We have made the club a place where players want to be at and don't don't price themselves out of being able to come.HuddsTigers wrote:I see people being critical of Craig Harrison/the club but does it not say a lot that he's got so many players on his books. Instead of looking at it negatively, I actually think it shows a couple of positive things. He has a good rapport with players, he supports them and stands by them even to the point of putting them up in his house. That matches the family friendly ethos of his club. He, as an agent, is attractive to the players so much so they switch to him and everyone is keen to promote him (people like Gale have a great rapport with him?)
Secondly, he's keen and passionate supporter of young players and especially academies. The fact that Powell has a good relationship with him also means we get a good shot of getting some young talent looking for moves that Powell can develop. Sure some may not work out but that goes with any player from any club. I know all agents say that they support young kids but very few practise what they preach.
Outside of this, how many other British-based agents can you name? Only Phil Clarke's brother through Solomona and David Howes for me. Out of his signings, we've ended up with very few let downs.
We know that Powell sees his role as a coach as someone who signs players he can develop - for him that is his coaching ethos. I don't know much about Smith as a player but I didn't know much about Foster or McMeeken when they signed other than their current clubs. Better the devil you know?
We need to be the forerunners of a club trying to live without foreign players. I know you'll always need the top players but would like to see home grown talent and the best overseas stars.