I'D MAKE CASTAWAYS OF AGENTS WHO MAKE PLAYERS WANTAWAYS

IT'S time all football agents were rounded up and dumped on an island with no food or water.

If Vladimir Romanov wants to pick the venue I'll skipper the boat because such a drastic move would go a long way to returning some stability to football.

If the facts as he stated them earlier this week are correct I am completely and utterly b ehind the Hearts owner in his row with Andy Webster and agent Charlie Duddy.

If the advisor has been hawking his client around other clubs - and given my experience with the game's Mr Fixits I wouldn't b e surprised - Romanov was right to speak out and act by putting Webster on the transfer list.

If a player is not desperate to play for their team then get him on his way because no man is bigger than the club.

I've not always agreed with Romanov's methods and techniques and I believe he was wrong to bring the issue of trust into his row with the Scotland defender and his representative. However, he is right to suggest Webster will remain on the sidelines because, to be honest, the player will not make or break Hearts' chances of success this season and beyond.

The Tynecastle club believe they have the strength in depth to cover for Webster between now and the end of the season.

Furthermore, Romanov will be able to pick up a better defender in the summer with his wealth and range of contacts. Make no mistake, Webster has burned his boats and the only direction left for him to take at the club is out the front door.

Actually, it's very, very doubtful if he's good enough to secure a move to a top club when he departs anyway. Webster, Steven Pressley and Craig Gordon have been a cornerstone for Hearts and Scotland in recent seasons but the big keeper is probably the only player in the national squad good enough to be ranked at European level.

Webster has a major weakness in his game, a lack of pace, which will prevent him ever becoming one of the top players at international or European level.

He is the best in Scotland but we don't have a centre-half in this country with a turn of speed and that's a big problem forWalter Smith.

He and I both knowWebster and Pressley can't defend further up the park b ecause they know they will be exposed by more pacey strikers.

Webster is a very good player, but that's all. He will never, ever be an absolutely outstanding European-class international in the way Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness once were for club and country.

It's important Romanov took his stance because it's not the one man in your team who tries to beat you that needs watching - it's the other 10 who will try to follow his example.

It's vital Romanov sets the b est example and speaks out in the process about the influences of agents, who are a bloody disease on the game.

The only time an agent makes money is when a player moves on or signs a new, improved contract so they cannot accept clients sitting happily at a club.

There are 16-year-olds with advisors these days and it's a ridiculous state of affairs - if a player cannot negotiate a contract with the help of his father or uncle it's a sad,sad situation.

From my experience, there are very few decent and trustworthy agents out there. I've put the phone down in the past to advisors who have just spoken like my best pal only to know they were off trying to sell my players behind my back.

Club chairmen can b e just as bad and there were times I felt like entering various boardrooms in a suit of armour to fend off rivals who pat you on the b ack at the same time as trying to pinch your best players.

If Web ster's agent has b een in touch with other clubs, as Romanov claims, it's an utter disgrace and the chairmen who have been happy to take calls should have a look at themselves because they are no angels either.

No player should be able to break his contract without the agreement of his employer and maybe it's about time clubs started to refuse to deal with advisors.

There is no doubt football is a very, very selfish game with everyone ruthlessly looking for success but players such as Webster cannot have their cake and eat it.

Mind you, while praising Romanov for his stance on this issue I cannot understand what he is playing at by sanctioning these alternative therapists at Riccarton.

I was one of the first to introduce the idea of the dietician to Scottish football.

Likewise, we occasionally used sports psychologists at Tannadice and therein lies a tale.

We brought one expert in the week before we played at Barcelona in the UEFA Cup 20 years ago but we focused so much on the Spaniards we forgot ab out our immediate opponents, Forfar, and were almost knocked out the Scottish Cup.

However, all this talk about Rima the Lithuanian and her golden sticks is too far-fetched, even for me.

It's vital clubs keep their opinions open on new techniques but this is a step too far because, ultimately, it's the ability of players that will secure results and not guru figures operating behind the scenes.

As told to Gary Ralston

Taken from the Daily Record