SWANNY'S WORLD OF SPORT: Jermaine should show more gratitude

In fact he should thank chairman Darragh MacAnthony and manager Grant McCann for even offering him a fresh deal.

Anderson has played a mere 27 times in the last two seasons for the club who gave him his professional debut at the age of 16 in a Championship fixture screened live on television in 2012.

He played just nine times last season and hasn’t played at all since September 10, 2016.

Sure he’s suffered two serious knee injuries which were obviously not his fault, but football is a cruel business. It’s even fair Posh should offer him a highly incentivised deal with a reduced basic salary.

There’s no guarantee he will return to the high level he was showing before his first injury absence and he’s playing for a club under pressure from fans to challenge for promotion.

Manager Grant McCann can’t afford to carry any passengers, especially as he’s been told to have the team in a promising position by Christmas or face the consequences.

McCann and MacAnthony have shown faith in their player. He should return that faith by putting pen to paper right now. Or he should change his agent, if that’s the problem.

Agents are not directly in the firing line when a player alienates his club’s fanbase by showing signs of greed.

Anderson is the one who will cop it. There is no hiding place on social media, as the 21 year-old has already found out.

Anderson is not alone in receiving bad advice, if that is what has happened. One current lower division manager told me recently about a player who has managed five appearances in 2017 for a club who only just avoided relegation.

The club wanted to keep him on pretty much the same deal, but the player felt he deserved more. They are no longer together so it was surely a self-defeating stance for that particular midfielder. Who on earth will now try and sign an injury-prone plodder with an inflated sense of self-worth?

I’m sure there are good agents out there who want the best for their player, but who also understand the economic reality of lower division clubs.

In Anderson’s case, for all his promise, he’s hardly likely to get a move until he’s proved his fitness at Posh anyway. The two-year comfort blanket he’s now been offered should have been grabbed instantly. There’s plenty of time to make good money in his future.

If Anderson’s desire is to get fully fit and run his contract down while playing so well he will either get a lucrative Posh deal or a big money move to a bigger and better club, he’s taking a huge gamble. Posh would likely sell him anyway if he did return to his best form. He’s at a club now who don’t stand in the way of their young talent.

If he doesn’t sign the Posh deal on the table and he has an injury relapse, he’s suddenly very vulnerable.

I hope he reads this piece and sees sense. He can thank me another time.