I'm all right Jack

Here's something I just don't get...

Why is it that clubs are allowed to announce the signing of a player for next season ahead of the conclusion of the current season?

I'm thinking, of course, of poor Leeds, stuck at the bottom of the Premiership and with a must-win encounter with Northampton looming this weekend. It's bad enough that head coach Neil Back and England flanker Hendre Fourie have refused to commit their respective futures to the club if it is relegated, despite having a year to run on their respective contracts. Even worse is the fact that England hooker Steve Thompson has announced that he's all right Jack by confirming that he's signed with Wasps for next season.

In what is a crucial week for the future of the club the announcement can hardly have been the best of things for the morale of either the players or the supporters. Whilst I realise that Thompson will be out of contract at the end of the season and that he's entitled to sign for whatever club will have him, right now he's contracted to Leeds and that's where his focus should be.

It's about time that the Premiership showed some leadership on this issue. A code of practice either restricting the signing of players (or at least preventing the announcement of such signings) until the close season has to be on the cards.