Player loyalty

[rigsby]

So all those Championship chairman who wanted 'Premier League 2' a few years back have got their wish. The top two divisions are becoming a closed shop by stealth and it's only going to get worse.

True. It will be harder for Burton than it will be for Burnley next season.

 

[shrimperjon]

Just thinking, does loyalty apply to fans as well. Ive been going for 37 years now, ive never once thought about not attending regardless of who is the manager, how good or bad we are playing, who signs who leaves. My loyalty is to the club and the team, whoever is wearing the shirt. I dont blame JP or DB for moving on, if they can better themselves and earn more, who wouldnt do that? Yet, ive seen on here many many times fans saying that they wont go anymore until so and so leaves the club, or until the standard of football improves etc. Where is their loyalty, afterall we will always out survive any player or manager at the club

 

[united we stand]

I can see both sides of it. One extra point though is that I have read a couple of interviews from retired players who were 'loyal' and from their standpoint it was worth it . Their point was that you are a long time retired, and they loved having supporters come up to tehme telling them that they were their hero. I can't see in year to come many people being all that fussed about Jack (unless he going on to be play in prem and we then look at him with pride (hypocitical I know))

Bentley we willl remember well, especially if he does fullfill his potential , but I think on balance we will remember him, with a 'if only' at the end of any memory if he goes for big money somewhere and we feel we missed out

The rigghts and the wrongs are to an extent irrelvant, it how you feel and no one can alter that

 

[Blues 'n twos]

Hate the word Loyalty, a good servant to the club...yes, but loyalty when you can just p*ss off without the club negotiating a deal after developing you as a player?

I get the career is short, and earn as much as your can while you can bit, and I don't begrudge them their moves, but I stop short of calling them loyal.

 

[blue pilot]

Is this the same 'loyalty' Brown is demanding whilst having spent half the season fluttering his eyelashes at 'links' to Sunderland and Bolton and doing nothing to dampen those, including very public comments on channel 5. Phil will be the first one up the A127 when a better offer comes in for him. Pots & Kettles.

 

[londonblue]

Is this the same 'loyalty' Brown is demanding whilst having spent half the season fluttering his eyelashes at 'links' to Sunderland and Bolton and doing nothing to dampen those, including very public comments on channel 5. Phil will be the first one up the A127 when a better offer comes in for him. Pots & Kettles.

No. It's not. I haven't heard Phil complain about loyalty. I've only heard the fans say that.

 

[southend4ever]

I don't think you can be disappointed in a young guy who is looking to progress his career as quickly as possible in a game that has a limited time span.

 

[Microbe]

Jack who.....

I've moved on already

Come on next season, I can't wait for it to start.

 

[geoffmundo]

I would prefer if both were here next season, but certainly don't begrudge them wanting to take the chance and better themselves. BOTH contributed to Southend's promotion last season, wasn't Jack top scorer last season until the end when Corr started firing them in? Also isn't he top scorer this season? Hardly a 5/6 game wonder....!

Football is such a short career, players have to grab opportunities as and when they arise. In terms of Payne, the club should have sewn things up months and months ago, didn't Phil say that he was signing after the Sheffield United game when he had rave reviews in from of SKY? Funny that!

 

[blueveined]

I won't accept that. Look at young Lyle Della Verde. Looked absolutely amazing for us in the reserves, Fulham poached him at a young age and now he's at Fleetwood. It's really hard to tell how a young player is going to turn out. I think they've been speaking to Dan and his agent all season, but Jack didn't really begin to shine till a fair bit into the season, they've certainly been in discussions for a while.

Not any more. He was released by Fleetwood earlier this year and is now at Crawley.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Sending PB an email showed his immaturity. Have the stones to have that conversation face to face.

That becoming public knowledge shows immaturity from whatever party leaked it.

That would be extremely short sighted and sad if so. Jack has come through our Youth Academy, he is "our" product, we should be proud of his achievements - even if we are disappointed he would appear to be looking to move on. I felt (feel) quite motherly towards him and Dan, it's exactly like a parent wanting the best for their child as they look to leave home for the first time....at the end of the day, they have to make their own choices in exactly the same way.

I think I read something the other day saying he'd been at Spurs?

I would prefer if both were here next season, but certainly don't begrudge them wanting to take the chance and better themselves. BOTH contributed to Southend's promotion last season, wasn't Jack top scorer last season until the end when Corr started firing them in? Also isn't he top scorer this season? Hardly a 5/6 game wonder....!

