Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has launched a scathing attack on Tottenham Hotspur contract rebel Luka Modric, who recently refused to go on Spurs' US tour, and also refused to train in a bid to force through a transfer to Real Madrid.
Spurs hit the traitorous midfielder with an £80,000 fine for his behaviour, and Andre Villas Boas publicly berated the Croatian, accusing him of perpetrating a 'player revolt', and labelling him 'unprofessional'.
Speaking to ESPN on Sunday, Nicol could barely hide his irritation over Modric's behaviour. He barked:
"He's refused to train; he's refused to go to the US on tour, which I think is a disgrace, and there's no excuse for it.
"Everybody knows that he wants away, and the club has said that he can go if they get the right amount of money, so he should be going and he should be training with Spurs. He's hurt his reputation with this".
Modric's behaviour is totally unprofessional but where's the deterrent? Player power is rampant in modern football and there is practically nothing to stop these overpaid primadonnas from basically going on strike to force through a move.
£80k fine? Big deal. That's pocket change to most top-level footballers. The reality is that there is nothing Spurs - or any top club - can do in this situation. Modric knows that Spurs won't sack him for breach of contract due to his value to the club, so that puts him in a stronger position.
Yes, there will be posturing in public from AVB and Daniel Levy - who's reportedly upped the Croatian's transfer fee to an unlikely £40m - but, ultimately, Modric will leave.
In my view, the spineless hacks at UEFA should put rules in place that create a real deterrent to this type of behaviour. Any player who refuses to train, go on tour, or otherwise fails to fulfil key contractual obligations should be subject to a 10-12 game ban (all competitions), and a fine that actually hurts.
Jaimie Kanwar
Spurs hit the traitorous midfielder with an £80,000 fine for his behaviour, and Andre Villas Boas publicly berated the Croatian, accusing him of perpetrating a 'player revolt', and labelling him 'unprofessional'.
Speaking to ESPN on Sunday, Nicol could barely hide his irritation over Modric's behaviour. He barked:
"He's refused to train; he's refused to go to the US on tour, which I think is a disgrace, and there's no excuse for it.
"Everybody knows that he wants away, and the club has said that he can go if they get the right amount of money, so he should be going and he should be training with Spurs. He's hurt his reputation with this".
Modric's behaviour is totally unprofessional but where's the deterrent? Player power is rampant in modern football and there is practically nothing to stop these overpaid primadonnas from basically going on strike to force through a move.
£80k fine? Big deal. That's pocket change to most top-level footballers. The reality is that there is nothing Spurs - or any top club - can do in this situation. Modric knows that Spurs won't sack him for breach of contract due to his value to the club, so that puts him in a stronger position.
Yes, there will be posturing in public from AVB and Daniel Levy - who's reportedly upped the Croatian's transfer fee to an unlikely £40m - but, ultimately, Modric will leave.
In my view, the spineless hacks at UEFA should put rules in place that create a real deterrent to this type of behaviour. Any player who refuses to train, go on tour, or otherwise fails to fulfil key contractual obligations should be subject to a 10-12 game ban (all competitions), and a fine that actually hurts.
Jaimie Kanwar
Here here totally concur!
ReplyDelete1) If a player wants to leave then he should be sold - for a realistic fee
ReplyDelete2) He plays for Spurs so I don't care
3) Why is Nicol a "rent-a-gob" in the States - each comment he makes takes him 1 stage further from getting a managers job in the Premier League
What if a player is being victimised by his club? What if a club reneges on its promises, or fails to pay wages? Should a striking player be punished then? Unfortunately, apart from the fact it would be near impossible to make rules to stop striking, the freedom they, and most of us, have to strike can sometimes be manipulated by toe rags. That is the price you pay for relative freedom. Try not to make thoughtless posts, it denigrates your otherwise interesting blog.
ReplyDeleteThe fine should be daily and equivalent to 1 weeks wage, so if he is on $50,000 a week , he should be fined $50,000 daily, see how quickly they will come back, i call this the "Fortae Discipline"
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone would disagree that if a player wants to leave then he should be sold; that's not the point here. The issue is Modric's refusal to train and travel with his team-mates.
ReplyDeleteWhy the animosity towards Nicol? What does that have to do with his comments? He is entitled to an opinion just like anyone else, no?
The average man on the street doesn't have the right to strike. Most people would be sacked on the spot if they refused to engage in work activities.
ReplyDeleteKeep the player, put him on the bench and NEVER use him. The club was going to lose him anyway so he wouldn't be missed on the pitch. Unfortunately, it's a costly exercise for the club but hopefully would send out the rigt message to all players.
ReplyDeleteModric is a disgrace to himself. His club said publicly that they were allowing him to go, and they were awaiting 'suitable' offers. Why go on strike then!! The problem is that he wanted Spurs to do it his way, or the way Real Madrid wanted to manipulate his transfer fee. It back fired and they now realise that Daniel Levy doesn't play games.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Liverpool supporter, so I'm no lover of Spurs and I hope they get well and truly messed about by Modric for the duration of the window. I see that they are now piggybacking yet another Liverpool target - Allen. Why don't they do their own scouting? Having said that, Modric is a toe rag for this petulant behaviour and it won't enamour him to Mourinho. I hope it backfires on Modric and Spurs and that Real and everyone else vaguely interested in him see this behaviour as the serious character flaw it is, and don't buy him. Then Spurs would be left with a player who doesn't want to be there and a broken golden egg. Unfortunately this won't happen and some club will buy him.
