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Alex Rae Latest Signings Update


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Alex Rae was on Radio Clyde tonight and spoke of signing news.

The jist of it was he had a couple of potentials signings that he thought were going ahead only to be let down by more than one agent he said that he has therefore had falling out with a number of agents regarding this.

He confirmed he had spoke to another player today and was meeting with this player on Monday and was hopeful this one will go ahead.

No names mentioned.

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Alex Rae was on Radio Clyde tonight and spoke of signing news.

The jist of it was he had a couple of potentials signings that he thought were going ahead only to be let down by more than one agent he said that he has therefore had falling out with a number of agents regarding this.

He confirmed he had spoke to another player today and was meeting with this player on Monday and was hopeful this one will go ahead.

No names mentioned.

Wow, quite an interesting thread. lol.gif

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How exactly are agents evil?

Are the players supposed to do all the contract negotiations themselves? And quickly build a network of contacts to get themselves a new club when they find themselves out of work?

I'm sure you can imagine how most negotiations between a 19 year old kid and a multi-million pound business would go.

Before agents, and improved workers rights, clubs would make millions buying and selling players while paying them a pittance. Players would be tied down to a club and even if they were unhappy, would be forced to play there for as long as that company required them to.

I would say the problem here is Alex Rae getting angry, falling out with agents and then complaining about it on the radio! We seem to hear the same story from every St Mirren manager, "it's not my fault, it's the players/agents/other clubs". Part of being a St Mirren manager will be dealing with the disappointment of missing out on signing targets. We need a manager who can work within our means but the sell the club as best as possible to up and coming young players.

Mind you, if I was building a squad around Roco Quinn and David Clarkson, I would be starting to get worried at this point too!

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I think most of us would accept that football agents are pretty much a necessity in football today.

Unfortunately, just like in other areas of life, there will be agents who go about matters in the correct manner and others who don't.

Some people may find the latter's behaviour acceptable, but if an agent makes a promise to a manager, then reneges on it, then any football manager has the right to be pissed off.

It sounds as if something like this has happened to Rae. Maybe he should have bitten his tongue and learned from the experience. However, he hasn't and I suppose he's shown a bit of passion, which I don't have too much of a problem with.

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How exactly are agents evil?

Are the players supposed to do all the contract negotiations themselves? And quickly build a network of contacts to get themselves a new club when they find themselves out of work?

I'm sure you can imagine how most negotiations between a 19 year old kid and a multi-million pound business would go.

Before agents, and improved workers rights, clubs would make millions buying and selling players while paying them a pittance. Players would be tied down to a club and even if they were unhappy, would be forced to play there for as long as that company required them to.

I would say the problem here is Alex Rae getting angry, falling out with agents and then complaining about it on the radio! We seem to hear the same story from every St Mirren manager, "it's not my fault, it's the players/agents/other clubs". Part of being a St Mirren manager will be dealing with the disappointment of missing out on signing targets. We need a manager who can work within our means but the sell the club as best as possible to up and coming young players.

Mind you, if I was building a squad around Roco Quinn and David Clarkson, I would be starting to get worried at this point too!

I'm not suggesting players should do their own negotiating. The players union should do this, rather than unscrupulous individuals whose main concern is the cut they can make for themselves.

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I'm not suggesting players should do their own negotiating. The players union should do this, rather than unscrupulous individuals whose main concern is the cut they can make for themselves.

How the f**k would that work? The Players Union only has a handful of employees. Agents represent their clients and rightly so. I don't see how that is unscrupulous. Edited by Stuart Dickson
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The old " We've been let down by agents" line. A better idea is only tell us when we've signed a player and don't feel pressured to bow to impatient fans.

All well and good,..... Until we get others coming up with, "Is AR too busy on holiday to do anything about transfer targets"?

Damned if he does,....