Football is such a short career, players have to grab opportunities as and when they arise. In terms of Payne, the club should have sewn things up months and months ago, didn't Phil say that he was signing after the Sheffield United game when he had rave reviews in from of SKY? Funny that!

Who PB or JP?

 

[OldBlueLady]

Not any more. He was released by Fleetwood earlier this year and is now at Crawley.

Even worse then!

I think I read something the other day saying he'd been at Spurs?

He may well have done. I know he's been with us probably longer than any of the other "graduates" we've sold on.

 

[DTS]

Prosser is the classic example. You put some roots down, do things the right way, and things can still go wrong and you're out looking for a new employer - that's the life of a footballer. Any footballer who's out of contract this summer doesn't have an income to support their family after this July - if that was you, how much of a sweat would you have on? For that reason if a club in a higher league comes and offers ANY of our players the chance to earn in 1 season what they could in 5 seasons with us, how can you expect them NOT to take it? Loyalty doesn't come into it - it's simple common sense.

Prosser I suspect having watched him for the last six years didn't get a better offer hence he stayed so long. Good luck to Payne loyalty in football only exists amongst fans and a handful of elite players.

For my mind the club need to learn from this and consider selling players with less than a year to run. Bentley could have earned us £1m and Payne may have signed a new deal in the summer as his stock had not risen so high. As it is we run the risk of getting nothing if they leave England. Club should have learned from Moshni.

Worrall to may have commanded a small fee last summer too.

 

[LCBB72]

Loyalty in football went out the window when Football Agents came on the scene .

 

[Napster]

Loyalty in football went out the window when Football Agents came on the scene .

Loyalty went out the window when Jimmy Hill campaigned to get rid of the maximum wage. It became a profession not a hobby.

 

[Beefy]

If you want player loyalty we will have to all cancel our sky sports. Or a change in the laws to protect the bigger clubs taking out of contract players. Even if the miracle happens and we are playing at FF and lets say we are doing very well in the Championship and have a chance of promotion. Then we will lose any young talent to the PL.

That's the way it is now and unless we the fans change it, that's the way it will always be. Lots of people are talking about this £8 billion sky TV deal. Who do think is actually going to pay for that?

I've seen Sky blamed for some things in the past that required a stretch in logic but blaming them for a League One player moving to a Championship club by exercising his freedom of movement afforded by a European Court of Justice verdict is tenuous to say the least.

 

[LCBB72]

Loyalty went out the window when Jimmy Hill campaigned to get rid of the maximum wage. It became a profession not a hobby.

What about Alan Moody , Tony Bentley , Paul Sansome , Steve Tilson , and Ronnie Pountney knew what loyalty was .

 

[Beefy]

I think I read something the other day saying he'd been at Spurs?

He was at Spurs but he's been with Southend since 15. Both Payne and Bentley were formerly at other clubs but both have been here long enough that I think it's fair to refer to them as being products of the SUFC youth set-up unlike, for example, Moussa or Kightly for whom I think that description is giving our youth team a bit too much credit.

I think it's difficult to criticise any player for leaving at the end of their contract - as has been said football isn't an industry built on loyalty. So long as the player honours his contract and does everything asked of him then (unlike Nicky Bailey for example) then you need to accept it and as a club do everything you can to keep on top of the contracts of the players you want to keep. Dan Bentley made it very clear last summer that he was unlikely to sign a new contract and the club have had two transfer windows to try to sell him if they wanted to. They chose not to do so and now we have to live with the consequences of that.

With Payne it is more difficult because he has come on so much in the past 18 months but he's such a unique footballer without an obvious position in a 4-4-2 that I can't criticise the club for holding off whilst they worked out what they've got.

The Bosman ruling has been around for 20 years now. We've benefited from it plenty of times and it has cost us a few times too (Mark Gower). It's the rules of the game.

 

[rigsby]

I've seen Sky blamed for some things in the past that required a stretch in logic but blaming them for a League One player moving to a Championship club by exercising his freedom of movement afforded by a European Court of Justice verdict is tenuous to say the least.

I wasn't trying to directly blame sky. I was trying to point out that its another area of fans hypocrisy. If your a regular at the Hall and you have Sky TV, which cost more per year than your season ticket. Then your actually giving the bigger clubs more money than your own team.

So don't complain when a young player signs for a bigger club, when its actually you that's paying his wages. Yes I do have sky but I wont be demanding loyalty from anyone who can earn ten times what he is earning at Southend. What I do expect is professionalism and effort right up until the last game of your current contract.

 

[Beefy]

Ok I think I see what you mean. Thanks for clarifying.