Graham Cummins: Now is the right time for a player to make their cross-channel move
Making his mark: Shamrock Rovers' Daniel Mandroiu has benefitted from some smart contract — and career — choices. Pic: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
Last week, I wrote about how players should think twice about switching to another League of Ireland club during this transfer window, but if a club from the UK were to show interest then he should do all in his power to engineer a move.
Now is the right time for a player to be snapped up by a club cross channel. Those sides are in the middle of pre-season, and a player from our league should hit the ground running if they complete a deal.
It also means a player will have time to settle because they won’t be immediately thrown into the deep end and have to cope with intense training sessions that will be shaped towards competitive action at the weekends. Players will have time to find suitable accommodation which is hugely important given the huge chunks of time away from the pitch. With football, you will be finished most days before 1pm. When players are living at home in Ireland, they can fill that time by meeting up with family and friends but they don’t have that option abroad.
Clubs will help a player when it comes to relocating. They will suggest locations, but in truth; they are happy once the player has a roof over their head and lives near the training ground. Most clubs provide a relocation fee of around €10000 which they can only use for rent or purchasing furniture for their new accommodation.
A player’s current club may attempt to convince their employee to wait until the end of the season before making the move because of their own selfish reasons. Clubs rarely have the player’s best interest at heart. I do believe that clubs over price players in Ireland. They place unrealistic values on players when they receive word of interest from a club from the UK. I often hear that English clubs take advantage of Irish side's lack of finance with the sum they pay for one of their players. Seamus Coleman is often referenced in this argument. The €70,000 Everton paid Sligo Rovers for the Republic of Ireland captain in 2009 might seem a small sum but at the time that was a handsome amount. Also, Everton invested time and finance needed for Coleman to have the career he did. The defender would not have been as good had he remained with Sligo. Clubs in the UK aren’t just paying a fee for a player, they are also paying to develop the player by increasing his wages significantly. They are providing the best facilities to help develop their investments, something League of Ireland clubs cannot do.
I do believe that every player in the league should insist on inserting a realistic buyout clause in their contracts when signing for a League of Ireland club. Danny Mandroiu was one player intelligent enough to do such a thing and we have seen him benefit from that this week. Some players might feel foolish requesting such a clause but a few good months can change everything.
I'm certain players that remain in the league rather than challenge themselves abroad do so because they are a little bit frightened of not succeeding. I wouldn’t say my time in the UK was a success. I often wonder would I have been better remaining in Ireland for my entire career? I have had to put my life on hold a little since I came back because of rules surrounding mortgages and other factors. Yes, I would probably have a secure career by now and have a settled life if I had stayed in Ireland all those years ago. I wouldn’t have to be going back to education at this stage in my life to carve out a new career for myself. But I also think of how much I achieved. Would I have looked back in later life and regretted not taking the chance of playing in the UK?
I would like to ask Dundalk player Robbie Benson, if he regrets not leaving when he had the opportunity to play in the UK a few years ago? I understand that there wasn’t much of a difference in salary from playing in the UK to what he was earning in Ireland. But he was and is a talented player and could have earned caps with the senior Irish team had he been a success abroad.
Players shouldn’t remain comfortable in Ireland. If the opportunity comes to move to the UK then they should jump at it. Don’t be convinced that the timing isn’t right because you never know in football what can happen. The correct time is when the opportunity presents itself.
