David Martin made available for transfer by Southend United

[BLUEBLOOD]

That is unbelievable. Names please?

I can't really publicly name them, though maybe they'll read this and say something for themselves

 

[Napster]

I can't really publicly name them, though maybe they'll read this and say something for themselves

OK, one of them was me. He called me and asked help with Battrick. I pointed him to MrB.

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

I can't really publicly name them, though maybe they'll read this and say something for themselves

Its ok i've worked them out. Obviously Wiggy, Onion Bag Dave and Woodham Shrimper!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Good job he didn't phone OBL. We'd have McCormack back, Ryan Leonard as captain and Donny Osmond as half time entertainment.

No, no, no! Macca would be captain of course, other than that it all sounds pretty good to me!

 

[londonblue]

Purely hypothetically (as I'm not as in the know as everyone else seems to be with regards who was responsible for signing which players), I don't get the issue with the Chief Exec signing players. Most Directors of Football at Premier League clubs are allowed to sign anyone they want up to a value agreed by the board. (David Pleat had a limit of £250,000 when at Spurs.) If it doesn't work out, then we get rid.

If we have a chief exec who wants to take a gamble, so long as the downside isn't disasterous, then why not? That doesn't mean that PS is weak, or has been undermined in any way. It's just that the Chief Exec took a gamble. He doesn't have to justify that to PS, he has to justify that to RM.

 

[Hazey]

Brady apparently .. who also sourced that hopeless **** from Palace

He used to phone certain zoners and ask their opinion on players he'd heard were available

unbelievable.com

That is disgusting, some fans are far too involved. Can't believe that!

 

[Perth Bambi]

Purely hypothetically (as I'm not as in the know as everyone else seems to be with regards who was responsible for signing which players), I don't get the issue with the Chief Exec signing players. Most Directors of Football at Premier League clubs are allowed to sign anyone they want up to a value agreed by the board. (David Pleat had a limit of £250,000 when at Spurs.) If it doesn't work out, then we get rid.

If we have a chief exec who wants to take a gamble, so long as the downside isn't disasterous, then why not? That doesn't mean that PS is weak, or has been undermined in any way. It's just that the Chief Exec took a gamble. He doesn't have to justify that to PS, he has to justify that to RM.

David Pleat was a former and very experienced football manager?

 

[Beefy]

David Pleat was a former and very experienced football manager?

Ah but did he have contacts in the City?

 

[Napster]

Ah but did he have contacts in the City?

Yes but they worked on street corners mostly.

 

[shrimpled]

Purely hypothetically (as I'm not as in the know as everyone else seems to be with regards who was responsible for signing which players), I don't get the issue with the Chief Exec signing players. Most Directors of Football at Premier League clubs are allowed to sign anyone they want up to a value agreed by the board. (David Pleat had a limit of £250,000 when at Spurs.) If it doesn't work out, then we get rid.

If we have a chief exec who wants to take a gamble, so long as the downside isn't disasterous, then why not? That doesn't mean that PS is weak, or has been undermined in any way. It's just that the Chief Exec took a gamble. He doesn't have to justify that to PS, he has to justify that to RM.

I agree with the above. PS obviously doesn't feel it undermines him (if indeed it does/did happen) as he is still here.

However, I do think it explains why some players have been brought here and then maybe not had the game time they were expecting. The CEO can sign the players but he doesn't pick the team, so if the manager doesn't rate/ doesn't think the player fits into the system he wants to play, they won't get picked.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Purely hypothetically (as I'm not as in the know as everyone else seems to be with regards who was responsible for signing which players), I don't get the issue with the Chief Exec signing players. Most Directors of Football at Premier League clubs are allowed to sign anyone they want up to a value agreed by the board. (David Pleat had a limit of £250,000 when at Spurs.) If it doesn't work out, then we get rid.

If we have a chief exec who wants to take a gamble, so long as the downside isn't disasterous, then why not? That doesn't mean that PS is weak, or has been undermined in any way. It's just that the Chief Exec took a gamble. He doesn't have to justify that to PS, he has to justify that to RM.

Huge difference here.

£250,000 is three weeks' wages for a Redknapp signing. £25,000 (£500 wages a week for a year) is something that we struggle to raise.

Pleat is an experienced manager tasked with signing young players for the future. Brady was signing experienced players for now.

There's no point in signing these players unless the manager wants to play them. The manager is very much a systems guy with his own set-up of how he knows to win football games. Signing players, including big name former stars, is a waste of money if they can't play that system.

If your manager and whoever is signing players aren't on the same page it simply isn't going to work.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

The CEO can sign the players but he doesn't pick the team, so if the manager doesn't rate/ doesn't think the player fits into the system he wants to play, they won't get picked.

Which a total and utter waste of resources .. The CEO should be involved in the signing of the player certainly, in regard to the fee and wages but doing the scouting ?? crazy

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Which a total and utter waste of resources .. The CEO should be involved in the signing of the player certainly, in regard to the fee and wages but doing the scouting ?? crazy

EDIT: or what Yorkie said ^^^

 

[shrimpled]

Sorry, I should have made myself clear.

I agree with londonblue in the sense that don't have an issue with the CEO (esp. a former football man like Pleat in the example above) taking a gamble on a player if everything has been cleared with the team management. I also do not think that in itself undermines the team management neccessarily, it happens at plenty of other clubs up and down the land.

However, I agree with you that the CEO going off and doing his own thing when it comes to signing players he wants here is ludicrous, especially when you're a L2 club with very limited resources, and I have a major problem with that. No-one knows whether that's the case here, but I have my suspicions.

 

[Jam_Man]

The manager should and live and die by his own signings, the CEO should sign and sell the players the manager wants.

Why Tara Brady, or Ron Martin, or any non-football person should make any decisions signing players I dont know.

 

[Beefy]

Didn't see too many complaints when Ron Martin went out and bought Shaun Goater.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Didn't see too many complaints when Ron Martin went out and bought Michael Ricketts.

fair enough Beefy, you got us there

 

[rlb999]

Something strange going on here. If Sturrock didn't want Martin, he could have done this 48 hours after the end of last season, not 48 hours before the start of this one. I suspect Martin may have expressed discontent at not being in the 1st XI.

That said, Martin was quite a 'big' signing for us, and should have been a real success here. I don't see how PS can fancy someone in Jan and not fancy them 6 months later.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

I don't see how PS can fancy someone in Jan and not fancy them 6 months later.

Unless, and i don't know in this case, he was brought in over Sturrocks head

 

[Welly7]

Disappointed he's on the list as I was hoping to see him push on this year and be a real influence for us. If it's because Martin didn't see opportunities here then that's a shame and would question why he was brought here in the first place. For what it's worth, I'd have had him as a starter in the side.