mike newell lets his tongue loose

[Toni]

He said: "Have I been offered the chance to take money? Yes, of course I have.

 

"I wouldn't say it is a rarity either. "If I was open to it or interested in it then it would be a regular occurrence, because all I would have to do is say 'what's in it for me?'

 

"Would I know which agents to ring? Well, they ring you.".....My Webpage

 

 

 

you can just tell where he s coming from, cant you?

[Ripley]

The FA have invited him to Soho Square for a cup of tea next week.

[fyds]

The FA have invited him to Soho Square for a cup of tea next week.

Cup of tea and a manilla envelope?

[Bootle Buck]

I don't think he expected his comments to get so much attention. Funny on SSN last night how the other managers interviewed all seemed to pleed ignorance to the matter, including Harry Redknapp.

[ManxRed]

... including Harry Redknapp.

 

He's not going to bite the hand that feeds him, is he?

[Montse]

Interestingly the Football League report into agents fees has just been published - very interesting - Luton paid £92k to agents between July and december last year in comparison to £9k the previous year. Leeds spent a staggering £500k which is an improvement on the previous year which was £1.5m!

 

You can download the full report at the bottom of this page

 

http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk...~767641,00.html

 

Would love to see one for the Premiership!

[jfogarty]

I hope Newell has some proof to back up his claims. He is a sound fella and it took some courage to stand up and say what he did. He doesnt seem to have any problems with being the whistleblower but he IS going to be on his own on this and I would hate to see him lose his integrity

 

Respect

[aka Dus]

No easy cure when you're all bunged-up

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

 

 

 

 

THAT WAS

 

THE WEEK

 

DION FANNING

 

'THERE are good agents and bad agents," Rafael Benitez said last week as the bung controversy reappeared and, as usual, he was right.

 

There are good managers and bad managers, good property developers and bad property developers, good politicians and corrupt, venal, lying politicians. It takes two to make a really successful bung and while the agents who are outraged about Luton manager Mike Newell's comments are trying to defend a slimy profession, they should at least acknowledge that there are others, usually managers, but chairmen, club secretaries too, who need to play along if an agent wants to bung.

 

But few are playing along with Newell who hasn't been overwhelmed by messages of support since he made the comment that he has been offered bungs. Managers tend to take a position similar to a Melville seaman, "Aye, I've heard tales but nobody can say for sure what goes on."

 

From the whispered stories around football, it would appear that bungs take place at every level of the game and those who do not participate still need to keep those agents and managers who do involved in their business. Because even the agents who bung can be very good at their job.

 

Rune Hauge, the man who handed George Graham a bag full of money in the only case of proven payments, was reckoned by Alex Ferguson to have an outstanding eye for a player and somebody he would listen to when he said he'd found some talent.

 

Ferguson did nothing wrong by listening to Hauge, but his conundrum illustrates the problem: nobody in football can live in isolation from the people who make their money in a darker way.

 

In a conversation with Arsene Wenger, an agent wondered why the Frenchman had problems with people in his profession; after all they were both making money from the game. "Yes, but if the money disappeared, you would be gone," Wenger said, "but I would still be here."

 

This is true of Wenger, but others have grown accustomed to the opportunities that football brings.

 

Up until recently, a number of Premiership managers held shares in Paul Stretford's sports agency. It was not illegal, but it was as clear a conflict of interest as there can be. They would benefit financially from his profits, so they may have had reason to ensure that business came his way. There was no suggestion they ever did.

 

It was not illegal, but it was as clear a conflict of interest as there can be

 

The problem for agents is that nobody expects anything from them. Every player should have an agent who ensures he isn't screwed financially by the clubs who would love to do just that, but they could do without an agent who tries to run their lives, acting as bill-payer, media guru and life coach. Managers, however, are expected to be kindly, worldly men who have a deep love of the game, which may be as fantastical an idea as a football world free of bungs.

 

There are plenty of stories in football of players who have been signed by clubs solely because of the financial inducements given to a manager and of world-class players who have not been signed because managers wanted sweeteners and the agents wouldn't get involved.

 

One well-known former manager of a top club is suspected of profiting from a number of transfers when a series of players arrived from abroad and consequently failed to perform in a manner commensurate with their transfer fees.

 

His only punishment in the end was failure, but why he should expect any more in a world where only George Graham has been punished and the sighs from the FA as news of Mike Newell's words came through were almost audible?

