trousers

This. It doesn't quite add up. They've got their first competitive game in exactly 3 weeks (Champions League qualifier). Why are (some of) their players still on holiday?

Burning bridges at both ends. Good luck with that Mr Modia.... Wouldn't surprise me if Celtic now called his agent's bluff and refused all other offers (apart from any 'silly' offers over and above ours of course)

And one of these to stitch on.... http://www.dragonfly2u.com/embroidered-patches/southampton-football-club-embroidered-patch-02/95607b6a-de6f-4788-bde5-ebefe960f45f.aspx Sorted You thinking of starting an import business for this? If not, I'll get in there before you...

David Smith ‏@dsmitheconomics Something stirring in the housing market. British Bankers Association says mortgage approvals for house purchase in May up 24% on year ago.

The revelations keep coming... Alex Goring Crook ‏@alex_crook #epl insiders tell me Cortese is 1 of the hardest chairmen to negotiate with but he comes into his own in situations like this #saintsfc Alex Goring Crook ‏@alex_crook Cortese made #afc pay top dollar for Chamberlain, then a League 1 player, persuaded Ramirez to come and will not be held to ranson by agents

Fair point. I've had dealings with IT contractor agents before and they definitely operate more like a football agent than a 'high street' recruitment agency.

I could be missing something but if Adidas made 20,000 kits without a logo why did that then compel them to add a gold AAP3 logo? Couldn't they have retrofitted a sponsor logo in any colour at that stage? I could understand the 'no turning back' predicament if the 20,000 shirts came pre-printed with the aap3 logo

Why have the Echo published an article today to highlight figures released 7 months ago?

Why are the Echo publishing 7 month old figures in an article today?

Does a recruitment agency deal with a buying and selling 'company' in one 'transaction' when processing each employee though? I see 'high street' recruitment agencies as acting in more of a proactive 'pull' fashion, compared to football agents who operate more in reactive 'push' way...

I can see the need for an agent from a player's perspective - they are probably better placed to negotiate the best deal for the player than the player is himself. I just think that the authorities should ban 'buyer fees' and put the burden of paying the agents onto the player or the selling club. Ok, that will probably lead to the selling club inflating the price so that they recoup some or all of the agent fee but at least it would remove a blockage in the transfer system.

Hats off to Cortese on this one. It would appear he's told Wanyama's agent(s) where to stick their supposed 7 figure demand for answering a few phone calls. Any chance this might spark a few other chairmen into doing the same or is the football 'industry' too far up its own arse for the 'Cortese effect' to start trickling through?

Pompey...?

Was thinking the same. Wouldn't even need to change career... Could keep it ticking over quite nicely in the background given it appears there's sod all effort you need to put into it.

One of the agents is called Rob Moore.... How apt...

Are you saying what I think you're saying...?

Another one that's gone quiet...

Indeed. Especially as Celtic's first competitive game of the new season is only three weeks away.

I've no idea. Just suggesting that the way the original article was written leaves an element of doubt that the figures were a direct quote from Ramirez. Why put the figures in brackets rather than directly quote them if Ramirez stated them as part of the interview? That said, could just be me reading too much into the punctuation.

The original Italian article inserted the amounts in brackets within the interview text, rather than including it as direct dialogue, which could suggest that it was inserted after the interview which, in turn, could suggest the figure wasn't a direct quote from Ramirez but instead something the interviewer heard from another source.

So, the BBC Scotland article published a few hours ago saying talks were back on was a load of baloney...?

Que?

Yay. Quiz time. Name 3 fundamental Labour policies you disapprove of. (Said trousers falling into yet another intellectual trap...)

I've still got a photograph of him on my laptop. True story