Which includes the length of contracts.....you both seem to be forgetting one crucial thing - players themselves & their managers are also involved in these decisions and Richardson's the one that handles those negotiatons, he may have input from others but the final offers are ultimately up to him. (Though I'm sure the likes of Astbury, Grigg & Houli all know when they're on a good thing and didn't negotiate too hard.)
If you blokes seriously think that heads of football departments, don't, won't or can't override/veto list management decisions then you're kidding yourselves. The idea of the likes of Neil Balme just being rubber stamps....or that administrators are just there to follow the orders of their underlings, is laughable.
BTW Al...never blamed Richardson for everthing - said all along that him, Hartley, Halfstep & Hackson are all equally culpaple for the general state of the list.
Isn't Richardson the boss?
Yes he is - people seem to be struggling with the definition.