Ben Doak

Aye tbf it is game over when one of the massive clubs come in. Was the same with 2 boys that got scooped up by Bayern Munich.

 

Should be better compensation for clubs that have trained a young yun and he gets poached by a rich club for nothing and they sell for a fortune

 

We’ve profited multiple times of the cross border rule. Players like Joe Ledley and Moussa Dembele, especially. Sometimes, it bites you on your * but it can also be very lucrative if you play the market properly.

For example, there are players coming to the end of their contracts now who we should be seriously looking at and some are down south. Would not be against getting Tyrys Dolan in from Blackburn. He’s always really impressed me when I’ve watched him. Only 23, quick, tricky winger.

 

The Dembele one especially, some of the links for him the year before and fees being spouted for that time were beyond us.

The deal got leaked the day before he signed and that was the first it was mentioned and the opinion was mostly aye sure we are, that’s one to say we tried and just missed out. He signed the next day.


Not since Tommy Gravesen has a signing caught me that off guard. I read it thinking do they think we’re daft, that’s not going to happen. And then he signed that soon after it I was like *. Joe Ledley was similar as well tbf, everycunt thought he was going to Roma. Turned out he was downstairs in Celtic Park when we were talking to McGeady telling him Moscows beautiful and he’d thrive in Russia please let us just get that money eh

Adam Matthews was linked for £5m to Man Utd, they held off any bids for him to extend his contract. Then he went here, they got £300k for compensation. We have benefited far more off they rules, majorly. I don’t know if we try to, but I’m surprised it’s not a loophole we try to exploit * out of far more. I can’t think of an example we’ve done it for established youngsters that has bit us on the *

 

I would say we used to be a lot better at this than we have been lately. Lustig was another we got through that route when his I think it was Rosenborg deal was up. Mulgrew came back under that too.

The issue now is that back then we were probably a bigger draw than the English Championship where as I would say there has been a shift to if a team even has a go at the playoffs they prefer to go there than come here. It was well documented we wanted O’Hare he went to Sheffield Utd on that arrangement in the summer, no doubt there would be others.

An unpopular opinion but Rangers have probably done well out of bosmans, in the last 5 years they have had Aribo, Bassey, Raskin, Kamara, Sakala and Sterling. Don’t get me wrong they have also had duds there like Cifuentes (so far) but got a return on 4 of the 6 above of around £30m and Raskin and Sterling are starters for them, even Lundstrum done a job all be if he ended up terrible in the end. Balogun too has provided defensive cover for a while.

They have actually been worse when they spend money.