Liverpool laughing stocks?

[thebish]

Doubt it is going to be clear cut. PFA are saying Suarez is correct about the clause, but then they are meant to be on the players side.

I reckon that they had a verbal agreement for a £40M release clause or as Bruce says anyone who bids "over £40M can speak to Suarez", but Liverpool's lawyers have probably worded it in such a way to make it legally ambiguous.

well - ambiguous or not - he signed it - his problem!

[Bruce Rioja]

yeah - that's true - but what is under dispute is whether that triggers a full release clause - or whether that simply allows him to talk to other clubs... Liverpool are saying that the wording does not mean they HAVE to sell him if such an offer comes in and he wants to go...

So, unless it clearly states that it is an actual release clause, shirley the player's people should have picked up on the fact that it's a load of meaningless bollocks.

[Athers]

Yeah the Liverpool side of this clause makes no sense unless it was put in as a way to shaft the player out of thinking what he had signed.

No point whatsoever in a clause which says they must tell the player if a bid has been received - It might be true that a club can keep it quiet for Dave Smith in the Conference North but for a player of Suarez's standing there's no way to keep a bid quiet, probably because buying club will have called his agent first anyway.

[BWFC_Insane]

And if Liverpool have deliberately "deceived" Suarez with the contract and the clause then that opens up another can of worms as to the legality of the deal.

Of course that is hard to prove. But who knows what Suarez and his agents have in writing or otherwise.

[thebish]

And if Liverpool have deliberately "deceived" Suarez with the contract and the clause then that opens up another can of worms as to the legality of the deal.

Of course that is hard to prove. But who knows what Suarez and his agents have in writing or otherwise.

if suarez had it clearly in writing - and signed by the club - then all he has to do is show a copy to the journalists... there might be a reason that he hasn't...

[Bruce Rioja]

Oh, he's just a gift that keeps on giving. No second bests here - but fourth's alright.

[thebish]

^

[mrkint]

Brenton!

[BWFC_Insane]

And if Liverpool have deliberately "deceived" Suarez with the contract and the clause then that opens up another can of worms as to the legality of the deal.

Of course that is hard to prove. But who knows what Suarez and his agents have in writing or otherwise.

if suarez had it clearly in writing - and signed by the club - then all he has to do is show a copy to the journalists... there might be a reason that he hasn't...

Same argument for Liverpool though. If its so clear cut, show the media and shut Suarez up!

[thebish]

And if Liverpool have deliberately "deceived" Suarez with the contract and the clause then that opens up another can of worms as to the legality of the deal.

Of course that is hard to prove. But who knows what Suarez and his agents have in writing or otherwise.

if suarez had it clearly in writing - and signed by the club - then all he has to do is show a copy to the journalists... there might be a reason that he hasn't...

Same argument for Liverpool though. If its so clear cut, show the media and shut Suarez up!

hmmm... wouldn't be conclusive if the club showed a paragraph - cos then it could be claimed there was another paragraph on another page they hadn't shown... the only one who can show it (if it's there) conclusively - is Suarez.. the reason he doesn't (presumably) is because he's talking bollox and wasn't really concentrating (or his advisors/lawyers weren't) when he signed on the dotted and grabbed the Liverpool money with his greedy little fingers...

[BWFC_Insane]

And if Liverpool have deliberately "deceived" Suarez with the contract and the clause then that opens up another can of worms as to the legality of the deal.

Of course that is hard to prove. But who knows what Suarez and his agents have in writing or otherwise.

if suarez had it clearly in writing - and signed by the club - then all he has to do is show a copy to the journalists... there might be a reason that he hasn't...

Same argument for Liverpool though. If its so clear cut, show the media and shut Suarez up!

hmmm... wouldn't be conclusive if the club showed a paragraph - cos then it could be claimed there was another paragraph on another page they hadn't shown... the only one who can show it (if it's there) conclusively - is Suarez.. the reason he doesn't (presumably) is because he's talking bollox and wasn't really concentrating (or his advisors/lawyers weren't) when he signed on the dotted and grabbed the Liverpool money with his greedy little fingers...

Not sure that logic holds at all. I suspect as its being debated and the PFA have waded in and presumably lawyers of the two sides are arguing over it, that it isn't clear cut at all.

I find the argument that Suarez can "put it to bed" but the club can't extremely bizarre. Both sides could reveal the clause in full if they were "totally sure" and put the matter to bed.

