Harry Redknapp highlights a real sad state of affairs

Redknapp: Unhappy at agent influence

It might seem hypocritical for Harry Redknapp to be criticising agents given his past with signing players through the dodgiest of agents and his subsequent investigation when agent fees came to light in the national press. But that’s exactly what the Spurs manager has gone ahead and done in his latest outburst to the media, criticising the role of the agent in modern football and also the Tottenham players who are using their agents to complain to the board at Spurs for a lack of playing time – an impatience which comes across as unprofessional and an indication of a worrying change in football if players and their agents now go directly to the chairman rather than their manager who should be the first person they talk to.

Redknapp has claimed that this habit of agents calling up the chairman to complain about a lack of playing time for their clients is a growing problem at Spurs but has declared that the chairman is on his side and always lets him know what has gone on along with ignoring the agents’ claims. Football has always been a sport where the manager is in charge of team selection and it is ridiculous that Redknapp is being overlooked by prima donnas who refuse to face him and instead ask their agents to complain to the Spurs board over playing time. It’s not even like Redknapp is a feared disciplinarian who will shout at the player and then transfer list him for asking for more playing time; Redknapp’s said to be a great man-manager and has plenty of experience and would appreciate a player coming to him with their problems a lot more than hearing it the way he has been through his chairman.

This complaint also brings to light that there is more trouble behind the scenes at Spurs than was apparent as unrest amongst players must be a problem given them feeling the need to complain about first team chances. It’s no secret that Redknapp has a preferred first choice eleven but it was thought of up to now that the rest of the squad were aware of their roles at the club and, for the most part, happy to continue in their roles and hoping to fight their way to first team prominence. Instead it seems that they are willing to sit back and let others fight their battles for them and their habit of getting their agent involved is troublesome as it allows the role of the football agent to grow even further. Agents have already been criticised heavily for their touting of their players around and their ridiculous contract demands and bad career advice but their interference into the players career at a club he’s settled at is a new development which makes it seem that the agent is becoming even more prominent in the lives of his players. Which is not what a manager will want to see.

Redknapp has also expressed his fear that the influx of foreign owners in the Premiership will lead to English managers being overlooked in favour of foreigners in the near future in the clubs’ attempts to win silverware and improve their standings in the Premiership. There has always been a market in England for English managers and their staff though and Harry’s fears in this case are unnecessary as owners, foreign or not, will always be encouraged to bring in an English option if possible – unless they are a huge team with title ambitions in which case only the best will do – by the pressure of the fans and players at the club. After all, many English managers have been given more chances than warranted in recent years.

The football world has recently been shaken by the sudden media obsession with diving and it has taken prominence as the main problem in football. However, the scale diving is brought into in terms of how troublesome it is has led to other problems being overlooked and now, even when brought up, they do not worry the football bigwigs as much as they would have done had the diving debate not been on centre stage. Redknapp’s anger at agents being involved so much with the club and interfering with his players will be overlooked by the powers that be as it seems to be a minimal problem and one only brought up by one manager. A football agent is a troublesome creature though and this may not be the last we hear of the growing agent problems in the English game. There should in theory be a ban that keeps agents away from interfering with their players club careers unless it is to instigate a move or contract talks that the player has brought up and even that should be all down to the player’s decision rather than the agent’s. Complaining about a lack of first team action has never been an agent’s place and never should be, they must be driven back from their growing influence and soon.