The new Liverpool owners haven’t been in charge for long but already they are aware of who runs English football – agents and players. John W. Henry and Tom Werner have likened the English game to the ‘wild west’ in terms of the power of players and their agents.
The new owners will have to adapt quickly to player power, but it is worrying for the state the English game finds itself in, that outside of a transfer window John W. Henry and Tom Werner already have a taste for what is wrong with our national game. Speaking to the Guardian, Henry spoke of the culture shock that he has endured since his arrival:
”It’s a culture shock, there’s no doubt about it. It’s like the wild west. It’s a completely different system here from what we’re used to. If a player has a contract in the US, they fulfil the contract. Over here, it seems players have much more say so.”
NESV’s arrival into English football couldn’t have come at more damaging time for English football. Shortly after their takeover, Wayne Rooney and Manchester United were embroiled in a very public dispute over Rooney’s contract – highlighting the power that player’s now have over their clubs.
In the United States, with the Boston Red Sox, Henry has claimed that players honour their contacts and that clubs have the power over their players. In European football the game is less stable because of the amount of players that are wrangling for new deals or looking elsewhere for clubs.
Continue Reading on Page 2 . . .
Stella WDM ECLIPSE
TOP TEN LIVERPOOL MOMENTS OF THE DECADE
CLICK ON THE IMAGE OR HERE TO BEGIN THE COUNTDOWN
it’s totally different in America because of the wage cap and the way in which “transfers” are conducted – instead of “buying players”, as we do over here, clubs “trade contracts”.
The player has little control over when or where he moves, barring the odd exception, so the situation is completely opposite to what goes on in Europe, but arguably even less fair