, 10:00

Villa are another team to have breached FFP regulations and they too are facing punishment, whilst Man City’s 115 charges will be heard before Christmas.

So I think it’s worth noting that, of course, you have to regulate in the game, but let’s not forget that it’s supporters who are the lifeblood of the game as well as the players.

For both parties it’s all about what happens on the pitch, and that shouldn’t be determined sizeably by what happens off it.

The post Agents column: West Ham to be sold within three years, Chelsea at the last chance saloon with Maresca and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why Real Madrid will win the Champions League, why Declan Rice has been one of Arsenal’s best-ever signings, why Man United could stick with Erik ten Hag – and more! 

—

Real Madrid to win ‘their’ Champions League… again

It’s probably going to be Real Madrid that win the Champions League final because it’s sort of in their DNA. This is their competition and it’s almost like General Franco organised it!

There were teams that used to turn up at Anfield years ago and they’d walk onto the pitch past the ‘Welcome to Anfield’ sign which was there to intimidate them.

I think the Champions League is there to intimidate every other team apart from Real Madrid. It’s quite bizarre, isn’t it?

For example, they were halfway through the second half of their semi-final against Bayern and their legs completely went – and yet they still ended up winning it.

They always find a way, don’t they?

I am a huge fan of what’s happened at Dortmund this year mind you, and I’d like to see Dortmund win because I think they kind of deserve it this year. They’ve done so well.

However, I’m struggling to see past Real Madrid on this occasion.

You know if it was Real Madrid vs Dortmund in a league over the course of time, I’d back Dortmund, but in a one-off game and considering the size of the occasion… my heart and head combined tell me that it’s probably gonna be Real Madrid.

Declan Rice has been one of Arsenal’s best-ever signings

I think not only is Declan Rice a great talent, but he’s brought the ability to encourage the players around him to do better in themselves.

Firstly, because he comes with a big £100m tag and he’s kept his head down and been a gentleman on and off the field, and I think that’s a bit inspirational.

Inspirational players are the best players to have on your team as well as talented ones, and he is both.

He’s just got on with the job, played really well, and the £100m price tag is irrelevant now which shows how successful he’s been.

No go for 777 at Everton, but all hope is not lost for the Toffees

777 Partners have got a lot of baggage that seems to be crystallising in all the wrong places and at the wrong time.

That is now beginning to infiltrate the thinking of people who need to be on side with them, such as the Premier League, and this would indicate that this is a problematic position for them to continue to progress.

Interestingly enough, the Everton supporters have possibly handed them a way out because at the recent AGM fans voiced their concerns regarding 777.

That could be the kicker for 777 to say ‘look, supporters don’t want us now, obviously they’re the heartbeat of the club and so we will no longer be there.’

MSP Sports Capital are a company that seems to be circling Everton at the moment and there will be others. I’m aware of the numbers by the way, and they are huge; into eight/nine figures, and I think there’s going to have to be a lot of potential Russian write offs to get the right owners in place.

Everton won’t go down. Had they gone down I think they would’ve had to go into administration which, in a bizarre way, might have been the best solution. Don’t try telling that to someone who’s got blue in their veins though.

They’re a wonderful club with a great history, good players and good support and I’m going to stick my neck out and say that I think it’s unlikely that the 777 takeover will happen now.

Everton are big enough to attract huge money so if I was Moshiri, I’d do what I do very well at the moment and that’s do nothing at all because I think there’s going to be more interest from other parties.

Cogent reasons for Man United to stick with ten Hag

It becomes evident that there’s a lot of take away from what’s going on at Man United at the moment under the new regime.

Staff who were previously working from home some of the time are encouraged not to do that because they might not have a job. There’s people that were working on three day weeks now working five day weeks because they might not have a job….

There’s obviously some financial rationale going on there and if I’m Sir Jim Ratcliffe, I’m looking at the managerial situation with the first-team and thinking ‘okay, where do we go with this appointment? It has to be superb and I’m looking around looking for Mr. Superb and I’m struggling to find him.’

Then, given that it’s going to cost a lot of money to get rid of Erik ten Hag and reinvest in the squad anyway, it’s tempting to believe that Sir Jim could quite possibly decide to work with the Dutchman because he knows the team and he knows the squad.

If, in a few months time, he still can’t do it, then United will regroup again. After all, the development of the squad is going to take 4-5 years regardless.

There’s a European Championship coming up of course, and there may be better managers leaving their posts around then, as well as younger managers coming through.

More Stories / Latest News

Man United confident they’ll deal major transfer blow to Arsenal by winning race for goal machine

Jul 22 2024, 10:24

Euro giants working on deal to sign Arsenal star on loan with obligation to buy

Jul 22 2024, 10:02

Man City identify plan to replace Kevin De Bruyne amid Saudi Arabia rumours

Jul 22 2024, 10:00

The Roberto De Zerbi’s of this world will be getting their brownie points, but there’s not enough choice out there.

There is, evidently in my head, a school of thought where ten Hag stays and United start rebuilding under him. In three months time something could change as other opportunities could emerge and other managers may become available.

We have to wait and see what happens in the Euros but I could understand why United would keep hold of ten Hag.

Solanke might just get a seat on the plane with England

I like Dominic Solanke at Bournemouth, he’s just cracking on, and in the world of Gareth Southgate he might just get a shot.

I think Maddison will go to the Euros, I think Mainoo will go and I like the two boys at Palace, Eze and Guehi.

The big question for me is whether Jordan Henderson goes.

With some of the younger lads in there, they’ll need one of the stable heads to just calm everybody down in those really tense moments when we’re heading towards a semi-final penalty shootout!

The post Agent’s column: Rice one of Arsenal’s best ever, Man United could stick with ten Hag, Real Madrid to win UCL and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why Man City will win the Champions League, why Newcastle won’t sack Eddie Howe, why the Saudis don’t want the Pro League turning into a circus – and more! 

