• We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies from this website. Read more here

Harry Lee and Sonny Cox - sign professional contracts

older-codger

Active member
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
4,079
Location
Wondering if I'm on a different planet
The problem (for us) is that even if they don't make it they can still make a lot of money in a short period of time. And as they get older they are exposed to better training facilities, contact with top players, coaches and managers, and probably have a tremendous experience. I guess there is a pathway which suits each player. For Ollie the gradual step-up worked out very well.
But that doesn't stop them from signing a contract as soon as they are old enough to legally do so. Being under contract doesn't stop them from moving on when they are ready, but it gives us a lot more leverage to get a decent return from the time, effort and money that has enabled them to achieve it. I just object to them signing a contract with others to move on at this stage, but I guess I am from an older generation that values loyalty and appreciation for what people do for me.
 

jrg333

Member
Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
423
but I guess I am from an older generation that values loyalty and appreciation for what people do for me.
Frightfully antiquated and unfashionable. It's the 'get rich or die tryin' generation now...
 

older-codger

Active member
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
4,079
Location
Wondering if I'm on a different planet
Frightfully antiquated and unfashionable. It's the 'get rich or die tryin' generation now...
I know that only too well!
 

Boyo

Active member
Joined
May 5, 2004
Messages
4,024
But that doesn't stop them from signing a contract as soon as they are old enough to legally do so. Being under contract doesn't stop them from moving on when they are ready, but it gives us a lot more leverage to get a decent return from the time, effort and money that has enabled them to achieve it. I just object to them signing a contract with others to move on at this stage, but I guess I am from an older generation that values loyalty and appreciation for what people do for me.
The problem is that EPPP is not fit for purpose and massively favours the Premier League teams. The boys just want to play football at the highest possible level and earn themselves a decent living.
 
Joined
Jan 4, 2020
Messages
677
I don't see what this issue has to do with 'loyalty'. Clubs including ECFC drop youngsters at every age level if they don't think they are going to make the grade. Youth football is a brutal business, there's little room for loyalty on either side.

In terms of then and now, I think there's a lot of romanticism about the old times and the loyalty which supposedly existed. Talk to players who played decades ago or read their autobiographies to see that they were often traded by clubs often with little or no consultation with the player.

Players have more power now, this seems to be the biggest change, and I don't see what's so bad about that.

If there's a problem with young lads moving for next to nothing to big clubs after spending years in the academy of a lower league club then this needs a change to the system, not an appeal to the better nature of the boys and their parents.
 

C j phill

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
720
The problem is that EPPP is not fit for purpose and massively favours the Premier League teams. The boys just want to play football at the highest possible level and earn themselves a decent living.
This is correct. The problem is the EPPP process. Few lower league clubs run Academies as well as us and we are penalised as a consequence. I've often wondered whether the Club should engage a high quality sports lawyer, to see if it can unilaterally withdraw from the EPPP process and thereby get in to a better negotiating position when Academy players are attracted by higher league clubs.
 

tonykellowfan

Active member
Joined
Dec 6, 2004
Messages
4,156
Location
Buckingham
But that doesn't stop them from signing a contract as soon as they are old enough to legally do so. Being under contract doesn't stop them from moving on when they are ready, but it gives us a lot more leverage to get a decent return from the time, effort and money that has enabled them to achieve it. I just object to them signing a contract with others to move on at this stage, but I guess I am from an older generation that values loyalty and appreciation for what people do for me.
But signing a contract reduces their leverage so why would they do so?

Basically you want them to take a course of action that is better for you and worse for the player involved, yet you go on about their morals?
 

older-codger

Active member
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
4,079
Location
Wondering if I'm on a different planet
If youngsters are so desperate to sign on with premier clubs then they don't have a lot of leverage anyway. The starlight gets into their eyes. If they are under contract and big clubs want them then they will have to pay to get them and will be more careful with who they take on. The cheaper they are, then the more likely their signing club will consider them as a cheap option and if they don't make the grade then they are readily dropped as has been highlighted so much recently. Like with most things, the "throw away society" is encouraged when the cost is low. If the cost is higher, then you make sure that it is worth the price and will not take it to the dump quite so quickly.
 

Boyo

Active member
Joined
May 5, 2004
Messages
4,024
If youngsters are so desperate to sign on with premier clubs then they don't have a lot of leverage anyway. The starlight gets into their eyes. If they are under contract and big clubs want them then they will have to pay to get them and will be more careful with who they take on. The cheaper they are, then the more likely their signing club will consider them as a cheap option and if they don't make the grade then they are readily dropped as has been highlighted so much recently. Like with most things, the "throw away society" is encouraged when the cost is low. If the cost is higher, then you make sure that it is worth the price and will not take it to the dump quite so quickly.
When kids leave school they should have complete freedom to choose what they do next. They absolutely should not be under contract on day 1 of their adult lives. As previously stated the problem is that clubs are not rewarded fairly for producing talent under EPPP. That’s nothing to do with the loyalty of the boys.

Loyalty swings both way. There are probably a few kids that we have dropped. Should we keep them on out of loyalty? Of course not.
 
Last edited:

Colesman Ballz

Very well known Exeweb poster
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
14,849
When kids leave school they should have complete freedom to choose what they do next. They absolutely should not be under contract on day 1 of their adult lives. As previously stated the problem is that clubs are not rewarded fairly for producing talent under EPPP. That’s nothing to do with the loyalty of the boys.

Loyalty swings both way. There are probably a few kids that we have dropped. Should we keep them on out of loyalty? Of course not.
Equally the Premiershi** want it both ways, they want to hoover up all the talent in the country on the cheap, whilst ruining the structure of the EFL by introducing B teams in order to play their glut of talent. I agree with you it is the system that is broke and there is too much vested interest preventing it being reformed.
 
Top