Graham was Matty Rose agent.

From The Evening Standard
QPR Chief Defiant Over Agent Cash Shock
By Raoul Simons

QUEENS PARK RANGERS director Gianni Paladini today denied any wrongdoing after a Standard Sport investigation revealed the staggering amount of money the club are paying to agents.

Leaked documents show that so far this year Rangers have authorised fees of £473,785 to middle men, many of whom are friends and business colleagues of former FIFA-licensed agent Paladini.

The most significant payments were £40,000 to Midlands-based agent Mel Eves for the transfer of Ian Evatt; £60,000 to another Midlands agent, Brian Hassell, for Marc Nygaard; and £40,000 to Italian agent Marco Sommella for goalkeeper Generoso Rossi.

When contacted by Standard Sport, Paladini admitted knowing all the agents involved, but insisted he had done nothing wrong. He said: "I have been in the world of football for 35 years and my job used to be an agent. I know every single agent in England, Italy, Spain and Brazil. If I didn't have these connections I would have been skint. I do not care which agent I use as long as I get the player I want.

"Every single player at QPR has got an agent and we pay fees to the agents. It is nothing new and has been legally done by the club in the proper manner."Nothing has been done under the table that is fishy or suspicious."Everything we have done at the club has never been agreed by one person. If you look at the contracts, each one has been signed by Bill Power [former chairman] and Mark Devlin [former chief executive]. And everything has been checked by the Football Association."

THE extraordinary sums of money Queens Park Rangers are spending on agents' fees can today be revealed. In leaked documents obtained by Standard Sport, a detailed breakdown is provided of the £473,785 which the club now owe to their players' representatives.

These payments to agents have helped push QPR £1million over budget for players this season and has put them on course to lose £2m in the financial year.

More worrying are the questions our leaked documents raise over the role of director Gianni Paladini, himself a former FIFA-registered agent, who is in charge of transfers at Loftus Road. Many of the larger payments have been authorised to friends and/or former business associates of the Italian.

Under FIFA rules, agents are forbidden to work for clubs which is why Paladini, whose clients included Middlesbrough stars Fabrizio Ravanelli and Juninho, handed in his licence after buying into QPR in May 2004. However, it does appear that he has retained close links with members of his old profession.

Last June, QPR signed Ian Evatt from Chesterfield for around £200,000 in a transfer brokered by the agent and former Wolves defender Mel Eves. Acting for the club, Eves was paid £40,000 from the transfer, 20 per cent of the total value of the deal. Industry insiders say the average is around five per cent. It is also surprisingly high given Evatt's apparent willingness to join QPR.

It has also emerged that Eves and Paladini are known on the West Midlands football circuit as close friends. They live near one another in the Birmingham area and worked together as agents on the £4m deal which took West Bromwich Albion's Enzo Maresca to Juventus in 2000. The pair are also listed as working as "professional introducers" for Wolverhampton- based financial advisers FSC Investment Services Ltd.

In a section listing financial services offered to professional footballers, FSC's website states: "We have specialist knowledge of the market as we have professional introducers like Mel Eves — England International, ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion, Gianni Paladini — FIFA Players Agent, ex-Juventus and Italy, and Tony Daly — England International, ex-Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers."

Eves was also involved in the deal for Dean Sturridge, who joined QPR on a free transfer in March. Despite languishing in the Wolves reserves and apparently anxious to leave Molineux, Sturridge still managed to secure a £3,500-a-week salary, a £2,000-a-month accommodation allowance and a £1,250 bonus for every goal he scores.

This deal netted Eves another £10,000 from QPR. Another large agents' fee, £60,000, was paid in relation to the free transfer signing of Marc Nygaard, who arrived from Brescia in July.

This time Midlands-based Brian Hassall is listed as the beneficiary. Hassall, like Paladini, has worked as an agent for Juninho. An Italian agent, Marco Sommella, has also cashed in since Paladini's arrival at QPR.

He was responsible for goalkeeper Generoso Rossi, who joined towards the end of last season after being banned in Italy for involvement in a betting scandal. Rossi cost £40,000 in agents' fees and, after playing just twice for QPR, has returned to Italy. Sommella, Standard Sport understands, is another friend of Paladini.