Man City will win the Champions League, Arsenal want the Premier League

Man City I think will get through against Real Madrid next week.

Just like there is an art to staying in the Premier League, similarly, there’s an art to playing football in Europe, in particular the Champions League – something that Man City do wonderfully well.

It’s difficult to try and encapsulate that because in reality, what is a mindset?

It’s not just a question of being a good football team, but something extra is definitely needed at the top of most sports because it’s just different in that rarified atmosphere.

Think of how many tennis players say how playing at Wimbledon is unlike playing anywhere else both because of the different mindset needed and recognising of course that grass is different from clay.

PSG are a little fragile so my initial reaction without thinking about it too much is I think Barcelona might go through in that tie.

Again, they’ve just got that mindset in the Champions League and though they’ve not been at their best for the past few years, I think they’ll go through.

Arsenal I have a fear for in Europe, I just don’t think they’re quite there yet.

It might be unprofessional to say it but I think they’ll win the Premier League. I just think that’s what they want and I think it’s their passport to what happens next.

If I use the word sacrifice it will be with a very small ’s,’ and I think Arsenal may sacrifice the Champions League in exchange for winning the Premier League.

Fans must be included when a decision is made by Semi Automated Offside Technology

I think we’ve said in the past that the Semi Automated Offside Technology that was used at the Qatar World Cup was a much more superior model than the one in use in the Premier League.

The Premier League has overplayed VAR to the point where the supporters can’t celebrate a goal. They’re waiting for the challenges which are multifaceted, and then there’s a bit too much discussion on it.

In simplistic form, the officials absolutely need to run the process publicly.

You must put it on the screens if there are screens at the grounds, because otherwise the whole atmosphere loses its momentum.

Fans are crying out for change because it’s spoiling the beautiful game.

For Hawk-Eye in cricket supporters see the ball, you see the line in tennis in real time too… football needs to catch up and quickly.

Newcastle will stick with Howe

The supporters reading this will know that the best chance of putting together a team and a system, and the variety of systems that play within it, is at the beginning of pre-season.

If a manager has a bad start but they’re allowed to get through to November before a change occurs, that’s not great for anyone for obvious reasons. In some cases the change happens as early as late August!

I think Eddie Howe is a very good manager and the Saudi Public Investment Fund will know that a question of whether to replace him is a very, very difficult one for them to answer.

He’s had a few months of unfortunate injuries and so if it was me, I wouldn’t knee jerk. I would take the risk, and I hope the Saudis will do the same. I think they probably will.

They’re in it for the long game so my guess is that they’ll let Howe and his team hang around for a little while longer.

Saudis won’t want the Pro League turning into a circus

The Saudi Pro League project runs the risk of becoming a bit of a circus.

As we’ve articulated that previously, I think it’s a great venture and one that could benefit the game with sizeable financial input – providing it’s done in a considerate manner for the game rather than for political expediency.

I think you will find a lot of the Northern European players potentially resistant to going there even though the money is good.

If the money is great that resistance will drop, but in some instances, the younger players will say, “well, I’m earning good money here as well. So that’s where I want to be.”

More Stories / Latest News

Man United confident they’ll deal major transfer blow to Arsenal by winning race for goal machine

Jul 22 2024, 10:24

Euro giants working on deal to sign Arsenal star on loan with obligation to buy

Jul 22 2024, 10:02

Man City identify plan to replace Kevin De Bruyne amid Saudi Arabia rumours

Jul 22 2024, 10:00

If that’s the case, which I think it will be, I think you’ll see a lot more Americans and Southern Europeans going into Saudi Arabia, and possibly some Australians as well. I can see a lot of Brazilians and Argentinians and Uruguayans going there.

There’s a few obviously from Northern Europe too, but I think that will be the intake.

The interesting thing is that they’re extending foreign intake per club to 10 players, meaning they only need a Saudi goalkeeper and the rest of the squad could be from overseas – which I think begins to point to foreign recruitment in easier territories.

The post Agent’s column: Man City to win UCL, Howe to stay at Newcastle and more! appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why Donald Trump could shape the future of football, why Ivan Toney deserves an England call up for Euro 2024, why Sir Jim Ratcliffe needs to be more impactful at Man United – and more! 

—

No changes needed to the structure of the football pyramid

I hate gerrymandering stuff that is not real and the supporters wouldn’t like it either.

Clubs need to work more diligently once they’ve been promoted from the Championship into the Premier League.

Brighton have had a good level of management all the way through their time in the top-flight, and Forest and Wolves have also done well during their time in the top division.

There is a mindset that says let’s bank the £120m check, let’s spend £60m and if we go down we go down £60m richer than we were and we’ve got the use of parachute payments.

I think that the parachute payment needs to be looked at, but the Premier League is the most successful sporting league in the world so why change it?

There’s enough money if you’re clever enough and in a changing footballing market where you don’t have to spend a fortune.

So just maybe being cleverer is much more important than fixing something which is not broken.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe doesn’t need to be Man United’s ‘front of house’

I think what Sir Jim’ needs to do is be a bit more impactful and get a couple of quick wins!

I love football fans, I love the humour, I love the tribal laws, and there is a distinct quality which I share – we have no patience. It is what it is though because Sir Jim only took over in February.

I think during March and April, he should keep the conversations going and then if I was advising him, I’d be asking them to scale back.

I just think float some ideas generally, but I wouldn’t be too specific at the moment because things can change. Unless they’re already in conversations and about to enter into the final stages of signing a player or two.

He’s got a lot of work to do and if I was him I would be saying I want to observe, but I want to try and help at the front end of this as best I can. Look across the road (at Man City) – it took them four years to get properly up and running a few years back.

So I think managing expectations, managing aspirations, is probably the most important thing for Sir Jim right now plus an impactful decision or two.

