In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why the reaction to Enzo Fernandez’s social media video, why Man United are still allowed to profit from abhorrent Mason Greenwood, who should replace Gareth Southgate – and more!
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Reaction to Enzo Fernandez’s alleged racism is symptomatic of today’s world
In today’s society you can’t say what you want, you have to say what is acceptable to the world in general.
Enzo Fernandez’s words were critical of somebody’s heritage as I saw them. Not nice but not overly offensive either, and the fact that everybody jumped on it made it a lot worse.
I think is that symptomatic of the times we’re living in. Very often what you say in one sentence these days means you end up in the hangman’s noose, even though what the player probably wanted to infer was a much more placid comment than an offensive racist remark.
I’m not saying this was right from him, but I think the lesson to be learned is twofold.
Firstly, be very, very cautious on what you say publicly.
I’ve been on team buses with players who’ve won a big game, the energy levels are so high and they say and do things that are just spontaneous. I think you have to manage that spontaneity these days.
Secondly, and if I was advising a client of mine who’d been offended, I would advise him or her to make one comment saying ‘I’m disappointed. I’m sad. I love where I come from, and I’m very proud of it.’ Finish, end of story. Don’t make the situation worse.
If you are the injured party, you make one constructive comment and move on.
Abhorrent Mason Greenwood was still an asset for Man United
There are 26.6m reasons why Mason Greenwood’s move from Man United to Marseille has been allowed to happen.
He’s a major asset on the Man United balance sheet, and it’s very difficult when monies are at this level to just turn your back on that.
Sure, if you’re a director of a public company and you make a bad comment or error of judgment, you get fired and the company loses the benefit of your services. But the company’s detriment is exactly that.
It’s the person who loses on this occasion.
I’ve seen and heard some of the stuff that went on with Mason Greenwood, and it was dreadful.
His partner seems to have forgiven him, they’re having children together, and no one really knows what went on except them.
It’s a terrible example to set, and we in the football sector are certainly focused on the fact that we are very influential, especially with younger minds.
So I completely understand the angst, and I disapprove heartily of everything that went on. I abhor partner violence.
I’ve got nothing good to say about that, obviously, but from a cold-hearted perspective of ‘why does the football industry allow benefits to be taken by his employers?’ – it’s because he’s an asset on the balance sheet.
Most companies don’t have people as their assets. They have hardcore assets which are either real estate or investments in certain entities within their industry.
Had the company, in this case Manchester United, just got rid of him, they wouldn’t have realised 26.6m in assets.
I can understand why that’s happened bit it doesn’t support any positivity towards Mason Greenwood, it just acknowledges the reality.
FIFA’s recent comments are disingenous and the new Club World Cup is just a money grab
I think FIFA’s comments were actually protective of themselves and disingenuous.
This is all about money. I’m sorry, there’s no other part of this. It’s not for the benefit of the game. What’s the new format of the Club World Cup going to offer the game that it doesn’t already have? This is all about additional income.
I think player welfare is absolutely paramount, that and fan well being.
I still believe that what’s going to happen is that the Club World Cup will ultimately morph into a Super League of some construction – though it won’t be called a Super League for obvious reasons.
I think the money will come out of the Gulf within the next five years that competition will evolve because the dates are already in the calendar.
Pre-season tours only stress a player’s body marginally, and the fact that you’re going to America or in some cases even Australia doesn’t matter because players have the best medical support and support more generally available.
It’s not overly taxing their bodies unlike flying around the world for a Club World Cup during the middle of the season when energy levels need to be conserved.
Why do you think so many players get injured and stay injured longer? Because we’re patching them up quickly to get them back.
I support the PFA and the EPL completely on this. Player welfare is a major part of the game and needs to be reviewed urgently now, because you can’t keep adding more and more games.
You have to balance player well being and squad success.
Jurgen Klopp is the only worthwhile choice to takeover the England job from Gareth Southgate
My choice to replace Southgate would be Klopp, absolutely. He’s out of a job – not that he needs one – but my only concern is that it’s a bit too soon and he probably needs a year out to spend some time with his family.
He can trot around the world and go to nice places without having to be somewhere on a Saturday afternoon.
I think if Klopp didn’t have any interest in it, and I haven’t spoken to him so I don’t know, you could then build a case for bringing back somebody like a Graham Potter, who was a great coach at Brighton.
I’m not sure that the Chelsea debacle was all his fault and England would give him a bit of rehabilitation, maybe. If he’s not that great, he can go and work for a club in a year’s time.
I think the FA will actually end up going for a Potter or an Eddie Howe, because it’s an easy and a justifiable appointment.
England are in a pretty decent place, but they need excitement.
Gareth obviously did a good job managerially over the years, but we need a manager that brings high energy, younger, more evolved tactics, and somebody like Klopp would be phenomenal. I’d move heaven and earth to get him.
Maybe there could be an interim coach before him and that would be revolutionary.
Big deals needed to open the transfer floodgates
I think there’s a few transfer deals blowing around but nothing’s happened yet.
Chelsea have got a lot of business to do because they need to sell some players, so it’s just a matter of who goes and when. It’s probably going to be the youngest guys in the system, because that system is better for Chelsea’s return on investment.
I think I’ve said it before, Victor Osimhen would fit so well for Chelsea and there’s been rumours that Napoli might let him go.
Arsenal have bought well with Calafiori and I think there’ll be one or two more, with Nketiah moving at some point too.
Something’s going to happen with Kalvin Phillips and something’s also going to happen with Ivan Toney.
The market has been slow because of the European Championship, and it just needs one or two bigger deals to go through in order to open the tills for everyone else.
Everyone’s obviously concerned about the FFP issues, but I still expect it to be very busy in the last 14-20 days of the window.
Man United have got a lot to do, not just because a large number of their admin staff are going either.
Spurs will do something as will Liverpool. The Reds have done nothing which is a big surprise, but it’s kind of understandable if Arne Slot is taking his time before making his various moves.