owlsabout wrote: June 29th, 2022, 6:42 pm We ve had a sporting director on 50k a yea to identify players and not just from Cardiff. and we did have a development sqaud which cost 100k which we couldn't play any games second part of the season because all the players were loaned out !

Maybe I don’t see the information that you do, but where did you see that we paid a Sporting Director £50k? I also haven’t seen any paperwork that says we have a development squad that cost £100k. Where did you get that info’ from?

The most significant financial information in the public domain that I have seen is that for last year the Trust transferred £100k to the club. That is open and transparent. I thought most other financial information was not in the public domain.

On the Development squad,where is it,what has happened to it.Flynny bloated the squad with journeymen that were signed for the Development squad but,there were only a handful of friendlies ever played.Was there to be a proper league playing official matches or just regular weekly friendlies.The idea was great,players like Dixon Karbonga and Callum Ryan-Phillips could have progressed from the academy into men’s football instead of being released.Academy and U21 players discarded by Cardiff,Swansea,Bristol etc could have a second chance with us.Anyone know?.

That would be a useful question at meet-the-manager, unlike probing the background to an individual youth player's release.

Development sqaud could nt play games after January because all players were loaned out !the Development sqaud idea was a brainwave of the Sd and chairman most of the players were released or loaned out so we couldn't play any fixtures

Development sqaud could nt play games after January because all players were loaned out !the Development sqaud idea was a brainwave of the Sd and chairman most of the players were released or loaned out so we couldn't play any fixtures

Time passes and I've lost track of where covid was a year ago, wonder if maybe that complicated getting into a league. But without very regular games a dedicated squad seems a waste of resources.

I don't have a clue what the SD earns but if as a wild guess it's equal to one player on the wage bill he'd only need to steer us away from one dud signing a year for the role to pay its way.

George Street-Bridge wrote: June 30th, 2022, 9:58 am

I don't have a clue what the SD earns but if as a wild guess it's equal to one player on the wage bill he'd only need to steer us away from one dud signing a year for the role to pay its way.

And only need to suggest one dud player to be an absolute catastrophe.

Everyone is correct about Flynn signing a high proportion of 'deadwood'. My analysis is that agents have players on their books and 'sell' them as packages. In terms you can have Jonny Elite but he comes with Jonny Deadwood.

I don't think 'one dud player' would be considered an absolute catastrophe. Every year, each club in our division probably signs on six or seven new players. They don't all match expectations. We just don't get to see or hear about the disappointments at other clubs.

excessbee wrote: June 30th, 2022, 10:58 am I don't think 'one dud player' would be considered an absolute catastrophe. Every year, each club in our division probably signs on six or seven new players. They don't all match expectations. We just don't get to see or hear about the disappointments at other clubs.

I was just using George's logic. If one dud signing doesn't make it a catastrophe then avoiding one doesn't really pay a salary does it?

We've done this before but I think the idea an agent can dictate a club wanting Player A has to take Player B too is ridiculous. Only a club can.

George Street-Bridge wrote: June 30th, 2022, 11:25 am We've done this before but I think the idea an agent can dictate a club wanting Player A has to take Player B too is ridiculous. Only a club can.

You say that George. However for that to be the case it would have to mean that clubs are on at least an equal footing with agents in negotiations. To be in that position clubs would need to be in a position to walk away. They are not. We all know they are not.

Agents are drains on football. If agents were not in a position of power over clubs all clubs would have nothing to do with them. You are right we have done this before. I genuinely wish you were right. But sadly I believe that you were wrong before and that you are wrong now.

If you believe I am wrong tell me why. Then we can debate the issue. If you can bring forward good arguments as to why you are right you will convince me. As I said I would love to be wrong. However simply saying that we have discussed this before and my views are ridiculous make you seem a tad arrogant.

George Street-Bridge wrote: June 30th, 2022, 11:25 am We've done this before but I think the idea an agent can dictate a club wanting Player A has to take Player B too is ridiculous. Only a club can.

You say that George. However for that to be the case it would have to mean that clubs are on at least an equal footing with agents in negotiations. To be in that position clubs would need to be in a position to walk away. They are not. We all know they are not.

Agents are drains on football. If agents were not in a position of power over clubs all clubs would have nothing to do with them. You are right we have done this before. I genuinely wish you were right. But sadly I believe that you were wrong before and that you are wrong now.

If you believe I am wrong tell me why. Then we can debate the issue. If you can bring forward good arguments as to why you are right you will convince me. As I said I would love to be wrong. However simply saying that we have discussed this before and my views are ridiculous make you seem a tad arrogant.

I remember Tim Harris mentioning that at non league level sometimes players liked to play/travel etc in little groups, so sometimes it would be a case of sign one get one free.

I don't think that would apply to fully professional players though. For a start the player is simply reducing his options, and therefore likely pay.

I think you are wrong because there are rules around third-party control of players. Obviously agents are there to represent players in and out of contract and obviously some are crooks, some clubs are out to shaft some players and some players aren't as smart as others.

An agent who has real control - as opposed to influence, which might be malign - would be breaking a basic rule and I'm sure agents can't hold player registrations, only clubs. I don't understand the complexities of the case but this was at the root of West Ham's problem with Carlos Tevez.

Even if it were within the rules, why would any player saddle himself with an agent who can undermine his prospects by roping him to other players?

[Edit:: Reply is to Stan]

George Street-Bridge wrote: June 30th, 2022, 12:41 pm I think you are wrong because there are rules around third-party control of players. Obviously agents are there to represent players in and out of contract and obviously some are crooks, some clubs are out to shaft some players and some players aren't as smart as others.

An agent who has real control - as opposed to influence, which might be malign - would be breaking a basic rule and I'm sure agents can't hold player registrations, only clubs. I don't understand the complexities of the case but this was at the root of West Ham's problem with Carlos Tevez.

Even if it were within the rules, why would any player saddle himself with an agent who can undermine his prospects by roping him to other players?

[Edit:: Reply is to Stan]

Why would any player use an agent? Every penny that an agent receives is a penny the player doesn't. Put simply players see their pay cheque. Agents have the whip hand. If football clubs got together and just advertized contracts of what they were willing to pay and what the bonus schemes were then we would all be better off.