Thursday, April 17, 2014

up n down

got a call colleague from a old office colleague today which made me think. The difference in how I structure my work time is immense. In my old job a had a daily and weekly routine, monday reports sent by 10.00, tuesday action-based checklist which I follow up before Friday afternoon.
Even though the tasks varied a bit depending on where we were in the accounting year, it was mainly the same thing week in and out. Then finally Weekend.

FML


Now sitting on a thursday I have checklist that I  try to follow but its mainly for myself no to forget anything. This weeks looks something like this:
- Follow up on demand emails
- Send out new email demands
- Daniel contract
- Academy overview a) who has signed/trailed in which club b)what happens after the season
- Belgium club
- Follow up x-club and the players I presented
- Get in touch with with club, z - d - s - f - a
- Player recruitment


There is no really chronological order. All I know is that these tasks need to be carried out and honestly I wouldn't need a office to do this work (although, thank god I have).  
For example yesterday/today again it feels like I have nothing to do and I am just waisting time. All the above mentioned things are done and I dont really know were to start, it feels down. On the other hand on Tuesday next week I am driving 700km to meet 2 really good players, those days it feel up.

my main point in all this comparing to my office job I am way ahead, at the same time its not always beautiful


have a nice easter  


Friday, April 4, 2014

transfer saga

i regularly hear opinions that agents are seen as scum and have a general appearance of untrustworthy. Ask most pro-player or experienced agent they will say dito about clubs, the difference is that nobody reports on this.

Had a Skype conversation with an agent colleague today that is active in Portugal:

- He took a domestic player to a mid size club in Bulgaria. The player went on a short trial on after a couple of days the club wanted to sign him, negotiations went quite smooth and within 10 days all paperwork was done (both player and agent contracts with the club). Within two weeks the club signs 5 more players and now has a squad of around 35 players in total. Anyway the coach (that was present during the trail) gives the player a chance and he plays quite regularly for the first couple of weeks. The teams results are not satisfying and the club gets allot of negative press in regards to their newly acquired players and transfer strategy.

Some press is also negative towards my friends player, he is the only one that actually plays out of 6 new players and therefor gets all the negative press of the terrible transferwindow focused around him. The weeks pass and when pay-checks should come through the players account is empty. At the same time he has taken his whole family to the very far end of Europe and bills are gathering up (rent, food, kindergarden etc.). He finds out that all other players in the team has been paid and naturally asks his agent to look into the matter. The agent calls the president up and asks why his player has not been paid and also why his invoice is late 6 weeks (although late agent invoice are almost standard nowadays).

Without answering his question the president start saying he is disappointed with the player and the negative shade this has put on the club (in fact directly on him) and wants to break his contract, this 7 weeks into a 3+1 year contract. As an example he emails the agent an article and hangs up, end of discussion.
- The player is now in a foreign country with his family with no mny.
- The agent has not been paid.
The club of course know that breaking a contract without just cause can lead to serious punishment from FIFA but they will now do everything to make the player that uncomfortable that he will agree to mutually end the agreement. Not paying, training with reserves, not inviting him to team activities etc.

The end of this saga now seems to have a happy ending anyway. Agent is currently in CAS process and it looks good for their party...



The agent business is built on protecting their client from not being screwed, disregarding if its a football player, movie star, music artist or a painter dealing with a gallery/exhibit.

Also me being very eager to make a deal in MLS I have tried to expand my network overseas, both clubs and agent colleagues. I have to say the difference in terms of general attitude towards agents there is huge. They are seen in a much more positive light. In US most agents have rich academic background in sport management or sport law, also the agent tradition is much longer over there.