Mike Newell Names Showunmi Agent

[cheshire_red]

Luton News According to a message on the Net Centre - EDIT Sorry just noticed the piece in the paper is dated March this year!

BUT FOUND THIS ELSEWHERE:

It looks like our month of bad press might yet have one additional twist - tonight's Panorama expose should be required viewing as it seems to focus on the allegations of Luton manager Mike Newell, in particular with reference to an agent called Charles Collymore who is said to have offered him a bung to sign a player. This prompted Panorama to investigate Collymore's activity through a hidden-camera sting.

Why is this pertinent to us? Collymore is Enoch Showunmi's agent and in addition to accusations of his offering bungs, Newell also reported Collymore to the FA for offering Showunmi to other clubs while he was a protected under-24 player, contracted at Luton, and in renewal negotiations. We obviously subsequently signed him, interesting to see if there is any implication that he was touted to us by an agent when he shouldn't have been.

[no1cityfan_tucks]

Luton News According to a message on the Net Centre - EDIT Sorry just noticed the piece in the paper is dated March this year!

Still could bring his bad ways here! Hope SL doesnt allow any of it.

[Bristol Boy]

As I previously posted, I bumped into GJ, PJ, ES & His agent (probably ) in the Motorway Services on the M25 before he signed.

I would describe the guy as dark skinned, bit chubby with curly hair.I spoke to him and he didn't want to name ES, but was quite polite and friendly, which I why I didn't post anything about ES directly on here (GJ ASKED ME NOT TO AS WELL) until the signing was done and dusted........ and I didn't recognise Enoch although I did stand next to him and he is one big unit

It's time for this type of thing to come out because it's been going on for years, alledgedly and I can't see why Mike Newell would make all this up

[Bristol Boy]

Edit:Additional information and Collymore has also represented:

Keith Alexander-Lincoln Manager-now P'Boro.

Simon Jones-Glamorgan & England Cricketer

Fadiga-Former Bolton Player.

Keith Curle who won damages because of his sacking at Mansfield.

Diao-Liverpool

Also the first, possibly only agent, that Crewe have paid (£5k) for recommending they sign Boughera who's since gone to Bolton.

[Nibor]

It's time for this type of thing to come out because it's been going on for years, alledgedly and I can't see why Mike Newell would make all this up

It needs a police investigation IMO, the problem with football is that those responsible for setting penalties or conducting the investigations are often those who stand to suffer as a result of them.

Look at the FA and how many people involved in the decision making process there are involved with clubs - how can that not be a conflict of interests?

[RedM]

Luton News

Why is this pertinent to us? Collymore is Enoch Showunmi's agent and in addition to accusations of his offering bungs, Newell also reported Collymore to the FA for offering Showunmi to other clubs while he was a protected under-24 player, contracted at Luton, and in renewal negotiations. We obviously subsequently signed him, interesting to see if there is any implication that he was touted to us by an agent when he shouldn't have been.

With our recent run of attracting publicity for the wrong reasons...I'm not going to hold my breath.

I like others will watch the programme with interest, hoping it will be someone elses turn for the publicity. I'm not saying for one moment we would knowingly do anything dodgy, but when some Agents are involved dealing with them can't be very easy?

[Bristol Boy]

With our recent run of attracting publicity for the wrong reasons...I'm not going to hold my breath.

I like others will watch the programme with interest, hoping it will be someone elses turn for the publicity. I'm not saying for one moment we would knowingly do anything dodgy, but when some Agents are involved dealing with them can't be very easy?

You can choose your players, but not their agents.

With SL's financial background, he'll know all the rules inside out and back to front and, as I believe he's the man who makes all the financial decisions and conducts all such negotiations, then I'd be very suprised if we had any issues to be concerened about.

It needs a police investigation IMO, the problem with football is that those responsible for setting penalties or conducting the investigations are often those who stand to suffer as a result of them.

Look at the FA and how many people involved in the decision making process there are involved with clubs - how can that not be a conflict of interests?

I agree.

There's no way David Dein should be on Arsenals Board and conducting negotiations with Charlton & Boltons Managers about the vacant England job.

That and BS like "Steve was always our first choice"-Oh yes, then why interview the others and offer the job to Scholari then?? really niggles me.

