Contracts in Football - Are they worth the paper they are written on?

Leanne Duckett explains to The Football Front the true value of contracts and whether they have real value.

The thing in football that baffles me most is ..... CONTRACTS!! Do they actually mean anything?

As an HR Advisor this may be a little surprising but it seems Football as a business is totally exempt from the normal everyday HR structure that other businesses run to.

Contract of Employment: "Oral or written, express or implied, agreement specifying terms and conditions under which a person consents to perform certain duties as directed and controlled by en employer in return for an agreed upon wage or salary. Whether stated or not, both the employee and the employer owe the duty of mutual confidence and trust, and to make only lawful and reasonable demands on each other. Every employee is under the obligation to carry out assigned duties, or the employers instructions to the best of their abilities. The employer is under the obligation to protect the employee from harm or injury." (www.businessdictionary.com, 2011)

By its very definition a contract is there to in-still "mutual confidence and trust" it seems ‘confidence’ and ‘trust’ are the missing elements in the Mancini -Tevez affair.


So, the key question is has Tevez breached his contract?

Well, he allegedly refused a request from his manager to play against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Manchester City then suspended him for a maximum of two weeks, on full pay whilst they conducted an investigation into the incident. Tevez was then fined 4 weeks wages, close to a £1 million pounds, and was training with the youth team.

Some of the options available to City are, to retain Tevez's registration until 2014, leaving him unable to play any competitive football, except for Argentina, until the registration expires. Or, they can sell him, his former club, Corinthians are said to have expressed interest in taking him back for around £16-£18 million, almost a third of the £47 million City paid for him.

Man City Chairman, Sheikh Mansour however has stated no cut price deals will be made.

Indeed, there is a FIFA regulation where a player can terminate his contract if he feels he has sporting just cause:

"An established professional who has, in the course of the season, appeared in fewer than ten per cent of the official matches in which his club has been involved may terminate his contract prematurely on the ground of sporting just cause. Due consideration shall be given to the player’s circumstances in the appraisal of such cases. The existence of a sporting just cause shall be established on a case-by-case basis. In such a case, sporting sanctions shall not be imposed, though compensation may be payable. A professional may only terminate his contract on this basis in the 15 days following the last official match of the season of the club with which he is registered." (www.fifa.com)

This is not new territory that Tevez finds himself in. At the end of his time with Corinthians he refused to play, thus to push forward his transfer to West Ham United.

Carlos Tevez is well known for his sulking and petulance which is a massive shame, considering how talented he is.

Tevez did initially receiving the backing from the PFA in his claim against Mancini for defamation of character. But since he’s gone AWOL, presumably back to Argentina, this sour affair shows no signs of being settled this year.

Champions League club representatives have urged FIFA to take a tough stance against Carlos Tevez if his self-imposed exile from Manchester City leads to the end of his contract.

One club executive said: ‘If Tevez does get away with having his contract cancelled and then gets himself a lucrative deal elsewhere, what’s to stop others doing the same thing? We are all watching this situation very closely.’

As are we all!

This article was written by Leanne Duckett, you follow her on Twitter: @halftimejaffas .You can find her work on her blog here too -> http://halftimejaffacakes.blogspot.com/

Everton – The Premier League’s drought club?

In Leanne Duckett’s debut article for The Football Front, she explains her thoughts on Everton’s reoccurring problems in the past few years.

Last season Everton won 4 times in the league before the New Year. They languished at the bottom of the league and were dropping point’s game after game. This has been the case for the last few years. If only Everton could play a whole season the way they played in the second half. Then the club would be playing European Football. Perhaps its, something Everton should be aiming for every year.

Everton are a top 6 club, in all aspects. Except one, and its quite an important aspect. Everton have no money which equals no buying power which therefore means no progression.

David Moyes has worked wonders with what he has had to spend, some of his signings have been beyond amazing. I could go on for hours about the signings of Cahill, Arteta et al. They are great players, but the reality is, without a serious cash injection Everton are in grave danger of being cut adrift from the Premier League big boys.

With this lack of cash injection, I still for the life of me can't understand why no one has bought Everton. I understand and appreciate Bill Kenwright's ideal of not selling the club to become someone’s 'hobby' but how have clubs like Blackburn succeeded whereas Everton have failed?

Everton have history and still to this very day can produce world class footballbers. One could argue, selling Rooney to Manchester United saved Everton. It secured the clubs financial future for the next 5 season. This security lead to the clubs fantastic runs in Europe and the FA Cup Final in 2009.

Even now, if Rooney moves on Everton will receive a payment from it, it was a sound deal for all involved.

The main issue has been the failure to secure a site for a new stadium.

Goodison Park is full of 'original features' including restricted view seats and concrete pillars! Everton should be welcoming 55,00 every home game at the Kings Dock (now the Liverpool Echo Arena). This fell through in 2003. In 2004 brought the rumours of the ground share with Liverpool. This is something I felt could really have worked.

Even now, the Merseyside Derby Day is different to other cities around the country, they still have fans, families, sitting together, only divided by the colour of the strips they wear and flags they fly! The banter, is (for the most part) good natured and tongue in cheek. Obviously there will always be the exception that proves the rule, but a groundshare could have been a great solution to a problem that has plagued both clubs over recent seasons. The revenue in corporate and alternative facilities could have ensured both Everton and Liverpool kept in the mix with the big guns.

But in 2006 Everton had the KEIOC debacle. The Tesco deal was put before the fans who voted in favour of the move 59% to 41%. However, opponents to the plan included other local councils concerned by the effect of a large Tesco store being built as part of the development. Furthermore, a group of fans (Keep Everton In Our City) demanded that Everton should remain within the city boundaries of Liverpool.

But with only a few weeks left to go until 2011/12 kicks off Everton’s transfer activity has been minimal. Only the loan signing of Eric Dier and sale of James Vaughan to Norwich for £2.5m to note. There are no record signings, no big sale to raise funds for a much needed star striker. It begs one question. How are Everton going to fare this season?

Never before has the Premier League had so many teams competing for the top 6 places, Everton have to be competing for them too. Teams like Stoke and Sunderland are making marquee signings, and Liverpool have signed players to ensure their attempt to reclaim a top 4 spot goes to plan.

On paper, Everton can put out a great 11, but they have no cover in key areas and are really lacking a 20 goal-a-season striker.

So at Everton if everyone comes back from pre season fit and if they can hit the ground running, we can hope that they can start the new season as they finished the last.

But is it enough?

This article was written by Leanne Duckett, you follow her on Twitter: @halftimejaffas .You can find her work on her blog here too -> http://halftimejaffacakes.blogspot.com/

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