It’s almost impossible not to succumb to the negative stereotypes associated with the ‘Essex lad’ when gazing upon West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan. The passion and devotion he harbours for the Hammers whilst commendable, often leads to inexcusable, biased remarks that would put Kenny Dalglish’s favouritism towards Liverpool to shame.
His most recent interview with fellow West Ham fanatic Iain Dale exposes a very graphic overview of recent events at the club. Not only does he disrespect a number of former players but also he inexplicably specifies various wages and transfer fees – some that have nothing to do with West Ham.
The level of detail in the information Sullivan willingly chooses to reveal is the sort of thing you’d blush at reading in an autobiography several decades after the event.
“I’m told he’s got a £7 million get-out at Newcastle and he gets half the money over that. They keep denying it but I think you’ll see in the summer he will leave Newcastle or he’ll get a monstrous rise to stay there.”
I think Sullivan can cross Alan Pardew off his Christmas list after he revealed the details of the transfer that saw Demba Ba trade East London for Tyneside last summer. The relatively insignificant sum of £7m is apparently all that is required to release ‘the smiling assassin’ from his contract at Newcastle, which will surely have pricked the ears of several top-flight managers across Europe.
Of course, Sullivan is not the only perpetrator when it comes to voicing forthright opinions in the world’s press, but his comments do raise the issue as to whether individuals should be punished for their wily and often devious declarations regarding individuals outside their own club.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp often finds himself lured into the clutches of the media because he has established an honest and open relationship with journalists. His unwelcome tag as a ‘wheeler dealer’ immediately makes him the focus of attention whenever a player’s future is bought into question. Unfortunately for Redknapp he can’t help but find himself on the end of such statements like, ‘I can’t talk about other teams players as that wouldn’t be fair but…’
Harry’s most recent public pursuit of former Blackburn defender Chris Samba is an all too familiar example that serves only to fill column inches whilst inciting the fury from supporters up and down the leagues.
‘I like Samba, he is a good player, I wouldn’t want to say it’s an impossibility. At the moment he belongs to Blackburn but he’s a good player.’
However, despite Redknapp’s often brazen and shameless approach, he can perhaps be forgiven because there doesn’t seem to be an ulterior or underlying motive to his actions. Redknapp is simply an unguarded individual who wears his heart on his sleeve and essentially tapes his transfer shortlist to his forehead. His heartfelt style of management coupled with his rapport with the press means his comments don’t evoke the same backlash as they would coming from the mouth of Sir Alex Ferguson or Roberto Mancini.
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In Spain this issue mutates into an entirely different beast. The presidential election system means potential transfer targets are used as political pawns to gain the affection and more importantly votes of the local fan base. Current president Sandro Rosell fronted Barcelona’s dishonourable pursuit of Cesc Fabregas and along with a host of Catalan stars set about unsettling the player to basically force through a transfer. Stories of stolen photographs, the ‘shirt prank’ at the 2010 World Cup coupled with Xavi’s claims that the player was “suffering” at Arsenal are all strong cases of people overstepping the mark. The fact that these tactics went unpunished will mean that this may become a familiar format in all future major transfers.
Sir Alex Ferguson is often regarded as the connoisseur of mind games, with his subtle yet cunning observations seemingly enabling the United boss to get his own way. However, his infamous and somewhat bizarre courtship of Steven Defour perhaps highlights the correct way to conduct such pursuits. After hearing of Defour’s metatarsal injury in 2009 Ferguson wrote a letter of sympathy to the then Standard Liege captain that stated he would continue to ‘follow’ Defour’s performances and that he would remain ‘in contact with Standard’.
It’s worth pointing out that this was conducted above board, as the letter was sent directly to Liege and passed through all the official channels. Fergie was also said to be shocked upon discovering that it had been released to the Belgian media but whether this was an intentional part of his plan remains unclear. It does however offer an example of an inventive and perfectly acceptable means of contacting a player.
There’s also the relatively modern phenomenon of ‘tapping up’ players to consider, from the infamous Cashley Cole saga to the more recent incident involving Newcastle United and French club Sochaux, whereby Mail striker Modibo Maiga told L’Equipe,
“I want it to be done with Newcastle. I want to leave – it is necessary that the president agrees to negotiate. I met everybody, they want me and it is not any club. England is a dream. I want to go.” (Guardian)
Clearly a deal was already in place with only the blessings of the ‘selling club’ needed to complete the transfer, but surely during negotiations it should happen the other way around. It’s understandable to contact the player in advance to register their interest but there appears to be no boundaries to prevent conversations escalating further.
Should managers or indeed chairman who publically declare interest in transfer targets be punished in the same way as those who speak to the player’s representatives without their parent clubs permission?
Leave your comments below or join me on Twitter @theunusedsub where I’ll be sending messages of support to Tom Cleverley in the vain hope that he’ll look to regain his match fitness on loan at Selhurst Park
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