Hopefully this Panorama expose will blow the lid off and focre even the namby pamby FA to act.It'll be interesting to see how far it goes and anyone found guilty should be Sine Die Banned, never mind prosecuted.

There have been to many cover ups already.

[CiderHider]

This is just the excuse the FA needs to start regulating Agents, in future, if they wish to represent players in this country then we need transparent accounts from player, agent and club. Added to that harsher punishments for all partys involved in "bungs".

We should not be shocked though, this kinda things goes on in business worldwide.

[NiceRed]

I echo most of the thoughts above. I really hope this programme wields a huge wrecking ball and forces through some proper changes in the game, but I'm pretty cynical about whether this will happen due to the various conflicts of interest mentioned above.

I see Harry Rednapp has already got his denial in before the programme goes out.

Regarding criminal prosecutions, is this possible? Aren't the laws allegedly being broken by various agents/clubs just footballing laws, in which case the only punishments possible would be those given by the FA. I stand to be corrected on this however.

[CiderHider]

Those in the frame must know they're about to be named I would think ? If so, there'll be frantic legal wranglings all day leading up to the broadcast no doubt, looking for a way of stopping them naming people.

Wouldn't surprise me if it's edited and watered down pending legal stuff.

You would expect so, but i can't help thinking the entire footballing world will look on with a distinct uneasy feeling.

Even those not directly related to these "alledged " bung's know these people through footballing contacts and past dealings, hell some of these agents are known to most club managers.

Tis a fine line between healthy suspicion and paranoia

There have been to many cover ups already.

Yeps

[bucksred]

Lu'on fans I work with tell me "allegedly " that this character offered them a contract , if he was offered a sum.

Please note I did in fact say allegedly, because this may or may not be true. Allegedly.

Enoch was offered a contract, but turned it down. Allegedly.

Panorama should be very interesting tonight.

[CodeRed]

Apart from the agent already named I doubt if the programme will be very revealing.

I believe several agents are lined up to say that they know of "several" managers who would request or accept a bung but they will stop short of actually naming them........

I don't expect to see any covert footage of managers stuffing brown envelopes in their pockets, or any well known managers asking for bungs. Just a lot of heresay, otherwise the Lawyers will have a field day sueing the Beeb.

I believe Redknap was approached (and filmed) by a couple of bogus "agents" (ie TV Journalists) who claimed to be starting up a new agency and wanted his help/advice .......hoping to entrap him into saying something incriminating, but Redknap has said that he said nothing untoward and realised something was not right about them and ended the meeting very quickly.

I'll still be watching though - just in case !!

[spectator]

Get the Inland Revenue involved.

They seem to wield more power than many authorities, and once they get their teeth into the supects, that'll sort them out !

Death & Taxes ...lifes only certainties.

[bucksred]

Get the Inland Revenue involved.

They seem to wield more power than many authorities, and once they get their teeth into the supects, that'll sort them out !

Death & Taxes ...lifes only certainties.

City blowing promotion?

[cheshire_red]

Ahh those lovely people at the Inland Revenue, let me bore you with a story about clubs who provide sport for kids throughout the country and how many face extinction thanks to the Inland Revenue.

My example is cricket clubs throughout the north of England whose League's insist on each club having at least one professional player. Most of these players come from abroad, mainly Commonwealth countries, Aussies, Indians, New Zealanders, Pakistani's, Sri Lankans, South Africans and West Indians mainly. Many are either former Test Players or players nearing their Test sides including A Internationals etc.

Clubs pay them an average of £12k for the Summer, the better players more. Clubs have always paid the full amount of the contract and the player sorts out his Taxation requirements. Until recently when the IR got involved. Not only are they insisting the the tax element is deducted at source, fair enough. But they are back dating this some 6 years and demanding clubs pay the back tax due on all salaries paid to professional overseas players. Now some clubs also pay some local players as well to attract better players and therefore add a few more onto the crowd. The IR are demanding tax on all these payments too, backdated 6 years, presumably it's easier to chase one club than several players from each club. During the last 6 years the IR has never mentioned this to any club when auditing their books!

