John Massino

For clarity, I'm not questioning Michael's integrity, he's an excellent manager and great person, but the league have a lot to answer for on this one.

left back and striker but I think they both came off after 60-65 minutes and the third Oxford United player was one who I think was substituted on at around about the same time so none of them played the full game but they played a good hour it doesn't look as though it was a particularly competitive game and I think that they were avoiding the 50-50s if you know what I mean but nevertheless they weren't at home enjoying a quiet evening and then getting an early night

is probably the point that Oxford United were trying to make.

But it's too late.

It's happened.

And Oxford United have got to live with it, whatever the actual consequences of O'Neill picking a team on merit.

That's what everybody is agreed upon.

He picked the best team he could for what was needed on behalf of Northern Ireland players.

that evening that's his job and it's clear from the respect that John Massino has for him Michael O'Neill is a professional and he is a straight up and down football manager and a good one

So he was put in a difficult position.

John Massino says he wouldn't want to be put in that position.

And John Massino says that the EFL probably didn't scrutinise fully the decision that they took to allow him to have both jobs.

Another good reason to listen to Steve Bowen's podcast on Pompey Sound is that he breaks those numbers down quite cannily, but nevertheless forces himself to admit that we don't know as fans enough about who these agents are, who the agencies that they are part of are, how the money is broken down, who pays those fees.

The player obviously gives something to the agent in exchange for his services.

But does the club that is selling the player?

give something to the agent in order to ensure that or help ensure that the fee that they receive for the player is as good as it can possibly be and does the club that is buying the player okay also pay the agent because the agent is able to say well look i've delivered you the player that you wanted at a price that we agreed would be a good one we just don't know

But £600,000 is a big piece of Pompey's outlay when you consider that we are restricting our recruitment team to spend no more than a mil, maybe a mil and a bit on players.

And there we are spending almost three quarters of a million on agents fees.

It will be nice to know, provided the information could be provided to us in a way that we, non-accountants and non-wheeler dealers, will understand.

Massino said, Keshie's available for Friday.