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The Sam Allardyce fanboy thread
- Thread starter MikeH72
- Start date
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ToffeeDoug
Player Valuation: £35m
I'm hoping the FA opt for a Venables and Redknapp dream team to come in and clean up the image of English football.
tommye
Player Valuation: £100m
From the Telegraph.....
Eight current or former Premier League managers stand accused of receiving “bungs” for player transfers after The Telegraph found widespread evidence of corruption in the English game.
As Sam Allardyce lost his job as England manager following the Telegraph’s disclosures about his conduct, the Football Association faced a separate crisis over the alleged bribery of managers.
Football agents were filmed by undercover reporters boasting about how many managers they had paid off, with one agent saying that in football, “everything is under the table”.
Later this week the Telegraph will also disclose the name of an assistant manager at a leading club who was filmed accepting a £5,000 cash payment from undercover reporters posing as representatives of a Far East firm that wanted to invest in players.
Pino Pagliara, an unlicenced Italian agent who was banned from football for five years for match-fixing in 2005, spoke openly about his reliance on the “greed” of managers.
At San Carlo, the Italian restaurant that doubles as the football world’s meeting room, the names of “bent” football managers tripped off his tongue as easily as the prosecco bubbles popped in his wine glass.
The football agent lowered his voice as he named a well-known manager who, he said, asks if there will be “a little coffee” for him if a transfer deal goes through – code for a backhander.
Warming to the subject, he described another famous manager as “very bent”, who would ask for kickbacks to be deposited in an offshore account when transfers were agreed.
Over the following hours, and during other meetings with undercover Telegraph reporters, Mr Pagliara and two other agents named a total of eight current or recent Premier League managers who they said were known for taking “bungs”, including five they said they had personally paid off.
They also named two Championship managers who, they said, had accepted bribes. They were unaware that their conversations were being recorded as part of a Telegraph investigation into corruption in football, thinking instead they were talking to representatives of a Far Eastern firm looking to invest in soccer.
With their guard dropped, the agents provided a troubling insight into a footballing nation where, according to one of them, “everything is under the table” and corruption is widespread.
By the time Mr Pagliara sat down to his lunch of king prawns followed by risotto at San Carlo in Manchester, where virtually every player, manager and agent in the north west has dined at some point, he had already held several meetings with representatives of the fictitious Far East firm, and was keen to use their supposed financial clout to further his own career in the sometimes murky world of player transfers.
He explained to the woman sitting next to him that: “There’s one thing I’ve always been able to rely on, and that is the greed of general managers.
Asked if he meant he paid people in England, he replied, “Here it’s even worse… I thought the Italians were corrupt.” Giving examples, he said of one manager: “We know him very, very well. We do a transfer to [named club], [X] has winked at us and said yeah, I want the player. Is there a little coffee for me, Pino? Yeah, that’s what he will say. “Yeah, course there is. I’ll negotiate that coffee as well.”
He added that the manager “will probably tell me, 'OK I’ve got this guy who I work with a lot, he can put an invoice for consultancy, right, and he will do that. Nobody is stupid these days, they understand the importance of covering their tracks.”
“We will not make any payments directly to him. There’ll be a consultancy agreement with somebody who he trusts enough to let them do that and then he gets it back, that’s how it works.”
He said he could ruin the reputation of one former manager with what he knew about him, “because he’s very bent… I’ve got bank accounts of his, I’ve paid money to him, yeah course I did”.
He said the manager would call him and say “here’s the number”, and would then give him the details of a numbered account at a bank in Switzerland. “It was always numbered accounts,” he said. “I have opened so many Swiss bank accounts for managers that you wouldn’t believe.”
The same individual, who used to manage a high profile team, had also fixed a game, Mr Pagliara claimed. The manager’s representatives yesterday described the allegations as “completely false”. In several instances, he admitted that he had personally paid the officials “bungs” to secure deals.
During another meeting with undercover reporters, Mr Pagliara alleged that another manager made his own players give him kickbacks in return for increasing their wages.
He said: “There was three players, and every month they would come into his office with £4,000 cash each of them, so he was getting £12,000. What happened was when they had done the deal he said 'they’ve done the wages and you’re going to get ten grand a week, so I’m going to give you 12 grand a week and you’re going to give me four grand a month – so obviously they were getting four grand a month extra and he was getting four grand.”
The manager in question last night described the allegation as “pure fantasy”. As a general rule of thumb, the Italian agent, who was banned from football for five years in 2005 for match-fixing, said it was easier to bribe managers in the Championship because they earned less.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...ier-league-managers-took-transfer-bungs-clai/
Eight current or former Premier League managers stand accused of receiving “bungs” for player transfers after The Telegraph found widespread evidence of corruption in the English game.
