Chelsea blames Cole for tap

[antifan]

The tapping investigation is coming to a head, according to the Guardian (http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1435969,00.html) Peter Kenyon has admitted that he, Mourinho and Zahavi met with Ashley and his agent, as was reported by the press. He claims that Cole's agent contacted Zahavi, who set up the meeting. At the same time Cole's agent is denying that he set up the meeting, and claims that the charges against Cole are false, but doesn't seem to deny that the meeting happened. BBC Sport Article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4343785.stm) Cole is supposed to testify tomorrow, and after that it should only be a matter of time until the hammer comes down on Chelsea. The only question is how hard that hammer will fall.

[Bluto11]

my guess is it won't fall too hard

[Rick B]

Cole is supposed to testify tomorrow, and after that it should only be a matter of time until the hammer comes down on Chelsea. The only question is how hard that hammer will fall.


Heh, who here wish's our very own Kangaroo Court was hearing this one, justice might actually be done!! :D

[fox point fury]

Heh, who here wish's our very own Kangaroo Court was hearing this one, justice might actually be done!! :D

Yeah, but the reigning executioner might have to recuse himself...

[nicephoras]

Yeah, but the reigning executioner might have to recuse himself...

Again. ;)

We'll see what happens. Its getting weird now. Chelsea have admitted to meeting with Cole, something Cole's agent had previously denied. Chelsea are also claiming that Cole's agent set the whole thing up. Wild and wacky stuff, folks.
But I will say again, I've never thought Cole would end up at Chelsea, and I still don't. If I have to eat those words, it won't be the worst thing in the world. :)

From Cole's agent, btw:

For it to be suggested that I cynically set up a meeting with Chelsea and dragged them to it almost against their will is, quite frankly, ludicrous.

Now, I wouldn't trust Peter Kenyon much further than I can throw him, but I can't say I trust agents any more. An agent doing a cynical thing? No! Why that would never happen!

[antifan]

Now, I wouldn't trust Peter Kenyon much further than I can throw him, but I can't say I trust agents any more. An agent doing a cynical thing? No! Why that would never happen!
Well, with your bad back you really shouldn't be throwing anyone. ;) But as far as Ashley's mouthpiece goes, his denials are the weasliest things i've ever read. He continuously refutes the charges categorically, while still being utterly vague and evasive. What a shady ********. I can't wait to hear what supersleaze Zahavi has to say before the panel, not that i would expect any of it to be true. He has such a lucrative situation as Chelsea procurer i doubt he would ever say anything to jeopardize it. I do think however that the League will come down hard on both Chelsea and Cole for this incident. These things do happen, but this incident was so blatant and high profile that the League will be forced to make an example here. But for some reason i see Cole suffering more than Chelsea.

[nicephoras]

If Chelsea's charges are true, they haven't actually done anything wrong. If, of course. Also, if true, I don't understand how Cole remains an Arsenal player. To schedule a talk like this before a giant game for your club............something here doesn't compute, still.
But Cole's agent is more slippery than an eel. Must mean he's good. :)

Also, remember that weaseling out of things is what separates man from the animals. Well, except for the weasel.

[antifan]

If Chelsea's charges are true, they haven't actually done anything wrong. If, of course. Also, if true, I don't understand how Cole remains an Arsenal player. To schedule a talk like this before a giant game for your club............something here doesn't compute, still.
But Cole's agent is more slippery than an eel. Must mean he's good. :)

