What Taylor’s Newcastle contract muddle teaches us
The whole situation is embarrassing for Steven Taylor, who would probably want nothing more than to forget about contracts and concentrate on playing football for Newcastle United. He has 2 years left to go on his current deal, and as pursuant with Newcastle’s initiative to sign key players on long-term contracts (Milner and N’Zogbia already have their new 5-year deals), they offered Taylor a contract presumably at par with what Milner was offered.
Steven Taylor’s father and agent, Alf Taylor, has not only rejected the contract but chosen to talk to the press about it, trying to pressure Newcastle into giving Talor an astronomical pay-raise (does he want parity with Michael Owen?) by presenting it as if Newcastle are cheating Taylor out of what he is owed.
Ed over at the Newcastle blog backs Steven Taylor over this, but I don’t think it’s Taylor Jr. who’s pushing the agenda here - This has the all the trappings of a rookie agent getting power-drunk on his star’s abilities and aiming to milk the club for all that the kid is worth.
Steven Taylor has every right to reject a contract offer, but you don’t rat out to the press and try to paint the club as the evil party especially if you’re genuinely interested in playing for that club. Newcastle could easily accuse Alf of trying to pimp his son to the top four as a bargaining chip, and given the stage of his career it would be a ridiculous move to piss off the club that has given you a position in the starting lineup and fans who consider you a future captain.
Alf Taylor is a lousy agent. When we talk about agents ruining the game because of their corruption, we usually have the seasoned pros in mind. It’s to weed the ‘family members’ out of the game as well (Ronaldinho’s agent is the most famous example of a press whore agent) and instill professionalism in agents.
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Your argument is deeply flawed Taylor is on £9,000-a-week, while Milner is on £30,000.Taylor is England under-21 captain. Milner is not. Taylor has been in a full England squad. Milner has not.
All Tayor wants is parity with young fellow players such as Milner and N’Zogbia (who is no £25,000-a-week).
@Gallowgate Corner - the argument isn’t flawed since Ahmed stated “they offered Taylor a contract presumably at par with what Milner was offered” (this is not a fact but seems fairly reasonable to be the truth) and that would be a fair offer for ST. He should definetly not get better wage than Milner/Zog.
Yes, 9 k/w makes him underpaid, hence the new offer. However, it’s moronic to bring the negotiations to the press as Alf has done and it would be even more off the charts to demand 50ish k/w since ST is nowhere near such performance levels (yet, but I’m sure he would be when it’s time for the contract after this - say in 3-4 years).
@ Gallowgate Corner: where do you have info about the salaries of Zoggie and Milner? (just wondering)
If the figures you mention are correct, then I fully agree with you that Taylor should get a similar contract.
Agree that Taylor (senior) should not have brought the media into this - as they are all about selling tomorrows newspapers. Meaning, we will most likely be hearing stories about Taylor (junior) being linked to Arse, Manure, ‘Pool og Chelski the coming days.. even if there is not even a shred of evidence supporting these claims..
Bet you that in 1-2 months Steven will be tied down with a new 5-year improved deal, and everybody will be happy.. I for one will not spend too much time being worried about whether or not Steven will be at the club for years to come (cuz he will be..)
He wants to.. we want him to.. end of story..
This is a kid who from about 13 has been said by many to be the future England captain. He is one of the only players who last year put his heart and soul into playing for Newcastle. Do we really want him next year being paid millions to go to Chelsea, liverpool or Man U…. I know where I want him to be and thats still at the greatest football club in the world…. Ashley get your cheque book out this boy is worth the money….
Noel Harper and Gallowgat Corner
That is besides the point. If you don’t agree with the contract, be professional about it and discuss with the club management. Not bleat out the details to the press. Alf shouldn’t be washing his laundry in the public.
Ahmed your way off .. your assuming a lot of things that might not be true. Firstly you assume that he was offered a contract on par with Milner and N’Zogbia. That very well may not be true in which case Alf has every reason to make it publicly known. A lot of players like Ferdinand & Gerrard etc get blamed for wanting more money etc but we never really know what the clubs are doing either so to assume they are always in the right is also unfair. Secondly we dont know what round of negotiations they are in .. if this in the 5th round and they are still offering a shitty contract then the agent has every right to make it publicly known. We are just assuming this is the first round. Plus i think the main reason to make it public isnt to pawn him off to the top 4 but to get pressure on the club from fans who dont want to see one of their own be treated badly.