Not featured on our list, which shows the amounts of money committed to all agents involved in negotiating player and managerial contracts at QPR, is a deal that never happened but was seriously considered by the club during the summer.

The club showed an interest in signing Tore Andre Flo from Italian club Siena only to be rebuffed when the former Chelsea striker opted to return to Norway.

Standard Sport has learned that an Italian and a Norwegian agent would have shared £150,000 in agents' fees if Flo had been persuaded to move to Loftus Road.

When contacted by Standard Sport, Paladini admitted knowing all the agents involved, but insisted he had done nothing wrong.

He said: "I know Mel Eves, I know Jerome Anderson, I know Dennis Roach. I have been in football for 35 years and my job used to be an agent. I know every single agent in England, in Italy, in Spain, in Brazil. If I didn't have these connections I would have been skint.

Every player at QPR has an agent and we pay fees to the agents. It is nothing new and has been legally done by the club in the proper manner. Nothing has been done under the table that is fishy or suspicious."

The sums paid to agents would not be unusual in the Premiership, but this is QPR, a club only promoted from League One two years ago with a troubled financial history. After coming through administration in 2002, Rangers were saved from another financial crisis last year when Paladini and two consortiums bought a combined 46 per cent stake in the club.

The investment cleared some debts but the club must still meet annual interest repayments of £1m on a £10m loan secured against their ground. Even though lifelong fan Bill Power remained chairman when the new investors arrived, Paladini took over day-to-day control of football matters. Power and chief executive Mark Devlin signed the cheques, but the Italian made the decisions.

It is perhaps evidence of Power's lack of control that costs spiralled so easily. Cracks started to emerge between Paladini and other directors during the summer culminating in Power's removal as chairman — and the sacking of Devlin — at a dramatic board meeting last month.

Before that, armed police were called to Loftus Road shortly before the Sheffield United game in August after Paladini alleged he had been held at gunpoint by a gang of men. Co-director David Morris and three other men have since been charged with blackmail and joint possession of a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

With Power and Devlin out of the way, Paladini is poised to take over as chairman and, providing he maintains the support of the Monaco consortia, is likely to be given a free hand. The Football League are so worried about events at QPR they recently called Paladini and a number of fellow directors to a meeting with Andy Williamson, the League's director of operations.

In the light of Standard Sport's revelations, they have good reason to be concerned for the future of the club.

Mystery role of Caliendo adds to the Loftus Road controversy by Raoul Simons

WITH clients like David Trezeguet and Roberto Baggio, luxury offices in Monaco and a thriving sports management company, Italian agent Antonio Caliendo appears to merit his place among European football's glitterati, writes Raoul Simons.

Why then has he spent much of the last month in Shepherds Bush working three or four days a week at Queens Park Rangers? It is a question which strikes at the root of where the real power resides at the crisis-hit west London club.

Caliendo was introduced to QPR by club director Gianni Paladini and has been described as a "consultant" for the two Monaco-based consortia, Wanlock and Barnaby Holdings, which invested £1.7million for a 30 per cent stake last year.

Being a FIFA-registered agent, Caliendo is forbidden from being a director and holds no official role at Loftus Road. Wanlock and Barnaby are represented on the QPR board by interim chairman Gualitero Trucco and former Brazilian footballer Carlos Dunga, who is a director. Both men are well acquainted with Caliendo. Dunga is a former client and Trucco is understood to be a financial expert.

It is clear that World Champions Club, the company chaired by Caliendo, has links with QPR because the club crest and four photographs of Loftus Road are featured on its website.

Bizarrely, there is also a connection with Caliendo's 17-year-old son Michele, who is a racing driver in the BRDC Single Seater Championship. One of Michele's sponsors is QPR and he wears a club crest on his overalls. Although not allowed to vote, Caliendo attended the infamous board meeting last month which saw Paladini, Dunga and Trucco pass a vote of no confidence in former chairman Bill Power.

They also agreed to sack former chief executive Mark Devlin. It is since these high-profile departures that staff report a marked increase in Caliendo's visits to the club.

