MASSEY´S mutterings

massey´s mutterings
21 NOVEMBER 2012
Issue 04
At the heart of non-league football in the South West
Agents? Time to rein back in their power
I
’m often asked why I think
it is that we seem to fail to produce
football players who appear to have
a true hunger and desire to win at their
game. Well, I firmly believe the seeds
were sown for the demise of our national
aspirations when football agents starting
encroaching into our game. In my
opinion agents are totally to blame for
the obscene wages players now earn, for
inflating the earnings of average players
and for hugely inflated transfer fees.
There was once a place for agents.
Players were being exploited and too
much power lay with the clubs. But now,
agents have not only sucked vast amounts
of money out of clubs and players to line
their own pockets, they have also filled
some players heads with grandiose ideas
of lifestyles and riches way beyond the
reflection of their footballing ability.
They would have us all believe that
they’re protecting the interests of the
player. Absolute twaddle! Agents are
there for one thing and one thing only: to
do the best possible deal for themselves.
I know of players who have moved
in some cases three times during a
12-18-month period, purely because the
agent was working behind the scenes,
touting their client around clubs.
A player is all about earning potential.
Earning potential for the agent, that is.
And a player in a lower league isn’t going
to earn enough for an agent’s liking. It’s
a sort of modern day Fagin. And, if a
player isn’t in the team, then there are no
appearance monies and bonuses, all of
which agent takes a percentage of. So, where does the agent fit in with
regards the lack of desire, pride and
hunger when representing our country?
It’s simple: our top-class footballers
have been courted, pampered and
taken out of the real world to live in
a cushioned bubble, cocooned from
the reality of what the game used to
be about: hard bloody work and raw
talent. The passion and talent of a
hardworking footballer has been replaced
by something altogether different.
Moreover, the demands of the agents for
players’ wages and fees have pushed
the costs of watching football sky high
and often out of reach of the average
fan. How many of us bemoan our season
ticket and often cannot attend our club’s
matches due to inflated ticket costs?
Greed is the steam train thundering
through and playing the biggest part
in undermining, not only the structure
of our football clubs, but our national
THE TrAIL BLAZERS
OF CORNWALL
IT WAS A SAD WEEK FOR...
B
obby Oaten’s green and
black army were on the march. They
left very early on Saturday morning,
armed with huge flags, banners and 50-odd
supporters heading for Sherborne, Dorset.
Excitement and anticipation of a cup day
out could be felt all around.
It was wonderful occasion for all
connected with St Blazey, as they swept
aside an inform Sherborne side 4-1 to
progress to the last 64 of the FA vase. In
addition, the game was significant to me
as I believe I witnessed the birth of a new
star at this level: Lewis Coombes. He
was strong and dominant in the air, and
led the St Blazey line with great aplomb.
His two headed goals were a treat to
see, as he rose like a salmon high above
everyone else.
Officials and fans of teams like St Blazey
will travel miles and miles during a season
watching their favourites do battle. Many
will question the sanity of such behaviour
Roger Bonaparte, the likeable
and well-respected, senior player in the
SWPL. He resigned after four months in
charge at Bovey Tracey.
I felt that Roger had turned a corner after,
an intial bad start, to have a run of 4/5 wins.
However, things just couldn’t be sustained,
and management as lost another one of its
Mr Nice Guys. Although I would console
fellow managers when they move on, you
are in good company, Roger. There are only
two types of manager: those who have been
sacked, and those waiting to be sacked!
Best wishes Roger and keep playing.. Danny O’Hagan. It is always sad
when a player has to retire because of
injury. Just one bad tackle can prematurely
end a fine career. Unfortunately this has
just happened to probably the finest ʻtarget
manʼ to play at semi-pro level in Cornwall,
Danny O’Hagan. Danny was Bodmin’s
prolific scorer, and has had to retire due
to an injury from a game a month ago. A
fireman from Wadebridge, Danny achieved
many honours during his magnificent
Pini Zahavi
team as well. And driving that train, on
the footplate firing the boiler, is no other
than our friend the agent. He cossets
our players through endorsements,
sponsorships and appearances, all
the time taking monies for himself, and
slowly but surely eroding the hunger,
desire, passion and competitive nature
that once made footballers great.
