Source: Daily_Mail
CHARLES SALE: JT's pal hits back over FA blacklist
The FA have risked upsetting England captain John Terry on the eve of the World Cup international season by including his advisor and close friend Aaron Lincoln on a list of unlicensed agents circulated to clubs with the warning not to do business with them.
Yet Lincoln has never once purported to be a licensed agent and others within his specialist organisation who have the necessary qualifications deal with all of Terry's business that come within an agent's regulated scope of work — like the club negotiations surrounding the central defender's new £150,000-a-week contract at Chelsea.
Former Chelsea kit man Lincoln, who is held in high regard throughout football, has already explained in detail to the FA how his company operate yet still has the embarrassment of being part of an agents' rogues gallery that includes former players Tony Finnigan, Mitchell Thomas, Mark Aizlewood, Edwin Stein and Ricky Hill.
The circular from the FA states that the clubs will be hit with sanctions if those named as unlicensed operators are involved in transfer activity.
An FA spokesman said the list was confidential and had been drawn up to aid clubs around transfer activity.
More from Charles Sale...
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* Charles Sale: Bose goes to end Beeb misery 04/08/09
* EXCLUSIVE: Portsmouth stars Nugent and Wilson in drunken brawl shame 04/08/09
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England's 2018 bid, who were grateful to accept West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace's offer of free shirt sponsor exposure for the club's BBC live televised match against Newcastle on Saturday, are hoping for similar further offers from other clubs, especially as the proposed £5m contribution from the Government — a third of the budget — now looks dead in the water.
Mick McGuire, the former deputy chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association whose instant dismissal for alleged bullying last March has never been properly explained, is understood to be joining the Formation sport agency. McGuire is expected to bring Aston Villa's Curtis Davies and James Milner, who have been represented by the PFA players' agency, with him.
League One side Southampton are doing away with all freebies at the St Mary's ground this season to the extent that the new owner Markus Liebherr and chairman Nicola Cortese are paying for their own tickets.
And a lunch guest of Cortese for Saturday's home match against Millwall was presented with a bill of £125 for his food and seat. Only visiting team directors don't have to pay.
Strauss quote quota?
Andrew Strauss's obviously scrambled batting mindset after the chaotic start to the Headingley Test draws attention to the ridiculous contracted broadcast commitments that sees the skipper having to do three interviews with Sky, C5 and Test Match Special straight after the toss before preparing himself to open the batting minutes later.
Ironically, the Sky interview was conducted by former England opener and captain 'grumpy' Michael Atherton who might not have been so accommodating if the roles were reversed. Atherton said it was only in hindsight that Struass's rushed start became an issue and there's normally enough time for the captain to fulfil media requirements and get ready to bat. Strauss refused to blame the build-up for England's demise.
Even in semi-retirement 78-year-old Richie Benaud, who contributes to the Channel Five highlights on the Saturday of the Test, won't be deflected from his fierce belief in free-to-air television. Even a request from Sky Sports, who courted Richie for years to join their pundits team without success, to do a short interview for a cricket documentary on the Kerry Packer revolution was turned down because of his lifetime loyalty to terrestrial TV.
