Rahic Interview

There's a reason why nearly every player will have an agent, can you imagine most players trying to sort out their own contracts? Agents know how the system works, how to negotiate the best deal. Of course the chairman would love to get the player on his own, probably offer him a handful of magic beans as a wage. As much as i don't like agents, they have an important role to play for footballers looking for a contract.

 

Were talking Bradford City or we were.

 

Oscar springs to mind.

 

Tell me why a player would come to Bradford City for less money offered than other league 1 clubs? I'm going for a percentage of 5% that move for other reasons than money.

 

Yep..still are. Just an example.

Mark Marshall wanted to move to a London club. If we'd offered him another 2 grand a year the location would still have been a factor regardless of what his agent thought.

 

They might like the manager, they might think a particular style of play suits them, they might like our training ground better, location, fanbase, profile, likelyhood of success, exposure to other clubs, etc, etc.

If we're talking hundreds of thousands of pounds a year then it won't matter but they all could be factors to the individual.

 

Could be lots of reasons; they might feel they would be higher up the pecking order here and therefore would get more game time, they might relish the idea of playing in front of bigger crowds, it might be closer to their family, they might want to buy a house and realise property prices are a lot cheaper up here so although they are earning less, their money will go further - just to name a few off the top of my head.

 

I remember Rooney saying when he went to Manchester United he did nothing, everything was done through the club both for him and his family dentist doctors, painter & decorators,solicitors, and they are capable of negotiating their own deals, of course they are, Paul Merson, Tony Adams, Paul Gascoigne, during their carers they didn't know what day it was never mind sitting down with the likes of David Dean, or Alan Sugar and thrashing out their salaries.

 

So we agree, that took some getting there, hallelujah.

 

The only one of them i might consider is being closer to family, all the others will be trumped by more money. Aaron used the example of Mark Marshall, i accept there wasn't a lot we could do to keep him but Charlton will have had to offer a wage comparable with what he was earning up here to the cost of living in London. Charlton offer far better wages than us, they have been a top two division club for some time. Now if Marshall had to choose between say playing at Bradford and playing at a London club like say Barnet then i could see the argument.

 

I remember Mel Sterland telling the story of when he went to see Jack Charlton when he was manager at Sheffield Wednesday. Went into his office and Charlton was reading the paper. Asked Sterland what he wanted and Sterland said because he thought he had been playing well of he could have a pay rise. Charlton told him in no uncertain terms to go forth and multiply .

 

Just because the only one you would consider is being closer to family does not mean the other possibilities are not considered by actual professional footballers.

 

There will always be examples that can be used to suggest differently, and as you say Mark Marshall is one of them but by and large for the majority of players it is about money, speaking of Mark Marshall I believe either Edin or Stuart said we wanted to keep him so much we bettered Charlton's offer but as Aron says he wanted to go back darn sarf.

 

Because they were the names on Greg’s list? What poor quality are you referring to? And how do you know where they featured on Greg’s sheet of paper?

 

As I said, it would depend on a number of factors. Firstly, do I believe the HC is good enough to get the team promoted or at least challenging. What other players are we aiming to bring in and do we realistically have a chance of signing them.

 

I know, it’s just my opinion. I’m not usually far off though.

 

But that proof will take time Dave. Surely you’re not going to stay negative until you see the proof? And how will you know? It’s not as if we will see the staff, players and Rahic all holding hands and saying we are as one