Now this may seem like sports club whinging back look at it from a different perspective, my own former club as an example. They have well over 100 junior members (boys and girls 5yrs-17yrs) who receive coaching from the clubs own English Cricket Board coaches for which the club has paid a lot of money to put players and former players through the courses. These juniors also play in one of six junior age group sides. The same is true of hundreds and hundreds of clubs throughout the country. The clubs don't cover their costs but are happy to introduce children of all abilities to the game of cricket. It's something schools no longer provide. The Government states that they want children to receive more exercise, take part in organised sport but aren't doing sod all about it themselves. So what does the Government do, they put sports clubs who provide these facilities for children out of business because they don't have the money to pay these taxes and the only way of doing so is to sell their green spaces to housing developers.

I have no doubt that the IR will move on from cricket clubs to semi pro football and rugby clubs soon enough!!

Rant rant. Sorry.

[bh_red]

As I previously posted, I bumped into GJ, PJ, ES & His agent (probably ) in the Motorway Services on the M25 before he signed.

I would describe the guy as dark skinned, bit chubby with curly hair.I spoke to him and he didn't want to name ES, but was quite polite and friendly, which I why I didn't post anything about ES directly on here (GJ ASKED ME NOT TO AS WELL) until the signing was done and dusted........ and I didn't recognise Enoch although I did stand next to him and he is one big unit

It's time for this type of thing to come out because it's been going on for years, alledgedly and I can't see why Mike Newell would make all this up

so then bristol boy, I'm watching the program, was that the bloke at the service station? he was certainly dark and chubby

[Bristol Boy]

so then bristol boy, I'm watching the program, was that the bloke at the service station? he was certainly dark and chubby

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Collymore, I think it was his partner Mark Wilson, the guy who frisked the chap for a camera

It seems pretty obvious that the BBC had watered down some of the content, bleeped it out-probably as someone else said because of threats of legal action, so one can only presume that they haven't got anything like as much on those people as Allardyce & Son, who got a bit of a pounding along with the Geordie agent.

I think they'll leave it to the official report that's out in a couple of weeks time, but they did say that 18 Premiership & former Premiership managers were implicated and when you consider that there are only about 19 clubs in the Premier League that's a staggering number.

That's without anybody else-Chief Scouts & Chief Execs being named that were also implicated.

Let's face it, when £50kpa for a 15 year old isn't considered enough, the lunatics really have taken over the asylum and the tapping up is something that should be stamped out and the FA could probably do that far more easily-for example:

Players could be contracted earlier and if, say Chelsea-just to snatch a name out of the air fancied a 15 year old player from Rovers, they would have to pay him via the FA and 80% of what they paid him and 80% of any subsequent transfer fee would go to the Gas.

Clubs contravening this rule or found guilty of tapping up would be automatically docked ten points and, if repeated, automatically relegated.If it happened again, through them out the league-It would stop overnight.

I'd really like to hear someone tell us why they think it's not true and why someone like the former agent and Mike Newell would make something like this up because, no doubt, when all this has settled down, it'll cost them both career wise.Eriksson made a fuss about it to.

The football press, obvious a bit jealous of this expose, have also been quick to poo-poo the film and it'll be interesting to see what they make of it over the next few weeks.

[cheshire_red]

I thought it more a case of agents proving their enormous ego's and bigging themselves up in an attempt to gain some easy money. I bet Sam is kicking his lad's backside round Lancashire.

It was hardly an expose, more a waste of time and effort.

Look at me, look at me, I can do this and that and this and that but I want £50k up-front, show me the money.

It certainly proved nothing we didn't already know, it's being going on for donkeys years, the older ones will remember the allegations about Brian Clough and meetings in service stations (oops) and the handing over of brown envelopes.

[Bristol Boy]

I thought it more a case of agents proving their enormous ego's and bigging themselves up in an attempt to gain some easy money. I bet Sam is kicking his lad's backside round Lancashire.

It was hardly an expose, more a waste of time and effort.

Look at me, look at me, I can do this and that and this and that but I want £50k up-front, show me the money.

It certainly proved nothing we didn't already know, it's being going on for donkeys years, the older ones will remember the allegations about Brian Clough and meetings in service stations (oops) and the handing over of brown envelopes.

Enormous egos and enormous houses!!

I think you're being somewhat harsh.

As I understand it:

1.Redknapp was seen breaking FA Rules by discussing Andy Todd?

