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JuanVelasco

Huckerby - "I honour contracts"

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I have seen many people stating how much of a good guy Huckerby is for saying this several times over the last couple of months.

I feel that maybe these people need a little clarification as to what he is actually trying to say.

He has a legally binding contract with San Jose Earthquakes with which he must comply unless San Jose Earthquakes agree to terminate this contract early, for which they would clearly require some form of compensation. Unless San Jose Earthquakes decide that they would be willing to terminate Huckerbys contract - which is unlikely unless somebody gives them good reason - then he has no choice but to ''honour'' his contract.

This compensation would clearly come in the form of a financial offer from another club, e.g. Norwich City, which San Jose feel is sufficient compensation to buy out the services of Darren Huckerby for the period of say June 2009 - November 2009. Which would be what? 250k? The only other way that Huckerby would be able to not honour his contract is to buy it out himself, which is likely to result in him losing money and cannot be expected of him.

Much the same way that Leeds bought out Huckerbys Coventry City contract, Man City bought out his Leeds contract and we bought out his Manchester City contract.

Therefore, instead of stating that Huckerby is such a good guy for honouring his contract, try and count on one hand how many footballers have not ''honoured'' their contract. I can count two, Ian Crook at Ipswich and Augustin Delgado at Southampton.

Huckerby is simply saying that he has a contract that lasts until November 2009 and the only way that he can join Norwich City before that date is if Norwich make a financial offer for his services to San Jose Earthquakes.

Please bear in mind that it is illegal for Huckerby and Norwich to agree a transfer until November 2009 without this initial discussion because the Bosman rules for which we are accustomed apply to the European Union only and not the United States.

The simple fact is that we can make a financial offer for Huckerby to arrange a transfer from July 1st or we can wait until November 2009 and see if he wants to come back. Huckerby has no other choice whatsoever on a legal ground to agree at any point to come back to Norwich in November 2009 and any discussions which appear to take the form of contract negotiations would result in Norwich City being liable as an illegal approach for a contracted San Jose Earthquakes player.

I hope at least a few of you will stop saying that Huckerby is a good bloke for honouring his contract and realise that the ball can only be firmly in the clubs court until San Jose inform Huckerby that an offer has been accepted and that he can discuss terms with Norwich should be wish.

It is clear to many that Huckerby would return to Norwich immediately to be with his family should it be possible for him to do so.

Rant over, I just want to get that off of my chest.

 

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Watching Huckerby''s interview today, to me he sounds very, very doubtful of even playing soon let alone dancing us to promotion.

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[quote user="ACE"]Watching Huckerby''s interview today, to me he sounds very, very doubtful of even playing soon let alone dancing us to promotion.
[/quote]

Yeah but my point is that even if he wants to come to Norwich in November, he wouldnt be allowed to say so.

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if you hear his interview, it''s clear that if he does play for us, it will be at the end of his contract (end of october). We will be allowed to sign him, as he''ll be unattatched. If we want him, i genuinely believe he will try his upmost to play for us. He was placed on the transfer list and surplus to requirements at all his clubs, or was sold because of the club wanting the money for him. Reading between the lines of what he''s said, i believe he means he is loyal and won''t moan if he''s not happy, he''ll simply wait until his contract expires.

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[quote user="ryan85k"]

[quote user="ACE"]Watching Huckerby''s interview today, to me he sounds very, very doubtful of even playing soon let alone dancing us to promotion.[/quote]

Yeah but my point is that even if he wants to come to Norwich in November, he wouldnt be allowed to say so.

[/quote]I have huge doubts over him coming back as a player. It''d be fitting for him to retire as a canary, but San Jose could well be his last club.

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[quote user="ryan85k"]

[quote user="ACE"]Watching Huckerby''s interview today, to me he sounds very, very doubtful of even playing soon let alone dancing us to promotion.[/quote]

Yeah but my point is that even if he wants to come to Norwich in November, he wouldnt be allowed to say so.

[/quote]not officially, but there''s no secret of his desire to come back, and to be fair to him, he hasn''t said he wants to definately come back here in November and so has done nothing illegal or wrong.

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I think the clue may be in the fact he mentions his hip and age in every single interview.

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[quote user="ACE"]I think the clue may be in the fact he mentions his hip and age in every single interview.[/quote]I think our gamble on Cort was one i''d take over and over again and Hucks is better than him. If he does get injured, then he doesn''t get paid, simple as. It ain''t like he''s gonna struggle to pay his bills. He''ll be back as a coach anyway. I just think with us in league 1, we have to snap at opportunities like Hucks wanting to play for us even if it doesn''t work and his hip plays up as he''s a quality player exclusively available to us at a reasonable price. I''d like to know we at least make some sort of attempt to get him back playing for us anyway.