Trucco has been appointed interim chairman in Power's absence and is expected to be succeeded by Paladini, who owns a 16 per cent stake in the club. Power, meanwhile, is likely to resign as a director.

When asked about Caliendo's role in the club, Paladini did not deny that he could be an investor in Wanlock and Barnaby Holdings. He said: "I do not know if he has got personal investment in those companies. He is a consultant."


The Amount QPR are paying to Agents for the Players at Loftus Road
Player Agent Total Fee
Marcus Bean PML Sports Managment £4,680
Marcus Bignot Eric Hall £5,000
Marc Bircham Lee Bircham £16,380
Aaron Brown Michael Drew £2,000
Lee Cook Frank Trimboli £25,000
Chris Day Stellar Promotions £4,500
Tommy Doherty Clarke Willmott Solicitors £27,000
Ian Evatt Mel Eyes £40,000
Paul Furlong PML Sport Management £26,000
Kevin Gallen PML Sport Management £20,800
Arthur Gnohere Karim Djazir £10,000
Richard Johnson Gus Nwanokwu £2,500
Ian Holloway Robert Segal £20,000
Kevin McLeod Proactive Sports Management £5,000
Stefan Moore Steve Kutner £25,000
Marc Nygaard Brian Hassall £60,000
Matthew Rose Phillip Graham £7,525
Generoso Rossi Marco Sommella £40,000
Simon Royce Steven Denos £15,600
Martin Rowlands Stellar Promotions £3,750
Martin Rowlands Stellar Football Ltd £9.100
Georges Santos Galaxy Sports Management £12,000
Dominic Shimmin Barry Silkman £10,000
Danny Shittu David Manasseh £16,500
Danny Shittu Warwick Horton £44,050
Dean Sturridge Mel Eves £10,000
Tony Thorpe David Manasseh £7,500

from the Official QPR Web Site
ANGER & DISTRESS

Gianni Paladini has reacted with anger and distress regarding allegations made in the press on Thursday.

Paladini strongly refutes allegations that have been made and asserts that they are without foundation.

He said: "All of our players have agents, if you are negotiating a contract you have to go through an agent. All of our payments have been done in the proper way."

"With the exception of Milanese, Langley & Lomas all the other deals were signed by either the ex-Chairman or the Chief Executive"

"The article lists players who were here before I even invested in the club. If we go over budget who has to pay? The fellow directors and I" "I am very angry that both myself and the club are being dragged through the mud. We have had a difficult few months and we just want to concentrate on running the club properly and pushing up the league. I am incredibly angry about this and am taking legal advice."

Ian Holloway added: "I like to think the fans trust me and I trust Gianni. I cannot believe some of the stuff I've read today but I can assure everyone no matter what people throw at us it can only make us stronger."

"I have nothing but the utmost respect for Gianni Paladini and what he is trying to achieve at Queens Park Rangers. It seems to me that people are looking at the job that Gianni used to do before he came to QPR and are jumping to ridiculous conclusions."

"Gianni has the best interests of QPR at heart - I've absolutely no doubt about that."

Now is as plain as the nose on your face that he doesnt pay this exorbitant fees without getting a lot back in return. Thats why he is so valuable to the club. His contacts are a valuable source of cash when they need it plus he gest to clip coupons on every deal. They are all in it except Warnock who may be dragged into it whether he likes it or not. His lack of signings recently and the foraging in Norway
could be the first evidence.

IMO this thread written in middle of your night, is too important to be buried and I will bump it in morning. I do understand Grumpy though.

Sorry am I missing the main point of your thread here as I can honestly say I`m not sure what the thrust is here or what is new?

Is Matthew Rose an agent now and representing Graham?

Well frankly reading this over and over again the Godfather would be proud. Its not a conspiracy but wide

open busines as usual, where the bosses come off smelling like a rose and the clubs are knocked further on their arses. The FA keeps as far away as it can.

Oh thanks clears something up. 56! so he feeds the agents at players and clubs expense. So then they

owe him some players without agents. No wonder he is rolling in it. But I think it goes deeper than that.