I don’t want to sound like a grumpy
old ex-pro, making statements like ʻback
in our dayʼ because I believe the game
IS much better now. Fitness, technique,
preparation and nutrition are just some of
the factors that have taken the beautiful
game to another level, way beyond
anything back 20 years ago. But lost in all
of this has been the core of what football
has always been about: the fans, their
team and the country. I, for one, would
like to see time called on the agent.
career. He would lead the line with courage
and skill, his work rate was outstanding
and he had an attitude to match. Good luck
and best wishes Danny in whatever you do
next, you were a credit to the game.
However, it was a good week for ...
Penzance: their first point of the season
was at Bovey Tracey on Saturday. John
Dent is working miracles there at the
moment, helping the team to improve
their form. Now the results are, at last,
starting to hopefully follow.
Foxhole AFC: another side to gain their
first points of the season on Saturday.
I can imagine the clubhouse after the
game must have been the place to be.
Now to start climbing that table!
Carlton Farnham, who is pulling up
trees at his new club Tavistock. Is this
some sort of record to be given three
Man of Match awards in the Sunday Indy
for last three weeks? Always knew he
would mature into a top class forward.
TRUE OR FALSE? TALL TALES FROM THE MUTTERINGS
I
Two-goal FA vase hero,
Lewis Coombes
and ask themselves why? However this
particular game and result makes up for all
those times stood in the driving wind and
rain, eating stale meat pies and drinking
cold Bovril, watching miserable defeats.
But it's times like those on Saturday,
when everything comes together, when
fans, players and officials can rejoice in a
fantastic victory. Manager Bobby Oaten
had the team well organised and they fully
deserved their 4-1 half time lead. Without
much of a threat in the second half, Blazey
didn’t have to commit men forward and ran
out comfortable winners come the end.
And it was nice to see even the die-hard
Sherborne fans wishing the Cornish team
all the best in the next round.
No doubt the journey back to St Blazey
was a jubilant one. And BTW – Bobby –
keep those Wembley suits on order for
the time being! n a church in FALMOUTH last
Sunday, three old friends gathered for
mass. Being football fans they took the
opportunity to pray. The first one asked,
“God, when will England win the European
Championships”? God answered, “In the
next 15 years”. “Oh I won't see that in my
lifetime,” replied the man. The second
man asked, “When will England next win
the World Cup”? God replied, “In the next
20 years”. “That’s far too long for me; I will
be long gone.” Then the third man asked,
“When will Falmouth win a trophy again”?
God answered “I’ll be dead by then!”
The chairman of one of the best leagues
in the South West admitted to me recently
that his wife thinks he puts football before
his marriage. He thought she was being
a little harsh, particularly when he then
told me “they had just celebrated their
15th season together”.
Mutterings has been able to gather
evidence about ladies football and to what
lengths teams and their managers will go
to, to win trophies! We have learned that
Falmouth Town Ladies manager Neill
(Puffer) Philips bought his team steroids
last year disguised as sports drinks. As
we all know, Neil’s team went on to do the
double and so his very generous gifts paid
off. That was until the day after the cup final
when one of the girls came to see Neil and
said she was growing hair on her chest.
Neil spluttered on his fag, exclaiming, “How
far does the hair go down?” “All the way to
my balls,” came her reply.
Mark ʻRappoʼ Rapsey the county’s
all -time leading goal scorer is at the centre
of a plastic surgery scandal. He’s alleged
to be using cosmetic surgery to prolong
his playing career. Rappo claims to be in
his 40s but runs about like someone in
their 70s. When Mutterings caught up with
him this week he denied the allegations,
stating, “I have never talked about having
cosmetic surgery”. Sources close to
Rappo agreed, “I have never heard him
talking Botox. He spends his time talking
bollocks, so perhaps that is where the
misunderstanding occurred”.
Cornish legend Mark Rapsey
in younger days, tighter
shorts and more hair.
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© Steve massey 2012