ReplyDeleteI think its a shame that a contract clearly there for financial reasons, i.e hiw much another club has to pay for the years that are remaining on it for the player, when it should also mean that the player signed to honour the 3/4 years or whatever he signed it for. It would be very hard to police though because with some players they are undoubtedly forced out. A manager may not make it clear to the fans he wants rid of the player but he can be 'pushed' to leave. Bit of a sticky wicket, once a players heads turned, its turned. Maybe Modric was told 'one more season an after the last game, we yet 30 mil an your gone'. An now its 40 an hes on his way to the US
ReplyDeleteTHERE IS ONLY ONE DETERRENT THAT HURTS AND THATS A SUBSTANTIAL FINE , ALL PLAYERS ARE MERCENERYS AND MONEY IS THEIR GOD LOYALTY DON`T ENTER INTO IT , THE POCKET IS THE ANSWER AND EXTRA TRAINING AFTER ALL THE PLAYERS ARE SENT HOME FOR THE REST OF THE DAY , FAILING THIS THE GUILLOTINE WILL TURN HIS HEAD THE RIGHT WAY .
ReplyDeleteModric wanted to leave last season, im sure that it was agreed if he signed a new contract and gave Spurs another year he could leave this summer. Spurs now seem to be putting a price tag so high nobody will pay it creating this situation.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Modric not joining up with Spurs and whilst at the club he should do as the club ask but i do feel Spurs have contributed alot to the current situation they find themselves in regarding Modric.
I agree with you Jamie. But believe a games ban that applies to all teams bar the one the player is with should apply. This situation has arisen because RM are manipulating the situation via his agent and Modric is weak enough to go along with it. RM thought by persuading him to strike they could force a cheap deal which is the crux of the matter. But if by doing so an automatic 12-15 game ban came with him maybe they wouldnt be so underhanded and nor would his agent.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong but it seems to me that these players are being encouraged to go on strike by the Spanish club that's trying to buy them. I seem to remember Mascharano refusing to play for us whilst trying to engineer a move away after Barca had refused to meet the asking price. A year later I recall them asking Fabregas to do the same thing again after refusing to meet the asking price. Now Modric is refusing to even train, can't be a coincidence can it?? I agree with JK, something should be done but I also think these Spanish clubs should be punished in some way.
ReplyDeleteSpurs want £40m. Real will pay no more than £27m at the moment. So it's a ploy to get spurs to fold and take less than £40m. It's an advisor from real saying to the player's agent to tell Nordic to strike. However, levy seems to be a shrewd stubborn business man so the stand off could be long! Anyhow I am lfc, so I don't really care!!!! I think £15m for joe Allen is excessive even if his passing stats are over 90%. Only one good season. However, he knows Brendan and his tactics and what is required and as the midfield is an important area of possession football I feel his addition is key to help the other squad players adjust to the new system- because of this experience of Brendan's holos opt of play. We do need tricky, skilful, pacey and determined players up front like Suarez though. I think cole/aqualani/downing/spearing and Adam are expendable. Their wages between them are huge also. Better spent on suitable players to this system or could even mean promoting players like suso.
ReplyDelete* modric
ReplyDelete*Philosophy of play
ReplyDeleteNo problem!! P$G ready to buy him for 40m pounds
ReplyDeleteTrue, but he pipes up on absolutely everything Liverpool related (so it is nice seeing him have a go at a Tottenham player for once) and it's always negative. He may once have been a decent player (and no-one is doubting that) but now he's just a grumpy old man who despite being right on this occasion needs to keep his mouth shut for a change because he quite obviously sees everything in a bad light no matter the situation.
ReplyDeleteModric is a disgrace. Training, going on Tour, representing
ReplyDeletethe club at events are all contractual agreements . If these were not honoured
then it would be a contractual breach and the club has the right to fine and
discipline the player. I have seen this written
with my own eyes when I offered a pre-contract with Charlton in 2006 which I
dully read.
Tottenham however should have more muscle. Modric does have
power but he has a contract therefore there’s nothing legally he can do to
refuse going. I would sue him for breach of contract to show him who’s Boss.
They should have finned him heavily, and not pay his wages while he is absent.
Modric will go but not for the quoted £40M which is more in Euros of course.
UEFA are weak, even with this FFP they will bow over for the
big clubs.
IMO any player who breaches his contract should be sued by
the club as they have a contract.
We needed someone to bid for Allen so that we can also bid.
ReplyDeleteWe probably did a deal with Spurs regarding Sigurdsson and Allen.
Sit back on Siggs deal in return for them opening the bidding with token Allen bid
We can all refuse to go to work. Our employer then disciplines us accordingly.
ReplyDeleteFootballers were once treated as virtual slaves, with no freedom of contract. Clubs and chairmen held all the cards.
Tables are turned now, it's not pleasant to see that some players have no regard for their employers.
Most footballers playing now never had to go through this "slavery" you have mentioned. The past has not bearing on this.
ReplyDeleteI can't say because my company used to treat their staff badly 10-20 years ago NOW I am warranted to act the same way to my employer. I would get sacked and possibly persecuted. If you have a contract then you have contract.
It's not like they are on minimal wage, these guys are earning thousands to millions a year. I feel so sorry for them.
I said its not pleasant.
ReplyDeleteDo you work for MI6? Prosecuted?!?
Footballers have a short shelf life, they all look to maximise earnings. Look at our beloved Alonso. He left days after this comment
"Of course we footballers think about it; we are not stupid, we keep an eye on it". "When you see your contract down by 30 per cent you cannot be happy. I cannot do anything – it must be Gordon Brown or David Cameron.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/5578084/Xabi-Alonso-warns-that-tax-will-drive-top-players-away.html#
As for Skrtel, he can piss off