View forum thread

Contract negotiations
So, my player Ramsbottom was in negotiations for his new contract. Having gone back and forth for a couple of days I decided to give him exactly what he was asking for. He then said he was 'considering my offer'. That was two days ago. Today he shows as not even being in negotiations. In his final day of his contract I've just clicked to start negs again but I'm pretty sure it will be too late even if I offer what he wants when I get the chance so I lose a 72 rated 23yrs old. Why would an offer exactly what he asked for just disappear? A player like that as a 15m player is pretty infuriating to lose when I simply can't understand why the negotiations wouldn't conclude.

If the player trains and improves during contract negotiations, they can end up wanting more than they originally asked for. I've seen it mainly with players I've just promoted.

The 'considering my offer' will usually be accepted but I'd guess that if he's improving every day then it won't. I've had a few that haven't but I've always started negotiations with 10-15 days left on contracts.

Now, I just offer them a bit more if they're considering as well. Horrible thing to happen.

The player in question hasn't improved for nearly two seasons in this case though.

Bizarre Mitchell. Makes no sense at all

Negotiations with a player end after 5 days if no deal has been agreed. I think you know that already, Mitchell. That is why the offer has "just disappeared" as you put it.. Whether that player is "considering your offer" or not, the negotiations will still stop after the 5th day, until you restart them.

Having said that, if a player was "considering your offer" and he had only a few days remaining on his contract, I wouldn't have waited around. You've really only got yourself to blame there. If you leave contracts to last minute, there is always a risk.

The other question is why a player is only "considering your offer" when it meets his requirements. As MacFishy said, sometimes a player seems to change his satisfaction level during negotiations, I've experienced this a few times too. During a negotiation, I made an offer with which the player was 89% satisfied, I increased something and next he was 84% satisfied !! It's annoying but it's not a bug...

It's nice to know that even the top managers make mistakes sometimes

I didn't know about the 5 day limit no, I do now!

I had wrongly assumed that with 4 days left offering exactly what was requested by a player who wasn't still improving would guarantee signing, I certainly didn't expect for the offer just to sit dormant and then disappear completely. Makes no sense for someone who isn't training any higher to reject what he's asked for but anyway it's done now, he's a 23yr old retiree at tonight's update.

What about morale/match fitness? I can never remember which one is important in this situation. But if it decreased from the time of the initial negotiations then I think (and I'm not 100% sure about this) players tend to want a little more.

It's unlucky timing if that is the case and personally I'd like a message to let me know they've rejected the offer as I'm forgetful enough to forget that they haven't gotten back to me.

It's an awful situation to be in, mate, I feel for you! Of course hindsight doesn't help now but I always try to negotiate at least 10 days before a contract expires to have some room to react if it goes badly.

I'm probably not a good example of handling negotiations but I always end up handing those top players massive deals. It costs a monstrous lot to maintain a strong squad as you will end up in a situation you need to give 3-4k more just to ensure the player stays with you.

That wouldn't have helped in this case actually. Every update for 4 updates (2 days) I went in to check and it still said he was thinking. With 3 updates left it was upped to match what he asked for but nothing at all happened throughout that time. All seemed very strange.

I started trying to do a deal with a player with about 13 or 14 days left. I almost ended up in this situation because I didn't realise the negotiations had stopped after a certain amount of days while I waited for a response. I think I only had three days left at the end so I gave him what he wanted. I was stuck on the I will think about it too. So I can sort of understand how it can catch you out. The whole thing seemed a bit strange too.

Are you absolutely 100% positive that you offered him exactly what he wanted? Without a shadow of doubt?

I can confirm that has happened to me, without a shadow of a doubt - offering precisely what the player asks for in the middle of negotiations without him accepting the contract.

Yes, and then it just sat there as he thought about it until the 5 days was obviously over. Tried to restart negs then and it still says 'you've asked to start negotiations' but have been unable to make a new offer since. I guess he couldn't decide between Premier league footballer and joining all those 17yr old youths at McDonald's.

I'm not accusing mitchell of lying Kevin. I just want to be absolutely clear about things in my own mind.

Sorry I wasn't implying you are, just wanted to provide a second source of information

Did you at any point offer 'nearly' everything he asked for?

Then after an 8am update he was still thinking about it so at that point you gave him just what he wanted? And he was still thinking about it? Do you write down negotiations details as they progress?

I don't write down but yes I did exactly that. I had offered 89k signing on fee rather than 119k requested and 8% seasonal pay increases against 10% request. After the update when still thinking I amended to give everything he wanted and he was then still thinking about it before the negs ended.

Did you increase both of these at the same tiime?

That's a good point too.. after he first said he was considering your offer, it would then need 2 or 3 updates for him to decide.. when you increased the offer but it still wasn't enough, it would have needed another 2 or 3 updates to decide. So, I think, that prolonged it a bit too.

I cant understand why a player would have to 'think about' anything if youve offered him exactly what he wants, unless the 5th day rule kicked in at the last update maybe? When it all starts over again...

But either way thats a seriously heavy hit to take and I feel for you Mitchell.





If a players listing finishes lets say today, at the 8pm update you start negs. at the 8am update he comes back with a bad attitude and refuses your offer [lol] then at the next 8pm update if he still hasnt accepted you go again at the 8am update, then again at the 8pm update. So at no point inbetween any of those updates would you not be able to improve your offer for him to either accept or decline, so unless Ive misunderstood what you have said Roland, you wouldnt need more than 1 update to adjust your offer...