Numbskull Sunderland player has picture taken covered in £50 notes at a casino. Martinet Italian manager vows to sell him and anybody else who misbehaves.
It won't be as easy as that. Players aren't lining up to go to the north-east. Nor are other clubs lining up to buy Sunderland's reprobates. High-earning players hold their clubs hostage rather than the other way around. Watching these stand-offs I'm reminded of the old line about debt: if you owe the bank £5, it's your problem. If you owe them £5 million, it's theirs.
Largely true, but one of the players is out of contract in summer, so his agent better get on the blower.
ReplyDeleteAs for the other one, as Sam Allardyce noted there's usually some mug waiting to take your mistakes off you.
But I'm sure Di Canio can't wait for the transfer window, considering his record at Swindon, who spent more in agents' fees when in Division Four than any team in Division Three and almost half the teams in Division Two. (This is not hearsay but information in the public domain: search "Swindon Town agent fees".) He'll hope to spend his way to greatness, because his team's poor performances late in the season - minority ball possession, being outpassed 2 to 1 in some games - suggest a long season otherwise.