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Thread: Winter Transfer Non-Arrivals and Goodbyes

  1. #221
    ***** Niall_Quinn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by IBK View Post
    Don't fall into the trap that the agents and sharks want you to fall into. I dislike this idea of having to manage/massage players' expectations. When it comes to top performers this is true in a general sense - a club is subject to market forces, and players need to see a good trajectory, but this is no different to what should be the overall approach of the club. Transfer disappointment aside, we have seen nothing to suggest that this isn't the club's and the manager's aim. As soon as we start focussing on the need to match individual players' ambitions we lose team focus and start being affected by outside noise. The formula is simple. Progress on the pitch. Following early mistalkes by Arteta, we have seen what can be achieved by a young team that buys into the manager's philosophy. I for one am not unhappy with getting rid of players who consider themselves more important with the club, and the direction we have chosen is not one that lends itself to focussing on keeping individual superstars happy.

    Saka is a star, but has been made by a club and manager willing to give him a key role and I can't see him being unhappy with where he is at. The club's resonsibility is to tie him into a contract that reflects his further potential, not to reward him for what he has done so far. Progress will mean us achieving the aim that we had at the beginning of the season - European football - and we do this, I have no concerns about him agreeing a new contract.
    You have the right idea about what football ought to be and what it used to be. But isn't today's football primarily about the trap that agents and sharks want you to fall into? Are players still individuals with a talent and a connection to the club? Or are they investment vehicles for wealthy individuals, be those agents, owners, shareholders, and themselves? You know what they say, it's not personal, it's just business.
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  2. #222
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chippy View Post
    The main target should be extending Saka's contract. He has 18 month's left. Surely we cannot make the same mistake with him?
    When was the last contract managed fully to the club's advantage? After Anelka and Overmars I'm coming up with a blank. Other than a few duds we dumped on the gypos when they had more money than sense, what was the last big transfer out where it felt like the buyer was in pain? Not saying it didn't happen, just can't think of anything and it's a rarity nonetheless. What did we get for van Persie, the guy who won the title for Utd the following year?
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  3. #223
    Member IBK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn View Post
    You have the right idea about what football ought to be and what it used to be. But isn't today's football primarily about the trap that agents and sharks want you to fall into? Are players still individuals with a talent and a connection to the club? Or are they investment vehicles for wealthy individuals, be those agents, owners, shareholders, and themselves? You know what they say, it's not personal, it's just business.
    True, maybe, but IMHO if we are to progress a fundamental and joined up agenda for creating a cohesive team - which is what we saw in our best bits prior to January the we need to be brave and focus on this - rather than worrying primarily about individuals. From where I sit, this is what Arteta is trying to do...
    Putting the laughter back into manslaughter

  4. #224
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    Quote Originally Posted by IBK View Post
    True, maybe, but IMHO if we are to progress a fundamental and joined up agenda for creating a cohesive team - which is what we saw in our best bits prior to January the we need to be brave and focus on this - rather than worrying primarily about individuals. From where I sit, this is what Arteta is trying to do...
    https://dailycannon.com/2022/02/saka...act-extension/

    Doesnt look like Saka is staying then. We aint getting top four this season.

  5. #225
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    Players have too much power, they know it and they take the piss. I'm not commenting on Saka, but in general.

    Why can't we have a notice period in football like in any other job? We kind of do, it's called requesting a transfer. But players don't do this now. They string things out and play one club against the next. Make demands of the club, like a top 4 finish, or guarantees to sign more players. It's smart business, but cancerous for the cohesion of the clubs and long term planning. Every contract has become a gateway to the next early contract negotiation. Why can't we have contracts that run their course and aren't modified until the contract expires? Isn't that what a contract is? You can alway negotiate the next contract in advance, but it shouldn't kick in until the current contract has been honoured.

    It'd be simple. Every new contract comes with a 1 year notice period. That notice must be served before a transfer can be authorised. The players will have to say, yep, I'm off, I'm breaking my contract and that's that. They leave at the end of the notice period regardless of any transfer they might secure, unless they withdraw the notice with the club's agreement. They pay compensation for breach of contract. Job done.

    Otherwise call it something else, like a dodgy handshake or a favour. Because it's not a real contract if you can keep blackmailing the club and breaking the contract with no penalty.

    And we're not even talking about players in reality. We're talking about business suits at the clubs dealing with business suits at the agency. The player is just the asset being traded.

    Before Bosman it was tipped too far in the club's favour. Now it has tipped to the other extreme. Is there nobody left in the game who still values the game and isn't focused solely on the cash who could step up and suggest a reasonable compromise? Of course then you'd have the players moaning about how they are "slaves".
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  6. #226
    Member IBK's Avatar
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    I agree - and the only option left is to try to be the club where players can make a name for themselves, play decent football and therefore commit for the medium term. For all of the criticism of Arsenal, this is clearly what we are now tring to do. The club realises that it needs to try to achieve CL football to keep its best players - which is the imperative, given that we are competing with Clubs with unlimited resources. Its a vicious circle, really because money alone won't buy the best players with the committment to the cause required. Top 4 is a necessity, but we are starting where we are.

    It also has to be a longer term play. I think that the club realises that CL qualification this season is an outside bet - the true aim was more incremental - Europa league and push on from there.

    TBH until January we were doing a pretty good job of being THE club where upcoming young talent would want to come to help us push on, and while the Auba situation may have set this back a little, for me this has not changed.

    The link Chippy has posted above is the kind of crap piece that means nothing (no disrepect to him intended here). Why - because (a) it states the bleeding obvious - lack of CL football will obviously make signing the likes of Saka on to a long term contract more difficult, and (b) is utterly reductive. The reality is that if we continue to show real progress, narrowly missing out on CL places will not automatically mean we can't keep Saka or anyone else. What these players need to see is a plan; stability; and evidence that if we are not already in it, we have a decent chance of getting CL next year. Plus ça change.
    Putting the laughter back into manslaughter

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