Hartley Hare Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14399073.stm Fewer than a quarter of players whose contracts ended this summer have found new clubs, BBC Sport has learned. The Professional Footballers' Association website lists 338 senior and 200 youth team players as being available, compared to more than 700 at the start of the summer. Internationals like Thomas Hitzlsperger and Matthew Upson are among those still without a club. And top agent Barry Silkman said many players were in for "a big shock". He added: "It's proving very difficult this summer. There's not much money out there at all. "There are some very, very good players out there who still don't have anything lined up - it's unbelievable." Silkman highlights Germany midfielder Hitzlsperger as an example. The 29-year-old is without a club after his West Ham contract expired this summer. Silkman, who works with Hitzlsperger's lawyer, claims the German was "offered a deal by Sunderland at the start of July, maybe a bit before that ... (but) his lawyer said 'I think we will get a better deal'. "Now he will find a club, but nowhere near the terms Sunderland offered, not even within 30% or 35% of the wages they were offering." It seems Hitzlsperger is not alone. Silkman cites the example of Upson: "When you look at him, an England international, without a club, it makes you realise that things are tough. "Lots of players are going to have to take what's there. There's no money about. When you look at Spurs, nobody has arrived. That tells you everything." But why are conditions so tough? Silkman thinks the rule limiting Premier League squads to 25 - a regulation introduced at the start of the 2010-11 campaign - is still having an impact. Fellow agent Rachel Anderson agrees: "Clubs are reducing the size of their squads and are increasingly looking for home-grown players. They want English and British players - as encouraged by Fifa - but many of them are not tried and tested so it's often a false economy." However, she says some household names have unrealistic demands: "Players with Premier League and Championship experience will often still be available because they have astronomical wages. "Clubs would snap them up if they were available for £20k per week. But it's the £40k, £60k, £80k players who will remain on the list. "They obviously don't want to take a drop in salary but they will do as the days get shorter. At the end of the day, 99% of players in my experience just want to play." That dose of reality may be something one of her big-name clients - whose identity she will not reveal - will be forced to accept. Anderson described him as being "out-of-favour at his Premier League club where he is on £4m a year". More deals are likely to go through over the next few weeks, not least because of the way players' contracts work. Sol Campbell Newcastle released former England international Campbell this summer Simon Barker, a senior executive at the PFA, said that while contracts typically expire on 30 June, players are entitled to an extra month's severance pay unless they sign for a new club by the end of July. Former Wales and Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage told 5 live: "If I didn't sign for another club, even though I was retiring, I was entitled to another payment which I've just received on 29 July. "That's why we see free transfers waiting until 1 August to sign for other clubs. "I think it's great! I put on Twitter, jokingly, that this was my last ever pay packet and that I was going to go out and buy a Lamborghini!" But Barker, a combative midfielder who played in the top flight for QPR at the dawn of the Premier League, insists life is tough for many of his members. "There might have been a slight increase this year in the number of out-of-contract players," he said. "It's a very unnerving time being out-of-contract and not being sure if there is a club out there for you." YOU CAN GET THEM FOR FREE XI * GK: Richard Kingson * RB: Stuart Parnaby * LB: Jlloyd Samuel * CB: Matthew Upson * CB: Sol Campbell * MD: Jason Koumas * MD: Boudewijn Zenden * MD: Thomas Hitzlsperger * CF: James McFadden * CF: Marcus Bent * CF: John Carew No wonder we're having trouble shifting Bywater & Leacock.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Upson may be able to pick up 40k pw but can't see how the others can hold out for that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartley Hare Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 I guess Upson can't pick up 40k so easily, otherwise he'd have been picked up. Never rated him myself, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Was linked with a move back to Arsenal not so long ago wasn't he? also touted for an England recall. Prone to the odd injury tho, probably put a few clubs off I guess with these financial fair play rules coming into play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenportram Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 This happened in Scotland when the money dried up. They held special career fairs to find ex footballers real jobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Well if any want to come and work in a fish shop part time from September I've got a job going. Won't be 40k a week or anything like that, minimum wage, a free bag of chips and goldfish at dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartley Hare Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 Was linked with a move back to Arsenal not so long ago wasn't he? also touted for an England recall. Prone to the odd injury tho, probably put a few clubs off I guess with these financial fair play rules coming into play. Financial fair play, and restricted squad sizes. Makes it even more imperative that clubs get games out of their signings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p.shilton Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14399073.stm Fewer than a quarter of players whose contracts ended this summer have found new clubs, BBC Sport has learned. Surely that means 75% are without a club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cisse Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 We should help out and sign Thomas Hitzlsperger. Hate to see people unemployed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartley Hare Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 Surely that means 75% are without a club? No Shilts, "fewer than a quarter" means that more than 75% have not found a club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Sav is a gob *****, who will say something he regrets sooner rather than later. And I don't feel sorry for these out of work footballers one little bit. As you would say on twitter, #toughshit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perky1106 Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 These players are victims of their own success and greed. Matthew Upson is a typical example of a player spoilt by an astronomical wage paid by a Premiership club with more money than sense, and now no club believes it's worth paying him the same silly money. But I'm surprised Leicester... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CumbrianRam Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 The ones I feel sorry for are the League Two/Conference players who haven't found a club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p.shilton Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 soooo hartley, why did you put that 25% haven't got a club in the title then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 The ones I feel sorry for are the League Two/Conference players who haven't found a club. Saw Jason Beardsley today training on his own down my local park. Just been released by Macclesfield. All clubs are looking at reducing their squads. Next season, squads of no more than 18 professionals will be common with youth and loans making up the numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex W Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 I'd have taken Kingson, if we hadn't got the keepers we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex W Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Saw Jason Beardsley today training on his own down my local park. Just been released by Macclesfield. All clubs are looking at reducing their squads. Next season, squads of no more than 18 professionals will be common with youth and loans making up the numbers. Surely he could ask Derby and train with them? Thought he was alright personally, I was suprised when we let him go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Surely he could ask Derby and train with them? Thought he was alright personally, I was suprised when we let him go. Didn't like the training methods at Derby apparently. Thought he knew better, surprised if he ever returns under Clough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamNut Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 YOU CAN GET THEM FOR FREE XI * GK: Richard Kingson * RB: Stuart Parnaby * LB: Jlloyd Samuel * CB: Matthew Upson * CB: Sol Campbell * MD: Jason Koumas * MD: Boudewijn Zenden * MD: Thomas Hitzlsperger * CF: James McFadden * CF: Marcus Bent * CF: John Carew No wonder we're having trouble shifting Bywater & Leacock.... 1. Outrageous Prediction : That whole team will be playing for WHU by Xmas 2. I doubt whether we'll get anything for Bywater and Leacock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartley Hare Posted August 6, 2011 Author Share Posted August 6, 2011 soooo hartley, why did you put that 25% haven't got a club in the title then? That'll be because I posted in a rush when I should have been doing something else. My bad, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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