Ladak says some agents are bad eggs

The Kettering chairman, Imraan Ladak, has backed Mike Newall, the Luton manager, over the role agents play in football. Newall is expected to talk to the FA tomorrow.

Last week, Newall accused some agents of offering "bungs" to club officials to facilitate transfers. Ladak thinks the same happens in the Conference. He says there are good agents, but there are a few bad eggs who take a lot of money for not much work.

"Some of them are the same agents as in the League - the only difference is the amount of money involved, but the principles are the same," Ladek told the NLP.

"Whatever goes on there goes on here, there are definitely bungs in transfer deals."

Ladek described one incident where the agent demanded £5,000 for the deal.

"I knew what the player wanted and I was ready to offer it to him. But he said that he couldn't do the deal without his agent.

"The agent demanded all the money after he'd done nothing and it meant the whole transfer didn't go through.

"You might need agents in some transfers, but why should the club have to pay? I feel the player should pay the agent himself."

Graham Turner, the Hereford United manager, told BBC Hereford and Worcester on January 6th of his view about agents whilst taking about the transfer window.

"I think it is going to be a real handicap to clubs at Conference level. I'm talking to managers all the time and they're finding it the same. It's almost like the transfer deadline where players, if somebody comes in for them, are in a hell of a strong position to make demands on the club as with the transfer window now.

"I think players and agents realise that it becomes, not a desparate situation but not far off. The clubs have got a month to get things sorted out, so agents and players know that they are in a very strong position to make that extra demand on a club. And I think that clubs, because of this, will suffer financially from it.

"Sometimes, if it is just a loan it is the player himself but very often it is agents and you're normally talking to agents in this country, you're having to talk to agents throughout Europe to talk about player operating in the Football League.

"It does become a crazy situation for smaller clubs. It doesn't help with the telephone bill when you're phoning throughout Europe to talk to agents. But you have to accept it. There's nothing we can do about it. You've just got to get on with it.

"A lot of agents are despised in football, but there are also some very good ones, some quite honest ones. You just have to deal with them."

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