2.Liverpool & Chelsea were seen breaking FA rules by discussing the 15 year old from Boro.

3.The agent made serious accusations against Allardyce-His Son-Who condemned himself in writing and a few others bleeped out.

4.The other agent also admitted he had held meetings at his house with Newcastle and the 15 year old with his parents?

5.Newell identified the agents who had offered him bribes.

Clearly, this programme is the tip of the iceberg and Lord Stevens report will probably produce grounds for legal as well as football action, on the basis that he's an ex top level copper and will have access to stuff the BBC don't.

Clough was never aquitted-in fact the opposite-however, due to the fact he'd retired and was in ill health, no action was taken.

As I've said, the fact that Showumnis agent was the subject of allegations has nothing to do with Showumni and his deal with us.The problem is that, in these situations, there is always the matter of guilt by association in some peoples eyes.

[cheshire_red]

Redknapp is hardly going to turn round to an agent who represents a player he is interested in and say "Sorry I can't talk to you about him".

My points weren't condoning it but after such a build up of the show I was expecting something rather more concrete than what was put in front of us. The Legal Eagles may have put a stop to that happening we might never know.

I thought it was tame, you can't go on what agents say, they are well known for allegedly being greedy money grabbing......

[Bristol Boy]

Redknapp is hardly going to turn round to an agent who represents a player he is interested in and say "Sorry I can't talk to you about him".

Ah, but them's the rules.I'm not naive enough to think this doesn't happen but I'd be bl00dy pi$$ed off if I was Mark Hughes! He hadn't declared an interest, he'd been approached by the agent and that's against the rules as I understand it with an under contract player

My points weren't condoning it but after such a build up of the show I was expecting something rather more concrete than what was put in front of us. The Legal Eagles may have put a stop to that happening we might never know.

I think it'll all come out in Stevens report, if it doesn't then......

I thought it was tame, you can't go on what agents say, they are well known for allegedly being greedy money grabbing......

These things are always overhyped and I expected that, but at least the cats got one leg out of the bag and we'll eagerly await the report......as will Mike Newell, no doubt!!

[spectator]

If I was Mr Knut, I wouldn't be applying for too many coaching & scouting jobs back in the football world now.

[RedM]

I thought it more a case of agents proving their enormous ego's and bigging themselves up in an attempt to gain some easy money. I bet Sam is kicking his lad's backside round Lancashire.

It was hardly an expose, more a waste of time and effort.

Look at me, look at me, I can do this and that and this and that but I want £50k up-front, show me the money.

It certainly proved nothing we didn't already know, it's being going on for donkeys years, the older ones will remember the allegations about Brian Clough and meetings in service stations (oops) and the handing over of brown envelopes.

I was left with the same feeling as you.

I wondered if Sam and Son were watching together! I don't know if the undercover people were convincing and they gained Craig's trust, or he was really greedy, or if he was just plain stupid? Probably all 3!

The BBC have said several times this morning that just a few months ago Big Sam was being interviewed for the England managers job. They have said too that unsee footage has been asked for and passed on for further investigation.

[downendcity]

What I can never understand is that a player has an agent negotiate a move to another club but that the agent gets paid by the selling/buying club. If I want to move house I have to pay my solicitor for acting for me. On this basis players should be the ones paying their agents for any work they carry out on their behalf.

Whjat last nights programme also showed is that the amount fo money sloshing about at the top level is now obscene, so that £50,000 pa is seen as far to little for a 15 year old to earn. Is it any wonder we turn out players with the attitude of Ashley Cole if they get so much so soon?

[cheshire_red]

Sam wouldn't have watched it live, he was at a Bolton game!

[gazareth]

It was quite interesting, but in the end the journalists making the program made a hell of a lot of leaps of faith and jumped to a lot of conclusions. A lot of the 'evidence' they gathered was merely circumstancial (i.e. they inferred things from what had been said) and I don't think a lot of it will stick in court/an FA tribunal.

Did anyone else figure out who the mystery manager was that was going to take the £50k bung but chickened out? It was quite obvious if you worked out who the player was (he was blurred but identifiable), plus the city and stadium shots they used while in that segment dropped rather large hints.

[TootingRed]

As the late Alan Hardaker might have said, I wouldn't hang a dog on the word of a football agent