Also, remember that weaseling out of things is what separates man from the animals. Well, except for the weasel.
According to the reports as i understand them, Kenyon is claiming that Zahavi arranged the meeting after being contacted by Cole's agent. We all know that Zahavi is a defacto Chelsea employee, so if he arranged the meeting, and Kenyon and Mourinho attended with the knowledge that Cole would be there, i'm sure that that would still be a breach of the League rules. I don't think the rules say that you can contact a player under contract if his agent contacts your go between first. Its entirely possible that Kenyon is lying, and its possible that he's telling the truth and Zahavi lied to him about being contacted by Coles agent. Or its possible their telling the truth and Coles agent is a scumbag, actually thats more than possible. Either way, i don't think it absolves the Chelsea managment, they broke the rules. And as far as Cole remaining with Arsenal, what he did in attending the meeting was bad, but perhaps he was merely led astray by a shady, overzealous agent? If i were Cole i would certainly want to know how other teams valued my services before signing a new contract. I just wouldn't be stupid enough to actually sit down with representatives of other teams. Thats really the mystery of this incident, why was Cole there at all, it would seem to me that his presence would be unneccessary for any kind of preliminary talks. Very strange, i hope something close to the truth comes out of this inquiry.

[Its only Ray Parlour]

my guess is it won't fall too hard

7 point deduction wouldn't go amiss. :cool:

[Dave_M]

7 point deduction wouldn't go amiss. :cool:

If Chelsea approached Cole or Agent they can expected points reduction. Not that it helps us cos it will only be 2 pts.

If Cole approached Chelsea then all the will suffer is a fine most likely. Small potatoes to Chelsea.

If Agent approached Chelsea and we can prove that we have an "unsettled player" as a result of all these dealings, we can sue the agent for Coles value. It would bankrupt them but David Dein's love of agents means this wouldnt be a problem.

I think the most telling thing though - aside from the fact that the best left back in England, if not the world, was not even on the subs bench for this match - is the hostile body language seen in the tunnel on the tv before the game...

[TheImposter]

Now, I wouldn't trust Peter Kenyon much further than I can throw him, but I can't say I trust agents any more. An agent doing a cynical thing? No! Why that would never happen!
Yeah, is no one left untouched by sleaze? Next thing you know, even lawyers will be accused of shady dealings!

[TheImposter]

I think the most telling thing though - aside from the fact that the best left back in England, if not the world, was not even on the subs bench for this match - is the hostile body language seen in the tunnel on the tv before the game...
I didn't see that, but since Fox Soccer Channel seems destined to rerun the match for a solid 24 hours, I'll have to try and catch it. (No kidding, it was scheduled to be shown 4 times by midnight tonight EST -- I imagine it's probably on a couple times overnight as well).

[nicephoras]

According to the reports as i understand them, Kenyon is claiming that Zahavi arranged the meeting after being contacted by Cole's agent. We all know that Zahavi is a defacto Chelsea employee, so if he arranged the meeting, and Kenyon and Mourinho attended with the knowledge that Cole would be there, i'm sure that that would still be a breach of the League rules. I don't think the rules say that you can contact a player under contract if his agent contacts your go between first. Its entirely possible that Kenyon is lying, and its possible that he's telling the truth and Zahavi lied to him about being contacted by Coles agent. Or its possible their telling the truth and Coles agent is a scumbag, actually thats more than possible. Either way, i don't think it absolves the Chelsea managment, they broke the rules.

Again, I'm not entirely sure of that. But, I don't know the FA rules. If you're approached by the player, are you still not allowed to meet him? In this case, its the player tapping up the team.
I wouldn't be surprised if Zahavi decides to take the blame here and absolve any side of anything. Both Kenyon and Cole's agent would owe him and Zahavi's "reputation" is hardly something to be protected.

And as far as Cole remaining with Arsenal, what he did in attending the meeting was bad, but perhaps he was merely led astray by a shady, overzealous agent? If i were Cole i would certainly want to know how other teams valued my services before signing a new contract. I just wouldn't be stupid enough to actually sit down with representatives of other teams. Thats really the mystery of this incident, why was Cole there at all, it would seem to me that his presence would be unneccessary for any kind of preliminary talks. Very strange, i hope something close to the truth comes out of this inquiry.