Ivan Toney is worth a seat on the plane for England

We’ve got Foden who will go to the European Championship, Kane will go and Callum Wilson probably. Jarrod Bowen offers a slightly different formatted front runner, Saka is wide and will come inside.

I think you need someone like Ivan Toney on the front line to disrupt things because he’s a big boy. He’s absolutely got a point to prove as well and he scores goals!

So yes, I would have Ivan Toney in my England team tomorrow morning.

The new Champions League format will change again

There were always going to be some changes to the Champions League and things will evolve, particularly with Ceferin leaving.

This particular iteration of the competition has been flagged for the last 12 to 18 months so I don’t think the Super League has had a great deal of influence here because it was going this way anyway.

There will be other changes too because I think the Saudis will have conversations with FIFA which will ultimately – and this is just a forecast by me – change up the World Club Championship which nobody understands or doesn’t seem to want anywhere.

Those dates are fixed in the calendar and I think there’s a reasonable chance that some sort of evolving Super League under FIFA’s banner will evolve over the next 24/36 months.

Donald Trump could be key to the future of European football

There are an interesting group of think tanks being put together to assemble what the game plan will be in world politics should Biden or Trump win the American election.

I was speaking to one of the think tank chairs and the general political feeling was that if Trump gets in, which they think he will, China, the Gulf and India will be his priorities. Europe will slip down that priority list and Britain is relatively irrelevant even if we speak the same language.

The interesting thing for me though, was that they were looking at green energy, AI, and right at the bottom of that list, sporting influence.

This is where football will actually play a part in what happens next and so I think a lot of people are going to come up with a lot of ideas. I think the blue card was just one thing that came out.

I mean, if there was going to be some sort of foul play which didn’t warrant an instant red but warranted more than a yellow, I don’t see a blue card as being a problem – but the players have got to go off for 30 minutes. It’s got to be it’s got to be something that has an impact on the game.

More Stories / Latest News

Man United confident they’ll deal major transfer blow to Arsenal by winning race for goal machine

Jul 22 2024, 10:24

Euro giants working on deal to sign Arsenal star on loan with obligation to buy

Jul 22 2024, 10:02

Man City identify plan to replace Kevin De Bruyne amid Saudi Arabia rumours

Jul 22 2024, 10:00

For me the biggest game changer in terms of game involvement is we have to stop the abuse of the referees. I deplore the intimidation of referees players who do so should be off straight away. Gone.

Any players that abuse referees verbally or physically should be given a big deterrent in order that they don’t do it again. The laws of the game are far too easy on them at this point.

Players have got to learn respect for the future of our children in this game.

They know there’s a line in the sand and they’ve got to stop crossing it as far as authority and football is concerned.

The post Agent’s column: Donald Trump could shape European football, Sir Jim needs to be impactful, Ivan Toney on the plane and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why Man United are living in the past, why Phil Foden is a decent Ballon d’Or shout, why Arsenal can come back against Porto – and more! 

—

Everything at Man United is out of date and INEOS have to get to work quickly

I think the whole system at Man United is antiquated, probably 20 years out of date.

They’ve not really changed anything with the last regime and the regime before that, with personnel either stood down, resigned or left. Nothing’s changed, really.

If you look at Tottenham Hotspur, Man City, Newcastle and Arsenal et al they are really well run clubs in all departments.

The manager, I believe, should report into a sporting director or a technical director who reports to the board. Those nice, cosy, what used to be called ‘fireside chats’ between the manager and the owner is just not how it should be done anymore.

I absolutely think the heartbeat of a football club are the football people that work there.

It’s going to be a long haul. Changing Old Trafford, which needs huge attention, and so much more besides.

Their actual PR is pretty good. I think their social media is strong, but I just think that the way the club reports within and the way it’s structured is where Sir Jim Ratcliffe should be focussing his initial efforts.

I love Phil Foden and I hope he wins the Ballon d’Or

Thomas Frank made a lovely statement recently about Phil Foden being the closest English player to winning a Ballon d’Or and I hope it’s true because I love Phil Foden.

I think he’s a great English footballer with a brain that’s a lot more ‘international.’

The only thing I’d caution about such comments is when I think of players like Juan Mata, Alexis Sanchez and perhaps a more pertinent one, Dele Alli – all of whom were heading in that direction but got lost on the journey.

Foden’s 24, he’s maturing, he’s high energy and with a lot of trickery – and he had a good World Cup.

I think you should ask me that in three years time, and I hope my answer is yes because he is the complete package.

He just needs to keep his head in the right place.

FFP isn’t quite the level playing field we expected

Real Madrid are kind of a law unto themselves.

Apparently PSG didn’t quite get punished for their FFP issues and Man City still seem to be in the long grass – for a wee bit longer anyway.

Bear in mind Real Madrid was the club of General Franco, and Franco was a bit like Putin is in Russia, he kind of owned the country.

So I think the problem for everyone else is that Real Madrid are probably still living off of Franco’s bank account in some shape or form.

I mean, there’s been there’s been a lot of discussion about how they still own their training ground when apparently they might allegedly have sold it a few times. Not quite sure how that’s played out.

Real Madrid can do stuff like this because they can and because they’ve enough money around them and enough assets to put into FFP.

FFP was designed so that each club doesn’t overspend against their turnover, and then there’s a levelling out between those that have high turnover and those that have lower turnovers. So you supposedly get a level playing field.

As I’ve just said, there’s three or four examples which indicate that the level playing field isn’t quite always as level for everyone as it should be.

I can’t argue against Kylian Mbappe becoming the ‘most expensive free transfer of all time’ because I was the guy who led the charge into the Premier League and said players have to be paid much better.

Remember when Trevor Francis was the first million pound player and we all went, ‘Oh my God.’ Now £120m for a player doesn’t seem to scare the horses, so we’re only talking about advancing what there is in place.