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On Off the Ball last week Alex told of how he was approached by an agent about two players. The agent was keen to get them signed up. Alex had a wee chat with DF and rang the agent back saying that yes he would take them. The agent then said he would be in touch. A couple of loose deadlines were passed and Alex gave a final deadline of 4pm on the Friday. He never heard anything and when he got back to the agent the agent said they were signing elsewhere. Alex reckoned the initial approach was only about St Mirren making a commitment so the agent could use that as a bargaining tool with other clubs. Alex was pissed off that he had wasted a week and been lied to to by that agent.

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If you were a player you would want an agent. Simple he gets you the most money which in turn gets him the most money unfortunately they are a reality of today's game. Play a club against another is part of the game. It's shite but don't burn bridges Alex

It's not that long ago Alex Rae had an agent touting him around clubs and playing one off against the other in a bid to get Sunderland to sign him on a higher wage than originally offered. What's good for the goose and all that.

St Mirren do have a funny attitude to agents though. For years the club relied on agents to do their scouting, then Gilmour would complain when agents refused to let their players sign relegation clauses.

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On Off the Ball last week Alex told of how he was approached by an agent about two players. The agent was keen to get them signed up. Alex had a wee chat with DF and rang the agent back saying that yes he would take them. The agent then said he would be in touch. A couple of loose deadlines were passed and Alex gave a final deadline of 4pm on the Friday. He never heard anything and when he got back to the agent the agent said they were signing elsewhere. Alex reckoned the initial approach was only about St Mirren making a commitment so the agent could use that as a bargaining tool with other clubs. Alex was pissed off that he had wasted a week and been lied to to by that agent.

He has every right to be annoyed then if that is the case.

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This is nonsense TBH.

Alex has every right to be annoyed but he also needs to understand that this happens in everyday life. I certainly have aggressively played employers off against each other in the past and would do so again. It's the only way to get to life changing salaries or the best professsional opportunities. The idea that I would give the losing employer a second thought is laughable.

The player and the agent have every right to maximise their income. Alex has every right to minimise his wages bill.

Maybe Alex can learn not to give this type of player more than a couple of days to make his mind up before giving up.

Either way, I don't understand why Alex is burning bridges with agents and complaining in the public eye. Neither of these will do him any good. It might have worked at Rangers or some other teams he's been at where a grievance culture runs deep but it won't work at this club where we EXPECT this sort of thing and we don't generally want to hear unless he makes a signing.

It's not pleasant but IMO he needs to just get on with it and be a bit less vocal about it.

Edited by oaksoft
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This is nonsense TBH.

Alex has every right to be annoyed but he also needs to understand that this happens in everyday life. I certainly have aggressively played employers off against each other in the past and would do so again. It's the only way to get to life changing salaries or the best professsional opportunities. The idea that I would give the losing employer a second thought is laughable.

The player and the agent have every right to maximise their income. Alex has every right to minimise his wages bill.

Maybe Alex can learn not to give this type of player more than a couple of days to make his mind up before giving up.

Either way, I don't understand why Alex is burning bridges with agents and complaining in the public eye. Neither of these will do him any good. It might have worked at Rangers or some other teams he's been at where a grievance culture runs deep but it won't work at this club where we EXPECT this sort of thing and we don't generally want to hear unless he makes a signing.

It's not pleasant but IMO he needs to just get on with it and be a bit less vocal about it.

We have to assume that Alex knows exactly what to expect of agents. The behaviour of this one seems more scummy than normal. Quite right to vent.

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It's not that long ago Alex Rae had an agent touting him around clubs and playing one off against the other in a bid to get Sunderland to sign him on a higher wage than originally offered. What's good for the goose and all that.

St Mirren do have a funny attitude to agents though. For years the club relied on agents to do their scouting, then Gilmour would complain when agents refused to let their players sign relegation clauses.

We not talking about more than a decade ago? :P

We only seem to hear about players we were going to sign before an agent took them elsewhere. Would be interesting to know what players were going to sign for other clubs before an agent brought them us - mainly so we can blacklist said agents after some of the pish we've had in the last few years.

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