The bottom line is this....

[Old Man Andy 0]

Darren Huckerby is a very good footballer. Especially at this level. With him in our squad, I would be down the bookies like a shot to take any odds they are offering on Norwich City to not only get promoted, but to win the title.

I don''t wish to sound harsh, but Darren''s talent is playing football. He seems to be a very genuine and honest bloke to me, but he also strikes me as possibly being not the sharpest tool in the garden shed. That''s the reason he leaves extremely complicated and lucrative financial negotiations to his agent. I don''t blame him, Phil Smith has made Darren Huckerby a multi-millionaire at the age of 27.

The problem is, Darren Huckerby has also made Phil Smith a very wealthy man thanks to a series of very expensive transfers. Smith gets his cut from every one of them. I''ve said it before, no self respecting football agent wants a client of his to move to a club where he and his family will be happy and settled. There''s nothing in it for the agent for several years if that happens.

Darren has got to wake up and smell the coffee. He''s already a very rich man, financially secure for life. Now he has got to make a decision for himself for a change.

[gazzathegreat 0]

excellent post, and i hope DH reads it, as you said, the agent must be praying he doesn''t sign for us, cos if he does, it will be for life

sod off phil smith and go somewhere the sun don''t shine!!

[Svensson is Great 0]

thanks old man andy enjoyed and aggred with your comments

[Steve White 24]

Unfortunately, most footballers believe that they need an agent if they are to gain the maximum financially from their careers, it is time they started cutting out the middle man (agent) and started sorting out their own lives. What qualifications does an agent need? I can tell you, if I was a player there is no way that anyone would have a cut out of my cash, it would also give me something to do in the not inconsiderable time when I was not playing or training. If the place where gazzathegreat mentions the sun doesnt shine is the place I am thinking of, I agree!

[0peteddMMyyyy0Falseen-USTrue 0]

Footballers have agents because they are like the Scarecrow in W o O, "if I only had a brain" "I wouldn''t need to employ this Bloodsucker".

[Old Man Andy 0]

Darren, I salute you. You did, indeed, "wake up and smell the coffee".

What an incredible week this has been. I have never, EVER, known a week like it. Work took a back seat. Christmas preparations were put on hold. Keyboards were bashed like never before, and mobile phone bills rocketed as I desperately tried to get some, ANY information about what the hell was going on. Facts were in very short supply. Rumours were plentiful. I heard more rumours than a Fleetwood Mac convention.

But now, in the best traditions of Christmas, we have the present that we really, really wanted. Darren Huckerby is a Norwich player.

I don''t know the whole story behind this transfer saga. I''m hoping that Rick Waghorn will enlighten me soon. But what I do know, is that common sense seems to have prevailed. Darren Huckerby and this Norwich City team are truly a match made in heaven. He is the final piece in the promotion puzzle, the man who will surely lead us back to the "promised land" of the Premiership, where this club belongs. Nigel Worthington knows it, the team knows it, the board knows it (and deserve a hell of a lot of credit for doing something about it) and Darren himself knows it, although he''s far too modest a man to say so.

There is a real "feel good factor" around Carrow Road and the whole city of Norwich right now. No one man makes a team, everyone knows that. But the capture of Darren Huckerby is, in my humble opinion, probably the most important signing that NCFC have ever made. He is, quite simply, the right man in the right place at the right time. We NEED to get promoted this year, if we do our financial problems will be wiped out overnight. Without Darren Huckerby, we might just have done it. With Darren Huckerby, I reckon it''s an odds on bet.

Darren, if by some remote chance you are reading this, thank you for ignoring the so called "advice" that your agent was giving you. It was obvious to all Norwich fans that you and your family had fallen in love with Norwich City Football Club, it''s fans and Norfolk in general. I don''t blame you mate, and you''ve probably noticed that the feeling is mutual!

Isn''t it wonderful that a parasitic, cynical football agent who has tried EVERYTHING he possibly could to stop this transfer going ahead (for his own, selfish reasons) has failed. To men like Phil Smith, football is only about money and what''s in it for him. To fans like us, although we know that money talks, football is ultimately about dreams. It looks like Darren Huckerby (already a very wealthy man) has decided that the fans are right. For that reason alone, he deserves all the adulation that he''s going to get as he leads us to promotion.

Merry Christmas to Norwich fans everywhere! Champagne, anyone?

[First Wizard 0]

Stunning post good Sir, do you work for the EDP, if not you should do.

[gazzathegreat 0]

agreed first wizard, every post i am doing at the moment, i am being blinded by tears of joy

oh this is just great, after all the months of agony, stress, trying to convince everyone we really needed him, you know the stuff mate

hell, how did you celebrate, rainbowchaser and me down in worthing still can''t really believe it, didn''t get home till late last night, and are having a party tonight, so will still be celebrating

first wiz, diane and co, it has been tough at times, but we got there eh, hell are we going to have a great second half of the season

to DH, thanks so much, some of us did believe in you, and yes, miracle and fairy tales do sometimes come true, sorry guys, tears of joy are flowing again

happy christmas everyone, what a bloody great present we got this year!!!

[Old Man Andy 0]

Hello 1stWizard, thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately, I don''t work for the EDP. I wish I did, I''m told it''s a really cushy number working for Archant. Right, web team? ;)

Steve, like you I don''t understand why footballers employ agents at all. The P.F.A. can and does do everything an agent does, and they do it for free. I think I''m right in thinking that Chris Sutton has used the PFA to sort out all his contracts, and he''s not exactly short of a bob or two.