Darragh MacAnthony slams agents who put personal profit ahead of a player’s career

MacAnthony, speaking on the latest edition of his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast, insists picking the wrong agent will just cause heartbreak for the player.

“I implore young players not to always listen to your agent,” MacAnthony said. “Sometimes you have to make decisions yourself. It’s your career after all.

“A lot of agents can be poisonous. They are not working for the betterment of a player’s career, they are after a quick payday by moving a player on when it’s not in their best interests to do so.

“I know what they are up to and they will get found out. Some are just sniffing around a player because they want to make money out of him. They will promise their client the big move, but the reality is often a steep decline because the player wasn’t ready for the step up. A bad agent will rush the move because of greed and then dump the player when there’s no more money to be made from him.

“A good agent thinks ahead. A good agent realises there is currently a pandemic and the big money isn’t out there at the moment. Agents shouldn’t be doing anything to fall out with clubs right now.

“A good agent is honest and tells his client the truth and pulls them up if they are misbehaving.

“We have a player (at Posh) who has been with the same agent since he was 17 and he’s now 25/26. For a couple of years this player made some bad choices and was released from a lot of clubs, but the agent stuck with him and their relationship now is perfect.

“The agent came to see me and he wanted to know whether his client would play and what his role would be before money was even mentioned. The agent event went to the player’s medical with him which was five hours or so in London

“He’s the right sort of agent he shows the right sort of love for his client. If we get promoted the player will make some serious money and that should be the agent’s concern. It shouldn’t be how much money the agent can make.”