Curbishley payout is proof that clarity is needed over transfer policy duties

Premier League / Ralph Ellis / 04 November 2009 / Leave a Comment

Alan Curbishley has been proved right by the courts after he argued that not having been consulted over the sale of George McCartney to Sunderland, his position as manager of West Ham became untennable.

"The best-run clubs are still those who tell their football manager his budget, and let him get on with deciding how to spend it. Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have total control over who comes and goes. So, after winning some internal battles, does Mark Hughes at Manchester City."

As Alan Curbishley waits to hear about exactly how much he will receive in compensation for his constructive dismissal at West Ham, Ralph Ellis looks at the need for clarity at a club when it comes to knowing who calls the shots on transfers.

First Kevin Keegan, and now Alan Curbishley. If clubs had any doubt before that they need to clarify in the contracts of their manager exactly who is responsible for the buying and selling of players, they should be in no doubt now.

Keegan won £2million in compensation from Newcastle, plus nearly the same amount again in costs, when he showed he'd been constructively dismissed because the Toon got Dennis Wise to buy a player to do a favour to a South American agent. Now Curbishley is in line for a similar jackpot. In his case the clause in his contract that he had final say over deals was clear, yet West Ham still sold George McCartney to Sunderland without his approval. Both cases have established that who has "The final say" must be beyond confusion.

Once upon a time there was no argument about it, anyway. Can you imagine some suited director of football trying to tell Brian Clough who could play for his team? Or a cigar puffing chairman dictating transfer policy to Bill Shankly? So it never ceases to amaze me that there is so much muddle surrounding the recruitment of talent at Premier League clubs these days.

The vast majority of chairmen and chief executives come from backgrounds in finance and business. They have accountancy degrees. They know about organisation and management. They can whiz their way round a Sage spreadsheet with complete confidence. Somehow they seem to think that qualifies them to judge whether an African left back is good enough going forward, or if an Austrian centre forward can handle hold-up play.

The best-run clubs are still those who tell their football manager his budget, and let him get on with deciding how to spend it. Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have total control over who comes and goes. So, after winning some internal battles, does Mark Hughes at Manchester City. Tony Pulis has built Stoke by dictating his own transfer policy. Martin O'Neill keeps the link to Clough alive by the way he rules life at Aston Villa.

Trying to move away from those principles is one of the reasons Newcastle are in the Championship. And I fear it could yet be one of the reasons West Ham follow them. They play Villa tonight with a glaring example of how when finance controls football, it all goes pear shaped. Gianfranco Zola's team kept two clean sheets away from home and picked up four points when he had James Collins. Since being told to sell him to bring in £5million at the start of September, the Hammers have not gone a single game without conceding. That's why [6.5] for relegation looks all too good a bet.

Collins returns to Upton Park tonight and his new team are value at [2.82] to win, even without injured James Milner and Stiliyan Petrov. The Welsh international is [10.0] to rub salt into the wounds by scoring at anytime, and his growing partnership with Richard Dunne has radically improved O'Neill's defence. Three points would lift them at least temporarily into the Champions League places.

It would leave West Ham, still without a win at Upton Park this season, stuck in the relegation zone.If, heaven forbid, they lost by three goals, they'd be rock bottom.

Five things you might not know about Alan Curbishley

1.Born in Forest Gate, East London, his full name is Llewellyn Charles Alan Curbishley

2. A midfield player, he was a regular for England schoolboys and at youth level - but the nearest he got to a senior cap was an England B call-up in 1981 only to have to pull out with a fractured knee

3. He was the youngest player ever to appear for West Ham when he made his debut as a 17-year-old in 1975. He then moved to Birmingham

4. Aston Villa, bought him in 1983 to add to their squad that had won the European Cup . No other significant first team player has been transferred from Birmingham to Aston Villa since

5. One of five children, his older brother Bill is a music promoter who organises The Who on tour