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Holloway backs Harry over cut of transfer profits

Ian Holloway insists managers deserve a cut of a club's transfer profits © PA Photos

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Blackpool manager Ian Holloway believes it makes perfect sense for managers to receive a cut from any profit clubs make on player sales.

The practice has been in the headlines in recent days, after details emerged about the extent of the financial rewards Harry Redknapp received for his role in the sale of players for a profit while at Portsmouth.

However, Holloway insists the arrangement between Redknapp and then-owner Milan Mandaric at Fratton Park is not uncommon and is only fair - considering the work managers put in identifying talent for their employers.

He also insisted the prospect of a sizeable cut of a player's transfer does not affect the manager's decision-making, as evidenced by Blackpool's eventual sale of Charlie Adam to Liverpool last year.

"There isn't anything mysterious or shady about the way football managers are paid," Holloway said, according to the Daily Mail. "We are like anyone else in the world - when we take a job we sign a contract and work to those rules.

"I hit the headlines last year when it emerged I would receive a percentage of the money Blackpool got for Charlie Adam. It wasn't even an issue for me but the way it was pounced on by some people, you'd have thought I was the bloke at RBS getting nearly a £1 million bonus.

"But why the fuss? This kind of thing is in the contract of a lot of managers and is completely above board and legitimate. Besides, I deserved a cut. I spotted Charlie's potential and took the gamble of bringing him to the club.

"If you own a company and you come up with something that earns it a load of money, you expect some financial reward. They call it performance-related pay at other places, so why should football be any different?

"If I discover a player, sign him and he is later sold for a huge sum - earning my employer millions - I should get something out of it. I am proud of the way I coach, the way I spot young players and try to improve both them and the club I am working for.

"Money isn't my motive, never has been and never will be. But if I am successful then, like any individual at any company, I do not see why I shouldn't be rewarded."

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