As Sam Allardyce lost his job as England manager following the Telegraph’s disclosures about his conduct, the Football Association faced a separate crisis over the alleged bribery of managers.
Football agents were filmed by undercover reporters boasting about how many managers they had paid off, with one agent saying that in football, “everything is under the table”.
Later this week the Telegraph will also disclose the name of an assistant manager at a leading club who was filmed accepting a £5,000 cash payment from undercover reporters posing as representatives of a Far East firm that wanted to invest in players.
Pino Pagliara, an unlicenced Italian agent who was banned from football for five years for match-fixing in 2005, spoke openly about his reliance on the “greed” of managers.
At San Carlo, the Italian restaurant that doubles as the football world’s meeting room, the names of “bent” football managers tripped off his tongue as easily as the prosecco bubbles popped in his wine glass.
The football agent lowered his voice as he named a well-known manager who, he said, asks if there will be “a little coffee” for him if a transfer deal goes through – code for a backhander.
Warming to the subject, he described another famous manager as “very bent”, who would ask for kickbacks to be deposited in an offshore account when transfers were agreed.
Over the following hours, and during other meetings with undercover Telegraph reporters, Mr Pagliara and two other agents named a total of eight current or recent Premier League managers who they said were known for taking “bungs”, including five they said they had personally paid off.
They also named two Championship managers who, they said, had accepted bribes. They were unaware that their conversations were being recorded as part of a Telegraph investigation into corruption in football, thinking instead they were talking to representatives of a Far Eastern firm looking to invest in soccer.
With their guard dropped, the agents provided a troubling insight into a footballing nation where, according to one of them, “everything is under the table” and corruption is widespread.
By the time Mr Pagliara sat down to his lunch of king prawns followed by risotto at San Carlo in Manchester, where virtually every player, manager and agent in the north west has dined at some point, he had already held several meetings with representatives of the fictitious Far East firm, and was keen to use their supposed financial clout to further his own career in the sometimes murky world of player transfers.
He explained to the woman sitting next to him that: “There’s one thing I’ve always been able to rely on, and that is the greed of general managers.
Asked if he meant he paid people in England, he replied, “Here it’s even worse… I thought the Italians were corrupt.” Giving examples, he said of one manager: “We know him very, very well. We do a transfer to [named club], [X] has winked at us and said yeah, I want the player. Is there a little coffee for me, Pino? Yeah, that’s what he will say. “Yeah, course there is. I’ll negotiate that coffee as well.”
He added that the manager “will probably tell me, 'OK I’ve got this guy who I work with a lot, he can put an invoice for consultancy, right, and he will do that. Nobody is stupid these days, they understand the importance of covering their tracks.”
“We will not make any payments directly to him. There’ll be a consultancy agreement with somebody who he trusts enough to let them do that and then he gets it back, that’s how it works.”
He said he could ruin the reputation of one former manager with what he knew about him, “because he’s very bent… I’ve got bank accounts of his, I’ve paid money to him, yeah course I did”.
He said the manager would call him and say “here’s the number”, and would then give him the details of a numbered account at a bank in Switzerland. “It was always numbered accounts,” he said. “I have opened so many Swiss bank accounts for managers that you wouldn’t believe.”
The same individual, who used to manage a high profile team, had also fixed a game, Mr Pagliara claimed. The manager’s representatives yesterday described the allegations as “completely false”. In several instances, he admitted that he had personally paid the officials “bungs” to secure deals.
During another meeting with undercover reporters, Mr Pagliara alleged that another manager made his own players give him kickbacks in return for increasing their wages.
He said: “There was three players, and every month they would come into his office with £4,000 cash each of them, so he was getting £12,000. What happened was when they had done the deal he said 'they’ve done the wages and you’re going to get ten grand a week, so I’m going to give you 12 grand a week and you’re going to give me four grand a month – so obviously they were getting four grand a month extra and he was getting four grand.”
The manager in question last night described the allegation as “pure fantasy”. As a general rule of thumb, the Italian agent, who was banned from football for five years in 2005 for match-fixing, said it was easier to bribe managers in the Championship because they earned less.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...ier-league-managers-took-transfer-bungs-clai/
Elong
The fire rises
Thank the media for bringing this man to jusice
The Esk
Player Valuation: £70m
Whilst not defending journalists per se, the only person to blame here is Allardyce, not only for what he boasted about but for agreeing to meet these people in the first place. He's just landed in his own words "his dream job", surely he's got to say "no" to external offers especially right at the beginning of his tenure? His (and his agent's lack) of judgement is simply astounding - no one to blame but himself, and no sympathy should be offered.
This is outstanding stuff from The Telegraph.
ToffeeDoug
Player Valuation: £35m
Seems like he considered himself untouchable even if he had no qualms about what he was doing. Astonishing arrogance really, as well as stupidity.
tommye
Player Valuation: £100m
More....