Which is what has me surprised. Several days before the ManUtd game..........I can't believe Cole showed up and went "gee whiz, what are you doing here Mr. Kenyon?" If the meeting occurred, he knew of it. And to be worrying about that sort of thing 2 days before the ManUtd game is quite strange. Interesting times.

As for docking us seven points..............uh huh. Because that would certainly be commensurate. If you're using a sarcasm detector on that sentence, it should have exploded a few seconds ago.

[nicephoras]

Yeah, is no one left untouched by sleaze? Next thing you know, even lawyers will be accused of shady dealings!

Yes, a decrease of respect for all lawyers will make it harder for me to gouge my clients, which would be terrible!

[antifan]

I have to say that there is something funny about Kenyon blaming Cole for being tapped up. I have a mental image of Kenyon testifying before the panel saying, "Yeah, its Ashley's fault, he wanted it to happen. I remember when I first saw him at Highbury, wearing his little shorts and running up and down the left flank, just teasing me. He wanted me to notice. He was just begging me to tap him up." :D

[jwaldman11]

Regardless of who initiated the meeting, Kenyon should know better than to meet with a player at a rival club who is still under contract. Whether it's against FA rules is for the FA to decide, but it certainly doesn't make Kenyon or Chelsea look very good. If Kenyon knew that this was an illegal approach by either party, he should have either reported the agent to the FA or to Arsenal. I'm not sure about how it works in England, but I know that there are certain teams in baseball that other teams refuse to deal with or jack the price up because they've pulled stunts like this in the past and no one trusts them anymore. As it is, he can probably forget doing any future deals with Arsenal.

As for Cole, if he initiated the meeting, then sell him for whatever price you can get to whoever wants him, preferably a European side outside of England. If he's going to play hardball with negotiations and pull stuff like this, then he obviously doesn't want to stay with the club. We need to get rid of the prima donnas now or we'll have a serious problem in the future.

[Andy Bennett]

Again, I'm not entirely sure of that. But, I don't know the FA rules. If you're approached by the player, are you still not allowed to meet him? In this case, its the player tapping up the team.
I believe the rules say that you can't talk to a player without approachinhg his club first... so I don't think it makes any difference.

I just watched a journalist talking on Sky Sports and he was saying that the most similar case recently was Christian Zieger who went from Middlesborough to Liverpool a few years ago. Liverpool were fined less than £50k. Now, bear in mind that was in the situation where the player had actually left one club and joined the other whereas this was obviously just talking at this stage... nobody's signed for anyone yet... there can't be any real justification for too heavy a fine and there CERTAINLY shouldn't be any question of points deduction.

Mind you, when you look at the hysteria from EUFA, FIFA, et al, about Mourinho's comments and the situation surrounding that idiot Frisk because some nutter makes a few phone calls or whatever it was and what happened when Ferguson, Wenger, Sounness - well, almost EVERY manager who's ever managed in the game, frankly - do the same thing, maybe there's one law for us and one for everyone else. For cryin' out loud, I just watched Martin Jol, (not someone who's normally associated with controversial remarks), saying 'with that guy out there in black we were never going to win''. How come HE'S not being hauled up before the court of 'media law'?

Something else I thought you guys might be interested in is that, according to this newspaper guy, it was journalists that used to do the 'tapping up' until it was taken over by the agents. No wonder we hear so much about it now - they've lost a good source of income.

[jwaldman11]

Something else I thought you guys might be interested in is that, according to this newspaper guy, it was journalists that used to do the 'tapping up' until it was taken over by the agents. No wonder we hear so much about it now - they've lost a good source of income.

I think La Marca still does a pretty good job of recruiting "Galacticos" for Real Madrid.

[antifan]

Cole's agent has a new story/lie, first he denies that he ever denied the meeting happened. Also he was "shocked" that Chelsea officials were there as it was only supposed to be Pini Zahavi. Whatever. Story (http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1437057,00.html)

[Caribbean boy]

will wenger bench cole? cause the lad clichy looks like a good player!