Certainly nothing goes up forever, but I have been saying this in football for 20 years and it’s kept going up. Potentially, it’s got further to go but there will be a moment in time, a sort of pause or a levelling out because living in the stratosphere can be very dangerous.

We’re living in a world where nations are struggling to find support in some of the activities that are going on around them and taking place in their own backyard politically, so they’re using sport as their vehicle to promote their well being – and further their travel on that journey.

Corporate entities will help clubs to buy players in future

Adidas and Apple helped MLS and Inter Miami to sign Lionel Messi, and I think we’ve just got to have a look at the music business as an example of whether the same can happen in Europe.

The major corporations now cross pollinate all the major acts. Sponsorships are very often IT led so that there is a visual download activity around not just ticketing, but the actual sponsorship in the event itself.

Football is going to go the same way because football is the biggest followed sport in the world.

The biggest players are now nations, which means that the major corporations will join in that support. It’s bound to happen.

As long as the rights owners, which are the clubs and the leagues, have the ability to dictate the circumstances, rather than the brands and the countries telling people how to play their game and how to influence what happens on the pitch, there isn’t going to be a problem. However, it is worth noting that major funds are now offering to buy into leagues’ marketing programmes such as Italy.

The big fear for I guess all of us who don’t like domination in our life, is that the people with the big money, which are the huge hedge funds, the countries and the major brands, will be able to effectively run the planet in 20 years because they’ll have the IT behind them.

They’ll have the data that they’re absorbing and they’ll have the ability to dictate what you think and what you should do. All of that is a society problem but football, as we’ve said before in this column, reflects society.

Arsenal will come back and Man City can win back to back UCL titles

I’m still expecting Arsenal to come back in their Champions League match against Porto.

I read the reports, that they weren’t going to qualify now, that they’ve blown it again but I’m sticking with them.

I think Man City, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Bayern will go through, which leaves me pondering Atletico Madrid and Inter with Borussia Dortmund in the background, because I just don’t think they’re quite strong enough.

Teams other than City can win it, of course they can, and I’m thinking certainly of Real Madrid here.

More Stories / Latest News

Man United confident they’ll deal major transfer blow to Arsenal by winning race for goal machine

Jul 22 2024, 10:24

Euro giants working on deal to sign Arsenal star on loan with obligation to buy

Jul 22 2024, 10:02

Man City identify plan to replace Kevin De Bruyne amid Saudi Arabia rumours

Jul 22 2024, 10:00

It’s a bit like walking out at Anfield under that tunnel sign that says ‘This is Anfield.’

It’s a momentary mind gap that you have to overcome, and I think when you come up against Real Madrid in the Champions League, you just have to forget they’ve won it so many times and just get on with it.

My favourites at this point would be Real Madrid and City but not necessarily in that order.

The post Agent’s column: Man United living in the past, Foden’s a great Ballon d’Or shout, Arsenal UCL comeback assured and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why Tottenham have had the best transfer window, why David Moyes is wrong, why the time is up for Erik ten Hag, Klopp’s perfect timing – and more! 

—

Another brilliant transfer window for Tottenham

Ange Postecoglou got what he wanted in this transfer window and I can’t argue that Tottenham have done very well in that respect.

A quality defender and a striker in Timo Werner who is already shutting a few mouths.

Ange has got the backbone of the team strengthened and didn’t overpay by the looks of things.

It’s the second or third time I’ve complemented Spurs this year, but they deserve it because they’ve done good business.

Moyes is wrong not buying a striker for West Ham

I’m surprised at David Moyes for going another window without signing a striker for West Ham, but then when I look at him, the whole Moyes structure, and lots of the technical stuff, it’s very relevant at the moment.

Moyes’ game plan revolves around the strikers performing in a certain way and I can understand that if he doesn’t get the right one – and there’s not a lot available other than the Ivan Toney’s of this world – then he must stick with what he’s got.

‘It’s not just the strikers, it’s the system’ is something that Moyes has said so often now it’s become a mantra.

I personally don’t agree with him, but who am I to question someone who’s got a lot more experience on the frontline than I have?

I tend to side with the supporters who would say he needs a striker, because I think he does and it’s a mistake not getting one – but that’s my view. His answer would be very much along the lines of ‘I’m a systemised coach.’

Unless there are the right people are available to play the system, he feels comfortable with it and, in fact, the system then becomes more important than the players.

Hearing that from an older coach is a really interesting take.

I think there is unquestionably value consternation too.

At the moment there’s FFP and everything else, and clubs aren’t spending because they don’t want to be potentially skating on thin ice.

Having said all of that, nothing goes up forever, but this market has done and just risen on a continual basis. The wave just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

I think this window has been a welcome reality check as a lot of the market has paused, awaiting the result of the Man City case accusations.

Time’s up for Erik ten Hag at Man United

Unless something dramatic happens and there’s a turnaround at Man United in the last four months of the season, which is possible, I think it’s likely that we’ll see Erik ten Hag’s tenure end this season.

If I was Sir Jim, I would probably want to put in my own management team, and obviously the core of the management is the coach.

I think INEOS’ strategy would be very much like that of PIF when they bought Newcastle. They didn’t say ‘okay, we’re here, Steve Bruce you’re out, and we’re bringing in Fred Smith now.’

They let him continue, quite rightly, it didn’t quite work out for him, so they then brought in their man.

I think that’s a mirror image of what’s going to happen at Man United.

Jurgen Klopp is bowing out at Liverpool at the perfect time

I was a fan of Margaret Thatcher and I think she hung on too long. I was and I am a fan of Arsene Wenger and he hung on too long.

I think Jurgen Klopp’s timing is immaculate.

He’s rebuilt for a second or third time, a bit like Sir Alex Ferguson did, and he obviously felt that he didn’t want to have to go through a whole other three-year rebuild.

Jurgen may yet walk away with 2,3 or 4 trophies – what a way to go. I salute him for quitting at the top and I sincerely hope there’s no other reason.

