DON'T PUT AGENTS IN DOCK FOR FOR DOING THEIR JOB

PREDICTABLY in the transfer window players are labelled as greedy young men with no loyalty, guided by parasite agents who have no interest in the good of the game and who don't care what the supporters think.

Apparently the life of an agent is a murky, seedy business with every fan believing most transfers involve a bag of money being passed under the table at some stage.

And just as footballers have to put up with the impression that they're all as thick as mince the stereotype of an agent is hard to shake off.

But while there are obviously one or two middle men of questionable integrity, players don't care about that - all they care about is what their man can deliver.

Ask any player to tell you what makes a good agent and the blunt answer is someone who can get them a bigger club or a better contract.

That's it in a nutshell.

Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown switched agent and brought in Willie Mackay (below) and it looks as if he will give them with what every player craves - a slice of the big time.

Just seven short months after signing a new deal, suddenly they're told they've been badly advised and promised four or five times their salary if they give the original negotiator the boot.

Fans ask me why players have agents. Simply, they employ the man in the middle because he has the balls to ask for ridiculous money - and the truth is today he can often get it.

If fans think a player isn't worth a certain salary it's hardly the agent or the player at fault.

So what if agents have a dubious reputation?

Do you think Thomson gives a second thought to what has been said or written about him or his agent over the last few months? Not a chance! He has a club that was promised to him by his agent and the salary to go with it.

What player can argue with an end result like that?

Footballers could not be less interested in how they get their dream move. So what if negotiations are conducted through friends in the media? Who cares?

Remember, the player employs the agent, not the other way about.

Brown hasn't moved with his best pal but he's guaranteed something similar at the end of the season.

For now Hibs fans should enjoy his play while he's there. They have a much better chance of winning something with him in the team.

If John Collins gets a fantastic price for him everyone's a winner.

The fans can feel hard done by all they like but must know by now players are selfish individuals.

Look at Shaun Maloney.

Scotland's Player of the Year last year also ditched his agent and employed someone who got him a move to the Premiership.

Maloney's agent John Halliwell kept Celtic hanging on for months while his contract ran down and the suspicion within the club is they've been strung along for too long, apparently under the impression one of their key men in last season's title triumph was willing to stay.

I can understand anyone being turned on by the thought of playing in the Premiership but business is business and Celtic would have preferred to sell him earlier if they had known he wasn't committed.

But that would involve a lot of honesty and integrity and while Maloney was totally committed when he played, he was shrewd and cunning off the park.

Honesty in football? Come on!

If we believe everything we read, agents aren't the only guys in the game who are unscrupulous and deceitful.

Some managers accept bungs from agents in order to smooth a deal and no-one will convince me George Graham at Arsenal all those years ago is the only one guilty of such a crime.

He's the only one daft enough to have been caught. And the practice still happens today.

The players who have just moved on in the transfer window will be feeling on top of the world.

So many agents have been glued to their mobiles over the last month trying to set up deals for their clients, speaking to anyone who will listen about their boys' benefits.

Thomson and Paul Hartley will get it in the neck when they return to their former clubs but that's unfair.

Their loyalty, as it should be, is to themselves.

Thomson and Hartley were lucky - both were in demand.

Others, less talented, compete for a contract with dozens of players in the same boat and if your agent can convince a potential buyer to take you he too is doing a good job.

But take it from me, some managers are more influenced by an agent's assessment of what his team needs rather than members of his own coaching staff.

And some players believe every word from their agent, including advice on how he should play. It's a bizarre set-up.

Any player who has moved in this transfer window won't have a bad word to say about their guy.

Agents are just like every other walk of life, some are better at their jobs than others.

From speaking to players I know, any agent who can get you a better contract is a good one, no matter how questionable his behaviour.

It's too easy to say some agents are dishonest. Football attracts all sorts.

When there are millions of pounds sloshing around, the game is bound to attract some dubious characters.

Taken from the Sunday Mail