Roberts Signs On...
 

See fishy site...

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

Thought you meant Gary was on the dole then :D

Hmm... released by Northwich Vics?
Decent squad player maybe. At least we're gaining depth.

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

... was released by Crewe and signed by Vics .... not released by Vics at any point

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

No, not released by Vics. Signed for them on a short-term contract in Jan until the end of the season. Fans on their forum liked him very much (He won several motm awards towards the end of the season and was described by some as a class act).They wanted to make sure he was signed up for next season........... but it wasn't to be!

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

Yea, I think that were my fault - giving my eldest son false info. When I first read it I thought he'd been released by Northwich - took a couple of read throughs to get it in me head, must still have a hangover from Saturday :)

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

Sorry, I thought this:

"He had loan spells at Southport, Chester and Northwich, and then signed a short term contract with Northwich following his release in January this year. "

...read like he'd been released from Northwich.

Sounds quite promising then.

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

I attach an extract from January's transfer window. Good job I am not superstitious - one for Oggy that:

3 January 2007

Vincent Fernandez [Nottingham Forest - Grays] Loan
Tore Andre Flo [Unattached - Leeds]
John Hardiker [Fleetwood Town - Forest Green] Undisclosed
Ben Harding [MK Dons - Grays] Loan
Glynn Hurst [Shrewsbury - Bury] Undisclosed
Tresor Kandol [Barnet - Leeds] Undisclosed
Joe Keith [Leyton Orient - Brentford] Undisclosed
David Lucas [Unattached - Barnsley]
Grant McCann [Cheltenham - Barnsley] £100,000
Paul Musselwhite [Unattached - Port Vale] Free
David Partridge [Bristol City - Brentford] Loan
Mark Roberts [Crewe - Northwich Victoria] Loan
Alan Rogers [Unattached - Accrington Stanley]
Brian Stock [Preston - Doncaster] Undisclosed
Stephen Vaughan [Chester - Rochdale] Loan

He was star man in Vics recent defeat at Woking when he was continuing a purple patch:

icCheshireOnline - Woking 3, Northwich Vics 2

Presumably he's the non league centre half we were linked with a couple of weeks ago.

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

As a vics fan im gutted we have lost Robbo, great center back who can also play in the holding role, possibly our best player towards the end of last season. hope he does as well for ouy as he did for us

Good luck for next season

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

A fee for the defender, who made 23 Conference appearances for Northwich, is to be agreed at a tribunal. Roberts, who had loan spells at Southport and Chester, was released by the Vics at the end of a short-term contract last season. From the bbc website....

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

That doesn't make sense, does it? If he had been "released" there would be no question of a fee, tribunals etc. Similarly, even if the short-term contract has come to its natural end, then there could be no fee involved, so I think the BBC "tribunal" story should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

There are certain rules regarding players of a certain age. I think it's 23 or under who even though they are out of contract signing them on involves a fee to their former club. Presumably thats what is applying here if true. I'll see if I can find the rule about it.

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

Thanks Dave, but here is an extract from the Bosman ruling:
In line with the system that exists in the FA Premier League and the Nationwide League, players under 23 can move if a compensation fee is agreed between the two clubs. There is now a formulae for calculating this fee. The fee is dependent on his professional development and is seen as compensation for training. FIFA will agree a ceiling for this new 'training' fee, and this will apply to all countries in the EU and EEA. It is hoped that this will reduce the size of transfer fees; those players who are popular will still be able to negotiate their own personal terms and conditions. After the 23rd birthday, a player acquires some freedom to move to another club within the scope of his contract, which cannot be for more than 5 years. A player under 28 must not break his contract, however, without paying compensation to his current club, or having compensation paid by the new club. What is important is that these new rules make explicit reference to the requirements of national law, which prevents litigation, by calculating damages based on the fact that the contract had been completed.

If this is the case, as Mark's birthday is 16/10/83, then it looks as if the only way a fee could be payable is if he has actually re-signed and broken his contract. What do you think?

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

All seems a bit odd reading through that text. Looks like there is something about his contract that isn't straight forward.

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

I don't think his 'professional development' will have been affected much as he only signed for Northwich on 31st January 2007
BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Crewe Alexandra | Crewe sign Woodards from Exeter

Re: Roberts Signs On...
 

I think that was probably Kieran Charnock from Northwich who played for the England Non-League Team