As usual on the final day of a tumultuous January transfer window, there were a few big dealings done and some interesting stories to unfold. But perhaps the most eye-catching one of all was the deal that wasn’t done, when West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie decided to pack his bags and head down to Loftus Road in an attempt to seal his move to QPR. The only problem was, no agreement had been reached between the two clubs and no one had given him permission to speak to them.  

Even though time is tight and deals can rest on a knife-edge, turning up on the doorstep of the prospective club you could be joining, prematurely, is perhaps not the most advisable cause of action. What made matters worse was that the Nigerian front-man was then interviewed on Sky Sports talking about how pleased he was to be joining Rangers, shortly after which he received a phone call to say the deal was off. He then turned his Range Rover round and drove away.  

It was a rather embarrassing incident for all parties concerned. Odemwingie has had to go back to West Brom with his tail between his legs and ask his teammates, his manager, and potentially even the fans, for forgiveness. And football fans do not easily forget betrayal.  

Albion manager Steve Clarke was very angry about the situation. He knows that he’s going to be left to pick up the pieces in terms of integrating Odemwingie back into the side, helping him to regain acceptance from his teammates and deciding when he will be ready to pull on a West Brom shirt and represent the club again. As for his teammates, they will all know in no uncertain terms that Odemwingie was ready and willing to turn his back on them and was relishing the opportunity to leave so much that he actually jumped the gun on it.  

The thing that will most likely anger those connected with West Brom more than anything though will probably be the fact that he has made it so public that he wants to leave. Of course it happens from time to time that a player may fancy a move to another club if a good opportunity comes along but there is a certain way that a player should conduct himself when this situation arises.

Odemwingie chose to voice his concerns on Twitter, with a scathing attack on his club after they turned down his transfer request and rejected QPR’s £3 million bid. Of course, the Baggies were certainly within their rights to do this, since Odemwingie is still under contract. So from his Twitter outburst, Odemwingie has already publicly declared his intentions to leave. Turning up in his car outside Loftus Road was just the cherry on the cake. If nothing else, it shows a form of disrespect, to your club, your colleagues and the fans too. There is no excuse for these kinds of actions.      

However, you do also have to look at things from the player’s perspective. At 31 years of age, he may have felt this was his final chance to earn a big contract and set himself and his family up for life before he retires. He would have been on higher wages at QPR, so in a way you can’t blame him for wanting to take that opportunity. But he did sign a three year contract in August 2011, so in reality, West Brom are perfectly within their rights to want to keep him.

It’s a classic case of player power ruling over clubs. We see it so often now in the modern game. Contracts are seemingly not worth the paper they’re written on. Whilst a player may be happy to secure his future by signing a long term contract with his current club, the minute a better offer comes on the table, they decide they want away. And all too often these days, player power rules over the club and the club are eventually forced to relinquish and agree to sell.  

From a financial position, the player holds all the cards. If he doesn’t want to play for the club, he won’t perform well and his desire to leave could have a knock-on effect on other players in the dressing room. And for the club, there is no point in keeping a player who does not want to give his all for shirt. They will just end up continuing to pay the player wages for no reason and doing themselves out of any transfer fee they could get for him. Plus, the player will then leave for free once his contract has expired. Most clubs cannot afford to allow this to happen in the modern era, when money has such a significant role to play in the success of a club. The result of this is that players generally do have things there own way.  

This Odemwingie situation demonstrates what happens when the club stands up to the player and decides they are not prepared to roll over and give in to the player’s demands. It then begins to get very messy.  

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens with Odemwingie in the next few months. He now knows he’ll have to stay with the Baggies at least until the end of the season so his best bet may be to knuckle down and get back to giving his all for West Brom and help them get back to winning ways. He won’t be easily forgiven for his actions by his teammates, his manager or the fans but the best way to win people round in football is by scoring goals. And whilst he may not be the best at conducting himself in transfer situations, scoring goals is one thing he is good at. Perhaps if he can help the club do as well as possible for the remainder of the season, they can have further talks in the summer and reach some sort of resolution that all parties are happy with.








Contributed by richbrawn1