I’m hearing rumours that he may not be well, and I just hope it’s untrue. I hope he’s leaving because he thinks it’s time and that he wants to spend some more time with the family.

If he wants to come back he’d be more than welcome anywhere and everywhere, so I think it’s a perfect exit.

Even a hardened Arsenal fan like me would be smiling if he won the league again. That’s how much he means to football in this country.

Whoever comes in to replace him is on a hiding to nothing unless Liverpool don’t win anything this season.

If Klopp wins nothing, he’ll still be lauded and people will say ‘it just didn’t quite happen this year.’

If he wins two or more competitions, then I wouldn’t want to be that person coming in. To follow that would be very, very difficult.

Everton facing threat of administration if they go down

I’m hearing from the financial markets that 777, until fairly recently, had allegedly been in the marketplace looking for additional funds, which wouldn’t fill me with a lot of confidence.

They’re, elegant, they’re good guys and I think they’ve got a good track record, so in some way, shape or form they’ll pass the proper person’s test.

I know a lot about Everton and the funds, and the finances are incredibly messy. A lot of the money has come out of Russia for example, so that’s probably going to have to be addressed in terms of what is actually physically owed and what isn’t, and what comes under embargoed funds.

They’ve also had a loan out there with a particular fund on which they’re paying a very high interest rate.

Not to mention a contingency of £300m in additional funds for the new stadium that I’ve heard about.

More Stories / Latest News

Man United confident they’ll deal major transfer blow to Arsenal by winning race for goal machine

Jul 22 2024, 10:24

Euro giants working on deal to sign Arsenal star on loan with obligation to buy

Jul 22 2024, 10:02

Man City identify plan to replace Kevin De Bruyne amid Saudi Arabia rumours

Jul 22 2024, 10:00

You and I both know that when you do anything with your house though, the last bit is always the most expensive, so I think you’re looking at £500m for the final piece of the stadium, which is a lot of money.

My big worry is that Everton get caned, they lose their appeals and, ultimately, they go down.

Then I’d be fearful, given and being aware of some of the financial issues, that quite possibly the only exit for them from those problems would be to go into administration.

That indeed would be a very sad day.

The post Agent’s column: Brilliant Ange, Moyes gets it wrong, ten Hag to go, Klopp’s perfect timing and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why Wayne Rooney failed at Birmingham, why Joey Barton is wrong, why modifying the FA Cup doesn’t mean breaking with tradition – and more! 

—

Rooney is another big name that didn’t bother learning his craft properly

This is something that I’ve been talking about for a long while because of being involved with older managers, good friends like Harry Redknapp, who has been a great servant of the game.

There’s this desire to bring on the young talent too quickly as managers and I think people should read a little feature called ‘Why traditional number 10s are being deployed as number eights.’

It’s a very long feature from The Times and it describes how the original number 10 used to sit behind the striker but now functions pretty much as a number eight.

There’s various formulae that you can deploy, but it’s a really interesting article for any football fan because it actually illustrates the various formations that are being deployed now.

Promoting people into positions because they were successful players doesn’t necessarily mean they then become a successful manager, and there’s many that have fallen by the wayside over the decades.

Look at John Terry. He’s been a number two, a number three and has now actually gone back to Chelsea’s Academy to learn more of his trade. Doing it the right way.

He’s a dynamic character and my instant forecast is that he’ll be a really successful manager of the future if he decides to tread that path because he’s learned his trade properly, similar to Mikel Arteta under Pep Guardiola before blossoming at Arsenal.

Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard all appear to have been fast-tracked – not sure that’s the best way forward.

VAR needs more work but I remain a huge fan

Ultimately, one of the best things about VAR is that the referee’s decision is currently final. So the VAR can flag something that he wants the official to have a look at but the man in the middle still makes the final decision.

As I’ve said before I’m a big fan of VAR, though like we saw in the Liverpool vs Newcastle game, the problem with it is you’ll still always have players dive and there’ll always be human mistakes.

One would hope that the team of people in the VAR room should be able to decipher these types of decisions very, very speedily.

I can watch a replay on Sky or TNT and I’m not saying I’m brilliant, but I’ve been in the game quite a long time and I could pretty much make a decision after 30 seconds of watching an incident from three different angles. Maybe a minute, but to take four or five minutes with a team of people around you, and then force the referee to look at it again while nothing is happening in the stadium is wrong, in my opinion.

The best thing about football games is celebrating when your team scores, and you can’t do that at the moment.

So, you absolutely need to involve the crowd. There needs to be a replay on the screen to keep the atmosphere in the stadium with everyone jumping down, putting their head in their hands or whatever it might be.

Football remains a fast-moving game, therefore VAR has got to be quicker and it’s got to be delivered with crowd involvement.

Saudis can ensure that the Super League will happen

Football regulation says that no government should be involved in it, but UEFA went straight to the British government and asked them for their support in facing down the Super League threat.

A lot of the footballing authorities and associations will also come out and say there’s no need for change and we don’t want money people running the game.

However, I had a conversation on CaughtOffside last month whereby if Saudi Arabia goes to UEFA or FIFA and says ‘here’s a sum of money that you can only get on planet Mars, we want to be involved – and by the way, part of this is that we’d like to create some sort of evolution of our league or sponsorship of a new league,’ that’s where I think the Super League then becomes tenable.

Nobody wants the Club World Cup except FIFA for example, that’s potentially where a Super League could fit in our crowded calendar and whether those within the game like it or not, we are in a Super League ‘gestation period’ at the moment where there will be conversations.

Saudi have to get their act together and pull in the crowds in order to get the right marketing, which is probably 3-5 years away, but let’s have this conversation again in five years time and I think we’ll be heading down that Super League road in some shape or form.

FA Cup can keep its traditions but it does need to evolve

I love the tradition of the FA Cup and I think we should try and preserve that on its future footballing journey, however, the competition does need to evolve too.