As has been stated above, Ahmed, please state your sources before making ST guilty for anything but wanting to secure his future.
What makes you believe Taylor Sr is a bad agent or ‘power drunk milker’? If you know more than we do, let us know how is that.
And after all, it is a five year deal, and lets say he has been offered 25k - what would this leave him next season if he becomes part of England set up as has been predicted? Why can’t the club offer half of the salary of Luque for the most promising defender (in Newcastle) for ages?
I myself would be very sad to see one of the top four clubs to snap Taylor next summer, with a cut-price, when he only has one year to go on his contract.
Stupidity has been around Newcastle already for too long.
You think Milner and N’Zogbia didn’t negotiate? Everyone negotiates, but you don’t go crying to the press about how you’re being unfairly treated. Newcastle is bigger than any single player, and if a player wants more money then they talk to the club, not to the press.
And even if Taylor didn’t get the contract he wanted, he could still take what’s offered now and play this ‘game’ next summer to secure a better contract. At THIS point, when he’s still young and unproven on the big stage, it’s a shame to be peddling your son like that.
I’m sure ST has no part to play in this and that it’s Alf who’s pushing this.
There are a lot of numbers being bandied around and none of us actually KNOW.
My take is that if Tayls’ father has gone public, then the deal cannot be good and has perhaps reached an impasse, so he has taken this route to try and force the issue.
I would love Tayls to stay with the club as he has huge potential but has still got a lot of rough edges. I believe he should be offered a contract in line with that of Zog and Milner.
I trust it is resolved quickly and in-house which is by far the most professional way from both club and player’s perspective.
I read several articles in recent days that referred to Taylor being offered a third of what Milner and N’Zogbia have been given. Those articles also report that Taylor is merely seeking parity with the other young players at the club. Personally when you consider what we’re paying the likes of Duff, Emre, Babayaro or Carr for not very much, then I’ll be enormously disappointed if the club can’t find the extra cash to pay Taylor a reasonable salary.
Can’t stand agents myself but reading through all the comments I can’t agree with Ahmed Bilal about ST’s father pimping him out- tooo many variables that Ahmed Bilal hasn’t taken into account and no direct source for the contract offer that is on par with N’Zogbia and Milner.
ST hasn’t proven himself yet but has shown enough to warrant a better contract than Celestine ‘I need to be psyched up by the gaffer’ Babayaro, Stephen ‘I once scored a goal against United’ Carr, Damien ‘I couldn’t move to Spurs cos I love Chelski so much’ Duff & Emre ‘We always talk about people in that way in my country’ Belezoglu- what the boy lacks for in experience he more than makes up for with effort and character (like dropping dead clutching his side when he so blatantly hand-balled against whoever it was last season).
My figures are 100 per cent correct. Steven is on £9,000 per week, Milner is £30,000-a-week.
Clowns like Carr and Babayaro are on 40k and they hardly ever play.
That is clearly ridiculous. Sort it out, Mort.
This reminds me a lot of Eric Lindros. He was supposed to be the next Wayne Gretsky and his parents were his agents. They wanted an insane amount of money for him. Someone (the Flyers, I think) paid it, but he never lived up to the hype and spent a lot of time on the bench, injured. Different sport, obviously, but the business with ST reminded me of that. Taylor’s a good player and he’s obviously got a lot of potential. More so now that we finally have a solid back four, from whom he can learn a lot.
[…] As I’ve said earlier, this contract business is purely pressure tactics on the part of Alf Taylor to get Newcastle to pay Steve more than what they’re currently playing N’Zogbia and Milner, both of whom have signed new contracts. Maybe I’m just a football hack and don’t understand the difference between 30k / week and 50k / week but considering that the kid is 21, has no chance of starting for England unless a massive injury crisis happens and is playing for a club outside the Champions League, he’s surely not going to be offered 50 or 60k by Newcastle? […]