WBA unmask in true Agatha Christie tradition

As predicted, WBA has begun the media PR exercise to paint the picture they want painted to their fans, however, it contradicts itself.



Richard Garlick, the WBA Director of Administration was the man tasked with laying the next few PR slabs after their Chairmans surprising statement on transfer deadline day.

I have read, as far as I'm aware, all the Agatha Christie murder mysteries, they along with every other book in that genre contain red herrings to put you off the scent and only reveal the vital evidence in the last chapter, which is a bit of a turnaround from what came before.

The WBA PR machine seems to be avid readers as well, they, however, trip over themselves revealing themselves as the cloak and dagger perpetrator, not the victim. First take a read at what Richard Garlick had to say to an Albion Assembly Fans group.

"There's a lot of media speculation surrounding it because of the way in which it's ended rather than the way in which it's kind of being conducted. The club's position is that it didn't want to sell Saido. 

"He's got two years left on his contract. He's scored a lot of goals for us in the last two years. Certainly last season his goals helped to keep us where we are in the Premier League. He's a young player that's been at the club probably around 12 years. We've put a lot of time and effort and investment into him. Saido's an ambitious man who wants to push on and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. 

"He came back from England under-21s and the Euros with an injury. He missed the first part of the pre-season and didn't go out to Austria and therefore had been working his way back to fitness and had got himself back in there. 

"We had... there was a lot of press speculation a lot of rumours about what was going to happen, somebody was going to come in this club was going to come in that club was going to come in. 

"I had one enquiry from a club who I won't name right at the start of June, just generally asking what the plans were with him, but no offers just a general chit chat like often happens and that was it. 

"Then around mid August the chairman was speaking to Tottenham about (Federico) Fazio about that deal which had been ongoing for about two weeks and had been progressing. And there was a question asked about Berahino about his availability to which the chairman said that we weren't interested in selling him. 

"Three days later there was an official offer from Tottenham which was not acceptable was way off the mark was just rejected out of hand. At the same time that that offer came in there was a transfer request put in by the player. 

"I suppose you can read into the timing what you want in relation to the bid coming in and the transfer request on the same day. Again that was rejected and Saido was told that he wouldn't be leaving. There was then a further offer a week later which again was way way off the mark, not only in terms of the amount but also in terms of the payment structure. 

"Then that was it there was lots of too-ing and fro-ing conversations taking place and then it wasn't until deadline day that we received a third offer in the morning and then a final offer in the mid afternoon. 

"By which stage nether was the offer or the structure acceptable and we were completely left without being able to get a replacement in for a player. That was it really as far as the club was concerned. 

"Obviously Saido spoke to me, he spoke to the chairman. Made it quite... as it got towards the end was asking what was happening. He hasn't got, at the moment, a representative as such that is acting on his behalf. 

"You don't know behind the scenes but his official representative was no longer acting for him. There was just direct conversations with ourselves. At the end of the day Saido's got two years left. We all know that every player in the world has a price, but if you don't want to sell something you don't necessarily put a price on it. 

"If you want to sell your house, you'd say what the price is because you want people to buy it. If you don't want to sell your house then someone's got to make you an offer that you think... 'Oh, I'm interested, but that didn't happen.' 

"In a nutshell, that's it. Obviously then Saido tweeted what he tweeted and he was given an extended leave of absence just for things to settle down and for everybody to reflect where we are. There were no replacements available, there were other players... 

"Listen we weren't sat there.... we were preparing for different possible eventualities because it would be remiss of us not to do that. But as it clocked down and got to the final day your hands are tied and then you start doing deals that aren't right for the club. 

"Every player's got a price and if the price is right then you can use that money but you can't do it with six hours to go. We didn't ever want to be in the situation like we have in the past where we've done deals on the last day because it's not good for the club. 

"Players do have to go out to fund them coming in and, if Saido had gone out, there would have been some surplus cash. But when you're being offered two pound fifty (payment structure) in a year you can't spend it because another club down the road who you're trying to buy their best player won't do it, the same deal. 