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Few points:

- Firstly I am sure I read/heard somewhere the contract runs out in September not November.

- It''s clear he is under contract, but it might be possible to agree a pre contract without having to speak to San Jose I.E agree to sign after his contract expires.

- He is a gamble worth taking because even a 70% fit Hucks is some player.

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[quote user="Jim Kent"]Few points: - Firstly I am sure I read/heard somewhere the contract runs out in September not November. - He said end of october in his interview - It''s clear he is under contract, but it might be possible to agree a pre contract without having to speak to San Jose I.E agree to sign after his contract expires. Think we might be able to, not sure on MLS rules - He is a gamble worth taking because even a 70% fit Hucks is some player.- True although he moght not even be at 50%[/quote]

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[quote user="Jim Kent"]Few points: - Firstly I am sure I read/heard somewhere the contract runs out in September not November. - It''s clear he is under contract, but it might be possible to agree a pre contract without having to speak to San Jose I.E agree to sign after his contract expires. - He is a gamble worth taking because even a 70% fit Hucks is some player.[/quote]

1. It expires on 31st October, which means we cannot talk to him until 00:01 1st November.

2. It is not possible to agree a pre contract with a United States team, or even discuss this with the player. The process you are describing is the Bosman ruling and relates solely to EU leagues - which was the main basis of my post.

3. Yes it is worth a gamble, but are we really going to sign him in November and expect a 33 year old to play without a pre season break? Surely he would need a month off at some stage? It would be in the clubs interest to offer a payment to San Jose and take him in July. Which, again, relates to my original post.

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[quote user="Jimmy Smith"]well beckham didn''t need a month off, not as if he''ll be starting straight away either.
[/quote]

But Beckham 1. Doesnt rely on pace and 2. Has got a self confessed hip injury and 3. Is one of Englands best footballers of the past 30 years.  Personally I would rather the club go and put an offer in for him and start him in August.

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[quote user="ryan85k"]

[quote user="Jimmy Smith"]well beckham didn''t need a month off, not as if he''ll be starting straight away either.[/quote]

But Beckham 1. Doesnt rely on pace and 2. Has got a self confessed hip injury and 3. Is one of Englands best footballers of the past 30 years.  Personally I would rather the club go and put an offer in for him and start him in August.

[/quote]Beckhams playing in serie A thoughHmm, i don''t think it would be worth putting the offer in tho, he''d cost a 6 figure sum. I think he''d be a nice bonus in November, nothing too much risked, but plenty to gain.

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It appears Hucks signed a 18 month deal.

Therefore, the most likely thing to happen is a loan deal from November and then a permanent deal in the Jan window.

As far as I can see he isn''t out of contract until the end of the year.

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[quote user="kirku"]good post. that''s why there aren''t any replies.
[/quote]

 

Most people already understood the situation anyway so didn''t need telling. That''s why there were no replies. Similar situation to managers not resigning. The vast majority of people know that managers rarely resign because they would be fools to walk away from a compensation package. So, much better to be sacked and take the money. However, there is always a vociferous minority exclaiming "he should do the decent thing and resign". For example, you still get odd people on here calling for Delia to "walk away"......

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[quote user="Lord Snooty"]

[quote user="kirku"]good post. that''s why there aren''t any replies.
[/quote]

 

Most people already understood the situation anyway so didn''t need telling. That''s why there were no replies. Similar situation to managers not resigning. The vast majority of people know that managers rarely resign because they would be fools to walk away from a compensation package. So, much better to be sacked and take the money. However, there is always a vociferous minority exclaiming "he should do the decent thing and resign". For example, you still get odd people on here calling for Delia to "walk away"......

[/quote]

 

On a separate note, looking at the Chris Lakey interview with Huckerby made me wonder if Chris Lakey''s mother had a brief liaison with John Madjeski many year ago. 

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[quote user="Jim Kent"]It appears Hucks signed a 18 month deal. Therefore, the most likely thing to happen is a loan deal from November and then a permanent deal in the Jan window. As far as I can see he isn''t out of contract until the end of the year.[/quote]

No hes defo out of contract on 31st October 2009.

I think it has been mis reported as 18 months, instead of 1 and a half MLS seasons..... which is what he has signed for.

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LOL!!! He really does look like him! brilliant! On the hucks thing... Gunn wouldn''t keep talking about the possibility of Hucks coming back as a player if he didn''t know something already... He always seems pretty confident...Huckerby has been using the facilities at norwich as well as the physio... SO Norwich know exactly what shape he''s in... I would be amazed if he doesn''t come and play at Norwich... Even for 5 or so games... Hucks is just playing it down in that interview. In League one he doesn''t just need to rely on pace as he has far greater ability... Mark my words he''ll be back and he''ll be wearing the number 6 shirt again.