Managers on the make ... as described by agents
Manager 1
Ex-Premier League manager allegedly liked “bungs” in cash or deposited in a Swiss bank account. Pagliara said: “I can call [X] now and all it is with [X] is 'How much, Pino? And will it be the same Swiss bank account?’”
Manager 2
Ex-top flight manager has had “more backhanders than Wimbledon”. Pagliara said: “This is what I hate... the guy that used to need the money but he’s had so much now that all of a sudden he’s whiter than white.”
Manager 3
After managing several British clubs, he was allegedly fired by one for having “his fingers in the till”. Pagliara said he would get involved if “you understand that when we do deals I have to have a carrier bag with some cash”.
Manager 4
Pagliara said of this boss with Premier League experience: “We know him very, very well. We do a transfer, [X] has winked at us and said 'Yeah, I want the player. Is there a little coffee for me, Pino?’ Yeah, course there is.”
Manager 5
Ex-Premier League manager who, said Pagliara, would call him and say “here’s the number”, and give him details of a Swiss account. He said: “It was always numbered accounts.”
Manager 6
A former player who now manages, he allegedly likes extra money to secure deals because he is not on a big salary at his club. Pagliara said: “[X] takes a few [inaudible] because he’s not being paid big money.”
Manager 7
Ex-Premier League manager is another “we can put on the payroll”. If a player was transferred for £10m, “we’ll turn round to [X] and say, listen, if you take this player we’ll look after you. OK? OK, boom.”
Manager 8
Agent Dax Price said this long-serving manager would pick three trusted players and tell them he was paying them an extra £8,000 per month, on condition that they paid him £4,000 per month each.
Managers on the make ... as described by agents
Manager 1
Ex-Premier League manager allegedly liked “bungs” in cash or deposited in a Swiss bank account. Pagliara said: “I can call [X] now and all it is with [X] is 'How much, Pino? And will it be the same Swiss bank account?’”
Manager 2
Ex-top flight manager has had “more backhanders than Wimbledon”. Pagliara said: “This is what I hate... the guy that used to need the money but he’s had so much now that all of a sudden he’s whiter than white.”
Manager 3
After managing several British clubs, he was allegedly fired by one for having “his fingers in the till”. Pagliara said he would get involved if “you understand that when we do deals I have to have a carrier bag with some cash”.
Manager 4
Pagliara said of this boss with Premier League experience: “We know him very, very well. We do a transfer, [X] has winked at us and said 'Yeah, I want the player. Is there a little coffee for me, Pino?’ Yeah, course there is.”
Manager 5
Ex-Premier League manager who, said Pagliara, would call him and say “here’s the number”, and give him details of a Swiss account. He said: “It was always numbered accounts.”
Manager 6
A former player who now manages, he allegedly likes extra money to secure deals because he is not on a big salary at his club. Pagliara said: “[X] takes a few [inaudible] because he’s not being paid big money.”
Manager 7
Ex-Premier League manager is another “we can put on the payroll”. If a player was transferred for £10m, “we’ll turn round to [X] and say, listen, if you take this player we’ll look after you. OK? OK, boom.”
Manager 8
Agent Dax Price said this long-serving manager would pick three trusted players and tell them he was paying them an extra £8,000 per month, on condition that they paid him £4,000 per month each.
I'm not defending Allardyce because he's been idiotic. And the old simple adage of if you don't fight with fire you don't get burnt is certainly apt in this case. I equally don't like the media agenda. I don't think thats a contradictory statement. On this occasion they've outed a man acting foolishly against the rules of his employer. And he's rightly paid the price. But equally this kind of media tactic will unfairly frame people at times too. But that's a side issue.
I do take issue however with the rape and paedophilia comments and those making them should know better.
The Esk
Player Valuation: £70m
I totally agree
All they'll really care about is the feelings of their supporters and Allardyce is beloved up there, they were heartbroken to see him leave but understood it was an offer he couldn't refuse. If he returns they'd give him a parade through the city centre with him riding in an open-top car.
harris78
Phil Nevs Pointy Finger
To be fair Allardyce has form for this what with the Panorama investigation and if i remember correctly his dodgy dealing son. Fat Sam should really have known that the Journos were going to be gunning for him as he has previous.
To be caught so soon though is absolutely laughable. The greedy git is not happy with the 3m a year he was getting, he needed an extra 400k on top. Sorry to say he has gotten everything he deserves and i have no sympathy
To be caught so soon though is absolutely laughable. The greedy git is not happy with the 3m a year he was getting, he needed an extra 400k on top. Sorry to say he has gotten everything he deserves and i have no sympathy
The Telegraph and the FA agreed anyway.
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