I was talking to Simon Jordan recently and he mentioned that the Premier League teams maybe shouldn’t draw each other for the first couple of rounds, and the lower-ranked teams in the draw should always have the home tie in the early rounds as that will give them the finance that they need.

Little things like that will put a more modern spin on the FA Cup but the problem is look who’s running the game!

I can’t see the entrepreneurial ship inside the FA thinking of doing something which is creative like that because they play the tradition card very heavily.

I know it’s the FA Cup and I know there’s so much tradition around it and that’s great, but the FA Cup will always have its place because of that tradition – I just think you need to clean the cup and make it sparkle a bit.

Joey Barton is entitled to his opinion… but he’s wrong

I don’t like gesticulating politics.

I do sometimes look at the presentation teams on television and think ‘that person isn’t particularly good and I have a horrible, queasy sentiment that they’re there because they’re making up the numbers,’ but there are a lot of excellent female analysts and colour commentators.

In the 2020s you have to be inclusive, but inclusive with responsibility and respect to everyone that’s in that environment.

More Stories / Latest News

Man United confident they’ll deal major transfer blow to Arsenal by winning race for goal machine

Jul 22 2024, 10:24

Euro giants working on deal to sign Arsenal star on loan with obligation to buy

Jul 22 2024, 10:02

Man City identify plan to replace Kevin De Bruyne amid Saudi Arabia rumours

Jul 22 2024, 10:00

Everyone is entitled to their opinion too even if those opinions are abhorrent to many.

You don’t have to agree, and I certainly don’t agree with the tone and position that Joey Barton is taking at the moment.

The post Agent’s column: Rooney’s sacking was inevitable, Joey Barton is wrong, FA Cup needs some shine and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why this season is Arsenal’s best chance in 20 years to win the title, why change in the Champions League and a European Super League is good for football, why Todd Boehly did some brilliant business for Chelsea – and more! 

—

Saudis need to focus on the long term not just throwing money at football

I’m hearing that the Saudi Pro League are going to be spending a lot of money in January and in the summer, which is exciting for people in the business and intriguing to people watching from the sidelines.

Most people don’t really see or get involved with the league outside of the local supporters, but I believe the league have got a long-term visual.

Boxing, golf and various other sports are being played there now and I think tennis is one of the next sports that Saudi would like to add to their portfolio.

Football is obviously a major player and as we’ve said in the past that’s for political reasons, but that takes time. It’s not going to happen overnight.

I think if there is a danger, then in my humble opinion, it will be because the league becomes a circus, and not taken as reality.

You can’t just throw money at it. In all those leagues that did that, like China, it just doesn’t work.

Saudi must have a constructive 10-year plan at least; what this league looks like and what they want it to look like.

Is the Pro League just a political play or a real attempt ahead of the World Cup and beyond to do like they did in the USA, where they had the World Cup in 94 and then MLS kind of grew out of the World Cup?

Rather than just continuously just buying in talent, the league needs competitive competitions which makes interesting viewing for supporters, and engages with them beyond their own boundaries.

In my opinion, they also have to be focusing hard on what happens next. How they will create that next phase and the one after that would be the telling points for me of how all this is going to end up.

Champions League change could be good for football… as could a Super League

Being one of the pioneers of the Premier League I’m not against change. Change is good. Evolution is good.

I sometimes think it’s a bit rabid when people get hold of change and then they take change to the nth degree, however.

Changing the football landscape is good because it’s global entertainment and it needs to evolve.

I don’t have a problem with UEFA evolving the Champions League, but I do I have a bit of a problem with FIFA and the Club World Cup. I kind of think it’s a game too far. They’re making so much money already and I don’t see it as a benefit for our game.

It’s just extra physicality on our players who, in my opinion, to perform at the levels they’re being asked to perform at to justify the monies that are paid for them, they need to be super fit and taken care of.

You can’t have a boxer fight in December and come back and fight again in January for example. It just doesn’t work that way.

I don’t think the new Club World Cup is going to be a ‘best seller,’ and I’m not sure many football fans will care about it or be really looking forward to it.

FIFA just need to keep banking the cheques from the biggest tournament on the planet. Just manage the game that you’ve got and give the players a little bit of recuperative time.

Regarding the Super League, when you sign up to be part of the football community, you agree to abide by their rules.

So on the one hand, the court on Thursday could say, well, you’ve already agreed to abide by the rules and you’re just trying to break them, so the answer’s no.

On the other hand, in 2023, restriction of the ability to trade and advance that trade is of sizeable consequence. Why shouldn’t people be able to come forward from outside of the UEFA and FIFA framework and bring new ideas to the table?

Don’t forget the people that control the game at the very top across the world are doing very nicely out of controlling the game at the top. They don’t want this change.

That’s not to say they’re wrong but I think we should listen to everybody.

We’re in a very interesting environment at the moment where Saudi as a major player is actually beginning to become a bit of a disrupter. And again, I don’t see that as a problem.

If the courts would allow discussion with the authorities and possibly have an open forum of what is best for the sport in the coming decade, then I don’t see that as a problem rather than just slamming the door and say no, not allowed.

We should be happy to entertain conversations in the round with all parties about what’s best for the game. Let’s throw it on the table and see what happens.

Football is doing so well with eyeballs from around the world on the game. We don’t want to lose that in a melee of in-fighting. We want to grow it in a in a manner that intrigues the next generation of football fans – and that means discussion.

Chelsea were canny but it’s right that the long contracts loophole was closed

Chelsea did what they did and I think it’s a very clever loophole that Todd Boehly found because he didn’t break any regulations.

On the playing field things don’t seem to have worked out, but he’s got a long time to make it happen.

It was right to shut the loophole down because it was sort of an upside down Bosman.

My desire as a football agent was to remove the shackles on footballers and let them have employment rights like everybody else.

