Hard to see any progress for the forseeable future

[weybridgewanderer]

And if somebody offered you double or triple that, wouldn't you also take it?

But what if I wasn't offered that and 14K was the offer? I'd be stupid to turn it down.

Sidwell was offered other amounts from other clubs as he was out of contract the following summer and was therefore allowed to talk to other teams from the January (as lita will be this season)

if I had 6 months on my contract, felt I was worth more than I was being offered and could start talking to other employers then I would not accept what my current employer offered until I had found out what others were prepared to pay

[rabidbee]

But what if I wasn't offered that and 14K was the offer? I'd be stupid to turn it down.

Fortunately for Sidwell, he knew he was worth more than that.

To be fair, it was a big gamble, he might not have got what he wanted when his contract expired. He was lucky that Chelsea was interested and his gamble paid off. He was still stuck on 9K when he turned down the offer and might have ended up with not a lot if something had happened - i.e. loss of form, serious injury etc etc

I've never said it was any less. I also had no problem with a player simply saying: "I want to earn as much as I possibly can, especially as that is likely to be at a club where I might win silverware." Sidwell wasn't wrong.

[Thaumagurist*]

And if somebody offered you double or triple that, wouldn't you also take it?

But what if I wasn't offered that and 14K was the offer? I'd be stupid to turn it down.

Sidwell was offered other amounts from other clubs as he was out of contract the following summer and was therefore allowed to talk to other teams from the January (as lita will be this season)

if I had 6 months on my contract, felt I was worth more than I was being offered and could start talking to other employers then I would not accept what my current employer offered until I had found out what others were prepared to pay

Er, I'm fairly sure the offer of 14K was well before the contract had 6 months left. I think it may have been around the start of the season, which means he couldn't talk to any other club and *only* had the offer of 14K.

[Sun Tzu]

He couldn't talk formally to any other club but you can bet you would have been aware of clubs who may have been interested in talking to him and roughly what they might pay.

[rabidbee]

Does anyone know the laws regarding agents? At what point does an approach become "tapping-up"? If a club executive happened to mention to a player's agent that they'd be willing to offer certain wages were he to sign for them in the summer, has that broken the rules?

[Royal Rother]

£14K a week is still a lot of money, enough to live a life in luxury. I'd be happy with that. Wanting any more than that is simply being greedy.

And don't forget, Reading was the only "company" offering the money to Sidwell at the time - he could not talk to anyone else.

Don't forget that you'll lose a massive amount in tax, and only have the prospect of earning it for about 10 years, if that. Add in that your lifestyle is likely to be quite expensive and you have appearances to maintain and £14k / week suddenly isn't so massive. In fact that's only £7.2m before tax. I'd expect you can see that drop to £4.5m - £5m after tax at a guess.

That then has to keep you and your family, in the lifestyle you've become acustomed to for probably upwards of 40-50 years.


If I was a footballer I wouldn't be wanting to rely on getting a normal job when my playing career is over to keep me going. Or hoping I'd get caching, pundit or management job.

What would you expect to do then? Nothing?

There's got to be a reason to get up in the morning otherwise there's no chance of seeing out the 40-50 years you mention.

(Anyway, even today investing £4m would give a very nice income as long as you don't get too greedy. No need to eat into capital sum at all.)

[Dirk Gently]

Does anyone know the laws regarding agents? At what point does an approach become "tapping-up"? If a club executive happened to mention to a player's agent that they'd be willing to offer certain wages were he to sign for them in the summer, has that broken the rules?

An awful lot of business in football is done in that way - frequently it's only after a deal has been agreed in principle that the official approaches get made.

[Ian Royal]

£14K a week is still a lot of money, enough to live a life in luxury. I'd be happy with that. Wanting any more than that is simply being greedy.

And don't forget, Reading was the only "company" offering the money to Sidwell at the time - he could not talk to anyone else.

Don't forget that you'll lose a massive amount in tax, and only have the prospect of earning it for about 10 years, if that. Add in that your lifestyle is likely to be quite expensive and you have appearances to maintain and £14k / week suddenly isn't so massive. In fact that's only £7.2m before tax. I'd expect you can see that drop to £4.5m - £5m after tax at a guess.

That then has to keep you and your family, in the lifestyle you've become acustomed to for probably upwards of 40-50 years.


If I was a footballer I wouldn't be wanting to rely on getting a normal job when my playing career is over to keep me going. Or hoping I'd get caching, pundit or management job.

What would you expect to do then? Nothing?

There's got to be a reason to get up in the morning otherwise there's no chance of seeing out the 40-50 years you mention.