"So they have to match up. It's not simply going into a shop and going I've got some money in my pocket I'll have that one and getting it off the shelf because it just doesn't work like that."

It is quite amazing that WBA feel they have to desperately paint a picture which has all the hallmarks of a Jonathan Creek episode with its misdurecrion. There are several points before we come to the contradictory ending where the whodunnit is solved.

The statement rather flies in the face of what Tony Pulis said, that Saido Berahino putting in a transfer request was antagonistic, basically saying the chairman dug his heels in at that point. As Daniel Levy explained, no transfer negotiation Tottenham conduct is personal, it's business, yet the remarks of Pulis show that for WBA this was personal and that was confirmed by the outburst from their chairman.

Secondly, according to media reports Pulis wanted him sold and the money reinvested which is consistent with what we know about Pulis, he left Crystal Palace over investment in the team. He is reported to be furious Berahino wasn't sold.

If you tell a player he isn't for sale and he genuinely isn't then you don't discuss any deal whatsoever. Garlick reveals WBA were discussing a deal, though he tries to mask the fact by playing down its significance, referring to it as chit chat. Say one thing, do another. Garlick reveals an offer was 'way off the mark' in amount and payment structure, how can it be an unacceptable payment structure if the player isn't for sale, a payment structure is irrelevant.

The fact that it was unacceptable show WBA were selling, they were actively discussing it he admits which totally contradicts the not for sale red herring.

Again he reveals amounts and structures were not acceptable, but then comes the revealing final chapter that unmasks the affair.

WBA, as every club does for every position, were preparing for the eventuality that he would be sold. They had the players they wanted, Charlie Austin was reported to be the Pulis choice, and those players would know they were wanted, every club prepares the ground for late deals, it's standard practice.

WBA was discussing with a club or clubs fees to bring a player in, that is revealed when he tells us WBA couldn't find a payment structure to buy them. That isn't an ever present, it changes as the window winds down. Charlie Autin wasn't sold because nobody thought he was worth £15-million or the £12-million he was lowered to late in the window.

The whodunnit is revealed when he slips in a small phrase, 'so they had to match up'. The structures had to match. Not he isn't for sale, the right amount wasn't offered, not there wasn't enough time, but the structures didn't match.Our murderer is unmasked, the structure did it.

Transfer payments are merely book transactions, one accountant to another. As I was stating all along this proposed transfer was all about payment structure. WBA wanted cash for things Berahino might or might not achieve in the future, Spurs wanted his hypothetical future success as an add-on amount. It's all about risk, do you pay for it or pay only if it is achieved.

WBA wanted money up front, Spurs wanted to pay, as all serious money players are paid for, over the term of his contract.

That is all that held the deal up, none of this we didn't want to sell nonsense, they were discussing a sale. WBA were is a difficult position, they buy players who do not cost substantial amounts so don't have to deal greatly with structured payments. If Charlie Austin was their target then QPR are in the same boat, they can only buy players now at a level where they will pay most of the fee outright, so they need cash, not structure.

WBA are caught between the two stools. If you want to sell a player for big money then it has to be done with structured payments, yet the players they buy are more of the lump sum end of the market. They haven't really found a solution to that conundrum, this is not the first player to have thrown a wobble at them.

It was an interesting saga to watch unfold, predictable to crime novel readers everywhere with all its twists and turns. The 'crucial evidence' to reveal the perpetrator was visible long before the final chapter and all this for a player who isn't a superstar, simply a player who scored 10 goals from open play in the league.

What will the next book reveal, will the victim in all this refuse to sign a new contract thus reducing his fee by £10-million next summer when he would only have a year left on his current deal? WBA are reported to want to match the £50,000-a-week we were offering and put a £25-million buyout clause in.

The ball is in Berahino's court, does he want short-term money and maintain a high price on his head that will be a noose if he doesn't score goals this season?

Does he refuse the deal, take home less money, but reduce his fee significantly to give himself greater options of a move next summer when with only a year on his contract he will be in great demand?

Have WBA shot themselves in the foot, that may depend upon how angry Berahino is and whether they can calm him down.


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