In football these days we get lots of facts and figures.

I often mention things like how much possession a team has because on a regular basis the team with the most doesn’t win.

Some other figures came out this week to do with the game which probably raised a few eyebrows.

They were to do with how much money clubs are paying out to agents when players are signed.

For a while now I have wondered why the clubs have to pay the agents in the first place.

I know some people think I possibly talk too much about what used to happen, but it is a fact that in my time managing at The Dell there weren’t any agents at the beginning.

I think one of the first big names that asked if he could bring someone with him was Peter Shilton.

Peter obviously was very famous, an England international, and he brought a gentleman with him called John Holmes, who was an accountant in Leicester where they were both from.

I didn’t mind, he seemed to be a nice gentleman, and I always said to every player that Southampton is a good, honest club, not the richest in the world, and I wanted them to come as a player.

I would then talk to them about how I wanted them to play and how they would slot into the team.

In Peter’s case there was no need. In my opinion he was the best goalkeeper around.

I talked about the financial situation and John Holmes listened along with Peter and I then gave them time on their own. As with most deals they realised that we as a club might not be the wealthiest but at the time, for him particularly, it was the right move.

Whether that sort of situation prompted John to change career, or add to his accountancy work, I’m not sure, but he became one of the first and biggest agents in not just football but the sporting world.

I remember unlike some others who started around then he didn’t go out collecting as many players as he could, but stuck with people like Peter, Gary Lineker and cricketer David Gower.

The common denominator was that all of them, including John, were from Leicester.

When I was with England I noticed on the planes travelling abroad David Platt would make sure he sat next to Gary Lineker and eventually he got signed up by John.

So he picked and chose quality over quantity.

The most significant thing of all was whether they were called an accountant, an agent, or anything else, once the player had shaken hands on the deal they went off and the player looked after his adviser financially.

I have noticed the change over time, but particularly this year when the figures were announced that clubs altogether had paid out in one season more than £250m just to agents, bearing in mind transfer fees are on top of that.

Clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City when they are signing players for anything to nearly £100m are also top of the league with fees, but even our club, Southampton, paid out over £6m. The extreme was Aldershot up the road who paid up £110 – maybe took the agent out for a meal.

Where at one time you would talk to young players as I did and tell them to get a house, get a car, get a bigger one because it’s a short life, I suppose some of them these days have their eye on staying in the game as an agent.

I am told most of the agencies have got ex-players on the staff, understandably as the ones they want to sign on will know them and they will talk the same language.

Money is becoming much more part of the game, and that is why people from all round the world are coming in to buy football clubs and to them it is just another business.

When we see figures such as those given out this week, added to the television money which goes up every time there is a new contract, you can understand why.

  • Naturally when a sporting star passes away many tributes are paid, but not often are so many given as have been so far for Ray Wilkins.

The reason is that as anyone who met Ray would tell you he was a superb, natural gentleman.

You can see old footage of him leading teams for big clubs home and abroad, and also his country, where he was encouraging the other players. A true leader and a captain.

To meet him off the field a stranger would never guess who he was, because he was a quietly spoken man.

One of the best tributes I heard was from a former homeless man who told how Ray had helped him to start a new life.

It is such a sad moment for not just his family and friends but football in general.