(Anyway, even today investing £4m would give a very nice income as long as you don't get too greedy. No need to eat into capital sum at all.)

You're assuming that none of the wages is spent whilst it's being earnt. £4m invested would give a very very nice lifestyle as far as I'm concerned, but then I have pretty cheap tastes.

Personally I would probably carry on working if I fell into a load of money to keep relatively busy, but equally I could find unbelievable amounts of things to keep me happy and active if I had millions in the bank to back me.

[rabidbee]

Does anyone know the laws regarding agents? At what point does an approach become "tapping-up"? If a club executive happened to mention to a player's agent that they'd be willing to offer certain wages were he to sign for them in the summer, has that broken the rules?

An awful lot of business in football is done in that way - frequently it's only after a deal has been agreed in principle that the official approaches get made.

Yes, that's what I thought. Which would suggest that Mr S. Sidwell had a very good idea of what kind of wages he might command, assuming he remained fit for the last 12 months of his contract.

[Gus the teenage cow]

is Hobnob going to impose any sanctions on schards if he doesn't admit he got this one wrong, for too long we have let idle boasts and wild claims go unpunished here......let's give him a deadline, say until the end of the month (this is more than generous) to apologise and say he was wrong, if he doesn't do it then hobnob really should impose some sanctions

examples could include

-don't allow him access to his inbox
-don't let him post on the team board for a period of 6 months (so he can reflect on his rant)
-only allow him to use the board at nightowl hours between 12a.m.-6a.m. (so that he may only inflict his negative views on a minimum of nobbers)

what do you think guys? shirley action must be taken here

[Ian Royal]

is Hobnob going to impose any sanctions on schards if he doesn't admit he got this one wrong, for too long we have let idle boasts and wild claims go unpunished here......let's give him a deadline, say until the end of the month (this is more than generous) to apologise and say he was wrong, if he doesn't do it then hobnob really should impose some sanctions

examples could include

-don't allow him access to his inbox
-don't let him post on the team board for a period of 6 months (so he can reflect on his rant)
-only allow him to use the board at nightowl hours between 12a.m.-6a.m. (so that he may only inflict his negative views on a minimum of nobbers)

what do you think guys? shirley action must be taken here

Feck off back to AE

[Platypuss]

what do you think guys? shirley action must be taken here

Yep, any more shite Gus posts like that will get deleted on sight.

[Avon Royal]

is Hobnob going to impose any sanctions on schards if he doesn't admit he got this one wrong, for too long we have let idle boasts and wild claims go unpunished here......let's give him a deadline, say until the end of the month (this is more than generous) to apologise and say he was wrong, if he doesn't do it then hobnob really should impose some sanctions

examples could include

-don't allow him access to his inbox
-don't let him post on the team board for a period of 6 months (so he can reflect on his rant)
-only allow him to use the board at nightowl hours between 12a.m.-6a.m. (so that he may only inflict his negative views on a minimum of nobbers)

what do you think guys? shirley action must be taken here

How about putting everyone onto his ignore list except for you. Then the only posts he could read would be your tosh.

[Royal With Cheese]

is Hobnob going to impose any sanctions on schards if he doesn't admit he got this one wrong, for too long we have let idle boasts and wild claims go unpunished here......let's give him a deadline, say until the end of the month (this is more than generous) to apologise and say he was wrong, if he doesn't do it then hobnob really should impose some sanctions

examples could include

-don't allow him access to his inbox
-don't let him post on the team board for a period of 6 months (so he can reflect on his rant)
-only allow him to use the board at nightowl hours between 12a.m.-6a.m. (so that he may only inflict his negative views on a minimum of nobbers)

what do you think guys? shirley action must be taken here

How about putting everyone onto his ignore list except for you. Then the only posts he could read would be your tosh.

Steady on, he's not a killer or a kiddie fiddler. That would be a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

[Sun Tzu]

That would be a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

I hope you aren't suggesting Schards is a nut ?

[Royal With Cheese]

That would be a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

I hope you aren't suggesting Schards is a nut ?

Perish the thought.

[Royal With Cheese]

My god we are rubbish. Dull, uninspiring. Kebe is crap. Coppell should go. Madjeski has had his time. etc.... etc....

[Ian Royal]

My god we are rubbish. Dull, uninspiring. Kebe is crap. Coppell should go. Madjeski has had his time. etc.... etc....

There'll be no progress this season. We'll fail in the first round of the play offs and be relegation fodder next season. Tier 3 here we come.

[Rex]

We are doomed!! Doomed i say!

[Gordons Cumming]

HNA is such a laugh and ohhh sooooo predictable.

I predict a change in emphasis when we see off Wolves with their tails between their legs next Tuesday week.