I think the bad guy in the ECFC tale is the player. According the to newspaper story, if Duane would have said to the club ‘I want more money’ and the club would have said ‘there isn’t any’ that would be fine, as Duane just wanted to talk. But because the club said ‘there’s no point talking about a pay rise because there’s no cash’ it’s not fine. I can sort of see his point: a feeling that your bosses aren’t responsive to your needs is a good way to become disillusioned.
But this isn’t any other business. Surely the player must realise that the club are not rolling in cash. He probably thinks that as an international, he deserves more pay. He doesn’t seem to have twigged that football is no longer the land of milk and honey. He’s probably dreamt of big pay days, and heard tell of riches to be had. Understandable, but you get higher wages at higher levels. You get to higher levels by being really good. It’s quite simple when conducting negotiations – let your football do the talking.