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[quote user="The Chirp"]LOL!!! He really does look like him! brilliant!

On the hucks thing... Gunn wouldn''t keep talking about the possibility of Hucks coming back as a player if he didn''t know something already... He always seems pretty confident...

Huckerby has been using the facilities at norwich as well as the physio... SO Norwich know exactly what shape he''s in... I would be amazed if he doesn''t come and play at Norwich... Even for 5 or so games... Hucks is just playing it down in that interview.

In League one he doesn''t just need to rely on pace as he has far greater ability... Mark my words he''ll be back and he''ll be wearing the number 6 shirt again.
[/quote]

But thats exactly what I am saying. The club and Huckerby cant say anything whatsoever about talking about a transfer, because this would make them liable legally.

Thats my whole point, we are not going to know about Huckerby joining until 1st November unless we offer money and get it accepted. 

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My comments:

- Firstly Ryan I hope you are right about the contract.

- Hucks isn''t just quick but also very strong he clearly takes working out seriously and League one could suit him.

- Surely we can say what we want about Hucks as long as we don''t say we are signing him without an agreement with San Jose.

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[quote user="Jim Kent"]My comments: - Firstly Ryan I hope you are right about the contract. - Hucks isn''t just quick but also very strong he clearly takes working out seriously and League one could suit him. - Surely we can say what we want about Hucks as long as we don''t say we are signing him without an agreement with San Jose.[/quote]

I am right about the contract, no doubts whatsoever. We can say that we would be interested in talking to Huckerby if his contract expires, but we cant say that we want Huckerby to agree to sign for us on November 1st.  Huckerby is losing a lot of pace, but I can see other qualities in him that make one of those players that can just go on, e.g. his long range shooting, his ability to pick a pass, his leadership. I would love to sign him in pre season to be honest, give him the seasons captaincy.

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Ryan,

Food for thought:

This season will not be the end in San Jose for Huckerby because his contract runs to the end of 2009 and he has said that he could be tempted to stay longer. “I would definitely recommend the experience to other players – but make as much money as you can in England first,” he said , mindful of his relatively low s alary in the US .

Taken from an article suggests his contract doesn''t run out until the end of the year.

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I wholeheartedly agree that Hucks can still make a very positive contribution for us in League One, in more ways than one.

Ironically, I remember clearly the numerous fans on here who supported Roeder''s decision not to renew Huckerby''s contract before the start of the season just finished. What a poor, shabby and plainly ridiculous decision that was. Many of us did criticise that decision and I vividly recall being told "to move on" and "get over it" every time the subject was raised.

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[quote user="Jim Kent"]Ryan, Food for thought: This season will not be the end in San Jose for Huckerby because his contract runs to the end of 2009 and he has said that he could be tempted to stay longer. “I would definitely recommend the experience to other players – but make as much money as you can in England first,” he said , mindful of his relatively low s alary in the US . Taken from an article suggests his contract doesn''t run out until the end of the year.[/quote]

The end of the year being the end of the MLS season, just like June is the end of the Academic year?

"The 33-year-old winger''s San Jose Earthquake contract expires at the end of the MLS season in November and as such rumours have been rife that the City favourite would return to the club in January"

"The 33-year-old winger''s San Jose Earthquake contract expires at the end of the MLS season in November and as such rumours have been rife that the City favourite would return to the club in January, but speaking to the Evening News Huckerby said a Carrow Road playing return is only one of three options open to him:"

Manager Bryan Gunn added: “He has been in regular contact with me. He is under contract to an American club until November, so he keeps telling me.

Mate its defo 1st November his first day contract free. This is the standard contract expiration in MLS I believe, just like 31st June is in the UK.

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[quote user="Lord Snooty"]

I wholeheartedly agree that Hucks can still make a very positive contribution for us in League One, in more ways than one.

Ironically, I remember clearly the numerous fans on here who supported Roeder''s decision not to renew Huckerby''s contract before the start of the season just finished. What a poor, shabby and plainly ridiculous decision that was. Many of us did criticise that decision and I vividly recall being told "to move on" and "get over it" every time the subject was raised.

[/quote]

In fairness I think many of those people were just sick of talking about Huckerby, I still think that the people supporting the move were a slight minority.

I was gutted when Hucks left, but when he has been gone for 2 months and there are still 10 Huckerby threads on the first page of the forum, I can see exactly why people wanted to move on.

 

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surely if he in constant talk with gunny , the conversation must have cropped up ,

 i dont think you could call that an illegal approach .

both norwich and huckerby could have allready sorted something , but neither would want to say anything , leaving either or both parties liable .

i have no doubt he will be back , he will have a major point to prove .. wouldnt you if you were him?

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