Who tells the media?

I know we have talked about this subject, but I still can not understand how the media find out the players we are after. We go on about sky sport knowing all that is going on in the game, but is it more than that. Who tells the media we are after Lamela, and Hulk and that Chiriches is about to sign, and now today the Daily Mail reports we are making a move for Ajax midfielder Eriksen, how do they know that, is it someone from inside the club?. Re Hulk, the one thing in our favour is that he wants to reunite with AVB even though we are not in the Champions League, the problem is the fee Zenit St  Petersburg are demanding, £40 million, and I believe they will hold out for that as they know we are about to get £80 million plus from Real Madrid for Bale. Four players here we are reported to be after or about to sign. Perhaps after the Willian disaster we are now trying to confuse Chelsea, they will not know for sure who we are about to sign and so sign all four and we end up signing Ronaldo and Rooney Lol.

Vis, I just do not think it's right that the buying club should let anyone know who they are buying otherwise we will always be worried about a repeat of the Willian incident. I know it's a different game today but when we signed John White, McKay, and Bill Brown, we never knew anything about the club trying to sign them, no Spurs are interested in certain players, it was not until after they signed that we knew they had arrived and then it was a case of who the hell is McKay or John White etc, as it was we found out who they were big time, the greatest players ever to walk out onto the Whit Hart Lane pitch. I have to agree with Mourinho, we blundered big time by not signing him straight after the medical, and that makes me wonder if we could make the same mistake again in our pursuit of Lamela, Hulk and Chiriches.

In the days when we signed the likes of Mackay White etc there was no such thing as a tranfer window, there was a maximum wage and contracts actually worked. Then along came Jimmy Hill and and shattered the wage structure and then George Eastham refused to play for Newcastle forced a transfer to that lot up the road and things changed completely. Gradually with the adoption of agents and greater media attention and of course stupid money coming into the game and the Bosman ruling players have all the power and certainly agents leak information to the media and other clubs.

I believe that if we are going to have a transfer window, it should start the day after the season ends and close at least one week before the next season starts. that would then allow clubs whose players are transferred in the last few days to replace them. It would also stop the nastiness that has crept in, particularly this year, with managers slagging each other off over approaches made.

You are right Seebee, Jimmy Hill ruined the game, the players have far to much power. Imagine an ordinary man today at work demanding this and that, the boss would just say there's the door. I agree about the transfer window closing before a season starts, the Everton manager, Martinez, is that how you spell it?, said the same thing, it seems to have been going on for weeks, and this Bale saga is a joke now. Today they say United or PSG have made bids, never bloody ending.

Have a read of this Len . . . .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23911157