http://www.football365.com/f365-feature ... heir-Soul-
By getting into bed with Willie McKay, Doncaster chairman John Ryan has staked not just his reputation but the philosophy of a club on Championship survival...
Doncaster Rovers are, in terms of infrastructure, reputation and fanbase, one of the smaller clubs in the Championship. Their average attendance of 9,864 means that 35% of the smallest ground in the division is empty on a match day, and the club has rarely tasted success: the Third Division title in 1950 remains their greatest honour.
However, for Doncaster, there are no negative connotations concerning such facts. After all, ten years ago to the day Rovers were being held 1-1 by Nuneaton Borough in the Conference, and this is only the 18th season that the club have played in the second tier. Peterborough are the only other club in the Championship never to have tasted top-flight football.
In truth, Doncaster have progressed impressively whilst retaining the inclusive element of community so sadly lacking from our largest clubs. This information only serves to add intrigue into recent events at the South Yorkshire club. Chairman John Ryan, a bedrock of the club's stable rise, has seemingly altered his mindset and a significant new face has been introduced.
Whilst the sacking of Sean O'Driscoll in September was understandable (Doncaster had not won in 19 league games), his successor Dean Saunders was something of a left-field choice, having only previously managed non-league Wrexham. Three days later, Ryan announced that the club had signed a two-year deal with agent Willie McKay, allowing the Scot to hold responsibility for the transfer dealings of the club. One of McKay's clients is a certain Dean Saunders.
McKay's plan is to bring loan players to Doncaster through his contacts, and then if their parent club gets a transfer fee for the player thereafter, Doncaster also get a slice. McKay claims that he is being paid nothing for the deals (aside from a nominal £100 weekly consultancy fee), and claims he is doing the role 'for the buzz', and he has a recent £1.4million payment from Joey Barton's London move to live off for the foreseeable future. Without casting aspersions on football agents or self-made millionaires, doing something for nothing seems an unlikely scenario in either of these arenas. Is McKay hoping to represent these players in the future, thus making money off their deals? Whatever the reasoning, the Football League have ratified the agreement but are keeping a close eye on the situation.
McKay, who may be a familiar name to some, has something of 'a past'. Arrested in November 2007 along with Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric, the agent was later given a suspended ban after being found guilty of breaking FA rules concerning two transfers of striker Benjani. McKay was warned that future misdemeanours could result in his suspension from all transfers. Since his entrance at the Keepmoat, McKay has overseen the arrivals of Pascal Chimbonda, Habib Beye, Herita Ilunga and El-Hadji Diouf. Robert Pires turned down an offer. The Keepmoat, in the case of Diouf, is apparently now where murky pasts meet. So why have Doncaster put their faith in an agent rather than a coaching staff or scouting network?
Initially, the deal does look to provide mutual benefits. Doncaster will be obtaining players of a higher calibre than they possess (crucial given that they currently sit bottom of the Championship), whilst the parent club is able to offload players in need of competitive action. The players themselves benefit from being provided a stage on which they can enhance often diminished reputations. Finally, McKay has negotiated deals for Doncaster whereby they contribute a relatively low percentage of the players' weekly wage. As an example, the club are paying just £2,000 per week for the services of Ilunga from West Ham.
The question at hand is what the deal truly means for Doncaster Rovers. Should a proud local club really be content to provide a platform for short-term mercenaries to augment their egos and earning potential? Diouf has had five clubs in four years, Chimbonda the same. Beye has played nine league games in three years. Are these players really prepared to commit to the mire of a Championship relegation dogfight? The effect on the current playing staff must also be questionable. What will the morale be of a player who loses a first-team place for a player openly admitting that they are using the club as a short-term stepping stone? At best we will say that the jury is out.
And what of Doncaster as a beacon, a shining light of 'local club made good' in a darkness of commercialisation, proof that stability and progress could be achieved without dancing with the devil? Last August, John Ryan was interviewed by the Daily Mail regarding the Craig Bellamy loan to Cardiff:
"Handing a striker of Bellamy's quality to Cardiff - and paying most of his wages - undermines the sanctity of the competition. The loan system should be about sending out youngsters to become better footballers. That's what we do."
Ryan, it appears, has changed his views. Forgetting, therefore, the prospective success of such a deal, has the moral u-turn of one man not potentially changed the entire ethos of a 132-year-old club? A club that has advanced through hard work and graft has attempted to use a quick fix, a shortcut to on-field gains. The chairman has staked not just his reputation but the philosophy of a club on Championship survival. Such gambles are littered with dangers.
Football clubs are sculpted through watershed moments. Whether it be Mark Robins' goal to save Fergie in the FA Cup in 1990, Norwich's 7-1 home defeat to Colchester in 2009 or Peter Crouch's goal to bring Champions League football to White Hart Lane. Decisions, events and incidents combine to create football destiny. For the sake of the club's traditional Corinthian history, fans of Doncaster Rovers will hope that John Ryan hasn't sold its soul to Watershed Willie.
Smells like he is up to something,he doesn't do anything for free, glad we dont have to deal with him anymore, he made enough money and trouble out of us over the years...
