1) What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a footballer's agent?
The advantages are you get to watch football free for a living and meet and deal with some of your boyhood heroes, for example Stuart Pearce and Dennis Wise. The downside is that you have to sometimes deal with the situation where a young player has been released from a club, gone on trial at other clubs and no-one wants him. In most cases the player and the parents cannot come to terms with this and it can be a difficult matter to deal with.
2) Is there anyone well known that you are the agent for at the moment?
Our most recognisable client at the moment is Tugay although we are heavily involved with other European players and working with some big clubs across the world.
3) What is the funniest thing that you've seen or that has happened to you in your time as an agent?
Well one time I turned up at a club's training ground to re-negotiate a player's contract. I was told to wait in the manager's office. I sat in there for five minutes before the well known eccentric manager came in shook my hand, sat down and started to discuss the contract. This would have all been well and good if he had any clothes on! I think he was trying to psyche me out!
4) Did you always want to be an agent or did you come across it while studying for another job?
Well like a lot of other agents I wanted to be a footballer first but perhaps had more brains in my head than talent in my feet. From the age then of 18 I wanted to be an agent so I went to University, studied business and sport, and in my final year did a dissertation on football agents. I was naive enough to think I would fluke a job straight away but it actually took me nearly six years to breakthrough. In those years I was working in and around football and actually in the end got quite lucky.
5) If there was one footballer you would like to be the agent for in
That's a great question because every player comes with different advantages and a certain amount of baggage. If my life was based purely upon money then the obvious answer would be Wayne Rooney as there are so many commercial activities to exploit.
However, believe it or not I am in the business because I care about football and about my clients. Therefore someone like Ashley Young at
6) What do you think of
First and foremost I am a football fan! I was brought up in South London and despite being taken to Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea I fell in love with
I think Watford have a big task on their hands but they have an excellent young manager, a young enthusiastic squad and a good team spirit and sometimes that can be enough. Watford are bigger than
In terms of picking a player out I would have to say Ashley Young again. I have watched him play for several years now and I think that wingers like Ashley are all the rage at the minute and he can follow in the footsteps of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Aaron Lennon.
7) Describe briefly your daily routine as an agent?
Well because of the transfer windows we do different things throughout the year but on average a day would normally start with a few phone calls to my players before they start training. It is impossible to call all of them and the amount of contact you have depends on the type of player but I rarely go a week without speaking to all of them at least once.
Once training starts I might call a couple of scouts and have some discussions with them. I use the internet to catch up on games where my players have played or where I am looking at potential clients. I will e-mail my foreign contacts and keep them up to date, and I may speak to some journalists as well, as most agents have good working relationships with a wide array of people in the media who can provide some useful information.
If there is a reserve game in the afternoon I may go on check on that but if not it is back in the office on the phone to the players again and dealing with any problems or areas that we can help in. The afternoon is the best time to call managers and deal with them. In the evening there is invariably a game I can go to but the phone is never off so I'm always working.
8) What is the biggest thing you have achieved as an agent to date?
It is such a competitive business and everyone is chasing the same action as everyone else. The top agents were invariably in at the start of the business in the 1980s and 90's and have worked hard to establish themselves and keep their clients. These companies have most of the Premiership players to themselves so it is harder for a smaller agency such as Galaxy Sports Management to penetrate the market. I have worked hard to develop an honest and caring approach to representation and Galaxy now attract clients to the business through this reputation.
9) In three words, what are the most important attributes to be a good agent?
Tenacious, Available, and Determined
10) Do you like being in the spotlight as an agent, and do you think they get portrayed unfairly in the press?
I think the negative portrayal is well documented and is some circumstances it is deserved and in others it is not. It does bother me sometimes when you go to fan sites and people lazily judge you as parasites. I think to myself that these people only hear about the super agents who do get paid vast sums of money but do not realise that this is the thin end of the wedge. Your average everyday agent is not a millionaire in fact far from it. It is becoming harder to get paid and sometimes you don't get paid at all. For example this summer gone I have worked hard to find several players clubs after they have been released. I have spent my own time, money and sleepless nights to ensure they have a club to play at, but even when I have secured them a contract I will not get paid a penny by the club or the player.
You simply hope they may introduce you to the next Ashley Young!