The fact there is a clause in there at all, suggests to me that at the very least Liverpool have been dishonest, at worst they could have broken the contract.

Either way I don't have any sympathy for either party. But I do hope Liverpool end up being right royally screwed.

[plymouth wanderer]

Oh, he's just a gift that keeps on giving. No second bests here - but fourth's alright.

WTF

[thebish]

The fact there is a clause in there at all, suggests to me that at the very least Liverpool have been dishonest, at worst they could have broken the contract.

how does anything we know suggest that?

[BWFC_Insane]

The fact there is a clause in there at all, suggests to me that at the very least Liverpool have been dishonest, at worst they could have broken the contract.

how does anything we know suggest that?

It's counterintuitive to have a clause that says "if someone offers £40M it's a negotiating starting point".

I don't see any player or agent who would say "yeah ok" to that.

So either the agreement was meant to be "£40M release clause" and Liverpool were "clever" with their contract or they're trying to be clever after the event.

That is how I read it, at least. Suarez and his agent may have made an error in signing it, but frankly I don't believe the story that it was only there as an "initial starting point". Doesn't fit with any other release clause I've ever heard about.

[thebish]

The fact there is a clause in there at all, suggests to me that at the very least Liverpool have been dishonest, at worst they could have broken the contract.

how does anything we know suggest that?

It's counterintuitive to have a clause that says "if someone offers £40M it's a negotiating starting point".

I don't see any player or agent who would say "yeah ok" to that.

So either the agreement was meant to be "£40M release clause" and Liverpool were "clever" with their contract or they're trying to be clever after the event.

That is how I read it, at least. Suarez and his agent may have made an error in signing it, but frankly I don't believe the story that it was only there as an "initial starting point". Doesn't fit with any other release clause I've ever heard about.

ahh - sorry - didn't know you'd made an exhaustive compare and contrast study of premiership contract release clauses!

[BWFC_Insane]

The fact there is a clause in there at all, suggests to me that at the very least Liverpool have been dishonest, at worst they could have broken the contract.

how does anything we know suggest that?

It's counterintuitive to have a clause that says "if someone offers £40M it's a negotiating starting point".

I don't see any player or agent who would say "yeah ok" to that.

So either the agreement was meant to be "£40M release clause" and Liverpool were "clever" with their contract or they're trying to be clever after the event.

That is how I read it, at least. Suarez and his agent may have made an error in signing it, but frankly I don't believe the story that it was only there as an "initial starting point". Doesn't fit with any other release clause I've ever heard about.

ahh - sorry - didn't know you'd made an exhaustive compare and contrast study of premiership contract release clauses!

Well its all speculation. But common sense suggests that doesn't seem like something a player would agree to. Unless Suarez is lying and never indicated a desire to leave for a champions league club in the first place. But then one would have to ask, why bother with that clause at all?

[bobo the clown]

...... Unless Suarez is lying ....

Anyone else, maybe .... but I can't imagine him being so unprincipled !!

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Maybe it's a similar thing to the Evra incident - maybe there's a phrase in English that means something completely different in Uruguayan Spanish, something like "locked in" = "free to go".

[coffeymagic]

I don't care who decides to pay his wages. If he stays at Liverpool he'll either sit in the stiffs draining them of £250k a week or play like a stump in the first team getting sent off and bringing shame on the club.

If he goes to Arsenal he might be a 'big money' signing that all the Arsenal fans have been whining for but he's not the sort of man I'd want playing for my club.

He's trouble that lad.

Good.

I always said it'd be great to see Liverpool miss out on the Big Cup money for a season just to see how they did. The answer is 'not very well'. It comes to something when they consider success to be finishing 4th.

Just like Arsenal.

Couldn't happen to nicer clubs.

[BWFC_Insane]

I don't care who decides to pay his wages. If he stays at Liverpool he'll either sit in the stiffs draining them of £250k a week or play like a stump in the first team getting sent off and bringing shame on the club.

If he goes to Arsenal he might be a 'big money' signing that all the Arsenal fans have been whining for but he's not the sort of man I'd want playing for my club.

He's trouble that lad.

Good.

I always said it'd be great to see Liverpool miss out on the Big Cup money for a season just to see how they did. The answer is 'not very well'. It comes to something when they consider success to be finishing 4th.

Just like Arsenal.

Couldn't happen to nicer clubs.

They've missed out on it for more than a season!