The Mail Bag
Phantom bids
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I've lost count of the amount of times this summer that I've read or heard about suspected 'phantom bids'. These are supposedly cases where a club makes a bid for a player, or tries to create the impression that it has made a bid, when it has no intention of trying to complete the transfer.
There is not to my knowledge a single documented case of a phantom bid in football. I would suggest that this is because they do not exist other than within the paranoid delusions of a few football fans. There is practically no reason why any club would want to do such a thing. I know the theory is that it's to appease the fans, but this is nonsense. Fans judge transfer dealings by results. Being linked with a star player isn't going to 'appease' them if the player isn't bought, as every club will be only too aware.
The theory becomes even crazier when applied to cases where the club is known to have made an actual bid. We're asked to believe that a club would commit costly resources (wages of the people involved) to putting together a bid and entering into negotiations without the intention of seeing it through?!?
Out of interest I just did a Google search for phantom transfer bids. I found nothing of substance. A large proportion of the entries were from Everton FC fan forums. This is absolutely no reflection on the probity of the people who do Everton's transfer business. David Moyes may have made his share of mistakes, but his professionalism and integrity is unquestioned within the game. The idea that he would be party to a phantom bid (which he would have to be, as he controls Everton's transfer policy) would be laughable if it wasn't so insulting.
The Banega and Heitinga bids are cases in point. The evidence for Heitinga being a phantom bid was that Everton 'knew they couldn't meet his wage demands'! In fact, of course, Everton were simply aiming high, being ambitious, trying to bring in players who could improve the team. Moyes has revealed that some players rejected us this summer over the personal terms being offered — that doesn't mean that we weren't serious about bringing them in.
As for Banega, others have demonstrated that we could not have obtained a work permit without the agreement of both club and player; so aside from the considerable effort involved in doing this at a time when Moyes was desperate to strengthen the squad, it was also a bid that came close to succeeding.
So why are Everton fans so paranoid when it comes to transfers? I think we have to look no further than the issue of Kirkby. Kirkby has destroyed whatever trust may have existed among a large section of fans for the club in general and Kenwright in particular. More than anything else, it's fuelling a poisonous climate of cynicism and mistrust in which all too often paranoia triumphs over common sense.
Nick Wall, Posted 01/09/2009 at 20:08:18
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I’m not going to get into the whole Kirkby theory, but I’ve found for years that when we’re linked with a player in some rag or gossip column, then certain fans believe we’ve bid, especially if his oh so trustworthy agent has claimed the same, and when we don’t get him, the fans turn on the club, it’s transfer policy and obviously Mr Kenwright.
All despite the fact neither club has claimed a thing, and also that if we bought everyone we’re linked with in the window then we’d have signed about 80 players.
Maybe there has been some ’strategic’ bidding over the years in football Anthony, but this is surely an utter minority in transfer dealings. Definitely not in the same percentage as some football fans, nay, paranoid Everton fans (because I’ve said before, it seems to be an Everton phenomenon and Nick’s search confirms) believe it to be.
Especially on certain forums... you all know the one. No doubt that’ll be the accusations on Defour. Someone neither Liege would release or Everton said we were interested in signing. But the words of somone’s fictious Belguim living mother are belived.
Ridiculous.
I hate to think what’ll be like if the club ever does decide to lead us up the garden path... Google 'Fanthom bids' and a picture of Kenwright comes up!
Unfortunately though, Michael Owen didn’t want to be paid in letters.
There’s no other club though who leave signings as late as we do, so again, the 5th best team in the richest league in the world: Where’s the Money!!!???
So yes, the frustration with Everton fans needs to be appeased and phantom bids, which aren’t ’links’ but actual bids that the club have no intention of following through on, are a cause for concern.
For instance, we offer Leeds Utd £7 million for Alan Smith in staged payments over the next 100 years. Everton know Man U were going to bid probably £8 million up front. If by chance Leeds or Alan Smith decide Everton’s deal is the best one then great, Everton get their man. If not then at least it shows some ambition!
I do however think the Lucho Gonzales bid was a phantom bid. We were used by Jorabchin and Zahavi to get their man a new lucrative contract at Porto in order for them to facilitate a deal for Fernandes for us. They then shafted us and sold the bastard to Valencia.
Someone somewhere is sitting on a few bob, Sky, FA, Europe money for at least two years.
Is this not akin to suggesting that the club will negotiate only to a point?
