West negotiations can sometimes twist in mysterious directions

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Oct 27, 2002 | by Natasha Woods

TODAY, like most Sundays, the pulpit at the church in the Via Rutilio Rufo in Milan is expected to be occupied by the imposing figure of a lay preacher renowned throughout the city for his work with the poor and needy. Taribo West believes God has made him a prophet.

If John Yorkston has his way, and can negotiate the minefield of a complex contract, the 28-year-old Nigerian could yet end up at Dunfermline.

The chairman is not as confident about completing the deal as he was at the start of last week, but maybe he is finding out that God does indeed work in mysterious ways.

The very idea of the former Inter Milan star plying his trade at East End Park may seem bizarre, but there is genuine interest on West's part to relaunch his career in Scotland even if it is as a stepping stone to elsewhere. He has not been gainfully employed by a club side since March, when Kaiserslautern tore up his contract after he chose preaching ahead of a Sunday morning training session.

"The Lord is more important to me than a football club," he had said. "Kaiserslautern wanted me to come in the day after a match and I said to them 'let me face my maker'. But they wouldn't because Germans are selfish and stupid."

The multicultural nature of Jimmy Calderwood's squad, perhaps fortunately, does not extend to any Germans. And West, during a brief visit to Fife last week, did seem to enjoy his first exposure to Scottish football.

"When he trained with the players, he was in hysterics coming back on the bus because somebody put on a tape of Scottish songs. He was rolling in the aisle at their antics," revealed the Dunfermline chairman.

It is West's antics which cause Yorkston some concern. The international defender, who has played in two World Cup finals and been capped 41 times, comes with plenty of baggage. Eccentric and opinionated, it is clear that in recent years his Shelter in the Storm ministry and charity work have come ahead of football.

"We have made a lot of inquiries and I have to say you got a lot of mixed messages back. Jim Smith told us he was the player who stopped Derby getting relegated a couple of season ago and you talk to people about his charity work and it is fantastic. He has apparently raised over (pounds) 2 million for Unicef," said Yorkston.

"But you talk to the Nigerian national manager and he will say Taribo is disruptive and a loose cannon.

"He is clearly a character, but we have to get all these idiosyncrasies sorted out."

It is those issues, rather than his wage demands, which prevented a deal being concluded in time for West to make his debut in this afternoon's televised tie against Celtic. Perhaps surprisingly, given that Dunfermline's last published accounts showed losses of (pounds) 3m, Yorkston maintains the deal would make financial sense.

The club's wage structure would not be broken by a player who previous employers include Auxerre, AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen and who is said to have turned down (pounds) 6,000 a week from Bolton a few months ago.

"The daft thing is that he does fit in to that structure. We are not talking about anywhere near that Bolton figure. If the top clubs were after him it would be very different, but they are not and he says he is prepared to take what we are offering because he is not playing at the moment and he needs a stage."

The complications have come as his agent has attempted to add other things into the financial package, and Dunfermline have responded with their requirements to ensure they will not be financially hit if West breaches the terms of his contract.

"Nobody is questioning he is a quality player, but he has done a couple of disappearing acts in the past. It is about trying to find a wording that suits both sides. We have to protect Dunfermline. I always give folks the benefit of the doubt, but when they have such a track record you have to have these things written into a contract. We cannot have him deciding when he is training and when he is not."

Dunfermline have been burned before. Youssef Rossi, their Moroccan defender, failed to return to East End Park after the summer break having attempted to get a move elsewhere. Dunfermline still hold his registration and are currently pursuing their case through Uefa.

"We got caught out with Rossi and that has cost us money. We certainly don't want that to happen again. As it stands, the deal with Taribo West could happen or it may not. But we would certainly love it to. It would give us a bigger profile in the same way that Claudio Caniggia helped Dundee," said the chairman.

The Fifers may be able to find a way round the spiritual demands of Pastor West too, for Yorkston pointed out that many of the club's Dutch players fly out back to Holland for a few days on a Saturday night and a similar arrangement could see West fly back to Milan to minister to his flock.

The club expect West to return to Scotland later this week, but it may not lead to a speedy conclusion.

There are some things even the Dunfermline chairman cannot control. West does what God tells him and that may complicate negotiations.