Why recently resigned Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston should be applauded for his crusade against agents
After their fairytale start to life in the Premier League at Wigan on Saturday, reality has bit home for Blackpool.
And a battered Karl Oyston can show the teeth marks after the controversial millionaire businessman announced he was ending his 11-year reign as chairman.
Oyston's resignation is remarkable because he is not quitting because of a fall-out with boss Ian Holloway, although their relationship has been strained, his fellow board members or the fans.
No, he has set a precedent by becoming the first Premier League chairman to resign over a lack of support from his top-flight peers in his fight against agents.
Oyston, 43, is one of those old-school football administrators, who doesn't see the point of agents and resents having to pay them a cut to secure a player's transfer or signature on a new contract.
Four years ago he told a Panorama investigation into the seedy side of the game that he had been offered bungs by agents.
He got away with his tough stance against agents in the Football League and paid out just £40,000 to them in fees during last season's triumphant promotion-winning campaign.
It didn't matter at that level and Simon Grayson, who guided them to promotion in 2007, and Holloway, who made history at Wembley in May, could still, more or less, get the players they wanted.
However Oyston found maintaining his uncompromising line in the Premier League impossible and appealed in vain to his peers to join his one-man crusade.
Although, they sympathised with his cause, for many it must have sounded like a lone voice calling for the banning of alcohol because of the misery it causes.
It would be easy to dismiss Oyston as naive and how realistic is it to restrict Ian Holloway to a £10,000-a-week wage ceiling in the most money-orientated league in the world?
His critics snigger at him as a Don Quixote-type figure, attacking windmills, as he tries to turn back the ever-advancing tide of the agents.
This would be cynical and unfair and there is some merit to Oyston's cause.
Take Hull City for example. They handed out money hand over fist to agents when they won promotion in 2008, running up huge debts, which almost forced the club into administration this summer.
Portsmouth did go into administration, while Watford, Leicester and Ipswich are more examples of teams, which ultimately paid a high price for winning promotion.
For the prosecution, it must be stated that Oyston has a reputation for meanness and the players were irked by the fact their promotion bonuses were paid two months late.
Nor does he see the point in paying players bonuses for appearances and goals, a fact which does not go down well with prospective signings.
Holloway admitted the summer had been "hideous" and "horrible" as he battled manfully to try and sign players against this backdrop.
It says it all about how hard it has been for him that League One Huddersfield were prepared to offer Marlon Harewood more than he could table under his £10,000-a-week wage ceiling.
He still hadn't signed anyone until four days before the start of the season, although Brett Pitman's arrival from Bournemouth would be his eighth new face.
But the bottom line is that Oyston has always done what he believes is right for the club.
Under him, the Seasiders have enjoyed their best times since the 1950s and early 60s and they have won three promotions in nine years.
Bloomfield Road has been redeveloped, albeit behind schedule, and he plans to use their £50million-plus windfall from winning promotion to build the remaining stand and establish a new training HQ.
Blackpool are unique among Premier League clubs in that they will not have failed if they are relegated.
No, they will have failed if they do not use their Premier League riches to secure their long-term future.
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