What's the point?
On catching the phantom, after some hairy escapes and running with hands stretched out infront of them, they’ll reveal the mask, and expose the phantom to be... ???
I don’t mind the gossip being wrong, I trust Moyes generally to be better informed than some gobshite on a forum.
But the assurance at the start of the summer that funds would be available, and then only the Lescott money finances three signings. Stoke got Huth, FFS, and Sunderland got Turner. Either of them would have made us stronger, and far better balanced. Huth was £5 m - how can you promise funds and not afford a net outlay of £5 m?
I’d want Heitinga for RB, and then good back up in the centre — but we haven’t and will be stretched. I think we need two more players — CB backup and a holding mid. We have two games a week coming up until New Year with less than three days rest for the Europa League players.
A club like Everton will know that some approaches are less likely to be successful than others, but in the real world we don’t know beforehand what the outcome will be, and we still have to keep trying to bring in the best players that we can.
The fact that so many genuine bids are knocked back anyway makes a nonsense of the idea that a club like ours would willingly invest time in making a "phantom bid" just to appease the fans.
Like the original poster says, why would we make phanthom bids? Kenwright knows that the yearly farce simply makes us look like laughing stocks. I think that on Banega for instance we should have drawn a line under it weeks ago. It seemed clear to us all that it was going nowhere, but i am sure the bid was made with the best of intentions.
When we get our big boys back fit we will have the pick of...
HOWARD
HEITINGA Neville JAGIELKA DISTIN Yobo BAINES ...
PIENAAR ARTETA RODWELL BILY FELLAINI Cahill Osman
YAK Jo Saha Vaughan Anichebe
Banega would have been nice as a creative option, but our fiorst team can beat almost anybody in this league, and run some ithers close.
Whilst patterns are yet to emerge, this looks like being an interesting season. I tipped ManU to finish 5th, and they were very lucky against Arsenal. Liverpool are twitching more than I expected and if they lose Torres or Gerrard they could be really off the pace.
City and Spurs have started well. I don;t see Spurs lasting the pace and I’m sure Redknapp is already preparing his excuses. They need to be got at and I’ve no doubt they will be.
City will be strong and capable of winning against almost anyone at some point. Villa are Villa, flattering to deceive. They lack creativity and rely too much on direct football.
So if we can get our shit together then things are possible. Our next 9 league games are all winnable (we won 8 of them last season & Pompey, the 9th, are in big trouble). If we are in contention by end of October then the renewed talent & energy of Arteta & Yakubu, the settling in of Bily & the power of Heitinger, we have a chance.
I’d just like to see Moyes playing Fellaining in the position in which he made his name, holding midfielder. He has awesome nuisance value and can use the ball. Any goals he scores are a bonus, but with him there, Rodwell further forward (because he can), Baines & Heitinga marauding the flanks and the trickery of Arteta, Pienaar & Bily in the middle, things could get interesting.
Nick Wall and Neal Sutherland, want to buy some magic beans?
I submitted a post a while ago - stating my bewilderment at how people sit there and propose transfers. Whilst in itself this is a harmless (albeit pointless) exercise the end result is usually frustration at why the club did not buy the player in question - usually it’s attributed to either DM’s dithering or BK’s lies.
It’s astonishing really.
My philosophy is to ignore any rumour and sit tight until there’s something on the official site. Once there’s something on the official site it’s usually wrapped up within a couple of days.
This year the only ones that haven’t come off have been Senderos and Naughton. Everton wouldn’t meet Arsenal’s valuation of Senderos, and were gazumped by a richer Spurs for Naughton.
No lies, no dithering. Just business and limited finances (no secret there).
BTW, whatever happened to Rasmus Elm? Maybe him and Lucas Neill are still trying to decide who play for?
So there’s 3 already, that they actually choose to tell us about.
I believe that one fell through because Valencia decided they didn’t want to let him go out on loan and Everton could afford to buy him outright.
" So there’s 3 already, that they actually choose to tell us about"
Not entirely sure what you’re getting at here.
I have been told we signed a young striker called James Murphy from Port Vale, only 16 but apparently hes mustard.
Anybody heard of him??
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1 Posted 02/09/2009 at 07:28:48
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It was known at the time that Douglas Hall was in cahoots with Stretford’s management company who were the main driving force behind his transfer. I wouldn’t dismiss this phenomenon so readily. Where there are vast amounts of money greed and corruption go hand in hand.