Hoolahan

Just to add to the speculation I thought I'd give you a few thoughts based on the conversations I've had to today with a few Pool fans at work.
Basically nobodys got a f**kin clue what's going on, having said that, there are a number of factors that are coming into play.

Firstly Wes has stated he will never play for Blackpool again (at least not if he's got anything to do with it). A cursory glance at few Blackpool forums will reveal that he's not exactly made a secret of this.

Secondly there is the dispute with Livingston that eventually took FIFA'a intervention to settle.
Briefly, Blackpool signed him on a season long loan with an option to make it permanent for £75K at the end of it. Blackpool were late with 10 of the 12 payments and as Wes waltzed through League One defences Livingston, realising he was now worth a lot more than £75k, stated that Blackpool were in breach of contract and therefore the option to buy was invalid.

The League didn't want to know, they referred it to the FA who referred it to FIFA. FIFA's decision has never been made public but Wes did sign for Blackpool and their Chariman publically stated he would not pay more than the original agreement and he stands by that. However the Livi chairman also stated publically last season that Blackpool could not sell Wes even if they wanted to. The rumours of a release clause first surfaced in an Irish newspaper article in January and the interpretation being put on that round here is that the release clause is there but it cannot be activated until the "official end of the season".

It is entirely possible that Livi still have some financial interest in Wes and one entirely plausible theory is that they get all of (or a large % of) anything over £250K and that Blackpool are trying to negoitate a pay off to try and secure more cash.
In other words it's all a bit messy.

The Blackpool chairman has confirmed several players have release clauses but the £250K for Wes is only a rumour, albeit a pretty strong one.

It is interesting to note that all the speculation is precisely that, speculation. There's aren't an awful lot of quotes or substance to any of it.

My view is that I'm glad we appear to trying to sign players this early in the close season (weren't we once told nobody did business in May/June).

Posted By: double hipness, Jun 2, 20:45:15