 

In unrelated news, it was good to see that Harry Redknapp took his market stall approach to football management and football transfers to its logical conclusion by buying a job lot of footballers from Tottenham last week.

 

Harry, of course, is back in business, not just with the money from a son of a Russian billionaire, but with the transfer window open and Spurs seemingly slashing prices and offering three for two offers on some of their unwanted players.

 

It is the kind of deal Harry loves, reeking as it does of a bargain and an opportunity to make sweeping changes to his team. Harry likes a bet, they say, but it's clear that the device he uses to relieve the stress of management is retail therapy.

[Redwire]

One well-known former manager of a top club is suspected of profiting from a number of transfers when a series of players arrived from abroad and consequently failed to perform in a manner commensurate with their transfer fees.

 

His only punishment in the end was failure, but why he should expect any more in a world where only George Graham has been punished and the sighs from the FA as news of Mike Newell's words came through were almost audible?

 

In unrelated news, it was good to see that Harry Redknapp took his market stall approach to football management and football transfers to its logical conclusion by buying a job lot of footballers from Tottenham last week.

 

Edited January 15, 2006 by Redwire

[ali]

from the Telegraph

 

Premier League bungs inquiry opposed by four leading clubs

By Mihir Bose (Filed: 09/03/2006)

 

 

 

Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all opposed the Premier League bungs inquiry being led by Lord Stevens and his firm Quest.

 

It was only after a debate lasting more than an hour that the other 16 clubs overcame their resistance.

 

The Daily Telegraph understands that when the Premier League clubs met in London on Feb 16, the big four queried the need for an inquiry.

 

One source told me: "The feeling was that the Premier League was reacting too quickly to unsubstantiated rumours in a newspaper."

 

In the end the clubs approved the inquiry but after carefully worded terms and conditions were agreed.

 

And unlike the bungs inquiry of the 1990s, the report due in September may never be made public. Even the terms of reference and the procedure Stevens and his team will follow may not be made public.

 

The inquiry will proceed but it may not fulfil the hopes of Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, of either proving the Premiership is clean or get hard evidence of a bungs culture.

 

Scudamore announced the inquiry, as exclusively revealed by The Daily Telegraph, following comments made by England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson to an undercover reporter that there was a bungs culture in the Premier League and he knew of three clubs where bungs had been taken.

 

Following the revelations, Scudamore contacted Premier League clubs and they agreed to an inquiry.

 

But when the clubs met in London the idea was vigorously opposed by four clubs, with some saying the phone conversations with Scudamore had been misinterpreted.

 

David Gill, the chief executive of Manchester United speaking from prepared notes, revealed that he had been called out of a board meeting to take Scudamore's call.

 

He wondered what purpose the inquiry would serve and advised clubs to follow United's lead of disclosing payments made to agents, something no other club do.

 

David Dein, the vice-chairman of Arsenal, asked why have an inquiry when Fifa had set up a task force to look into similar matters.

 

The Chelsea chairman, Bruce Clark, wondered where the inquiry would end. Would it be confined to transfers and agents?

 

His unspoken fear seemed to have been whether it would start inquiring into the source of the wealth of his club's owner, Roman Abramovich, whose arrival in football and the money he has lavished on Chelsea has been one of the reasons that prompted Fifa to set up their task force.

 

The Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, who as chief executive of the Premier League had chaired the previous bungs inquiry, warned that this investigation, like his own, would have little power.

 

There was also concern as to whether the Premier League have the power to hold an inquiry as they are a trade organisation, making this a matter that should be addressed by the Football Association.

 

Scudamore had suggested that the inquiry's findings could be given to the Inland Revenue or even the police if it found wrong doing, but this alarmed many of the clubs.

 

They feared that if the Inland Revenue found evidence of wrong payments they would open up tax assessments and impose back taxes running into millions.

 

Last week when Scudamore announced the appointment of Stevens, he also wrote a letter to the clubs telling them that the inquiry had been vetted by a legal working party headed by Maurice Watkins, a solicitor and Manchester United director, and Peter McCormick, a lawyer close to Leeds.

 

The terms of reference have still to be drawn up and the investigation will be more of an internal Premier League inquiry.

[jimmylibel]

Rick is just worried about having to explain how we paid £4.5 million for Diao.