Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
1 month left, tick tack
Feels like time is running out, looking back at some earlier posts I wanted to have recap on the post from late September "Prep for 2014". Basically my strategic plan was to work on 3 points in order stay alive both in the short and long run. These 3 points were:
1. Collaboration with an academy:
Visiting the UK based academy I was just so impressed with resources that are used on these young kids. Comparing to my country of residence it is just day and night, anyone doubting football business is big deal should travel around in Europe seeing how much money is invested in kids.
Anyway, after some negotiations i managed to convince the academy director an agent is a necessity in order to get players out to pro clubs. He gave me his blessing and I got to work.
Back in my office I started contacting suitable clubs (there are several parameters to take into consideration when picking a club, such as; to they play young players, do they historically sell young players, coach mentality, club environment good for youth, level of league etc.). One of the conditions from the academy was that the club should cover all costs in regards to trails, in pro football this is not the standard. Opposite it always the agent/player that players that stands for this cost.
Also from the Academy side a prerequisite was that I as an agent do not take any commission from the first transfer, thats understandable.
Selling the academy and services to the suitable clubs I managed to arrange 3 trials for these young lads. First one was negative, the next 2 have been at their club for 2 weeks and yesterday the trainer was positive in an interview to the newspaper. We will have feedback today (please please).
I really have invested allot of time and cash on making me the agent for this academy so deeply hope they produce some interesting players..
Whats innit for me? Well I will write representation contract with the players and try get in a sell on clause for my self on next transfer.
2. Attacking players with ending contracts:
This I thought was a well performed point from my side. Together with a colleague from the agency I work with we had 12-13 good players were contracts ends, in other words helping transferring 5 out of those would be an ok result. This has not really worked out the way I wanted, mainly for 2 reasons. It is commonly known both by players/clubs/agents that it is a clubs market and that they determine the conditions (we have touched upon this subject before). Therefor half of those 12-13 players got offered new deals directly after the season ended, 2 months before the window open with a tight deadline. Players know it is not easy to find new clubs these days and therefore chose the safe option to directly extend the deal...
Secondly feedback from clubs is that the cant give any concrete offers for January before mid December, budgets are very tight and if they already have signed a player and lets say 2 crucial players get injured the last weeks of the year they will not have room in the budget to replace the injuries. Clubs wait until last minute, this of course makes the agent work much harder and players stressed.
2. Asking clubs for lists:
When I say lists I mean demand lists from clubs on what they will be looking for. This point has gone really well, and I have managed to get in contact with many clubs from UK, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Scandinavia, Ukraine, Greece etc. Problem is that I cant provide the players the clubs demand. Often I present a player were I know their agent which makes me have to split the potential commission. This is ok as long as you know the other agent well and no one tries to rip each other off..
Two other points:
-There will be no new years celebration this year, need to be in the office 1 Jan in morning..
-David Russel movie The Fighter is on telly tonight, cant wait
1. Collaboration with an academy:
Visiting the UK based academy I was just so impressed with resources that are used on these young kids. Comparing to my country of residence it is just day and night, anyone doubting football business is big deal should travel around in Europe seeing how much money is invested in kids.
Anyway, after some negotiations i managed to convince the academy director an agent is a necessity in order to get players out to pro clubs. He gave me his blessing and I got to work.
Back in my office I started contacting suitable clubs (there are several parameters to take into consideration when picking a club, such as; to they play young players, do they historically sell young players, coach mentality, club environment good for youth, level of league etc.). One of the conditions from the academy was that the club should cover all costs in regards to trails, in pro football this is not the standard. Opposite it always the agent/player that players that stands for this cost.
Also from the Academy side a prerequisite was that I as an agent do not take any commission from the first transfer, thats understandable.
Selling the academy and services to the suitable clubs I managed to arrange 3 trials for these young lads. First one was negative, the next 2 have been at their club for 2 weeks and yesterday the trainer was positive in an interview to the newspaper. We will have feedback today (please please).
I really have invested allot of time and cash on making me the agent for this academy so deeply hope they produce some interesting players..
Whats innit for me? Well I will write representation contract with the players and try get in a sell on clause for my self on next transfer.
2. Attacking players with ending contracts:
This I thought was a well performed point from my side. Together with a colleague from the agency I work with we had 12-13 good players were contracts ends, in other words helping transferring 5 out of those would be an ok result. This has not really worked out the way I wanted, mainly for 2 reasons. It is commonly known both by players/clubs/agents that it is a clubs market and that they determine the conditions (we have touched upon this subject before). Therefor half of those 12-13 players got offered new deals directly after the season ended, 2 months before the window open with a tight deadline. Players know it is not easy to find new clubs these days and therefore chose the safe option to directly extend the deal...
Secondly feedback from clubs is that the cant give any concrete offers for January before mid December, budgets are very tight and if they already have signed a player and lets say 2 crucial players get injured the last weeks of the year they will not have room in the budget to replace the injuries. Clubs wait until last minute, this of course makes the agent work much harder and players stressed.
2. Asking clubs for lists:
When I say lists I mean demand lists from clubs on what they will be looking for. This point has gone really well, and I have managed to get in contact with many clubs from UK, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Scandinavia, Ukraine, Greece etc. Problem is that I cant provide the players the clubs demand. Often I present a player were I know their agent which makes me have to split the potential commission. This is ok as long as you know the other agent well and no one tries to rip each other off..
Two other points:
-There will be no new years celebration this year, need to be in the office 1 Jan in morning..
-David Russel movie The Fighter is on telly tonight, cant wait
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)