In a way, what’s happened with the long contracts has meant that it’s become a gilded prison for players who are potentially stuck for eight years in an environment that they may not be compatible with after two.

It just leaves me with a queasy sentiment as I’ve always been for free labour, and I just find this, as I say, to be a gold, gilded prison.

The average top-class player is at the top of their game for the best part of 15 years. A five-year contract is equivalent to circa 30% of that and an eight year contract which has been used recently his over 50% of their playing career. I’m not certain that it’s a wise decision (albeit financial security will obviously play a part), to commit to one club in this environment for that long given the insecurity of most clubs football management.

I’d like freedom of movement and freedom of choice please.

Arsenal’s best chance for the title but don’t discount Man City

Man City are always dangerous and people say they’ve shot their bolt but they’ll be back because they’re mentally very strong and that gives them the ability to challenge all the way through to May.

I would argue that this is Arsenal’s best chance to win the title now. I think they’ve got they’ve got the winning habit, which is great, though the goalkeeper issue concerns me a little bit.

Neither of them have been inspired so far this year, but they do have the bit between their teeth and as long as they don’t start dropping points to lower clubs this could be a vintage campaign for the Gunners.

Let’s also talk about Aston Villa for a minute. Great recruitment and great encouragement because if you talk to the people around Villa, everyone feels involved and there’s a happy environment about the place.

They’re playing enjoyable, attacking football that’s also effective, and keeper, Emi Martinez, underpins that. You know when you’ve got a really good keeper because he just makes you feel much better going forward. I don’t know why but I think he’s worth a few points by himself.

Clubs will ‘buddy up’ if Saudi continues to distort the market

Yes, Saudi has distorted the transfer market to a degree, but also don’t forget that the money at the top of the game is now so much bigger.

For example, I used to do a lot with Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina and back then they were selling players just to survive. So we could say ‘you want $200,000 for him? Here’s 50 grand,’ and they’d take it because it got them through the next three to six months.

Nowadays, whenever big clubs are looking at the market to purchase a decent player in South America, the clubs want €20m upwards.

There are restrictions on how transfer fees are funded in MLS and whenever you have big players like Citigroup in Australia, in America and in Europe, obviously, they can’t just work those rules.

However, the money that’s available in the USA is now starting to become available in Australia and has certainly been available for a while in various quarters around Asia.

The Italian league has issues, Spain is still rich but the TV deal in France isn’t what they would’ve hoped.

And then you’ve got England of course.

More Stories / Latest News

Man United confident they’ll deal major transfer blow to Arsenal by winning race for goal machine

Jul 22 2024, 10:24

Euro giants working on deal to sign Arsenal star on loan with obligation to buy

Jul 22 2024, 10:02

Man City identify plan to replace Kevin De Bruyne amid Saudi Arabia rumours

Jul 22 2024, 10:00

Around the world, the market is relatively lucrative and if you’re sitting with a player in Chile for example, and you think he might be worth a million, you ask for five because you might get three.

I think that together with what’s happening in the Gulf, that has driven prices up, which is why I think you’ll find more clubs, certainly in the likes of the Championship, that will be buddying up with clubs around the world so they can manoeuvre players around their rosters to save them having to go into quite expensive marketplaces.

The post Agent’s column: Arsenal’s best chance for title, UCL change is good, Chelsea’s brilliant business and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses Everton’s 10-point deduction, why VAR has to stay, why Mikel Arteta was wrong – and more! 

—

£1.2m for a 15-year-old is vulgar but if all teams can choose from the same selection pool, what’s the problem?

Finley Gorman’s purchase by Man City has seen some real pushback given that he’s only 15 and £1.2m in transfer fees is a little excessive, but do I think there should be a cap on transfer fees? 

I am one of the people that helped to start the Premier League. It’s all about the competition, and it has been enormously successful because it’s the best footballing competition in the world.

I mean, people around the world didn’t know what Reading was, they thought it was a book you read. They never knew where Wigan was until it was in the Premier League. There were even people arriving on trips from Asia to see Wigan.

So, rather than stymie transfer fees as such and tell clubs what they can and cannot spend their money on, I am in favour of there being an overall cap on money spent.

Not necessarily on money spent aligning to your turnover, although, obviously that has to have some bearing on it because Manchester United’s overheads are bigger than Luton’s, but but you can’t have Manchester City, United, Liverpool or whoever being able to outbid the Burnley’s of this world just because they can.

Otherwise you end up like La Liga when there’s probably three, maybe four teams at the very top and 16 others that can only really compete at a certain level at any given time. 

I think there has to be a mechanism whereby the great and the good are pretty equal in terms of their ability to sign players. 

However, after signing young players, then their wellbeing has to be supported.

Some of the biggest, saddest moments in my 40 years in football have come when that lovely young kid who’s an Arsenal fan actually gets signed by Arsenal and he’s a hero at school because he’s an Arsenal lad… but he gets to 15 and he’s just not what they want or he’s not good enough…

There’s no real mental support for kids who suddenly find that their life has been devastated. It’s scary. You’re grappling with coming to terms with exams, your own sexuality, and suddenly you’re a failure at 15.

You’re not of course, because you did really brilliantly by being where you are and there’s absolutely life outside of Arsenal Football Club, but that’s where I’m coming from. 

There should be a much more considered process and guardianship of young footballers coming through the system where they’re helped into it, helped through it and helped out a bit if they move elsewhere on their journey.

Football could learn a lot from the way rugby conducts itself

I am dismayed by referees being pilloried, physically in some cases and certainly mentally. I just think it sets a really, really, really bad example. 

I even see it when watching kids play football on a Saturday. It’s not just the kids arguing with the referee, it’s the parents too, and in one case I saw a referee being pushed a few weeks ago. I thought that was beyond belief – and he wasn’t sent off. The parents are encouraging it, shouting abusive language at the referee.

I’m a big fan of Mikel Arteta, but against Newcastle, he was wrong. Very wrong. If you have a referee, he’s in charge and he may make mistakes. We all do. And that’s just the way that it is.

Just like in rugby, I think the referees should have a microphone attached and I think the crowd should be able to listen to it in real time. One abusive word or phrase – which doesn’t need repeating here – and they’re off, and the crowd will know exactly why.

You cannot let the violent society we live in translate onto a football pitch. I’ve never known my country to be so violent in all my 70 years. It’s a ridiculous world we live in now and it’s not going to get any better any time soon. 

Our football leagues need to lead from the front. It’s the most watched, entertaining and enjoyed physical activity on the planet other than sex, so time to lead by emotional example here. 

I do think an orange card or sin-binning would be a great idea too because the game has to keep evolving and it would hopefully calm things down a bit more. I believe that there should be some penalty, so maybe 15 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever it might be – especially if it’s the last 20 minutes.

I think that’s something that I would absolutely encourage the Premier League to look at.

I like VAR, it’s here to stay, but vast improvements must be made

I like VAR but I know that a lot of people don’t. 

In the past I’ve been working with nation states at World Cup tournaments when the ball has definitely crossed the line. I’ve seen it cross the line but the referee was 30 yards behind play and didn’t see it, nor did the assistant referee.

They’ve gone out of the competition at that stage and probably lost millions of potential income for their Federation because of a poor decision. 

So I love what they did in the 2022 World Cup with the semi-automated offside technology which is basically AI and it tracks the limbs. By the way, I don’t think a stud on the striker’s right boot should determine if he’s offside or not and I think there has to be a redefining of handball. It’s handball, not ball to hand. 

The semi-automated offside technology and the technology that runs alongside that I think is fantastic and is the way forward. The Premier League doesn’t employ that by the way. 

There should be a replay of the incident on the big stadium screen two or three times and somebody commentating on it so there’s some sort of crowd engagement. 

That wonderful Tottenham game… there were times it took four or five minutes for a decision. you could’ve gone to get a hot dog, come back and find the situation still wasn’t resolved.

I don’t think I’m qualified as a referee to say how they should or shouldn’t use the technology, but all I know is that the technology is there, and the advanced technology that FIFA used is there, and it works – now. 

There were a few space disasters before man landed on the moon. I think we’ve got to be cognisant that it may take a year or two, but I think they’ll get it right. 

It’s important they do and I absolutely believe the crowd should be involved in the engagement of the process.

Multi-club ownership isn’t wrong but has to be policed properly

In principle, I agree that there should be some sort of management of multi-club ownership player swaps, because it gives rise to an advantage to those clubs against competing clubs who don’t have that accessibility to players and deals that perhaps are not as financially helpful.

If you’re lending within your own group, you’re not really going to charge each other that much and the money gets reinvested into the group again.

Of course, there’s ways around it. Let’s just say there are major funds, most of whom I know, who are seeking to own multiple football clubs, and some of the investors in those groups are sovereign wealth funds. 

So in other words, potentially, you have a country as an owner of a football club, dealing with a fund – of which that country’s sovereign wealth fund, which is different from the state ownership vehicle – actually means that is overly helpful to the initial club.

I think clear, clearly defined capital ownership shows that there are no hidden ownerships in that mix, and if even if there are, by the way, that’s okay. Don’t forget Watford have been doing this for years with Udinese. Nobody’s complained, and it’s worked quite well for them.

Providing it’s understood that it’s not a whole team, just one or two players every season or something like that, it’s absolutely financially advantageous for the clubs in that equation, beyond just the ability to move a player about.

Everton should absolutely be punished… as should every other club if they’ve broken the rules

Let’s talk Everton for a moment. The rules are there for a reason and they should be obeyed.

There’s been some unfortunate circumstances around Everton but it’s not the most heinous crime of the lot by comparison to what’s alleged at Man City.

I think the 10 point deduction is a salutary moment because it will make make clubs sit up and take notice and think about what they might have done in the past.

For example, we’ve had Paris Saint-Germain allegedly skirting merrily around certain regulations and financial fair play, and apparently having no sanctions at all.

With Manchester City I’d like to put on record that I love the advancement that City have put into the football club ownership in their group .

However, if they have breached the regulations 114 or 115 times, then they should be punished, and I’m a little concerned that we’ve heard nothing about that. But if they’re innocent, they’re innocent. They shouldn’t be pilloried because they’re wealthy either. 

If the regulators have got any teeth in the future, they have to be seen to bite now, because now is the moment where everyone’s eyes are looking at it.

I am concerned that the governing bodies are becoming relatively benevolent for obvious reasons of requiring the financial support from some of the sizeable sovereign funds that are around, less so to the big hedge fund owners – but even they get a doff of the cap occasionally.

So, I am concerned that if Qatar, Saudi Arabia or whomever want to change the rules, they’ve got more access to people at the top of the game than others.

More Stories / Latest News

Man United confident they’ll deal major transfer blow to Arsenal by winning race for goal machine

Jul 22 2024, 10:24

Euro giants working on deal to sign Arsenal star on loan with obligation to buy

Jul 22 2024, 10:02

Man City identify plan to replace Kevin De Bruyne amid Saudi Arabia rumours

Jul 22 2024, 10:00

It needs to be literally a level playing field for everyone to have access to the lawmakers or else the supporters will start to drift away – and at that point, you lose the heartbeat of the game.

Lastly, the 10-point deduction affects Everton’s supporters as much as it affects the ownership.

So I think if if the financial value of a club has been enhanced by you breaching the regulations, in other words, you financially benefited, then a sizeable percentage of the punishment should be financial. Points is part of it yes, because it hurts, but the penalties should also be financial.

The post Agent’s column: Arteta was wrong, Man City must be punished IF they’re guilty, VAR must be improved and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.